Our Week So Far

It's been the usual busy week around here but we've had a few special things going on.

Sunday we had a visit with James, one of our travel mates who lives in Edmonton but is here for a teaching seminar. Unfortunately, Beth, Helena and Ava weren't here with him but we had a great visit and are glad James took time out of his busy schedule to pay us a visit. We haven't seen James since we returned from China so it was wonderful to see him again.

James and Bryn.


Tuesday we went to our second Tumbleweeds class with Shea and Caia. It's difficult to get a photo of the girls together since they're always running around, which is good since that's the whole point of the class! Caia is the quicker of the two and is a lot more adventurous, but Bryn is much braver now, even after just two classes. She'll actually plop herself down on her butt and even walked on the balancing beam with a bit of help from me.



Some shots from gym class.


Yesterday I took Bryn to see the Backyardigans. I wasn't sure if she'd be too young for it or if the big crowd and wacky characters up on the stage might scare her but she sat through the entire show and had a great time. She sang along and clapped and danced and was quite interested in the "lady snail" who was actually an alien in the show but I guess the antennas on her head had Bryn thinking something else (and she obviously wasn't paying very close attention to the story line).  I didn't take my camera because they always say taking photos isn't allowed but of course all the other parents were busy taking pictures through the whole show, darn it. Oh well, another photo for the album in my mind.

Backyardigan tickets, $65; souvenir t-shirt, $20; parking, $6 (plus 30 minutes waiting to get out of the parking lot with one very impatient child stuck in her car seat); having a great time with my daughter, priceless.

Swimming

Tomorrow Bryn starts swimming lessons so we thought we should take her to the pool at least once before the big day.

She's usually not very brave at trying new things so we were amazed when she walked into the pool and just kept walking and walking until the water was up to her chest. She loved it!

More Holiday Family Fun

Well, so much for my New Year's resolution of updating our blog more frequently. Hope you enjoy the last of our holiday photos even though we're well into the new year. Cheers to a happy 2008!


How lucky are we to be able to spend time (especially over Christmas) with two of our extended families?! Here we are with Shea and Caia, and Paul, Monica and Claire. The girls had already posed for quite a few pictures by this time and were growing tired of the paparazzi (and so was Girard)! We had a great visit and it's so wonderful to see the girls together. We were also thrilled that Shea's mom Darlene could join us. Thanks for having us, Shea!



It's not easy to get three toddlers to all pose with their prettiest "cheese" smiles but here they are (sorry, not much cheese in these photos) -- Caia in her oh-so-trendy brown and pink, Claire with her cool sparkly tights, and Bryn with a hole in her shoe.


Bryn's Papa came for a few days and managed to get a few hugs and kisses.


Pubba and Nana were here for Bryn's first New Year's Eve (I think we were all in bed by 12:10 a.m.!).


Bryn had a great time with her cousins Katja, Nicholas and Matthew.


Auntie Chele and Bryn getting ready to do some coloring. (I'm not positive, but I think that's "Nit" peeking over the table.)


Thanks to everyone for the visits, we loved having you!!

Our First Christmas

It's been a busy week at our house. Our first Christmas with Bryn was everything we thought it would be. We've now started our own family Christmas traditions and will carry on some of the traditions of our childhoods. Girard made a gingerbread house, we went to look at Christmas lights, played all the classic carols, read The Night Before Christmas and put out cookies and milk for Santa.

It didn't take Bryn very long to figure out what gift opening was all about. She opened some of her gifts Christmas Eve, which is tradition in Girard's family, and after she went to bed Girard and I opened ours so we could concentrate completely on Bryn Christmas morning. By then Santa had been here and she opened the rest of her gifts, which is the way we did things when I was a kid (many, many moons ago). By Boxing Day she was looking for more! She had a great time and so did we.

We've also had a lot of family come to visit in the past week and a half (with more to come this weekend) and it's been wonderful for all of us to have them.

These photos include our first Christmas visitors, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. More to come soon!


Cousin Anna and Bryn share some pre-Christmas cuddles.


Auntie Simone gets a big thank you hug for the present.


Dad and Bryn check out our first gingerbread house.


Our first of many family Christmas photos.


Bryn plays with her first new toy.


Whad'ya mean they're not for me?!


Christmas morning, still half asleep but awake enough to notice something new under the tree.


All dressed up for her first Christmas dinner.


Having a visit with Great-Grandma.