Record Albums

Here are some favorite childhood Christmas albums. And yes, they were played on a RECORD PLAYER. I sure hope you all know what that is and how to operate one :)

Oh Nana....'Old Toy Trains' can bring a tear to my eye!

Dear Roger...I loved it when you sang 'Mama Mary'!

Okay....'Come On Ring Those Bells' is a classic! Did you get to enjoy Evie back in the day? Loved her perfect blond bowl cut...I aspired to that but with my wavy brown horse hair it would never happen!

The Merriest of Christmases!

From our family to yours!

Ouch

Who remembers bobbles? Who's mother put their hair into two tight braids every single day and used bobbles at the top and bottom of the braid? Me me me me!

I even had to sleep with them in. My mom was not into combing out 'rats nests' from my hair. I guess my yelping was just too much to take!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Tomorrow we leave for Palm Springs to meet up with my parents and brother who are already there waiting for us. We planned this trip a full year ago and it seems a bit surreal it's here already! I considered taking my laptop along but then realized that it would not be a 'true' holiday if I was up to old tricks (reading email, surfing facebook and blogging!). So please stay tuned for a full holiday report in the New Year! My dad will probably be posting regularly so feel free to visit his blog for news of what we are up to. His link is on my sidebar.

Happy Holidays!

My Prize

Today I was cranky. I suppose I could have blamed it on the kink in my neck I woke up with or the fact it's pouring rain in Palm Springs or blah blah blah...I was just cranky. Because.
Keith usually bears the brunt of my cranks and is good about letting me use his arm as a punching bag! Today he heard me muttering about my 'ugly' table as I was setting it for dinner (his family came for supper tonight). He willingly went outside and clipped down some branches of holly from our neighbors tree for me.


An offering with love. He's a good man.



Here's my before picture. It's a lonely candle.

It's amazing what a little greenery can do!

I enjoyed looking at my centre piece for the entire dinner and thought about how Keith made my day by doing this for me!

Ends and Beginnings

It doesn't take long to form a bond of friendship with those you work with. After being at MEI for seven years my friend and co-worker Val is moving onto new things. I am going to miss her very much. She is wise, a strong woman of faith, caring and incredibly addicted to chocolate!

We had a combined going away party for her and a congratulations party for Heather who just received her doctorate! Introducing Dr Smith! She's one smart cookie.

We got them the yummiest lemon cake ever.

A chocolate fondue for lunch was sure to please Val. The rest of the staff seemed quite pleased about it too actually!

As you can see, Val even felt the need to embellish her cake with chocolate. She is hard core!

On a happier note, today was my last day of work until January 4th. Lovely.

I attended the Michael W Smith Christmas concert tonight with my friends. It was just so well done. Classy, professional and entertaining. A most enjoyable three hours! A perfect way to start the holidays.

In case you are wondering where the rest of my family was, wonder no more. I left them at home. I am the sole MWS fan in my house!

Hard Work and a Reward

Nathan achieving the honour roll first term of grade seven. Chad also getting there during his first year of getting 'real letter grades' as he puts it! I'm so proud of them both!
The reward was dinner out a Red Robin's. Not my first choice but a busy and noisy place where one can take a 2 year old and have them blend into the atmosphere.
Chad ordered fish and chips.

Nathan (with a strange spot light on his face) had the bacon cheeseburger.

They were both very happy with their meals but admitted they like my cooking better! Spoken like children who rarely eat out.

Afterwards we did the live drive through nativity at the church just down the road from us. We go every year....family tradition!

Childhood Favorites

These are two of my favorite story books from when I was a young girl. These are the two books I would take out of the library again and again. Now that I am a big girl I have purchased these and still look at them over and over!

Meeting Santa at Firehall #6

This marks our fifth year of attending the kids Christmas party that is hosted by the union. The formula remains the same each year and I suspect it has been this way for a long time already.

When you arrive there are cookies to decorate and hot dogs to eat. Then Santa shows up on a fire truck. Then you wait for your name to be called so you can sit on his knee and receive your gift. Then you go home. The end.

