Christmas Holidays

The Christmas Break has been wonderful! I love having time off to spend with my family. We took lots of time to stick around the house and just spent time playing. Jaret loves playing games, especially when he wins. And now Kirra wants to be in on playing games as well so she often joins my team, for part of the game anyway. We are trying to teach them the importance of good sportsmanship which I think little by little is happening as we build into their character. Just the other day I heard Jaret say, "Dad, thanks for playing that game with me, you did pretty good even though you didn't win.". It made me chuckle hearing him try to encourage his Dad after a game of Cars Operation.
Another thing that holiday time at home means, for me, is cuddling up and watching Christmas movies. Kirra and Jaret have loved watching, "Frosty the Toeman (Snowman)," as Kirra says. I love these cuddle times that often involve popcorn too. Kiira's favourite line from "Frosty the Snowman" is, "No money! No ticket!". It is cute hearing her repeat this over and over just to get a laugh out of us. And even cuter when she mixes the line up and says, "No ticket! No money!".
I also spent a couple nights cuddled up in the couch while Terry went to bed early. I love cuddling up in front of the fire with the lights of the Christmas tree all aglow. I watched "Miracle on 34th Street.". Well, I should say that I watched all of it except for the very end that didn't record. I was so disappointed as I had never watched this classic movie. Hard to believe, isn't it? I also had a Hallmark movie that had been recorded months before that I finally watched. And true to who I am, I got teary while watching it. But, that is just who I am - a little emotional and sentimental.
Many of you know about a little girl named Hope, a student from our school who has been in the hospital for quite some time. On Thursday, the kids and I went to visit Hope and her family at the hospital. The kids had never met Hope until that day but they have been praying for her each and every day. When I mentioned I was going to the hospital to visit, they both wanted to come with me. It was difficult to visit as Hope was crying out in pain a bit, but it was also so wonderful to visit her. We didn't stay long but had a gift for Hope, her sister Gabi, and for Heather, Hope's mom. We also prayed over Hope. The kids really seemed impacted in a positive way by this visit. We will continue to pray for Hope and her family. I was so inspired by Trevor and Heather and the strength they have due to their faith. It was such an uplifting visit.
That evening, we were able to get together with Tysdal's for our Christmas. Mark and Shea had us over for supper. The kids had fun playing and then did their gift exchange. As always, it was wonderful to spend that time with them doing our "Family Christmas." Martha Stewart, I mean Shea, made an amazing meal. We had a Pulled Pork on homemade buns with a salad. And for dessert we had German chocolate lava cakes garnished with icing sugar and raspberries. It was delish! It was also so nice to Mak's parents as well and catch up with them.
One thing we really wanted to do over the holidays was a sleigh ride. So, we went out to Banff on Friday. It was a little cooler than most of the weather we had over Christmas but we still enjoyed our time in Banff. We enjoyed the horse-drawn sleigh ride through the an open field that was backdropped with the mountains. It began to snow lightly which added to the beauty. Kirra was so cozy cuddled up next to me in the blankets that she fell asleep. It was all we hoped it would be. Perhaps we will find a warmer day and do it again next year. We followed the afternoon up with a walk through the town, a stop at The Fudgery, and supper at Earl's. And of course we stopped for a Starbucks on our way out of Banff.
And that has been our Christmas. Lots of downtime and spending time together as a family. Christmas is my favourite holiday and once again it was a memorable time. However, as wonderful as it was, I did miss not being able to spend time with my family. Hope that each of you had a most enjoyable Christmas season spent with family and friends and reflecting on the many blessings your life is made up of! God is so good and so worthy of our praise, especially at Christmas time!
New Year's Eve - we went out for supper to The Keg. It was such a nice relaxing meal, the kids are so well behaved when we eat out at restaurants. Then we went on a Twinkle Tour. I've been told that is a very Saskatchewan thing to do but loved doing it growing up and want my kids to have memories of it too. We also stopped in at Schulz's for a visit but were home early to have the kids in bed before 10. Terry and I sat on the couch and watched some New Year's specials over a glass of wine but I ended up falling asleep before midnight. I guess that is a sign of getting older...YIKES! Happy New Year!
Now we are just getting excited and preparing for our trip to Maui! the next post will have pictures from our trip.