Adieu

Good bye and good luck, says Mommy and Aunt Kathy.  This is going to be a challenge.  Can the moustache man manage to get both of us up?  Where's Daddy when we need him?  He was practically teaching us on day one and could have been on the MSM payroll.  Oh, that's right, he's at the top of the hill with Soren. 

Heading for Disaster?

Here we go on day 2 with our instructor, the moustache man.  We're going to learn how to mount the poma-lift.  This might seem silly to learn how to go up a hill but it's actually harder than going down at first.  We're working against gravity and that big metal disc on a pole is pretty intimidating. 

Snow Burgers

After a wonderful white Christmas at our new home in Canada, it was time to really enjoy the Burger Christmas tradition.  We headed up to Mont Ste. Marie for some skiing.  We, along with cousin Abigail (seen here in purple), took ski lessons all week long.  This was just like it was for Daddy and Aunt Kathy when they were our age. 

Music Man

Very cool gift.  It may be a few more years before I'm strumming Led Zeppelin tunes, but I've got lots of time to practice. 

Hard at work

Do they really think there's time to pose for photos on Christmas morning when parcels are everywhere?  Seriously, mommy.

Christmas morning

Surprisingly, we didn't wake up too early. It must have been all of the excitement from Christmas Eve.  Plus, we wanted to give Santa as much time as he needed.  Let's see if he delivered!

Christmas at 710 Wrangler

This was mommy's dream.  To finally have Christmas at our house in Canada.

 And boy, what a difference living this close to the North Pole.  Santa had less to travel and so was able to bring more.  We sure made up for lost time. 

Jingle! Jingle!

Look at Marley.  He's getting ready too by putting on his Christmas collar.  Jingle, jingle!

Pre-Santa Stash

What?  Saint Nick and the Deer haven't shown up yet.  These are only parcels from within the family.  Should we text Santa and tell him not to bother?

PJs

Another slowly developing tradition is the opening of one parcel the night before Christmas.  It just so happened, by coincidence I'm sure, that everyone opened the parcel with pyjamas in them.  We were all set up with new pjs for the big day. 

Christmas Excitement

It was hard to control ourselves and calm down before going to bed, especially after seeing Saint Nick.  All we can do now is hope. 

Short Visit

It was a great visit from Santa and quite surprising, however, we understand that he has to leave because he has lots of work to do to be able to deliver all of the gifts to all of the boys and girls.

Darius & Santa

Transformers and the appearance of Santa - more than meets the eyes! We'll have to tell Uncle KJ all about the great visit of Saint Nick.

Soren & Santa

Wow! Santa gave me Transformers. Too bad Uncle KJ wasn't here to see this. You'd think he would be here, considering this was at 46 Lismer.

Liam on the Lap

Hard to tell if he fully understood the magnitude of this unexpected visit, but, Liam was certainly intrigued by the fancy wrapping paper, even if he had to sit on an overweight, hairy, old man.

A Christmas Jig

I was so excited, I couldn't help but do a little jig. Christmas hadn't even arrived and this was the second time we go to see Santa.

Knock, knock

Did you really think it would surprise the kids if Santa entered through the chimney. Of course not, they're expecting that. This is why he appeared at the door on Christmas Eve with his sack full of presents. What a hit!

Thanks Coach

This was our last practice of the fall so we thanked Coach Cathy with a little Christmas present. We'll be taking a break from soccer over the winter since we have skiing plans.

Strategy Session

We usually learn a new skill everyday and these quick team huddles are the best way to convey the message. Or at least, to avoid chaos.

Water Break

No, I'm not the water boy, but all this running around is tough on my 5 year old legs. Fortunately, the Coach allows us these quick breaks.

The Goalie

My favorite position is goalie and Coach Cathy was quite impressed by my skills. She didn't know about my time playing in Santo Domingo.

Drilling down

We had lots of fun with Coach Cathy but she also kept us in line and put us through all sorts of drills. Here we had to keep control of the ball, not an easy skill.

Happy Feet

After an entire fall session of indoor soccer with Coach Cathy, I was awarded with the prize of having the best "happy feet". Always keeping my feet moving and never lacking energy, that's me.

Lone Striker

No defenders in site, here goes the golden-locked striker with multiple options at his disposal - yellow ball, orange ball, blue ball. His biggest problem is not enough feet.

Candles in the Gym

Our pageant lacked the panache of our show in Santo Domingo, but it was still pretty cool and it sure drew in a full crowd in the gymnasium. This was our last hurrah with Madame Anne-Laure who was changing schools in the new year. Au revoir!

Junior K

Here's my class. Madame Anne-Laure had us perfectly disciplined and in line for our portion of the show. Even if we didn't remember all or any of the words to our song, we sure looked like we knew what we were doing.

Christmas Pageant

Here I am, all spiffied up for the school pageant in my fancy getup. It seems with all of the excitement over Christmas I've forgotten to get my hair cut. It must be to protect my ears from the winter that is about to set in.

Certificates of Goodness

It was declared in person that the four of us, Soren, Sam, Darius and Ben had been officially good during 2011. What did this mean? More gifts, 1st choice gifts or simply the chance to celebrate Christmas with friends. We'll take it, especially coming from St. Nick himself.

Knock, Knock

We couldn't believe it. We were just hanging out with cousins Sam and Ben when all of a sudden, the doorbell rang, Marley freaked out and then who should appear but a jolly Saint Nick full of holiday cheer. We got to meet Santa inside our house. How cool was that! Talk about pressure to be good.

Angel?

The Cat in the Hat colourful toque may not be a traditional "angel" for the top of the tree, but it looks good at least. Good job Daddy!

Mama's Turn

Even Mama got into the ceremonial act by hanging her favorite decoration in a visible spot. Doesn't the tree look great in our new fireplace room?

Low lying decs

I prefer to keep my decorations low to the ground so I can keep an eye on them. This is about as high as I go.

Sweet Spot

After Daddy got things started, I was able to put my candy cane in the perfect spot, at just the right height, for my ceremonial choice. You're up Darius.

Ceremonial

Before the free for all tree decorating was to begin, there was, as per tradition, the ceremonial first ornament. Go Daddy Go! Not there, no, not there, yes, yes, right there, right there.

Receiving Instructions

As we got prepared for the festive season, we received a final briefing on how to properly decorate the Xmas tree. This being our first Christmas in our new house in Canada, things had to be done just right.

Ho, Ho!

Hey Daddy, we're missing the third Ho! Where's your Santa hat? Did you leave it back in Santo Domingo?

Santa Parade

What better way to get into the early Christmas spirit than by

checking out the local parade. Hey Charlie, what do you think?Want some marshmellows?

Gotta go

Gord, our bus driver is here and he has a tight schedule, especially when there's fresh snow on the ground. Catch ya later, mommy!

Happiness...

...is a snow day. Even if the buses aren't cancelled but we have that fresh layer of snow in the morning - absolutely priceless!

Stars and Flakes

This is nothing ever seen before by us. Fresh snowfall, illuminated by the stars and the moon and all right before getting on a bus for school. This country of Canada is crazy!

1st Snowfall

This was mid-November and it was our first official snowfall ever. Now we've seen snow before of course, but only on visits home. This was our first snowfall as residents of Canada. This is pretty cool as it is more fun than a sandstorm.

Lazyboys

How comfy do we look here? Hey Daddy, put down your beer and put us to bed! We're going to have back problems when we're your age.

Chef Darius

Well, a make believe chef, anyways. I didn't really make the cookies. But I did make my chef hat in school. To succeed in life, looking the part is half the battle.