Family Christmas ...

Pictures of Ian & Kendall's Christmas tree ...
surrounded with gifts ...

Nixon & Daigen ...
on their ride 'em car and tractor ...
Nixon getting a yellow Tonka truck ...
just like his brother Daigen has ...

Daigen & Nixon ...
received the Waffle Blocks from Grandma & Grandpa ...
can see that daddy was having a fun time ...
building the kids a house ...
(apparently Daigen caved the roof down while Nixon was inside)

 

Ian received a ... 

Red Rider BB Gun ...

from Kendall ...

he has always wanted one ...

since he seen the movie ...

"A Christmas Story" 

Kendall had told him ...

"to be careful or you'll shoot your eye out "... 

just like Ralphie's mom had told him ... lol 

The family all dressed up for their Christmas dinner ...

love the boys shirts ...

(reminds me of when our  boys were dressed alike for holidays ... )

Our Christmas Day ...

Opening our gifts to each other ...
on a early quiet
 Christmas morning ...

Nathan and his family ...
arrived later in the afternoon ...
opening the gifts before dinner ...
Ella loved her new play kitchen ...
Craig & James loved the Waffle Blocks ...
and couldn't wait to go downstairs to start building ...
just love the TV ...lounge chair ... and the kitchen table and chairs ...
with Ella serving dinner from her new kitchen ...

Ella in her new apron ...
helping Grandma in the kitchen ...
Love my new Cuisinart Food Processor ...
made this delicious "Apple Crumb Cake" ...
for dessert ...
All of it prepared in my new machine ... 

Oma opening her gifts after dinner ...
she was really excited to receive her ...
Komperdell Trekking Poles ...
An evening of fun ...
spending time looking at pictures ...
seeing family and friends on Skype ...

A very Merry Christmas for all our families ... !!!

December Full Moon ...

 

 

 

A beautiful night ...

moon rays shining down on the snow ...

from the last Full Moon of 2012 ... !!! 

Santa Arrived ...

Santa and his sleigh ...
up on the rooftop ...
bringing gifts ...

 

Christmas stockings filled ...

presents ...

under the tree ...

waiting for the kids to arrive ...

Opa's Treasures ...

 

While we were visiting Ian and his family ...
a few weeks ago ...
we had taken up a storage bin full of Opa's things ...
the Bavarian Felt Hat was well received ...
and Nixon had a chance to try it on as well ...
a few other treasures ...
a couple of beer steins ... Opa's pipe box ... a plaque from the Autobody shop ...
Ian & Kendall had given Oma a little teddy ...
and Nixon was excited to find him ...
in the bin ...
(Daigen was already fast asleep at this time)


Ian was thrilled to have Opa's trench coat ...
a Sports Jacket ... vest ... shirts ...
and his shop smock ...

 

Once Ian had taken the items out of the bin ...

Nixon wanted to go inside and check it out ...

he continued to throw out the extra paper ... and made himself at home ...

Before Daigen had gone to bed ...

he had gotten Kendall's new monster boots ...

and decided to put them on ...

and model them for us ...

A picture taken just before ... we left to travel back home ...

It was great to spend a few days with 

Ian ... Kendall ... Daigen ... and Nixon ...!!!

Handmade Gifts ...

These cute log snowmen ...
were made by Kendall ...
to add to my Christmas decor ...
I love them ...
and understand how much time it takes to be creative ...
especially when you have two little guys ...
running around ...

 

Kendall also gave me this homemade knit hat ...

then I presented with this lovely ...

Christmas ball ...

that was decorated by Daigen ...

"Thumbprint Reindeer" ...

pressed all over it ...

So cherished and is hanging up on the Christmas tree ...

Thank you Kendall for the time you spent with the boys ...

creating this gift  ... !!!

Merry Christmas ...

 

May the quiet beauty of this lovely season ..

bring you joy and warm memories ...

to cherish ...

throughout the coming year ... !!!

