"El Tokyo" - Celebrating 19 years

My brother offered up his farmhouse over this past Christmas break, so three days after Christmas (on John's and my 19th anniversary) we loaded up the kids and headed down to the farm.

Can I just take a second and say that I LOVE saying "down to the farm." 

 It is the coolest place to be and I love my brother for letting us enjoy it from time to time.  

Clearly, I should have taken the time to adjust the settings on my camera, but these blurry pics will have to serve as the only reminders of a really awesome anniversary dinner. 

We had just arrived at the farm when the kids ushered us into one of the bedrooms with strict orders not to come out until they called us.  While we played a game of Chess, we listened to the kids whispering and shuffling around the kitchen.  

Occasionally we would hear outbursts of, "Did you just eat that?  That was supposed to be for the garlic bread!" or... "A strainer!  Oh my goodness - Chad and Heather are the BEST!" or my favorite, "You put the lemon pie in the freezer?"

After half an hour we were called out and greeted by the staff of "El Tokyo" a newly established high-end restaurant that specialized in serving spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and both apple and (frozen) lemon pie. 

  

After they had taken our orders and served us, we insisted that they join us for dinner, and we all listened as they entertained us by recounting the details of their kitchen experience.  Their efforts in the kitchen were beyond comical. 

I was impressed that they had purchased food, filled a cooler, and even surprised us with thoughtful gifts.

It was an awesome way to celebrate the past 19 years.

I hope to visit "El Tokyo" again. The frozen lemon meringue pie was really quite refreshing! 

Christmas Day

A front room full of torn wrapping paper and extra boxes. 

Breakfast pizza and fruit.

A drive out to Waterton.

An afternoon nap.

Board Games and puzzles.

Tomato, bacon sandwiches, and seafood chowder.

Those are the makings of a really superb Christmas Day!

 

Twas the night before Christmas

Oh, how we love our Christmas Eves!

For the past decade, we have celebrated Christmas Eve in the exact.same.way.

This year, we longed for family to join us.

There is something about not being able to gather with family that has made me want to that much more.

We were definitely thanking our lucky stars that we were at least able to have Max join us. 

It absolutely wouldn't have felt like Christmas without him.

We did our usual steak and seafood dinner with all the fixings as usual.  

Mushroom sauce, potatoes wedges, shrimp cocktail...and most definitely...LOBSTER!

After dinner, we drove around town and looked at Christmas lights, opened up our Christmas jammies, and settled down to watch Polar Express, just as we always do!

If we didn't know better, it would have felt just like every other Christmas, every other year.  

There is something about not being able to gather with family that has made me want to that much more.

Christmas Vacation

 The week leading up to Christmas and the week after Christmas are my favorite two weeks of the year!

No school, few phone calls, and lots of time together.

Some of my favorite holiday activities included:

Watching John and these three brave the windiest day ever out on Payne Lake. 

John was determined that it was "just a little blustery" but I'd beg to differ.  When your bucket, skates, coats, and boats all catch a breeze and go flying across the lake, entirely to the OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE faster than you can catch them, it is not blustery.  It is windy! 

We were able to find all of our things in the ditch prior to leaving for home, but oh what a fun (and funny-looking) time that was.  haha

After that, we stuck closer to home, realizing that the skating is better when you're a little sheltered from the "breeze." ;).  We found this awesome spot along Lee Creek that somebody else had worked to clear.  There was even a hockey net down there.  Fun!

We also discovered the BEST hill for tobogganing and it is right close to our home! 

(All the other good hills are a whole two-minute drive from us. We loved not having to commute. ;)

We gathered around this table a LOT over Christmas break to play board games and enjoy Zoom visits with cousins.  

We stopped by my sister Jewel's house at just the right time.  We were just dropping off a present and visiting in their driveway when all of a sudden a social distancing sing-along among neighbors erupted.  Do we know how to crash a party, or what? Apparently, Santa visits her cul de sac early!

The holidays have also provided lots of opportunities to enjoy these glowing sparkling lights at night.

Not going to lie, there is a really good chance that our tree will stay up until March.

Just sayin. 

Winter Walks in Waterton

We were able to enjoy Waterton quite a bit in December.  

One time we went cross country skiing (and snowshoeing) up to Cameron Lake. 

The weather was beautiful and it was still so nice to see that lake again.

One Sunday afternoon we went out for a stroll around Linnet Lake.

It's such a charming stroll made better when these goofballs accompany me. 

We paused for a brief moment to make some snow angels on the ice - which made my day!

One blustery Saturday afternoon, shortly after provincial restrictions were reinstated, we decided to hunker down in a camp kitchen for a wiener roast.  Howling wind outside - toasty hot dogs inside.  

It wasn't a bad way to kill some time when nothing else can be enjoyed.  

 

Of course, we stuck to tradition and made our annual Christmas Day trek out to the park, but a few days later we also went back up to the Cameron Lake area and explored the Dipper trail on foot.  We've all resolved to come back to this trail in the spring.

I'm not just a sucker for alliteration, Waterton really is the best place to go for a winter walk.

Decembers most delightful

This journal entry contains some of my favorite things about December:

1:  Christmas Lights

Is there anything better than driving around town looking at all the Christmas Lights?

2: Evening Movies

Even on a school night, movies before bed were a thing, all month long.

3: Reading by the Christmas Tree

I felt guilty for always wanting the kids to go to bed, but reading by the Christmas tree was delightful. So what if it was textbooks and peer-reviewed articles I was reading - it was by the tree.  That's what matters!

4: Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Mandatory isolation prevented the rest of us from wearing ugly Christmas Sweaters to school, but Nate made up for that, making sure to wear one to school every day, for two weeks!

5: Twelve Days of Christmas

My kid's favorite thing about those days before Christmas is the gifts our Aunt surprises them with 12 days before Christmas. It always melts our hearts and brightens their days the moment they wake up!

6. Game Nights

Most of our game nights in December consisted of poker, Don't Stop, Chess, and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza.  Those were some of our favorites this year, but one night Sam and Jess interrupted our game night to share a well-prepared presentation outlining all of the costs associated with having a puppy.  They even went so far as to calculate the amount we've spent raising Abby these past almost 18 years.  Apparently, by the time June comes around, we will have spent $115, 000 on our oldest child. They used this to point out that as soon as Abby moves out, we can look forward to spending much less than that on a dog.  

It was a very sound argument.

7. Gift Wrapping

I wasn't as on the ball that I've been in years past but the wrapping all got done in time for Christmas.  For a large chunk of December though, the 12 rolls of paper that sat in our office was mostly used for sword fighting or other equally undesirable antics.  

8. Braces off!

Sam got his braces off. I don't know who was more excited - him or me? 

I've enjoyed Sam and my trips into Lethbridge and the talks we were able to have, but I think it is safe to see we were both thrilled the day his orthodontist signed off on things. 

9: The Grinch

Not only did we watched the Jim Carrey version probably fifteen times this past month, but we also got to spend a day with the grinch too.  Nate really puts his heart into the school dress-up days!

These kids sure made December delightful! 

Snow Day Holiday

This autumn snowstorm kinda rocked our world!

It wasn't the first snowfall of the season but it was definitely a spectacular one which left us comfortably trapped at home for two days. 

On the second day, the boys ventured out to clear some driveways.  

They came back inside about 4 hours later.

It was AWESOME!

I LOVE the way Mother Nature sometimes forces us to slow it down.

If I remember correctly, we got a snow day out of it all!

Sigh...if only every day could be a snow day.