I can't blog with pictures right now until I delete some file space or purchase more...so I'm busily trying to get my 2011 "365 Day Project" done and then I can delete that blog so I have more space...
Blogger drives me NUTS!
In the mean time...I just updated my 2012 "365 Day Project" check it out over there ---------->
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Family Pictures
Back in October Melissa did our Family Pictures! I am SO happy with them...the kids were SO good and they smiled and looked at the camera and we just enjoyed a moment together, rather than Daniel and I yelling at the kids and them complaining the whole time...it was a huge welcome...my kids must be growing up!
This first image is now a HUGE 24x36 canvas hanging in my living room that
I look at each day and LOVE!
(ps - blogger must hate photographers because the quality of these uploads are BRUTAL)!
Ring in the New
The last day of 2011 was spent celebrating with friends and family, playing games and visiting!
The kids wanted to stay up to witness the changing of the year, so we watched a countdown on the TV in our room in our PJ's. The clock turned to 12:00, we kissed, celebrated and as the clock changed to 12:01 I do believe we were all tucked into bed ;)
Christmas
Christmas really did start off during the last week of school before break.
Daniel and I realized that Keira had never went to visit Santa...so at the age of 4 we took her for her first visit. Unfortunately for Jason he had to get in on the action too (he was so embarrassed).
I can't believe that we never took her before and actually felt a little bad about that. She didn't seem to mind though and actually could have cared less, so I guess that was my own guilt that needed to be fed rather than her deep desire to visit the man in red.
Jason had written to the big man (Santa that is) at school and was surprised to get a reply in the mail a few days later. He was assured that Rudolph was doing well.
Jeremy and Becca were heading to Mexico for Christmas so they had a Christmas Party before they headed. It was a ton of fun with games and great food. Jason learned a new game (Stratego) and loved it so much that Dan and I decided it needed to be an addition on Christmas.
We made some new recipes and did some Christmas baking. This picture is of the Cinnamon Bun Popcorn that we made and let me tell you - YUMMY TO THE TUMMY! It is so good!
We attended our Ward Christmas Breakfast this year, which was a hoot! They had pancakes for all and some fun songs and games. The kids with the best Christmas socks won prizes. We definitely are fans of Christmas Ward Breakfasts and will advocate for another for next year!
Granny Jo celebrated a birthday prior to Christmas and we all headed out to join in the festivities.
Santa Claus wrote to Jason & Keira and bestowed a magical key to them to hang on the door each Christmas Eve for only Santa to gain access into our home...because we don't have a chimney Santa was really thinking this year ;)
Jason's school Christmas Concert was a success this year...no fat Santa songs like last year!
Jason was pretty proud of himself because he was also in choir this year, so he had 4 different songs to participate in and he had done well memorizing all the words and performed well.
Granny Jo, Nana, Pa, Great Grandma Elgert and Auntie Bobean all were in
attendance and Jason loved that!
We went caroling with some people from our church. We went to a few different senior homes and sang our hearts out.
Then finally the long awaited holiday came!!! We all headed out to Nana & Pa's house on Christmas Eve. We celebrated with our traditional Italian Feast of 12 dishes...er ummm, maybe like 25 this year, no one counted and the dishes just kept coming! The food was FABULOUS.
We have started no doing gifts (probably the last 3-4 years) and the adults participate in a Chinese Gift Exchange, which is always a hoot. Daniel and I scored some high quality merchandize!
We also played some fun games and the kids acted out the Nativity. This year it was a lot better than last because the kids are getting old enough to remember the story and remember what each character in the story is supposed to do. Somehow I ended up in the wise man costume (again) and Melissa played in integral part in the play (the sheep and camel).
The kids opened a Christmas Eve gift of games and then the Sandman came with their PJ's. Jason and Keira got robes as well this year and Jason and Keira were THRILLED beyond words with them...they had wanted robes for years, but they are hard to find...but I happened upon them in Costco one day back in October and snatched them up. All through Christmas Jason kept his on and made many comments about how much he loved his. He even made a few comments about how he was really going to enjoy his robe in the mornings when he was eating breakfast and reading the newspaper...haha...I think my kids watch too much TV!
We made it home JUST in the nick of time (thanks to the iphone tracker) to get some Santa snacks out and hang the key on the doorknob...
The kids climbed into bed and were sleeping in seconds!
