Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

On Monday afternoon, we all bundled up and took a ride on a sleigh! It was a wee bit chilly, but so much fun! The girls had a ball, especially if the horses went a little bit faster, or down a hill. What a great memory! I don't have a picture of all of us together - that one is on someone else's camera :) But here are some of the ones I do have!

The sleigh was actually really big! It held about 15 people and the benches just went around the perimeter.
Kinda looks like the arctic, hey? That is our vast, white prairie!!
We just got back from our first ride, and someone took a photo of us all in the sleigh before we went in the shop to warm up!

Christmas in Caronport

If you haven't already seen these pics on Facebook, here's a preview of our Christmas!!! My parents came out to spend some time with us over Christmas. It was really wonderful! Christmas Eve was a highlight, as we took the girls out Christmas light looking before the service. Chloe slept, because she hadn't had a nap that day, but Karissa was so excited about all of the lights she saw! It was so neat to hear her excitement... what a great night. Christmas morning was also fun. We took our time opening presents, partly to make it last, and partly not to overwhelm the girls! They had fun trying on their new clothes, playing with toys, and just tearing open the wrapping paper!On Christmas Day, we didn't do much for lunch, because mom and I were cooking the turkey that day, so we just had appys in the kitchen for everyone to nibble at... smoked candied salmon (so yum!), crackers with creamcheese and hot pepper jelly, and of course the candies!
We think Grandpa probably had more fun with the train set than Chloe and Karissa did :)
Karissa in some of her dress-up clothes, as well as a new shirt from Oma!
What else is in the stocking??
On Christmas Eve, after the girls were sleeping, we took out all the presents, wrapped some that hadn't been yet, and feasted on appys, chocolates, and peanuts, and watched the Grinch!
Christmas jammies - the girls got to open these on Christmas Eve - they were so excited! Definitely ready for bed in this photo!
Family pics before church on Christmas Eve!

Christmas dinner - almost forgot to take this one!
The girls and I made a cake for Jesus' birthday. We lit 2 candles (1 for each thousand years) and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus! It was a great close to a wonderful day!

We were so glad that mom and dad could be there to celebrate with us... it was really amazing to have them out... next year we will be in BC to celebrate with all of our family and friends there! It's definitely our turn to travel! Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year!

Kids Christmas Concert

Tonight was the Kids Christmas concert at our church. One of my favourite things about Christmas! Both girls were in the little kids part. Karissa was Mary and Chloe was a shepherd. We weren't sure if they would stay on stage, but they did! They were fantastic!
Watching the other kids say their lines.
At the end, after everyone said their lines, the kids all sang "Away in a Manger". Chloe danced!
Can you see Joel? At the Christmas concert, it's tradition for all the men to go up on stage and sing a Christmas carol. This year, they sang "Oh Come all Ye Faithful". It took a bit of convincing to get Joel up there, but he did!
As Pastor John was closing in prayer, I looked over to find Karissa like this, hands folded, eyes closed! It was so cute I had to take a photo!!!

Well, I'm sure there will be more posts in the next few weeks, as Christmas is just around the corner! We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and will miss all of you as we celebrate here in Caronport again...

The Christmas Train

This morning we went out to Caron so we could see the Christmas train as it went by! The girls were so excited :) We met some friends of ours out there, too, which was really fun! It was so neat and the girls loved it! They were so excited! I was outside trying to take photos, but they stayed in the van with Joel because it was -35!


All of us in Santa hats - we borrowed the hats :)
The girls in their pretty new dresses for Christmas!