Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! Here is Holly's Santa photo for this year - I had to be in it with her as you can see, but at least we have one for 2008 (we didn't even get one for 2007!). It took about 10 minutes to convince her to get in line to talk to Santa - we'd been telling her if she didn't visit Santa and tell him what she wanted, she'd get a blue firetruck or something else for Christmas.

I love the Santa in this picture - he looks very authentic, like the one at the mall near our house (who we took pictures with in 2005 & 2006) . This Santa belongs to an association of real bearded Santas! We started talking and I said Santas are much more authentic than when I was a child... he said they have come a long way even in just the past 10 years. We'll have to decide where to visit Santa next year - Royal City Centre or Brentwood Mall?!














Mimi (Holly's friend Cassie-Anne's mom) sent us a link to create a video message from Santa for your child. It's pretty cool and the expression on Holly's face was priceless when she saw her picture in Santa'a book! This is the link to the website: http://portablenorthpole.sympatico.msn.ca/home/

And here is the video Holly received:
http://portablenorthpole.sympatico.msn.ca/watch/c8e1fad32a334df0b18d168749f923ad

Proper sledding!

After much searching, we finally found a proper sled! We went back to Queen's Park and did some more sledding - it was even more fun!



















Going down is fast - the walk back up the hill can be long for a toddler - I think we need a rope tow! Paul is wearing the black and white ski jacket on the right - towing Holly behind him, and beside them is my friend Caitlin from high school and her son, Jeremy. We saw them here when we came a couple of days ago, too!

Snow day

Today was a big snowy day. Holly got to put her snowsuit (it's one of Kayli's old outfits - she loves it because it says Princess Power on it!) and head out in the snow.



















Making snow angels in front of our house . . . . .



















The finished product:



















We decided to try sledding at Queen's Park - we went out and got a "magic carpet" - waiting until it snows to try and find a sled means calling 4 stores, visiting 3 stores, and not being able to find what you want. There were lots of people at the park - it was fun!

Shovelling snow

Holly wanted to help Daddy shovel snow - funny how kids love to do "chores" when they're little, but somehow grow out of it!

A big Christmas party!

Today was the annual PMBA Kids' Christmas Party. Last year it was at BC Place Stadium, but this year it was at the Tradex in Abbotsford. A bit of a drive for us, which we thought would be even longer because of the snow we got last night, but surprisingly, there was no snow at all on the highway and no snow to be seen when we got to Abbotsford!

Holly liked this "big red shoe".






One of the 6 or 7 bouncy castles - Holly was excited to see them and said she wanted to go on them, but when the time came, she didn't go on any of them. . . . .














. . . not even the baby one!














She did go on the bumper cars with Daddy, and decorated this gingerbread man (sitting on a frisbee plate, with a yoyo and some bubbles), so there was some fun had! And she enjoyed watching the kids' pipe band with highland dancers, and the Chinese Lion Dance Team.

Christmas Party

Today we went to a Christmas party with some of our friends. Mommy & Isabelle's mommy, Noriko co-organized it (but Noriko did all the decorating and hosting!). We had fun running around, dancing, colouring Christmas pictures and making ornaments to take home and put on our trees.

Cassie-Anne, me (Holly) and Isabelle. Also at the party were Sophie, Caleb, Mackenzie, Simon and Anna.














Hugs for all before heading home. . .

Ballet

Today was Holly's last ballet class for this session. They had an open class today so all the parents could see what their kids had learned. She loves the classes and we'll be heading back in January, along with Claire. Hopefully, Holly & Claire's friend Danielle will be able to join us, too!













Marching:

Oh, Christmas Tree!

We got our Christmas tree today - yes, we violated the Christmas Law and got it one day early, but tomorrow is a Monday, so I wanted to get it now instead of waiting until next weekend - and we have plans next weekend as well, so this was the best time. We went to IKEA like we did last year - you get a great tree for $20 and you also get a gift certificate to use in the new year, worth $20, so it's like getting a tree for free!

Holly picked out the tree and did a great job considering they were all bound up and you couldn't see how bushy they were - anyway 2 years in a row now and we have yet to be disappointed =)



















One of Santa's reindeer came by to help with the lights...

Keira's birthday

Today we went to Keira's birthday. After we saw Keira and her family (who also went down to the outrigger race) at the Gorge in Oregon this summer, Holly started to name some of her dolls "Keira". Even if they had a name, they were renamed - for example "Pink Baby Keira Lilo", and "Pooh Bear Keira". Then a little girl joined her daycare and her name is also Keira, so I think she hears it a lot and has decided she needs a baby named Keira, too!



















Auntie Sharon made the cake - it looks great! (And it was tasty, too!)



















Auntie Sharon, Uncle Norm and the birthday girl.

Franklin's Christmas Show

Today we went took Holly to another kids' show. It was Franklin's Christmas Show (Franklin is a turtle with his own cartoon TV show) - she was really excited about it, and brought her doll, Lily with her - she even had a pretend ticket for Lily! Holly had a big smile on her face when she first saw Franklin come into the theatre from one of the side doors and walk up on stage... and she danced and sang and shouted things out with the cast when they asked for participation!