Christmas - Part 2!

So, here is Part 2 of our holidays!! Sorry it's taking so long.
We left Ottawa on Dec26 and flew to Halifax. We were very lucky to have Bill and Melissa offer their car for the week. I couldn't get a car rental since the trip was so last minute so Bill and Missy lent us their new Mazda 5. Verrrrry nice car! Thanks guys...very kind of you.

Is sure made it easier for us to get around. So, Darryl's Dad drove up from Truro and took us over to the Ellis Home to pick up the car. Then, we headed to The Nish (Antigonish) and stayed there on Dec 26/27. It was great to hang with Darryl's family and just relax. The only time we ventured out was to make a visit to Ray's place. His whole family was home so we lucked out and got to have a visit with everybody.

Here is Aunt Kelly with Moira and Breagha. Doing some colouring!

And here is the new addition to Duncan and Shirley's home!! This is Casey! Very cute!

Grammie reading to the kiddies.

Shamus and Paul relaxing on the couch. Thought this was a cute pic.

On our way to Mabou!

I always get excited when I cross the causeway. Just feels right!

Poor Shamus and Breagha - in the car again!

Now at Mama Rosie's house!! Cheryl and her baby. Jagger is huuuuuge! And he's a big baby.

Ceilidh getting some help from Shamus. He'd open everyones gift if we let him!

Breagha spending some time with Grampie Sandy.

I don't know what Mom and Shamus are doing?

Hangin' with Grampie again....he may be a handy babysitter.

So, we headed out to visit the horses in the morning. Shamus loves them but doesn't like to get too close.

And Molly!! Cute as ever and doesn't like to miss out so she had to come with us.

The horses getting some fresh air. It's really nice to watch them run around.


This brings us to Dec 30....I think. The days kind of blurred together! :)
We headed back to Antigonish on Dec30 and then to Halifax for Dec31.

Pics of the Halifax crew are coming soon!

Time to do a Post? Hmmmm, not Really!!

Yes, I've been feeling the pressure of getting a new Post out there! But, we just haven't had the time since we got back. We're pretty swamped but I managed to fit in some time tonight.

I'll have to do the Christmas posts in groups.

We went to Duane and Cathy's for Christmas Eve and then to Tracy's on Christmas Day.

Calli and Shamus shared a mattess on the floor. It was only about the size of a crib mattress but they wanted to sleep together...and on the floor is more exciting than a bed!! So, their shared the mattress. It was pretty cute.

Christmas Eve was all about food...with some drinks to wash it down with! Cathy is always on the ball and was baking short bread cookies with the kids.

Duane and Cathy's basement has a nice set up for hockey. So, Shamus took full advantage of the goalie gear and tried it all out! It was pretty funny to watch...

And off to church that night. HannaRose was in the choir and the play. It makes going to church a lot more fun!!

And Christmas Eve night....we opened the gifts from each other. The kids had a ball and it didn't take Shamus long to figure out the whole concept.

Shamus "posing" for the camera.

Is that all???

Calli was very excited for Shamus. She has the coolest haircut!!

Our gift from Shamus. It's a little jar that he painted and put a ribbon on. And there's a small tea candle inside. (help from daycare!)

So, Christmas Day...

HannaRose got a very cool kit from Duane and Cathy. It's like a hair straightener but with tubes of hair colour. To colour her hair. She wants to be like Cousin Amanda when she gets bigger!!! I think Duane's a bit concerned about that. :)

Cathy was the hairdresser and did the hair colouring....

Rock On Guys!!!

And Alec got some sort of video/skateboarding game. Not sure how it worked but pretty cool.

Now, everyone would assume that it's Duane grabbing Cathy's ass....but I caught her in the act!

Then we made a trip to the hospital in Ottawa. Yeah, in the middle of Christmas craziness, Darryl's sister Tracy was having a baby!!! She was in the hospital on Dec23 and they let her out on Dec24...that night. So, she could spend the night with the family. And no baby wanted to arrive into the world!! So, we went to see Trac that afternoon and then to her place to hang with John and the kids.

We got to try out the new Monopoly game...Canadian Monopoly...with a Visa card instead of money. Pretty cool! But, I got my butt kicked!

More gifts to open? You didn't have to tell Shamus twice!

Breagha loved her clothes from Grammie Shirley and Gunka.

John and Shamus checking out the new gifts.

So, that brings us to Boxing Day. We drove back to Montreal on Boxing Day and flow home to Nova Scotia. I guess you'll have to stay tuned for the Maritime pics!!!

A Night at The Rink

We've been busy as hell this week!! Damn! We've been doing a lot of stuff around the house, I finished all my Christmas baking, past out our final Christmas gifts to the neighbors and friends, Christmas gifts/parties at the daycare, booked Shamus' Birthday party, had friends over to visit, decided to book tickets for Halifax on Dec26, and made our plans for the visit home! And managed to sqeeze in some good ol' family time with the kiddies!

I was very lucky with my vacation. I only worked 2 days this week and I'm off until Jan3. Darryl was off yesterday, today, and doesn't go back until Jan7. So, we're both getting about 2 1/2weeks. Gives us enough time to visit Duane and Cathy and then Tracy and John in Ottawa between Dec23 and Dec26. Then we fly home on Dec26. We only have 6 days at home but it's better than nothing!

