EXTRAORDINARY CHRISTMAS WISHES!

                   I would like to extend
     EXTRAORDINARY CHRISTMAS WISHES
    to all of my dear blog readers near and far 
   and take this chance to THANK YOU all for 
  popping  by to read about my simple little life 
                        here on my blog! 

Last year I crafted over 50 Christmas cards
with family photos... but this year decided to downsize that to a few and here is one which you can consider our wish to you this year!
This photo was taken in September,
of my hubby, Brian,
(or RAB as some of you know him!)
and the grandkids,
Mariah, age 5 and Beau, age 1...
I added the Santa hat stickers to make it more festive... and many of you know
how much I love STICKERS!

As I sat down to write the blog today
I wanted to make it a special CHRISTMAS GREETING from our house to yours.

Yesterday I browsed through the very many photos I have taken this year for clues as to what were the biggest highlights of the year... but after adding the number of photos I took,
 I discovered there were a grand total of
8,467 photos taken by me
from January 1st, 2011 till yesterday...
so needless to say, not only am I a bit
"OVER THE TOP"... (OTT!),
but it did make the biggest
HIGHLIGHTS of the year
harder to pin point!

I made it my New Year's Resolution to begin a "BLOG WRITING VENTURE" with my very first entry written on December 31st, 2010.
I must say, it was a very fun resolution, and one that has helped me share all the goings on
in and around  here for the past year.

Because some of you have followed the blog off and on throughout the journey, the photos in this blog and some of the memories are repeat!

This has been my first year of events without mom in my life, and although she is no longer with me on earth, she and dad are both with me in spirit always. The first occasions are sometimes hard, but I made it through.

Two of mom's sisters joined her in Heaven this year as well... my dear AUNT JEAN passed away at age 95 in May
and my dear AUNT FRANCES
(who I always refered to as AUNTIE FRANKIE!)
passed away in August.
They will both be missed but ever so fondly remembered by many, myself included.

There were a few milestones in the immediate family this year...
Jana turned 30 in January
and Nels turned 30 in September.
Mariah turned 5 in May
and Beau turned 1 in August.

Brian and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary in November.

Mariah did her first season of TAP which made her first TAP recital in May...
I was a proud grammie at that one!

Mariah began Kindergarten in the fall after going to daycare for the past two years.

I baby sat Beau for his first year, and loved every minute of bonding with him along the way. He now goes to the day care
that Mariah used to go to.
Although I miss seeing him regularly, I still get lots of chances to babysit both kids and have occasional sleepovers as well.

My son, Colin, who is now 32, lives in Montreal and does carpentry for a construction company. He still plays in his punk rock band on the side, too. He now has a new
FRENCH girlfriend,CARO,
and the two of them are learning to speak
French and English respectively!
Colin continues to remember us on all the important occasions and calls us on each one.
We miss him but hope to get to Montreal again in the new year.

Jana has completed her second year of owning and operating her shoe store called
"THE SWANK SHOE LOUNGE"
which is located in the old
KING GEORGE HOTEL
building here in Saskatoon.
Her and business partner, Melissa, did a fund raiser in the spring  with another friend...
and the 3 of them along with contributing businesses raised
$11,000.00 for the
Children's Hospital Foundation.
They plan to make that an annual event.
I was very proud of that big accomplishment.

Nels manages "A & B Concrete Pumping" the Saskatoon branch, which is an 
Alberta based company.
He does lots of traveling in and
around the province.
He is a very busy guy, but both he and Jana are doing a great job of raising our adorable grandkids togehter.

Brian is still the "new car sales manager" at Wheaton Pontiac GM...
and is into his 22nd year there.
He purchased a boat this spring and that is his new toy!!! He is such a proud grandpa and always very generous with both the kids and the grandkids alike.

Although I am retired from the dance teaching business since May of 2008, I keep my foot in the door by doing many "STUDIO" related things at the BSOBAD dance studio here in the city. Dance will remain a huge passion for me, but I have chosen to TAP out and move on to the next chapter of life!

Here are my adored grandkids with me last week at a little sleepover in their
warm and cozy snowman jammies!These two provide so much pride and happiness in this chapter of my life! 

This year's SANTA photo! Beau was not quite as excited
to sit on his knee as Mariah was!!! 

Here is a professional picture of the kids
taken by local photographer,
Chelsea Klette, this past summer.

Another highlight of the year for us was a fun trip to Waskesui with Nels, Jana
and their kids.
This is one of the many photos from that experience... August 2011. 

A special Berry Barn breakfast with
THE OTHER GRANDPARENTS
(TOG)!
Arvid and Nancy... Nels's
parents from Edmonton.

A dear memory from Christmases gone by of Colin and Jana by our fireplace  in 1981,
30 years ago!
(Colin was nearly 3 and Jana
was nearly 1 in this pic)

An even older memory from
the Christmas of 1958...
a photo of me with my two brothers,
Brian and Bob
by our tinsel covered tree!

And last ... but certainly not least...Our doggie Shuffle in her Snowman sweater waiting for Christmas day.
Shuffle is now 3 years old and is a
 PUG- BOSTON TERRIER mix
which is refered to as a "BUG" breed!
She is an energetic
fun little member of our family...
although hard to tell that from this photo!


I feel very blessed to have a loving and caring family and so many circles of wonderful friends that I am so fortunate to share time with throughout the year.
As I grow older I realize the values of life so much more and cherish the SPECIAL
moments and memories along the way.

One thing I have grown to love so much while doing my blogs up this year are QUOTES...
so here in my EXTRAORDINARY THEME
are a few for you to enjoy!

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."
-Jimmy Johnson

"A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and sparks extraordinary results."
-Wade Boggs

"Children are a wonderful gift. They have extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for whatever they are."
-Desmund Tutu

So on those quotes...
I wish you and your families the
Merriest of wishes for Christmas
and all the best in the new year!

Once again thanks for
TAPPING into SIMPLE
and making it SPECIAL everyday.

Today as I sit down to write the day's blog...
Of highlights from this year,
family, friends and my dog.
It occurs to me... I've left nothing unsaid,
I've written it all in the blogs  you've all read.
I shared many photos
and thoughts from the start,
I left no leaf unturned... I opened my heart!
I wrote about celebrations
throughout the whole year,
I told all the stories of my loved ones so dear.
I took many pictures, and shared lots of fun,
Yes... I pretty much told
all about what I've done!
So now that I've shared
one more time about that...
I should get to the thought,
where this blog should be at!
This one's about wishes so
EXTRAORDINAIRE!
To extend to my readers from here and to there!
I wish you and your family the best
near or far...
Have a CHRISTMAS that twinkles
as bright as a STAR!

(note... Anyone wanting to go back and read any past memories of the season, and or browse the many pictures posted, may do so on the right hand side of the blog page!
 Today's blog entry is number "180"
since my first entry on Dec. 31st, 2010)