Last few days before heading back South. December 24 - 28th

Christmas Day. We spent most of the day sticking Christmas back in the boxes. Tomorrow we will finish up and store the boxes downstairs or into the garage. It's very rainy all day and very ugly out, so staying inside isn't a problem. lol

My project is doing all the laundry for 3 guestrooms, help putting more decorations in boxes, and in between, bake an Eggnog Pound Cake for dessert. My contribution to Christmas Dinner at Darryl and Pat's. 

It definitely turned out and was tasty.

At 5:30 we headed next door for a delicious dinner and great visit. Dress code is suits and ties for dinner.

Darryl's turkey came out fantastic. They purchased a new induction range that even has a probe turkey setting and just stuffed it into the oven.

We were very thankful to be invited.

A lovely way to end our holiday celebrations for this year.

Tuesday morning we headed up to spend the day with Jason, Kristi and Amelia in Nanaimo. We sure are going to miss them all. We gave the kids all of our leftover food in the fridge so we are empty when we leave. Back home by 4 pm with a pizza ordered. lol 

 With all the torrential rain over the past few days the lake came up substantially. This is the picture from this morning. We still have a good 10 feet before there is any chance of flooding.

Coming up to our "second" beach.

When we arrived home Dec 5th, the water level is down low enough three feet of our "first" beach showed. Amazing how it came up 4 to 5 feet in 5 days or so. Then 13cm/5" of rain helping to melt 51cm/20" of snow pack doesn't help!!! Ray joked to everyone we came from 21C in Phoenix to 21" of snow at home.lol

Wednesday morning I did the last of the laundry out the door with the house put to bed by 10:15, heading to Victoria with a stop in Duncan first. Ray needed to pick up the last bit of meds before our flight south and some US cash from the bank. Fortunately for me our house cleaner will come tomorrow and clean up from all our Christmas guests, 4 1/2 bathroom and 4 bedrooms, not to mention Christmas glitter from all the decorations. :)

Arrived at the Sidney Waterfront Inn too early to check-in so we went to gas up the rental. Could not believe it, NO GAS AVAILABLE at the Chevron Station in town. We ended up driving another 2 kilometers to the CO-OP on the highway. The rental car needs to be dropped off with a full tank tomorrow morning early.

We checked in at 3 and then headed to the Rum Runner Pub for a well-deserved beer. 

Located right on the water, so a great view.

We're a little concerned that our flight at 6:05 am actually leaves from Victoria to Vancouver as Westjet's morning flight got cancelled due to "no gate available" to go to in Vancouver .... staffing issues. Hopefully that is resolved for tomorrow morning. The rest of today's flights did depart. Fingers crossed.

Merry Christmas Early! December 22 - 24

This picture sent to me from June next door. Definitely a snowy looking Christmas.

Early Thursday morning I woke up to the sound of glass breaking??? I put my slippers on and wandered around the main floor but did not find anything? Later on I went upstairs to turn on the heat pump in the guestroom Jason's parents would be staying in and found that the inner pane of glass in the window by the bed and broken! That is what I heard. Fortunately there still is protection from the elements with the outside pane of glass intact. I guess the -15C temps we are definitely not used to, caused the glass to break with the temperature difference. 

All is ready! The gifts are wrapped, the stockings hung, the house "babyfied" now just waiting for Jason, Kristi and Amelia and Jason's parents to arrive today for our "Christmas Eve". 

Jason, Kristi and Amelia arrived at 10 am and Jason's parents not until 2 pm. Apparently the roads were terrible getting out of Victoria with all of the snow still on the roads. Fortunately Highway 1 is good all the way here. Once Jason arrived, he and Ray went and bought a piece of rigid insulation to fill the window frame. That will have to do until Jason gets someone here to measure out a new window or pane? Apparently windows have a 3 month lag time right now. 

I also had a new mattress delivered today for our guest bed upstairs as Kristi complained how uncomfortable it is when she stayed a week ago lol A Christmas miracle that I managed to get one from Sleep Country and have it delivered 3 days later where they carried it upstairs and took the old one away. Bonus!

What a lovely time visiting. It took Amelia a little time to warm up to her Granny and Pop pop as she's not seen them for a month or so. By after dinner she's running around talking to all of us.

Mixing eggs for her breakfast.

Before the unwrapping. lol

Everyone had a restless night except Ray lol. Out of bed at 6 am. Amazingly Dale, Jason's step-dad was up by 7:30, unheard of. lol We had our coffee and opened stockings. Then Santa came!

Who is that guy with my mommy.

