Winter Retreat

My calling at church is to work with a group of young ladies called Laurels. They are 16-17 years old and amazing! They intimidated me a LOT when I was first called, but now they are just like great friends. I love that they trust me to tell me about the boys they are kissing, and they take me under their wings and help me with my hair etc. etc. It has been great getting to know them. I also have the pleasure of working with the BEST YW president ever. She is just amazing with all the girls, knows what's going on with each and every one of them and is the best example to me and to them. I feel very blessed.

This past weekend we went on a Winter Retreat out to the Strathcona Wilderness Center. It was so fun to hang out and be silly, play games and stay up late like when I was a Laurel. It doesn't feel that long ago since I was 17, but this weekend really showed me how lame I am, and how old I'm getting. It was still such a blast though.

One of our girls had mono and couldn't come for the night so we had her there in spirit and in paper. :) If you see her randomly in the pictures I post that is why.

Unity games. The theme of the retreat was unity. I think we accomplished our goal.
Can't have a retreat without toilet papering. All done lovingly with nice little notes written on the toilet paper. The only trouble was that the girls used most of the toilet paper in the lodge, so we were concerned that they have to collect some from the bunk rooms if it was needed. (luckily it didn't come to that)
Beautiful girls ready for a wild 24 hours.
My oldest girls. They are so good. They won't be at summer camp because they will have graduated. I'm glad I had this time with them.

Beauty and the Beast

I was so lucky to have a sister date this last weekend. What fun to spend the evening with my sister! We went to dinner at Chianti's and then to the Jubilee Auditorium for Beauty and the Beast. What a great show! Amazing sets, costumes, singing. It was fun to watch something so familiar. Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite Disney movie (Brett's too- soul mates ;) ) There were so many sweet little girls all dressed up for a special night. I am excited to do things like that with Isla when she is older.

Thanks for a great night Kim!!!

New Year!

We had some big plans for New Year's Eve, but they fell through, and we ended up having much more fun. We ended up over at the Oviatt's (my friend Kaycee's maiden family) and played games and ate great food, and had a good visit. Then we went to the fireworks at Festival place. It was nice that they started at 8pm, and we had the kids in home and on the way to bed by 9. Perfect. Brett and I then slept through most of a movie, and woke up just in time to wish each other a Happy New Year and headed to bed. A great night.

*Watching the fireworks from the car*

New Years day we were on time for 9am church (a good start to the year), Isla had her first day of nursery and survived the whole 2 hours. Horray!!

That afternoon we headed out to Camrose for Drever Christmas. It was so nice to catch up with extended family we don't see much, and so nice to be part of such a close extended family. Always fun!

*Drever Christmas with Auntie Jaclyn. Wyatt got a cranium game, and that is the lid on Isla's head. Cutie*

This year Brett and I have HUGE plans for the new year. More to come on that in the near future I hope. I don't want to jinx anything.

My goals for the New Year are:

*run a half marathon

*stop yelling :) (Mostly with Wyatt, I find that my patience is thin when dealing with Isla sometimes, and he gets my final reaction which typically involves some yelling. I've been trying really hard, and it's going well so far.)

*Brett and I have some spiritual goals as well.

We usually have this long list and end up disappointed with our progress through the year. This year we are keeping it more manageable. The outlook seems more promising.

Best Friend!

My best friend in the world came into town over Christmas and I was so lucky to spend a few moments with just her, and then some time with her beautiful family.

She has been my dearest friend for 20 years! Unbelievable. She has been away from me for a few years while her husband finished his schooling, and is still living away (Red Deer) but is MUCH closer!!! Even though she has been living away, anytime she came home to visit family we were always able to pick up right where we left off, like no time had passed at all.

Now being a Laurel advisor at church (working with 16 & 17 year old girls) I can really appreciate what a HUGE influence she has had on my life and will always have.

Now that we've spent some quality time catching up (Breakfast at Cora's, an evening alone to visit and snack, and then New Years Eve with our families) I miss her more than ever. I wish I was more of a phone talker, because then we'd be closer, but for some reason we can still make it work. I'm just going to have to make a trip south :)

Camera Shy

One of Brett's favorite past times is to look at old pictures on the iPad. The other night after we got the kids to bed we spent a long time flipping through old photos of Wyatt. There were sooooo many!!! We didn't even get through to the point of Isla's birth. Poor girl is quite neglected in the photos compared to our first born. I'm realizing tonight the problem though. She always wants to hold the camera. She has even figured out the camera on my cell phone.

I know this isn't the ONLY reason she has less photos. I need to put more effort into pulling out the camera more often. This girl is growing up way too fast.

Christmas Festivities

Now onto the fun! For the past few years we have gone down to the Legislature grounds with our friends the Dogan's to see the lights and wander around. It has been such a mild month that it was even more enjoyable to play in the snow, see the beautiful light displays and then head inside for some hot chocolate. I hope this tradition continues. I also hope ever winter is this warm.

