thwarted

I have just tried to post pictures 5 times and it will not work. Huh. What's up with that?

We are in countdown mode and packing like madmen. (At least for short bursts every day...) We leave Canada next Thursday, so it's really down to the last minute stuff. There is the packing, of course, but also the flood of last-minute dinner invitations and the crappy good-byes. (I already said good-bye to my sisters, which may mean that the worst is over, at least.) I bought the molasses, ranch dressing packets and other assorted goodies over the last few weeks and now Matthew is packing it all up, rather skillfully, I might add.

So, since I blogged last we were at Stormer Lake for a weekend with M's family. That was fun, in spite of Caitlyn having her 2nd annual Christmas earache and crying for hours during the nights. The ladies had a great time ripping up old magazines and decorating notebooks for various uses. The kids wore out our Sleeping Queen cards, which was fun to see. Then men played a lot of games - both table games and in the gym with the kids.

We were here for Christmas day, but mom and dad were already in KS, so we had the house to ourselves. That was kind of nice, since we needed some peace and quiet about then. We had a few social events, but not all of us made it to all of them, especially since C was still dealing with her earaches.

The night our family opened gifts together was a lot of fun. Our girls had a great time shopping for each other (they each shopped for one sister) and giving their gifts. Someday they'll laugh at how excited they were about "little" things, but I love it.

We had a delicious Christmas dinner with M's family, and then got ready to leave on the 26th for our trip to KS. My grandparents live in KS and so this year almost the whole family was there for a few days together. It was a long, tiring drive down there, but so good to catch up with everyone. (And, our drive was nothing compared to Robyn and Daryl's marathon drive from NS. Yikes.)

We got back here on the 4th. And began the aforementioned packing.

Yesterday we took the girls skating. They loved it way more than I expected. Larissa even cried when it was time to leave. :)

Well, I was going to post a lot of photos, but I'll have to wait for Blogger to repent of it's wicked ways.