Tessa Anna

 We have a new puppy that we named Tessa Anna Polischuk!  She was born October 28th and joined our family TODAY!!!!!  We are all so thrilled.  

We have wanted another dog for a while now but nothing seemed to click or seemed quite right. Three days ago we looked up Mini Schnauzers again and when we came across Christian Doodles and saw Tessa's picture I kinda just knew!  I have looked at other breeders and follow them on Facebook, we had visited the Humane Society, my cousin has dogs she plans to breed, I even follow some rescue groups.  We made a list of questions and called that night and Karen and I talked for over an hour.  I learned that our pup had actually had a deposit from another family but because of a medical emergency they could no longer take her so it was literally that same day that they had changed her availability for adoption. Crazy how things work out sometimes!!! We had intended to just put our names a list for a pup and here we are three days later with our little sweetheart at home.  She is exactly the right girl for us!

 

We decided to surprise our girls and wow was it hard to keep my excitement hidden from them because I looked at the puppy pictures Karen had texted me probably x10 a day!  We had to be sneaky about getting the dog supplies we needed so went out after bedtime and then today I texted Graham that we still needed a leash as he was on his way home from work.  He was able to leave work early so we could go pick her up.  All we told the girls was that we were visiting our friend who has dogs!  It was pretty darn awesome when we asked if they thought we should bring her home to our house!!!!!!

There have been moments like this tonight where the love shows on everyone's faces.  Between Graham and I we spent the evening just cuddling our sleeping Tessa, it had been a busy day.  We reminisced about our Tony and Tula, about the puppy stage and how they are like babies in so many ways.  I just snuggled her on the love seat as she laid tummy up nestled into the crook of my arm, I read my book as she dozed.  She is the perfect fit for our family!!  If we aren't going to have anymore real babies this little fur baby is an excellent addition to our family.

~ Mrs. P

a little help

Our biggest lady is a little helper and boy does her dad appreciate her shoveling skills. 

Such a great sidekick!!!  So nice when the weather is nice so we can get outside. 

~ Mrs. P

New YEAR

Good bye 2016 and Hello 2017

I actually love January!  I love the newness that this month brings; a new year, new goals and a clean slate.  Goal setting is something I am a big believer in.  Just dreaming about things doesn't make them happen.  Write them down, make a plan and then work to achieve.  Saying that as I look at my goals as an adult there have been some things I write down every year because they are still things I am working to be better at.  I guess progress is the thing to measure not necessarily mastery.  I found some great printables for the little women and we had a New Years Party with some fancy hats, blow horns and fun plates - you know I like to party!  Want to help them learn this life principle but definitely need to make it fun!!!!  We actually had an Oilers game so had a sitter come just before bedtime so we did our family partying over dinner.  Graham and I actually rang in the official new year post game at the McDonalds Drive Thru window, so classy but all of the restaurants were crazy with young people downtown doing adult type partying.

There is so much to be learned when we have things we are striving for, working towards. Hard things in the path only add to the refining process of achieving our goal.   I've been thinking alot about my personal goals and how I want to grow as a person, what things are my struggles and what dreams I have....journal worthy stuff.  This I know - write it down and don't give up!

"In our time—when so much of what we desire is so easily within our reach—it is tempting to turn aside or give up whenever the road ahead seems a little bumpy or the slope tends to rise steeply before us. In those moments, it might inspire us to reflect on those men, women, and children who did not allow sickness, hardship, pain, and even death to deter them from their chosen path.

The pioneers learned that doing hard things deepened and strengthened body, mind, and spirit; magnified their understanding of their divine nature; and heightened their compassion for others. This habit firmed their souls and became a blessing to them long after their trek across the plains and mountains had ended.

The pioneers, who sacrificed so much, went without and hungered for even the most basic of necessities to survive. They understood that happiness doesn’t come as a result of luck or accident. It most certainly doesn’t come from having all of our wishes come true. Happiness doesn’t come from external circumstances. It comes from the inside—regardless of what is happening around us.

The pioneers knew that, and with that spirit they found happiness in every circumstance and in every trial—even in those trials that reached down and troubled the deep waters of their very souls."  President Deiter F. Uchtdorf

Some years we have had a scripture or quote but this year as Graham and I discusses our 2017 family theme we each had different ideas come to mind and it evolved into the the Four P's for the Four P's.  We sat down together for our first Family Home Evening of the year and made a up a list of four P's that we want to strive for as a family.  

We have some exciting travel adventure plans for 2017....Disneyland in California, General Conference in Utah and a year with NO planned shutdowns for our dad - wohoo!!!!!!  Lots of togetherness and I LOVE IT!

