12 of 25

December 12th: Christmas Party with Friends

Every year we have a Christmas Party with our dear friends and this year the Busby's hosted!
Julie set our kris kringle up last month and I couldn't wait to open my first xmas present of the year!  (well, actually Yasmine was the most excited to open her first christmas presents of the year!...okay to think about it, probably Nathan was most excited out of all of us!)
Anyway, we were looking forward to seeing our friends and celebrating this holiday with them.

This year we had an addition to our growing family...Mr. Brayden Sicat!  Although Brayden stayed with grandma since he wasn't feeling well, we were happy to see his parents open his presents with as much enthusiasm as a Brayden would! 
Next year we will have another addition to the ever growing family....we'll be welcoming Dillon Chin to the clan!

It was so much fun watching the kids open their presents but it was more funnier to watch us open our kris kringle presents!  We all took turns opening  with our "oohh's and awww's" and then time to guess who got us.  It was a blast and suprisingly Clarence didn't get anyone Rated R presents this year!

Merry Christmas Busby, Sicat, Gadsden, and Chin family!  We love you and feel so blessed to have you all in our lives*

Reg took pictures: See link ~ Christmas Party 2009

11 of 25

I especially looked forward to today's activity..."Dine Out, No Cooking Day!" 
It is always such a relief not having to think of what to cook for dinner.  You will never hear me say no to taking home left overs from restaurants or our parent's place.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cooking but if I don't have to, it's a-okay by me!

Today Alan gets off work early and I get to have them (Yas and Alan) home 2hrs earlier than usual.  Our plan for the night, Christmas shopping and dinner out!  Yay!

Since we shopped at Eaton Centre that evening we decided to eat there and call our friend Tara to join us for dinner at Mr. Greenjeans located on the 4th floor.  It's not the greatest restaurant but I didn't care cuz I wasn't cooking, aha!! 
We were having a great night chatting and laughing that again I forgot to take pictures.  ~Doh!

*Picture below is Ava's reaction to me being so happy not having to cook! 
PS = this is the infamous hot pink tutu that Ava would wear everyday if I don't hide it from her.

10 of 25

December 10th ~ Family Photo Shoot 2009

I was contemplating going to Sears or the Bay to get our photos done but I knew I wouldn't be happy with the setting/location and so I called upon our dear friend to see if he wouldn't mind taking shoots of us.  Uncle Clarence was our creative photographer for our family photo shoot this year!
We took our photos inside Brookfield Place.  I was relieved that security didn't give us any hassle but was prepared to bat my eyes and ask "pretty please" if I had to.  This was the location I wanted and didn't have a 'plan b' if needed.
Anyway, we had such a fantastic time playing up to the camera!  Ava was sleeping most of the time so she wasn't in top form when we woke her up to get some family pics.
Clarence made it fun and he had a good idea of the types of shots I was looking for.  It's  special to know that the person taking the pictures know you and your family...it definitely makes a difference and definitely shows from the outcome of the night!

No pictures yet...but once I have them I will definitely post them up!  Thanks Uncle Clarence for making "Family Photo Shoot 2009" so much fun!

9 of 25

"Snuggle up Movie Night!" was December 9th's activity*

Dad surprised us and bought Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!  Yasmine and I were super excited to watch it and know that we can watch it over and over again!  If you don't know already, the Villapando's are very big fans of Harry Potter and can easily watch all of the Harry Potter movies in one sitting. (which we've done on many of rainy days)

I made tea for the 3 of us and prepared a nice warm bottle of milk for Ava.  We got into our pajamas, fought for which blanket we wanted and then curled up at our desiginated seats.

Yas and I saw the movie in August when it was showing in theatres but Alan hasn't seen it yet.  All eyes were on the movie.  We just love this magical world R.K Rowlings gave us to dream in.
We can still remember bringing 6yr old Yasmine to the theatre to watch the 1st Harry Potter and how much we all wanted to be wizards ourselves!...and now Yas is 14 and we're still soo hooked!  It's so amazing how the fans (including parents) get to grown up along side Harry Potter!

We were soo into the movie that I didn't even take any pictures. (Big boo on me)
But none the less...a great night of magic and imagination!

8 0f 25

It's freezing outside but my family (who are such good sports) still went along with the day's activity...."Christmas Pictures around Town!"

After dinner we all got bundled up and walked around town taking pictures infront of outdoor lights around our area. We walked to financial district and took a picture of the largest christmas tree I've ever seen and then ran inside the warm Standard Life building to take another. We all thought it'd be much more pleasent to go through the underground path to get closer to Dundas Square.

We stopped into Eaton Centre to take a quick picture infront of the huge Swarovski Christmas tree and than off to see the lights of Dundas Square!

Our last stop was Berzy Park right behind our Condo. We had soo much fun taking pictures that we forgot how cold it was! I can't wait to take pictures of us in the snow!

19mos old

December 8th turned Ava into a 19 month old girl!  She can do so many things now like brush her teeth, distract me from getting mad at her by saying my name and hugging me..., understand almost everything I ask her to do, and is starting to speak with 2-3 words together (eg. Mama boddle peas =mommy bottle please)

Happy 19th month sugar!!  We love you!

7 of 25

We are almost done with our christmas shopping (yay!) and so the next thing to do is December 7th's advent activity, "Christmas Gift Wrapping!" 

To many it's a tedious job wrapping presents, but I personally enjoy it!  It's definitely the feeling of giving a gift and the whole anticipation of opening a present that i love imagining!  I love how kids feel or shake the box and then start ripping off the wrapping!

We saw the play "Sound of Music" a few months ago and after hearing one of mine and Yasmines' favorite songs I thought to myself, "why don't we get brown paper packages tied up with string?!...cuz THAT would definitely be my favorite thing!"  So this year I've made it my Christmas wrapping theme. 

Everyone will be getting a brown paper (recycled ofcourse) package tied up with string!!!

I love it and it looks so pretty under our Christmas tree!