Christmas this year began with the arrival of Blizzard. Blizzard kept us on our toes for the month with lots of pranks.
On the first weekend of the month we went to Peterborough to have Christmas Dinner with Uncle Keith & Auntie Linda. While there we went with Shawn, Megan & Violet and took our family Santa Picture at the Peterborough Mall. This was Violet’s first Santa Picture.
The following weekend we decorated our Christmas tree. We hung up all of our Family Christmas Decorations (new ones added: Yoda, Darth Vader, Marten River Winterfest Pics, Marten River Moose).
Christmas Holidays
Our Christmas started off on an extremely sad note with the passing of Uncle Jack. Melissa and her Mom flew to Quebec after Christmas to attend his celebration of life.
Christmas Eve
This year the Christmas holidays started on December 24th. On the 24th we travelled to Mom & Dad’s house. After dropping off our stuff at their house, we went to Lakefield to celebrate mass at church with Mom & Dad Miller. We were also joined by Shawn, Megan & Violet. Violet was quite busy at mass checking every book in the pew to see if they had pictures. She was not happy when they did not have pictures 🙂 During mass, Abby participated as an Angel in the Children’s play depicting the Christmas Story (Aiden chose not to participate this year).
After mass, Melissa & the kids went back to Mom & Dad’s and I went to Sandra & Ted’s to help out at the restaurant for the night. It was a busy night at the restaurant, but lots of fun. After the restaurant closed we had a Christmas dinner at the restaurant. Melissa then picked me up and we went back to Mom & Dad’s. By that time the kids had already hung up the stockings and put out the cookies for Santa. This year they sent out a Dab to Santa and his reindeer.
Christmas Day
For Christmas morning at Mom & Dad’s, we were joined by Rob and his girlfriend Holly. On Christmas morning the kids let everyone sleep in until 8:00am (yeah!!!). When we got up, they began by opening all of Santa’s gifts. We then had breakfast and then opened up the rest of the presents.
Experience Gifts
We got 2 experience gifts this year, an AGO membership that Mama & Papa got the kids & The Stingray Experience from Ripleys Aquarium that we got for the family. Below are some videos and pics from Christmas morning.
AGO Visit Post
Stingray Experience Post
Christmas Dinner
Attending Christmas Dinner this year was Rob & Holly, Peter & Julie (Eva & Macklan), Craig & Jane, Mark & Susan, Betty, Uncle Joe, and Bruce & Jackie.
We had our traditional Turkey Dinner this year with some after dinner entertainment.
Abby’s Christmas Play
During the day Abby had worked on writing a Christmas Play that told the story of Jesus. After dessert, Abby and I got everyone ready and gave them copies of the script and performed it in the living room in front of our audience (Dad, Uncle Joe, Betty & Bruce). Everyone had lots of fun performing the play and we were so proud of Abby for putting it all together. When we travelled back home after the holidays, Abby & I edited the video together one afternoon. Below is the final copy of the play.
Dec 26-27: Miller Family Christmas
On Dec 26-27, we spent the day at the Shawn & Megan’s. We left from my Mom & Dad’s in Douro and picked up Bruce & Jackie and went into Peterborough. Picking them up though was exciting because I made a mistake and almost got us stuck at my Uncle Joe’s.
So, on Dec 26, there was ice rain and rain throughout most of the day. Before we left to go to Lakefield, we went over to Uncle Joe’s to drop off some gifts that he had forgotten at Mom & Dad’s the night before. When I got there I decided that the driveway was not too icy, even though my Dad had warned me that it was and had told me to park at the top of the driveway. So I backed into the driveway and we dropped off the gifts. When we went to leave, the vans front wheels just spun. It was at this point that Melissa reminded me that I should have taken my Dad’s advice (which I should have) and then we started to put some sand and salt under each of the four tires with a little extra placed under the front tires. After about 15 min of putting sand and salt under all the tires, I was able to floor it enough to get up and out of the driveway. After that we made our way slowly to Lakefield and then Peterborough.
In Peterborough, we had a lovely supper and opened some gifts with Shawn, Megan & Violet. At the end of the evening, Jackie and Bruce took a cab back to Lakefield. It was the first time that Jackie had ever rode in a cab. It was a very positive experience for her. The cab company took Bruce back and waited for Jackie to drop Bruce off and then drove Jackie off at her house.
On the 27th, we got up and had a relaxing morning with Shawn, Megan & Violet and headed back to Mississauga as Melissa had to work over New Year’s.
The Cain Family 