Dinner with Oma ...

December 15, 2016

We spent the evening with Oma ... Joe ... Burke ... and Rosel ...

at Joseph Creek Village ...

This was there Christmas Buffet dinner ...

where the residents can enjoy a delicious meal ...

with their families ... and friends ...

celebrating this joyous season ...

 

 

Season's Greetings ...

December 25, 2016

 

 

 

 

Last of the Baking ...

December 13, 2016

 

The cookies were rolled out and cut out with the gingerbread cookie cutter ...

then baked and left to cool ...

It was nice to see the elk by the fence again ...

 

December 14, 2016

The cookies were going to be iced ... and finished today ...

as they needed to be packed and sent to Daigen ...

The last batch of cookies to be made were the spritz cookies ...

This batch was going to be shortbread cookies ... with sprinkles for decoration ...

These are another favorite of mine ...

Shortbread made with cream cheese ... orange rind and a pinch of cinnamon...

pressed out as a flower and a little piece of candied cherry added to the Centre ...

These cookies melt in your mouth ...

mmmmmmmm

Daigen's box of Gluten Free Gingerbread men were packed ...

Ian ... Kendall and Nixon ... were getting an assortment of my Christmas cookies ...

The card that Ella created and the small packages of Smarties (the boys love Smarties ... they cannot get them in the USA) ...

were packaged up ...

All of these items and more were put into a large box to be sent to Texas ...

for Christmas ...

 

 

Gluten Free Baking ...

December 13, 2016

It was going to be another busy baking day ...

hoping to get it all done today ...

This batch of gingerbread boys are going to be gluten free for Daigen ...

This flour mix is the best I have found ...

you can use any recipe as the quantity needed is cup for cup ...

The dough was prepared and put in the refrigerator to set ... for a few hours ...

Next on the agenda was going to be the Meringue cookies ...

made with chopped pecans ... chocolate chips and crushed candy canes ...

Sugar ... cream of tarter ... and vanilla were added ...

then whipped until stiff ...

All the other ingredients were folded in ...

 

A teaspoon of the mixture was placed on the cookie sheet ...

and placed in the oven at a low temperature ... baked until they were lightly browned and dry ...

This cookies melt in your mouth ... and are one of my favourites ...

It was time to take a break ... from working with cookies ...

As I was cleaning up the dishes ... looking out the window ...

I noticed that a few elk had arrived ... foraging for food ...

They have been bedding down in the field overnight night the last few days ...

The gingerbread men would still take another hour in the fridge ...

before the dough would be ready to roll out and bake ...

Thought I would finish up with writing our Christmas cards ...

to be mailed within the next few days ...

 

 

Secret Activities ...

December 10, 2016

Well ... remember that extra GT racer ... ???  

I know how it magically appeared ...

and grandpa and Craig took some pictures to prove it ... 

Apparently when Mike and Craig went to pick up Nathan last weekend ... 

they just happened to stop and pick one up ... so that each of the kids could ride ... behind the quad ...

No wonder the kids wanted to go to the shop after dinner ... 

They were busy beavers putting it all together ... to have it ready for sledding ...

Craig just loves bombing around in the snow ...

on the little quad ... whenever he can ... 

 

Nathan had brought the new parts for his R/C car ... and spent some time fixing it up ...

Craig also did some tweaking on his ... 

Craig sure has learned a lot watching and helping daddy ...

It amazes me how he can take them apart and put them back together ...

He just one of the guys ... 

 

 

Cookies ... GT Racer ... Car ...

December 11, 2016

We were up early this morning ... ready to seize the day ...

after breakfast we set the table to start icing and decorating ...

all the cookies that were baked the day before ...

Nathan came in to inspect the creative decorating of the cookies ...

Hey ...!!!!

There are a few cookies missing ... Nathan ...?????

We had a fun time decorating ...

The kitchen was cleaned up and the cookies left out to dry ...

before they were packaged up to be taken home ...

James was feeling better ...

they all went out to go sledding ... being pulled by grandpa on the quad ...

hmmmm ...

where did that extra GT Racer come from ...

I thought we only had two ... ???

The kids had a blast outside ... it was still very cold ... so they were not out for very long ...

It was time to have some lunch ... finish a few projects and get things packed up to head back home ...

Ella finished creating the Christmas card for their cousins ... Daigen and Nixon ...

so that I could send it in the package being mailed to Texas ...

Oma's car was cleaned out as well ... Nathan found a pair of Opa's flip-up sunglasses ...

and they all took a turn in trying them on ...

They sure got quite a kick out of them ...

The car was packed up ... ready to take Oma's car home ...

Everyone was excited and happy for this awesome gift ...

Safe travels ...!!!

 

 

Let's Have Fun ...

December 10, 2016

Ella wanted to make a Christmas card for Daigen and Nixon ...

and send it in the package with their gifts ...

Ella then snuggled up to Craig ... shhhhh ... she was on a mission ...

she was sweet talking him to go outside and play ... and it worked ...

The two of them went out with grandpa ... and he towed them around with the quad ...

those GT racers were flying ...