So, we took tonight off and went to the outdoor rink with the kids. The weather was perfect and Shamus did amazingly well. He kept his balance really well on his skates and still managed to hit the puck with his hockey stick! I think he IS the next Sidney Crosby!

Breagha and I did some sledding while the boys went skating. I still need to get my skates out of the shed...which is impossible right now because of all the snow!! So, Dad went skating with Shamus and the girls did some sledding. And Breagha actually enjoyed herself. Maybe we'll turn her into an Outdoors Girl yet!

The boys having a Father and Son bonding moment.

Cutie B.

Sidney....I mean Shamus...having a little rest.

The big kids on the big kid hockey rink. We skate on the smaller one. The rinks are very well taken care of and it's great for all ages. The kids have a great time and it's free so anyone can get out and practice their skating.

So, we probably won't do another post until after Christmas. The next few days will be pretty busy and then we're flying home. Not sure when we'll be close to a computer...or have the time.

I hope everyone has a very, very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2008. We wish you lots of happiness and health in the new year and make the most of the time that you get with family and friends. We will be!!!

Happy Holidays!

Stac, Darryl, Shamus, and Breagha

Is it Ever Going to Stop?

Ok, I really don't think the snow is going to stop. It's still snowing today! We had a snowday on Mon/Dec3 (daycare closed) and one again yesterday. We got about 40cm of snow each day. And it snowed between those 2 dates so you can just imagine how much snow we have!! Do you see the huge bank of snow beside me???!!!

You can't even seen behind me because there is so much snow coming down. And yes, Darryl is inside the house taking pictures of me while I'm working so hard outside! :)

Actually, he had a little "snip snip" done on Friday so no shoveling for him...for now! I'll get him back!

Our patio. There are 2 chairs and the wooden bench on the patio. But, you can't see them with all the snow!! There's probably about 2-2 1/2feet of snow on the patio.

I definitely haven't seen this much snow since I was a kid. It's really unbelievable that we have this much. It's not so bad shoveling now as the temperature is still good. But, it won't be fun in February!!

But, we all know that Christmas is close because my Christmas Cactus is blooming like crazy! It's my favorite plant. This plant is actually a piece from my Gramma Sadie's plant. So, I like to think that it's about 50 years old!!!

O Tannenbaum

Hello all. What is new with the MacPurdy's? You may ask. Well, we journeyed far and wide ... braving the harshest of climates ... through ice, sleet, snow and Montreal traffic even. We explored the vastness of the northern Quebec arctic in search of the perfect Christmas Tree. Only after this epic journey did we realize that the perfect tree was across the street at our local tree lot. I wish we had checked there first. Oh well I'm sure Shamus' toes will recover from the extreme frost bite and I'm confident that I will regain the mobility in my left side (an injury I sustained after falling into a 40 foot ice ravine). Miraculously Stacey and Breagha seem unharmed ... although Breagha does only seem to walk in small circles to the left now. But we got a tree!!!

"Mom, this is a blue pine. It is native to the northern regions of the Canadian shield..."

Because of the extreme cold we endured ... Shamus' face is actually permanently frozen in this position.

Sadly Breagha actually chose to make this face ... It isn't a result of flash freezing.

Dad's tradition of walking the Christmas tree home still happens. I at least bought it dinner and a drink first.

"If you just tilt your head like this... and squint your eyes... you can see where the gaps in the lights are"

Shamus' first time putting ornaments on the tree. He was pretty excited. The tree seemed mildly embarrassed.

I wish Stacey would stop hanging her pantyhose out to dry all over the house.

Shamus trying to put the angel on the tree...Dad trying to put Shamus on the tree...Breagha trying to put Dad on the tree...and the tree was trying to retain a speck of dignity from having that ridiculous outfit of bright lights and shiny ribbon forced upon it. What would his outdoor friends think of him now?

O Tannenbaum

"ok... let's go get another one!"

Just some new pics....

We've been trying to get all our Christmas shopping finished but I still didn't mail my parcels. I hope they arrive on time!! The kids are great. Shamus got to see Santa Claus yesterday and got his picture taken with him. And he told Santa that he would like a dinosaur for Christmas. Now Shamus just needs to make sure that he is a good boy!!

So, we've been totally dumped on with snow the last 4 days!! We can't keep up! Shamus is really enjoying it but I don't think Breagha is too impressed. She's definitely a Montrealer!! We took them sledding to the park by our house and Shamus really enjoyed it but Breagha was a bit put out. She likes the comforts of home I think! And Shamus and Darryl had lots of fun jumping in snowbanks! Even though Darryl isn't too happy about all the shoveling his had to do! Sorry Purdy but you live in Canada!

Here are a couple of pics of Breagha "colouring" while Darryl and Shamus were enjoying the snowfall....

She likes to eat the markers. Not sure they taste that good.

Almost done my beautiful piece of art!

How did I manage that?

Just an idea of how much snow we got.

Poor Darryl digging out the cars! And Shamus just enjoying himself.

Ah, just like drinking water!!!

So, we're just trying to getting ready for the holidays and have some fun in between. Skating tonight!