To all a Merry Christmas

I must say we had a very rockin' musical Christmas and the highlight for Finlay was his "electric guitar"He played it all morning and it even came with us on our afternoon walk. Heather was able to join in with her ukulele and they enjoyed performing renditions of there favorite Christmas songs," Up on the rooftops" and "Jingle Bells".

The highlight for Heather was her musical Beauty and Beast dolls.

Up and coming rock star....
.....and he had to wear the scarf.

The highlight for James was assembly of many toys especially the play tent which he got lost in!

But it was worth it!!

We are lucky at the moment, as Heather and Finlay are still young enough not to let excitement waken them too early. James and I were actually up and dressed before the kids stirred. Eventually at 8am they woke and the first question was had Santa been?

And yes he had been

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house.......

Christmas eve was a day of catching up, there was cleaning to do, shopping to do, mince pies to make, cookies to decorate and of course mulled wine to make and enjoy.
We had decided to go to a local church for a family service, I had taken the kids to the church for the first time the week before for the nativity play. The kids had enjoyed it so much, Heather was in the middle of the floor giving some ballet dance routine to every hymn and Finlay was close behind her with rhythm in his step. I could see the congregation looking and smiling and as long as they were not in the way, I was happy for then to enjoy the music. They were offered a lamb outfit and an angel outfit and asked to join in on the play.
We met Angeline with her kids, Felix 4 and Ansophie 2 at the family Christmas Eve service at 5pm where we were welcomed with "Oh here comes the dancers!!!!!".And then it was back to our house for mulled wine mince pies and snacks. The children were all excited and played well and then they even tracked Santa on the computer. Once their friends left Heather and Finlay were full of purpose and eager to organize the treats for Santa and Rudolph. Carrot and apple for Rudolf and a gingerbread man and apple juice for Santa!!! Then off to bed in anticipation.

Holiday fun

"Don't eat"...the notice said
"But how can we resist"...they replied.

We have had a lovely Christmas this year. The kids are at that great innocent age when everything is magical.
They had a visit with Santa on more than one occasion. Heather eager to ask him if he would come to her house, Finlay excited to see him but sat as still as could be on his knee.



They have enjoyed seeing large Gingerbread houses in some of the local hotels. The favorite one being in the Banff Springs Hotel and every time we go for a swim , we have to make a visit to the Gingerbread house in the Ball room.

After working seven days before Christmas and James also working, we were looking forward to having some time together with the kids. So we have had plenty time to go skating, swimming skiing and sledding. James and I also enjoyed a good skate ski together at the Nordic centre

Only a real Canadian would at -15

Tiny dancer

Heather's school concert..

This is one for the Grandparents!!

Santa is coming to town

The beginning of Dec and all of a sudden it seems that xmas is just round the corner. The weekend in Canmore was filled with activities to do. There was an artisan craft fair, there was cookie decorating in Main street and there was the festival of trees. Having the two kids myself I had to choose which one was going to be manageable, that would fit into the schedule and that we could all enjoy. Heather had gymnastics in the morning and from there we went straight to the festival of the trees. The kids found some of Santa's elves, had hot chocolate and cookies, did some crafts and had a dance with Santa!!
All in all we were done at 1pm and able to get home for Finlay's nap.





Later that evening there were more festivities. So after dinner we went down town for an hour. Main street was closed and there was carol singing, horse and cart rides, fire pits and hot chocolate and we found Santa sitting in a big tent beside a fire pit. The kids were thrilled to find him and enjoyed the evening despite the cold. Dad arrived just in time to see the kids visit with Santa