The Magic Word

Olivia asked me for something and forgot to say please. I said, "What's the magic word?" She thought for a minute, and then said, "Abracadabra!"

Merry Christmas 2011

The day before Christmas Eve we went out to the Cross Iron Mills mall, to the Bass Pro Shop where they had a free photo with Santa and a free craft, coloring, and decorating of cookies for the kids. The girls loved it and the photos were very cute. Olivia was not afraid of Santa at all, but was actually very happy and excited to see him. They had this little station where the kids could write a wish list to Santa. This was Isabelle's letter:

It made us laugh. She does not believe in Santa but I think she thought that just in case he was real, she was going to wish for all she could possibly think of to get. We actually did get her one of the things on that list, an Ipod. She absolutely loves it. Some of her cousins in Edmonton also got one, and they have been FaceTiming so much. It is nice because they get to talk and "see" each other a little more than usual.

We also got Lily a DSi, which she loves too. These are the first electronic toys we have ever really given our kids, and they all love them. They sure help for those long car rides to Edmonton too.

After Christmas we went up to Edmonton for a few days. Ben and I had our anniversary, and went out to a hotel for the night, kid free! Dave and Becky gave us these hockey tickets to the World Juniors, Denmark vs USA. Ben and pretty everyone else in the arena cheered for Denmark. It was a lot of fun, even for me who is not really a hockey fan. Anything live is fun to watch.

Out to dinner after...

Our kids wore Ben's parents right out! I guess Olivia got up in the night, but went right back to sleep after they brought her into bed with them, and took up half the space! Dennis said she climbed out of her playpen and went downstairs to look for us, and came back up crying saying, "I lost my mommy and daddy. "

On Christmas eve we went to the zoo lights. Here Ben and I are in the Lover's Lane:

Olivia and Saphina in the butterfly house:

Great Nana and Ben and some girls with an elephant:

Grandpa Herget and some granddaughters in a tunnel:

Some kids in front of poinsettias:

Pretty Lily:

Me and Olivia at dinner at The Cattlebaron:

The kids after waiting for the Nativity renactment to start:

Some shepherds came over for a photo op with the kids:

Chloe after at Nana and Grandpa's with her new Fijit Friend. She called it a Fijit Tool for the longest time it was really cute:

Matching PJ's

Lily and Rory, matching Fijits, PJ's, and straws.

Christmas morn at our house:

Lucky girls with all their loot. Merry Christmas 2011!

Growing Old Together...

This was in the days before digital cameras were really used, and so it is a scanned photo. It is my favourite picture from our wedding day ten years ago! I have it framed on the nightstand in our bedroom. We were so young, and look like such kids in this picture. I do look forward to growing old with him.

Gingerbread Village

I bought this little gingerbread village for the girls to make. They had fun each making their own little house. Here they are pointing to the one they made:

Chloe loves this little reindeer set we got. The nose lights up too. Like a flashlight!

Piano Christmas Recital 2011

The girls had their piano recital this past weekend. Izzy played The Grumpy Troll, Birch Canoe, and Jingle Bell Boogie. Lily played Young Hunter and Jingle Bells. They did great! I also got a picture of them with their teacher, Tanis. She has been really good with the girls.

In the picture here you can see Tanis' baby, Zoe. While Tanis taught the girls I would take care of her girls, including baby Zoe. She became my little friend, and would be really happy to see me at church and other places. Tanis said she would sometimes start crying and get upset when she had to go back to her mom, and leave me. Olivia really loved having her come over to play. Zoe is so cute and adorable!

Here is Isabelle's Jingle Bell Boogie:




Here is Lily's Jingle Bells:

Christmas Concerts 2011

Izzy got to do her school Christmas Concert at Sounthcenter Mall this year! They also went up to the airport and performed. It was a fun outing to go watch her.





Lily also did a great job at her school concert. We didn't get a chance to get it on video, but she also did a short piece where she got to play the xylophone. She had fun with that.

Family Photos 2011

I got this Groupon coupon way back in the spring for this photographer called Life By Kismet to take photos of us at about 90% off. So for $25, we got $750 worth of work done. It was fun, and we used these on our Christmas card. He did a good job with the kids who can be really hard to take pictures of.

I ordered some Christmas cards off a site called Snapfish. The day I did it they had a deal where you buy one set and get one set free. So I got two sets of Christmas cards. When they arrived, the one set had Ben's head cut off on all of them, and they pointed out to me that it was actually my fault because I didn't put the photo in the "safety zone." Anyway, they still said they wanted to reimburse me for the set, even though it was my fault, and even though I got the buy-one-get-one-free deal. So, I got our Christmas cards for free in the end! I ended up only using the one set anyway. Snapfish is great and their customer service is really good! I highly recommend them.

So here they are, enjoy!

The Christmas season is here....

We got the tree up and decorated....

Izzy made this little home made Nativity set out of rocks (for the people and characters) and a shoebox. Chloe and Lily helped decorate it and color it. I remember doing something similar with my older brothers when I was little.

Here they are in front of it all decorated. This was the night before we went to our Stake Choir festival. The girls were asked with other girls to sing a little part in the beginning. They have been working on memorizing the song, "Stars Were Gleaming." They did a great job. During one rehearsal, Olivia started singing along too, and she knew all the words and tune too. It was really cute, and our choir director was very impressed! Her nursery leader told me that she loves singing all of the songs in nursery. She always participates and does a great job.

We've had fun baking too. These are some Peanut Butter Reindeer cookies Chloe, Olivia and I made:

That night for FHE, we went tobogganing just at the playground by our house. We made a hill that made us slide right onto the road. Don't worry it was not a busy road at all. We then came home and decorated gingerbread cookies. Olivia called them,"Ginger Man cookies."

She mostly liked sucking the icing tube: