HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY TAIYA

Mommy, Manuela and Auntie Lisa

Taiya was excited about receiving this car and Barbie from Mom and Dad.

January 16th - Taiya turned two today. I made a double decker brownie cake with vanilla icing.

On the weekend, Auntie Lisa and cousin Dylan came for a small celebration. Here is Auntie Lisa showing Taiya her new sing along Dora book.

Unfortunately, Deanna and Parents were unable to come due to being ill...hope you feel better soon guys. Turns out that later in the afternoon, Matthew broke out with a fever also, so Frank and him were unable to come out for dinner as well.

Five of us still managed to get out for Taiya's birthday celebration (Taiya, Mom, Auntie Lisa, Dylan and Manuela). Here's Taiya with her big cousin Dylan, both waited patiently as our meal seemed to take forever. We ate at Montana's and went home afterwards for some ice cream cake Mmm Mmm.

Here is Taiya and Night Time Dora waiting for the cake. The house rule was that anyone having cake had to wear a Dora Party Hat (o.k Dora didn't have cake but she still really wanted a hat)....this was just a little fun thing to do because it all seemed so quiet, and didn't really feel like much of a birthday celebration was going on (at least it brought out a few laughs) :)

"Pour Moi?!" (note Taiya would not keep her hat on no matter what we did).
Another cake and song?

We got a picture with the hat only balancing on top and down it went.

An "In-House" Sleep Over

The Batman tent mattress was losing air so it was traded for a Spiderman tent. Matthew really wanted to have a sleep over in Taiya's room, and since there was no daycare or work tomorrow we went ahead with the idea. They were both very excited. If you look very closely you can see the two of them thru the "skylight" snuggled beside each other.

You can see how Taiya desperately wanted to sleep in the tent with her big brother, but Mom and Dad didn't really think that was the best of ideas. Anyways, when we told Taiya it was time to go into her bed, she patted the mattress surface and said "bed". We cohersed her to go into her crib by telling her we'd take her picture in there to.

Here she is....with a big Taiya grin.

And here's Matthew just before the lights went out. It was interesting after we said good night. We could hear them trying to have a little conversation. Matthew was explaining some things to Taiya, and she was babbling away saying "night night Machew" (that's Matthew) ...it was very sweet. Matthew quickly dozed off as usual and Taiya kept chatting away as per usual. Sweet dreams little ones...they are now both fast asleep.

Another Snow Day

The faster he goes the bigger the smile :)

Our happy little girl in the snow...what a "cheesey" smile!

Mommy's little worker bees

Dual riders on the world's smallest sleigh. I think it's time to invest in a bigger one.

Whistler Get-Away

Frank and I had an awesome get away to Whistler before having to come home to our real lives in Victoria. We had 3 nights in the village, and were located right along the "village stroll". This place is unimaginable and the pictures don't really do it justice. There are just over 90 groomed runs...amazing! There is so much to do both in the winter and summer seasons that the activities and sights are endless...I can't wait to go back again.

For those not into outdoors and adventure, there is shopping.... and lots of it! And of course eating is always good, the food is yumm yumm delicious. I do have to admit though.. that eating is very expensive, it's a good thing we weren't there for much longer ($13.00 for a hamburger and fries - and if you want salad instead of fries, add another $2.00 to your bill - yikes!).

We didn't ski this trip as Frank has a bummed knee but we did venture out on a 3 hour snow mobile tour. It was exillerating, it started at dusk and went into the night. We travelled 4000 feet up Blackcomb Mtn. to 6000 feet above sea level, and had a beautiful view of the village below us. It was a clear night with stars and a full moon...we couldn't have asked for better weather conditions. We are planning to go up again within the next year whether it's in the summer or winter... I don't know, either way you can't go wrong.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and has a smooth transition back to work!

Christmas 2006

Matthew got light brite from mommy and daddy and is very proudly showing his first work of art.

Taiya was very excited to wear her reversable vest and take off for a stroll with her new Dora bag.

This was one of Matthew's favorite gifts...this one was from Grandma and Papa. It's an indoor Batman tent with air mattress at the bottom for sleeping on. He slept in this throughout the whole holidays while up island.

You're probably thinking you've seen this chair before aren't you?. Well....Matthew got the same exact one from Santa last year, and because the two of them are always trying to sit in it at the same time, Santa thought that Taiya should probably have her own. Santa is so brilliant isn't he?????

Santa also remembered Matthew's wish...a UFO! You should have seen his face light up when he first took it up into the air. They are a cool toy but not made particularly well....so buyer beware.

Taiya with her big cousin Cameron on Christmas day.

Taiya managed to find one of her cousins presents, while Matthew was enthralled by watching his cousin Dylan play video games (yep, that is the infamous hockey helmet that he got for his birthday).

Matthew geared up in his cousins new Christmas hockey equipment. They were a bit big for him, but nevertheless he was ready to stop any puck that came his direction.

Our sweetie all dressed up with heels and everything.

Taiya having some Christmas cheer with Papa.