Ski Weekend

Cera, Emilee and Dad wanted to go on another ski weekend but Elizabeth wasn't too excited about it - so Mom and Elizabeth stayed home to play!  We started the fun with a visit to Aunt Jadi and Clare who are in the hospital.  We had a good visit followed by some yummy food from Peter's Drive In! (Elizabeth's new favorite place.)

Yummy - onion rings and a milkshake bigger than Elizabeth's head!  The hardest part for Elizabeth was picking what flavor to get.

Normally Mom has nothing to do with the dog but had to tag along as Elizabeth isn't quite ready to do walks on her own.  While the others were away, Mom and Elizabeth had to do a few walks.  Elizabeth loved to spot the deer on the walks.  There was always at least one to find!

Mom and Elizabeth decided to hit up the spa!  Massage chairs, visiting, pedicures....so relaxing!

Elizabeth even got a manicure!  Can you say spoiled?!?

Cera, Emilee and Dad enjoyed a weekend away!  The second day was pretty windy so they received lift tickets to use another day and came home early.  Everyone had a great weekend!

Rowan House Donation

Remember Cera's passion project? Well she finished some more of the owls and was ready to take them to the Rowan House.  We had a perfect box to fit them in but Cera had to make it pretty!!

She wrapped up the box with craft paper and then.....

....used her spray paint machine and stencils to make it beautiful!

Cera gave each of her 12 owls a big hug and cuddle before she put them into the box to be given to other kids!

The girls loved their visit to the Rowan House when we dropped off the owls.  The ladies at the Rowan House loved the owls!  It was a perfect afternoon of learning and gaining a greater appreciation and understanding of the Rowan House and all that they offer. 

Cera was so happy to have done this project and is looking forward to making more owls to donate.

School Fun

The older girls had participated in BOKS kids last year at school.  They would go to school half hour early 3 days a week and basically do exercise and talk about nutrition but in a fun way that they loved.  They were excited for it to start again this year and Elizabeth was excited to be part of it this year.  (At least for the first month or so and then she would have rather slept in!  Commitment is sometimes hard to follow through on but she did it!)

Cera was also able to try snowshoeing this year at school.  She had fun but said it was hard work.  (Cera is in the second row in the purple jacket.)

Okay - not school fun but fun for the girls!  They spotted a small dog on the way home from church one day.  It was pretty cold out and they felt they couldn't just let him run around.  After following after it for a long time (it was very skittish) they finally caught him and brought him into our warm house.  After posting the picture on a lost pets site, we quickly found it's owners.  The girls were a bit sad to let the small puppy go.

With Mom working at the cafe at the school three days a week and volunteering two mornings, she gets to see a lot of the girls.  While working at the cafe, Mom spotted Elizabeth working with her grade 4 buddy.  Elizabeth talks about her buddy a lot and really likes her.  It was a cute moment!

The girls were all able to wear their Be Clare Courageous shirts to school on the day of one of Clare's surgeries.  They love their shirts and were happy to show their support for Clare and her family during these hard times.

Family Outings and Work

One Sunday afternoon we decided to go on a "fun" family adventure.  (It might not have been fun for everyone, or just Mom, as some of us don't love the snow and cold!  But luckily Mom survived.)  Dad had to help his girls down the snow river bank.

Elizabeth was pretty nervous to walk down the snowy hill so Dad carried her.  What a great Dad!

Luckily the sun was out so it wasn't too cold.  Mojo loved going on a longer walk too - new things to look at and smell.

Emilee spotted this "Christmas tree" while we were walking.  She just had to have her picture taken by it.  Whoever added a little sparkle to this tree in the middle of no man's land sure brought a smile to Emilee's day.

We also passed this teepee.  The girls thought Mojo should check it out and of course Mom had to snap a picture!

Elizabeth had a wonderful imagination of what all the snow and ice chunks on the pathway were.  She also loved to use her strength to crush bigger pieces of snow and ice with her feet.  It was a great afternoon family adventure!

Cera decided to do a photoshoot with Mojo.  She had fun snapping a bunch of photos and trying to get Mojo to pose.  She got some great shots of her favorite dog!

One morning Elizabeth and Mom decided it was time to clean out her "special box" as it was overflowing.  Elizabeth did great at deciding what was most important for her to keep and had a huge pile for recycling and garbage!  Purging feels so good!

Mom might be biased but Elizabeth was way too cute on this day to not take a picture!  She might have been looking a little too grown up for Mom's liking though.  How can we make our kids stop growing!?!

Southern Fun

We were grateful to be able to make a trip down south over the holidays.  It started with a visit to Great Grandma and Grandpa Richards.  They have moved since our last visit so it was fun to see their new place.  After a tour and visit in their room they wanted to take the girls out to dinner at DQ.  They enjoyed their meal and then looked forward to their ice cream treat after.

Great Grandma and Grandpa had an ice cream treat with their meal also.  Em ended up with a few treats to finish up that weren't wanted or others got full of.  Emilee gave it a great effort but wasn't able to finish them all up either!

After our visit and dinner, we headed to Aunt Tori and Uncle Tyler's.  We stole a bed for the night before getting up for a yummy breakfast followed by a new experience for the girls -  rock climbing!  They were a bit nervous but pretty pumped!

Look at those monkeys's go!!

Elizabeth was the most nervous but after watching her sisters was willing to give it a try.  She needed a little more direction but did great for her first time!

That smile says it all - a new found love!

Although the girls were sure they would make it to the top (maybe a little much on their first day of climbing), Cera did set a lower goal and made it.  Way to go Cera!!

Some of the rocks seemed a little bit of a reach for Elizabeth but she gave it her best.

Mom tried to help Elizabeth find some good foot and hand holds.  It's much easier to see them from the ground than when you are on the wall!

Even though it was hard work and a bit scary, that smile shows us she still loved it!

That's 3 big smiles for a very successful and fun day!

There was also a bouldering room.  This is where you can climb around without ropes or a harness.  There are some mats below in case you fall.  Elizabeth loved this area!

Emilee enjoyed the bouldering also but first pick was the rock climbing wall.

The girls had fun and felt pretty strong and proud of themselves by the end of the day.  After about 4 hours of climbing we (or atleast the adults) were ready to call it a day.  The girls were hungry but wanted to eat and head back! 

It was a super fun day with learning and growth by the girls!  We are grateful Tori and Tyler were certified for belaying and were willing to do it for hours! 

New Year Fun

Early in the new year we were invited to our friends, Ken and Peggy's, for some outdoor fun!  Ken had made some nice big piles of snow for the girls to play on.

Elizabeth had a hard time getting her sled to the top, getting on it and sliding down so she just resorted to her bum for sliding!  (To her credit, the top was fairly thin and hard to balance the big sleds on.)

Emilee loved sliding down the man made hill.  She was often laughing and smiling the whole way down.

After sledding for awhile, Emilee decided to build a mini snowman at the bottom of the hill.  Isn't he cute!?!

We also headed over to a bigger hill to slide down.  It had a lot of snow on it and if you didn't walk carefully, you'd sink in up to your knees!  Can you see how excited the girls were to go down this hill?

They loved it until the spray of snow completed covered the sled and whoever was on it!  We had a great day full of sledding, playing and visiting!

Aren't Dad's the coolest!?!  On one of Dad's days off over the holidays he took the girls to Extreme Air Park.  To say they loved it is an understatement!

Every 20 minutes they had some black light time, they also played some dodge ball and just jumped around till their hearts content.  It was a great day!

It's been a great start to 2017!