New Year's Eve! Some of our small group got together at the Innsville for their New Year's Eve dinner theater. What a great time we had. Dinner was excellent & the murder mystery was very entertaining. When it got close to midnight, hats, leis & noise makers (as if we needed them) were handed out. What a racket we made at midnight! After we all sang Auld Lang Syne, kissed & hugged & toasted the new year in with champagne, some of the tables were moved to create space for dancing. A midnight buffet was also served, as if we had room for more food!

Pictured are, Kathryn & Ron Cornelisse, Jan & Roy Bodden, Janice? & Tony (we met them that night), Tom & I, then we all got our hats, & the last 2 pictures show Kathryn & Jane having a good time dancing.

I got all of the pyjamas finished in time. I had problems with both Brianna's & Zachary's because theirs were bigger & I didn't realize the material was not what was noted on the patterns... grrr. However I did work it out & they turned out pretty good anyway. I hope they all like them. I meant to take pictures of them before I wrapped them up, but forgot all about it.. darn. I'll have to try to get a picture of them later... if I remember!

Today we got together with my extended family for our annual Christmas Dinner! Pauline, Ken & Megan hosted it this year. They were wonderful hosts & made us all feel so comfy. Thanks Pauline Ken & Megan!

Below are some of the people who were there. Not pictured are, Mom, Dad, Carolynn, Tom & myself.

Collage 1: Kerri & Wendy, Stacey & Terry, Brianna, Megan & Brianna & Paige around the table, Pauline & Ken, Megan, Paige, Stacey, Megan.





















Collage 2: Brianna & Megan, Ken with Chloe, Stacey, Marshall (in the kitchen), Terry, Pauline, Kerri & Wendy & Stacey & Terry looking at picture in camera, Pauline & Ken, Pauline & Ken in kitchen.

She evaded my camera, but not Carolynn's. hahaha

After Brianna had opened her Santa gifts, we all got ready to go to Carolynn's for the family gathering. We had a great time.

We missed Jenn, Don, Zachary & Sarah though. They were in New Brunswick celebrating Christmas with some of Don's family.

Pictured below are, Chloe, Paige, Marshall, Brianna holding Chloe, my mom, my dad, me holding Chloe, Tom & Carolynn. Somehow Christine evaded my camera!

Ahhh! Christmas morning. Brianna let us sleep in until just after 6. Thank you Brianna. Actually, I had been awake for a while waiting for her to wake up. She was pleased to see that the carrots, milk & most of the cookies had been eaten & especially that Santa had left her some presents! Woohoo!!

We went to church tonight for the Christmas Eve Service. When we got home, Brianna was allowed to open ONE gift. She chose a small one that contained some new hair elastics. It didn't matter to her what was in it, she just wanted to open ONE gift! Mommy got to open one gift too. It was one that Brianna (with her teacher's help) had made. What a wonderful gift it was too. I wish everyone could see & read the whole booklet.

When it was bedtime, Brianna put out cookies & milk for Santa & delicious carrots for the reindeer.

Today Brianna's daycare closed at noon so I brought her to my home until her mom got off work. We had great fun making Christmas cookies. She was covered in flour! Brianna was very good & helped to clean up afterwards too. Even that was fun for her.

My mom & dad celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary today. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Tonight we went to a dessert theatre at the church called.. A Christmas Tale. Our own people starred in it, including our own daughter Jennifer. They were really quite good. Tom & I both enjoyed it very much and the desserts were DELICIOUS!

Chloe was dedicated to God by her mom & dad tonight. The Freeway's been talking about values & tonight's value was hope. Both Paige & Chloe were given to Carolynn & Marshall after they had just about given up hope to have children. What a perfect reminder to them (& us) to never give up on God.

Everyone was given a candle. Carolynn & Marshall lit their candles from one representing the hope we have in God. The 4 grandparents then lit thier candles from Marshall's & Carolynn's. We then lit the candles of our other children, & they in turn lit everyone else's candles. It was quite a memorable time. While the candles were lit, Carolynn & Marshall had to respond with their promise to dedicate Chloe to the Lord & to be Godly parents to her & Paige. I don't remember exactly what they said because I was too busy chuckling along with everyone else. The reason for the humour was Paige! Marshall was holding her, & the whole time Paige was trying to blow out his candle. Poor Marshall & Carolynn had a hard time reading.
Too bad I couldn't get a good picture of it.

Dec. 6

Poor Brianna had allergy testing today. She had at least 36 pokes. We already knew she was allergic to cats, smoke & dust. The only surprise was an allergy to dogs as well. Funny thing is, she's been around dogs but has not reacted to them as yet. Hope that keeps up. She was not very happy with her mom or me after the pokes.. can't really blame her but she soon forgave us.
We took mommy back to work & to make up for being poked, I brought Brianna home with me for the afternoon. We had fun making mince tarts & cookies. Brianna got right into her work...even helping to clean up afterwards. (hey! that's part of baking too)

Dec. 3 was Ecodyne's kid's Christmas party. We took the 4 older grandkids & Jennifer, Carolynn & Chloe joined us too. The children got to make crafts... decorating foam Christmas trees & doorknob hangers, wooden Christmas trees, bells, & stars. What a mess! but sooo much fun for them. Unfortunately the glitter glue on most things were not dry enough to take home. They each got an egg with a stuffed toy inside. There was a blind clown who made balloon critters etc. Also a magician... can't say he was all that good though :) but most of kids liked him (I think). Of course the main attraction finally arrived & the stampede was on!