I love these pictures of the kids with Santa at our Ward Christmas party. It`s so funny because we probably have one of the oldest wards in the world yet our Santa is probably 23 years old. Salmon Arm tends to attract retirement folk, so as a result our demographics tend to be older. I can think of maybe 4 or 5 men that would have been perfect for playing Santa but instead we have a man in his early twenties. Nonetheless, he did a great job and Lucy was none the wiser, she got her little bag of treats. As soon as Nathan saw him walk in he leaned in over to me and said "Mom, he's a fake" and refused to have anything to do with him. So no picture of Nate with the big guy.
Jordan was a good sport. When asked what she wanted for Christmas she responded with skateboard; to which our youthful Santa replied "a skateboard? Can you like do tricks and stuff?" It was pretty comical.
We have been absolutely bombarded with pageants, concerts, recitals and performances this month. Good thing our kids love to perform. Jordan in particular has been on stage more times than I can even remember at the moment. This is when Jordan and her friend sang a French Christmas song at the ward party.
at the school Christmas concert...
at her Christmas piano recital....at which she played her pieces beautifully.
These pictures were taken before our Ward Community Christmas concert. It was such an amazing night. Jordan had been asked to accompany the primary choir on the piano in "little Jesus" out of the primary songbook. Natually I was a wreck all day, so nervous that I nearly chewed my fingers off. Jordan was amazing! She walked up to the piano as cool as can be and proceeded to play the piece perfectly. There was have been close to 200 people in attendance. We were in tears we were so proud of her. Not many kids can say they`ve accompanied a choir at age 7. We're so grateful for our wonderful primary conductor for giving our kids these opportunities. They also both sang little solos today in church and were fantastic.
We`ve had a lot of snow so far this winter which we are so, so happy about. The kids have enjoyed being in the fresh air and I`ve enjoyed sending them out:)
Late November, Jared`s parents came out for a visit and it was so great to see them. It felt like it had been so long. They were a HUGE help while they were here because I worked every day and our kids just loved having them around. Nate turns 5 at the end of the month, so the Claw gave him a very special early birthday present that he plays with every day.
Our Ward does a live nativity and Jordan was an angel (like I said, the girl's been busy). They all did such a great job and it's such a nice way to bring in the Christmas season.
At the beginning of December, we had a joint birthday party for me and my childhood friend Em. It was so fun, and just like the old days when we used to have joint parties. Only this time we wanted families to be there:) We had both parents, some siblings and our good friend Kath come out to Salmon Arm for the live Nativity and then back to our house for appies and visiting. I love it when our families get together, it seems as though we can talk forever and laugh all night.
Em and I are both expecting and due within a week of eachother!! We are so excited to have babies together. My kids are always quick to tell me how much bigger my baby is to Em's. I guess it only makes sense as this is my fourth and this is her first (that's my excuse anyway). We had such a fun night and are thinking of making it a birthday tradition.
Other things we are been up to:
-Jared coached grade 8 girls volleyball and did an amazing job. The girls ended up coming second in the North Zone.
-I have been working a ton this semester but am officially done! Hooray for maternity leave!
-We took a fantastic little family holiday Remembrance day weekend to Kelowna where we went to H2O waterpark (amazing for those in the area), played in the hotel pool and had fun doing some Christmas shopping.
We have been very busy but are so happy, we are looking forward to our Christmas holidays which have officially started and can't wait to spend the holidays with lots of family and friends.
