Holiday photos....

Hello everyone! I have been promising my family that I would share some of the photos I took over the holidays so here goes......it just took me some time to get them all organized and uploaded in the right order!

Mom had told me she was painting the week before we arrived, but I wasn't really sure what she was up to. She totally re-decorated the room downstairs for the boys - including two twin sized beds - no more air-matresses or sharing! They had their own tree and their very own fireplace!

Check out the vintage Santa - this one has been around since my very first Christmas - I just love this kind of stuff - NEVER get rid of this guy Mom! He is sitting in a really old dresser and you can see the reflection of the tree in the mirror.

My parents hosted an Open House on the 23rd so that family and friends could drop by to say hello. This was perfect since getting around to see everyone during our visits is impossible. We try our best, but there are just too many people to get to everyone. Here is Chester with my cousin's two kiddos - they see each other rarely, but play together so nicely when they do. It was so nice to see them - we are hoping that they will come visit us in Thunder Bay next summer!

Here are my little elves helping to wrap some gifties - mostly there were helping wrap up the goodies for our Christmas "pudding" - this is a fun tradition that I remember doing at my Nan's house as a little girl - it is one of my favorite Christmas traditions! After the meal, during the time between the meal and dessert, we pass the box around and each person gets to choose a little gift - no peeking! Each family who comes to dinner brings an assortment of fun little items, often useful things you may use in the kitchen or everyday things such as nail files, notepads and hand-santizer, toys for the children. Each person gets probably about three gifts each, then the trading begins....

Mom made these cute little snowman - one for each of us!

Here is the special box that we fill with the little "pudding" gifties - this box has looked the same since I was a little girl - in fact, it is in one of the photos of me as a four year old - Auntie recently covered in some plastic celophone to preserve the paper, none of us want it to change.

Mom had to set three tables to seat us all, this is one of them. Yes, there is a tree in the kitchen - and the dining room, the family room, each guest room and the bathrooms! Perhaps the only room without a tree was the laundry room! You are sure thorough Mom!

It's a funny thing, but I think my favorite part of the meal this year was the turnip! My boys are not big fans so I really only eat it at Christmas - am I weird to love turnip?

I love what Mom did with some old skates this year - she did a pair up for my sister too - I think I may have to try this next year - so simple, but so cute!

Farm country....this is the field across the way from where I grew up.

This is Millie - she is Kory and Shannon's horse. Isn't she beautiful? I just adore her monogramed bridle!

This is my Papa Graham and my baby brother, Kory with Millie. My brother built this sleigh from the bottom up and got it ready just in time for Christmas. Millie literally took us all for a ride in the "one horse open sleigh" on Christmas day. It doesn' t get much more country than this - I told you I was from the country!

Just a shot from the sleigh....the berries looked so pretty. This is the same old barn where my sister and hubby had their engagement photos taken, they were gorgeous. Until Christmas, I had no idea this barn was so close to my parents house - you could throw a basebal....when we are back in warmer weather, I plan to photograph my boys in the same setting.

Okay, this one is to prove that I finally tried snowboarding!!! Hubby and I had not skiied in about ten years, so it was a big enough feat to try that again. We were staying at a resort with a package deal that included lift tickets and rentals for either skiing or boarding. Once we decided that we remembered how to ski, I decided, that's it, I'm trying it - so glad I was smart enough to take a lesson! Boarding is very tricky, but so fun! I had a great instructor. Let me tell you though, I never even knew that some of those muscles existed - I was sore for DAYS!!! Notice the red face and absence of the jacket - what a workout! Yikes - but it was fun enough that I want to go again.....we shall see. Just thinking about those sore muscles hurts me! Oh well, I can say I tried it, one more thing off my bucket list! :)

This shot is to prove that we didn't laze around in our sweats the ENTIRE time we were away - we actually got semi-dressed up one evening and went out to dinner. The funny part is that the dinner we had that evening was the worst meal we had the entire time and we ended up having to go do laundry at the laundromat all dressed up. The next night, however, we had a fantastic meal at this little local place in Orangeville - I believe it was called the Bluebird Cafe - if you ever have occasion to go to Orangeville, I highly recommend that you eat there!

We took tons more photos of course, but we could be here all day and all night.....this is just a few mainly for those who were asking. I'll be back soon with a card.

Cheers,

Shanna :)