Our kids know us so well!

One of the gifts from the children was matching flashing shot glasses!!!! Coz, you know, we do shots every night in the dark....... ;)

Actually I love them - they also got Lloyd a flashing beer glass to match last years pink flashing martini glass!

Merry Christmas from 'the pets'.....

Charlie singing 'Santa Baby'.....Rosie enjoying her dog chew 'candy cane' and Jasper not looking amused at having to dress up 'like those stupid humans and that fat pig'!

Chris's latest sarcastic t-shirt!

Chris loves slogan shirts - the ruder the better so I thought this was perfect for him...although I'm not sure he can wear it to school!

A surprise from Santa!

Abigail found a surprise at the bottom of her stocking this morning.......LAST YEARS mandarin!!!!! Oops!!!

So this is what a year old mandarin looks like ;)

Sam still sleeping...

Abby names her baby - test

I recorded so much this morning and now all my clips are too big to post - so I have to figure how to make them smaller (anyone?????) so here is a test to see if this works....this is one of very few that are small enough to post

Our Christmas Pickle....

...which kind of reminds me of Susannahs comment today:

"I LOVE pickled carrots...they're just like pickles but they're carrots"!!!! ;)

Christmas Eve at our place...

It's been a lovely day....Lloyd left me to sleep in and he ran into town to get the last of the groceries - fresh vegetables etc for tomorrow. Sam and I woke up just after 9am and were up and ready when Lloyd got home...then I headed into town with Chris, Laurence and Susannah.....they each went off to get their last minute gifts for each other....after that we headed to Wow Factor Desserts to buy a Tiramisu for Lloyd as thats his favourite dessert. Then we went to McDonalds for coffee and we shared a large fries - that was kind of fun - just a quick snack and we were fighting over the fries lol...then we headed home and all decided not to bother with Lets Play this year....we were all tired from our late night last night. Lloyd and I wrapped gifts...I spoke to my Mom ad Dad briefly (my parcel to them has not arrived - in fact they said a million or more parcels are delayed in the UK because of the overwhelming use of shopping online this year......) thats a shame but they do each have a gift from us to open which is good.

The children are now at the table making gingerbread houses....Sam has decorated more cookies and is now curled up with Lloyd.....I made a tray of coconut Ice for Lloyd which he loves.....I found a card addressed to me left by the computer.....this years gorgeous card from Lloyd that made me cry AGAIN!!! And I gave him his with a cup of tea just now :) Its a Christmas Eve tradition that we swap cards having each searched for the card that says how we feel perfectly!

Our Christmas Pickle is ready to go on the tree (more about that later!) and tonight we are curling up by the fire to watch Deck The Halls :)

Last night we had friends over - they came over around 4pm and stayed until VERY late but it was such a fun evening....we sat outside for hours by a roaring fire and that was so lovely....and then we came inside and I helped Samantha create 3 scrapbook pages she had to do for her Moms 70th birthday album - that was fun :)

Anyway, have a wonderful, safe and happy Christmas Eve everyone! If I have time later I will post the piccies I have taken the last couple of days.......from last night and today......

Off to drink my tea and curl up with my Husband on our first Christmas Eve as Husband and Wife :)

Starry starry night.....

Whyte Ave at night.......

Bright Nights......

Tonight we made our annual trek to Bright Nights in Hawrelak park, Edmonton. WE have gone every year since we arrived here and Lloyd complains every year that they never change it lol - but there were a few new things this year AND they moved a few of the displays lol!

The whole of the park is filled with lit displays and you drive slowly around to admire them all.....it's $15 to get in and they accept donations for the food bank - we had a coupon to get a discount on entry so we made sure to take plenty for the food bank!

We always stop off at Tim Hortons on the way, and buy hot chocolates that the children drink as we drive around!

I love it :) I know they don't change it at all really but thats not the point.....it's festive and cheery and the children oooh and ahhhhh at all the lights and get excited about seeing the squirrel run through the trees! And I think Lloyd enjoys it really lol - he just likes to play the Grinch sometimes lol!

Scenes from Bright Nights 2007....

The end of Friday....

Our Friday ended with me speaking to my Sister for almost 2 hours (gulp!!!) and in the evening we all curled up and watched The Santa Clause 2...with the Christmas tree lights glowing, the fire flickering and the children eating candy canes :)

It was a nice start to the Christmas holidays....tonight we are off to Brightnights and then hope to watch a movie before bed :)

A surprise email from a friend!

This morning I woke up to an Email from my wonderful friend Lianne - we were good friends back in England when I was still with my Ex husband. We had children of similar ages and just tons in common and there was nothing I liked more than piling over to her house for coffee. We went to toddler groups together, indoor playgrounds, parks in the summer, to see Santa at Christmas....and we even went on holiday together - a week in a caravan (trailer) by the sea in North Wales.....and it was cold and very VERY windy - I swear the sides of the caravan were bending in......we went to a big indoor swimming pool by the beach and when we came out it was like being in a sandstorm!!!

I miss Lianne and her three boys soooo much! And now she has a gorgeous Daughter who I have never met (but I think I helped a little in her having her lol) and I just know Bethany and Abigail would get on so well!!

Anyway - when I moved house 2 years ago I decided to get back to letter writing (which is how Lianne and I first met) so I didn't give her my email address and we tried to write regularly but neither of us have been able to write regularly enough for our liking lol - so I sent her a Christmas card and my email address and today I was surprised by some emails and some pictures and it was just soooooooo great to hear from her!!!

When I left my Ex, Lloyd picked me up and drove me over to Liannes to say goodbye and to collect some things of mine Lloyd had given me that my Ex had threatened to destroy...and Lianne gave me a friendship necklace that has half of a charm on it - and she has a necklace with the other half of the charm...and thats the last time I saw her.

Lianne and I had another good friend, Julie...and we took it in turns to host coffee etc - sadly Julie died from cancer almost 5 years ago......I know this in my head....but because I live so far away it doesn't seem quite real - I picture everyone back home going about their business as they did the day I left.....so its all a bit odd really.

Anyway - needless to say it was lovely to get an email from Lianne and I can't believe how big her second son is - I have such a huge soft spot for Liannes Son Cameron. Oh I miss them all :(

And Michael, her oldest is at University studying psychology!!!!!! That seems impossible - he was just a boy when I saw him last!!! It's been 7 years!!!! OMG I haven't seen Lianne for 8 years!

Fun with gingerbread dough

Making gingerbread cookies today.....they spent ages doing this and had great fun - I really need to invest in more Christmas shapes - they ended up making ducks and cows as well as a few Christmas trees lol!