Yay! Winter is Here!

Well, my kids are thoroughly happy that the snow has arrived. They are loving playing in it, especially with the neighbours. They even love shovelling the driveway. Here are some photos of the kids. Many of them are posed as I was trying to get the "perfect" photo of them for our Christmas cards, if that's even possible. But, I included them all as some of their expressions are pretty funny.

An Unscheduled Visit

Clay and I made a special trip to Saskatchewan around mid-November with the kids. Clay's uncle passed away and we went home to attend the funeral and spend some much needed time with family. In spite of the circumstances, we had a wonderful visit with our cousins, aunts and uncles. We saw every one of Clay's Cenaiko cousins over the weekend, which is a rarity. The kids had a blast with everyone. They were constantly horsing around with everyone and it's a wonder no one lost any teeth or got a black eye. I can't say the same for everyone underwear. When Uncle Kenny went downstairs to see the kids, Brodie yelled out, "Sweeet!!!! It's wedgie time!" So, as unexpected as this trip was, it was great to see so many people.

Harvest 2010

We ventured to the farm for harvest. Harvest was really slow throughout August and September, with virtually nothing being combined in those months. So, we figured it would last forever. Wrong. In fact, the weather was so good following the full moon that my family completed their combining in 2.5 weeks. For this reason, we made an unplanned trip to the farm over Thanksgiving weekend to get some harvest in for all of us. The kids loved it and I barely got to go combining myself. Here are the photos from the Stajniak Farm family harvest.

Corbin's Baptism

My first Stajniak family nephew was baptized on Sep 25th, which sent us west for the weekend. We had a great weekend, even Clay was not with us. Corbin's baptism was the most intense christening ever! I was stressed out and nervous throughout it. Why? Because two minutes before it started, I left the anxiety of my, CKRM radio and a Roughrider game which had the Hamilton Ticats in hot pursuit of winning the game. The Riders were leading and with 47 seconds left in the game, Durant through an interception. I wasn't the only one on the edge of my seat. I had never seen so many people bolt out of a baptism so fast just to find out what happened in the game. Too funny. Once everything settled down, and it was official the Riders won, we returned to the family tradition of taking photos after the baptism.

Driveway Hockey

One of the nice things about our new yard is the driveway. It's not as badly sloped as the one in Kingston. So, we often play hockey on it. Here are the Dads (Clay and Kev) vs the boys (Riley, Brodie and Dylan). The boys love playing hockey on the driveway.

 

 

While the boys were play hockey, the girls (Grace and Amy) were taking time to smell the roses, or rather, Angel Trumpets.

 

First and Last Camping Trip of the Year

Coincidentally, the boys first day of school was also our first camping trip of 2010...and our last. Thanks to the move, we didn't have a chance to go camping until the 2nd weekend of September. The weather was nice but not entirely warm. You will notice we have winter coats on during breakfast. But, it was an very fun weekend with our neighbours, who invited us to go camping that weekend at Bird's Hill Park. Grace also had her first dance lesson that weekend. That's why there is one photo in the slide show below that doesn't really match the others.

First Day of School

OK! So their first day of school was a month and a half ago. I know I am slow, but I am getting there. Anyways, it was quite the miserable day that day. I didn't even get any photos of them going on or coming off the bus, but here are a few photos of Riley and Brodie that morning.

 

 

As for school, they are doing really well. Both boys have really taken to the immersion program, even though, it was a little harder for Riley at first. He was pretty drained at the end of the day. But, he now understands most of the teachers instructions and most importantly, knows how to ask to go to the bathroom. Brodie loves french immersion and is always blurting out words that he knows.

Labour Day Weekend

The Taylors joined us for Labour Day weekend. We had a great time with them, which consisted of making sausage on the Saturday and perogies on the Sunday. I am loving my kitchen because I was able to rollout perogy dough, while watching the Labour Day Classic and keep and eye on the perogy pinchers. It was the first time that Al and Melissa had made perogies. On Monday, we took the kids out to Bird''s Hill Park. The Dads watched the kids, while Melissa and I took the opportunity to go for a run. It was soooo nice. Here are some photos from the weekend, even though we missed out taking some snaps of the perogies and Bird's Hill, they still happened. As well, can you guess what the mystery roast is? Al and Clay came home from the Ukrainian butcher shop all giddy about it!