Here is the video we took. New computer so no editing ... sorry :)

A travelling french press for our coffee connoisseur.

Amelia's painted Merry Christmas from daycare for her parents. Too cute.

Gift opening actually took 6 hours as Amelia could only do so much and tired of it. We opened her gifts before breakfast, after breakfast, after her nap and after dinner lol  A long day for the little tyke. Her favourite gifts are the dump truck and floor mop and of course she got a tablet from Santa to use in the car travelling.

Dale and Nadine cooked breakfast. With so many hands, I'm very fortunate to have a fabulous kitchen cleanup crew, so I didn't have to wash a dish with all the cooking I did :) I kept Amelia occupied while the crew did the cleanup.

Our Christmas Dinner consisted of Prime Rib done on the barbeque rotisserie. It turned out fabulous. Best one yet I'm told. :)

Before dinner we took our annual Christmas Picture.

Ray, Deb, Nadine, Amelia with Jason, Kristi and Dale

A wonderful Christmas for all. The next morning, the 24th, Nadine and Dale headed out by 11 am as the monsoon rains began and they were worried about flooded roads getting home to Victoria. Kristi and Jason spent most of the morning loading up all their stuff into the truck and then while Amelia napped, we all relaxed and watched a little TV. 3 pm they headed home to Nanaimo. Boy is it quiet around here now! Tomorrow we put Christmas back in it's boxes for next year. :)

Our Grandaughter, Stella in Squamish enjoyed a wonderful Christmas too. Boy is she getting bigger.

Stella, Kat and Garrett

Stella with their dog Charlotte.

Quite the haul of gifts. :)

They keep her busy with gymnastics, wall climbing, dance class and music at home with mommy and daddy.

Entertaining and getting ready for our Christmas - December 14 - 21

Wednesday morning we're off to Nanaimo to hit Costco for our last shop before Christmas. Good day to go, midweek and early enough there's still parking available. The big reason we went is, Jason forgot Amelia's Advent Calendar ... Oh Dear. 

After shopping at Costco, we toured the mall to pick up a few presents for the tree for us... we went separately and met up at Purdy's Chocolates an hour later. Our hoofers were sore and it's off to the Driftwood Chinese Buffet. Jason and Kristi raved about it, so we definitely want to give it a try. It's a hit. They even use one of those delivery robots. Amelia will love this as we are going there again with Jason on Saturday.

Thursday we shopped in Duncan preparing for our neighbourhood Appetizer Party Friday night. There are 8 of us and it's great to catch up with everyone's Fall after we left for the USA. Everyone came at 6 and by 9:30  headed home with full tummies. Must've been a good get together judging by all the empty wine bottles. lol

Saturday morning we're off to Nanaimo early and arrived at 9am. There is a little girl very happy to see her Nana and Papa. Lovely to get the hugs and kisses. Kristi's on call at the hospital, so it's just Jason and us heading to the mall to see Santa. Unfortunately his scheduled indicates a 2 PM start. Amelia loved playing on the toddler climbing frame with some other "littles". Mommy managed to take an hour off to come and see us.

Next up, the lunch at the Driftwood. They ran the robot past her as promised. She thought that's pretty good. :) Amelia likes Chinese Food.

Back home in time for her nap. Jason, Ray and I spent the afternoon watching a movie. Once Amelia woke up it's play time again. We stayed overnight so we could see Kristi in the morning when she's off shift. A great visit. 

Dancing

Jason has us all set up in the suite downstairs with our own coffee until he gets up lol.

We waited for Kristi to come home off shift and she made scones for breakfast. Yumm. Once back home\ we spent the day relaxing since we've been so busy since arriving home on the 5th. 

Waking up Monday morning to snow flurries again. Definitely a wintery scene out the windows. We shall see how much snow we actually get over the next few days before it turns to rain. I woke up last night to "beeping" again. This time the alarm system is warning me that the battery in the "Smartlock" is going dead! Of course this made the alarm on my phone go off too. I fixed it all this morning and it's not difficult :) Hard to think how to fix it though in the middle of the night. 

The snow flurries continued all day until dinner and then became much heavier. By bedtime we had about 8 inches. We changed the battery in the door lock.

Tuesday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. On the news "stay home", ferries cancelled, flights cancelled. Glad we are all snug in the house. Of course I'm out with our little snowblower and Ray shoveling this morning once it's light enough to see. (Again woke up to "beeping". Now low battery in our door sensors to the sundeck!) Amazing how they all die at the same time. All five doors batteries replaced later today!

