A Very Arltstrong Christmas

Christmas in the mountains, with family and two excited toddlers: magical!

Christmas Eve Skiing

Aunt Janne treated us all to some cross country skiing on Christmas eve. Ben and Megan tagged along and patiently waited while us newbies shuffled along, fell or painfully discovered going uphill on skis is harder than it looks!

Fun in the Snow – Part I

Christmas in Golden has been pretty magical – the photos likely speak for themselves!

24 Days of Elfcapades

If you happened to miss it, here is a recap of our 24 days of Elfcapades! Kasey, Ginger and Stella have returned to the North Pole but hopefully (if they girls are really good) they’ll be back for more mischief next year!

Christmas Cookies and a Stroll Through the Snow

Grandma and Pop-Pop arrived in Golden on Sunday, so our party is complete. Games, baking and lots of great food and drink have been the theme since then, and the pictures below cover some of the indoor fun, plus our escape into the woods for a morning snowshoe.

Christmas In Golden

The Armstrongs (and the Elves) are in Golden this year for the holidays! So, the elves have helped pack the girls’ suitcases (and hinted that they shouldn’t be forgotten!), played with Aunt Janne’s Christmas decorations, climbed the Arlt Christmas tree and got into the Quality Street and Purdy’s chocolates…. Just 2 more sleeps and we’ll have to say goodbye as it’s back to the North Pole for Kasey, Ginger and Stella since Santa is gonna need some help on the 24th!

Our first day was off to a great start as the girls discovered a hill just their size beside the house that is perfect for sledding, and a cousin who was willing to pull them up it over, and over, and over again! Thanks Ben! The girls also discovered that cousin Megan is a manicure queen and have decided it’s necessary to have their nails painted every day.

Elf Mischief

Babysitting, hot chocolate sipping, story telling, tea partying and, as Elodie calls it, “make ups! make ups!”

Oh Those Elves…

The elves continue to surprise us (ok, the girls!) each morning with their evening adventures! They got their check-up by Dr. Molly (named after cousin Molly) to ensure they didn’t all catch the cold that went through our house; watered our plants and read stories to the other toys. The highlight so far, however, has been Isabelle finding them hidden in the fridge this morning trying to get a sip of her new favourite drink: eggnog!

Elfcapades Update!

The Magic Elves continue to be a big hit! The girls tuck them in every night with progressively more elaborate bedtime routines which now include songs (usually Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), kisses and of course the magic snowflakes which allow them to come to life for their evening adventures! This week Stella the reindeer had a jam session while Kasey and Ginger played on the Zany Zoo. Then the Elves decided to wrap up one of our chairs and poor Stella somehow got wrapped up like a present too! Then this morning it looked like Ginger went for a drive while Kasey did some online shopping and Stella touched up her makeup. What will those elves think of next?

17 sleeps till Christmas!

We may design the Christmas card but Belle takes her role as card decorator very seriously – that is until her short attention span kicks in and she moves on to another task! But rest assured the location of each snowman, snowflake or reindeer stamped on the outside of your holiday card was decided upon by her very comprehensive decorating system. Pat and I currently have bad colds and are using any excuse to convince the kids that napping is a good idea – with limited success…

Below are also some pics of Ginger and Kasey’s most recent elfcapades!