New Brunswicker's in Manitoba

I finally got Melissa out here for a visit and also got to meet my little neice, Isabella, for the very first time. The boys and I were so excited to greet them at the airport. We made some welcome signs for their arrival. Walking through the airport with their signs, the boys brought smiles to many faces.

Sam is a ham!

4 cousins





Melissa and Isabella at The Forks.

Isabella has a love affair with "fake Jake" in my skills lab at school. He is the dummy we practice on every week while learning all our nursing skills.

Isabella's very first time in a pool! She wasn't too sure of the tempurature, but certainly loved the hot tub! She got a few lessons from Aunty on how to do back floats and putting her face underwater. She will be a fish for sure!!

At Disney on Ice for Melissa's birthday!!

Fun on the Christmas Lights Train

We took Mom and Dad to a place not far from out house, in the city, that has a 1/8 scale miniature train built on the property. The man that owns the house has been putting up lights and running rides on his mini train at Christmas time for the past 15 years. This year there weren't as many lights as he has been ill but the novelty of riding the train on a snowy night still was fun and exciting for all. Aidan was sick so he and Chris stayed home this time.

Mom and Dad


Allison and Dad

Sam and Allison - Sam makes a face as per usual

Allison and Mom

All ready for a train ride

Christmas at the Culligan's

Christmas was eventfull at our house this year. We began Christmas Eve with 6 little ones running around the house full of excitement! Our friend Jody came over for the evening for dinner with her 3 little girls, actually they aren't so little anymore!!

These are the umbrella drinks I made for the kids to enjoy with dinner. They were a hit!

From left to right: Jonelle, Aidan, Ben, Ariane, Sam and Claire enjoying lasagne and ceasar salad.

Chocolate fondu for dessert! Yummy!

Sam getting some help from Gramma.

Sam quite enjoyed the chocolate fondu as evident by the chocolate on his face!

Tracking Santa on NORAD!

Everyone checking out Santa's location, "He just left Dartmouth, NS!" Aidan says.

All ready for bed in their new Christmas PJ's.

The loot!

Aidan: "Santa's been here and he ate all the cookies we left for him!"

Ben: "Except for one bite of cookie. He must have been getting full!"

Sam: "All the carrots are gone, the reindeer ate them".

Merry Christmas 2010

Visit with Santa 2010.

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends!

The Farm

Whenever we visit Red Deer we take time to go to my grandparents farm and take pictures in the field. The last time Chris was out here was 2000. I have been out with Aidan in 2002, and Ben and Aidan in 2006. It is the first time we have both been out here with the kids.

Here we are with the field behind us. This year there is wheat planted in it.

Sam got right in there and loved the tall wheat! Great-grandpa would have been proud.

Smile!!

The boys with Auntie Elaine and Uncle Mike (my dad's sister and brother-in-law).

The old farmhouse was sold a few years ago to a man named Bill, he lets us walk around his acre whenever we are out there. This year we enjoyed looking at the "Woodshed Saloon". There is no back on this building and it is where Bill stores his wood. He's very creative!!

Aidan on an old plow. I have pictures of Aidan on this when he was 6 months old and 4 years old.

Ben's turn and again I have an old pic of him on this when he was 1.

Sam's first time on the plow!

An old manure spreader turned into a planter. Of course these two loved it because they could climb on it and move the break handle.

Sam is 3!

Sam celebrated his 3rd birthday today with lots of friends and loads of fun! We went to Tinkertown with a great group of friends and their kids. 11 kids, 5 adults, pure fun at the amusement park!!!

After Tinkertown, my friend Kim (from Greenwood) and her children Aidan and Nathan came back to the house for hot dogs and cake. Sam had so much fun opening is presents. Comments made by him included, "Oooooo!", "Oh I wike dis", "Look Ben, it's Buzz Whiteyear!"

Sam also got a new bike from us. We figured he would like it better because it has no pedels. He has a bike that has training wheels and pedels but he prefers to walk beside it rather than ride it. He rode this all over the house and when we got him outside, he was off like a shot!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Sam!!

We ended the day with a swim in a neighbours pool. It was 32C here today and hot and muggy. We swam in the pool while thunder rumbled around us. We got out when we saw lightening. It was a great day!!!

Swimming

It's been a long while since I have posted anything. The boys are enjoying swimming in the neighbors pool across the street this summer. We have an open invitation to use the pool whenever we want. We have actaully had this invitation since we moved in but now that all 3 kids can swim, we are really making use of it this summer. Here are some pictures of the boys in the pool.
Sam is swimming all on his own with a lifejacket on. It took him 2 weeks to get comfortable enough to swim on his own, flip from his back to his front and to jump off the diving board without being caught.



Chris pushes Aidan into the pool using "The Force"!