Bubbles and Band Aids

BUBBLES.....It's amazing how much foamy bubbles can be made when you add some bubble bath into a jet tub! One night after music lessons, Clay treated the kids to a bubble bath in our jet tub. Fiona wasn't even tall enough to be seen above the mass of bubbles. Just kidding. She oddly didn't want to take part in the fun once the bubbles got too intense.

Band Aids.....Riley and Brodie had a little incident on the play structure a little while back. They like to hide under a blanket on the structure but the wind was too fierce that day and kept blowing the blanket. The solution: a 10 lb rock, which eventually clobbered the back of the boys head as they were descending the ladder. It was a total accident by Brodie who lost control of it and dropped it on Riley's head. Thank goodness for super Dad who bandaged up Riley's head so that he could sleep on it that night.

The Litzs Come for A Visit

My sister and family came to Oakbank for a visit at the end of August. We had a great time with them, inspite of the disappointing Rider game. We took them to Birds Hill Park and hung out at the playground and beach. The kids love it there!

All Together, Hanging Out in Oakbank

After a bit of lake time, we all headed back to Oakbank to spend the last few days of our visit with Mark and Laura and family. We had a great time with them. The men took charge of the kitchen and made a fabulous supper for everyone. We also got some hot tubbing and card games in. Here are the photos.

Post Anniversary and the Lake

Here are some photos from the period following the anniversary up to the end of our lake time. While at the lake, we had Brodie's 6th Birthday party. It was what he requested and Grandma Kotzer promised it would happen. It was great to have Auntie Connie, Emily and Grandma Stajniak join us. We had a great time, visited with lots of family and got to do a bit of skiing.

Mom and Dad's 40th Anniversary

On Aug 14th, we celebrated Susan and Allen's 40th Anniversary. It was an awesome bash. Clay and Mark MC'd the event and the sang a song that written by them, about Susan and Allen. The grandkids helped out with the singing and even did the toast to the happy couple. It was a really great party and everyone had lots of fun.

The Kotzers In England Come Out West!

Yay!. It had been over two years since our two families were together and over three years since we were all together with Susan and Allen. Mark and Laura arrived on Aug 11th for a visit out west and to celebrate Susan and Allen's 40th anniversary. Here are some photos prior to the anniversary.

Our New Play Structure

On Sunday, before heading out to church, Clay was cruising around Kijiji. He found th play structure below and after church, we set up a time to go and check it out. We had no idea that by the end of that day, we would have a play structure for the kids. But, we do and here it is and they love it. They can't wait to play on it with their cousin's, who arrive today. Yay.

Our First Trip to the Farm

The kids and I headed out to the farm for the long weekend. Clay was on a Search and Rescue mission so we went without him. The kids were thoroughly played out at the end of each day and absolutely loved the farm. Some of the the things we did: went bailing with Grandpa, met our new cousin Corbin, had a baby shower for Corbin, picked raspberries, ran endlessly through the trees, tried to catch the Grandma's little kittens, played with Emily and visited Great Grandma and Grandpa Englot. I went to the Rider game with Chad and eventually, Clay made it back from the NWT to join us sometime on Sat evening. We stayed until Wednesday, which was nice because we could go home when we wanted to.

Living In Oakbank

Well, finally I am posting some photos of our new life in Oakbank. We have had a few visitors while also getting to know the neighbours. Unfortunately, there is not photo evidence of Kim and Cory Thorn's visit or Mike Strawson's visit. Sometimes, I am not switched on enough to grab the camera.

The Big Voyage to Winnipeg

Our trip to Winnipeg started with a stop at the Ebert's house. We spent a night with them before really hitting the road, on July 1st. Our trip consisted of stops in Sudbury, Sault Ste Marie, Thunder Bay and Kenora. We arrived in the Winnipeg area on July 5th. The kids travelled really well. Fiona didn't cry once. We read Judy Blume books, watched movies and listened to Stewart McLean's Vinyl Cafe to pass the time on the road. The boys also did activities in their activitie books from the Eberts' family. Grace never got sick once, but I did give here gravol. We stayed at hotels with pools and some even had waterslides, which greatly aided the trip because the kids had something to look forward to. Here are the photos from our trip.

Our Last Ten Days in Kingston

Our last ten days in beautiful Kingston started with Daddy coming home from England. We celebrated Father's Day with him by making him a cake. After that, it was pretty much all business. We were loading things, sorting the basement crawl space out, chucked a few things and then finally the pack and load. We stayed at the Radisson downtown, which was a real treat because it overlooked the views of our beautiful Kingston. We loved it there so much, and if ever posted there again, I won't leave it. A lot of tears were shed between us and some dear friends, especially our neighbours, the Peachy's.

