After our two days of driving we arrived at Nan and Papa's in Arizona! (Thank you to Great Aunt Wendy that provided us with beds to rest in on our way down and home!) We arrived on Dad's birthday so his favorite dinner (spaghetti) was waiting and a cake to celebrate. Happy birthday to the greatest Dad ever!
Of course Dad had to setup the girls virtual reality and introduce Nan and Papa to it. Papa loved it especially the car racing game.
Dad kept it safe and easy for Nan who went exploring under the sea. We weren't sure she was ready to be attacked by a shark.
The next morning the girls were up to pick some fresh oranges and lemons with Papa. They enjoyed learning about how to know when they are ready to be picked and how to do is safely.
The girls also learned how to cut and squeeze (or use the electric squeezer!) to make fresh juice for breakfast. Yummy!
They extended the hours that kids can be in the outdoor pool and they girls were so excited! We were usually the first to arrive in the morning and the workers just knew we must be from Canada! The girls enjoyed the pool all to themselves for a couple hours and the twenty degree temperatures were warm enough for them.
Mom enjoyed the gorgeous weather on the deck chairs beside the pool under the palm trees with a good book! We could all get use to this!
This year we went for turkey dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas eve (it fell on a Sunday this year). Then we saw Santa as he past Grandma's house on the firetruck. It was fun to walk to the street corner as a big group and wave.
After seeing Santa, we headed home to watch the traditional "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Our little family is really a couch full but we wouldn't want it any other way!
The girls (and Mojo) were then able to open one gift on Christmas Eve before heading to bed. You could almost feel their excitement!
A few gifts were added under and beside the tree over night! Cera was up super early but she kept fairly quiet in her room with her stocking. About 7am she had one sister join her, Emilee, and then the excitement spread to wake up everyone shortly after that.
The girls were spoiled again this year by each other, Grandma and Grandpa, Nan and Pappa and Mom and Dad. Their biggest surprise this year was virtual reality games. They couldn't wait for Dad to get it setup so they could play in between packing for our trip to Arizona. They are lucky to have such an amazing Dad who set it up for the day and then took it down and packed it up to take to Arizona with us.
At the cousin gift exchange Cera got the game Pie Face and was excited to try it as soon as she got home. Isn't she cute!?!
Such a strange game to want to play - tense and nervous that you are going to get a plop of whipping cream in your face!?! You slowly turn the crank the spun number of times and hope to not get smacked! Mom was not so lucky!
Emilee didn't escape the cream either!
And somehow Cera got it on her nose and between the eyes?!
And shockingly after that they want to play again! So crazy!
Christina Marie returned again this year to keep an eye on the girls and to get into a little mischief around the house. She must be getting comfortable with us as it seems she gets a bit crazier with each passing year!
She thought it would be fun to eat a few lindor chocolates - while trying to reach them she must have fallen into the box and got trapped. Struggles with being a small elf!
Christina Marie brought a few gifts this year - one being some new Christmas PJs for the girls. They must have been on the really good girls list.
Apparently the dinosaurs weren't on the same good list and weren't very happy with their lack of PJs!
She finished up the last of the salted caramel chocolate chip cookies. That didn't make anyone but her smile!
She was trying a little mission impossible entry to the girls gingerbread houses.
Christina Marie was also caught making snow angels in the sprinkles!
Even though she can be a crazy elf we enjoy having her around and the girls look forward to finding her each morning. All the best till next year Christina!
We were excited to go to the Nativity with Uncle Mike. The weather was chilly but fairly standard for December.
Our timing was right when we arrived as we had a few minutes before the nativity started and there wasn't a line up for the pictures at the stable so we ran right over. The girls loved the sheep and Uncle Mike was excited to smile for the cameras.
The girls also look forward to the Grandma (and Grandpa) sleepover each year. That's quite the crew that fill up Grandma's basement floor. This year they played some games, watched some movies, had their pancake breakfast and exchanged gifts. Some pretty wonderful memories are made at the sleepover each year! We don't think the girls will ever be too old to join the Grandma sleepover.
Who doesn't love an amazing sunrise to start their day!?!
Emilee and Cera are still loving activity days! They were proud of their sock snowmen they made. Way to go girls!
Cera was excited (and nervous) to start her club volleyball. She looks forward to learning lots from her coaches this season and also have some fun!
Mom had a birthday and Dad and the girls spoiled her. The flowers bloomed and were gorgeous for days!
We were able to fill the girls gift boxes with homemade chocolates and treats to share with their friends and teachers. It seems the list grows each year!
Elizabeth has learned how to make smashed (or scrambled as most people refer to them) eggs. Now that she has learned she wants to make them every day and will happily make them for anyone who would like. Growing up is so much fun!
Well, the snow started falling fast and hard for what seemed like forever! The youth activity that night was playing street hockey - and the way it turned out Mom had to bring the girls with her. After shoveling part of the parking lot some kids played hockey while others just played in the snow and others stayed inside to make the hot chocolate. Cera and her friend, Abby, had a blast jumping in the piles of fluffy snow. Crazy girls!
It seemed like the snow was never going to end but luckily Mom had some helpers to keep the driveway clear!
We received a lot of snow over a relatively short period of time. Winter is here!!
Mom spent a few days making dough, cooking the gingerbread houses and putting them together. The girls were so excited when the time came for them to decorate them! They had a pretty good selection of goodies to put their personal touches on each of their houses.
Cera's beautiful creation.
Emilee's fantastic house.
Elizabeth's wonderful home.
Mom had just cooked up all the dough she had so we had a few extra gingerbread houses left over. We divided up the icing and treats and decided to deliver some packages to a few of our friends. We hope it made them smile and they enjoyed this Christmas activity as much as we did!
One of our favorite activities during the Christmas season - the Charity Checkstop!! This year we decided to just give money instead of actual food donations. The girls were just as excited to hand bills as food out the window to the waiting police and fireman!
Uncle Mike was excited to wear his Santa hat and make some donations also.
We started our Christmas concert season with a band concert for Cera. She has started playing the flute (just like Mom) this year and is loving it. The grade 6 band did good but we are hoping they work on volume and balance this year as it was all just loud and seemed everyone was trying to out play everyone.
Next up was Emilee. She had been picked to be one of the elves in the Christmas play/concert and was very excited! She had memorized all of her parts and did great performing on stage.
Their grade also had a few songs to sing and Emilee had put in her time practicing.
Last concert on the list - Elizabeth! She took their class song assignments very seriously and practiced often.
She'd also practiced the song actions and performed them well!
We were so proud of all the girls - practicing and performing their best! So, of course, Dad took them for celebratory ice cream after the final concert!
We had planned to go to the Santa Claus parade but when the time came and the weather was pretty cold - 2 of the 3 girls weren't too interested anymore. (and possibly Mom was easily talked out of going out in the cold) Cera was so excited that her friend was going and invited her to come. They spent some time at the church looking at the creches that were setup. Look at those angels!
They also enjoyed the parade even with the cold weather!
This was a good year for chocolate making - all the fondants worked out the first time so Mom didn't even cry once this year!! After making fondant we set a day to dip up a storm!
Each year gets easier and easier as the kids get older and are happy to do more rolling and dipping. It's fun to watch them visit and have fun while working.
They are all starting to find which job is their favorite (dipping or rolling) but are great at taking turns doing all jobs. We are grateful to Grandma for sharing this talent and letting us come to her house to use all her cool toys that make the job easier. The girls friends look forward to their homemade chocolates each year!
