ty loves dirtbikes

 it's january, when in chilliwack a young man's mind turns to thoughts of gas fumes, hearing protection, air time and reasonable risk of long bone fractures.  that's right... arenacross is here.  and ty loves it.

 my friend kris and i started out the evening taking ty and micah to BPs.  we have actually never been to BPs in chilliwack, but it turned out to be quite family friendly... wide aisles, perfect for running circles.  huge booths, perfect for wrestling and flying airplanes.  tolerant wait staff, perfect for stepping over rolling children... oh, and decent pizza.

 the boys were absolutely mesmerized for about the first 5 minutes, then spent the rest of the time climbing over us, running up and down the stairs, begging goldfish crackers off the neighbours and putting dirt in the trash cans.  ty has been talking about motorbikes for the last 2 days.  too bad he's never going to own one.

 ezekiel didnt get to go see the dirtbikes, b/c he was too busy eating.  this little guy is a monster.  he started life at about the 40th percentile, but since he started eating solids he has chubbed right up to the 90th.  he seriously eats anything we give him.  at 6 months he was eating samosas.  kylie and launa made babyfood a few months back.  some are tasty enough for me to eat: sweet potatoes, pineapple and chicken, quinoa, spinach and applesauce... and one is downright nasty: peas, carrots and cod... kylie won't even take it out of the freezer.  but i feed it to him for breakfast and he demolishes it!

 chubtastic!

 ty has developed a taste for hashbrowns and breakfast burgers.  he was mr. polite at triple o's the other morning, pulling on the counter girls pantleg and saying "thankyou for the hashbrowns" in his sweetest lisp.  needless to say, she melted.

 after hashbrowns and breakfast burgers, we moved on to canadian tire and home depot.  i have some sort of winter nesting instinct thing going on right now.

 speaking of melted, our friends chad and ang are still riding the high of their newest addition: westin john.  their girls love him as well, but have to be reminded that he doesnt go in their dolly strollers.

 it has been gorgeously sunny in chilliwack and around 5-8 degrees every day.  i brought the kayak out for its first trip of 2013 and it was beautiful.

 nice to get some sunshine before the rains set in again.  also good to see that the beavers havent dammed the river that runs along the base of our mountain

 the warm weather has also opened up the river and our backyard playground once again.  life is good in chilliwack!

Holiday Aftermath

As I was going through pictures of Christmas I saw a few here and there that I didn't put on our blog but still wanted to share. Here's a quick Christmas overview part II:

Ty got into my mom's dress up box and had fun being a cowboy (yelling, "yee haw look at me!") and I think he looks quite smashing in my old New Kids on the Block hat with wooden shoes.  What a fashion statement!  (He kept coming up to me while wearing the shoes and hat and asking if he looked cool.  Very cool Ty, very cool!!)

My granny made this horse for Brad and I when we were little.  She is so talented.  There are so many things that my mom and dad have that she made and they are so intricate and beautiful!  And have stood the test of time!

A few more Christmas Day pics and even a dinner panorama for you!

Marc got a remote control helicopter for Christmas from my dad and I believe he may be crashing it into my mom's wall in this picture. ;)

Ty got to spend lots of time with his cousins Fraser and Maria.  We went to the waterslides one day with Maria and Ty absolutely loved them.  Again, again, again he kept saying!

This was our first time staying at my dad's new house and it was quite lovely.  We had some great dinners together with everyone as well as enjoyed spending time putting up pictures and getting his garage "parkable."

My mom will not be too flattered by this picture ;) but I really think Zeke looks A LOT like Marc here.

On our way home from the Pass for New Years we stopped in to see our old friends Danny and Kendra.  This toque that Zeke is wearing was a gift we found for Danny in Turkey.  Fun!  Suits Danny and Zeke too!

One day we headed over to the Churchill gym and Ty and my dad played basketball and Marc flew his helicopter.  Oh the perks of having a teacher for a grandpa!! 

 There was a lot of snow in Lethbridge and a lot on the mountains when we got home!  Marc went skiing right after we got back and enjoyed all the new powder at Baker. (Thanks to Shareen for the great Christmas gift!)

Marcel (aka Sebastian)

 

And lastly I will leave you with the outtake from the Greidanus Christmas family picture.  Crazy family!  Fun picture!  (Look at Fraser, he thinks we're all crazy!) 

Christmas and New Year's

We have had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Lethbridge this year with lots of visiting with family and some friends sprinkled in.We started the holiday off at Marc's family's house and for the first time in over 5 years everyone was home for Christmas. This is Ty's first Christmas actually eating candy and he has definitely cashed in big time with several gingerbread house festivities as well as Christmas candy everywhere! 

 

All the ladies and gents together for the first time at Christmas in a LOOONG time.  We seem to be adding more gents than ladies to the mix.  Hmmmmm

On Christmas Eve after making gingerbread we headed to church (where Ty held his first candle and Marc completely tuned out anything going on in the service while making sure Ty didn't light anyone's hair on fire) and then went caroling.  Unfortunately our caroling was cut short this year by a badly timed visit to a nursing home and a grinchy security guard but we did manage to get to one place.  Afterwards we put the kiddies to bed and started the Greidanus' gift and poem exchange. 

 

Bette reading her poem to me.  

The next morning, Ty came downstairs and found out that Santa had come and had listened to his request for a truck he could ride on. 

 

Santa also apparently forgot a box of Zeke's cheerios under the tree.  Silly Santa!

Later that day we headed to my mom's for a celebration with my side of the family.  Ty also wore his pajamas all day except for a brief stint at dinner.  His pajama pants also make a reappearance after dinner with his plaid shirt.  (See family picture in front of the tree below.)  With a Christmas dinner of m and m's and mashed potatoes ones pants get quite tight. ;)

Zekey with his signature look.  He looks so old here in his cute new outfit from Grandma. 

Look, he really can smile!!

Maria trying to make Zeke smile.

We spent the rest of the week enjoying time with family.  

Tickling cousins with Ty's new tickle mitts from Auntie Julie and Uncle Lowell.

Speaking of gifts, Ty got this great gift from Auntie Shareen that she made!  Our street is the same shape and there is even a river at the bottom of the hill.  All his friends houses are on it as well as church, school and the park across the street.  What a special gift!! 

Decorating cookies with Auntie Shareen

Marc and I also got out cross country skiing one afternoon on Henderson Lake.  We made our way around the lake on the ice and then Marc wanted to head across the lake one more time. I suggested heading to the large bump I saw about halfway across.  We were almost to the bump when it got up and ran away - a coyote!!

Later in the week we headed out to some cabins near Lundbreck in the Crowsnest Pass with some friends for New Years.

We played the sheet game (which we also played with Marc's family). Great fun!  And we didn't even wake up sleeping Silas upstairs.

The sun has set on 2012 and we are now looking forward to 2013!  What a wonderful year this year has been with the addition of Zeke and seeing Ty grow up even more.  Here's to many more blessings in 2013!