Merry Christmas

Devun, Katie & their stockings:



Devun tobogganing with Grandpa, Daddy & Mommy (when not taking pictures):







Grandpa & Grandma with Devun & Katie:

Santa Clause is coming to town...

The Okotoks police, EMS & fire department escorted Santa through Okotoks tonight. They had sirens, flashing lights and the sleigh on top of the firetruck. Sparky the Dalmatian (the Okotoks fire dog mascot) was also traveling with Santa on this adventure. Devun, Katie, Nate and I waited to see them all pass right by our house. Here are some pictures:

Playing in the snow and waiting...



Watching Santa go by:



Katie with her red cheeks & fish lips:

More fun in the Snow

FINALLY it is warm enough to go play in all the beautiful snow outside... Here are just a couple pictures from when Devun and I went to play outside while Katie was napping:










I thought I'd also throw in a picture I took a couple weeks ago when Uncle Ryan & Aunt Pamela were out for the kids' birthdays. I had forgotten that this picture was on the "other" camera:

Devun is 3 Years Old!!!

Devun officially entered the world of little boys yesterday, his third birthday. We had a little celebration after dinner with cupcakes, and of course his birthday present, a race track for all his cars he's collected over the past year and a half. Here are a couple pictures:

Just in case any of you are wondering about the music selection, it is very strongly influenced by the fact that we are looking forward to a nice tropical escape from this extremely cold Calgary winter. As some of you know, we are very lucky to be able to go to Hawaii again in a couple of days. It will be a very special trip with the whole Jadischke family in memory of my grandparents. Oh yes, there will be pictures... ;-)

Hawaiian Birthday Party Extravaganza!!!

This past weekend we celebrated the kids birthdays with two Hawaiian themed birthday parties. One party with family, and one party with friends (as we can't fit everybody in the house at once). Katie just turned one on the 10th of December and Devun will be turning three on the 22nd. Here are some pictures from the birthday celebrations:

Christmas Party at Lynnwood Ranch

Last week I had blogged about how we were taken down by the flu. Because of this, I was unable to get any pictures of the Co-operators Kid's Christmas party that Nate took Devun to. Thankfully, a friend of mine took some pictures and sent them to me, so I figured I'd post them...

The party was held at Lynnwood Ranch, just east of Okotoks. Here is a picture of the entertainer with the kids. All the kids got red noses like Rudolph.



Devun and his friend Cain with their red noses:



Nate, Devun, Cam, Cain and Cassandra (in the baby bucket carseat) getting ready for a hay ride.

SNOW!!!!

Yesterday we got a huge dump of snow. It looks fantastic. Here are some pics:

Our house:



The huge pile of snow I made beside the deck for Devun to jump into:



Devun having fun laying in the snow. As you can see, his black eye is getting extremely colorful. It is now a blend of blue/purple/yellow and even some aqua-blue coloring...



Mommy & Devun laying in the snow:



Devun and his neighbor friend Adam pulling Adam's sled up the hill:



Adam shared his sled with Devun and they had a blast sliding down the hill together and chasing each other down the hill.

My monkeys & their bruises...

Today I took advantage of the beautiful day and went to the zoo with the kids. What a great day we had! The zoo was so empty, it was like having our own private animal show everywhere we went. The monkeys and gorillas were especially active. Unfortunately my camera kept steaming up in the gorilla building, so I wasn't able to take any pictures in there. The kids had a great time, but both ended up getting bruises over their right eyes while we were there. Katie took a stumble and Devun walked into a table... oh well... According to Devun, it was still worth it. Here are some pics:

It's Starting to Feel a lot like Christmas...

