Christmas with Loradona

My sister came to visit us for Christmas, and it was so much fun that I simply have to blog about it. Obviously.
But first, a couple of things from before she got here...
We're trying to get in touch with some our our ancestral roots, so on December 13, I made a "saffron" bread wreath for St. Lucia Day.

And Calista got to wear a crown with "candles." Fun, and tasty.


Craig also had his preschool concert. He was dressed as a shepherd, and refused to sit still for me to take a picture of his adorable self.

But I did get this. Craig, during Little Drummer Boy. He's hiding, and then popping back up at the chorus. Why? I have no idea.

After Loradona got here, Calista had a concert, too, and she did wonderfully.

Except the lights were so bright in her eyes!

She actually wasn't the only kid that stood in that spot and seemed bothered by the light.


Loradona and I also did some shopping

and headed to an antique mall - where Craig did not break anything! - and to see an enormous Stanley Cup...

mostly because it just happened to be in the same parking lot.

Still, Craig loved it.


In between concerts and Stanley Cups, we got ready for Christmas.

This obviously included getting presents out from where they were hidden and wrapping them, and also baking.

Lots and lots of baking. Ham, rolls, chocolate crinkle cookies, gingerbread cookies,

pizza, cinnamon ring rolls, and orange birthday cake,

because Jesus likes orange.

In between all the baking, concerts, shopping, and wrapping, there was also lots of playing with Aunt Loradona.

All of the kiddos were so excited to have her come visit: they've been talking about it for months. And they all warmed right up to her, playing, laughing and cuddling with her. They definitely want her to come visit again.


The Saturday before Christmas (Christmas Eve Eve, if you will), we headed to see a live nativity. I made sure everyone was prepared with boots, gloves, hats, snow pants, coats... I was actually a little worried I'd gone overboard. And then it started to snow.

A lot. Like, I got off my chair to take a few pictures, and there was noticeable accumulation on my seat when I went to sit back down.

It was kind of cool, actually. And after the nativity was over, there were cookies and hot chocolate inside the church, and the snow tapered down a bit for the drive home, too.

Christmas Eve, we got all dressed up, and headed to church. But not before taking lots of pictures.

This was probably the most cooperative our children have ever been taking pictures.

Sure, I did bribe them with M&Ms.

And I feel no shame about that.

Because, seriously, how cute are they?

The whole family, for good measure.

And, of course, one with Aunt Loradona!!

After church was yummy dinner,

new pajamas, and prepping for Christmas morning.
Oh, how I love Christmas morning with the kiddos. They get so excited for everything.

And, of course, need to "help" Caleb open presents.

From "Santa," everyone got books.

Which means we had to take a little break mid-presents to look at them, obviously.
The kiddos also got a present from The Anna Maund. She's a little old lady, over 90, that fell in love with Calista, and every subsequent child, at church in Calgary. Sister Maund mailed me a check and told me to buy the kids a present.

So I sneakily had them pick their favorite stuffed animal at the zoo and bought them without letting them know. Then I wrapped the stuffies up and kiddos got them Christmas morning. They were thrilled.
Everyone was pretty thrilled, mostly.

Caleb got lots of toys, some of which make noise and he loves.

Craig opened his present, which he had never seen before in his life, and announced, "It's just what I wanted!!"

Because what 4-year-old doesn't love dinosaurs and hammers?
Calista was a little disappointed in her haul. "It feels like I didn't get many presents." We told her that she sounded kind of selfish, and then the next day, we had another "present" for everyone.


Which was going to West Edmonton Mall, and more specifically the waterpark. I have no pictures of this, because we left all devices locked up. Just trust me, it was a lot of fun, despite the walk to a from the car being at -27 C (-17 F), and also despite losing Craig in the first 30 minutes or so... he tried to follow me and Kyler as we went up the stairs to do a couple of slides. We had no idea, but he made it all the way up to the top where the lifeguards sent him back down (accompanied) to wait for someone to come looking for him. And, of course, we did certainly come looking for him and thankfully found him and were able to continue the rest of the day.
All in all, we spent 6 hours at the mall, both the boys had naps, and everyone had a good time.

The day before Loradona left, we headed to the Conservatory, so we could trick our bodies into thinking we were outside.

And look at pretty flowers.

We didn't know ahead of time, but they also had a scavenger hunt for the kiddos, and Calista and Craig each got a candy cane as a reward when they finished.

After the scavenger hunt, we enjoyed looking at the rest of the pyramids and taking family pictures.

Why not, right?

Craig just had to show me that there were bugs under the rock. He was pretty proud of himself for finding them.

And Caleb loved the waterfall.

We loved our first Christmas in Edmonton, most especially because Loradona came to spend it with us. Hopefully she (and any other family that wants to!) can come visit again soon!