Moxley Ski Trip

A few months ago Cyril and Karla mentioned how fun it would be to do a ski trip during Christmas break. One sentence was all it took and Justin and I were on board! We choose a date and that was that. One night at a Hotel close to the Ski Hill, and off we went.

Unfortunately we ended up going in the middle of a deep freeze! -25 the entire day, the windchill was  even colder! The kids tried hard to have fun but its hard when after each run your fingers are tingling and the air hurts your face! Remy went on a total of 3 runs, it was just to cold for her. Annaliesse decided to be difficult and whine half the day over this, and that and nothing really, but everything. Finally she got out of her funk and enjoyed her self for the last couple hours. Kalia had a good time, at least I think she did, she was sullen all day. Barker had a great time, he is like his Dad, give him a ski hill and some candy- he's set. 

Barker did break his ski half way though the first morning.... it was a bit frustrating, especially since his snowboard binding was also broken. Justin took both into the shop there at the hill, to see which one they could fix, the ski needs new holes drilled, and that may not even fix it... so we opted to fix the binding on his snowboard. Blowing our family rule, ski in the morning and snowboard in the afternoon, out of the water. Lucky for us the girls didn't protest to much, they were going to snowboard the entire day, tomorrow.

Justin had a great day. Like always. Seriously once we get on the hill he is just happy to be there, nothing can dampen his mood or enjoyment of the hill. Once in a while he might get frustrated with a child on the hill, but very rarely, he is totally in his element at a ski hill. I can see him being retired with a ski pass, while I chill at home in a hot tub! LOL

We left the hill at about 3:30, the kids were done. The cold was getting to them, the adults were done to, to be honest. AND it was getting colder. We all headed to the hotel for a evening of swimming in the hotel pool, buffet dinner and then some more swimming.

Remy only lasted until after dinner. She was so tired and begging to go to bed before the adults were done dinner. The rest of the crew swam and enjoyed cousins until 9 pm. Once we got all the kids in bed we met in the Miguels room for some more laughing and visiting. We discussed skipping out on the second day of skiing at that point. It was going to be even colder the next morning. Turns out, when we checked the weather the next morning it was -35 at the top of the mountain!

Are you kidding me!! -35!

Breakfast the next morning it was decided we would swim until check out and then head into the city and meet at a church to let the kids keep playing with cousins. Karla, Sherilyn and I were all watching the kids swim after breakfast when we saw the funniest thing ever. The manager was in the pool area, checking toilet paper, towel levels and filling the soap dispenser. He was filling the soap beside a automatic shower and was being so careful not to step in line of the shower trigger.... until the end. He must have briefly forgot and he leaned in to check if everything was alined and got a face full of water!! HIS SUIT was soaked... I managed not to laugh right when it happened, he was embarrassed enough, but as he walked out, with a hilarious look on his face, I could hardly hold my laughter in. It was sooooo funny. We laughed and laughed and laughed some more once he left the area.

We briefly met with cousins again in Calgary later that afternoon. It was a fun trip, a bummer it got shortened... but Mother Nature is her own woman.

So far we have been skiing 5 times with our family ski passes.... that breaks down to $23 per lift ticket per person per time. Hopefully we can get another 4 or 5 times in this season, making the most of the 2017/2018 Ski Season.

At Home Days

We stayed home Boxing Day and December 27! It was freezing outside, to cold to sled or travel or sneeze wrong!

It was so nice playing at home- Justin and Barker ended up taking Barkers Christmas drone back, it didn't fly very well, and picking up a small one, and a remote control truck. They played with those constantly. Dinner at Grandmas and Grandpas with a couple rounds of Jiggly Lumps. We even ended up meeting Grandma and Grandpa and Mark and Lindsay at the church to play with the Drones. We also played Ticket to Ride.... a lot!

Christmas Day

Light The World Day 24

Day 24

Jesus taught

"Ye must watch and pray always."

- 3 Nephi 18:15

Christmas Eve!! We spent the morning at church, a lovely sacrament meeting with lots of music! I was hoping to get a pic, but that didn't happen 😏 My whole family was together for the 1.5 hour sacrament meeting, we fill a whole bench, only cause Dad sits on the stand but we still could have used a bit more room. I was really looking forward to feeling the spirit, and filling the chapel with music for a hour was lovely. After church we headed over to Mom and Dads house for the day. Played games and made gingerbread houses all day. It was nice to not have a "to do" list or a another thing that needed to be done quick! 

Remy and Grandma won best Gingerbread house! Annaliesse and Uncle Mark teamed up, and had creative differences. Kalia and Grandpa worked great together, with most of the directing coming from Kalia. Barker and Justin worked on their house, a prebuilt house, the girls were quite jealous of the prebuilt house advantage.

We also made time to do Handprint ornaments for Grandma and Arlie! Grandma has been trying to snatch our Handprint ornaments we did in 2013 for the last couple years, so this year we made her her own! We also made enough for Lindsay to take one for her tree- and for me to take another set for my tree :)

Dinner was the usual Christmas Eve affair, Dips, Wings, Veggies and Fruit and, the fav, Crab!! There is always a ton of food, and discussion on who ate the most crab this year! LOL We played a few games, including our new fav, Ticket to Ride! The kids were dying to open Jammies, Ok not all the kids, mostly Remy!

