Our drive to Edmonton, Dec 23rd and Christmas Eve

We arrived in Wetaskiwin around 4 pm on the 22nd after a long drive from Winnipeg. We left around 1 pm on Friday the 21st after Dale finished work. The forecast was for freezing rain and a frontal system with lots of snow was forecasted to arrive in Winnipeg from the mid-western United States later that night. We chose to drive the Yellowhead highway in the hopes that we'd be far enough north to miss out on the system.  Other than freezing rain near the Saskatchewan border, which slowed us down, the weather was good. After dinner in Russell, near the border, we changed Sarah into her sleeper and hoped that she'd go to sleep - and she did...until we got to the hotel in Yorkton at around 10 pm.  With a new room, a new bed (pack 'n play) and a bit of a nap, she was ready to go just when we desperately wanted to get to sleep. We finally got her to go to sleep around midnight and we were up at 5 am to start the drive.  She slept until we stopped for breakfast in Saskatoon and did quite well for the rest of the day.  I think she remembered Gramma and Grandpa Holm from our visit in September and she definitely remembered Daisy and Lady, the dogs.

On the 23rd we went over to Bummpa and Nana's to see Sarah's cousins, Rylie and Rachel and her parents, Joc and Darryl as well as her uncle Jay.  It was our only chance to see Joc, Darryl and kids because they had Christmas in Calgary. Uncle Scott and Auntie Angie and baby William were there too.

Sarah loved the little house at Nana and Bummpa's but she didn't like it when other cousins tried to get in there with her. She's definitely a kid who likes her own space.

  

We did some tobogganing, which Sarah thought was great fun until her Daddy managed to get the toboggan up to a speed that was too fast for her...after that there was no way she was getting back on that toboggan! As usual the kids got great gifts and fun was had by all.  Rachel and Sarah received the same gifts from Nana and Bummpa - Nike warm up suits.  Very cute.

 

On Christmas Eve we went into Leduc to see Dale's Grandma Pahl (Sarah's namesake) on her birthday with Gramma and Grandpa Holm. We took her out to lunch. 

 

The evening of Christmas Eve we went to Bummpa and Nana's for dinner but we had to cut and run early - Sarah was very tired and needed to get some sleep.  

Sarah was very interested in the clips for the high chair at Gramma and Grandpa's and decided one day that she wanted to feed Gramma's bear.  In these pictures she showing the bear how to open wide and she's feeding him.