Canadian Christmas 2024

On Friday, we enjoyed a WestJet direct flight up to Saskatoon (so nice to have a direct flight!) up to visit with Karis' family.  Korey, Rachel and kids were able to stay a few more days in Orlando at our house -- we were blessed to be able to see all of the Z boys even though this wasn't the combined Z Christmas.  The flight up and drive to the farm was uneventful thankfully - we've had enough of blizzards to last a lifetime!

We enjoyed fairly warm weather in the beginning of the week before it got significantly colder.  We had a typical Christmas - filled with lots of games, food, projects (is there ever a Z gathering without a house project -- that is what makes Karis' heart sing!), an outing to the movie theater (Mufasa) and a new event - snowboarding at the nearby Wapiti ski hill.  Kaylie, Kaleb and Addison took snowboarding lessons.  Addison had quite a blast learning to snowboard (she can ride on a skateboard, ripstick and of course knows how to ski so this was a very similar skill for her to learn).   

One of our many card games that we played

And our delicious Christmas meal!

Poor Zach got sick almost as soon as we got to the farm, so about half of his trip was a miserable experience - thus he did not go to Wapiti.  He spent a lot of time laying around in pajamas.  

Connor braving the germs and laying beside Zachary

Papa Z's house project this year was putting up plywood in the garage on the ceiling and then drywall on the ceiling and walls.  Addison has always been our most mechanically inclined child, and after not too long she was out there with the power drill working alongside Karis and Papa Z drilling the sheets in.  You go girl, proud of you!

Addison also wanted to have a re-do of her pink hair (just on the underside of her hair) so we applied that again on the bottom part much to her delight. Thankfully it isn't permanent, although her hair did retain a little bit of a reddish tinge after the first go-round.  

Saran wrap girl - making sure nothing else got dyed pink!

Voila!

Karis found his old shotgun, and Addison enjoyed going outside (with strict Daddy supervision right there) and trying to hit a milk carton.

No Christmas is ever complete without the "throw boiling water in the air and watch it turn to snow" trick.  The weather got cold enough towards the end of the week thankfully.

We did lots of baking - we tried our hand at cinnamon rolls (gluten free of course) as well as so many loaves of banana bread.  Yum!

There is always lots of sitting and talking as well - which leads to horseplay much of the time.  

Zach is feeling better at this point and is up for wrestling with Kaleb on the floor

With not feeling great, Zach had lots of time to bond with his grandparents 💕

Christmas Vacation Begins!

 This year is our Christmas with Amy's mom, so we stayed in Orlando until the 27th.  This worked out doubly well for us as Korey and Rachel (Karis' brother) came down to stay with us as they attended the Deininger Christmas here in Orlando!  

Korey was good friends with Tim P and William at Andrews, so we invited them over Saturday night to catch up and play some games.  

Monday night, Ds invited us to join them all at the Magic game in the box, so that was a fun outing to visit with the extended D family as we have known them now for many years. 

Addison wore Amy's Magic jersey that had our Zbaraschuk name on the back - she felt quite thrilled by that!

The two brothers watching the TV inside the box - they have very similar stanches so Amy couldn't resist taking their picture

Ds were very kind and let Addison tag along one day to go miniature golfing - thanks for letting her join!

And while they were at our house, we took the opportunity to play card games, do pilates, chat, and just enjoy each other's company.

And in one last random picture - from our Z chickadees to your family - Merry Christmas!

Kennedy Space Center & Holiday Events

 Addison's 6th grade had a field trip to Kennedy Space Center, and thankfully the Z kids always want their parents to come along, so one of us takes the day off and shows up as a chaperone 💕

We drove out with Kelli and Elin, so while we waited for the buses to arrive, the girls were amusing themselves. 

The whole class

There are always lots of interesting things to explore and learn at the Kennedy Space Center - although Amy has been three times (three kids!) and still has never made it out to the launch pad!  Boo!

AdventHealth held a year-end Christmas party for the families of the Extended Cabinet leadership and it was an evening at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center and then a travelling Cirque show.  A Cirque show is always fun and we enjoyed the crazy acrobatics every much!  We also were able to take pictures form the balcony of downtown Orland which was fun at night. 

Zach decided to stay home and study for his final exams.....or so we assume he was studying 😉

We brought Grandma and Grandpa Lyle

Silly Karis and Kent's faces as they watch the contortionist - they are funny, the guy's flexibility was yuck!

The soccer team has a Christmas party that was fun for Kaleb to go and participate in a white elephant exchange, food and games at Hillmon's

And Addison had a lovely afternoon with London and Mima for baking and crafting - 

And lastly, Amy had a beautiful evening with dear friend Stephanie - she lives in Texas but it is like a day hasn't passed when we are able to connect.  

Miss you girl!

December Cheer

As December started, we enjoyed some holiday related activities that always bring cheer to one's heart:

We love putting up our memory Christmas tree that holds special ornaments that Karis and Amy have given each other at Christmas time each year - something special that happened that year. 

The Thanksgiving shopping outing with the ladies!  Addison is now old enough to join us

 this year!  Yay!

The annual Mount Dora scavenger hunt with the Hollands

A thank-you event to the Sabbath School helpers - they had a lovely brunch and then made candles!

The Christmas concert for 5th and 6th grade choir.  It was outside.....and cold.....and do you see Addison in the front ro on the right-ish side wearing a BLANKET to stay warm?  Not the Zs finest fashion hour but oh well, she was warm! 😂

Kaleb and Zach came over from FLA as they were in the middle of a soccer game -- but you only have one Christmas concert per year for your little sister, and 10000 soccer games, so sister's Christmas concert has to take priority.  Thank you for coming boys!

A new event that Addison and Amy had the pleasure of attending was the Winter Garden Christmas parade.  The hospital always hosts a float, and we went this year to hand out candy and stress balls to the crowds.  It was really fun, and both of us decided that we'd try and do it every year!

The hospital leadership crew that were able to come

Random picture:

Working on our annual calendars together - dueling computers in the office 

Grateful and Blessed - Hicks Thanksgiving Visit

 We were excited this Thanksgiving to welcome our long-time friends the Hicks' family as they came down to visit their son Erick, who has joined the Navy in Jacksonville.  Usually we are with the Grodack large gathering for Thanksgiving but they went to Europe this year, so it all worked out perfectly!

With having company, Karis stayed at home from the morning golf round, but Zachary still went and had a good time with friends.

While Hicks were here, there was lots of cooking (thank you Kevin for being so helpful and Rhonda for always jump in to help prep and to clean up!).  It was super helpful as Amy had fallen off a curb that Sunday and sprained her ankle - although with a fasting protocol, anti-inflammatory regimen and elevation, it improved enough by Thursday that she was able limp around pretty well - but super grateful for Kevin and Rhonda's help!  Those are the best kind of guests to have - bless you both and we look forward to seeing you all again!

For Thanksgiving meal, we had Bergherms (sans Jennifer who was in Europe with Corey), Hicks and Lyle/Mom

Whenever we are with the Hicks family we always enjoy playing,  so there was lots of that!

We had Cochrans over Friday as well to visit with the Hicks as they too were friends from college

Rhonda introduced us to "earthing aka grounding" and oddly, placebo or not, Amy slept so much better that week that it was something she was determined to continue.  However, with the bug bites on her feet, she figured out how to get an inside mat and sheets - thanks Rhonda, we will see if it continues to help!

All of us outside, except for Addison as she was in bed. 

Come back anytime, we loved seeing you all!