Macy Jane

I’ve needed to do a post about Macy because she is growing and developing so much right now that I want to remember how fun and sweet she is. So here are some things about Macy:

- She talks a lot and learns new words every day.

- Lately she answers you by saying OK. ‘OK Mom’, it is so cute.

- She gives great hugs and kisses before bed.

- She often says, “I love you soooo much”.

- She is a destroyer – she makes you build things, and then immediately destroys it: towers, snowman, hanging monkeys, etc.

- She can’t quiet pronounce the ‘T’ sound and replaces it with an ‘F’ sound. However she likes to talk a lot about trucks, which doesn’t come out sounding too good, especially at church!

- She always makes me laugh and always says “I’m so funny!”

- She getting into watching more movies (the variety is getting better, which is good, since I could probably quote all of 101 Dalmatian)s. She likes Simba, Marty (from Madagascar), Aladdin, and Sid the sloth (from Ice Age).

- She has sweet dance moves.

- She still LOVES Dora the Explorer and is improving her Spanish vocabulary.

- She can almost count to 10 (she skips three a lot), but can count to 6 in Spanish.

- She loves to read books at night. Her favorites are ‘Jumping Jacky’ (one from my youth), and ‘If you give a Cat a Cupcake’, but she likes most. However she is quick to tell you if she doesn’t like one.

- Her favorite foods are still cheese, yogurt, tortillas, and apple sauce (she still eats like a baby).

- She likes having you sing to her and requests songs.

- She’s one awesome kid and we love her!

New Years

After Christmas we drove out to Headingley to visit Grandma and Grandpa Cutts and see Uncle Tom, Aunt Julie, Eden, and Alice. It was a GREAT trip!

I didn't take pictures of everything, but we did a lot. It was a fun trip with a good mix of relaxing and hanging out around the house and getting out on some fun adventures.

We left early, (up at 5:30 am and on the road by 6:20 am) and drove east. It was nice to have the van and the VHS player and lots of VHS movies... although all Macy wanted to watch was 101 Dalmatians  We arrived 9 pm Headingley time. Tom and Julie and family got there even later that night - sometime around midnight. 

With a late day Thursday  on Friday we relaxed around the house during the day. Friday night we left Grandma and Alice at home and went ice tubing at Adrenaline Adventures. Really wish we had brought the camera, it was so much fun. Macy and Eden shared a tube going down and lots of fun together. We ended the night playing some games (which of course bring out people's true colours) and of course, eating.

Saturday morning we went swimming at the 'Y'. We had delicious ruebens for lunch and a post rueben relaxing afternoon. Saturday night Chris, Tom, and Julie and I went out for a date. It was awesome! We went to see Les Miserables, and then to Earls, where my cousin Doug is a manager. We got the VIP treatment and some delicious food. Especially the warm spinach dip, and the guys loved the steaks they got. It was fun to catch up with Doug too, and have a night out without kids.

Sunday was church and gingerbread house making. Considering our major structural problems from last year, Grandpa made this house from wood and nails. It was definitely structurally sound.

I think Sunday night was also when we played 'Gestures'. I knew Julie was an actress, but Chris and Grandma had some pretty sweet acting skills too. Lots of laughing that night.

Monday was bowling. I didn't know how this would go with Macy but it was so much fun. The kids all loved it.

Monday night was New Years Eve. We ate Chinese, put the little girls to bed (Macy and Alice) and played Monopoly.

Tuesday morning Tom and family left and we just relaxed and got ready for our own departure. We left Wednesday. It was really a perfect trip. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for making it so much fun and treating us so well!
We will come again.

Christmas Day!

Christmas day was great! We had a nice relaxing morning at home. I think Macy was most excited for the juice box sticking out of her stocking, and once she found the chocolate candy in there we could have stopped for the day. She was satisfied!

Of course that wouldn't be any fun. We opened gifts and were all spoiled. Highlight gifts were Macy's Dora Back Pack and Barbie Car, a Fiat 500. Chris got tools and things to change the oil, and I got some clothes.

 Macy loves these little people. Originals from the 80s!

 Looks like Chris is the excited one!

 I don't know why Barbie has Blue Diamond Almonds in her passenger seat. Doesn't she know she'll get nut breath and annoy the others passengers in the car??!

