Our gifts for each other

 We did not have any gifts under the tree for each other.  What we ordered for ourselves showed up yesterday.  A large Creuset pot from Airmiles for making bolognese sauce.  Brian is looking forward to it already.   Also, a Sonos Play 1 speaker from RBC points which puts out a lot of sound for its little size.  Brian has figured out how to cast our Christmas music to it using his phone!!  It is playing in the living room as I write!!  He will also be purchasing a SONOS play bar for the television with his rebate from the TV warranty from Vision and and a few extra bucks.  That will definitely improve the experience of watching movies in the family room.  I asked for a new washer and dryer and after two days of research and exploring all the possibilities of what would actually fit in our laundry closet we have ordered a set of Whirlpool ones from the local appliance store.  They will be delivered next
Friday!!!  We had not anticipated any problem in finding appliances that would fit in that space.  There are quite a few that were too deep and would require some renovations to get them in there.  I am glad were persisted and found a set that would fit.  We probably won't have to buy another set while we live here and will sell them with the house when the time comes!!  I am a happy camper!!
Merry Christmas to us!!!
Therese

Christmas at our house

Richard arrived a few days before Christmas because his commitment to ferrying a plane from Spain was moved to after Christmas.  He helped out with some of the Christmas preparations that had not yet been finished up and we played StockTicker for a day and watched a movie over those few days.  So Christmas started early for us which was wonderful.  He left early on Boxing Day.  Suzanne and Sal and the kids slept over the evening of Christmas after our visit at Loraine's.  Here they are having pancakes for breakfast on Boxing Day.

We went skating and sledding in the afternoon on Boxing Day.  It was -13C with the sun shining so we had a wonderful afternoon.  We went back the next day when the temperature was -2C which was great and we were able to spend more time outside with the kids.  Kale and I went sledding.  He is a trooper - he slides down and without any complaints he hauls his sled back up and goes down again.  Needless to say, that he was able to go much farther than I was but it was a fun day.
The second day Mina and  Suzanne did several laps about the large oval skating track.  Unfortunately, the city had not yet cleared the snow off the two rinks and the skating oval but someone had taken their snowblower and did a couple of rounds around the track and many had brought shovels to clean off part of one of the rinks.  The snow was so light that it was not a problem to skate right through it which left some amazing tracks!!  Someone had started a snow fort and the kids added to what was there and created a few windows as well.
As you can see in the photo the ice is very smooth and clear because it froze before there was any snow fall!! When it is cleared off you can see deep into the ice!!!  Though at this end it is probably only a foot deep anyway so it is frozen all the way through.

 We opened gifts on the 27th.  Mina loved her kitty slipper from Richard and with some help Kale built a merry go round with seats.  He is very good at building things.  He follows the instructions, finds the pieces he needs and is meticulous at putting them where they belong.  He had quite a few little building projects which he built with some participation from Sal and Brian over the few days they were here.  

 He got a large dinosaur puzzle which he and Sal made in the family room.  That was fun!
Suzanne brought a Ferrapo Rocher tree that needed to be built so that was a fun project that the kids put together.
They headed home late on the 27th in time to get the kids to bed and to have Sal ready for work on the 28th.  It has been a great Christmas for us!! It is great to have such a long Christmas experience!!     Therese

Durocher Christmas at Loraine's

 People started arriving early afternoon and we visited until four thirty when dinner was served.  There was much activity in the kitchen for a hour before than with various people helping Loraine to get the food prepped and ready to be served.  The food was EXCELLENT!!  Prime rib, scalloped potatoes, salad, vegetables and buns with cheese cake for dessert.  Mom and Dad did not feel up to the trip so stayed home and were spending the day with some of their favorite treats and watching Sound of Music.  Madeleine and Carmen stopped by on their way out and Madeleine was stopping by on her way home on Boxing Day.  Victor was in camp and

as far as we know Marcel was traveling to central BC for Christmas.  It was great to see everyone and have some time to visit and catch up.  Madeleine is doing well and recovering nicely from her surgery on her shoulder.  Stella and Gord had colds but made the time to come for supper anyway.

Mina and Kale and Artemis were the little kids at the event.  Alyx and MacKenzie were very inclusive of the older two and Artemis having just learned to walk was busy checking out the tree and a variety of toys.  Richard came with us as he had been at our house for a few days before Christmas.  He was heading back on Boxing Day and was heading to Spain to ferry back a plane.

 

The gift exchange was a handmade ornament along with some consumables in a shoe box wrapped in newsprint!!  There were thirteen participants and Loraine and Madeleine and Alyx came up with an elaborate set of rules for how the gifts were going to be distributed which worked out fine though the finer points of the system did have to be explained several times. It was a fun time and I think everyone was happy with the contents of their boxes once everyone was allowed to open them up.  After the exchange we had dessert and everyone visited.  Loraine's tree was beautiful as usual - hers turns slowly so you get to see all the ornaments.

