Christmas in Canada

My Mom and her husband Rick were generous enough to fly all 3 of us up to Canada for a week! I was excited to see my Mom again and to get to know my new family a little better.

Why We Love Canada:
1) they have Kinder and Cadbury chocolate ALL year round!

2) The majority of people are much friendlier than in the states. I mean by leaps and bounds.

3) People know how to drive in the snow

4)The scenery is beautiful

5)Some of my favorite people live up there now!

6) They have fun words for boring objects. You could call it a garbage disposal like boring Americans ...... or be cool and call it a garberator :)




One of the traditions that the church does in Calgary is put on a live nativity scene/ enactment that lasts about 15 minutes. My step-sister Emma was one of the angels, so of course we had to go! We all bundled up (although not bundled rnough. It took 30 minutes for me to feel my toes again after we got inside). Lily had fun running around outside while we waited for our turn to go in- apparently it's a popular event.

Lily helping unpack at the hotel

Lily's vocabulary increased by 25% in Canada! Prior to this trip she could say; Hi, No, Mommy&Daddy. We've been working on other words for months with no success (she can sign about 15 different words). But, after hearing the word "cat" and seeing the sign just once, she picked them both up instantly. I guess it has to be a subject she's really interested in.

Here Lily is doing her version of the sign for Cat

We were able to be there to celebrate Auntie Gwen's birthday and meet some of the extended family!

This is Lily's newest crush- Richard. The problem is, she has some tough competition. He is currently dating a beautiful older woman, my step-sister Emma. Better stick to 18 month old Max down the street Lily!

After just one piano lesson-

Lily started jamming away!



Christmas Morning

We started out the morning with a delicious Christmas breakfast. Rick cooked eggs and Canadian bacon (so much better than the stuff we have here!) Jordan made his famous Christmas cinammon rolls - he made every call them by their proper name instead of cinnamon "buns" as they say in Canada.

Lily enjoyed being the center of attention, not only Christmas morning, but the entire holiday.

Lily snatched her Granny's camera and designated herself as the official Christmas photographer.

And the official present opener.

Although she was fascinated by the items located in the packages-

The call of duty took her elsewhere to assist others in package-opening need before she could play with her new toys.

Christopher's favorite present was the bubble wrap :)

And Jordan's favorite was easily his pink tie from Rick ;)

Sweet Auntie Gwen with Lily-Kins

I love Dave's face in this picture- perfect

See photographer Lily in the background :) I'm just glad my Mom's camera survived the morning.

Lily insisting that Auntie Gwen talk on the "phone" while I opened my present from Jordan.

Christmas in Canada - Banff National Park

My mom and Rick took Jordan, Lily and I to this beautiful national park about an hour or so away from Calgary, Banff National Park. GORGEOUS. It made Park City look like a children playground.

Here is a picture of Lake Louise in the summer - along with the beautiful hotel that we visited.

during the winter though, you ice skate on the lake! It was amazing, along with this beautiful ice castle. I wish we had brought some ice skates!




Here is another hotel/castel. The whole town itself could be the location for a Disney set. In fact, for those of you that have seen the movie Inception- the scene on the snowy mountain top towards the end was filmed at Banff.

Another picture of the beautiful mountian side during summertime.

Inside the Hotel Louise

A true man

The hotel owns a dog! How cool is that! A very mellow, well mannered dog.

A shout out to my friends Elder and Sister Vellinga - they are my second set of parents- and the parents of one of my best friends, Katie. They live in Provo but are currently sreving an LDS mission in..... Calgary! So we got to see them one night and they brought both Jordan and myself a pair of these awesome Canada mittens! I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture with them when they came over for dinner.

December & January

Rock Star.

Lily's hair after waking up from a excessively sweaty nap

Lily loves to brush her teeth. When it's time, I have to pin her arms down and count out loud to 10 while I brush her teeth. After the count of 10, she takes over. She insists on holding the toothpaste in the opposite hand. Here Jordan was cleaning the bathroom and she took advantage of his toothbrush and toothpaste which were suddenly within reach.

You can see how crazy her curly hair is getting. It's going to be darling once it gets longer. In the meantime.......

Lily loves to look at pictures of herself, and as soon as I get the camera out, she stops what she's doing to come and look at the pictures.

Guardian of the Washing Machine - Lily loves to help put clothes in the washer & dryer, and then sit on the washer during the spin cycle.

When she can't get her hands on a toothbrush, she loves to carry around the toothpaste. Don't worry, the cap is on securely.



Admittance is 1 big Kiss!

When I tell her to "Go kiss Daddy" She immediately puckers up and runs around the house looking for him like a heat seeking missile.

November

Stairs were a major milestone this month. She spent most of Thanksgiving break learning how to go down the stairs at Grandma & Grandpa Elliss's (she's had going up the stairs mastered for a while). She fine tuned the skill at her Aunt AnnaJune's and Uncle Justin's - with cousin Michelle as her instructor.

It's a Fruit-Lily-Up

She loves Bananas! I was making banana muffins one day and she got so upset when she saw me unpeel bananas and they were not for her. Good thing we had some fresh ones hanging around.

She also loves making messes. Look at how proud she is of all that milk that is NOT in her mouth. She can create messes far faster than I can clean.