Party!

There is snow on the ground, some of our best friends are in town-what could be more perfect than a big Christmas Party!

Abominable Snowmen

It all starts out innocent enough until two, grown men end up rolling around in the snow...

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time (yesterday), in a land far away ( Canada), there was a little princess named Lily. Lily received a very special gift, a Christmas Unicorn. This was not an ordinary Unicorn... it was purple and liked to wrestle with little princesses.

Let it Snow!

It snows in Victoria three times a year (if we are lucky) and 2008 was snow free until yesterday evening. We received nearly a half foot of fresh powder overnight on our balmy, northwestern island. The entire Greater Victoria area shuts down the minute a few flakes hit the ground . Yesterday Victorians ran to the grocery stores to stock up on food so that they could hunker down for the weekend. The city has one, maybe two, snow plows for the whole area. So if you don't have a four-wheel drive vehicle you will be stuck walking or hanging out at home in your jammies for the day.

Ben gets excited when it snows and wants to run outside the minute he wakes up. So this morning we decided to bundle up baby and head across the street for breakfast. Poor little Lily did not know what hit her when we walked outside with snow flurries whipping around us. She just took everything in from the coziness of her bear snowsuit.

It is supposed to reach lows this week of -7 c. that is 19 degrees for our American readers. As I write, I can hear the wind howling against our house, swirling giant snow drifts past my window. It's during moments such as these that I am still shocked that I live in Canada. You would think that after living nearly 10 years in the land of the Canucks that the shock would wear off.

Check out the pics below for baby's first snow.

Ben and Lil in our snowy backyard.

This is the view from the shopping center across the street. Take note that I am standing in the middle of the parking lot that is still covered by a couple inches of snow. You can see our snow covered house directly behind me.

It was way too cold to stay outside for long so we went over to the Gulbrandsen Grandparents and Lily played with cousin Anders.

Busy little Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Lily's Parents Have Fun Too

So it seems that I have a bit of insomnia tonight- yep the clock says 3:44am. We went to a fantastic party tonight and I suppose that my mind is still racing from the fun. I generally try to calm down before bed- watch tv, read a book. In the past checking my work email and even facebook were big no-no's because my mind would race for hours. So, it is only hot chocolate and watching Christmas movies on the couch for me tomorrow night!

Even though I am on maternity leave for a year, my employer invited us to the company Christmas Party. Kudos to my replacement- the party was super elegant yet fun at the Laurel Point Inn. It was delightful to kick back at a party that I did not have to plan!

Trying to look festive by the tree. Reminiscent of prom shots?

This is what Lily was doing today while her mom got ready to have fun. She is a big help in the kitchen. Please note the slightly orange tinge to her face which is leftover from the yams she ate for lunch. She is a crust but I love her!

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas is my favorite holiday. We make our homes look beautiful (and often gaudy), we go to parties, eat treats and ultimately celebrate the birthday of the Jesus. We basically take the darkest, coldest and creepiest month of the entire year and optimistically turn it into a month long party. Definitely better to celebrate in December then in July.

Lately I have been thinking about traditions and what I want for our daughter to take from all of the hub-bub surrounding Christmas. Growing up we always had a big party on Christmas Eve with extended family. Usually at the end of the evening my Mom and her sisters would dance on the coffee table to the Elvis Christmas CD. I mean they seriously gyrate to Elvis's sweet tunes. Believe it or not these were alcohol-free dance parties-they just like to boogy. My younger sister and little cousins would usually join in too. I guess without realizing it, they created a tradition one year and now Christmas does not seem complete without the Elvis danceathon. In recent years my family has also started the 'Candles' tradition. After dinner on the 25th, we light candles and share what we are thankful for in the last year and our hopes for the coming year. It is like Thanksgiving, a Therapy session and Prayer all wrapped up into one. It might sound cheesy but we all look forward to this time of introspection. What kinds of traditions do you have at Christmas?

Enough with my rambling here are a couple of pics from our decorating this past weekend!

Daddy and Lil decorating

"I would never grab the Christmas Tree" in an innocent voice.

Uh,oh. Might be too tempting. Just one little ornament...

Ta-da. The first of our 4 trees. That's right-we are going nuts this year with 4 trees. 2 are over 7 ft tall and the other 2 are more mini. You will just need to come over to our place to check it all out!

Yum

The holiday season is upon us and Lily has started to eat 'real' food just in time to join in the festivities. At least she will be eating her own mashed yams-probably hold off on the pumpkin pie until next year. Even though I have been up in Canada for 9 years we try to celebrate American Thanksgiving. So this year a couple of willing Canadians will be giving 'American' thanks along with us. What could be better than Turkey in both October and November? Now we just need for Norway to celebrate Thanksgiving in September so we can stuff our faces 3 months in a row. Bring on the food!

Swing

Since it was clear and sunny Lily and I went to the park beside our house today. She loves to be outdoors and especially likes to go in the Baby Swing. She has not been particularly happy for the last week (teething we think?) so it was nice to see her have fun at the park!

6 Months

Lily is already half a year old. Everyone told us that time would fly by... but we did not quite believe them in the beginning. But lo and behold we have made it through half a year of parenting and our child is still alive! Bring on the next 6 months!

Lily Joy is just under 20lbs and 27 inches long. She is a big girl for her age. She loves to sit with her toys, dance around in her jumper and take long naps. She is also sleeping through the night on a regular basis- this is something that we are truly thankful for.

Costume Time

The Kids Dressed Up
Lily celebrated her first Halloween ( or as I prefer to call it the Candy Harvest).

Lily the Lamb.

Lily Lamb and her Cousin Astronaut Anders.

Lily and her friend Danica the Pumpkin.

The Adults decked out 1950's style

Extended family and friends gathered at the Gulbrandsen homestead to celebrate Art's 50th and Brenda's 60th birthdays. The evening was a 1950's themed shin-dig complete with hamburgers and banana splits.

Please note Ben's sweet jeans. He borrowed my pregnancy jeans especially for the evening!

Nerds for the Night- Tony and Michelle.

Renee is barefoot and pregnant and Tricia is looking swell in 1950's attire.

The Men. Very tough. Almost GQ.

Visit to the Golden State: Fall

Climbing in Trees

Family shot

Lily with her boyfriend Cole... we have to keep our eye on her.

Lily with her Noni and Lexi the Chihuahua

At the Harvest Festival

Cousin Sienna drawing with her favorite color at the Harvest Fest.

Cousin bonding time- fun with wigs.

Undercover Baby.

Tiff the newly Prego. Lily will have another cousin to play with soon!