Turns out Remy LOVED them more then we realized... she put them on Christmas Eve and finally on the evening of December 27, I MADE her take them off to be washed.  Grandma bought all the jimmies but Kalia's never did arrive, so she got ones from Ardenes. Lets just say, the adults would have loved for ALL the kids to match, but Kalia was happy as a clam hers were different. Barker wore his for the least amount of time possible (he changed after we opened stockings Christmas morning). Annaliesse loved them almost as much as Remy, and Arlie wore hers until she soaked her self with milk in the middle of the night, Christmas, and Lindsay put them back on her to open presents :)

We ended the evening with Grandpa reading about the brith of our Saviour from Luke and then played a few more games with the kids. It really is nice they are getting old enough to play games with minimal whining and crying. We ending the evening with Charades and Pounce.

Light The World Day 23

Day 23

Jesus taught
"I was in prison, and ye came unto me"
- Matthew 25:36

We have worked hard as a family to #Lighttheworld all month, forgoing our normal countdowns to focus on this challenge. All month we have been trying to keep Christ in the centre of our Christmas season. In the last few days we didn't follow the challenges put out with #Lighttheworld but focused on being together as a family and keeping Christ in the season.

Saturday morning we invited some friends over for Pancakes and PJ's! Breakfast and chatting, and then some jumping challenges.... LOL. We invited 5 families but it Christmas, plans change and kids get sick. We had a easy fun morning of laughing and then headed out to sled!

The Bennett's showed us their new house being built and we tried out the hill in the back of their new house, it was determined that it needed some swathing before it would be sled ready!! LOL Then we headed over to a different hill in High River. We brought along our homemade sleds, but the snow was to fluffy!! The morning and early afternoon passed quickly.

We got home about 3pm and put all our winter stuff in the dryer, and sat down to play a round of Ticket to Ride and have some warm stew for dinner! Mom and Dad stopped by and had dinner with us before we split ways.

 Leaving the house at 6pm to meet the Moxley's in the City to see the Live Nativity!! Something we have done every year since we have been married :) It was to much for Remy, she fell asleep 10 minutes into the drive into the city, and sleep solid!

For the last couple years we head over to Timmys after we view the live nativity! Its a great warm up, and gives us a chance to visit!

Light The World Day 22

Day 22

Jesus taught
"That which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do."
- 3 Nephi 27:21

We had planned a much different Friday.... the kids got off school at noon and convinced me that we needed to go swimming! So as soon as Justin got home from work we were getting ready to head out to swim. As we were packing suits and what nots, Justin and Barker were wrestling in the hallway and a accident happened... Barker was slid down the hallway and turned wrong, resulting in a head wound. A head wound that needed stitches, 6 stitches in fact, so instead of swimming we sat in the hospital for a hour and 45 minutes.

We pumped the kids with Dilly Bars, a lame apology, and put them to bed after the eventful evening! Thanks to Mom and Dad for coming over to sit with the girls while we both took Barker to the hospital. He wanted both of us, and he is not great with head wounds, so we both went. Good thing, Justin got a bit squeamish as the stitches were going in, and I moved in to hold Bobby's had while Daddy paced the hallway. We got home after and Justin put the kids to bed, sleeping under the Christmas Tree, a favourite tradition of the kids. Barker got blood all over that night but, luckily things wash. LOL

Light The World Day 21

Day 21

"For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat"

-Matthew 25:35

Remy and I spend the day baking away for family and friends. Remy helped more then usual, therefor it took us twice as long :) I can't help but think back to when Kalia and Annaliesse were this age, there is no way I would have spent all that extra time letting them scoop dough and use the flipper to take them off the parchment paper. Granted, I had babies and if I had the time to bake, it was between nursing and diaper changes and toddlers demanding something..... sorry got off track.

 When Justin got home we made a big batch of Carmel Popcorn and took some plates of gooey yummyness and played Ding Dong Ditch with the kids. We weren't very good at it, and got caught more then we got away but thats ok. The kids had fun, Justin and I struggled to keep patient, as the kids weren't being obedient.... but its hard to listen with so much fun going on LOL

Light The World Day 20

Day 20

Jesus taught:
"A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
-Luke 12:15

Sometimes possessions distract us from appreciating the most important things in life. By eliminating these distractions we can live a more fulfilling life.

It was really nice to have a evening focusing on family. We stayed in most of Wednesday, the big girls left for a hour, but we hung out and played LEGO, had hot chocolate, played war, and read. It was nice to just appreciate our family!

Light The World Day 19

Day 19

Jesus taught:

"Rejoice and be exceedingly glad."
-Matthew 5:12

God loves us and wants us to be happy. We have many reasons to be happy, even if we don't realize all of the them. One way we find joy is by helping other people find joy.

Today we choose JOY. We shared that joy with our children by playing with them, spending time with them and talking to them. We played another couple rounds of Ticket to Ride, after dinner, it seems as if this game will be come our Christmas 2017 game :)

On another note: Annaliesse went with Grandma for her Birthday Outfit shopping this afternoon. She also bought all of her family Christmas presents with her own Birthday money. She is such a sweetheart and her love for her family is pure. And special Thank you to Grandma for helping her!