Work ... Then ... Play ...

Overnight snowfall on Dec. 20th ...
and still snowed all day ...
spent a few hours cleaning off the deck ...
while Mike cleared the driveway ...

 

After MY work was completed ...

it was time to go and play ...

fired up the sled  ...

and went for a cruise ...

up and down the road ...

and 

surfing in the field ...

All Dressed Up ...

 

Ella all dressed up for her school ...

"Christmas Concert" ...

Love her new dress ... !!!

Time With Grandpa ...

Spending some playtime with Nixon ...
only using one finger ...
to push the quad ... back and forth ...
just like Grandpa ...

Oh ... oh ... grandpa left his Cheese Nips unattended ...
perfect opportunity for Nixon to grab a few ...
Grandpa caught sight of Nixon with the box ...
and decided to sit down and share them with him ...
Nixon loves those Cheese Nips ... !!!

 

Grandpa making funny faces at Nixon ...

while Ian was busy working ....

Monsters For Breakfast ...

A beautiful ... cold ... frosty morning ...
a perfect day to have pancakes ...
I found this griddle pan with mini monster design in it ...
the boys were excited to see them ...
imprinted in the pancake ...

Headed outside to play ...
once it warmed up a bit ...
going for a walk with the boys ...
to the end of the road ...
then went sledding down the driveway ...
Nixon's toque kept slipping over his eyes ...
he never said a peep ... that he couldn't see ...
he could hardly move in his sleigh ...
just loved going for a ride ...

Ian & Mike were working on a snowmobile  ...
to help a friend that was having trouble ...
getting it to run ...

Once the other snowmobile was fixed...
Ian fired up his sled ...
so that Kendall and Daigen ...
could go for a ride in the field ...
Nixon and I headed back to the house ...
it was getting really cold for the little one ...
we did make a stop ...
to visit with the snowman ...
before going in to have lunch ...

Built With Love ...

 

The Gingerbread House is completed ...

and is displayed upon the mantel ...

for all to see ...

Decorating The House ...

It was a beautiful morning ... to cold to go out a play ... will wait until the afternoon ..
so ... we decided to decorate the ...
Gingerbread House ...

Nixon was standing at the edge of the table ...
wanting to add his artistic touches ...
but only after taste testing the icing on the beater ...
Grandma helping him spread the snow on the roof ...

The boys decorating with candy ...
little did we know that ...
 a Gumdrop found it's way into Nixon's mouth ...
he was quite pleased with himself ... with only four teeth ... gumming it ...
his lit up eyes indicated that it was tasty ...

Daigen wasn't happy when I placed the round peppermint candy on the roof ...
so he removed it ... licked off the icing ... then placed it in front of the house ...
where it was supposed to be ... !!!

 

 Daigen figured the house needed a little bit of a touch-up ...
just not quite enough icing on the house ...
 he squeezed every last bit of icing out of the bag ...
All done ... time to go outside ... !!!!

OH Boy ... Fresh Snow ....

 

What a beautiful surprise to see the snow this morning ...

it continued to fall all day ...

I was busy indoors ...

and was wanting to go outside ...

then Mike figured it was time to bring the tractor out and start clearing the snow ...

little did I know that he had been working on the sleds ...

he then came in and asked if I wanted to go for a snowmobile ride ...

the road had not been ploughed yet ...

that was it ...

put my work aside ...

got dressed in my snow playing gear ...

and headed out for a ride ...

Oh my ... it was wonderfully exhilarating  ... !!!!

All Wet ...

 

Kendall and I sat down with Nixon ...

 for snack time ...

He decided that he was big enough ...

to share my bottled water ...

He actually did really well ... 

a few times his eyes got quite big from the gulps of water ...

and then ...

it was play time ...

he would take a mouth full ...

and just let it run down his chin ...

Nixon was soaked by the end ...

and another pair of dry PJ's were needed ...