New Years

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope that it is a happy and healthy one! I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family and have resolved to be a more patient Mom (and drop a few pounds - but hey, I love my chocolate!).

New Years Eve we (Bruce, Alida, Chris and I) went for wings and Mom and dad watched all the kids. We were back by 6:00 and then just hung out. The kids love playing together and we thought we'd see how long they hung in there.
We tried to play a few games, but it is near impossible with the kids. We did play Pictionary with some success. Elyse guessed what Chris was drawing when I couldn't and her pictures were quite good too!
So we made it to 10:00 with the kids - here is our 10:00pm New Year! Chris and I took the girls home and made it to midnight just the two of us. Very mellow this year but it was nice!

New Years Day

We have a tradition of bowling and playing games on New Years Day. We were all a little skeptical of how bowling would go, but it was GREAT! The kids LOVED it and we all had a good time.
Elyse was very keen and loved to cheer everyone one. I was surprised that she was patient enough to wait her turn.

Paige was such a good sport. Every time the ball rolled down the lane she would watch it all the way and then cheer. It was too cute!

We still play games but we have moved on to the electronic type -- the Wii. It is really fun and the kids love it.

Paige and "Bumpa" are best buddies.Elyse and Paige showing off their horses to Grandma. It was really fun to have everyone over. It was a great day.

This is just random but I love that Paige and Elyse are getting to the age that they really like to be around each other. They are so cute together and I hope they will the best of friends.

Christmas Day

Elyse was super excited. Crystal and Anita had arrived at about 12:30am, we are lucky they arrived at all with all the storms across Canada. Most flights from Victoria were cancelled, so we were thankful that arrived - late but safe and sound. Of course Paige decided this would be a great night to wake up at 2:00am and not want to go back to sleep. She finally feel asleep with us around 4:30am so she was in great shape for a long day of festivities. Elyse and Auntie Crystal, checking out what Santa left in the stockings.

Like I said, Paige was pretty tired, so it took her awhile to warm up to everything.

Elyse was thrilled with all her princess dress-up stuff from Santa. She also was excited to see that he brought her the cupcake maker that she has been asking for all month.

Paige too was excited to get her own set of princess items from Santa. She really wants EVERYTHING Elyse has these days, so smart Santa brought one for her too.

By the time we got to Mom and Dad's to open presents, Paige was about done. It is hard for that age, there is so much going on and so many things to look at, it was a bit of an overload.

Elyse was pretty game to open all the presents.

With all that being said, we had a great Christmas and it was really nice to be able to spend it with both families. I love Christmas and I am sad to see it over, but it was a wonderful time and as the girls get older it just gets better and better.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, just before bed in new P.J.'s and a new bear.

This is the kids singing Rudolph at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We always do our big turkey dinner on Christmas Eve so that everyone can relax and enjoy Christmas day. It was a great meal - Thanks Mom!

Paige is ready to hit the party.

Elyse is seriously a poser!

Some Pics of the Christmas season

These are kind of out of order but these are a few of the things we did during the holiday season. Is it just me or did it go faster than usual this year?!!?? With this brutal cold weather we didn't get to do many outside activities that I love, like the zoo lights. Oh well, there is always next year. We went to a gingerbread making class with Connor and Alida, it was fun and it turned out pretty good.

There is a singing Santa at one of the malls, he plays the piano and sings and Elyse really likes it. She is really into the whole Christmas thing, esp. Santa, she is one of those kids who loves mascots and of course Santa. Paige is a different story. This was her third time seeing a Santa and was only bribed because he had candy - ah the power of a candy cane :)

Paige loves to wear her sunglasses inside but would not keep them on for anything in Bahamas'.

This is what you get when you are busy doing something and you have an older sister to help the younger sister get into things.

See the love of Santa -- we are talking NO fear!

The only good thing about all the snow is that Chris and Elyse made this cool snowman, that was the beginning of Dec and it has been quite cold since.Paige is pretty cool at our Santa party, she is smiles now but cried as soon as Santa arrived.

Elyse again is all smiles. We are so lucky to have Santa come to our party every year to kick off the holiday season. Too bad Uncle Dave missed him ;)

Another round of Ballet

Elyse and Brooklyn finished their second round of Tiny Ballerina's. Elyse LOVED it. She is such a girly, girl. She loved to have a audience that the recital - Grandma and Grandpa came too. I was suprised at how well she listened - now if I could only get her to do that for me!!!

Bahamas

I haven't updated for so long, so here is a quick recap of the last two months. We went to Bahamas in November, it was amazing! The girls loved it and it was really nice just to have time to hang out and be together. We were fortunate that Mom could join us and Bruce and Alida and the gang came too.
Paige loved all the fish. Their aquariums are truly world class.

I LOVE this pic of Paige and Chris. She is still a Mommy's girl, but after this trip the race is getting tighter :)