Christmas

I have really neglected my little blog for the past few weeks but it has been a nice break with my family during this holiday season.

My parents arrived from British Columbia on December 16th and are with us until January 5th.  The kids enjoy having them here so much and we have had such a wonderful visit that we will all be sad when they leave on Thursday.

This year our celebrations seem to start very late as the kids where in school until December 23th.  Years past we have always had a few more days off before Christmas so it made it a bit rushed to get it all pulled together but Santa managed to arrive on time and everyone was thrilled with what he brought.

~ Our Christmas tree ~

 2011

~ Christmas Eve ~

~ It is near impossible to to get a picture with all three kids smiling at me. ~

We really kept to the 3 gift per kid rule and I found they really played with their toys and were not so overwhelmed.

Hayden has been bugging us for an iPhone and we all know that wasn't going to happen but we did get him an iTouch which he was equally as thrilled with.

We also got him a very cool little camera.

Polaroid has this cute camera that shoots pictures similar to the old Polaroid that we had when I was a kid.  The only draw back is the roll only contains 10 pictures and I have yet to find a distributor in Calgary.  So I ordered 12 packs for now and will reorder from this place in Montreal when I need it.

Laila got a DSi for Christmas but honestly she is more thrilled with the Barbies, books and puzzles she got.

Sophie got a doll almost as big as her which she carted around for a few days but has since parked it in the toy room. She seems more interested in playing with Laila's stuff so whatever.

The old guy managed to find me as well.   I'm super excited to have been given a new Olympus camera.  For almost a year I have been using my small point and shoot camera because my trusty Canon suffered mechanical difficulties just before Christmas last year and the cost to fix the problem was going to be just to high to justify.

I did a lot of research on the new cameras and was totally set on the new Rebel T3i but the guy at the camera store showed me the new Olympus PEN E-P3.  It was love at first sight and I was hooked but it was a bit expensive.  I loved my Canon but always found it a bit big for what my current needs are so the Olympus is a step or two smaller but picture quality is very comparable.

So Christmas morning I found the camera and an additional lens waiting for me.  I have been thrilled with the camera so far.  I can't wait to start taking nicer pictures of the kids and sharing them on here.

The only thing Faruq asked for was a super duper running watch which Santa brought him.    He was looking at a new MacBook but just couldn't seal the deal.

Hayden got Battleships which we all played about a 1000 times.

Faruq and I were so fortunate to slip away for New Year's Eve this year and spent two lovely nights in Kananaskis at the Delta Lodge.  So nice to reconnect with him as we won't get another break alone until this summer.

We have so much to be thankful for this year and to celebrate.  I hope you all had a lovely holiday with your family and friends.

Here's to 2012 !!!