This past weekend was to be a weekend of Christmas party fun with sleigh rides and Santa, unfortunately it turned into a weekend of the Olfert family stomach flu. (Thankfully Nate & Devun still got in some Christmas party fun). Although the flu knocked each one of us out for a good portion of the weekend, we are getting back to normal. We even went and got a Christmas tree last night from the Scouts. Devun was very excited about getting the tree and Katie got excited because Devun was excited. Here are some pictures of us decorating our tree:

Grandma's Visit

We had another eventful & busy couple days. Grandma was out visiting from Chilliwack so she came along and watched Devun play soccer on Saturday. He showed off by scoring 2 break-away goals (followed by one in his own net). We also took Devun skating again, it is so exciting to see him improve every time we get him out on the ice. Devun even made friends with the zamboni driver and got to sit on the zamboni and pretend to drive it. This was VERY exciting for Devun. Katie and I took my mom out for some girl time to the international craft market at Spruce Meadows. Since Grandma won't be able to make it for the kids' birthday parties we had a mini-birthday celebration with DQ treats. Nate and I were also able to get away on our first real "date" since the birth of Katie, which was surreal and so weirdly calm... Bond was amazing and so were the uninterrupted conversations! Here are a couple pictures from the past couple days:

Light Up Okotoks & Baking

Last night we took Grandma to "Light Up Okotoks". The town shuts down the main street in Okotoks and sets up fire pits up and down the street. There's hot chocolate, craft sales, reindeer, horse & wagon rides, Santa... etc. Devun had a great time. Here are some pictures:

Devun checking out a fire truck:



Devun & Daddy in the fire truck:



Devun & Daddy warming up by a fire pit:



Devun was so proud of his balloon:




Before we went and picked up Grandma from the airport on Thursday, Devun and I made some cake and cookies. Devun loves helping me bake.

Devun is an expert with the electric mixer, here he is showing it to the camera:



Mixing the "old fashioned" way with a wooden spoon:

Devun's First Time Skating

After a couple failed attempts, Nate and I were finally able to bring Devun skating for the first time this afternoon. Devun had the biggest smile and had so much fun that he wanted to go again only minutes after leaving the ice rink. Katie loved watching Devun, but did make it clear that she would have rather been on the other side of the glass, she HATES missing out on anything. Here are a few pictures:

Emma's Birthday Party

This weekend Devun went to Emma's 3rd birthday party. We met Emma's parents (Sean & Brandy) through our pre-natal class we took right before Devun was born. It is so neat that we've been able to keep in touch over the years. Emma and her girlfriends were beautiful princesses, and Devun was one of the handsome princes. Here are some pictures:

Soccer Balls & Birthday Gingerbread Men

Devun had his second soccer session on Saturday. Here are some pictures...

Team huddle & direction from the assistant coach:



Soccer drills:



Having fun while posing for a picture with his soccer ball:



Three-year-olds trying to play a soccer game:



After soccer we went to Calgary for Maverick's first birthday party... Here is the birthday boy and his mom, Rice:



Devun decorating a gingerbread man:



What a GREAT day!!!!

First Snow!

After waking up and seeing the snow this morning, Devun was so excited to go out and play in it and build a snowman. Thankfully it was perfect snowman building snow, the sun was out and it was perfect playing in the snow weather!

My little angel making a snow angel:



Smiling for the camera - he didn't want to open his eyes because the sun & snow were just too bright...



Devun with our armless & nose-less snowman. He was VERY excited about his handful of snow at this point...

Flames, Smoke & Snow

Yesterday Katie went to her first Flames game with Mommy & Grandma. Here she is all pumped for the game. She seemed to enjoy the action but fell asleep, unimpressed with the Flames inability to get the puck in the net after the second period...



Here is a picture of the smoke that filled the air in SW Calgary yesterday afternoon, I guess it was a fire from a wire product company in the industrial area. Anyway, the smoke was crazy:



This morning we woke up to a blanket of wet snow. When Devun looked out the window he said "It snowed. It's almost my birthday." It was so priceless!



Devun showing Katie the snow:



Looking out our kitchen window at the hill that Nate and I want to build a nice little "kicker" on for our snowboards... I guess we still need a lot more snow and it probably won't be a bad idea to wait for the removal of the barb wire either...