Nana Kat and Grampy Mike, this one's for you. All my love always, Ev-e

Second Last Weekend In Kingston

Well, we are into our final three days in Kingston. What a wonderful six years it has been! We added two more children to our clan, a boat, lots of new friends, strengthened old acquaintences, fell in love with the Peachy's, wonderful camping. So, the packers are here and they are doing it all today. We go to the hotel tonight. The kids are both sad and excited.

Our 2nd last weekend, Father's Day weekend, Clay was gone but we still had fun. We had a birthday party on Saturday and went to a beach on Wolfe Island called Big Sandy Bay. It was stunning and tonnes of fun. The boys took in some awesome body surfing on the waves while the girls play along the shore. We packed a picnic supper and had quite a day. Here are the photos from those two events.

Randoms Since Jan 10

Here are some random photos since January, that I have not published. I don't know why not? Probably just because because I never got around to it. Anyways,we are currently being packed up and all the toys in the basement are boxed. It's hard to believe how fast things are moving along. So here are the photos.

Wasn't That A Party

It wasn't supposed to be such a party but it turned out to be. I asked our neighbours if they wanted to share supper together on Friday evening before Clay headed out to Scotland. So, we planned so pool time for the kids and had a potluck supper. That simple supper ended up being a bit of a party that ended after 1 am. We had a tonne of fun with Mike and Kathryn and eventually, Joanne and Tom, who live down the street, joined us too. We were playing old country tunes, wearing cowboy hats and even a little dancing took place.

Our Music Recital

Riley, Brodie and Grace had their music recital on Thursday, the 10th of June. They did very well at it. They confidently announced their songs at to the crowd and played them wonderfully. I was so proud of them. The also played rhythm instruments in a collective rhythm ensemble along to with their teacher who played the piano, which was very good. All in all, they had a great year of playing and learning. Here are some photos of their recitial.

Daddy's Away.....

....So we'll play, play, play. Not that we don't play when Daddy is around. I have planned a whole hockey sock of fun activities for us to do while Clay is in Scotland and England, to help the time go by faster and keep everyone's minds off the fact that he is gone. On Tuesday evening, we headed out to Grass Creek Park for an awesome picnic and some playtime at the beach with our friend Melina and Erika. I didn't catch any snaps of the picnic but I got a few on the beach. Here they are.



I have a few more things to blog when I get around to it, but I promised Clay I would post these pics first. Keep an eye out for Our Music Recital, Wasn't That A Party, and Randoms that didn't make the First Cut.

Rubber Boots and Dresses

The photos below were taken this past Tuesday. It was one of those awesome mornings where, although it was gloomy, the air temperature was beautiful: warm with a comforting coolness. So, I took the girls outside to get some fresh air before the next bit of rain passed through. Like I said, the air was perfect: warm enough for sun dresses, while the preceding rain necessitated rubber boots. I didn't coordinate the girls outfits and rubber boots for the photos. It was just a fabulous coincidence.

The First Pool Day of the Season

Our first pool day at Nana Kat and Grampy Mike's pool was this past Saturday, May 29th. I didn't go in because the water was only 72F, but the rest of the gang went in. Yes, I am wimpy. Somehow, 72 in the pool feels way colder than 72 in the lake. The kids had a blast jumping in and out of the pool. They are all really good little swimmers. Grace is confident in the water without a life jacket, Brodie can swim clear across the pool without one and Riley is a regular fish. Fiona is a bit like Mom and shy of the cold water; however, she was enticed in the pool by the cool floaty thing. Her are the pics to prove it all.

Movin' On Up!!!!

So, I'll keep this blog post short: Clay got promoted yesterday to the rank of Major! His promotion was an informal event but his boss did make sure that the kids and I were available to be there. I invited the Peachy's, who have been our dearest and sweetest friends since we arrived in Kingston 6 years ago, right from the second when Clay hit the play button to the Tommy T. Hall song "Faster Horses, Younger Women, Older Whiskey, More Money."

Awesome Trip to Great Wolf Lodge

Hey All, we just came back from an awesome trip to Niagara Falls where we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge. We went with the Eberts family and had a great time. It's an awesome hotel with a waterpark in it. We got a suite with fridge and micro-wave, so we prepared our own meals except for suppers. It was supper awesome and the kids had a great time on the waterslides.



