Even the dogs are tired!

Awwwww!

Turkey time

Well the day went pretty well until about 5 when the girls reached their "best before date"... The combo of sugar, gifts and excitement ended up with a short circuit of fuses. But all and all it was a wonderful day, Dana made a tasty turkey and I made stuffing, gravy and the potatoes. I usually make sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter in the oven, but this year Dana added marshmallows... Jessica and I LOVED them. It was like the most prefect fire toasted marshmallows matched with our favorite sweet potatoes. Yeah, we'll be doing that again!

This year in our Christmas Crackers (see definition below - for those who don't know what they are) Dana receieved the gift of a large paper clip - which seemed to be the item to trade until I received the bowling game - who doesn't want to bowl at the dinner table?










From wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker
Christmas crackers or bon-bons are an integral part of Christmas celebrations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries as well as countries of the former Soviet Union (where it is called "хлопушка"). A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an oversized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a small bang produced by the effect of friction on a chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun).

Our Christmas Day (December 24th)

After finishing up the wrapping of gifts, we finally went to bed at 2am, and were woken by the girls ready to begin Christmas at 7:48am. After impatiently waiting for the adults to wake up, the opening began! The girls enjoyed their gifts and it was fun to watch them finally figure out what was in the gifts that they were shaking for so long. Of course the big hit (and I do mean hit) were the nerf guns supplied by the James Family... Dana thought it wise to draft a set of rules before the girls opened fire and had them sign the release of weapons in the case of face shooting ("you're gonna shoot your eye out" was ringing in my ears) and absolutely no four legged furry dog targets! So far no one has lost an eye and there has been a lot of laughing and declarations of war!

Included in the gifts the girls received were:
Books
Cross Country Skis
Triops (the Monkey Fish - this is totally between Dana and Jessica)
Littlest Petshop
CSI dvd game
Moxie girls (sadly there was not a Moxie car to be found in the city of Regina)
XBox game and controller (so we all can play together)
A blanket making kit (which the girls worked on right away - love things that keep them busy!)

Tiring out the girls before bed......

This Morning......

Wednesday Morning, the snow was still falling when I headed out around 7 to shovel the sidewalk and sweep off the car for Leasa. I shoveled again later in the afternoon and will probably have to at least sweep it tomorrow after the winds die down, still snowing when I took Max out around 10pm, but light. I would guess around 7-8 inches total fell.

Max loves the snow, he likes to run around like mad, then stick his nose around til he sniffs out some toy or piece of wood to play with.

Snowfall Warning : City of Regina

Issued at 3:35 PM CST Tuesday 22 December 2009

Summary

A slow moving winter storm will bring 15 to 30 cm of snow to parts of Southern Saskatchewan tonight and Wednesday.

Details

A weak trough of low pressure gave generally 2 to 5 cm of snow to most of Southern Saskatchewan today. However, a more vigorous winter storm will give 15 to 30 cm of heavy snow tonight and Wednesday to parts of Southern Saskatchewan. A developing low pressure system in Central Alberta will move into Western Saskatchewan tonight. An area of heavy snow will push into Western Saskatchewan overnight and move eastward across Southern Saskatchewan on Wednesday. This winter storm will give between 10 and 30 cm of snow to Southern Saskatchewan by Wednesday evening. The heaviest snowfall will be from Wynyard in the north to Assiniboia and Estevan in the south where between 15 to 30 cm will fall by Wednesday evening. Strong northwest winds will develop in behind the system. By Wednesday afternoon northwest winds gusting to over 50 km/h will give extensive blowing snow in southwestern sections of Saskatchewan.

Winter Storm Update

Driving back to work after lunch - and what to my wondering eyes should appear? An SUV driving ahead, swerving and veering between two different lanes. Fishtailing and finally heading for the ditch. Lucky for them they stayed ditch bound, almost rolled over - but didn't end up in on coming traffic.

Happy Winter! (I bet Dana is wishing for the sand plows of the Outer Banks, instead of the snow plows of Saskatchewan.... lol)


Check out the park webcam.

Winter Storm watch

Winter Storm watch : City of Regina
Issued at 4:19 AM CST Tuesday 22 December 2009

Summary
Ten to 20 cm Wednesday. The potential for severe winter weather exists over these regions.

Details
A weak trough of low pressure will give a few cm of snow to most of Southern Saskatchewan today. However, a more vigorous weather system will likely give heavy snow on Wednesday. This developing low pressure system will move through the northwestern states tonight and Wednesday. This feature will push an area of snow into Southwestern Saskatchewan tonight which will then spread through Central Saskatchewan Wednesday. A total of 10 to 15 cm of snow should be expected for most areas, but local amounts of 20 cm are possible near the international border. The snow will ease late Wednesday as this weather system weakens and moves into Manitoba. A winter storm watch is an alert of the potential development of severe winter weather. Persons in or near these areas should be prepared for developing adverse weather conditions and should listen for updated watches and possible warnings.

Holiday Sprinkler

Christmas Concert

Christmas Concert

Leasa: "Oh, isn't Carter cute. He's right next to Jessica..."

Dana: "Huh, no he isn't"

Leasa: "Yes he is, in the red and black."

Dana: "Yeah, he's in red and black...on the other side of the stage."

Leasa: "Oh."

few minutes later..

Dana: "Ah, there's Chloe."

Leasa: "Where? Oh, right by Hannah..."

Dana: "Um, that's not Chloe, she's on the front row."

Leasa: "What? Oh."

The cookie dough sneak...

IT'S TOO BIG!

That's what Hannah and Jessica said when they saw the tree for the first time. Maybe, but it's a beauty. We were going to drive out to Moose Jaw and cut a tree, but that didn't fly. I was adamant I wouldn't buy another tree without being able to see the shape (all the trees are pre-wrapped here) but had no choice. So we went to Home Depot, where they had a buy a tree, get a $25 off $100 in January deal. So, for about $5, we got a very nice tree, although, the trees seem dryer here and it won't last much past Christmas. Leasa says it's bad luck not to have your tree down before the New Year anyway.....weird if you ask me.

Happy Holidays!

It's December the 13th and the weather here is colder than the North Pole! I really mean that, yesterday the coldest place on the planet was 8 hours from Regina. Despite the chill outside, Dana and I have managed to stay warm inside, with the Christmas Tree up and decorated thanks to the girls for their skills and Dana for working on the lights. The house is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Now I need to finish wrapping the gifts and send out the cards! It's a good day to be indoors.