lise and phil get married

On a brisk, beautiful day in December, Lise and Phil said I do. We were there and so honoured to witness such love and such joy. 

and also...

A random sampling of other things that happened.

Annie and Jet / Matt, Top Gun, and Bandit / Annie and Becca / Annie in a doll carriage / Grammie and Papa got a pool table / Joe really likes to shovel snow / Joe and Kaycee / "Now I don't want to see these pictures showing up on the blog."

merry christmas!

Our day was both full and beautiful. Santa gifts, Mass, brunch, gift-opening, and dinner at the farm. No naps and lots of noise. Good, good food and plenty of it. Family. And warmth. Merry, merry.

sick days

We had some of those. Everyone did. Grammie. Papa. Cousins. Aunties and uncles. And mommy and daddy. It's nice to share? No, wait. They only applies to toys. Not germs.

light show

Good job, Shaunavon, with your Christmas lights. We enjoyed the show. Okay, Henry didn't but that had more to do with him having to wear his ski pants than his not appreciating the brilliant display of lights. 

pageantry

We were happy to attend both Ireland and Kaycee's Christmas concerts when were were home. Kaycee is the one who looks like Miss America, and Ireland is the one who looks like Mary.

Full disclosure: Matt was also in the Christmas concert. But I don't think he would speak to me again if I posted his picture here. The end.

what cold looks like

This. Brr. We spent our Christmas in Shaunavon, then raced back for Lise and Phil's wedding, and are now spending New Year's Eve catching up on our life. Our holiday has been good - lots of family and friend time - but also rushed so we are looking forward to a slower pace in 2013. Happy New Year everyone!p.s. Saskatchewan is, indeed, cold in the winter. 

glad tidings

"soon I'll be 81!"

So we'll need to work on his counting and understanding of the passage of time. But for today, we just celebrated him. Joe turned four! Four? Yes. Four. (I repeat that for my own purposes, because I cannot believe he could already be four.) We loved Joe up yesterday and today with restaurant food (ie. chocolate milk and a hot dog), bowling (look at that form), and a family birthday party (with balloons and a train cake). And everyday we celebrate him with all the love we can give him... that determined, funny, clever, shy, caring, helpful, goofy whippersnapper that he is.

Happy 4th Birthday, Joseph William Gerald. We love you so much.

joe meets santa claus

What? That's not a picture of Santa. That's our priest, Fr. Mark. We went to our Church's Christmas Open House this afternoon and, while other kids were meeting Santa, Joe preferred to have his picture taken with Fr. Mark. It seems that Joe is afraid of Santa, Henry wasn't so sure himself, and Annie was sleeping and had no idea what was happening.

a kantor christmas

Another year, another Kantor Christmas party, another load of cabbage rolls and lasagna (yum), and another great-grandkid photo (that keeps getting bigger and bigger). Merry Christmas, Kantor family!

we three kids of oakville

ta da

1. This is what it looks like when you wear 9 pairs of socks. (Annie thinks that is ridiculous.)

2. Henry has adopted my Cabbage Patch doll. Meet Baby Nan.

3. And these are the results of Christmas baking with two boys and a crying baby. We were going to give them to our neighbours. But, perhaps, in the interest of staying on good terms with our neighbours, we won't.

four months

tree time

annie and tink

Annie met Tinkerbell at Lily's birthday party today. I have to say Tinkerbell isn't great at holding babies, and she leaves pixie dust wherever she goes. But that's to be expected, I suppose. She is a fairy, after all.

first snow

It was gone by mid-afternoon. But it was fun while it lasted.