We had the joyous occasion to travel north to the frozen tundra for Christmas this year - it was the Z Christmas! Amy was especially excited to get away, remembering last year's intense work season - at least she couldn't be assigned any last minute projects! We went up there for 12 days, and it was awesome!
Well, one thing that wasn't sure awesome occurred on the way up. We left on a Thursday afternoon - which is highly unusual for us but we decided to fly up there, stay the night in Saskatoon (Hampton Inn suite treated us very well with a large room with two queen beds plus a pull-out couch - that fit us all very nicely!) and then travel to the farm the next morning. On the first leg of the flight to Minnesota, Amy put her beloved kindle (you know where this is going, right?) into the pocket of the seat in front of her. When we landed, Kaleb got a huge nose bleed, and with the hustle and bustle of trying to contain it without it getting everyone, she ended up completely forgetting her kindle. About two hours later (we had a loooong layover), she realized it and ran back to the gate to no avail. AHHHHH. This is absolutely the most precious thing that Amy has (other than her family of course!). To date, even though we filed a lost article claim, it has not yet been returned. Either the next flight's seatmate in 46C or the cleaners that night had a lovely Christmas gift. Bummer. Reading off of a tiny iPhone screen just isn't an acceptable substitute, so Amy is going to be expeditiously replacing her kindle!
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| Teaching her brother to dance in the airport! |
We did land at around 11PM that night, and into bed at midnight. By that point, Amy was wondering why flying in the night before was such a grand idea - let's be clear, that is 1A our time, so we were bushed and tired kids never goes well (although in truth they did very well). Papa-Z came to pick us up the next morning - although Karis stayed in Saskatoon and visited with an old friend Eldon before Korey and Rachel drove through Saskatoon and picked him up to bring him to the farm. It was a good day spent, because he ended up finding a new kind of jigsaw puzzle that was really fun! It is a Wasgij for anyone who wants an extra challenge! :)
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| Over the course of the time we were there, four puzzles were done all in all |
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| Papa-Z got into the action at one point too! |
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| Will the puzzles never end is what Amy is thinking in this picture? Ha ha - nope, it was great fun and such an easy way to sit and chat. Love it! |
There were lots of other fun activities that we shared during our time - full of crafts, video games, board games, card games, face painting....you name it - there was lots of fun!
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| Doing a candy cane craft with Auntie Lorie, Gianna and Nik |
Nik and the boys really formed a sweet bond over the week - Nik would come and snuggle up with them (especially Kaleb) in the chair and snuggle. So sweet! There were lots of snuggly moments over the 2 weeks, as seen in snapshots below.
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| Love you Gram-Z! |
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| Addison has a special affinity to Papa-Z |
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| Even Uncle Kent got some loving! |
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| Cousin Kaylie |
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| This was a popular chair for the kids to sit in together, as it reclined and lifted up the legs! |
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| Keeping each other company during our family picture time |
The weather was particularly cold this year - minus 35 anyone? It was that cold most of the week, so much of our plans to go outside for various activities fell by the wayside. But, did you know that if you boil water at minus 35 and then throw it up in the air outside, that it will turn into a cloud of steam and snow before it hits the ground? Yep - it is a true story. The Florida Zs even proved it....by staying inside where it was warm and sending our brave Canadian Z loved ones out into the cold while we watched from the living room window! Yes, we have become wimps. *Sigh*
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| The Canadian Zs don't even put on coats for a quick dash outside to throw the water in the air! Bravery at its best! |
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| While the Walla Wall uncle (Korey) wore shorts outside for his....while we all sat inside watching (that is perhaps foolhardy at its best! :)) |
Our cousins Emily and Kaylie are talented artists (Emily having coming in already 2nd or 3rd in a national art contest a few years back), and Addison capitalized on this by having Emily do her face-painting every single day. Emily was a jewel - so patient and fun with the little girls!
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| Addison is clearly not the talented artist that Emily is...poor Emily got the raw end of this deal! |
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| Just to applaud Kaylie - this is a picture that she just drew - isn't that amazing!? She is only 10!!! |
As mentioned, we played lots of games as well - it was super fun as most of the kids (except for Addison, Gianna and Nik) were able to play. Even Addison got into the fun with a new game called Yum Safari. So much so that she got one for Christmas!
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| Telustrations a few nights.... |
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| Hilarious charades (you go Connor!) |
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Pit made an appearance this year
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| And one of Amy's favorite's of yester-year - Dutch Blitz (Although she never did find time to sit down and play....fearing that fast hands would disappeared now into old and slow) |
One of the very special aspects of the Z family is the fact that we have four birthdays in December - three of which are all on Dec 8th! We have Gram-Z, plus the oldest grand-daughter and the youngest grand-daughter all on Dec 8th! Pretty cool, eh! (so Canadian of us to throw in that "eh"!)
One day we did venture out of the house - to avoid cabin fever of course! We went to the bowling alley which has 5 pin bowling, or candle stick bowling - however you grew up calling it. It is perfect for the kids as the balls are small and easier to handle. Plus, after bowling there is a section of the rec center that has rides and arcades!
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| Addison and Gianna are both 5, but Gianna is about 4 months younger than Addison and look how much taller she is! She has tall parents, but Addison is proving to be like her mother on the smaller side all of a sudden! Nik who is 3 is almost as tall as she is! |
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| Winging that ball down the lane! |
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| The adults joined in the fun! |
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| Never without a pose for this little girl! |
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| Bumper cars |
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| Does he really want to do this? |
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| Whirl-a-'make-me-sick' ride that the kids loved! |
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| Zach and Connor double-teamed the basketball game and beat the high score! |
No Christmas is complete without baking - and this was no different - especially with 16 people to feed! The girls had fun helping in the kitchen, and then Addison one day had a real treat of helping Emily make fresh cannelloni (YUM!)
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| Sporting another face paint she makes the pasta dough! |
Not sure if we have ever included these pictures before, but Amy snapped a couple of pictures of the Z boys when they were in their younger years. So cute when they were little kids, and then the teenager pictures did get a chuckle out of Amy! :) They all had hair then!
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| From left to right - Karis, Korey and Kent |
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| From left to right, Korey, Karis and Kent - look at that hair, and those mustaches! |
In an effort to keep this from being a monster post, we'll end the Part 1 of our trip's recap here! Stay tuned!
