Party, Party Party!

Happy Holidays from the Allens

Happy 40th Birthday!

Chris has been wanting a paddleboard for a couple of years, so we surprised him with this for his 40th birthday!

Holiday Hike

Yesterday the girls went for a hike with their cousins, Grandpa, uncle and Chris' cousin Ian. Nothing like a little family time over the holidays!

The Minivan Express

Last night qwe went on the Minivan Express (instead of the Polar Express). I printed some golden tickets saying "The Minivan Express Round Trip Ticket. Admit One." The girls were told to get in their jammies, I made some steamed milk and we loaded into the van (Bill and Evva joined us). They handed me their tickets, we listened to Christmas carols and we did a driving tour of the neighbourhood looking at the Chsitmas lights. We've decided this will be a new Chrismtas tradition for us!

Cross Country Skiing

The other day during the Snow day," while Sedona was at her friends, Aja and I did just about everything you could do in the snow, including cross country skiing! She went around the block and down to the park, that has a rather large hill for cross country skiing. I was laughing until I cried!

Snow Day!!!

Today was supposed to be our last day of school, but it was a SNOW DAY!!!! We haven't had snow for a couple of years. It was great. Chris and I still had to go into work, but we got some time before then to build a snowman, play on the trampoline and throw a few snowballs!

Gingerbread Making

Last night our school did Gingerbread Houses and the choir (which Sedona is in), led Christmas carols. It was a fun night!

Van Dusen Gardens

We spent a fun Christmasy weekend in the city. Chris' Mom, Evva, joined us for a night too, and we had a great time!

Skating at Robson Square

Gingerbread Competition

We went to the Gingerbread competition again at the Hyatt Hotel in Vancouver. We weren't as "wowed" this year, but neat irregardless!

Watching Week in Dance

The girls are both doing just one dance class this year: Jazz.... my old favourite!

Holiday Hustle

Today, Sedona and I ran in a festive fundraiser called "The Holiday Hustle." You had the option to run 5 km, 2 km, or dance-walk the 2km. The point was for our whole family to go, but Aja was sick, so Chris and Aja had to skip it. Sedona was super pumped and wanted to run hard. Just before the run started, she said "Mom, you have to keep up to me and go at my pace." She did awesome and ran the whole thing very quickly, coming in first place. I remember doing cross country running races in elementary school, but they don't seem to have it anymore, which is too bad because Sedona seems to really enjoy it! I love the fun family events like this on the coast!

Dancing at the Long Term Care Homes

Sedona's Jazz class danced for the seniors at the Long Term Care facilities today. I think it's good for them to be exposed to that and giving back to the community. Sedona really enjoyed it!

Baking up a Storm

Just another typical day at the Allen household