Christmas in Canada!

In case you were wondering why you haven't seen an updated blog recently (probably not, but who knows, maybe!), it is because Andee miraculously had almost 4 weeks of vacation, 3 of which we spent back home in Canada!!!  YAAAAYYY!!  Christmas in Canada!!!  It was the best, and re-reminded me how much I love it back home.  Which is why my main prayer for this season is to "learn the secret of being content in any and every situation" - Philippians 4:12.  Blah blah blah, I hate change, blah blah blah America, blah blah blah, to be discussed at a later blog.......aaaand we're back to our vacation!   Lots of Birthday and Christmas parties ensued, and we somehow managed to see almost all our family and friends!  I was also able to work a bit and spend some time with my Husband!  Hooray!  I will preface this blog with a photo of myself and my cute cat, Purrface!!  Yay Home!!

 
In keeping with tradition, Jenna's Birthday party was planned for a few days after our arrival, so I was able to celebrate her 25th in Toronto!  I love my best friend of almost 20 years so much!!  I hope she comes and visits us in Illinois!! *hint hint* :)

A few days later, we celebrated a belated Jess and Jenna Birthday party with our high school friends!  We played an Activity Scavenger Hunt, sang some karaoke, and enjoyed each others company! We were also celebrating the engagement of April and Darryl!!  CONGRATS!!  And a great time was had by all!

On the weekend, we celebrated Rob's birthday/Christmas with my Dad's side of the family!  Almost the entire extended family was present, and we even sneakily gave Rob Skippy (an old Family Christmas tradition) for this Birthday!  The food was great, the people were greater, and the entire evening was the greatest!  I even worked on my kid skills by playing with my cousin MaKayla, one of the cutest kids in the world, as she is always singing and laughing, two of the things I enjoy most in the world!  I think if I had a MaKayla one day, that would be just fine!  Excellent Birthday/Christmas party!!

We then celebrated Christmas Eve with Andee's side of the family, which consisted of a very delicious dinner and dessert, and lots of great conversation!  We opened some thoughtful and useful gifts, and it was great to spend some time with Family!  Unfortunately, no photo evidence!  My Dad with camera attached is usually the one to take family photos, and he was not at this event!  Maybe next year!!  

On Christmas morning we opened a bunch of gifts and enjoyed a delicious peameal and egg breakfast!  Andee and I received some clothes, candy, apartment stuff, and lots of other goodies, but the best gift I received by far was a homemade coupon for the "Behind the Scenes" program at Jungle Cat World!  This allows a 45 minute session with three baby animals at the Big-Cat based Zoo near my parents house in Canada!!!  For anyone that even knows me a little bit, you can understand the through-the-roof excitement level I feel for this gift!!  Hopefully I will get a chance to visit home this Summer, where I will partake in this wonderful experience!!  Hopefully there will be a baby Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, or even a LEOPARD!!  SO EXCITING!!  We also held our annual Christmas Photo Shoot with the immediate family!  Even my "Big Cat" (my obese housecat, Mr. Purr) got in the photos!!  He wasn't too happy, but all is fair in love and photo shoots!

We then traveled a whopping 8 minutes to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Pickering for Christmas Dinner with my Mom's side of the family!  Again, the entire extended family was there, and this time, we got photo evidence!! I even enjoyed playing with the kiddos!  What is happening to me??  It was so wonderful to see everyone and spend time with our families this year!  We are so grateful to God and Andee's clinical coordinator that we had such amazing Christmas Holidays this year!!  Here's hoping for some time off around Christmas for next year!!

For New Years we had a relaxing night in with some amazing friends!  Lots of food and treats, and lots of great conversation and fun!  I love these people!!  I hope to be able to visit back home soon!!  Maybe in the warmer weather!!

Well there you have it, 3 weeks in Canada in 1 blog!  There was an abundance of more fun activities such as Family dinners, friends lunches, evening hangouts, Xbox adventures, and lots more that made for an amazing vacation back home!!  And with Illinois and Ajax weather averaging very similar temperatures, it wasn't nearly as much of a culture/temperature shock as last year when we had just moved back from St. Kitts!  It is hard to believe that it has been a year since living on an Island, and that we have been in America for an entire year!  Andee is now entering 7th semester as a Third year Medical Student!  We are past the halfway point (of medical school that is, not on our total journey!) and Andee only has another year and a half (hopefully!) of clinicals before he starts working!  Pray for us as we continue on our journey of Medical School and America living!  Hopefully we will be back in Canada soon for a visit!  See you all soon!