Gifts were hand out and passed around.  The kids enjoyed some of their gifts along with some help from anyone who was interested in helping out.
A wonderful Christmas with family!!!
Therese

My twig wreath

I finished my twig wreath!!  It has been more than a year in its creation and I managed to get it up on the door before Christmas.  I cut the twigs from the willow trimmings more than a year ago. I cut three different sizes - short, medium and long in different thicknesses.  I cut more than I thought I needed and in the end I only had a few left over.  Brian made the base for me which is a large donut of thin wood which worked really well.  I glued them all onto the base a few months ago using hot glue.  I removed all the glue strings in preparing for painting it.  It was pretty good looking in its natural colour and several people I asked liked it just the way it was so it took me a while to convince myself to buy light gray paint and paint it the way I had originally planned.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided to buy paint and went looking for light gray with a matt finish but was unable to find any.  It was gray primer which was darker than I wanted or gloss light gray enamel paint.  I decided to buy the light gray and planned to paint it with matt clear finish at the end.  I gave it four coats in one day - one on the back and three on the front.

I used a produce crate to carry it from the back garage where I was spray painting to the house to let it dry.  That worked really well.  I was pretty happy with the three coats as it still allowed the texture of the twigs to show through and helped emphasize the depth of the twigs.  More coats would have even things out too much and made the whole wreath look a bit flatter.  I decided to keep the glossy finish which looked better than I had expected.  While I was at Peavey Mart buying the paint I found this burlap poinsettia discounted in the Christmas section.  I bought the only red one they had and a beige one.  I dismantled the beige one and painted the largest layer with a colour wash of green acrylic paint to created leaves behind the flower.  That worked really well.  I dismantled the red one, removed the spacer and added the green on in behind then wired all the layers together.  I used the same wire to attach it to the wreath once I had positioned the flower on the front.  Really happy with the way it turned out.  I have felted wool roses which Suzanne gave me two years ago for Christmas which I will make up to put on the wreath for the rest of the year.  Yeah!!

Therese

The tree is coming in!

We bought our tree early this year and a good thing too because there were none left at NoFrills the last few days.  Brian put it in the stand and we brought it and let it thaw for a full day before we decorated it.


Here it is a few days later all decorated!!  It is always fun to check out our ornaments with their memories.

We got a large snow fall just at Christmas so you can see that there is no snow on the ground the day that we finished off the tree.

Therese

Cookie walk

The last Sunday before Christmas was the cookie walk!!  We had a wonderful selection of goodies to choose from so when I got home I made up plates of goodies and put them out in the garage freezer for use over the holidays!!  I made a point of naming the occasions so I would have some left over for the neighbour get together we are having here after the new year!!
Therese

LB - Jack Reacher - the latest book

Brian put this Jack Reacher book on hold quite a while back and when it came in he was in the middle of rereading one of his previous series in anticipation of starting his new book for Christmas so he suggested I read it.  It was good as most of the Jack Reacher books have been so it was a good read.  It will be a little while before the next one comes along.
The first book that has been made into a movie is in the cheap theatre this week so we are considering taking that in as well.

Therese

Live nativity and nativities on display

We went to the Church of the Latter Day Saints last night to check out the live nativity!!  It was cold out but we had seen the set up in the parking lot earlier so we thought it might still be on.  The live nativity was not going forward because of the cold temperatures but the inside display of nativities was still on so we went in and checked them out.  There had to be over 100 different ones - large and small, intricate and simple, eastern and western and everything in between.  Every kind of substrate as well including wood, glass, ceramics, stained glass, fabric, soap stone, along with quite a few we could not identify!
This large one was the feature with the figures being about 3-5 feet tall made of fabric and some sort of plaster to stiffen it.  They were all nicely displayed on round tables scattered around the room.  There was a video of the Christmas story running with several comfortable seats to accommodate anyone who wanted to watch and listen.  They had refreshments in another room but we decided to pass as we had dessert with supper.  We had several people recommend the live nativity so we will be checking it out next year!
Therese

Concert at St. Stephen church

As you can see our church is being held in the gym at the school.  The contract for the new church has been signed and tenders for drawings are coming in and should be decided sometime in the next week or two.  Brian's Advent/Christmas choir gave a concert on Sunday afternoon.  They did really well and it was a great way to start Christmas.  Sylvia came on Saturday and spent the day with us on Sunday - mass, pancake breakfast, concert and then the clean up!!  I made enchiladas earlier so we could just put them in the oven when we were ready to eat.  Sylvia went home Monday morning  - she had a commitment for early afternoon.  

I see from the photo that some of the guys are missing - Gord and Gerard are back there behind the altos and Mike is right behind Esther on this side.  

So next year this concert will be happening in the new church!!

