Christmas and Ontario

After we got back from DisneyWorld we only had a week in Edmonton before we headed out for yet another stretch of travel, this time by car to Saskatchewan, and then by plane to Ontario. During the week in Edmonton Natasha was quite sick with a very bad cold, with the end result being that she didn't work much in December.

We drove to Saskatoon and the next day Natasha's mom cooked a big turkey dinner. We enjoyed amazing food and it was fun to see Liam, Ainsley, Jason and Erin again. Ainsley was talking so much more than she had been at Thanksgiving. And Liam enjoyed that Dave played Spiderman and other bad guys with him.

Sunday morning we had a surprise lunch of dim sung with Sheri from Newfoundland, a friend of Natasha's parents. Dave was glad to get to meet her before the wedding. Sunday afternoon was the Krahn family Christmas celebration. Dave got to meet a few more cousins and we both got to fill in aunts and uncles on more details of the wedding.

Monday was Christmas Eve. We went to Natasha's aunt and uncle's to pick up Natasha's Grandma Ewert, who spent a few days with Natasha's parents. Then it was time to start making Christmas Eve appetizers! Jason, Erin, Liam and Ainsley came over again and we had an excellent dinner of meats, cheeses, crackers, spanokopita, stuffed mushrooms and other treats. Then we opened presents. And Dave got his first ever Christmas stocking with the obligatory orange and chocolates! Dave finished off the evening by playing Scrabble with Natasha's grandma until almost midnight.

Christmas Day, after a really good brunch with wine and individual omelets, we flew to Toronto. On the plane Dave finally got to see The Simpsons Movie! Dave's parents picked us up and the Ontario portion of our vacation started.

We saw over fifty individual people while we were in Ontario and everyone was very understanding about the short visits we had to fit in. Not to mention that we were running late EVERYWHERE we went :) Some highlights of the trip (in no particular order) were:

-- be able to drive out to New Hamburg to see Dave's family for short, random visits

-- eating Lindt balls and playing Guitar Hero with Dan and Lisa

-- Natasha got a wedding dress

-- a really good post-Christmas dinner with Natasha's family in KW at Auntie Lorna's house

-- getting to see where our reception is going to be

-- listening to Willem's singing and Tessa's piano playing

-- seeing Natasha's niece in Toronto

-- going to Waterloo North on Sunday morning

-- the fun game of Apples to Apples on New Year's Eve

-- watching random YouTube videos with Jon and Kristen, Jen and Mike, Dora-Marie, and other people

-- a wonderful Shabbat dinner with Dave's family

-- getting to see Natasha's cousin Robyn who was home from Japan for a few weeks

-- the awesome game of Cranium

We flew back to Saskatoon on New Year's Day and the next day Natasha's parents drove back with us as they were flying to Mexico the next day from Edmonton. It was so good to see everyone in Ontario again and sorry to the people we missed. Maybe next time...?