Observe Liam's little tongue sticking out in concentration as he perfects his sugary masterpiece.

Mother! Please stop taking pictures of me.....I am so sick of it!

Chad knows the drill and had his cookie decorated in record time.

Liam managed about half his cookie along with a juice box. Afterward he was jumping around like a Mexican jumping bean. Major sugar high.

He tried to patiently wait for his name to be called. Chad was the next best choice since Nathan wasn't there. Nathan declared himself 'too old' to be attending such events.

My handsome lad with Santa.

Liam was not too sure about that big old elf. But he knew he had to sit there to get his gift so he endured it.

I know this look. It's the 'if I don't make eye contact then you don't really exist' look. Good coping mechanism.

Jackpot! He got his big present and opened it immediately!

Whee! He was very happy with this dump truck/excavator combo. A perfect item for a little boy.

The smile says it all.

And even though Chad is going for the serious look he also was very pleased with his radio controlled car.

Meeting Santa

Even though Liam looks completely doped in this picture he was fairly ambivalent about meeting Old St Nick. I am quite positive it was the promise of a candy cane that let this picture happen at all!

Check Check

Really happy to have all the teachers, bus drivers, youth leaders etc gifts out of the way. Shopping and wrapping isn't really 'my thing' so once it's done it's quite a burden off my shoulders!

Sunday School Christmas Cutie

Nathan's not the only performer in the family!


I'd have to say that Liam needs to work on his stage presence. Unless one is going for the 'deer in the headlights' look. A better parent would have gone up closer to get a decent picture...clearly that is not me!

'Take Me Back' Christmas Theme Continues

Oh, I am looking up in complete adoration of my older cousins Christa & Stephanie. I used to think they were the coolest, prettiest and nicest girls and I still do. I was always thrilled when I received hand-me-downs from them. My mom made all my clothes back in the day and to receive something from a REAL STORE was beyond exciting for me.

My brother is wiping his nose on his sleeve as per usual. He usually had a cold from October to April.

This photo was taken at my Grandpa & Grandma Friesen's house (one family was living in Northern BC at the time and one in Alberta). Christmas there was the best. We would arrive at around 11 am and leave around 11 pm. Eating, playing games, visiting and just enjoying being together. Such remarkable memories and I miss it.

He Doesn't Do Things Halfway!

After Kori posted her homemade caramel apples I had a craving! I bought all the ingredients and was planning to make some soon. Without speaking to Keith about it he had the same craving and bought some more ingredients on Friday. I would have been content to have apples just like this.....

.....oh but NO! Keith has to go full out and make them like this:



Great job Willy Wonka:) You certainly can do amazing things when you put your mind to it!

Brudders

I love seeing the relationships building between each of the boys. Nathan and Liam have an amazing bond already. I trust Nathan with Liam 100% and Liam sees Nathan as a third parent! Chad and Liam have a little ways to go but I know they'll be close one day too!

My Buttons are Bursting

If you are a regular reader of this blog or facebook you will be well aware of the fact that Nathan was in 'The Nutcracker' this weekend (six performances!). He was very dedicated to this production and faithfully attended each and every rehearsal. I got involved with a few aspects of decorating and helping out as well as meeting some really great parents. This has been a very positive experience for Nathan. He's just really into the whole idea of being on stage, learning acting and building his confidence. He's made many new friends as well which is always a good thing! Watching so happy with A.C.T. in turn just makes mom and dad happy as well.

He had several roles in this production. He was in a pack of Ninja mice, a snow flake, a tin soldier and a Venus Fly Trap plant!

I love this shot! All credit for this photo to my friend Natalie who was the official photographer of the production.
Here he is handing out programs with his fellow tin soldiers.

With his troop of flower friends. They were just so entertaining and stole the show with their dance moves. I seriously did not ever expect Nathan to have such fantastic and hilarious dance moves!

