It's Christmas!

The cousins doing their gift exchange.

Boxing Day festivities!

This is the most useful collage, shows which adults got what this year so we can look back next year.  Well, except Chris...for whatever reason you got a penguin pillow pet and a piece of Tiramisu in 2011!!  I know, the wallet is already in your pocket!

Christmas morning at our house.

Bey blades was a big hit with the kids, and Grandpa!!

Waiting to give presents...

Christmas Family

It took a few tries to get a nice family picture (thanks to Movember/wind/snow) but Chris finally succeeded!  Merry Christmas to everyone!

Seattle Escape

Jim and I escaped on a trip to the Seattle area in mid November, here we are at the chilly beach near the condo where we stayed!  We shopped, relaxed, ate out, Jim joined the guys for a football game while I shopped with Carolyne!  It was great!

The Backyard Bear Show

We had some fascinating entertainment on Friday night, provided to us by two local black bears!  They had a great time on our deck and in our apple tree and hanging around our back yard.  Thankfully we could watch their scrounging from inside!  Mitchell was the one who first saw one come right up to the family room door!

Thanksgiving Walk

 We had a great fall walk on Thanksgiving Monday up at Forests for the World.  Ethan especially appreciates the picture of photobomber Grandma.  I like Lily and Eve stuffing their faces and Mitchell, the hobbit!!

Summer is Gone...

 Now that we've been back to school for almost 2 months, I'm finally putting up the pictures!!   Ethan started grade 4, Maren is in grade 2, and Mitchell goes to preschool on Monday mornings with Noah. 

 We had some warmer weather in September and my baskets were at their peak!!  We enjoyed our last (of very few) dinner outside.  We planted a maple tree in our front yard in June and Mitchell and Noah transformed into some friendly pirates when they played together!

Our sour cherry tree gave us a lovely harvest which turned into jam, a pie, and some leftover for the freezer. I was able to make huckleberry, raspberry, apple, and saskatoon berry preserves as well!  Will be well worth it in the winter!

Down in the Shuswap!

The must-have Shuswap family photo!

Our campsite, home for 9 nights, was the place to be, especially if you are a squirrel!   We nicknamed it "Gypsy Camp" because of all the stuff everywhere!  Jim chauffered the millions of floaties down to the beach everytime we went.  

"If you smell gas", you may want to check if Jim is in the trailer...  Site 182, you were a good place to be!

A trip to the park!  Only a smiley picture of Maren on the teetertotter this time!

We had many sunny, warm days at the beach!  Maren hardly left the water, Ethan snorkeled and swam, and Mitchell finally figured out how to use a floatie on the last day!

More beach...  I think all that bird watching tired Chris right out!

Our first ever visit to the Log Barn and it was fun!  Those goats are hilarious and those lollipops are annoyingly sticky (never getting those again).  But the sausages and butter tarts were delicious!

Couldn't pass up the go karting in Salmon Arm!  Go Team Green!

An evening stop at the beach to skip rocks!  Don't you think the headband is a great improvement over the helmet?!

Pop night??

With such a wet summer, campfires were allowed this year, so there was lots of pie and smores cooking going on!

The glowstick light show, we have to entertain ourselves with these somehow every time!

It was cloudy and drizzly after 9 days of sun (except the 2 thunderstorms), so it wasn't too hard to leave this time!  Goodbye Shuswap, see you next time!