Christmas with the Letniaks

Since we went our seperate ways on Christmas Day this year from the Letniak family we got together yesterday to exchange christmas gifts with the kids. Each year it is becoming more and more fun to watch the excitement as the kids are better understanding what Christmas time is about. We only had to re-wrap Jonathan's gift 2 1/2 times because Jaren was so excited about giving Jonathan a new BIG truck for his gift - he just wanted to look at it Mommy!! :)

Yeah, more presents!!
4 generations - Kevin, Great Grandpa Letniak, Grandpa Ron & Jaren
Patiently watching Kaitlyn open up her gifts.

More Christmas Memories

Jaren & Grandpa
Randi's decorating skills
Sisters
Family
Kaylay & Keesha even got in on the Christmas festivities
Our little JD man
Last minute preparations for Christmas dinner

Here & Gone!

Here Christmas has come and gone for another year and I just don't know where the time flew by!!! I thought that I would re-cap a couple of the days that we spent with our families up in Grande Prairie/Dawson Creek area. I know that my dad has a lot more pictures so when I get them I may have to post some of those as well!

Connie, Jaren and I headed up on the 20th and thankfully it was a very uneventful drive. Then on the 23rd Ron and Kevin joined us as well. On the night of the 23rd we had a big family gathering with the Huether bunch and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and games with them that evening.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a very relaxing night spent at Randi and Trent's place. Even Santa Claus stopped by Auntie Randi's house to make sure that Jaren was going to be there and that he had the right place to drop off his Christmas gifts for our good little boy! We had one surprised and happy little guy to see Santa again. As soon as Santa walked in the front door Jaren ran up to him and said "Nice boots Santa!".

Who's here???

One shocked little boy to see Santa coming through the front door!

Christmas Day
This year Santa left us some really BIG stockings filled with lovely gifts and such!!! (Thanks mom and dad - you NEVER follow the rules!)

After opening up our gifts, the boys made a very lovely BIG breakfast that hit the spot and held us over until the turkey dinner that evening.

Randi set a fabulous looking table to eat at - but where's the food to go??? :) Thank goodness for buffet!

Even Grandma Hovland joined us for Christmas dinner.

Relaxing before the meal is ready

Jaren and Grandma Sparks

Boxing Day

On Boxing Day we got up and had brunch with the Huether clan again and then after that Kevin, myself and Jaren headed to Dawson Creek to have supper with Kevin's family. It was great to see family that Kevin hasn't seen in maybe 10-15 years and also for me to meet family that I have never met before.

Jaren and Daddy

Grandma Letniak and Great Grandma Scobie

Finally Back at Home

Now we are back at home trying to get things put away and organized and enjoying some of the new toys that we have to play with. Like I said, it is soo hard to believe that 2007 is coming so quickly to a close and we will be doing this again before we know it in 2008!

Jaren sporting his new JD hat that he put on all by himself and playing with his newest addtion to his Thomas & Friends train set.

Merry Christmas to All!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately, we have had one nasty bug(s) go through our house this past week so all three of us have been under the weather. Kevin has the sore throat, Jaren the cough and me the head cold!! What a trio! I just hope that we are on the upward mend so that we can enjoy Christmas.

We are northward bound to Grande Prairie early tomorrow morning to spend Christmas with my family and then we will be in Dawson Creek to spend Boxing Day with Kevin's family. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and hopefully relaxing a little. I know the week will fly by like it always does. We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas where ever you may be spending it. We will update you upon arriving back home once again.

Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!!

Christmas Fair

Today we went to the Coronation Christmas Fair with our little buddy Callan & family where we got to once again see Santa Claus. Jaren wants to know where Santa's house is since he seems to be following us around everywhere that we go lately!! At the fair they were having horse-drawn sleigh rides so we jumped aboard to go on a 4-horse open sleigh with about 60 other kids. Thankfully it was a little warmer with the sun being out (-15 degrees Celsius) and there was no wind so we could enjoy the ride to the fullest!

Hemaruka Christmas Supper

Last night we were at our annual Hemaruka Hall Christmas supper. It was a nice evening filled with good food, fellowship, singing Christmas carols, discing & even a visit from Santa!!

Singing carols

Elaine Sankey and I leading out the caroling

My brave little boy who was the first to run up and see Santa

(Thank you to Elaine and Murray for the pictures - in the rush of getting home from work and getting to the supper in time I forgot my camera! Appreciate you taking some that evening!)

Ho Ho Ho

Jaren & I spent the last 2 days getting some things done in Red Deer. Of course we had to do our annual visit with Santa Claus when we saw him at the mall - we needed to tell him everything that we wanted for Christmas. Thankfully our talk with Santa went very well and Jaren kept a smile on his face the entire time! Hope everyone else is enjoying the hustle-bustle that this season brings.

