What a fantastic year! As I sat down and looked at 2016 I realized that no wonder we felt like we never had any down time - we were busy! But it wasn't the kind of busy that makes you feel drained and exhausted, rather it was the kind of busy that left your heart feeling full and in some ways longing for more. We laughed, we cried, we sang, we danced, we played and yet we also relaxed. In many ways I wouldn't change a second of 2016 (with the exception of I would have liked for our house to sell in 2016!) and I would repeat it over again if I could. 2016 was filled with much time with family and with friends. It was great!
JANUARY
We started January off with a horse drawn sleigh ride at one of my old neighbours growing up. It was a brisk day but once everyone was bundled up we were good and warm and everyone had a fantastic time! Special thanks to Darlene and Robert Pickford for the very enjoyable afternoon!
Mckenzie, mom and I headed off to Edmonton to watch a dance group that had come to Edmonton.
January was also filled with a whole lot of basketball watching of Sydney (my cousin's daughter). I love to watch basketball and it's even better when Sydney is playing - she is a great player!
FEBRUARY
We celebrated our 9th Anniversary on February 17th.
We also celebrated mom's 60th Birthday - surprise style :)
MARCH
Mom and I took the kids for a two day skiing trip to Cold Lake. It worked so well and I have fallen in love with the hill! It's perfect for my littles right now! We arrived on Day 1 around noon and enrolled the kids in private lessons - since we arrived after lunch we only had to pay half day rates :). After we finished skiing we headed into Cold Lake and stayed at a perfect hotel with a pool. Pooled it up that night and the next morning and back to the hill by noon for an afternoon of skiing. We had such a fantastic time!
However, apparently Mckenzie thought she is a much cuter ski bunny sitting ;). But by day two she had it down pat!
And leave it to Ryder....survives two days of skiing and he is fine. 10 minutes at the end of the day in the chalet and we head to the hospital for stitches.
APRIL
I returned to full-time work as a Dining Services Manager at the Dr James Hemstock in Lloydminster. It was a true transition time for our family as we adjusted to this stage but I am really enjoying my job!
Mom and I headed off to Vegas for a George Strait concert. It was amazing!
Our first uber experience.
Red Rock Canyon via a scooter tour.
Helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon
MAY
T-Ball season began
Awana season wrapped up.
Steve and I headed out to Abbotsford to celebrate our second "daughter" getting married to her soulmate. It was such a fun time as a few of our close friends were also present!
JUNE - it was a very busy month!
Family Camp at Southridge Community Church - beautiful weather!
We headed (sans children) on an Alaskan cruise with our good friends - Steve and Janet Rainie. It was such a refreshing time away for us that we both needed - individually and as a couple.
We celebrated Ryder's 3rd birthday in a DINERIFFIC fashion!
Also celebrated my dad's 60th birthday - surprise style as well!
Ryder's preschool class came and performed at the Dr Hemstock which was a total bonus for me...
I worked and still was able to watch him :).
Someone graduated from Doodlebug :)
Ball season concluded - I'm pretty sure Ryder was more in it for the socializing aspect ;)
Someone turned Four!
Ezra had a very exciting month as well - he received his yellow belt!
JULY
July brings the parade and fair and we took it all in. I'm even surprised how late the kids lasted...we left around 11:30pm. Ezra we could barely get him on the rides without threatening him....and Mckenzie we could barely keep her off. It's amazing how different the personalities of the kids are.
Parade time with a few extras :)
The kids and I headed to Teen Camp for a week at Southridge Bible Camp. We always enjoy our time at Camp and this year was no exception...it also helped that we got some quality one on one time with super important friends - the Kaminski's.
Fishing Time!
Ezra and Steve headed off to Primary Camp for a week at Southridge Bible Camp. It was Ezra's first time as a camper and he had a fantastic time!
Meanwhile while Steve and Ezra were at Camp, Nikki and I ventured to Sandy Beach Regional Park and set up Camp there. I travelled back and forth to work and Nikki manned the four kidletts during the day. We enrolled them in a week of lessons and I'm a big believer that swimming lessons in a lake is very important so that kids learn what cold water is like and also how to swim in all weather conditions - and that they had....hot, sunny, windy, raining, cold....they had it all. We had such a great week and it continues to be one of my highlights of the summer.
Grandpa and Grandma even stopped in for some fun.
My cousin Coral got married in Edmonton...which gave us a GREAT reason to bring out the fancy cars for the trip up. We always have a fantastic time with Scott and Tannis and really enjoyed the trip up and back in our "hot cars".
Not to mention, that this crew is some of the funnest people I've ever met!
AUGUST
A month filled with more time at the lake and beautiful days and evenings as a family!
We also enjoyed having the chance to catch up with our lake friends - the Harbin's!
Swimming Lessons commenced...and it was at this session that we discovered that we have a little fishy in Mckenzie. I'm fairly certain that she will be joining the swim club in the spring. She loved swimming and did not enjoy having to put on a lifejacket for the slide :). She would even jump off the diving board without her life jacket....she is so brave!
We love the lake during the summer months!
Ezra turned 7 on August 27th.
And we celebrated Steve's 40 birthday in great style with 120 people at the end of August (yes, his birthday was back on July 8th). I wanted to do a surprise party and surprise it was being just about 2 months late ;). We had such a great evening and a HUGE thank you to Garth and Jody Janzer for supplying their yard, shop, cooking the pig and being such amazing friends to us!
SEPTEMBER
The beginning of school. Structure. Oh how I was looking forward to structure coming back again :). Ezra started Grade 2 with Mrs Blythe, Ryder started Kindergarten with Mrs Pynten, and Mckenzie entered 2 afternoons per week Preschool with Miss Lori. Such a fantastic year of teachers! My prayers were answered in this area :).
OCTOBER
We discovered 5 tiny kittens on our property and I made the decision to bring them into our home as there was a prediction of snow and momma cat didn't have them in a very good spot. I spent a few weeks bottling them until they were ready for solids and to go to their forever home. We really miss the two that are in the picture below - very sure that we will get a kitten when we move!
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We finally were able to fulfill the kids wishes to be superheros for Halloween :). It was a dream come true for many lol.
NOVEMBER
Mckenzie has been enjoying her dance classes and is becoming quite the little ballerina.
We also spent this month waiting on Steve to shoot that big buck....but alas no pictures which means no big buck again this year...
DECEMBER
December was filled with all things Christmas. One of our favourite months out of the year!
Breakfast with Santa Family Christmas Party
We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!
Our prayer for our family is that we are healthy, happy, and able to enjoy our family and friends to the fullest. We pray that the same will be for you!
