{week 22} Merry Christmas to all

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.-- Dr. Seuss


Wishing everyone a fabulous holiday season full of love and snuggles! xoxoxox


***enjoy the photo; custom backdrop designed by my lovely artistic girls! They thought it would look grand!

{week 21} christmas crackers

we thought we'd put together our christmas crackers while Grady napped....well he woke up! so he joined in which was not very helpful....so we tuned into a Thomas video on the computer. Here he is watching his "thomas show" while the girls put together everyone's crackers. The largest crackers you ever seen....we made 18 personalized crackers for our Christmas dinner at Grama's in Vernon.

I was set to use toilet paper rolls but someone in my house used them to craft something else. oh well, we improvised and just stapled cardstock. We could then make them really full of fun stuff.

Little Labels

there is a new store in town...."Little Labels" (located along the strip with red shreds, designer consigner, and alexanders) 65A 1st Avenue. Amanda brings you a great selection of consignment clothing from Newborn to maternity~ (she will take all your outgrown kids clothes:) ) She also has an amazing selection of handmade jewelry.
I'm thrilled to announce that she has allowed me to display my lovely art on her walls! Stop in and say hi and check it out!

{week 20} family christmas potluck

busy days...with lots of christmas activities. We had a great visit with all our little & big cousins this past weekend. Also celebrating Cousin Megan's 9th birthday...
Grady has his hands full of toys and his new "kitty kat" from Grandpa merv! good times

***Gradys shirt says "good looks run in the family" Kent thought it was suiting for a family event! Although my Uncles teased he got his good looks from the Erlandson side! HAHA!

{week 19} uncle visit

An uncle is a gift whose worth cannot be measured except by the heart.

...can you tell who has been missing their uncle josh! they all snuggled up after their bathtime....boy do we miss Uncle! Skyping is just not the same...hoping he has an amazing time in Maui and we are able to see him lots more over the holidays!

{sparks} smores

Mmmmm....marshmallow creme, melted chocolate and graham crackers! Bringing a little bit of summer campfire fun to life for a winter faux camp for Carrigan's Spark tonight. Here is the instructions in pictures: (make sure to let the chocolate dry before spreading on a dollop of marshmallow creme!)

***melted the chocolate in a double boiler...

{week 18} Williams lake Brownies

it was Makenna's brownies enrolment night and after the ceremony games were played....brother and sister were invited to join in. Grady was thrilled. It was cute to watch his little legs run so fast across the gymnasium.

{week 17} oh boy!

I love this one....he is sooo expressive in his little face. Can't fake the fact that he is tired of Mom's studio shoot....it was fun at first building up the set and then taste testing the rocket candies....but even the best models get tired of all the bright lights!;)

boys & trains....

he is all boy....and like most boys he loves trains....he was very pleased to have "percy" pose for some pictures today. Percy the train even had to say "money" (Grady's little catch phrase for photos taking....)

{week 16} winter bundle up

Saturday night at 730pm we thought we'd trek out and watch the Williams Lake Stampeders play hockey.  Here we are all getting bundled up for the game. Grady still thinks its summer and is not taking too kindly to the winter attire. He is really attached to this hat...but the gloves seem to only make  good weapons to swing around and hit others with. Don't get us started on boots.
We had Miss O over for a sleep over so we all enjoyed the game (but mostly the treats mom packed) Carrigan scored a hockey puck that flew over the top....Grady is thrilled with it!

{week 15} school time

School time never ends at our home. My Makenna has always loved to be the teacher. Here she is teacher Carrigan, along with her assistant Grady, her numbers~ en francais

{recipe} Caramel Apples!

this is a tried and true family favourite! Enjoy
Caramel Apples:
14-16 apples : must be non waxed!!! wash and scrubbed well /dried
1 cup butter - the real stuff!
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 can eagle brand milk
1 tsp vanilla
candy thermometer
popsicle sticks for apples
Bring the butter, sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Then add eagle brand milk and boil till you reach 245'. Then take off stove and stir in vanilla. Quickly cover apples. tip: dip the apples bottoms in sugar to prevent from sticking to wax paper when setting~

{Happy Halloween} Good times!

Good times! We spent the morning halloween "decorating our pumpkins" which was a hit! (usually pumpkin carving is not the thrill that kids think it is and I end up completing it!) Grady was given the biggest pumpkin on his own chose a small one from our garden to decorate. Our front yard was decorated very spooky to entice some trick or treaters( we only get a few!) Then I made our yummy caramel apples! check out the yummy ingredients....no wonder they are sooo sweet and go so well with fresh juicy Okanagan apples!

above is at school....Carrigan was thrilled to dress up for school. I stayed to take the girls pics in their parade around the school and school board office!

Trick or Treat

Grady had this down pat after just one house...he was the cutest little lion...although he didn't want to get his whiskers painted on. We walked to the end of our street and back and he was thrilled. He was popping in choco bars like crazy while we Skyped uncle in Kamloops to show off our costumes. We also attended the haunted house at the Boys and Girls club. Wow what an amazing job! I would have liked to see the scarier version saturday night.

The Wizard of Oz

Makenna as Dorothy

Carrigan as the "good witch Glinda"

Grady as the cowardly lion

Daddy as the scarecrow 

Mommy as the mean witch!

{week 14} bathtime

I just love this shot of my three....love that I can get three bathed in one shot!

{week 13} 10th annual t-day hunt

10 years ago when we first moved here....we started our annual family hunting trip.(usually thanksgiving weekend!) Kent's Grandpa and Grandma drive from Lumby to come up so Grandpa can go hunting for deer with him. Kent's mom always jumps in for the trip. Over the years a many of deer have been hunted! Also many additional guests have come over for turkey....sometimes we have a real big houseful! This year its just the three of them. We are so thankful for these memories.... this morning Kent took all the gramma's with them for a morning hunt! So me and the kidlets started the prep for dinner. Carrigan did the sweet potatoes and Makenna is making the pumpkin pies.
(so far this weekend the deer have been spared!):)

{newborn} Max

a couple more cute ones of Max....don't you just love the wrinkles on his back!:)

Grady

my boy Grady...finally some smiling pictures...the secret is to get him while he doing something he loves. We found this croquet set at a garage sale...its a hit! Anything with balls makes a great game! Oh what a lovely fall weekend!

{newborn} Max

I love being able to share an afternoon with a new family. Max is one very lucky little man. He has a very loving family to welcome him into the world. Of course he wanted to see what I was doing for most of the afternoon but I was able to snap a few sleepy shots of this sweet l'il face. Thanks for letting me capture some of his newest moments....here is a little sneak peak (more to come!)

{week 12} oh boy!

Oh boy! he is a big challenge to photograph these days! I even brought bribes; bright yellow car, rocket candies... He was one stubborn boy on this day trying to capture some pics for our xmas cards...takes after his daddy!:(

{week 11} movie & pizza night

I never let my kids eat on the couch....but tonight called for a special treat! Pizza and a movie. Daddy was away hunting so we rented some great movies. Flicka for the kids and chick flicks for me!