Wow. It has been a long time since I have written. Not sure why. I have not been that busy. Well, my two little ones do keep me busy, that is true. But we live a simple life. We do not do too much these days. Mostly spend our time at home playing inside now that there is so much snow outside. I started work in October and am only scheduled to work every other weekend but I pick up shifts here and there. It has been easier going back to work this time compared to when I went back after Caeleb. Mom and Dad returned home from their mission on October 18th and it was an awesome reunion. We all met them at the airport except for Nathan and Doug who had to work. It was Elva's first time seeing her Nana and Papa and she warmed up to them fairly quickly. And Caeleb was excited to see them. We had an airplane count down up on the wall - 18 airplanes for the 18 days of October before we were to see them arrive on an airplane. It was fun to count off an airplane each day. Caeleb enjoyed that. It was so great to be able to Skype them while they were in Korea and Caeleb did not lose his close relationship with them while they were gone.
Chris and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on October 24 013. That weekend Mom and Dad watched the kids and we ventured up to West Edmonton Mall. It has been on my bucket list to spend a night at the Fantasy Land hotel and so we did in a Rome themed room with pillars and sculptures and a nice big hot tub. We also went to the Wave pool-waterslides there at the mall and we had a blast! I think my favourite was the tube ride that Chris and I could go on together. We splurged for a fancy supper of Lobster and Steak and enjoy a round of miniature golf after. What a relaxing weekend it was (Not every anniversary will be that luxurious but we will enjoy these memories for years to come).
Halloween was a fun event in our house. We dressed up as the Wizard of Oz. Elva was Dorothy, Chris was the scarecrow, Caeleb was the Lion and I was the Tin man. Caeleb really enjoyed trick or treating. He would knock on the door and say "trick or treat," and I would sing, "we're off to see the wizard..." Our neighborhood is full of children and I was surprised that we only got about 40 trick or treaters at our house.
November 11 was spent at the farm and Chris and I took Caeleb in for the Champion Remembrance day service and lunch. I love my home town of Champion and enjoyed being able to attend the services there. Remembrance day means so much to me and it makes me think of Grandpa and the sacrifices that have been made for our freedom.
Little Elva celebrated her 1st birthday on December 3rd. It is hard to believe that she is already a year old. This year has flown by. We enjoyed having Nana and Papa here for that. They brought us a tree that they got from tree hunting in the hills and we decorated it that weekend. I think a tradition I want to start is to give Elva an ornament for the tree every year for her birthday and then she can put it on the tree on her birthday.
Christmas was such a peaceful event this year. I did not feel rushed (even though my shopping was not done until a few days before) or pushed to buy buy buy. It was kept pretty simple. We had Chris' work party on Saturday Dec 21 and then we headed to the farm right after. It was fun to spend it on the farm with all the family there (all 11 of us). We had a fire in the fire place most of the time and we went outside and took the boys for sled rides. A lot of snow this year! Caeleb and Sterling had fun waiting for Santa. They are totally into him this year and Caeleb likes to sing "Santa Claus is coming to town". Sterling likes to sing Jingle Bells. We put cookies out for him and set our stockings out. We also had a little program complete with a nativity story. Elva was Mary, Caeleb was Joseph, Sterling was a Sheppard (and perhaps he was the wise man too) and little Liam was baby Jesus. We did alright with the 4 kids.
New Years was quiet. Caeleb and Elva went to bed around 7:00 and then Chris and I watched 2 of the Back to the Future movies. I made it to midnight but found that hard to do as I was still recovering from 3 night shifts the weekend before.
2013 has been a wonderful year! So many blessings and a few challenges. I feel so blessed to have my family, Chris, Caeleb and Elva. I am excited to start a new year with them with new goals and lots of adventures.