The next morning the kids awoke to their Santa Gifts and stockings!
After the kids went through their stockings and gifts we got all dolled up for Church and headed over for the sacrament meeting Christmas presentation.
It was a really nice way to celebrate the birth of the Savior. The music was beautiful and the messages simple and reverent.
We came home, put our PJ's BACK ON and stayed that way for the day! We enjoyed gift opening, breakfast pizza (YUM), and a nap (OH YEAH)!
We played some new Wii games, watched some movies and ate a roast beef dinner. It was an AWESOME way to celebrate the day...quite, just our family and enjoying some things that we don't normally get to enjoy when running from family to family.
Boxing Day started off with crepes made by my super hot hubby and we invited the Caputo Family over to partake. Normally crepes are a Christmas Day tradition, but this year with Church in the morning we decided to move it over to Boxing Day.
We played games and had a nice visit with everyone. After everyone left to their various festivities we headed out to the Dick Family to see everyone and visit.
Uncle Travis took the kids on a "sleigh" ride, which lasted hours and the kids had a blast. We enjoyed MUCH good food and visiting. Most of the cousins were there (minus the E gang who are in Halifax this year) and everyone was getting along and having a blast.
That about sums up the actual "Christmas" part of our break...the rest of the break was spent watching movies, bowling, tobogganing, swimming, playing Wii, and visiting family.
Below is our Christmas Letter that I sent out...I wanted to include it since it is a family update.
2011 On The Fly
Ms. Sassy Pants Princess turned 4 years old in January. She pretty much runs the place, I mean doesn’t the saying go “those who scream the loudest win?!”
Keira loves animals and until August (when we moved) her daily routine was to help Pa with the chores and torment...I mean love all the animals. She is a wild child but so very sweet and loving too.
She is a real princess, her days consist of wearing copious amounts of pink, playing with her stuffed puppies, having tea parties, attending Ballet class, and all with a plastic crown on her head.
She should have went to Kindergarten in September, despite the fact she would have been the youngest in the class because she is “bored, bored, bored” in her words and I try very hard to occupy her time with fun learning things, but it doesn’t seem to work!
She loves to make special notes for all the family with glitter glue and stickers and hand deliver them with hugs and kisses. She also just recently started scrap booking and “crafts up a storm” in her words...or mine, I can’t remember who said it first!
Our second grader keeps us on our toes! His favorite thing is making maps of either real locations or making up his own worlds. He also loves looking at his Atlas he got for his birthday, charting his large wall map and playing the “Guess what continent I’m thinking about” game with his globe...
He also recently (on his birthday) discovered his LOVE for lego!!! He and Dan (because some times it’s a bit tricky) spent countless hours building the perfect fighter jet, tank and army compound (thank goodness for step by step instructions)!
Jason had a very successful first year at Baseball. He started out very much a Rookie and by the end was hitting the ball and catching. By next year I’m sure he’ll have improved that much more! He also tried his hand at Basketball on the Community League. Though he didn’t have much face time with the ball he put his heart and soul into it!
Jason does exceptionally well at so many things, he makes us smile with his witty humour and keeps us shaking our heads...or running for google with his questions and comments.
Let’s just say busy is an understatement! Daniel was called into the Bishopric at church, which means lots of time away from the family. He is still teaching math at WCHS. He continues to coach Track and Field, Tennis & Volleyball. During the summer he worked like a mad man trying to finish up the many contracting jobs that he was offered. He worked every single day he could and it still wasn’t enough. He ended up having to finish up some jobs during the school year in September and October during the weekends and holidays.
Daniel also has been working for the last year on the process to change careers. He was accepted to do his Air Traffic Control and school will start in May!
Pretty much we embrace ALL the time we get with him and think he’s pretty awesome!
We moved away from Nana & Pa in August, a whole 15 minutes away. We decided we needed to grow up and move away from home! The kids had a hard time because what kid doesn’t want to live with Nana & Pa?!
We finished up Mom & Dad’s home just in time to renovate our own place! Dan & I bought a house in Wetaskiwin in August. It has so much potential, but it needs much in the way of renovations. We are slowly doing projects, not as insane as when we renovated Mom and Dad’s, but renos none the less. It’s fun to do, and somehow after two entire years of renovations we both seem to really enjoy these projects together... and shockingly enough still really enjoy each other!
