Christmas Celebrations

Where do I start after five days of jam-packed fun? On Monday (after a late night with friends on Sunday) we headed to my parent's place in London. This is the first time we have gone away with all the kids to stay overnight someplace. What a lot of work it was to get four kids and a dog ready for a sleepover! It felt like I was packing for a week and it was only for two nights. It was all worth it though because we had a wonderful time visiting with Grandpa and Grandma. The highlight was skating on the outdoor rink in downtown London's Victoria Park on Christmas Day.






Trying out sjoelbakken for the first time. The girls loved it!

After arriving home Boxing Day after lunch it was time to start preparing for the gourmetten party we were having that evening. Friends were coming over who had never tried it before and so we put our kids to bed and had a nice three hour dinner. This time I did beef, chicken, shrimp and bacon for the meats and curry, teryaki, sweet n' sour and szechwan for the sauces. It is just so yummy and I always eat too much; oh well, stir fry is healthy, right?!?!
Thursday was a family day as we had Alex, Sarah and Lucas over (from BC) and Pete and Chandra and family for dinner. The kids had a blast going tobogganing at our local golf course with the dads while the ladies relaxed at home with the babies. Lucas isn't such a baby anymore and it was nice to see how much he had grown since the last time we saw him.

Alex and cuddly Naomi.

Lucas having fun in our toy basket.

Pete, Justin and Matthew ready for the "plunge"!

Kids scattered everywhere.

Vanessa and Naomi trudging up the hill as Anna careens towards them.

A great picture of Melanie heading back up.

The kids' table.

Enjoying Italian turkey (aka lasagna, ceasar salad and garlic bread :)

Two cute trouble makers.

Then on Friday night we were invited to friends of ours who spoil us every Christmas. We enjoyed a very yummy dinner and lots of good snack food. The kids also were spoiled with very cute gifts that they had to wear that night to bed. New pajamas are always a hit and make going to bed so much more fun. They are such a nice family and have treated us like one of their own. Colin met their son in university and since then we've kept in touch with him and his family and his parents.




I just realized that I have no pictures of Silas on here so here's one to see how much he has grown. Here he is with his Christmas presents he received from us.