Me = 21 Weeks Pregnant

For the most important question that people seem to ask when you are pregnant......How big are you????

Well, for those curious ones here's a picture of me at 21 weeks taken today. Hopefully this will satisfy some of the curiosities!! I know that I am starting to feel a little bigger but I don't think that so far I am much different than what I was with Jaren at the 5 month mark, maybe showing just a little more. Only time will tell cause I still have 4 more months to go!!!!!

Christmas Lights Parade

Tonight we ventured out into the -20 degrees Celsius temperatures to admire the annual Christmas Lights Parade in Consort. Jaren wasn't too sure what a parade was, all he was concerned with was that the parade had wheels. So when he saw all the trucks pulling their lit up floats he was quite excited. On the way home I asked him what he liked the best and he told me it was the chocolate!!! They were throwing candy from some of the floats so he was extra excited to be able to have some chocolate tonight! What a deprived child we must have!! :)

Our Newest Little Letniak

On Tuesday, November 27th, we had our first ultrasound appointment at 20 weeks. It was such a wonderful thing to actually see our child and watch it's movements as well as feel them!! They even got a great 4D picture of the face of our little one - it was so amazing to look at this human growing inside me and be able to see it's profile of the little nose, mouth, hand...... technology is such an amazing thing. I guess as far as scheduling we are right on target for size of the baby and the due date - which they said should be around the 9th of April. As the time draws closer I am soo anxious to meet our little child and actually be able to hold it! I look forward to being able to post our "real" debut picture to everyone after it is born. I just pray that all goes well with the 2nd half of our pregnancy!

Our Own Chatty Cathy

When Jaren plays he is ALWAYS non-stop talking so I thought that I would try to capture a quick moment of our chatty fella. He is 27 months old now and it just amazes me with the conversations that we are able to have with this little person. Life in all is such a miracle!

(I apologize for the qualitly of the clip - I still have not figured how to download videos from our actual video camera. This was just taken with my little digital camera)

First Time For Everything

Today as I was getting supper ready I noticed that it was just a little too quiet for my son so I peaked into his room where he was playing and this is what I found! Never before has this happened where we fell asleep playing but like they say, I guess that there is a first time for everything!

Big Brother in Training

This weekend we had a wonderful visit with Randy, Rosanna & Ryan Trenchuk. It was such a blessing to get to spend some time with little Ryan who is now 3 months old already! Jaren also got to practice a little bit playing the "big brother" part and learning to share his toys and stories with the little baby. He seemed to quite enjoy his company and when it was time to for the Trenchuk's to leave on Sunday morning Jaren was determined that he was going to go with them! So I am beginning to think that he may actually enjoy his baby brother or sister when they enter into his little world - there will be someone to fully entertain now!!!

Jaren showing Ryan the techniques of farming - and once again the battle continues between John Deere and New Holland with the next generation :)

Jaren & Ryan (3 months) - they are just about exactly 2 years apart
Jaren, Rosanna & Ryan
Jaren reading Lightning MacQueen to Ryan
Big gentle kisses for our new friend!

Happy Birthday to Me!

A little look down memory lane....... Randi & I dressed up for Halloween - who knew that I would actually marry a farmer!!!
Randi & I building our snow caves

Today is my birthday and yes, I turned the big 3-1!!! Wow, where does the time go??? I guess I don't feel 31 but what is a thirty-one-year-old supposed to feel like???????? I know that I feel like the most blessed person around when I look at my family that surrounds me...my precious little boy, my loving husband and now my active little child that is rapidly growing inside of me. I am also blessed by my extended family all around and many close friends - who could ask for more? Thank you all for being such a special part of my life over these past 31 years!

Red Deer Farm Show

On Friday we were in Red Deer so that Kevin & Jaren could attend the annual Farm Show and look at all the amazing and shiny tractors, combines, augers, and pretty much anything else you could imagine that is related to agriculture. There was quite a group that was there wandering around the buildings having a great time catching up and visiting. Needless to say that I wasn't one in the group because I wanted to do a little shopping in Red Deer and if Daddy offered to have Jaren for the day who was I to argue!!!! So I also enjoyed a day of looking around and getting a few things that were needed without having to chase after Jaren. Instead I think that Jaren kept Daddy running looking at EVERYTHING! At the end of the day when I went to go and pick them up I thought that Jaren would be just a little excited to see me but oh no, he was too interested in all of the green equipment that was around in the JD building - I think that I may have permanently lost my shopping partner for this particular yearly trip!

Jonathan testing out a new tractor for Grandpa

Kaitlyn wanting a newer and bigger lawn tractor to help mommy next summer!

(Thanks for the pictures Julie!!)