December 10th we had our 'Fixsen Family' Christmas. We ate delicious turkey, all the cousin's got to hang out. Opened presents and just had fun family time. We got a new sister in law this year to help with the program. Every year we sing carols, but there are very few musically inclined Fixsen's. This year, Jaclyn accompanied us on her piano and we sounded WAY better. Horray for talent!
Wyatt got creepy crawlers from his grandparents. If I had known this was going to be "the gift" this year I would have saved the idea for myself :) He was soo excited! He loves to play with it too. The machine takes about 20 minutes to warm up, the goo melts and you press it into a bug mold, then you cool it (another 5-10 minutes) and then you can smash the bugs and grind them to use the bug goo again. It takes a good half hour to make a bug and Wyatt smashed/grinds it as soon as it's done. Pretty funny, but I can't believe how patient he is while he is waiting for the whole process to finish.
I dressed my kids up cute to see Santa, and Isla had a fit. They offered to let Brett and I sit in on the picture, but I figure every kid has at least one sad Santa photo.

Brett and I went to his work Christmas party. A fun night out for the two of us. The entertainment this year was weird. A fake casino with the staff acting out some other story on the side. They played blackjack, and at first Brett and I weren't planning to participate because the tables were busy and it looked kind of dumb, but then we started gambling and got hooked. I can see how it could become a problem for some ;) The most pathetic part was they had to teach us how to play blackjack. hahaha

Wyatt's Christmas concert for preschool. Isla was a monster and wanted the camera or to be on stage. Her and I spend the entire time at the back of the church in a little play house they have set up. Luckily I had volunteered earlier in the week for a concert practice and saw the show earlier. That way Brett and his mom could enjoy without interruption.

The little boy to Wyatt's right is his friend Cole. His mom is really great and we get the boys together and kidzquarters and we are able to visit for a few hours. I'm glad Wyatt is making new friends.
Christmas eve we spent the afternoon with our good friends Anita and Greg! They live in Ottawa, and it is so nice that they make time to see us when they are home.

The evening of Christmas eve we all opened new pajamas and watched a movie with popcorn. It was nice to spend time just our little family.

For Christmas this year I bought a HUGE roll of wrapping paper from Costco. So EVERY present I bought was wrapped in the same paper. I asked Brett earlier if he thought it would be a problem that Santa had the same wrap as us... he thought it was no big deal. Christmas morning Wyatt woke up early to see if Santa had come. The FIRST thing he does is come into our room and whisper to me something about Santa having the same paper as us. We have him convinced that Santa shops at Costco too.
Santa bought the kids nerf guns. Santa maybe should have thought that one through a little better. Santa keeps getting attacked boys against girls... and unfortunately at this time Isla isn't much help in defense.

A puppy for Isla, and some more guns. Brett was pretty convinced that we all needed a weapon :)

My good friend Arife made this cute monkey crochet hat for Isla. It is really cute, and Isla loves it!!
Present from Uncle Kevin. A FAST hotwheels track.
Christmas morning we had presents and breakfast at my parents, and then my sister hosted dinner. It was a good time spent with my family. Great company, great food. Doesn't get much better.
We also had our annual Live Nativity night with my sister in law Heather and her kids. Sadly we had less people available to come this year, but it is one of our favorite parts and it focuses on the birth of Christ more than anything else we did to celebrate this year. After the live Nativity out in Spruce Grove we go back to Heather's for Thai food. Delicious. Another tradition we are definitely going to continue!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a perfect holiday with lots of family, food and fun. I know we did!!!

December: Done!

We had a busy month, with preschool activities, play dates, birthday parties, working, etc. etc. we had a full calender before we added anything Christmas related. We have really adjusted well to this busy thing. We are thriving on getting out of the house and spending time with new friends.

This winter really isn't much of a winter at all. We have had very little snow but the kids and Brett have been great at taking advantage of whatever amount falls into our yard. I've even been doing the shoveling on the driveway this year. Brett continues to struggle with chronic pain in his hands and forearms so I have taken on the shoveling. It is actually really enjoyable. My very own driveway that I GET to shovel. I'm sure the excitement won't last long especially if we get the same amount of snow as last year, but for now it's fun. The kids are great little helpers too.

Wyatt's new best bud Cohen had his 4th birthday party this month and the whole family was invited. This is my new birthday plan for the next 18 years of my kids lives. Lindsay had a great little party planned with games and treat bags for Wyatt and Isla, and beautiful cake and delicious dinner just for us. After last years crazy kid party, I'm sold on small. It was lots of fun, and the kids didn't want to leave.

That night was also the night of my monthly book club meeting. It has been so great to have a book to read monthly that I don't have to find. It's also a great excuse to get together with some wonderful ladies!!! I love reading!

I worked a little bit more this month, and will hopefully try to work some more in the new year. I just love working in familiar classrooms. Supply teaching really is perfect for my little family right now. It is so nice to get out of the house and do something for me that I love. The little bit of extra income is nice too. I like feeling like I'm contributing :)

We were lucky enough to be invited to another birthday party for JH. He turned 3!!! We toured the Beaumont fire station and the kids were given free rein of the big trucks. What fun! SH also had birthday activities for everyone when we got back to her place. Great decorations, snacks, cake and a punch board with treats behind tissue paper. All these birthday parties we go to really make mine look pathetic. Hopefully Wyatt doesn't notice :)

My fabulous sister in law had a breaking dawn movie party. We had wedding cake, sparkling juice, delicious treats, games (pin the tail on the wolf, pin the teeth on the vampire). It was so much fun, then we finished the night off by going to see the movie. I love nights like this!