From Our Family to Yours

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe it's time to write the annual Christmas letter again! Where did the time go? Once again we've had a year of making memories. Here are some of the highlights:

Luke Corban – I realize that Luke's arrival was closer to the end of the year, but we all agree that he is, by far, at the top of our highlight list. With this baby Jeremy wanted to find out what we were having. I wanted to be surprised. We didn't think we could both get our own way, but that's what happened! We found out we were having a girl and then were surprised by our baby boy! Luke is the perfect addition to our family... we are all crazy about him!

Canada Day – We've been wanting to spend Canada day in Enderby for a long time and this was the year it finally happened. The kids were thrilled to ride on one of Papa's Massey Harris tractors with Jeremy in the parade. After the parade we enjoyed a BBQ and an afternoon of tractor pulls and lawnmower races. Having lots of cousins and friends around only made the day better.

School – Sam graduated from preschool and started kindergarten. He loves everything about school (especially recess!) and has a great, caring teacher. One of my highlights was being able to drop Sam off on the first day without crying (a small miracle really)! Since the start of school we have noticed that Sam has a new love... coloring! We never thought we'd see the day when he would sit still for hours and color! We miss not having Sam at home all day, but are happy he is enjoying school.

Ballet – Maartina went though a phase when she would tell us she wanted to be a ballerina when she grows up so we decided to register her for ballet lessons. She is learning a lot and loves to line up the kitchen chairs for us so she can give us a “ballerina show”. It's very entertaining. It has also clarified for her that maybe she doesn't want to be a ballerina when she grows up after all... her goal now is to be Rapunzel!

Water skiing – Jeremy still loves to get out on the lake with the boat. This year he enjoyed a water skiing/camping weekend with some of his friends. Despite not being able to sleep on the hard ground he had a great weekend away. I'm quite sure Jeremy will make sure this becomes an annual trip.

Beth Moore – I also had a weekend away with friends this year. My sister and I and two of our girlfriends went on a road trip to Tacoma to attend a Beth Moore conference. Our weekend also included lots of shopping and Starbucks. We all came home refreshed, encouraged and making plans to do it again sometime!

Hockey – In March some friends invited us to join them to watch a Vancouver Giant's game in Michael Bublé's BC Children's Hospital suite. We had a great time and felt very spoiled! That is definitely the way to see a hockey game! We also enjoyed the NHL playoffs... every time the Canucks won there would be a parade of honking cars in front of our house and the kids thought it was the best thing ever! They enjoyed standing on the front steps (usually in their pajamas) waving flags and shouting “Go Canucks Go!”.

Laughter – We have laughed a lot this year. Our kids are funny hilarious and they add a lot of joy to our lives. Not too long ago Maarti walked into our room, early in the morning, and yelled “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” (Lucky for her, we were able to see the humor in it!). Sam recently got a new Donkey Kong shirt and after wearing it to school he came home to report “All the kids in my school love Mario so much that they were all giving me hugs! ...even the girls! ...BEST. DAY. EVER!!”. And just the other night the two of them were explaining to us how “Terry the Fox skipped across the world on his stick leg”. Even when we have hard things we are dealing with the kids help to keep things light and we are thankful for them. Children truly are a blessing from the Lord.

Birthdays – We love to celebrate birthdays and we were especially grateful to be able to attend our Granny's 93^rd birthday party! Granny is an inspiration to us and she continues to teach us about having a positive attitude in every circumstance. Almost every time we visit her she reminds us that “With God all things are possible”.

So there you have it... the best of our 2011! I love to write these letters each year as it forces us to think back over the year and remember all the blessings that it held for us... something that we don't do nearly enough. We really have so much to be grateful for.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and much joy in 2012!

With Love from,

Jeremy and Leanne

Sam, Maarti and Luke

Activia Yogurt with Fibre

Sam has an opinion about that:
"Mommy, I don't like this kind of yogurt because I don't like the bits of hay in it."

Help From the Almighty

Maarti is still at the age where she needs a little direction before getting dressed in the morning so yesterday when she said she wanted to get dressed I told her to wait a minute and I would help her find some clothes. I finished what I was doing and went to help her and what did I find?... she was already dressed... in shorts and a t-shirt (Notice today's date... DECEMBER!!!)! Before I could say anything she had an answer for me: "Jesus helped me pick out my clothes".

EDN Studios Presents...

A Tropical Christmas Recital!





We loved watching you dance Maarti!
What a beautiful ballerina you are!

Our Picky Eater

Last night was Mom K's birthday and to celebrate Dad took us out for dinner. Chinese.

I'm not really a fan of taking kids out to eat at a restaurant anytime, and one without chicken and fries on the menu had me more than a little anxious. Sam is especially picky and I wasn't sure he'd eat anything besides the fortune cookies. As I went through the buffet I filled his plate with some fruit, skipped all the veggies (don't judge me, I just wanted a peaceful family dinner) and then looked for the least Chinese type foods that they had... deep fried battered cod, grilled chicken breast and deep fried wontons. As I cut it up I prayed that he wouldn't notice the absence of ketchup.

As is often the case, I worried unnecessarily. All through supper he was making enthusiastic comments:
"I love this Chinese fish! It's so good"
"This Chinese Chicken is awesome!"
"These are just like chips... Chinese Chips! I love them!"

At the end of the meal Sam enjoyed his Jello. And, in case you were wondering... apparently Chinese Jello tastes pretty much the same as Canadian Jello!

Angels According to Maarti

Maarti ran into the livingroom this morning wearing her tutu and a frisbee on her head and exclaimed "Look at me Mommy! I'm an angel!"


She then went on to tell me a few things about angels. It was quite educational and I thought you might like to be enlightened as well:

• "Angels wear tutus so they can spin."
• "Angels give out toys and money. Actually just money."
  
• "Angels can fly and they don't usually have babies or dolls or toys."
• "Do you know they have hats that have bigs holes in it?"
• "Winnie the Pooh doesn't belong with Angels."

My Next Birthday Party

I think our kids are normal... they start planning their next birthday party the minute their last one is over. It's all about the theme parties too. Next year Maarti wants a "Dora Hockey Party" (I think that means she wants to go skating and have Dora treat bags). Sam is waffling as to what he wants, but it's okay... his birthday is still 8 months away... he's got some time to decide!

Tonight at the dinner table the kids asked me what kind of birthday I wanted. So I told them to guess. (I never give my birthday that much thought... I'm just happy if someone orders pizza!) They threw out a few ideas and then all of a sudden Sam's face lit up and he exclaimed "I've got it! A Beth Moore Party!!". Can you believe that option had never occured to me?! The thought intrigued me so I asked him how we would decorate for a Beth Moore Party. Ummm... does anyone have a life size cut out of Beth Moore we could borrow in early May?