New York City!!!

Today we headed into New York City. We left at 6:00 am and drove to Jersey City and hopped on the Path Train ( basically a subway that goes under the Hudson River ) into the city. We ice skated in Rockefeller Center. Right before we got on the ice they cleared it out because Brian Boitano did a little show. That was totally cool. I will download the video once we get home. After we walked over to Time Square an hopped on a tour bus. We toured all of downtown Manhattan. We were able to get off the bus and back on when ever we wanted. So we got off and went into Little Italy for lunch. We had to walk through China Town to get there and ended up eating at a great little place. Best Italian food I have ever had. We finished off the tour and ended back at Times Square. It was a ZOO by then. But we did get to see "The Ball". We walked through the M&M's store and then we went back to the train. It was a full day but a lot of fun. The girls had a blast and we can't wait to go back again.

Day 2 of Cousin Tara's

Day 2 of Cousin Tara's was a busy day. Matthew went off to preschool and the rest of us hit the Mall and Target. WOW was it great to be inside a Target. I could have stayed there the whole day. The girls loved being in a mall but were bummed we had limited time to shop. Wendy and her boyfriend Jeff met us at a little Italian restaurant for lunch. Man, Wendy hasn't changed a bit, she's just taller. Then Uncle Jim, Aunt Vicki, Nick and his girlfriend Jenna came over for dinner. It was so fun to see everyone again. We told many Grandma and Grandpa Bilden stories and reminisced about the last time we all were together. Nick sure has grown up so much. It has been a wonderful time being here. Tomorrow we hit "The Big Apple"!

Cousin Tara's!!

So we headed out this morning at 8:30 totally bummed because the one Starbucks in town was closed! At 8:30!!! Can you believe that!! So we headed over the Rainbow Bridge into the US. WOW was it good to be back state side. I do have to say that when we hit our first toll I freaked a little because I realized we needed American money and I couldn't find any. Thank goodness Matt remembered he stashed some in the console in the car. We drove through New York, Pennsylvania ( we thought of you Miss. Karen ), and finally into New Jersey. We arrived at Tara's at 4:00 and had some great I-talian food (ha ha). Abby and Matthew are so adorable and the girls are really enjoying meeting even more of their cousins. Matthew has taken to Kaitlyn and dragging her around by the hand. We are looking forward to seeing Jim, Vicki, Wendy and Nick this week.

Niagara Falls

Today we hit the road for our week long vacation. We got on the road about 7:45 dropped off Starbuck at the kennel, which he was very excited about. We were on the road by 8:30. It was a good drive and the only problem was that it was very foggy. At times Matt couldn't see more than 100 feet in front of us. We got to Niagara Falls about 11:45. Checked in and went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch. Then it was to the HUGE water park. What a blast! There were lots of people there but it wasn't too bad waiting. We did 4 runs of double tube rides. Then the girls played in the kids play area. It had smaller slides and some fun water things to do. Matt and I hit some of the other slides. We ended our time in the wave pool. Before dinner we decided to walk around and check out some the shops. We went to Hershey's, Coca-Cola and some gift shops. For dinner we ate at the top of the Sheridan Hotel that over looked the falls. It was a bit too foggy to see them but it was fun. After we drove down along the falls and checked out the Christmas lights display. We are getting ready for bed. We have a long drive tomorrow to New Jersey. We are all excited to see Tara and the whole family!!! More to come keep watching..... ( I am unable to down load the video I have taken so keep watching as soon as I can I will post it )

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas to all our Friends and Family! We hope that you have had a wonderful day full of food, friends and family.

We have had a great day here. One that is very memorable. We started our day with the "Santa" gift. As you will see the girls were very excited about what they got ( see photos and videos ). Next we had a breakfast of pancakes and eggs. Then it was time for presents. We all gathered around the tree and took turns opening our gifts. It was such a wonderful time of just savoring each gift and enjoying the moment. We all got some wonderful gifts that we each will enjoy very much. Once we were done Matt hooked up the Wii for the girls and off they were playing. Matt and I even had a bit of fun.

By noon we needed to leave and head into town to the Dunhams. We all gathered at their house for a wonderful Christmas meal. Everyone pitched in with something special and OH BOY did we eat!!!

After dinner the kids all opened their gifts from each other and then headed across the street with the dad's to the ice pond the neighbors made. The kids all played a round of hockey. As you can see in the photos Dunham's brought Matt a cheese head back from Green Bay, they are from there. ( see video and pictures )

Now that the day is coming to an end it is so fun to look back on this Christmas. Even though we were miles away from our family it is so great to have such good friends right here with us that are becoming our extended family. I really appreciate that God has provided them for us. We each were missing our "usual" holiday traditions but this day was truly special to us.

From the Halsted camp up here in Canada we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and send all our love to you!!!