We also headed to the Falls to check them out. The kids were sooooo impressed. Even Grace understood the shear grandure of it all. We also took a cruise on the Maid of the Mist. It was super impressive and fun and wet, even though they gave us plastic ponchos.

Finally our trip ended with a visit to Jeff and Joanna Halls to meet baby Jayden. We had a great visit and Jayden was super cute! All good things must come to an end and fate took this literally on us. We left the Hall's place and our AC went out on the van on a sweltering hot 31C day. It was an aweful ride home, but we made it.

Riley's 7th Birthday

It's about time I got at it. He only turned seven 12 days ago (sense the sarcasm)! For Riley's birthday, we held his party at the Kingston Gymnastics Club. Two coaches directed the kids in activities and gymnastics for an hour. Following the gym portion, we went upstairs and had snacks, cake and openned up gifts. It was a great way to celebrate his birthday and made things a little easier for Clay and I since we only got home from our House Hunting trip 4 days earlier.

Riley had 9 kids at his party: two girls and 7 boys. There were 13 kids total, including himself and his siblings. They had lots of fun with the gymnastics games and activities. They got to bounce on the trampoline, play with hoops, climb and swing on monkey bars, and do rolls off of equipment.

I made him two Saskatchewan Rough Rider football cakes, which he loved. He got lots of great gifts from his friends: lots of legos and action figures. One of the girls bought him two water guns so that he and his brother could have waterfights together. I thought that was pretty sweet and thoughtful.

After the party, we had supper at home and invited the Eberts family. Good thing I made two cakes! We got to do the birthday routine twice. Finally, Riley's birthday was topped off by having a special guest: his Grandma Kotzer. Here in Ontario, we don't get to spend many birthdays with our family. It was so great to have her here and it was a super help for Clay and I. Here are the photos from his party.

It's Not An Acreage but It'll Do

Hey Everyone,

We are back from a relatively successful house hunting trip. We were going for an acreage: nothing less than an acre would do. But, we ended up buying in a small town east of Winnipeg called Oakbank. It's a great little community of about 3000 people. The kids will go to school, play sports, go to the doctor and dentist all in Oakbank. We will have a little driving to do for music lessons and the commute to work for Clay and I will be 30-35 minutes. Here is a picture of our new house.

10 Kyra Bay, Oakbank MB, R0E 1J1

Here are some photos of the outside of the house and the garage. The yard is 97x140 ft which is a pretty good size for a city/town lot. That's basically 1/3 acre. Not bad. The garage is a 2-car garage and by that standard, we are the poor people on the block as more than half the homes have 3-car garages. The landscaping is all done and there is an awsome garden in the southwest back corner of the yard. I contemplated throwing a few seeds in the garden during the inspection, but everything would have probably froze out anyway.

The pictures below are of the house inside. There are a lot of vaulted ceilings and neat features about this house. It has a total of 6 bedrooms, 3 up, 3 down. One of the bedrooms in the basement is so big that it will be used as a craft/sewing/work out room. I am looking forward to permanently setting up my sewing machine and having a place for the treadmill. The house is a raised bungalow so the windows are really big in the basement and let in a lot of light. The basement also includes a storage room and cold room for groceries and freezers and 4-piece bath with in-floor radiant heating. Upstairs there is a formal dining room and office. The formal dining room will be used as the music room. Here are the photos of the interior of the house.




Well, this will be our home in less than 8 weeks. We are really excited to move but are sad to leave the so many wonderful things that Kingston has to offer.

Two Thumbs Up and An Awesome!

Grace had her first swimming lesson ever yesterday evening! She loved it! She told me it was "Awesome" while she held two thumbs up. It was so cute to see her so enthusiastic. Fiona on the other hand, was not so impressed. She wanted to go in the pool and was not allowed. So, we hung out watching the lesson together, while Fiona wore a diaper and a t-shirt and holding a swimmer in her hand. She refused to put her jumper dress back on and kept trying to sneak her diaper off. Even after the lessons, she kept holding onto the swimmer. We went to the spider park after lessons and she was still holding it.

At the "Spider" park, we met up with our friends Joey and Gianna. We played with them for a while and it was a great opportunity to get some more pics of the kids. Gianna is one year older than Grace and Joey is one year younger. They get along great. You will also see from the photos, why we call it the spider park: it's a pyramid of poles with and fun configuration or ropes webbed together for kids to climb. Our kids love it!