Light The World Day 18

Day 18

Jesus taught:
"Forgive me their trespasses"
-Matthew 6:14

Allowing anger or resentment to fester will never lead to happiness. We must make amends with people before bitterness destroys our important relationship.

I have put off writing this post, cause this #Lighttheworld challenge wasn't exactly my fav. Annaliesse came home and asked for a playdate with a friend, a friend who's mother and I had a falling out about 4 years ago. It was a long time ago, it was hard to deal with at the time, but since then things have gone to "acknowledgement only" stage. When Annaliesse asked about a playdate, I immediately thought of the challenge.... I can't say it will actually happen, this playdate, but it has moved everything another step forward. At least in my mind :)

Monday morning Remy and I headed into the city at 7 AM!! Another Dentist appointment for Remy, a few errands and a funeral to attend. It was a busy day for Baby and she was sooo good at the Funeral! She is such a good preschooler, I don't know what I would do without her.

Mom and Dad got their Christmas Cards done a little late this year, and so to help them out with the delivery Monday night we all headed out, 3 different cars, 3 drivers, 2 1/2 runners and 80 cards dropped off in just under 2 hours. Kalia got dropped off at her last Indoor Soccer practice of the season and Remy fell asleep. It wasn't a super Christmasy day, but a day where we all tried to #Lighttheworld. This challenge is sure making a difference in our Christmas season, I can only hope we are teaching our children to make a difference.

Light The World Day 17

Day 17

Jesus taught:
"Ye shall meet together oft."
3 Nephi 18:22

Man I wish we had gotten a family photo this morning!! Dang it.

Great day at church, wonderful talks and great lessons. Justin took the younger three home after church, with Kalia and I following after Choir practice. When we got home Justin was attempting to play dominos with the kids but they were just finishing. So Kalia and I sat down and joined them to play Ticket to Ride. A game we bought YEARS ago- and have never opened!!! We opened it and played it for a hour and 15 minutes- the kids had a great time.We did have a hard time figuring out how to actually play, luckily YOU TUBE has helpful start up videos for the board game illiterate.  IT was so nice to sit and play together with no fighting, tears or "thats not fairs"! Its definitely a game we will play again.

Grandma and Grandpas house for dinner, getting back to family dinner was nice after a few weeks break from sickness and travel. Mark and Lindsay came out and Laura AND Miles came. We had Chili for dinner, visited about our Big Christmas Surprise and Uncle Mark taught the kids how to make Spit Ball Shooters...

Light The World Day 16

Day 16

Jesus taught:
"I (was) naked and ye clothed me."
-Matthew 25:36

Along with things like food and shelter, clothing is a basic need. It covers us and can keep us warm. We can share with people to help them get the items that they need.

We stayed home Saturday. Cleaning the basement and then the kids bedrooms, including going through the girls clothing.... which needed to be done months ago!! We have been blessed with cousins who graciously give the girls handme downs, but their closet was overflowing with clothing all in great shape but not enough time to wear it all!! By the time we sorted through the room, there was lots of things to donate! We also accidentally donated one of Annaliesse's favourite Sunday dresses, which she cried and cried about Sunday morning. 😓

All morning was spent working downstairs in the basement and girls bedroom, before we moved upstairs to start the littles rooms.  Saturday afternoon Justin did the garage while I baked.

Saturday evening Justin held down the fort and I headed off sing in The Okotoks Philharmonic Chorus Concert. Laura, Mom and I joined the Okotoks Philharmonic Chorus in September and have enjoyed singing once a week. Its nice to sing different songs then hymns and radio music, even if 1/2 the songs were NOT in English! Now we need to decide if we want to sing again, in the Spring, it really was fun, but on the evenings Justin wasn't home, it was extremely difficult to find someone to be with the kids from 7:30-10:30 on a school night!

Light The World Day 15

Day 15

Jesus taught:

"Blessed are the merciful" 

-Matthew 5:7

Jesus's sacrifice on our behalf was the greatest example of mercy. We can follow his example by extending mercy and compassion to others wherever we can.

What a excellent challenge to teach our kids about kindness and compassion. I know Justin talked about this with the kids, but I was busy and I can't remember what was said or done with the kids. Justin and I privately participated in this one 😉

Friday afternoon we went 3 different directions! The girls got picked up from school by Sister Murphy to go see Star Wars with The Murphys, their Sunday School teachers. They had a great time, Annaliesse only got a scared, twice. Kalia loved it, she enjoyed every second. 

The younger two kids and I headed into the city for Justin's Work Party. I took Barker and Remy to Sherilyn's house to play for a bit until Grandpa could pick them up and take them home. Sherilyn, Jay, Justin and I headed downtown for Suncoast's Christmas Party. 

It was a great, fun night. Lets just say that this was one of the best Christmas Parties we have attended :) Bonus to hang out with your SIL & BIL! After a lovely dinner downtown we headed over to the Lacrosse opening game at the Saddle-dome.