When I’m not painting, renovating, sewing, cleaning, cooking, teaching Keira pre-school, doing my calling at church, running kids to and from school, yard work, babysitting my nephews, doing my more full-time than part-time job at Chicks That Click, and running the kids to their lessons and “extras”, I really enjoy...sleeping...yes, sleeping is my new “spare time”.
With Daniel & I so busy in the summer we made a list of day trips to do in the summer with the kids and whenever we could we took the day and enjoyed some much needed family time. We went to the beach, walked through Jurassic Forest, learned new things at the Museum, went fishing with Pa the rest of the crew and (always the kids favorite) had a few staycations and went swimming!
We’re looking forward to 2012! We wish you all a Wonderful Christmas!
2011 On The Fly
Keira
Ms. Sassy Pants Princess turned 4 years old in January. She pretty much runs the place, I mean doesn’t the saying go “those who scream the loudest win?!”
Keira loves animals and until August (when we moved) her daily routine was to help Pa with the chores and torment...I mean love all the animals. She is a wild child but so very sweet and loving too.
She is a real princess, her days consist of wearing copious amounts of pink, playing with her stuffed puppies, having tea parties, attending Ballet class, and all with a plastic crown on her head.
She should have went to Kindergarten in September, despite the fact she would have been the youngest in the class because she is “bored, bored, bored” in her words and I try very hard to occupy her time with fun learning things, but it doesn’t seem to work!
She loves to make special notes for all the family with glitter glue and stickers and hand deliver them with hugs and kisses. She also just recently started scrap booking and “crafts up a storm” in her words...or mine, I can’t remember who said it first!
Jason
Our second grader keeps us on our toes! His favorite thing is making maps of either real locations or making up his own worlds. He also loves looking at his Atlas he got for his birthday, charting his large wall map and playing the “Guess what continent I’m thinking about” game with his globe...
He also recently (on his birthday) discovered his LOVE for lego!!! He and Dan (because some times it’s a bit tricky) spent countless hours building the perfect fighter jet, tank and army compound (thank goodness for step by step instructions)!
Jason had a very successful first year at Baseball. He started out very much a Rookie and by the end was hitting the ball and catching. By next year I’m sure he’ll have improved that much more! He also tried his hand at Basketball on the Community League. Though he didn’t have much face time with the ball he put his heart and soul into it!
Jason does exceptionally well at so many things, he makes us smile with his witty humour and keeps us shaking our heads...or running for google with his questions and comments.
Daniel & Amanda
Let’s just say busy is an understatement! Daniel was called into the Bishopric at church, which means lots of time away from the family. He is still teaching math at WCHS. He continues to coach Track and Field, Tennis & Volleyball. During the summer he worked like a mad man trying to finish up the many contracting jobs that he was offered. He worked every single day he could and it still wasn’t enough. He ended up having to finish up some jobs during the school year in September and October during the weekends and holidays.
Daniel also has been working for the last year on the process to change careers. He was accepted to do his Air Traffic Control and school will start in May!
Pretty much we embrace ALL the time we get with him and think he’s pretty awesome!
We moved away from Nana & Pa in August, a whole 15 minutes away. We decided we needed to grow up and move away from home! The kids had a hard time because what kid doesn’t want to live with Nana & Pa?!
We finished up Mom & Dad’s home just in time to renovate our own place! Dan & I bought a house in Wetaskiwin in August. It has so much potential, but it needs much in the way of renovations. We are slowly doing projects, not as insane as when we renovated Mom and Dad’s, but renos none the less. It’s fun to do, and somehow after two entire years of renovations we both seem to really enjoy these projects together... and shockingly enough still really enjoy each other!
When I’m not painting, renovating, sewing, cleaning, cooking, teaching Keira pre-school, doing my calling at church, running kids to and from school, yard work, babysitting my nephews, doing my more full-time than part-time job at Chicks That Click, and running the kids to their lessons and “extras”, I really enjoy...sleeping...yes, sleeping is my new “spare time”.
With Daniel & I so busy in the summer we made a list of day trips to do in the summer with the kids and whenever we could we took the day and enjoyed some much needed family time. We went to the beach, walked through Jurassic Forest, learned new things at the Museum, went fishing with Pa the rest of the crew and (always the kids favorite) had a few staycations and went swimming!
We’re looking forward to 2012! We wish you all a Wonderful Christmas!
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