Mary Sells Kingston

Clay and I were relieved after only two days on the market, our house sold. We had to wait almost another week before the conditions were removed, but it is official. It is sold. We used a real estate agent by the name of Mary Murphy. She was fabulous. She was super easy to talk to but very business oriented. We would recommend her to anyone. That's exactly what we did, too. She was also Leslie and Ludger Hacault's agent too. They are moving to Kingston, just as we are leaving it, which is very disappointing. It would have been nice to live in the same city as them again.

So, what exactly is going on with us? Clay finished up the academic year on Friday and is administering the first of his two exams to his students this morning. His work load will greatly decrease as of Thursday this week. The boys are still doing music lessons and beavers and are now doing swimming lessons too. They will start baseball a little later. Grace is still loving her music lessons and is also taking swimming lessons. We are thinking of putting her in a session of gymnastics too. Fiona is on the sidelines watching.

The boys are doing great in school. Riley is doing very well on his spelling and math tests, while Brodie is learning a lot of Riley's stuff.

The girls just got hair cuts. Grace's hair was down to her lower back but was quite tangled all the time. So, I got a friend to cut Grace's hair and she gave Fiona a cute chin line bob cut.

We are looking forward to our house hunting trip and will be leaving on 5 May, while Clay's parents watch over the kids. Clay's mom is going to stay a little longer and be around for Riley's 7th birthday. Riley is so excited about that. We are also planning on going on a small trip to Niagara Falls, Great Wolf Lodge, with the Eberts family at the end of May. Clay heads off to Scotland to present his research and visit Mark and Laura around the 12th June. When he gets back, we will be moving 8 days later. So, life is busy for us as usual, but at least, we don't have to keep the house in pristine condition anymore.

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend breezed right by us this year. We spent most of it preparing to sell our house as we listed it on Tuesday right after Easter Monday. But, we managed to get some quality Easter events in with the kids. We did an Easter craft and decorated eggs. On Sunday, we had an Easter basket hunt, first thing in the morning! The kids were chowing down chocolate before breakfast. We went to church with our Easter basket and had a nice Easter meal followed by an Easter Egg hunt. Fiona pretty much ate all her chocolate, throughout the day, without us even knowing. One time, Clay found her sitting on her change table, in the closet with the doors closed and her face smeared with chocolate and her mouth stuffed with it. Here are some of the photos around that Easter weekend. Check out the black eye and big gap in Brodie's mouth. He looked like such a bruiser for a while.

Little Musicians

On Feb 22nd, Riley and Brodie had a little informal music recital at Chapters in town. One of the other music teachers invited our music teacher and her students to join them. Here is Brodie playing a tune called "Clowns". He has his book infront of him but is not paying attention to it whatsoever, as he has the song completely memorized. He didn't want to play in this recital until he found out that he could play that song.

Here is Riley play a tune called "Valentine Rock". It's a super cute tune that he "fell in love with." Riley is a super confident piano player and didn't want his book. Sometimes the boys can be so different, but in the end, performing infront of the public does not bother them or give them any nerves at all. They are really confident and Clay and I are so proud.

In Disguise

A few weeks ago, the kids wanted to make masks. So, I made a practice one for Fiona to work out the fine construction details and to show the other kids the potential. The boys designed their own and I helped them with the cutting. The boys are wolves and the girls are butterflies. We made them out of an old cereal box so that they were stiff and strong enough not to tear and then, I used construction paper in various colours to make the details along with everybody's favourite, sparkle glue. So, here's the final product. The boys are wearing their shades under their masks to be even scarier!

In other news, Riley had an accident playing soccer in school. Upon first inspection of the Xrays, the attending GP released us and said he saw nothing. The radiologist saw one definite crack, maybe two, which was only reported to us yesterday. So, we headed back to the hospital yesterday for a re-evaluation. Guess what the specialist said? Two definite breaks. Poor Riley hobbled around on a broken foot for 5 days. We restricted his movement, but he still had to get around some how. So, here's a photo of his new duds. We'll have to get a special marker if we want people to sign this one!

Going Green

What you are about to see below has nothing to do with the Saskatchewan Roughriders or with retro-fitting a home to conserve energy. This is what I came home to at 7 am this morning...a little green monster. At first, I thought her brothers did this. NO. Then, I asked if her sister did this. NO. Then, I asked who ate the green tip off the marker. I don't know if she was upset because she actually saw herself in the mirror, or she saw the reaction on my face when I came in the door. At least, it was crayola washable, non-toxic markers.

