Christmas in Ontario: Part 3--Friends

Again, we were lucky that friends and family have made such an effort to see us when we are in town for a visit. From Amy and Jay's we headed to Lakefield on Boxing Day to see Jim and Andrea and meet their new little guy, Charlie. The rest of the crew: Karen, Rob, Glen and Rachael and Harman headed up on thursday for a game of pick-up hockey in Peterborough and some sushi for dinner to celebrate Karen's birthday. It was a great day with everyone, but of course, the visits are never long enough...

We were able to visit again for in a day in Bobcaygeon with Mom and Dad Jackson, where Mom and I went to the spa and did a little shopping in town before an evening of "SuperTock".

Saturday we were off again, to meet up with the "Burlington girls" (Lindsey, Lara and Skye) for a late lunch, followed by dinner with our old Toronto friends: Duncan and Melissa, Chad and Maria, Skye and Chris, Cheryl and Mike, Josh and Ilana, Ewan and Tory, and Andy. We are so lucky to have so many great friends, and we miss everyone so much!

Christmas in Ontario: Part 2--Hillsdale

From Southern Ontario, we headed slightly north to experience a unique White Christmas in Hillsdale, just outside of Barrie. My sister Amy and her husband have lived in this community for a few years now, but it was only when we arrived on Christmas Eve to see all of the perfect houses, perfectly decorated for Christmas that we realized how special it really is. The volunteer fire department brought the fire trucks around with "Santa" waving to all of the kids from their driveways--such a neat, community-building experience.
The highlight of the Jackson family Christmas this year was of course the latest additions, Nadine and Malcolm, who did their part to entertain all of us on their first Christmas. Neither seemed too interested in the gifts, but the adults were all duly impressed and spent time assembling and playing with the various toys and books. Malcolm seemed most interested in his cousin, and enjoyed grabbing her and trying to give her kisses: pretty cute to watch.
It was great to have everyone in the same busy house for Christmas, and gave a good idea of how busy our holidays will be from now on--new babies are such a welcome change to the family dynamic.

Christmas in Ontario: Part 1--Amherstburg and Windsor

We started our holiday visiting this year with a brief but wonderful visit with Adam and Val Dukelow in London on Friday night--our flight got in late in the evening, but we were able to see them for a few hours before continuing on to Amherstburg on Saturday to see Mom and Dad Brewin. It was great to have a few days with them to celebrate with our own little family before all the other festivities began. We also had a great dinner with Mark and Kathy and Ryan and Kyle on Sunday, then stopped in to see Frank and Desiree and Alexa, as well as a quick hello to Sandra on our way through Windsor. We are so lucky that everyone is so eager to make time to see us when we are in town!


Frank and Desiree and Alexa

Christmas at Providence...

Here are some photos from our Christmas party at Providence...The kids are so excited this time of year--it's a pretty great place to be, and a pretty rewarding job...

My Birthday/Christmas gift from my talented husband...

Dave has been working diligently for the last 3 weeks or so to handcraft a beautiful oak bed for us for our bedroom as one of my Birthday/Christmas gifts...I have to say, he's a pretty talented guy, if I do say so myself, and the bed is beautiful! (Although I do admit to lots of nagging when he was spending hours out in the cold garage "woodworking shop" instead of being lazy inside with me!). Thanks to Mom and Dad and Grandpa Martin for their contributions to the wood shop--they've obviously been put to good use!

Congratulations Karen and Blair!!

We are so excited to find out that our good friends Karen Thomas and Blair Schultz have recently decided to tie the knot! They are both such truly wonderful people, and genuinely make each other so happy, so are obviously both ecstatic to be making it official. We are looking forward to celebrating with them in person over the holidays, and hearing more about any upcoming wedding plans (late summer/early fall 2008?). Congratulations--we love you both!!

Heading Home for the Holidays...

We head "Home for the Holidays" next friday, December 21st, and are very excited about spending some time with our family and friends. It will be the first Christmas for Nadine and Malcolm, which we are all excited about, and then Tara and Joe's wedding is on New Year's Eve, which promises to be an exciting time for the Brewin family. Here is our mini-tree: getting in the holiday spirit!!! :)

First snowboard day of the season...

Well, today marked our first day back in the mountains for a day of snowboarding...We'd been hoping to go for a few weeks, but the chilly temperatures and lack of snow were not promising great conditions. We had a great day though: not a lot of new snow, but enough to cover up most of the rocks. I (Beth) took it easy and didn't quite put in a full day, but Dave, Shandra, Harman and Crystal and Marc spent most of the day on the hill. It was great to be back in the mountains and enjoy living so close to such a wonderful spot. (I was also excited to try out my new jacket! :)

Brunch at the Banff Springs

We made a trip to Banff today to enjoy a delicious brunch to celebrate our friend Tannis' birthday. The decorations and the fresh falling snow really helped to get us into the holiday spirit! :)

Gingerbread House!

The first of our Christmas decorations: we spent some time today working on Dave's "Birthday" Gingerbread house...looks pretty good--if I do say so myself! :)

Happy 31st Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday Dave! We celebrated last night in true Calgary style, at "Ranchman's" cowboy bar, where Dave got to try his hand at bullriding.

Welcome Charlie Bailey!

I can't believe I'm a few weeks late in welcoming our newest little babe to the world, but here he is: all 10lb 9oz of him...Charles Giuseppe Bailey was born on October 29th, as a welcome addition to our good friends Jim and Andrea's family. Congratulations and welcome--we are so looking forward to meeting this not-so-little guy!!

More from Malcolm's visit

Drumheller with the Jackson/Fuchs clan...

Joel and Janet are here to visit this week with baby Malcolm. We took Mal on his first trip to see the Dinosaur museum in Drumheller: I'm not sure he will remember much of it in years to come, but hopefully he will be back again at some point when he's a bit older. Janet's brother Brian and his wife Kris have recently moved here to Calgary, so they joined us for the day, as well as a few evenings back at our place. It's been great having company, and especially our smiley little chubby-cheeked nephew! :)

A few random photos...

Dave Harman's birthday at the "Broken Plate" Greek Restaurant...
A weekend retreat to Canmore with PJ and Greg: lots of "Christmassy" snow--so pretty!


My book club was reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns": which takes place in Afghanistan. One of our ladies, Leah, spent some time there as an OT, and brought along her burqua for us to try on: can you tell who's underneath?