Ice Skating

Matt and I took the girls down to the local skate rink for free family ice skating. Kris, Brooke and all the boys met us there also. It was a great time and all the boys did so well. Even Grace had a better time than last time with her new skates. Jamie enjoyed riding on the chair the most. Cody and Adian were all about getting those skates going with the help of a "walker". Conner took off like crazy on the ice. And of course Kaitlyn was trying out all the tricks she learned from her skate lessons back home. It was a great time and we are all looking forward to another trip soon!

OH the weather outside is frightful....

Just wanted to let you all know that we got another 6 inches of snow last night. That puts a total of 3 1/2 feet of snow at the low point in our yard and a little over 4 feet at the high point where the plow comes through. UGH! The level of the snow is even with our front porch.....there are windows near the bottom of the house you just can't see them!

Gingerbread Houses

Today was the gingerbread house making day. What fun we had! Each set of families had their own gingerbread house to decorate. I do have to say I think the kids enjoyed eating the candy as much as putting it on the houses. All the kids did SO good with their houses. I give all the credit to Miss. Karen. She was the one who taught me everything I needed to know. Karen I hope I made you proud!! I think this will be an annual tradition for us now. The girls really got into detailing out the house and Connor had some great ideas also. All in all it was a very fun day!

Snow happens....

So I guess it is safe to say that we are all sick of snow. It is unbelievable how much has fallen here in the last 24 hours. I know all of you in Washington know what I mean. I just talked to my cousin in New Jersey and they also are getting their fair share of snow.

Yesterday was quite the day. We had a bit of an adventure coming home from church. Matt did some awesome driving. We started going sideways off the side of the road and he got us back onto the road without any issues. I am SO glad he was driving and not me! Not long after they closed the Hwy.

We woke up this morning to about another foot of snow on the ground. They still had the main Hwy closed and they also closed the bus line to Bruce Power. Basically the whole town is shut down. Everyone is being asked to stay where they are because another snow storm is on it's way. We had a break in the weather so we decided to go for a walk down to the lake. But before we left our landlord came by with his big tractor and blower and cleared out around our driveway and parts of the yard. It was pretty cool. Got a picture of it so you can see what it looks like.

So we took our walk down to the lake. It was cold and windy but it is amazing each time we walk down there how much it changes. The ice is starting to build up on the river and along the shoreline. I got some pictures of our walk down there and some of what the empty lot looks like to the side of our house.

It's been a pretty quiet day today so far and I am a bit bummed because Brooke, Kris and all the boys were to come over to decorate gingerbread houses. It may turn into a Christmas day activity.

Starbuck, Church and Snow

So we see and hear all you in Washington are having your own fair share of snow. Looks like it will be a white Christmas. We also have been having some fun in the snow. As you can see all that had melted has now returned. As of 4:30 Eastern time we have 3 feet of snow in our yard. And it is still snowing!

This morning I took this video of Matt and Starbuck playing. I found it funny watching Starbuck plow through the snow to get his Frisbee. He doesn't seem to mind how deep it is as long as you keep throwing his toy.

We think we have found a church. We all went to one in Kincardine this morning. We had a very warm welcome. Many members of the church came up to each of us and introduced themselves and made us feel so at home. They have a wonderful children's church and youth group. The pastor was a great speaker. We will definitely go back again. But we feel as if God was saying this is where you belong. We will attend the Christmas Eve service there also. Grace even said she wanted to come back. Kaitlyn was home not feeling well. She woke up very congested and so we let her just take it easy at home. She is doing much better now.

The girls did go out this afternoon and do a few runs down the hill. The wind was blowing so much that they didn't last very long. Kaitlyn got a new Nintendo DS game that is a cooking one. It has a bunch of recipes on it from all over the world and it walks you through all the steps. So she made Banana Brownies. She did very well but I have to say some of the steps are a little weird. So I stepped in and helped her some. But she did most of the work.

Stay safe out on those roads if you have to go and keep warm. I know we will!

Kincardine Beach

After the girls were done ice skating Matt and I had about a half an hour to hang out til the girls were ready to be picked up so we headed down to the lake to check it out. The marina is frozen over and there is some ice building up along the shore. Man was it cold! The wind was blowing and the snow was really coming down. It's pretty cool to see what the weather can do up here. But I do have to say I am starting to be done with the whole snow thing. But I do want it to stay around til Christmas.

Kaitlyn Skating

Here is a video of Kaitlyn skating. I had a hard time getting one of Grace and then she decided to stop skating so I never got one of her :(

Ice Skating Field Trip

Today was the last day of school before the Christmas break. The girls enjoyed Christmas parties at school and an all school caroling assembly. In the afternoon the whole school went to the local skating rink to ice skate. I was to meet the girls there but we had gotten about 2 feet of snow and the plows had not reached our area and I was a bit scared to drive in it so Matt came home early to drive me into town. The girls had fun skating but Grace's skates that she borrowed gave her a blister right away so she didn't skate much. She was pretty bummed.