Note: Crayola, non-toxic markers are way easier to clean than vasoline or zinc oxide diaper cream.

 

A Bunch of Stuff

Here are some of our latest photos since the beginning of the month. First, someone had a birthday...and it was a really great day. The highlight of my day was Riley and Brodie singing Happy Birthday to me as soon as I came home from the gym. They also made me breakfast in bed, but I wasn't there to get it. The rest of the day was pretty normal. The boys had Beavers, so we didn't have Birthday cake until after they came home, bathed up and were ready for bed.

February hasn't been to eventful. We have only had one snowfall, hence, the park pictures, but most of that snow is gone and the ground is bare and pathetic. We are all dying for some snow so we can go sledding on all the new sleds we have.

The boys are loving hockey. It's the greatest sport they've played yet. They are excited for every game and have even scored a few goals. The are both very hard-working and determined little players.

Grace is doing excellent at her music lessons. The program she is in is so much fun. She is even starting to play real notes. By the last lesson, she will be able to play simple songs off of the grand staff.

Fiona is our bubbly little doll. She wakes up so happy in the morning and is full of hugs and kisses. She wants to help out with everything. She even gets things from the basement when I ask her that i need something. She is slowly working on potty training. Some days feel like we are breaking through and the next she couldn't care less. I was really hoping she would be like Grace in this regard; however, all kids are different. Let's hope she is not different like her brothers and wait til she's almost 3.

As for us, we are hopefully going to know where we are going soon. Clay's career manager interview is on 16 Feb and we are hoping that everything that we have tried to set up falls into place. Obviously, going out west is our number one choice, but Gagetown is a great option too. We are really hoping that the career manager just doesn't "do whatever" and send us to Ottawa. So, my countdown is on...four days to go.

That's all, but a lot for now. Cheers, Evelyn

Photo Fun

Hi All, I was goofing around with the camera at lunch time today just taking photos of the kids as they were eating....just for fun. Here's a little collage of my un-professional photo shoot. The one photo of Grace will be kept and shown to every boyfriend of her's that I don't like!

 

A Great Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

Well, my parents have come and gone and we had an awesome visit with them. The kids had lots of fun with them and Fiona picked Grandpa to be her best buddy throughout the whole visit. Here are photos from their visit.

The Farm Grandma and Grandpa Come to Kingston

On Jan 9th, Grandma and Grandpa Stajniak arrived in Ottawa to come visit us for two weeks. What a busy day!! We picked them up from the airport and grabbed a quick lunch at Brian and Deb Tang's place. Then, we headed to the Scotia Bank Centre for the boys hockey game. It was pretty cool for them to play hockey on the super big ice. After their game, we had supper and then watched the Ottawa Senators play. It was pretty cool for everyone and it was my Dad's (the biggest hockey fan in the world) first NHL game. The boys game also gave us the opportunity to try out our new camera lens for our camera. Here are some photos from that event.


January 9th is Fiona's birthday, of course. So the very next day we held a birthday party for her. It wasn't super huge but she had fun. She also missed the first hour of it because she was napping!!!! But Clay and Mark Eberts headed out to the snow hill with the other kids and the went sledding. Once Fiona woke up, she was excited to see all her guests. She loved her Little Mermaid cake. Here are some photos from her birthday.

Finally, Grandma and Grandpa go home in a couple of days. It has been great having them here. Grandpa picks the boys up from the bus everyday. Grandma has been helping out with lots of jobs, like washing up cupboards and making perogies. It will be sad to see them go but we'll make the best of the last couple of days.

Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve

Well, it's about time I blogged something. Just a quick note on what's going on in the slide show. We did our traditional Christmas Eve with Grandma Kotzer of 12 Ukrainian dishes followed by Church and then presents. The kids were spoiled rotten and got lots of awesome toys and awesome clothes. Grandma K left on the 28th and we headed up to Ottawa to visit Rhonda and Craig before baby Johnston showed up. New Years Eve was spent at home with Mary Ann and Derek. We watched the junior hockey game and just hung out. It was great. We feasted like crazy on everything and even had crab legs and champagne (the knock off kind). That's it for now. Evelyn's parents are visiting and we are getting a few jobs done and relaxing a bit too.