New Years Eve!

I have been at home sick for the last couple days with strep throat so what better way to pass the time while sitting on the couch and sipping tea all day then to get caught up on blog posts.

Here is how our New Years went down...

We had our good friends Angela, Dustin and their two kiddies over along with Erica, Scott and their two kiddies.  We did our usual dinner potluck and I made a pasta dish with jumbo shells stuffed with gooey cheesy mix.  They were pretty darn good!  Erica brought a nicely paired ceaser salad with the Keg dressing which is one of my favourites.  Angela made a delicious baked brie with apple and crackers, absolutely love brie!

Before dinner we all went out to enjoy the ice skating rink Kyle made.  The kids had a blast skating.  Claire was so proud to go on her hockey skates and push the bar.  Abby only wanted to go for a ride in the sled, as did the other little ladies.  Greyson and Henry were happy skating and playing hockey with their daddies.  I was happy the weather co-operated with us.  We were able to have a bon fire so the kids could roast marshmellows too.

After dinner the kids played so well together.  They really enjoyed each others company.  The oldest ones were into jumping off the ottoman onto the dog bed and were eager to show everyone what they could do including Angela.  "Angela, watch THIS!!"  They laughed and laughed all night.  We even were able to get some great photos of them on the couch in a row like we did last year, so cute!

We did a mock count down for the kids and I had bought some plastic champagne flutes along with sparkling grape juice for the kids and the good stuff for the adults.  They each got a noise maker the oldest ones each had a Happy New Years crown.  I loved spending time with friends for New Years Eve, something we haven't done in a long time.  It was a wonderful night and a perfect way to start a new year!

Christmas 2015

Wow, Christmas gets better and better each year with the girls.  They really do understand more of what is going and are so interested in Santa and the spirit of the holidays.  Ahh, I abosolutely love it!!

We had an early Christmas celebration with Kyle's mom's side of the family on Saturday, December 18th.  His cousin Davis was in from Victoria to visit for a few short days so he was able to have Christmas dinner with everyone.  Kyle's grandma still makes all the fixions which are yummy traditional Ukrakrian food, meatballs, turkey, ham, kubasa, pergories, cabbage rolls, perishky, turnips, stuffing, coleslaw and gravy.  She always out does herself.  All the little ones opened gifts from great grandma downstairs around the Christmas tree.  It was a great night!

Christmas Eve Kyle and I hosted both our parents including both our grandmas for appetizers and drinks.  Before my family arrived Kyle's parents and grandma had the girls open gifts from them.  Linda and Ray made Claire and Abby a cute "stage" that they can dance and perform on.  They also got a hockey stick each and some fun Barbie and doll stuff.  Everyone each brought something and we had quite the feast of finger foods, chicken wings, brie, veggies, cheese, crackers, pickles, kubasa, meatballs, mozza sticks, and cheese balls.  The girls opened a gift from Kyle and I,  Christmas pjs and a Christmas book each.  Kyle surprised me with four gorgeous Mac photo books for each year starting the year Claire was born.  I started crying the minute I opened the first book.  It was so thoughtful and from now on we will make a book each year.  Our families were happy to have the chance to look in the books as well.  Claire and Abby put out cookies, milk, carrots and water for Santa and his reindeer.

Christmas morning the girls slept in and didn't come downstairs until 8:30.  Sleepy heads from a late night before.  Claire was so shocked coming downstairs to see gifts from Santa and all the cookies and milk gone as well as the carrots and water.  She was a little surprised Santa left a few pieces behind but was happy none the less.  They got so spoiled by Santa getting Calico Critters the Bunny Family for Claire and Abby got a cash register and connecting blocks.  They were so thrilled to open gifts and start playing.  Abby wasn't as interested in unwrapping presents as much as Claire was and often Claire would offer to open the present for Abby.   My family came later around 11 for homemade cinnamon buns I made with fruit and coffee.  We all opened presents from each other and the girls got even more wonderful things from them too.  During Abby's afternoon nap Kyle took Claire to his Auntie Donna's house to see some of his dad's side of the family.  In the evening we travelled to my cousin Tanya's for Christmas dinner with my dad's family.  We brought a green bean casserole dish.  The girls got even more gifts from my Aunts, Uncle and cousins.  They are just soo lucky!  My cousin Tanya has a finished basement with a big playroom.  Abby and Claire spent most of the night playing with all of Abriella and Dario's toys.

Boxing day the girls slept in after being out so late on Christmas.  We hung around at home trying to figure out where to put all of the stuff we got for Christmas from our families.  The girls had a blast playing with all of their new toys.  After Abby woke up from her nap we drove to my auntie Anita and Uncle Blaine's house for Christmas dinner with my dad's other side of his family.  We luckily had roast pork for dinner because we were all turkey'd out by then.  The girls got to open a few more gifts from my uncles and my cousins.  They received this cool gift of a marble tower building kit that they really love playing with.  I think Kyle and my cousin Greg enjoyed building the marble tower more than the girls.  Lol!  We played some games and then left by 8:30 because we knew how tried the girls were from all the the other late nights in a row we didn't want them to start throwing a fit.

Our Christmas was unbelievably busy but it was nice to see all of our families and spend time with them over the holidays.  Here's to another amazing Christmas and I can't wait until next year!!