Merry Christmas!

Once again it's Christmas morning!

Kaitlyn was much more excited this year, now that she's three. She was even able to keep secrets about what the presents were. "It's a surprise," she would whisper.

We had a busy week. Christmas Eve we were with Darcy's sisters for fondu, then we were back there again Christmas Day. We had the not-so-traditional dinner of "worlds best noodles!" (aka Vereniki - Rachael decided that was too hard a word to say so she decided they should be called World Best Noodles)

Boxing Day we spent with Sharon's family (ham was on the menu here), and the next day we had turkey with her extended family. So we had a well-rounded Christmas menu.

The newlyweds Brian and Andree got back from their honeymoon just in time to join us for Christmas. (Their plane got in at 3a.m. Christmas Day.)And of course the girls loved opening presents! They got too many to mention, but they loved them all!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and best wishes in the New Year!

Something's Fishy...

So we've had our first pet. Past tense. Uncle Brian and Auntie Andree had fish as centre pieces for their wedding reception and we got to take one home to keep. Rachael and Kaitlyn named him (or her, I guess) Bubbles. That was Saturday. So Sunday we went out and bought some fish food for it. Then Monday morning I noticed the fish was "swimming" vertically. Not a good sign. So we had to have a little toilet-flushing ceremony. Oh, well. The girls weren't too upset. I had just finished telling them that he probably wouldn't live for very long - though I had anticipated a life span a little bit long than this!

Here Comes The... Flower Girls!

Rachael and Kaitlyn got to be flower girls for Uncle Brian and Auntie Andree's wedding and they did an awesome job!

They were very brave walking down the aisle.

(Unfortunately the camera wasn't cooperating, so no picture of that :-(
They said that it wasn't even too scary. Mommy and Daddy were in the front pew and Uncle Brian had candy for them so there was no where else to go!
The girls sure do love their new Auntie Andree!
Lots of twirling in those beautiful dresses Gram made! And Auntie Andree even bought them little tiaras, so this was really Princess Day!
Can't pass up an opportunity for a family photo when everyone is all dressed up!

O Christmas Tree

Once again there was snow on the ground when we got our Christmas Tree! Two years in a row! Rachael and Kaitlyn helped Mommy decorate.

Curious George Party!

Kaitlyn had a Curious George Birthday Party for her third birthday. And once again Auntie Kendra made an awesome birthday cake! She's amazing! (To see the creation of this cake visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/4walls/sets/72157594404100297/ )And Auntie Shannon brought Curious George balloons, plates and napkins. And, most importantly, Mommy found Curious George scrapbook paper for her scrapbook!

Lots of presents!
Lots of fun!

Somebody's Birthday Today!

Guess who's 3 today!

It's Kaitlyn!

Today is her real birthday and on Saturday we're having her "pretend" birthday party.

Auntie Kendra is going to make her a Curious George birthday cake!
Bringing Rachael to school everyday gets a little soggy sometimes so Kaitlyn got her very own umbrella - a Ducky one even! Though instead of rain like usual here on the Wet Coast we have snow. It snowed on Kaitlyn's 1st birthday; it snowed on Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday; it snowed on Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday. This may not sound unusual, but around here... this is very strange!

So Much Snow!!!

Well, we've had our share of snow for this winter already! It started snowing Saturday night and just kept on snowing and snowing and snowing! 24 hours of steady snow.
And we're not talking a few flakes here and there, we're talking about a major dumping. But at least we've got two snow days home from school so far. Darcy stayed home on Monday but braved the elements on Tuesday. The roads are ice. Snow removal is practically non-existant. Even the major roads weren't plowed yet. Traffic on the freeway was crawling this morning. The world shuts down when it snows around here.
It's Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday on Wednesday. It snowed on her first birthday a little; it snowed on her second birthday a bit more; her third birthday is looking like there's still going to be major snow around here with more on the way! That may not sound like a big deal for November, but it just doesn't snow around here! If it does, it's usually in January.
Giddy-up, Uncle Gord!

Who needs a horse when you've got an uncle who'll pull you around the yard!

Not exactly the best of sleighs, but it'll do in a pinch.

Princesses in the Making

Rachael and Kaitlyn had to try on their Flower Girl dresses for Gram.

Practicing for Princesses Day (aka Uncle Brian and Auntie Andree's wedding!)

A Chain Letter? She's Not Even 3!!!

Wasn't Kaitlyn surprised to be getting something in the mail today. I thought it might be a birthday invitation or something like that. But, no. A chain letter. She's two years old and it's started already?!?!

This chain letter was for the sticker club. Send a pack of stickers to the two named on the letter and then send the letter to 12 friends. 12 friends? She doesn't even have 12 friends!!! (OK, so I looked at the letter again, and it's 12 copies of a letter, 2 sent to 6 friends, but still!)

Then the letter goes on to give you a guilt trip. "It isn't fiar to those kids who have already participated if you don't follow." Well, I do feel kind bad because we know the two girls named in the letter, but I think we'll probably just get them a pack of stickers. There's no way I'm forwarding a chain letter.

At least this one didn't go on about 7 years bad luck if you don't!

Who You Calling Scruffy-Looking?

It was cold working outside for a few days a couple of weeks ago, so Darcy decided to grow a beard. The rest of us were not impressed. He had it for 2 weeks, then it started to itch, so Darcy told me if I took a picture of him with the girls he'd shave it off! Yay!

Good bye and Good riddance!

Still My Baby Girl

"Mommy, I'm all done sleeping."


Well, maybe not quite. I picked her up, brought her to the couch and she promptly fell back to sleep! When's the last time that happened?

Rachael's Reading!

After only 8 weeks of Kindergarten, Rachael's reading!

Some of her first books include "The Vet" (which she read with minimal help) and "Le Lion Voit" (which she read with a little bit more help, but it is in French, after all!)

What a smartie!

Rachael's First Field Trip!

Rachael went on her first field trip with her K/1 class on Friday. They went to Willow View Farms. Mommy and Kaitlyn got to come, too! They got to pet the farm animals, learn about apples, go through a maze, go on a hay ride and pick a pumpkin!
And, of course, pose for Mommy and her camera!
It was lots and lots of fun!

We Love Auntie Andree!

Uncle Brian is getting married! Our new auntie is Auntie Andree and we love her so much! She is lots of fun!

We get to be flower girls at their wedding in December! That's just like being a Princess and that is very exciting!

15 Minutes of Fame

My girls made the newspaper!Last Saturday Gramps and Gram took Rachael and Kaitlyn to the Fair.

They did lots of fun stuff like face painting, really big balloon animals, hay rides and here they are on the swing ride. It's a little blurry, but it's definately them!
They're famous!

First Day of School

And so it begins... Rachael had her very first day of school today and she loved it!

She was only there for about 45 min but already they were doing crafty things so she was in heaven!

Back to the Zoo...

We went back to the zoo

with a bunch of "I Love NY" groupies!

aka the cousins! Amanda brought back a bunch of t-shirts when she went to New York and we thought they would look cute wearing them all together

Posing with the wild life...
Gramps and Gram came, too! We see them all the time and don't often take pictures with them, so we decided it was time they were added to the blog and scrapbook.

Cousins Day

Saturday, August 12th was Cousins Day!

The second cousins got together for a day of fun!There was Snow Cone making, Face Painting,and just plain fun playing together!
These are the "original" cousins!

Holidays!

On the August long weekend we went to Shuswap for a family gathering with the Stobbes. Eleven of the twelve great-grandchildren were there (with another one on the way) and Rachael was the second oldest - the youngest was a week and a half old! Here they all are with Oma and Opa.

We slept in a very small motel room. It had a double bed with a single bunk bed above it. The girls both wanted to sleep there so they squished it out for a few nights. Besides, it's way more fun sleeping together on a bunk bed!

Rachael hit it off great with her second-cousins Abby and Tim. You'd have thought they played together all the time!

And Kaitlyn found a friend her age - Tim's sister Meghan.

We went to the beach a couple of times and had yummy ice cream!
And we had campfires and roasted lots of marshmallows!
We had a fun weekend. Almost everyone was able to come.

We hope to see everyone again at the wedding at Christmas!