James was feeling under the weather and did not go out ...

he was relaxing on the couch ... hoping to get better ...

Ella came back in from sledding ... and Craig went to the shop to work with Grandpa ...

James was feeling a little better ... so we decided to make a batch of sugar cookies ...

Ella loved all the cookie cutters ... and did a great job placing them on the baking sheets ...

 

James had his turn with rolling out the cookie dough ...

placing the cookie cutters ... and putting them on the trays to be baked ...

Once all the cookies were baked ... they were left to cool ...

to be decorated tomorrow ...

James went to lay down and have a rest ... poor little guy ... hoping his fever would break ...

Ella came outside with me to check the boiler ... and add some wood ...

She then thought she would make a snow angel ...

as there were no tracks of any kind on the deck ...

It was perfect ... so beautiful this little angel ...

After an evening of working on remote control cars ... and whatever else needed fixing ...

the three crazies decided to slip into the hot tub ... which was set at 39 C ...

brrrrrrrrr ... it was -18 C this evening

They sure ran in quick to the house once they got out of the hot tub ...

 

Our Christmas Tree ...

 

December 8, 2016

Mike worked hard to get the tree ready ...

for the decorations to be put on ...

This tree was covered in fir cones ...

They give it a true sense of a wild tree ...

that you would not have from a groomed tree in a lot ...

Early this morning Mike started with putting the lights on the tree ...

7 strings attached and with over 850 lights to be placed ...

Mike is very fussy about the placing of the lights ...

My job was to hold and guide the light strings ... up to Mike ...

as he was high up on the ladder ...

Unfortunately I was not able to help him out for very long ...

I was heading to Alberta to do some shopping ...

and pick up the grandchildren to head back to home the next day ...

 

This was the scenery on my travels ...

on my way to the highway ...

It was a clear ... sunny day for driving ...

Only encountered some compact snow ... when I drove thru the CNP ...

 

 

December 9, 2016

It was a good trip travelling home ...

some areas were slow going because of the snow covered roads ...

We just took our time ... and made it back safely ...

The grandchildren were happy to see grandpa ...

and they couldn't wait to have a game of Trouble with him ...

They love playing with this game ...

which is very old ...

It belonged to their dad and uncle Ian when they were young ...

 

We were all in awe of the Christmas Tree ... It was beautiful ... !!!

Mike had done a wonderful job with decorating ... while I was travelling ...

I do believe this was the first time that I was not their to help decorate ...

 

 

Baking All Day ...

December 7, 2016

Wow ... another beautiful day ... a chilly one though ...

just luv seeing the ice crystals on the glass ...

 

Well ... the frigid weather won't affect me today ... 

as the oven will be on keeping our home toasty and warm ...

withthe next few batches of Christmas cookies baking ...

 

Baking colourful sugar cookie flowers ...

 

Rolling out the vanilla and chocolate dough to make pinwheel cookies ...

The kids all luv these cookies ...

The first batch of cookies have cooled ...

it was time to decorate them with icing and sprinkles ...

 

The kitchen was definitely warmed up with this days activities ... 

Time to clean up ... grab a cup of tea and put my feet up ...

oh dear ... not going to happen yet ...

we needed to have dinner ...

Anyone deliver out here ...?????

 

More Cookies ...

December 6, 2016

It was a busy day ... decorating all the gingerbread men and angels ...

it warms my heart to see them smile back at me ...

 

It takes a bit of time to decorate all of them ...

grateful the this was a job I could do sitting down ...

 

After the cookies were done ... and a lunch break ...

Mike and I proceeded to drag in this 14 ft Christmas tree ...

Old sheets were placed on the kitchen floor ... the butt end of the tree was placed on my shoulder ...

Mike took the top of the tree and we squeezed it thru ...

the sliding glass door opening ... 

We then turned the tree around to have the top end go into the living room ... under the log stringers ...

to be stood up in its place ...  

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the sun setting on the mountains ...

While Mike was busy fixing up the tree ... tying it up to secure it ...

I started baking another batch of cookies ...

Once these snowflake cookies had cooled ... 

they were then decorated ... 

Sitting down at the island ... the little lines were piped onto the snowflake ...

It was another busy day ... 

and I enjoyed every minute of it ... luv the decorating touches on all the cookies ...

 

 

Snow Removal Day ...

December 5, 2016

So much snow had fallen ... it was going to be a busy day ...

clearing a path to walk around and plowing the snow in the driveway ...

Mike was busy clearing the snow ... on the roads ... with the tractor ...

while I was clearing the snow off the decks ...

I was happy to find the hot tub ...

as I was sure we were going to need it after we were done today ...

The decks and stairs were all shovelled ...

Mike was still out plowing ... even as darkness came upon us ...

Love the soft lighting on the house ...

Mike had finished up with the tractor ...

and before we went in for dinner ... we both slipped into the hot tub ...

oh my goodness ... did we need this treatment ...

It felt good ... easing the aches in our muscles ...

After our soaking in the hot water ... we made our way into the house ...

to enjoy sitting down ... having dinner ... then relaxing ...

We were happy to have all the snow cleared for now ...

the weather forecast is calling for more snow ...