We had wonderful support in the audience. On Friday night he had a whole row of fans. Thanks to Keri, Kori, Alanna, Vanessa, Karli, Grandpa, Uncle Andrew, Nana, Grandad and Chad for cheering him on. For the Saturday matinee Keith and Uncle Murray were there to lend their support! Grandma couldn't make it to the show but sat through a four hour long dress rehearsal so she could see Nathan.

Here he is home from the cast party. He got a bag full of treats, a few props as souveniers, a signed t-shirt, photo of the whole cast and a smile a mile wide! He's a bit bummed out that it's all over but is already really excited about the spring production of 'Charlotte's Web'.

The artistic director Mrs. Latham always reminds the kids how lucky they are that they have parents that support them. And I say a big thank you for Mrs. Latham for running the Abbotsford Children's Theatre so my son has a place to be able to do what he loves!

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Oh how I loved that little kitty cat. Brandy was my 12th birthday gift and the best one I'd ever received! This is Christmas in our old townhouse on Wright Street. We moved about six months after this photo to my parents current home. We won't get into that here but let's just say it was a HUGE adjustment for my brother and I!

Legacy

This weekend my entire family (on my mom's side) got together to celebrate and honour my grandparents for 60 years of marriage.

Elisabeth and Gerhard Klassen aka Oma & Opa!


After being married for a mere 16 years I am in awe of 60 years together. Looks like Keith and I have only started our journey together.


I deeply admire my grandparents. They have been through so much in their lifetime yet have remained so faithful to God and to each other. They have shown the meaning of hard work, perserverance and gratitude in all circumstances.

This is the VERY abbreviated version: They both met each other on a boat that was taking people from Germany to South America. Opa had escaped getting enlisted from Hitler's Youth army to the regular army because he was too scrawny. His mom was a widow and didn't have much food to give her five children. Oma was a pastor's daughter and was known for being particular. The war ended shortly thereafter and they looked to Paraguay to start a new fresh life. They married shortly after arriving in Paraguay. They don't even have a wedding picture. They worked very hard there in harsh conditions. They were sponsored to come to Canada in 1956 and once again travelled to a new land to start a new life. They started from scratch and through hard, hard work made themselves a good life in Vancouver, then Richmond, a summer home in Oroville and now in Abbotsford. My Opa started Klassen Heating which is still a very successful business in the city. They have six healthy children who all are committed Christians, who in turn all have children and even their children have children!

We were blessed with an amazing venue to have our celebration evening. My Oma's nephew opened up his beautiful home on Eagle Mountain for all 50 of us! The meal was scrumptious, the surroundings grand and the company fun.

My grandparents love to get up and tell us stories of their lives...they are not shy people. My Oma gave the best line of the night when she was telling us how she met Opa (in her wonderful German accent):

'A strange boy put his arm around me and....it did not feel bad.'


My brother was the 'official' photographer of the night but I took a few of my own shots. Here are just a few so you can see what our evening was all about!

My contribution was to bake and carve up this massive ham! My electric knife is still having seizures.

A most lovely home.

The reflection of the grand windows makes for an interesting shot.

The basement was set up for the kids. Air hockey, ping pong and a big TV. It was nice to have a place for them to go while the adults visited over dessert. Beyond the glass doors is an indoor pool!

The youngest member of the crowd was baby Asher who is a mere three weeks old. He's a real cuddle monkey. He's with his mom Erin who is my cousin and her dad, my Uncle Ken.


And as per tradition there was a 'kids' table for the meal. Keith and I left Liam at home with a sitter which made for a most enjoyable evening.

A view looking from the hall into the kitchen.

They cleared their livingroom for us...plenty of room for all.

Andrew with some lovely ladies! My cousins Kim and Teresa and my aunt Margarete.

Keith was assigned the carver of the baron of beef. He did a great job...such a multi-talented man I have!

Aunt Louise with my second cousin Edith. Louise hosted us with her husband Gerhard. Edith is their daughter (my second cousin) and she helped with the serving and cleaning up. Her daughter in turn helped supervise the kids in the basement!

There was a scrumptious lemon layered cake for dessert.

A fabulous evening that would not have pulled off without all the hard work from each of the families. Amen!