Sunday, December 22, 2013

After The Snowfall...

...there was a thaw, and a couple of days of rain even :(
Now the thermometer has dipped past freezing again and our winter wonderland is quite beautiful in an altogether different way.
These are the conditions however which make the going icy and difficult. Our area has some power outages, and some treacherous road conditions. It's a great day to stay indoors!



Friday, December 20, 2013

Winter Wonderland

"these wonderful things
are the things
we remember all through all our lives"...

We have arrived to a real winter wonderland here in Ontario, Canada. The temps are well below freezing, and we have been treated to fresh blankets of snow, snowflakes falling thick and fast, frost on the windowpanes...such a beautiful welcome! Leah's Callum, and family friend Steven are both with us and this is their first visit to Canada. We are excited that they can experience Christmas in this setting, it is indeed a wintry fairyland.



Straight from the airport we arrived at my sister's home for a dinner feast and the sweet fellowship of family - our Robbie, my sisters, our nieces, nephews, and their precious kiddies and hubbies! It was a happy reunion. I promise to post about this next.

Of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without a gorgeous fir tree laden with lights and trinkets, and so the gang set out to cut down the perfect tree. I am sure my kids were grateful for their newly-purchased boots as they trudged through the woods. Apparently there was the obligatory pelting of one another with snowballs. A good time was had by all!

Here is the tree-cutting clan, the Birdie/Mack cousins, and Robert was not about to miss out on the adventure:

A happy daddy with his kids

Cousins, Lindsay and Gillian

Annie with Gill. (if you look beyond those beautiful smiles and gorgeous conifers, you can see the old grey barn in the background. It all makes for a great photo).

Here they are dragging the tree back to the car. Bekah (orange jacket) did a great job with the knot-tying to secure the tree to the roof of the van.

But cutting down the tree is only half the fun! Now comes the fun and occasional drama of "putting it up". Bekah and Leah did a great job wrestling this big spruce into submission! I believe it nearly toppled on 3 occasions, but the girls perseverance, and Johny-to-the-rescue, a new hole/screw in the ceiling, a few squeals and screams, and lots of laughter later, we now have a stunning Christmas tree standing tall and straight, glitzing up the room and smelling delicious! Ahhhhh, Christmas!

This photo was taken during one of the attempts to right the falling tree! I wish I had taken more photos to show you the ladders and other bits and pieces employed to accomplish this job.

But how about this for a significant end result?!

Such a pretty expression of what is happening in this "happening household" this Christmas season. For it takes work and co-operation and intentional good cheer to make happy family memories and enjoy the traditions that this season is steeped in. I for one, am loving every minute!