The other day I was pottering around the house doing things and wandered into the family room to find David like this:

Yes, he's asleep. Cute, hunh?

On Tuesday after preschool we went over to Grandma's (as usual). While Davey and Tink played, Jade and I set up the Christmas tree.


Ashlie was off school with a bit of a cold so she headed downstairs to help Dave and Alexis make cookies for their big cookie painting weekend:

Here's Jade with our tree. Actually, Davey and Tink did help a bit, but Davey was scared of Randall so he mostly sat on the table and told me where to hang ornaments and Tink tried to eat the plastic candy canes and apples.



On Thursday Davey had his last day of preschool. We've decided that it's too much driving and too exhausting so he's not going back in the spring. We'll try to find something closer to home, though there aren't many options out here. In honor of Christmas his class did a concert. Here he is looking all spiffy and excited to be going to school.

And here's Tink all excited to be able to go to school too!

Jadey is to the right of the tallest boy - she's wearing a black dress and waving. Davey is right at the outside right. I think he's the youngest kid in the class this year...I'm not positive but most of them seem to be turning four.


Folding his ears down and ramming his hat down over them so they'd flip out. I think he has a lot of his Grandma in him, eh mum?

The cutest Rudolph ever.
Decorating cookies. Davey's a natural at this:

See?
Eating their spoils. Jade's aunty Cyrena and Grandma came to the concert too.


Okay, sometimes pictures just crack me up...right?


THEN SANTA MADE AN APPEARANCE! The kids were SO excited (well, except the two that were terrified. Davey was not one of the scared ones!)

Jadey helping him open his stockig. She takes such good care of him.


After the concert, Andrew took the kids to the river while I had lunch wiith a friend from TWU.
Apparently Tink kept trying to run in the river but finally settled for sitting RIGHT on the edge with her feet practically in the water.

See that rock above his head? Live Action Shot!




I have some video from the concert, but it's snowing out right now so we're going to go play...I'll try and post it to the video blog later!

Thanks to Jason

I have some more pictures from the IT party!



It was great to see how much fun all the kids had playing together. There were teenagers there who got right in (and onto their hands and knees) and entertained the littler kids. SO fun to see their parade of frogs hopping around the party!

Saturday was Andrew's departmental Christmas party. We had a potluck at Ralph's clubhouse. We were in such a rush to get out the door Saturday that I didn't even think to bring my camera, but one of the guys, Nathan, took some pictures and got everyone but Davey in a pic. So, here Tink and I are colouring.

And Andrew is doing crafts with Mark and some other kids.

As usual, we had to leave early. The party was in Cloverdale and even with leaving way before the program was done, we still didn't make it home till 830 - and then I had to grocery shop. I was hoping the kids would sleep in on Sunday but no such luck!

So, after breakfast we packed up the car and headed to Vancouver to see "Christmas at Canada Place". I had really wanted to go last year, but we never got to it. I'm so glad we decided to add it to our trip yesterday!

As you enter the walkway you're greeted by Canada's largest mailbox (it even got in the Guiness World Book in 2000!). HUGE!

As you walk along the outside of Canada Place there are tons of trees lining the path, all sponsored by an organization or business and SO creatively decorated!

This year Davey is crazy about Nutcrackers and the giant ones in particular:


Also along the walkway were little storefront vignettes set up to look like the Woodwards store fronts might have 'back in the day'.








After we'd walked the outside, we went inside to warm up. There was a Santa's Workshop complete with photos with Santa, Christmas crafts, a letter to Santa station and the IMAX is playing Polar Express! How cool is that? Maybe next year we'll try out some of those things, but our kids were just a little too young for it this year.

PLUS, we had other places to go! After Canada Place we headed over to Stanley Park for their Bright Nights display. This year we got there just after they opened (3 pm) so it was just getting towards twilight. A good time to go, I thought.


The rain managed to hold off until we were well on our way home, and we got tickets to get on the train right away. YAY!



The lights are amazing, but for some reason Davey was more interested in the bridges and tracks. I wonder if this is the engineering blood in him? I know his Gramps would love it if Davey was an engineer like him and Uncle Paul (and uncle Rob! it really is in the blood!!)

This guy is amazing. I'd be lucky to balance on stilts, let alone dance AND wear a costume!


Davey is such a little schmoozer. He must have known Santa was a firefighter...he asked for a fire truck and told him he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. HMN....


They had a display set up with tons and tons of toys. Tink couldn't understand why she couldn't climb the fence and go play. See that leg trying to get over?

In the end we had to drag them kicking and screaming from this one...