Best for Last

We finally came upon our last family gathering which was for Keith's side of the family. I wasn't tired of partying it up but Liam certainly was. He was a total bear the whole time and it was sort of a bummer. I suppose all the late nights, missed naps, delayed meals and general lack of routine was going to come to a head eventually.

Here's Liam meeting Carrot. Suz and Tyler don't have kids yet but do have a posse of animals they take with them when they travel. Along with Carrot are Freyja and Zoe (dogs).

Arian and Stacey were the guests of honor tonight. They are very close family friends and considered Keith's other sisters as they grew up together. Chad somehow charmed both of them and now had a girlfriend from Dallas and one from London. What a guy!

Chad even got a bit ole smooch from Arian before dinner. Although he protested I KNOW he loved it.

Tyler and Suz with their baby Freyja. She's a lovely dog!

Liam received a drum set from Grandpa and Grandma! Oh my....what lucky parents we are. We tried to convince them it should stay at their house but that didn't fly :)

It's been a great run. I loved each gathering and am going to miss the fun, laughter and excellent food. Just New Year's Eve left to celebrate and then we're back to routine again.

The Klassen Clan Celebrates Oma's 80th!

Our huge, extended Klassen family still gets together each Christmas. I love that! Of course, no one's home is big enough so for the past several years we have used various church basements. Of course it's not as homey but until someone purchases a huge mansion, it'll have to do!

This year's gathering was held at Sherbrooke Church in Vancouver. Each family brought a salad and then we had KFC and hashbrown casserole. It was very tasty!

Here's Liam patiently waiting for his dinner.

Nate and Chad with one of their second cousins Connor from Calgary.

The buffet tables.

A very special cake for my Oma's 80th birthday!

Doesn't she look fantastic for 80 years old? She's still in great shape and has more energy than most people I know.

Anyone else grow up having 'cow candy' at Christmas? The packaging has been redesigned but it's a vanilla fudge that's made in Poland. It's very nostalgic and I eat one every year even though I don't really love it.

Liam and his second cousin Hannah enjoying some play time after dinner. Fortunately most of my cousins are having babies like rabbits so there are always plenty of little ones running around.
My cousin Lynnette with one of her twin boys. He's scrumptious!



All of my Oma's six children gathered around her at the end of the evening to say a prayer over her.


Beforehand, each sibling took a turn speaking about their mom and what she meant to them. It was a very nice evening.

Boxing Day

I hosted a small gathering at our place on Boxing Day. Since we weren't doing Keith's family Christmas gathering until the 28th I felt like I should have a small party to hold us over. Keith's sister and her boyfriend spent Christmas up in Invermere this year so we wanted to wait until they got back to have our big 'do'. So it was Keith's parents, brother and cousins from Vancouver.

I put on a buffet of homemade buns, ham, cheeses, wings, cheeseball, crackers, crudites, appies and other assorted nibbles. It was really tasty if I do say so myself!

Here is Jacek with his son David who is three years old and Liam. The two boys got on really well and it's nice for Liam to have a second cousin around his age. David is going to have a new sibling next month and that's pretty exciting!

Oh, just yet another random cute picture of Liam!

And more presents! The kids did a little gift exchange with each other. Keith's cousin Jo and her husband are both engineers so our boys got Lego building sets of course! And everyone knows Nathan and Chad could never have enough Lego!!!

It was a nice evening....very relaxed with plenty of visiting and catching up with each other. We did miss a certain someone though. Due to a change in the family dynamic this year (how else to delicately describe a break-up???) it felt a bit different and sad. It will take time to adjust but if you are reading this 'T' we missed you!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was very sunny and beautiful. I suppose if I can't have a white Christmas then sun is better than rain! We had 'Land of Nod' cinnamon buns for breakfast....a sugar rush for all.

Our boys are very patient on Christmas morning and always have been. No waking up at obscenely early hours or any of that monkey business!

Liam also patiently waited to open his gifts.

How is it that babies know fairly early on what a phone is? It's not like I am often on the phone in his presence but he will put about anything shaped like a phone to his ear and 'chat'!

The boys loved their Star Wars thing-a-ma-bob. Whatever...what do I know about these things?

Keith and I both got each other a new smell :) Perfume for me and cologne for him. Yeah...looking a bit tired, aren't I? Just keeping it real.

And then I opened Santa's gift to us (me)! A new camera! Yippee! I like it but am still adjusting to all the new features and settings.

