Whistler Day 1

Note: We have our new computer now and it is up and running!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blogging is so smooth now and photo uploading works like a charm. I hope to be back to my normal blogging routine now and it feels so good to be back.

December started out with a huge treat for The Mr. and I. On the 2nd we headed up to Whistler BC for three nights and four days of fun. Sallad, Grace and Bri came up from the Seattle area, and The Mr.'s sister and her family came all the way from Missouri! Expectations were high as we drove up to our condo since we had spent several hours making our way up to Whistler. It seems that the more people you carpool and caravan with, the higher percentage of stops there are! We had a great time though, and stopped for coffee of course as well a stop at Nester's Market in Squamish BC for some quick groceries.

Anyways, back to my story. We pulled up to our Mountain Star condo and noticed that there were no lights on in any of the condos and soon found that the power was out! We sat in the freezing cold condo for 30 minutes before the power came on, it was definitely a strange welcome! Usually you expect a bright, warm and cozy hotel room to walk into.

The Mr., Sallad and Mrs. Missouri engaged in a bidding war to determine who got which room, resulting in the Mr. and I staying in the master bedroom (yippee!). Once we had settled in and unpacked a bit, we bundled up and headed over to the Whistler Village Stroll to find a place to eat dinner. After walking around and visiting a few different shops and restaurants, we finally settled on Earl's where we ate like kings. Later we went back to the condo (which was finally nice and warm thanks to those who cranked the heat and turned on the heated floors before we left) to play games, eat dessert and have a nice Bible reading in Acts.

Bri modeling clothing from "Auntie Char" as she heads out the door at our house, ready to go to Whistler.

A bridge on the Sea to Sky highway.

One of the many gorgeous views on the way to Whistler.

My first glimpse of a ski run.

The pitch black living area of our condo, I used the flash.

Princess Bri being carried by her loyal servants.

The room that The Mr. and I ended up with was so nice. It was on the highest level of the condo all by itself with an attached bath and awesome view of mountains and Whistler village.

The Missouri clan's room.

Sallad and Grace's room.

Mr. and Mrs. Missouri

Ready to hit the town.

A chilly stroll on a quest for dinner.

Whistler is neat at night. See the globe in the middle of this photo? That's the moon!

The 2010 Olympics have some strange creatures as mascots!

Above our table at Earl's.

Our feast.

Gingerbread Night

It seems that gingerbread house decorating is becoming a tradition here. This was the first year that the Mr. and I went to the meeting room for the gingerbread night, but I hope it wont be the last. It was such a fun evening! Not only were gingerbread houses and animals decorated but games were played, bellies were filled, crafty Perler doo-dads were created, sugar induced giggles were heard and the scent of gingerbread, apples and popcorn was in the air. Autumn and Winter are such heart warming seasons. It's time to bring out the blankets, start a puzzle and keep a pot of hot tea warm on the stove all day.

Susan did a lot of the planning and decorated the tables so nicely.

Perler beads are so much fun!

The beads even attracted grown men, who would have guessed! At first they were just helping the little girls use the hot iron to melt their designs together... but then we looked over and they were making designs of their own! We had the pleasure of meeting a brother in the Lord from the Australian island of Tasmania. It was his first time traveling so far and it was nice to get to know him.

Even though the photos of the kids above are so washed out (thanks so much fluorescent lights) nature was extremely beautiful right on the other side of that wall. Look at these colors!!! God is so good to give us such beauty to look at.

Baby Cake ate almost 1/2 this apple before the spaghetti dinner was served. She loved it!

The residents of this gingerbread house must have called 911 when their roof collapsed.

Gingerbread decorating time!!!! Recipe for candy distribution: one for the cookie, two for the mouth. Repeat as needed. Droo and Cake's mom made all the gingerbread and by the looks on the kids faces and the amount eaten by all, it looks like it was a hit! Obviously I didn't eat any because I eat gluten free. Next year I plan to bring my own gluten free gingerbread, I just didn't think of it this year. There was plenty of other snacks I could eat though. :)

Droo gets the idea!

Amber and Chiquita

The guys playing Phase 10.

Papered tablecloths are always an invitation for artists.

My favorites from this pile are Apples to Apples and Dutch Blitz, throw in Rummikub and I'm good to go. :)

Bits and Pieces

I have great intentions to keep this blog up and running, but my computer thinks otherwise. Our computer has been dying a slow death for longer than we thought possible. On one hand it is nice that it is hanging on for dear life and on the other hand I wish that the new computer we want would finally be sold with Windows 7 on it so we could just put this poor girl out of her misery. I guess they are still getting rid of their old stock installed with Vista, but we just don't want to go there and would rather wait for new stock. Hopefully it will be worth the wait! I am tired of freezing screens and error messages one after the other. Meanwhile, I will try and blog when it lets me, but I do have to warn you that my posts will be far and few between depending on the mood of the computer!

Here are some photos from the last few months that don't really go together, but they are my favorites out of all my random day to day snapping.

An osprey is a beautiful bird that we don't often see at our house. This photo was taken right out my back window.

Here's a closer look, although it's a bit blurry cropped this small.

Whether it's rainy or sunny, I love the reflections on the pond. Um, I didn't mean for that to be a pun.

"Look how high I can climb Aunt C!"

Bri peeking out the car window at The Mr. and I.

Pink sky after a thunderstorm.

Four soaked girls on Lord's Day afternoon, you just can't keep kids from playing in the rain!

A train of 8 girls and a little boy caboose.

A new store in Bellingham called Texture Home.

I took these photos out my car window as I waited for The Mr. to come out of the Harley store. I did eventually plug the meter and go in for a look. Texture carries a variety of old and reproduction retro items for the home as well as artwork and locally made clothing.

Baby Cake making a mess in TJ Maxx.

Droo sleeping... why is it that kids can sleep anywhere and in any position and adults can toss and turn all night and wake up feeling like they haven't slept at all?!

Baby Cake and Droo saying hi to their dad. Don't those kids smile great for their "Auntie"?!

Emma was quite happy about her newly installed pigtails one night while I was babysitting.

Say "spaghetti!"

Dolly, Esther, Chiquita and myself. This is our Sunday School class photo for the new school season.

Ioi's baby shower at Aunt Connies home.

Ioi opening the blanket, hat and booties I crocheted for her new little boy. At this point we didn't know whether it was a girl or a boy so I used cream yarn. You can see the post announcing his arrival here. He is SO cute!

A rainbow we saw in Whiterock, BC after dinner one evening. If you look very carefully in the top right of this photo you can see a second arch.

It was impossible to capture the entire bow, it was so beautiful.

Once again Dee and I went shopping and Cake was the entertainment. We won't wonder why if she ends up being a vegetarian! That's A LOT of cold raw meat but at least it matches her outfit! Shortly after this photo we decided she could walk lol.

Yes, that is an entire box of butter on the bottom. It's so much cheaper for my Canadian friends if they buy it in the states and Dee had taken orders.

Bored, but very patient and cooperative kidlets. At least some random guy behind them smiled ha ha.

What happens when the kids throw crumbs on the floor? They vacuum the crumbs up themselves! How cute is this?!

A few days ago we were on yet another shopping trip together and decided to stop at the Custer Country Store.

Too bad I had him stand looking directly into the sun, this is such a sweet photo!

Droo tried on tons of hats in Fred Meyer, this one suited him well!

Mmm, eggnog latté!