I'm Dreamin'... or am I?

No, it's not actually a dream. We are having a white Christmas. I know, I know, it's not "Saskatchewan white" but white none the less. It started this afternoon & I'm thinking that the local store that promised previous purchases would be free if we had snow on Christmas is regretting that decision!

This is a snapshot of the delightful chaos in our home last night (and this morning). What you don't see is the garbage bags that Grandpa was busy stuffing with discarded wrapping paper, so the children wouldn't disappear beneath it all. It's so fun to see the kids enjoying what we picked out for them & to hear their joy as they discover "just what I wanted". It was also fun to sing "Happy Birthday dear Jesus" together this morning. Cindi, Olivia & Sabrina made a birthday cake for Jesus (you can see a picture on Cindi's blog)
We are blessed!!!!!!!!!

picture this

Have you ever tried to get a family picture taken with five kids under the age of six? Let me tell you, it's a challenge! But we persevered - maybe I'll post it some day. But for today, you get Rick & Vange aka Grandpa & Grandma. We so seldom take pictures of just ourselves, & we actually both liked this one, so - here we are.
We wish you a very blessed Christmas!
May the season whisper peace to your heart.

Swiss Mountain Shortbread

I came across this recipe three years ago. We've never really been partial to shortbread, however when I discovered I could enhance the flavour by adding chocolate, I was all over it! The dusting of icing sugar just seems appropriate today with all the white stuff outside.

These were taken this morning - we've had about a foot of snow fall since then. It's all fun and games until somebody has to drive to work in the morning. YUK!

got milk?

Welcome December...had I taken this picture today, everything beyond the window would be white. Unfortunately, I was too busy wrapping presents today to think about taking pictures.

The last two Sunday afternoons, I, together with my girls & Viv, have been busy with our annual cookie extravaganza. I don't have pictures of the first day - that day we made approximately a gajillion sugar cookies (all decorated by hand, of course) & slightly fewer peppermint cookies (my personal favorite). As shown here, last Sunday we made armys of gingerbread men & stacks of jam-jams. Malcolm is showing remarkable self-restraint, don't you think?

Olivia has proven to be quite a productive helper. Might I even say she outlasted some of the adults... you know who you are!

Our last project, after the gingerbread & jam-jams were boxed up, was peppernuts. We hadn't planned to make them that day, but since we were super efficient with getting the cookies done, Becky had to call Greg at home to pack up the boys & get over to our house. See, we NEVER make peppernuts without Greg - he is our quality control/morsel placer. These things are labor-intensive, so they's that wanna eat em's gotta help make em! And he can eat em!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow afternoon - shortbread!

this & that

Just last week we had ALOT of kids come to our door asking for treats. I happened to have my camera handy for the five MOST adorable ones, in fact, we invited them in & fed them supper too. (We were a little afraid of the tiny lion - he was pretty fierce!)

We actually had two lions come for supper, so we ate in the den...

Fast forward to tonight - yes, that's right, I said tonight. Yes, I know it's Nov 9th. No, I'm not crazy. Any other questions?

Now, I take you back about three weeks to the weekend of our "big cook". If you haven't read Cindi's blog lately, she did a great post on this endeavour. We've been enjoying many great dinners ( and some which we wouldn't do again). It's a great concept & I'm sure we'll repeat it sometime early in the new year. That's how long it'll be until I have to think "what should I make for dinner". Instead, I just have to choose a dinner that's oven ready! Good times!!
Have a great weekend everyone. I'll be decorating - woohoo!!!!!

Autumn Getaway

Last week, Rick & I took a rare week off together & drove a little distance north. This is one of the paths we walked, as we enjoyed reflecting on our many blessings...

...one of them being a succesful six month checkup for Rick at the cancer clinic, what a great relief that is! Reason to celebrate & give thanks!!!

We were joined for the last few days by my sister & bro-in-law - I gotta say - she makes the absolute best eggs benny!! I should say they - Ron poached the eggs to perfection. What a man.

Rick went on a hike by himself one afternoon (which I wouldn't recommend, since Viv & I had a close encounter with a black bear one evening) but he snapped some nice shots of God's creation. This one reminds us to keep looking up, even if there's alot of "stuff" in the way.

The first four days of our vacation, we were joined by our wonderful children & grandchildren. It was, at times, close fellowship and at all times - great fun!

Practicing for 2010; they still need some work on form, but enthusiasm is high...

...always good to relax in the hot tub after a day on the slopes (or just in the village)

This lucky grandma got lots of quality cuddle time - what else are you gonna do when you've got 11 people in a 2 bedroom condo?
Good Times!!!

Hang in there...

...a bunch of healthy, happy kidlets hangin' around at our house! What happy, grateful grandparents we are!!

where there's fire...

One of the advantages of living in Mission is that we're allowed to have contained fire in our own backyard. For the last two years I've envied our neighbours across the street. Their backyard looks like a scene right out of Survivor most nights, with the torches & the chiminea burning brightly. This spring they got us going by giving us a couple of their bamboo torches & we've added to the number over the course of the summer. The fire, however, was still missing. This weekend we remedied that. This evening we had our first fire in our new chiminea!

!

Of course, where there's fire...

...there's gotta be smores!!!!

Mmmmmm...can I have s'more?

ROSIE

We have a new baby at our house...


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...come a little closer & I'll show you...

This is Rosie. She has been christened thus by Olivia, who thinks all vehicles should have an appropriate name. Rosie's name is derived from a combination of her color & her owners' love of roses.

Rosie is not overly high maintenance - she just likes to be clean, get some fluids occasionally, go for drives (preferably out in the countryside, although she likes a fast ride every once in awhile). Friday night she wanted to go all the way to Coquitlam for pizza. Apparently she shares my love for Me & Ed's. Isn't she pretty?

Ya, we got a new car. It was time to replace "Oma Van" (appropriately named because of her age) :) Never had a new car before, and I've ALWAYS wanted a sunroof. Road trip anyone???

picnic?

This morning we decided on an impromptu picnic at a local park with our family. The skies were a little overcast, but it was still quite warm so we decided on a time to meet & I got to work making a picnic lunch. We met @ 11:00, the kidlets played at the playground & rode their bikes, Isaiah was just finishing his lunch & it was about time for the rest of us to eat when it started to rain. It quickly became apparent that it was not going to be just a passing shower - so - the last picture of this series will show you where we finished our picnic.

Isaiah is not only adorable but also one of the happiest babies I've ever known

Malcolm has learned how to say "cheese" when the camera is aimed his way (what a ham!)

Sabrina, Olivia & Noah - the three amigos - always have such fun together

...yes, that's our picnic blanket in the middle of our living room (and yes, it's still raining outside) What season is this again?

60th ANNIVERSARY!

Last weekend we had the priviledge of hosting Rick's family for the purpose of celebrating his parents' 60th wedding anniversary. It's the first time that we have all been together for that concentrated a length of time & it was SO good to catch up! We are spread out as far as Toronto (used to be as far as Peru) and we rarely get together as an entire family. We missed seeing alot of the grandkids - most didn't make the trip with their parents. Anyhow, we had everyone who could come for a bbq on friday night. Saturday & Sunday was just Dad & Mom & the sibs. We visited lots, laughed lots, cried some, ate well, slept a little & just generally enjoyed each others company.

This is the original family - before I led the invasion of in-laws back in 1973...

...and this is the family now. I wish we could have had all the kids & kidlets for a picture - now that would be impressive!!!