Christmas and New Years Festivities

Well, we are now winding down from a busy and exciting holiday. We spent Christmas in Taber and Lethbridge with both sides of the family. Jason and Michaelia were home from New York and we had a wonderful visit with them. We had many great visits with many family members and quite a few fabulous dinners and other activities. We first visited Taber before Christmas, where we got to visit with Grandma, Papa, Auntie Veronica and Uncle Chris and also my Granny. On the 24th we joined the Olfert and Pinches clans in Lethbridge for a wonderful turkey dinner. Here are Jaina and Lewis by the tree that night:
Then it was back to Taber, where we spent the night. The next morning was very exciting. Santa had visited and left gifts, a note, and had eaten the cookies Jaina left out for him. Here is our little snowman Lewis by his Christmas stocking:
Here we are on Christmas morning:
Here are Jaina and Lewis with Grandma and Papa Klemen:
Lewis has been a good boy: (a cute hat that Auntie Veronica and Uncle Chris gave him!)The Princess and The Queen :)
I think that Christmas will be so much fun in the coming years, Matt and I enjoyed Jaina's excitement as much as we enjoyed anything else. She is now an old pro at gift opening, having opened both her and her brother's gifts at 3 (yes, count 'em, 3) different family get-togethers. After dinner on the 25th we headed back to Lethbridge to celebrate and exchange gifts with Grandma, Papa, Uncle Jason and Auntie Michaelia on the 26th. Here we are in Lethbridge on the 26th: We spent the remaining days until the 30th in Lethbridge, where Jaina enjoyed going to a play with her grandparents, we went to a Lethbridge Hurricanes hockey game, played in the remnants of a large but unexpected snowfall, and went for a swim at the wavepool/waterslides at a nearby hotel. Here is Jaina with a snowman we made, and playing with Papa on the big snow "mountain" at a parking lot near his house:












We enjoyed one more dinner in Taber before packing up the car (to the hilt!) and returning to Calgary. But it didn't end there. That evening we had Uncle Shane and Grandma Shirley over for a visit and a Christmas dinner and celebration. The next day, Grandma, Papa, Jason and Michaelia arrived to celebrate New Years with us. Grandma and Papa babysat, so Jason, Michaelia, Matt and I were able to go to the Flames/Oilers game on New Years Eve (thanks to some tickets given to us by Matt's mom and Chris - we love you!!). It was a great time, and we got to watch Calgary kick Edmonton's butt, much to the disappointment of Jason and Michaelia. They do get credit for being brave enough to cheer for their team amongst the Flames fans on New Years. The game was an early one so when we got home we had a fondue and rang in 2007 (then went to bed at 12:10, party animals that we all are). The next day Matt's parents treated us to a fabulous brunch at a nearby restaurant. Then the girls did some shopping before Matt's parents headed home. We got one more relaxing night to visit with Jason and Michaelia, who headed back to New York this evening. We had a blessing in disguise, being able to visit with them a good part of the day today due to airline delays. They may feel differently as they arrive back quite late, but it was nice to have a little more time to hang out together. So, all in all, it was quite a busy but memorable holiday season for us. We took more photos than we dare bore you with on this blog, but do feel free to go to our Photo Gallery if you want to check out more (see the link to the left). They should be posted in the next couple of days. We hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday season with loved ones as well.