Big White Out

We headed to Big White the day after Christmas with Theresa and Tony.  I was a bit worried the skiing would be bad because they hadn’t gotten a ton of snow yet and a few of the chairs still weren’t open.  Luckily, it snowed on us the first day and continued to snow the whole time we were there. 

We did presents in the condo with Grandma and Grandpa. 

What a sad Santa!

Sydney loved this pot holder kit she got from Theresa.  They had fun making some very colorful hot pads!Check out the new stairs at the condo!  After having to tear out their old ones, they went for the covered version.  Theresa was so happy about them.  She made comments every time she walked down them. 

While Derek did some skiing at Happy Valley, I took the other ones skating.  Olivia decided it was much more fun without skates!

Whoa!

Derek is still the child most excited about skiing.  He doesn’t do a lot of turning so we keep him on the bunny hill but his attitude is great and he loves doing it.  (More than I can say for the older two!)

Gotta love the kids carnival with insane amounts of people smashed into the lodge for some games, mediocre face painting, 20 minute line for cotton candy and lame prizes.  The kids love it!

Unfortunately, Tony was feeling very sick while we were in Canada.  Fortunately, that meant he was willing to stay in the condo with kids while Garth and I skied.  We got to ski together way more than usual.  On the last day, it snowed 6 more  inches so they opened “the Cliff” a chair that had not been open yet this year.  I have never been on the cliff.  It is a double black diamond because it is crazy steep.  I am not an expert skier, I just try to follow Garth as well as I can without killing myself.  When he saw that the cliff had just opened, and we could make fresh tracks on a run, he talked me into going (I’m still not sure how he convinced me.)

So we did it.  The pictures, of course, look way less intimidating than in person.  When you get to the top you ski to the edge and the beginning is straight down.  Your skis stick out suspended in the air.  My heart was pounding, but I went for it.  I was not impressive down the hill but I made it and I was pretty proud of myself for trying something that I never thought I would do. . . and I will probably never do it again!

Christmas 2011

We kicked off the Christmas season with the Five Mile Prairie Pancakes with Santa.  Derek was really excited to sit on Santa’s lap this year. . .

 

 

 

 

 

Olivia was not!For Christmas Eve this year, my cousin rented out a local ice skating rink and all of my cousins and their kids met in the morning for some ice skating and foot hockey.  Derek and Olivia could not wait to skate.  Olivia kept telling people we were going ice skating.  But once she actually got her skates on, her tune really changed.  She ended up doing a lot of sitting on the bleachers.                                                    Derek started out grumpy and defeated but then he caught on and had a great time.  He threw a mammoth tantrum when it was time to go because he did not want to stop.   Ouch.

After skating we went to the church for some soup and play time with cousins.  My amazing cousin Kelly made these huge hula hoops.  Sydney and Addy were the hula hoop queens!                                                          Christmas Eve night was spent at my mom’s house for the traditional dinner and nativity reenactment. 

                                   We were so glad to have Jordan and Kailee here so we could soak up some baby Georgia time before they headed off to see her family.

Carter played and Derek sang “Jingle Bells”Olivia wouldn’t pose in her new jammies so she grabbed cousin Brooklyn.  Derek was a big fan of his fire truck jammies.

 

 

 

 

Carter was the highlight of my Christmas this year.  He truly caught the spirit of giving.  Back in October, we were at an Other Mothers quarter sale and he bought this big truck and the stuffed sponge bob for his little siblings then he later bought a bedazzled Hannah Montana shirt for Sydney.The week before Christmas he was stressing because he didn’t have a gift for Garth.  I tried to tell him it was no big deal but he was not having that.  I dragged the kids along to Macy’s one day (in an effort to find jeans long enough for Garth) and Carter kept disappearing and coming up to me with different things asking if it was the right size or if he could afford it.  After many strike outs, he walked up with this golf shirt and it was perfect.  The right size, a brand Garth likes, and on mega clearance for $10.  Carter was thrilled and it was amazing to see his face light up when everyone opened their presents from him.  It was a proud mommy moment!

Christmas day was spent going to church, playing with new toys and hanging out with the Hamilton’s up at the farm.  Then we came home to pack up the car to head to Canada in the morning.