Traveling to Winnipeg

We made it to the air port nice and on time. Chantelle dropped us off, and check in and security all went smoothly. Girls happily played in the play area for a while. Hazel even found a H. After a while we went to watch the planes loading and  unloading by the big windows.

Guess who we found! We are compared notes earlier and thought we were on different flights, but surprise! We were on the same one, so fun! 

We sat at the very back of the plan which worked out so well, we could recline the seats without bothering anyone, Jared had lots of leg room even in the middle, Hazel play and snacked contently in her little corner, and I got to stand up in the aisle if needed when putting Jade to sleep. Jade was not a fan of takeoff or landing, but I was able to put her to sleep both flights. After flying on the little plane to Vancouver this big plane felt like luxury. Jade cozy and sleeping on me in her carrier, seat reclined, Hazel happily playing in her corner and Jared beside her to help if needed. 

Looking out the window before taking off.

After quickly settling in at the big house, we started the festivities right away with a party at Matthew's Sisters place. Hazel happily played with Elise and Matthew's niece even in another new setting. The suits were there for the guys to try on as well, and as the hats weren't permitted for the ceremony we snapped a picture now with them all dressed up!

Oldest and youngest brother

Matching hats, matching chains, matching suits 

Two handsome gentlemen men if you ask me. 

Jade, 11 Months

I will have very precious memories of this little photo shoot, Jade and I were up on time and Hazel slept in a little bit, so we had some time just to ourselves after a good night sleep.

 Jade likes to keep up with the big kids and always wants to be part of the action. She is very familiar with the word "No" and often gets mad before I even make it to her to take away the forbidden object or close doors that got left open. She has done lots of growing and learning in lots of different areas which has been very fun to watch. Jade is still very much a milk baby, she is interested in food and does eat some things, but needs to feed herself which hasn't been super effective yet.

Jade has finally been pulling some longer stretches at night, not sure yet if she has figured it out or if teething and colds over the last month has made for a very tired Jade...

Discovering Momma's ring. Jade has also discovered that she can reach new heights, and often pulls items off of the desk or dinning table that were left a bit to close to the edge. 

That little pointer finger of hers got put to good use this month. Most everything gets the pointer finger touch before getting explored further. 

Status Quo on the walking front, which is just fine with me. Hazel helps Jade out from time to time which has been really adorable. (Video below)

Jade is very fond of Daddy, she get very excited when he comes home and often looks around the house for him when he isn't home. Many things including Daddy get called "DaDa". Over the last month she has learned lots of new sounds which has been a very nice change from screeching! "TaDa" while clapping her hands has also been a recent skill, it has fun seeing her recognize what sounds she is making. She often makes little "tuckle" noises while playing now too. (video below)

Thought they are still too small to see in pictures Jade has her two bottom teeth now! Anything and everything is being put in her mouth more and more, very happy I put the vacuum in a more accessible spot so the floors can get vacuumed daily.

Our pool visit proved to be very helpful in the bath department. These girls have enjoyed quite a few baths since then!

Jade is a very happy and very active child, and keeps up with her big sister no problem.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day

Hazel enjoying our test batch of Oliebollen on new years eve.

Jared enjoying making them and eating them 😊

New years day was crisp and clear! Jared went out into our "back 90" to get some wood for the outside fire and set up to make oilebollen out there as well for our oliebollen open house. Please notice Jared's festive "tree top tree" addition by the fire pit. 

The tractor sleigh rides were a hit with the kids. 

Those who came a bit earlier in the day got a bit more sunshine, but the event was enjoyed by many regardless of the cold. High of -12 or -15, which was "warming up" from the -25ish that night. 

This hill has been the perfect sledding hill for the younger kids.  

Jared and Nova ended up being outside all day, from 9:30ish to 5ish. By the end even fluffy Nova was cold and curled up in Jared's chair. 

Christmas Card

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the JT Flokstras.

(The year I actually get around to printing them is the year mail to not work... my apologies if your card arrives very late...)

 

Christmas Holidays

 I believe this was our first 5 day stretch just at home since moving here, it was peaceful, we had lots of family time, project time and time with friends. 

Monday turned out to be a project day, getting as many things as we could done so that the rest of the days off could be a bit more holidayie. I started with a recently inspired project of putting all the books onto one shelf, that was out of Jade's reach and out of the girls room. So far all the activities that Hazel could do while Jade is napping have been in the room Jade was napping in.... but I couldn't think of anywhere else to put them, so this shelf turned out the be a lovely solution. After this shelf was done I tidied and organized all the toys, found the desk back, and my kitchen counters, rearranged a few other household things to hopefully make things run a little smoother. The house just got a overall tidy and it felt soooo good!!!

Taking the sled for a ride around the perimeter trail! (video below)

Tuesday morning we went to the church so Jared could work on some more sound cabling and set up, the girls and I came along and thinned out the nursery toys, set up for the Christmas day potluck and gave Jared a hand here and there when needed. That evening the girls went to bed nicely so Jared and I spent the evening together washing eggs and making a bit of homemade eggnog 😍

The sun was lighting up the tops of the trees while we were out sledding Wednesday late afternoon. That morning we went to the first Christmas service (that wasn't already a Sunday) that we have had in prince George, with a potluck lunch to follow. It was a very special time together with a very nice Christmas lunch. We both got lots of nice chats in with friends and I was even ready to go home from the potluck before Jared, which is a rare occurrence. 

Hazel has been enjoying sledding, her new sled from Grandpa and Grandma Flokstra is just the right size. (video below)

 

Home made eggnog and Dutch treats after sledding outside! Thank you Nana for sending some!

On Thursday Jared organized a shooting event for the guys out by tabor lake, which was well attending and very much enjoyed by all. Jared had been talking about doing something like this for a long time so it was nice to see it finally happen.  I had a friend over while Jared was out so I didn't feel to lonely with Jared away on a holiday. That afternoon when he got back we took the 22 out with some subsonics and did a bit of target practice in the back yard. Hazel even got to try which she thought was pretty fun.