Therese

Gingersnaps

I made gingersnaps to bring as snacks for the concert on Sunday.  I used the recipe that Suzanne gave me a few years ago with a gift of some cookies.  It is a good recipe and it worked out perfectly for 10 dozen cookies!!  I am starting on my baking for Christmas!!

Therese

Rotary Christmas concert

Dad lend his choir for the Rotary Christmas Concert last night.  They did two numbers - Who would send a baby and News In Bethlehem Town along with the final Christmas sing a long song - Hark the Herald Angels Sing!!  The group did well and the whole concert was very good.  Nice way to get into the Christmas Spirit!!

Therese

Dad's birthday

We went home on Friday to be there to celebrate Dad's birthday on Saturday at lunch.  Everyone brought food and it was great to be together.  Dad came home from the hospital on Friday after having fallen at church in St. Lina on Sunday last.  He went to hospital on Monday.  He is doing well and getting around with a walker to be sure he does not fall again and re- injure his knee or anything else.   It was great to see everyone and the weather was really great for travelling!!!

Therese

CWL retreat

Spend  the day with a group of CWL ladies on the weekend.  As a newly reopened chapter we benefited from the Catch the Fire retreat given by several ladies from Edmonton and the provincial president from Red Deer!  We had a small group but the day went well and we had a very good potluck lunch at noon.

Therese

Yvette's new place

 
We visited with Yvette in southern Alberta on our way home!!  She has a wonderful new condo as well and is doing very well.  The few little things that needed fixing have been handled and slowly she is adding the furniture she needed and putting art on the walls.  It has taken a bit of time to learn to use the new appliances and figure out how everything works - the central vac, the garage door opener with a key pad, etc.  She has it pretty all worked out now.  She has met quite a few people and some of the neighbours and anticipates becoming more involved in the community as she is close to the hospital and the seniors home.  She is looking good and Natalie is very happy to have her Mom close!

Therese

Lorraine and her new place!

We had a chance to visit with Lorraine in her new condo just after we arrived in Manitoba!  She has a wonderful new place and is loving it!!  It is a bit farther to work but she has worked out a system for catching transit that does not take her too long to get there and includes a bit of exercise so that is a win win!!  It was an evening of good food with good company!!

We also managed to connect with Rob at Hadashville for lunch.  That is half way to the lake and has a wonderful Ukranian restaurant.  It was great to see him and catch up on the summer.  Karen is working full time in Kenora so she was not able to join us.  Braden was on his way out to the lake to help out so he joined us for lunch as well.

Therese

Visit to St. Adolphe!!

We visited in St. Adolphe with Katherine and Gil and the kids!!  We had a good time and enjoyed the few days we spent in charge of the kids while Katherine and Gil took a few days off.  They flew to Montreal and really enjoyed their time away.  We managed pretty well and had no incidents though we were not long for bed once the house was quiet in the evening.
We had wonderful weather driving down, during our visit and on the way back.  We did arrived home to snow on the ground but did not see more than a few miles with a bit of the white stuff just out of Moose Jaw on our way home.
Amelyn is growing up though she is still tiny and cute as a button.  She has a healthy appetite and usually feeds herself.  Louis does the honours of cleaning up when it gets a bit messy.  
As you can see the weather was great for taking the kids to the park so we did quite a bit of that!!  They school has several new play structures and this new little park has just been completely in the sub division across the highway.

The kids enjoyed Wendy's after we dropped Katherine and Gil off at the airport.  We made a picnic in the living room and they had the privilege to watch videos after they had cleaned up the "supper dishes".

 Loic is enjoying spending time at home with Katherine and Amelyn and goes to preschool two mornings a week - Monday and Wednesday.  He loves to play with his toys and is always inventing some new way to play or a new story line for the participants.

We invited Leo and Rosalie to supper on Sunday.  It had been a while since they had seen the kids because Leo was having surgery.  All is well and we had a decent visit with them considering there were also four kids around looking to connect with their grand parents.  The meat pie Rosalie brought was a hit and everyone enjoyed the banana bread and Neomie and I made the day before.
Before you know it the time comes to pack up and head home.  It was great to visit.  They were looking into a bathroom reno for the basement after we left and so life goes on!!
Therese

 

Richard's kitchen

The renos at Richard's are moving along very nicely!  Here is a photo of his  new kitchen layout with the new appliances, counter top and cabinets.  He is  really happy to have a full kitchen again and continues to work on the livingroom and railing for the dining room.  He is still working out how to finish off the stairs and the creation of a hand rail for that area.  

Therese

Kale's birthday

 We stopped in Calgary on our way to Winnipeg to celebrate Kale's birthday!

The food was great and he enjoyed his cake and presents thanking everyone for them as they were opened.  He had had his friends over the day before and that had gone very well too.  

It was a fairly large group with Sal's Dad, his friend Lisa and some of his brothers and their nephew as well.  It is always nice to get a chance to visit with them as well.

Therese