Liam and I in our red Christmas sweaters. We went back to my mom's in the afternoon for turkey dinner.

My dad took out his antique train set that he's had since he was a little boy to show Liam. Liam definitely approved with many 'ooh-ooh-ohhs'!

Chad knows to hug the cook....and sneak a few tastes before dinner is served.

Every year I say it's my mom's best turkey dinner ever. I think this year beat them all....it was tops!

My grandpa came over for part of the afternoon and evening. He moved into the Menno Home this past fall and I think was thrilled to have a break from it. He was in good form and definitely enjoyed seeing the kids. He tried very hard to get Liam to come sit on his lap but Liam is wary of 'strangers' and the best he could manage was to pat Grandpa's knee.

Just playing with my new camera....

After supper my parents took out the laptop to show my Grandpa some photos from his brother's recent funeral.

Grandpa went back to the Menno Home around 7:30 and when my dad came back we put Liam to bed so we could all watch a movie. Andrew gave me 'Enchanted' and so we watched that. A good girlie movie at best that my boys will tolerate because at least there is a dragon in the last scenes.

A wonderful day with my family!

Christmas Eve

If you've been reading my blog long enough you'll know well enough by now that we spend Christmas Eve with my family. Our tradition is to attend church, have dinner together and then get to the main event!

The kids were pleased with their gifts. Actually they are really easy to please! I was happy too, with my new stainless steel colander, wok, movie, cookbook, hand held blender and some cash!

My mom LOVED her new monogrammed apron. I ordered this gift on Dec 1st and was a bit stressed when it took almost all month to arrive. It finally came on Dec 23rd...phew!

Liam was a treasure to watch this year. Last year he was just 3 months old but this year as a 15 month old he was so much fun. He totally got into the whole idea of gifts and loved opening them. He was so well behaved too!

Keith and I happy as clams and stuffed as pigs after my mom's amazing supper.

My brother and his nephews. They just think he's the best thing since sliced bread. He spends so much quality time with them and in return they adore him.

It was a wonderful evening. We went home around midnight so we could make sure Santa got to our house too!

My Christmas Wish

My biggest Christmas wish is that everyone comes to know...truly know...that the greatest gift to mankind was Jesus. My greatest joy is freedom in Christ!

Merry Christmas to all of you.

With love,

Rachel & Keith

Nathan, Chad & Liam

My Oven was On ALL Day!

I woke up and was on a mission to get all my Christmas baking done today. Actually, I think it's very smart to do it close to Christmas because it doesn't get all eaten up before you actually need it.

I tried a few new recipes and a few classic stand-bys as well.

First was Oreo cookie bark. The boys give it two thumbs up!

Next was Kori's famous sugar cookies. Each year I get better and better at rolling out the dough to the correct thickness. I thought these were my best yet.
I sent the boys out delivering goodies to the neighbors.

Mmmmm....caramel corn. Definitely one of my weaknesses!

This was a new recipe this year. I spotted them on the Kraft website and gave them a go. The chocolate cookie has cream cheese in it. After they are baked you drizzle melted white chocolate and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. The kids say they are good.

I don't sample the baking so I have to take their word for it!

Pleased As Punch

I was a proud mama this weekend. Chad did a fantastic job being 'lead' shepherd in the Kids Town Choir production this weekend at church. All the kids did great actually and I just loved watching them....at ALL three services. And the sermon....wow....what a sermon! I'm so thankful for our pastor.

And Nate had a big part today as well since he was chosen to light the Advent candles in the service today. He did an excellent job!

On top of that Nathan brought home a most impressive report card on Friday as well. It looks like middle school agrees with him as it was full of As and Bs.

Crazy Fun

Yesterday work was nuts! Completely fun but exhausting. This two week break is much needed and I cannot wait to focus solely on my family for a few weeks.

The principal and VP dressed as Santa. We had Elf Olympics and Santa was the target for 'snowballs'. AKA wadded up wet paper towels!

Marci helping Santa look just right!

Marci testing out the limbo station. This was set up just outside the office and we had to listen to 'Feliz Davidad' for about two hours straight as the teams each took their turn. I will never be the same.

And what do you think about these beauts? I was FORCED to wear this hideous sweater. I ended up making and wearing a label that read 'Marci's Sweater' since I didn't want people to think that I owned such a travesty! I thought the flashing earrings were cool though and most of the students though so too!