 Breakfast was the usual deliciousness of steak, eggs, pancakes, bacon, toast, fried cinnamon apples, and orange juice.

 These bows were stuck to her all morning long. Note: those are her Frosty pajamas.

Napped and ready to head to Grandparents Lamont. Again we were spoiled. Macy got a toy doll house, Chris got a ladder and circular saw, and I got a waffle maker. 

It was a great day filled with family and fun. We did open the morning by reading Luke 2. We are grateful for the birth of our Savior and grateful for the wonderful family we have.

The Legislative

Just before Christmas we went to the Alberta Legislative Building to look at the lights and get some free hot chocolate. They have underground walkways open to the public and it was a pretty cold night when we went. One of the walkways is the Members Hall and is of all the past Alberta Member's of Parliement. We saw N. Eldon Tanner (he even had a display all about him), and then we searched for my great grandpa James Hansen who was an MP for Taber. Here I am pointing to him standing in front of the very building I was at. It was pretty cool.

 They usually have musical performances each night and serve free hot chocolate. We were too early for the performance, but got some hot chocolate. These pictures are taken with Chris' IPOD, so they are pretty terrible quality, but you get the idea.

 Chris and all the kids, minus Paisley: Macy, Henry, Anderson, and Ruth.

Macy in front of the big tree. It was big!

I guess I should get blogging...

Christmas break was wonderful! It was so nice to have time off from work and school and just be together as a family. We did a lot, so I suppose it is about time I start blogging about it. We spent Christmas in Edmonton and had a lot of fun with the Lamont crew. Everyone was up for Christmas so Grandma's house in Beaumont was busy. We are almost outnumbered by kids, which of course makes the holidays that much more fun.

Christmas Eve we went swimming in the morning with the Leishman's and the Coulam's. Macy figured out how to swim on her own with her puddle jumper and loved it! She was non-stop moving. Chris and I enjoyed the freedom again of the water, without constantly having to hold a little one.

 Christmas Eve we had porcupine's, strawberry spinach salad, and buns for dinner with sparkling cider and nanaimo bars for dessert. Macy got new pajamas from Frosty and we got The Lion King as our family movie.  Macy went to sleep and we relaxed (tried to watch Netflix, but apparently so was everyone else in the world because we couldn't sign on!) and played some games, and prepped ourselves for the excited of Christmas.

Telus World of Science!

A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Cutts for our Christmas gift passes to the Telus World of Science. We checked it out today and had so much fun. First we went to the Star Theater (like the planetarium) and watched a Holiday Music and Magic film. It was fun with good music and cool pictures to go along. Macy enjoyed it, especially the train that went to the North Pole!

After the show we checked out the kid’s area. They had lots of fun interactive stuff. We checked into the airport, went through security, checked our baggage, boarded the plane, and then ended up co-piloting it! 

Next was the water table. Macy loved this and laughed the whole time. It reminded me of the fun times we had at the McWane center in Alabama.

Last we checked out the tree house. 

Macy and I in front of one of their many Christmas trees.

We only went to a part of the museum, which is the benefit of having an annual pass. We can check the rest out later! Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa!

Santa!

This afternoon we went out with Grandma Lamont, Uncle Spencer, Aunt Pam, and cousin Paisley to see Santa!

Macy knows who Santa is and that he says 'Ho Ho Ho' and that he will be coming to her house soon. She recognized Santa right away and was excited to see him.

 While waiting for Santa we met his head elf and took a picture with him.

 This Santa was great! I really think we got the real deal. His beard was real and he was so jolly and nice. He invited Macy to sit on his knee or to sit on the arm of his chair. He was so happy that she came to see him now because he wanted her to know that when he comes to visit at Christmas he will do it when Macy is asleep, so she won't be able to see him then. I was glad he clarified this because I was worried that Macy thought Santa was coming to her house to play with her. Santa is so smart. He knows just what to say.

Macy did play shy and mostly just wanted the candy canes that were in his sac. But she did do better than her cousin.

 Paisley did that class kid scream. It was loud and it was clear she did not want to sit on this strange man's lap!

They both were happy though to get their candy and get back in the cool car they were riding!

It was a lot of fun. This Santa was at the Sherwood Park Mall and you brought your own camera to take pictures with him. So great!! We'll have to make this an annual occurrence!