frimas!!!

it's almost frimas (in Owen-speak). We are all VERY excited about this (aleida's excited by osmosis). We got our Christmas tree up and Owen plugs the lights in every morning. So our electricity bill will be higher this month . . ..

Owen got to meet Kris Kringle/Santa Claus; he was shy at first but then got very chatty! Aleida was slightly interested in him but did NOT want to sit on his lap. So Santa had an idea . . .







We had a lot of fun decorating our tree. The kids both enjoyed the process.










One thing I love to do at Christmas: lay under the tree and look up into the tree!


Ry is a busy busy bee right now! His PhD application (to start a program fall 2011) are coming due! He's finished applying to 3 schools, and has 3 to complete. The rest of us are just going about our daily routines: playing cars, playing trains, putting objects in other objects, laundry, cooking, Christmas baking, 'school' (ECFE) - which both the kids enjoy a lot, and now more recently, we've been enjoying lots of snow. We got 23" in a day! This is how winter is supposed to be :)

she's 1!

Our little girl turned ONE on Saturday! She had a busy and fun day. We made pancakes in the morning and put a candle in hers.












Here's Aleida doing one of her favorite things: walking with her purse.

little walking lady

We are now a household of all walkers. Aleida has joined us to move on 2 feet. And she LOVES it! She is very good at regaining her balance, and when she falls, she knows how to fall well and she quickly gets back on her feet again. And lately she's quite taken with one of my purses. It has a short shoulder strap and her favorite thing to do right now is walk around with it, a smile always on her face. Phones still excite her; she frequently needs to talk into her hand if ever anyone of us is on the phone.

Owen has been different people these days. We might wake up to find that Allie is visiting us. Or the past couple of days it has been DookeeDookee (sp?). These kids are usually older than Owen, just by a little, and girls. Obviously when Allie or DookeeDookee addresses Owen's parents, the names Marcia or Ry are used. This is the first telling sign that it is not Owen talking, but rather a visiting guest.

We have settled into a bit of nighttime routine. We get Aleida ready and in bed by 7. While that is happening, depending if one or two parents are home, Owen might watch a bit of a show while he eats some pear or apple or yogurt. Then once Aleida is down, it's Owen's turn. He's been in bed by 7:30. It's amazing! We had an extremely hard time with bedtime there for a while. Well, with Owen's bedtime. He just wouldn't want to go to bed, and once he had been 'put to bed' he'd come out again and again. This would sometimes happen for 2+ hrs. NOT OKAY. We've cut out his afternoon nap and that has helped immensely. It is so amazing to have bedtime be completed at 7:30. (Wake time has been earlier than desireable but we'll have to sort that out after this time change . . . rise time could be 5am for a while here...)

they like each other.

ontario

Our time in Ontario was wonderful, as usual. We had time on the farm and at the cottage; we were able to visit with family as well as friends.

My grandmother crocheted us a beautiful blanket! We now have that on our futon, keeping us warm when we watch movies. Owens cars also like to play in it.

Heidi spent a lot of time with Owen; she has the incredible energy of a 4 year old! I don't know how she kept up with all his games, races and activities. Owen was in constant-playmate-heaven. We got to see my brothers place, which is the newly repaired and remodeled bungalow that my parents built. It's a beautiful place, perfect for Glen.

And now I'll just let the photographs tell about how our time was.

the cards are a hit . . .

in case you didn't know, aunt heidi, owen still loves and plays with the musical cards you've sent him.

Mountains! Ocean! .amazing.

Aleida is 8 months old! She is so smiley, determined, strong and squirmy. She really dislikes when she cannot do something. She works really hard at moving around quickly. She isn't a fan of baby toys - Owen's things are super appealing. She's a lot of fun. She also is teething right now. There is a nice little bite on my shoulder that looks like it is from a blackfly. No no. It is an Aleida bite. Yikes. She now has three teeth and the other top front tooth will hopefully emerge soon. Poor girl.

Aleida: a couple weeks old



and here she is again, 8 months later.




We arrived back to our home on Thursday night. It was a long trip home, as Owen continually reminded us. We're all pretty tired out, but that is the consequence of taking a fabulous vacation to a city chocked full of friends! We had a great time being with dear people we don't see often, and we also explored the area. We had a fancy double stroller during our stay and that made getting around possible. I'll let the photos tell you more about our time.


Steph and Dan got married! Woo, what a lovely day.







We drove into Washington with Katie and Joel to visit Mount Baker.













We (along with Mel and Tyler) took a ferry to Bowen Island.