Took me about 1.5 hours to do the driveway. I did about 3/4 of it then Ray did the last bit. I also did a path in front of our driveways in the cul de sac with the help of June next door so the plow guy would not run into the gardens this time. lol Good thing the snow was so light or my little machine would have issues. After I finished and Ray made a path out the sundeck doors, I made a big breakfast and June came over as well. Great morning exercise. (Of course this killed Ray's back and he's very sore for the next couple of days but he refused to have me do it all.)

Darryl used my snowblower after I finished and did his area and also Mike and Deb's driveway as they were coming up later in the afternoon. They first dug themselves out of Langford where they got 1/2 again more snow than us.

Once finished with breakfast it's time to do a little Christmas baking. Butter tarts with pecans for Ray and raisins for Jason.

Here is a picture someone took and posted on Facebook which shows our house.

In the middle

Wednesday morning woke up to a chilly -6C which is 21F. Burrr. More Christmas prep today as our company all arrives tomorrow for our "early Christmas".  More snow is expected tomorrow night into Friday .... Arizona is looking better and better. :)

Getting Ready for Christmas at the Lake and Kristi, Jason and Amelia come to visit. Dec 6 - 13

Tuesday morning at 8:30 Ray we left for breakfast at the Riverside Cafe as there's nothing in the house, and I mean nothing. lol

Festive Peppermint Hot Chocolate

After eating I dropped Ray off at home and headed to Duncan for provisions. 7 hours later I returned home with a much lighter wallet. While gone, Ray spent the day dragging out our Christmas stuff and putting some of it up. 

Wednesday, first a hair appointment and the rest of the day with Ray putting up the decorations. The panic is on as the kids are coming with Amelia on Friday morning, staying overnight and then her with us for a few days. Kristi is celebrating her 40th birthday over in Vancouver with Jason for 2 nights. 

By Thursday afternoon we finished with babysitting. Just in time to head to Ladysmith for dinner with Ray's cousins Brian and Sandy, then out to the Chemainus Theatre with them for a Christmas play. Brian and Sandy gave my tickets for my birthday this summer. Great dinner of lambshanks and fixin's and the "Tiny Christmas Carol" is a great play.

Brian and Sandy

After a lovely evening we arrived back home about 9:45. Fortunately the roads weren't icy. 

Friday morning we "babyfied" the house with baby gates etc, checked for any low hazards and were ready for Amelia's arrival at 10am. So pleased she did not play strange and came right into our arms for hugs and kisses. Fun times begin!

Jason, Kristi and Amelia arrived on time at 10 am with a whole truckload of stuff to unload. Most of my Christmas presents shipped to them while we are away and of course a multitude of baby stuff, including stroller etc. We spent a nice afternoon catching up and we were all in bed by 9:30.

Saturday morning after breakfast the kids headed out to Nanaimo to catch the helijet over to Vancouver to celebrate Kristi's 40th birthday. Yes ... we have two full days of Amelia to ourselves without mommy who she is very attached to. Amelia is such a good little girl, she played well, napped well and slept well with no tears, awesome. Both of us were run a little ragged though because boy can she move!

Dancing with beads.

Grandma I want your breakfast too. Looks like Zeus wants some also. lol

Out for a walk every afternoon after her nap.

Cuddles before bed.

Arrowroot cookies with Grandpa when I wake up. :)

I have to sit between Nana and Papa for snack.

After dinner, ice cream with Papa

Four times a day we were taking her out to watch the excavator and dump truck. It's a hit.

On Monday the workers all lined up for a wave to her including the guy in the excavator. Made her day. :)

Monday afternoon at 4, Mommy and Daddy came back. Today is actually Kristi's birthday, so I have a special meal in the works, Prime Rib and Yorkshire Puddings. Amelia greeted her with flowers. I let her watch for Daddy's truck on the security camera on my phone. Boy did she get excited when she saw his truck.

You should hear her describing the "digger" with noises and hand movements. Too funny.

Breakfast on Tuesday morning.

I gave Amelia her birthday present early as we won't be here on January 2nd. A fishing game for her and Daddy to play. She will have so many new things Christmas morning it's a good thing to give it too her now. 

Helping Nana make lunch. I am sure some of the red pepper got tasted first before putting it into the bowl. Lol

What a most marvelous time with her for 4 days and the two days with Jason and Kristi. Can't wait for them to come back in 10 days for Christmas.

Here is a video of Kristi and Amelia dancing.

The minute one of us isn't in her sight she would yell Papa, Papa or Nana, Nana, and go looking for us so I guess we are Nana and Papa instead of Grandma and Grandpa now. lol