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: