Meet Karl

Karl is our elf on a shelf. He is here to observe the behavior of the children in this house and make reports to Santa every night in the month of December. Karl moves to a different spot every morning when he returns and it is the girls responsibility to find him. The first night we had him, he did not move. We figure it was because we had not named him yet. We named him Karl after the woodsman who saved St. Nicholas's life as a boy in the woods leading to Syria. It is a story told by Ben Cartwright of Bonanza in the Ponderosa Christmas Album circa 1959. He tells the story about Karl and why we put candles on the Christmas tree.

Rarer Than A Blue Moon

It was so cold last week, that the ponds and lakes around us actually froze enough to skate on. It was the first time I have ever skated outside on a frozen lake or pond. Heather and Vanessa had to get skates from the store quick as their feet grow so quickly and this is a once in a fifteen year phenomenon. Today was the day. It was so cold that the flash and focus wouldn't work properly. A lot of fun and great family time.

Holes and Cracks

Heaters are working overtime these days. It is definitely cold outside. The pond was frozen with at least 5 inches of ice. Good thing it was thick because I ended up slipping on it and falling right on my butt. I rolled over and laid there for a few minutes. I did leave a big crack. I went out to take a picture of the woodpecker (red breasted sap sucker)  I saw earlier putting holes in one of our trees. Saved the camera of course when I fell. Heather took her dolls out for a skate a little later.

Celebrating 40 in the Best Kind of Way

I got together with some of my great friends and family to celebrate turning 40. It was so nice to have everyone come out. The restaurant was good and the company was even better. I must admit I got spoiled. There was a definite theme of wine and chickens. Thank you everyone for making it a great night!

Annual Christmas Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks for checking out the blog. We hope you enjoy some of the photos and short video clips of what we have been up to for the last year. We have had a busy year as usual and were able to get away a couple times this year. The girls are continuing to grow and keep us on our toes and in the car driving them here and there. We have been blessed with good health and are very fortunate to have many of our friends and family in good health as well.
It has been an interesting year in the yard. If we could describe our experience this year in one word, it would be "Bears". If you look in June and July, you will see the many adventures and mishaps of living next to nature. It has been a challenge and unfortunately we had to give up raising chickens in our yard for their own safety as well as ours.
We went to San Diego at Spring Break and had a very good time at SeaWorld, the Zoos and the Beach. We also rented a yurt for 5 days at Fort Stevens in Oregon where the girls biked for miles gaining a lot of independence.
Heather is still highland dancing, horseback riding and kayaking. Musical theatre, swimming and piano have been Vanessa's prime interests. Both are doing well at school and continue to enjoy learning French.
Todd and my interests have pretty much been work and the girls. Todd still tries to get out once a week for hockey.
We hope that you and your families have a great time this holiday season enjoying each other and appreciating how fortunate we all are to have each other.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Love From Us

40 Weekend

I hit the big 4-0 next weekend. Some lifelong friends and I went to Whistler to celebrate this moment together. We all have our birthdays within a couple weeks of each other so it was only fitting to celebrate together.  Thanks for the photos Tanya!!!

Dance Bazaar

Made some fudge for the bazaar. It was tasty. Heather had a few dances to do. This was her "Got No Strings" group routine.