Hockey

So first of all...I got my hair cut! I have not had this short of hair since FOREVER! And what's funny is it's not even all that short. But it's so healthy and I'm so happy!

Next order of business...Ben and I snagged some tickets to a flames game from my brother. I think Ben did a little plumbing work and in exchange we got to sit just a few rows from the ice and watch one of the more fun games we've seen (over time PLUS a shoot out). It was so fun, and I'm really grateful to Nate for letting us go to the game!! It was mostly just so nice to be with my hubby for a few hours. Just the two of us and a few Pocket Dawgs and and a Malt to wash it all down with. Perfection.

Ice fishing

It's that time of year again! Time for our annual Ice Fishing expedition. This year we went with Chris and Lauren and some friends. Let me just say, this January has been divine!!! The weather has been perfect. So on this gorgeous day we all bundled up in our winter gear, only to realize we were way too bundled! I'll take this kind of January any day!!! So Ben brought his trusty quad and we pulled the kids around on the calf sled all day. These kids had a blast. Most of them stayed dry and had fun...although someone fell in the water three times...and that someone was Cait. Now I'll explain, these little ice fishing holes are small...so her full body wouldn't fit...but a leg certainly fit perfectly. Who would have planned on three outfit changes and had a use for each of them? Us of course! Cait's sort of our clumsy little trouble maker. She's never been great at standing up straight, or running without falling, or walking without running into stuff. So not all that surprising! It was a great day and I'd love to do it again!

Snow Ice cream

With all this amazing snow we've been getting, I decided we needed to put it to good use. So I googled a snow ice cream recipe and one fine night we decided to give it a try. We mixed some sugar, vanilla and milk together. Then we sent the kids out back and had them collect some clean snow...you know of the white variety. The were instructed to stay clear of the brown or yellow snow! They're pretty good at this kind of stuff since they are professional snow eaters themselves, so I didn't need to worry. However, I was grateful we had a HUGE fresh dump of snow that day, so my only REAL concerns were pollution and that kind of thing. But we're risk takers and we like to live on the edge, so we thought we'd chance it. BEST decision ever!

Mixing the sugar and milk

Oh hello mom, I'll smile!!

The Benster got in on the action

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Not everyone was happy every single minute

Once again, not all smiles!

There we go!!

The taste test...and the verdict: Delicious!!

Snow Snow and more SNOW

We have had so much snow this year...it's unbelievable! I think my parents brought it to us in November, because I'm pretty sure they get a TON of snow in Quebec. Way more than we do here at least. The girls have been loving it. They built this little fort in the back for their little snowman (which happens to just be a giant snowball with a carrot nose and blueberries for eyes). But let me tell you, this fort is pretty cool. You probably wouldn't notice it if you were looking at it, but it has slides for 'snowman' to get around, it has a little cave to sleep in AND he even has a bathroom to take care of business. Pretty cool I'd say!

I'm still working on it

I'm still working on this blog...I just seem to never have time! BUT when I do find a few minutes I try to work on my blog! So...I just finished the summer! I am hopefully going to get all caught up here soon! I hate that I've fallen so behind and I really rely on this blog as a journal for our family. I like to make each year into books...so I really can't slack. So what I've done is enter the posts back into July, August and September where they should have been had I actually been blogging. Then in 20 years no one will remember. It will just look like I was always relatively consistent. So for those that sill read this (hi mom). here is a link to some new posts:

Pelican Point

Birthday season - Paige

Curb Appeal

Summer Days

Birthday Season - Hailey

Teeth

I can't Forget July Long

Dutch Creek - Family Trip

Money Mountain - Color Me Rad

Montana One Last Time

Hayden Lake

New years

One of our favourite traditions is spending our New Years eve and Day with my cousins on my dads side. We've been doing this for as long as I can remember and I hope we never change this tradition. In the past (when I was young and single, I would go to the dance with my cousins and then head out to Strathmore that night or the next day. Then when Ben and I got married we usually just went out for New Years Day. Well this year we decided to join in on the hotel fun and spend the night. We hung out with all the family, then put the kids to bed, hooked up video monitors through our phones and played games until well after midnight with cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Then New Years day rolled around and we all gathered at the church for some food, singing and lots of playing for the kids. The highlight for my girls is when my Aunt Lorraine paints their faces! She's pretty amazing hey??

p.s. please excuse the iphone quality of these pictures. I feel like I need to find a new way to love my big camera. I also don't take it everywhere I go because it's soooo expensive and I'm scared of losing it or breaking it!