Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009!!!!

Ok, so again, I know it's been awhile, but I'm posting a million pictures so I hope this makes up for my laxidazi blogging!

Firstly, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. I hope your holidays were as busy or as quite as you wanted and that you were able to spend as much (or as little) time with friends and family as possible. I also with you a new year filled with happiness and health.

Christmas for us was a whirlwind of activity. Since I started participating in Christmas activities back at the beginning of November, by January 5th when we returned to work, I was ready for a new year to begin and for the holidays to be over. But, don't get me wrong, Christmas was another highlight in our lives so far. Again, Mason was a blast and seeing the magic of the holidays through his eyes, was as amazing as I've always thought it would be. I've never known anyone to be as genuinely excited about every little thing as Mason is. I'm sure we could have wrapped up garbage and he would have thought it to be the best garbage he had ever seen!

But, enough babbling. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the story of our Trydal Christmas 2008! The first Sunday in December brought the official Santa Clause Parade to GP. If you look back to this time last year, you'll see us completely bundled up as it was so cold. This year is was just below 0 and much more enjoyable.

I thought I'd post some pictures of our house during the holidays. It was so much fun to decorate this year because Mason really appreciated it all. He love the tree (only touched the ornaments that were 'his'), thought the outside lights were "booiful" and loved anything that was a "soneman" or "santa sauce"! I made an Advent Calender for Mason this year too. This time I put 2 gummy bears in each tin and he loved it. Every morning he asked if we could count and he can now count up to 13 without missing a number. Next year I'd like to put a good dead note or a family activity in each tin too. This is the view of the acreage behind our house from our bedroom window. Isn't it so relaxing and soothing. I could look out at that view all afternoon (if only my window was low enough to be a window seat). Of course Mason had to help with the baking. He really like to use the cookie cutter, the star was his favorite.
Mason and I wrote a letter to Santa this year and can you believe it, Santa even wrote back. This was me reading the letter to Mason. He kept saying, "wow", "santa sauce".

I know I have a lot of pictures this time, but I actually left my memory card in Edmonton that had my Christmas morning pictures on it. So, here's a few from Christmas Eve and the next time I'm home, I'll get the card and post the morning pictures too. Trydal tradition on Christmas Eve states that Grandpa Dave reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' to the grandkids. This year it was only Mason (the Gallups were at Doug's mom's). Mason loved to hear the story (when I get my card back I'll post the video). Another tradition is the Mason gets new Christmas jammies and a book to open on Christmas Eve. Here we are reading 'Bear Stays Up for Christmas'. And of course, Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without leaving some treats for Santa and the reindeer. The best thing is the only cookie left on the plate by the time Mason went to sleep was the one that he already took a bite out of earlier. Poor Santa...I wish you could all have seen the expression on his face in the morning when he saw the empty glass and orange peel. Another picture I'll have to post later. After Mason went to bed, Jordan and Chris got busy cooking their famous Christmas Morning Wife Saver (an old tradition they had when they were kids).
And finally, after a week of celebrations, the last night of Jordan and Elaine's visit, we all spent cuddled up with blankets, hot chocolate, and a little Chris Rock. Nothing like time with family...

So, after week 1 of holidays, we were off to Edmonton for some time with my family. The first night we spent binging on appetizers and opening gifts. Mason was again completely spoiled, and this year, he loved every minute of it. Ok, we didn't do too badly either! The second day in Edmonton was spent with the Grue's for the annual Grue Christmas. Everyone came to mom and dad's where we again feasted, this time on an awesome turkey dinner. Grandpa read the Christmas story (while Mason was completely disruptive), Wyatt sang some carols (completely adorable) and we again, opened gifts.

The rest of our time at home was spent with mom and dad and Mike and Raquel. We went bowling, swimming, shopping, to Chucky Cheese, visiting, and for some family pictures. Mason & Grandpa reading the morning paper!

And finally, our last night was New Year's Eve, with an amazing dinner, over at Mike and Raquel's. We played games, ate, watched Mason's dance party, ate some more. It was a great, relaxing night, and a wonderful start to the New Year.