More of Elin

                                                  Yet another day, and many more hours spent basket sitting!

                                                 A great shot of her trendy hair cut!!

                                                        One of many new faces she pulls.

                                                And another fantastic face!!

                                                     Now she is basket stacking and sitting

                                                       I had given Emmy a lollipop for a treat, when Elin spied the snack...

                                               Oh the begging that went on!!

                                           We think Em is the most patient big sister ever...she is so good with her little sisters.

                                                             Now this was one of those fussing cries for help that we heard...the girls and I rushed in to find a very stuck baby...a very cute ,stuck baby though, and mean old mommy went and grabbed the camera, and snapped a few choice pictures before setting the baby free..

                                                            now here is the front shot..terrible I know. We did get her unstuck, and as soon as we turned around she was back in another one!!

Our Elin

Our big 1 year old has changed so much in the last 3 weeks. She has started walking full time. I really miss the crazy fast crawling she used to do! She is making the cutest faces at us, grins all the time showing all 4 teeth to   perfection, and gets herself into the funniest places. She has a dear love for baskets at the moment, and she empties them out of their contents and then sits in them many times a day, much to the delight of her sisters, and the exasperation of her mother who has to put all the misplaced items back in the many baskets!! 

                                                   She loves the puppy....mostly loves the puppy's toys and treats which she gleefully steals and gets so mad when the puppy  takes them back.

                                         One night while the rest of the family was watching a movie, I decided I'd had enough of Elin's mullet, and long thick bangs. I grabbed my scissors and tried to hold down a wiggly baby, while making swift snips to form a very botched first haircut. It was actually very good for my pride, as I'd always thought of myself as a bit of a pro when it comes to cutting hair.When I was finished,I was horrified to see what one innocent cut across Elin's bangs had become...A very thick, too short fringe..poor baby. I confessed to Ryan, who was not impressed!! and set about trying to camouflage a very bad too short hair cut..

                                                Driving her favourite toy at the moment.

                                 Here is the new "do" pig tails and bangs!!

                                More basket squatting.

                                          This basket was way too tiny. When  we heard her fussing we all ran in, and she was stuck! The big sisters couldn't stop giggling!!

                  Back to a bigger one..

                                                        That's when she noticed the tiny square black one in front of her...

 The drop/squat.. needless to say .she didn't fit!!

 Elin always is able to get us giggling with her antics, and always rewards us with a big smacking kiss when we ask her! We are so blessed to have her as the baby of our family,and watch her grow up under the watchful eyes of her 3 big sisters.

How the Snowman Lost His Nose

We had a lovely storm here that gave us lots of "packy" snow, and the girls couldn't wait to get outside and play in it. Their passion right now is to build snowmen, and they do so many times over in the same day, so we at times have a snowman family in our yard. Well this particular day, Emily built a beautiful tall snowman all by herself, and we noticed from the house how hard she was working at getting those heavy snowballs all piled on top of each other, so Ryan decided to go out and help her, and I sent out the customary carrot, hat and scarf to embellish her snowman with. Ryan also decided to let our dear goats out for a bit of exercise while he was out as well.  

                             Here is her finished product!

                                              A very proud moment!

                                      Still a very happy proud moment..but notice behind Emmy....tragedy is lurking..

                              Alas..the dastardly deed has been done...the carrot nose has been snatched from off the poor unsuspecting snowman's proud face...

                                       And kindly the culprit shared her loot around the herd..

                                                               so now a little less proud, but still serviceable snowman, smiles on...

                                         until Meg's excellent sniffer sniffed the remnant nose..and as they say...the rest is history!!

                                               It went downhill very quickly from there...let us avert our eyes from the poor snowman's plight,and see how the puppy was making out in the goat pen on that fine afternoon...

                             Not so well it seems!!

                              Here are our 3 girls, looking very innocent and sweet.

                              Now Elle got smart and decided to place a dry stick in her snowman's face....it works, and is alot safer option in a goat pasture!!

                                                 My 3 snow lovers!

                                     And here the tragic Mr. Nose-less snowman...with the cavernous hole in his face..a silent witness to the cruelty of the animal we  know as the goat.....I know  my Daddy and his  apple trees and blueberry bushes stripped by naughty   wandering goats  of many years  gone by would whole-heartedly agree!!

After we arrived home from our visit with the Cameron side of our family, it was time to spend the New Years weekend with the Skaling side!! When we got there, we settled in and the first thing we did was open gifts!! The girls were all so excited about the gifts, and cousins, that bedtime was very late that night!!

                                                          Big cousin Abbi, waiting for Eva to open her present.

                                           Elin's new doll!!

                              Emmy and Grammie

                                                       This was Elin's beautiful gift from Aunt Julia and Uncle Michael ...her very own tutu!!

                                      This gift was the crowning event of the evening....Emmy had to cover her eyes( or have them covered!) while Grampie brought up her gift..

                                           Her very own super sled! She was ecstatic,and couldn't wait to get the chance to try it out. She has wanted a sled for a while now.

                                       Elin having a ball with all Grammie's toys.

                                                          Playing with Abbi

                                       Great Grammie Prall came over for a visit, and had dinner with all of us . All the cousins sat at the table with her.

                                                    Playing with Grammie

                                        Eva getting to hold the newest cousin.,..a boy cousin!! Ezra's birth created quite a ripple in our family...after 7 granddaughters...we finally got a baby boy! He is the sweetest little chubby thing!

                                                      Elin and Grammie having a game of giggles

                                                   Ezra and me having a chat...he got quite animated,and was so cute smiling.

                                          Auntie Ang and Elin

                       This was so sweet, Emily and I had gone to Frenchy's for a little shopping trip earlier that day, and I gave her her own spending money, well, she got a couple of barbie dolls for herself, and then began scouring the bins to find gifts for her little sisters. She found this tiny baby carrier for Eva, and Eva was smitten! We got her baby all strapped in and her face says the rest!!

                                                   Elle reading with Uncle Shawn.

                                                Em and Phronsie snuggling. Emily quickly got tired of trying to get to sleep with a squirming puppy in her sleeping bag, and decided to put her back in her kennel. Phronsie could only take so much of the snuggling, then would get up and zoom around the room a couple of times, over top of the sleeping girls, then back to Em for another few minutes.

                                               Skip-bo with Grammie.

                   Elle and Sami playing computer games.We  hardly saw our girls the whole 3 days we were there.They were stuck like glue to their cousins. It was so fun to see them having so much fun playing with them.

                                                       Falling asleep on Grammie.

                            This was how our family celebrated New Years...It was quite the party!!  Shawn and Ang bought party crackers,which we all had fun opening, and trying on our party hats!!

                                Reading the fortunes inside of the crackers

                 Eva found a little red basket and took it upon herself to clean up all the cracker wrappers! We also had a talent show,which we will all never forget I'm sure!! Our vacation was over New Years day, but what a week it had been!! I'm so thankful for the blessing of wonderful family, and the chance to get together with them!