~ Momma P

CHRISTMAS book lover

We have a plethora of Christmas books that I bring out each year. To be honest the basket I have doesn't hold them all anymore which is kind of sad because I really like how great the basket goes with my Christmas decor!  I wanted to record a few of our favourties from this year because it seems to change up from Christmas to Christmas.  We are LOVE LOVE LOVE Charlie Brown's sweet story and the Nutcracker became popular as we anticipated getting to go the ballet again.  My favourties are the first three above, the golden book is illustrated by Eloise Wilkin who I love and the 'Christmas Story' also beautifully tells the story of the nativity, containing the sweetest depictions of baby Jesus.  And then there is 'Room for a Little One', I get emotional each time I read it.  

We put away all of the Christmas decorations and although I totally LOVE setting things up for the holiday's I LOVE the clean feeling when everything is put away. BUT I am sad to let the books go back to storage!  Just wanted to record so I remember. 

~ Mrs. P

Ice Castles YEG

Wowzers were the Ice Castles amazing!!!  It was cold, bitter bitter cold but we really wanted to check these out over our Christmas holiday's.  Even though school went right up until December 23rd this whole relaxed vacation after actual Christmas is FANTASTIC!  Anyway, you pre buy your tickets so we bought tickets and picked to go in late afternoon so we could see the Ice Castles in both day light and in the dark.   It was stunning!

Love these people, love our life!

~ Mrs. P

favourite things about the season

I love this time of year!  There are so many special things that happen, I just want to slow the time and treasure everything.  I take a ton of pictures but some things just can't be encapsulated in a photo - though I try!!! So a few of my favourites for this time of year;

* Watching Christmas movies together! These women snuggled together, oh my heart.  Family Movie Night since about mid-November has come from our stash of Christmas movies, favourites being the old school animated Grinch (girls top choice) and Christmas Vacation (our adult top choice).

* Checking the mail and getting to open Christmas cards from friends.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this tradition!! Some friends send out emails and that is cool too but I so enjoy sitting on the couch looking at cards and reading annual Christmas letters.

* Pulling out the Christmas books and reading them each night together. There are so many good ones we have collected over the years!  The girls have their favourties that we have read so many times these past few weeks.

* The Christmas tunes that fill our home, the vibe that while we are baking, cooking, decorating, playing.  LOVE Christmas music! The girls and Graham's favourite cd is Duck Dynasty Chirstmas, mine is our new pick up Johnny Cash Christmas.

* The glow of the Christmas tree.  It is on 24/7 so when we wake in the morning it is glowing and at night when we all go to bed it is just the glow of the tree, so peaceful.

* Our Advent Bags are opened each morning in December with great anticipation!  Perhaps one of my most favourite traditions.  A little toy or treat and an ornament woith a name for the Savior and scripture!  Sets the tone each day.
* The NATIVITY story....the multiple sets we now have that sit in a basket on our hearth (we literally five cool different sets) that the girls rearrange and play with. This year we added a wooden peg people set that I scored at a great deal that has beautiful hand painted details. We have a stunning Willowtree Nativity that I have always wanted a stable for and this year Graham built a wood one for me and stained it, it is gorgeous and perfect. We also act out the Nativity each year with extended family and it is tremendously special. The girls start planning who they will get to be and take their roles seriously, there is much anticipation. I love that the Savior's birth is central for our family, or we strive for it to be anyway.

* As cheesy as it sounds having so much family time is my most favourite!!!  Both with extended family and our little crew just the four of us.  There are many, many great things that happen in December but doing it together, golden!

As the girls grow it will be fun to see what traditions are their favourites.

~ Mrs. P

CHRISTMAS with the Polischuk Family

We spent Christmas in a beautiful setting, Skeleton Lake at Grandpa Ed's cabin.  It was a white Christmas, stunning because we watched the snow falling for most of the weekend oh so beautiful!!!!!  When we arrived Grandpa surprised everyone with a side-by-side that has four seats, with seat belts.....yeah it can fit our whole family. We are literally able to pull out of the garage and hit the trails, drive down onto the lake or cruise along the road. So fun! The temperature while chilly was so doable which allowed for lots of outside riding and playing.  On Christmas Eve we were out for a spin on the frozen lake and the ice was just the coolest!  It was a blast!!!

For the last few years I have managed to find little foam nativities that the girls and I can build on Christmas Eve, this year's was super cool because with a light behind this nativity it looked like it had stained glass.  It is pretty special getting to be together with those we love the most.  Found matching pj's because super cool right?! Even found a little sweater for Radio so he matched too!

Sprinkling the reindeer food before bed, setting out a snack for Santa and then reading from Luke.

 
 Lots of smiles from Grandpa Ed.

Christmas morning is always full of excitement and the smiles are priceless! Santa managed to find us even at the lake.  We could call this 'the year of the panda' as Stella's morning photo will attest.

 

 Such a great time together!  After gift opening, breakfast and getting the turkey in the oven we all ventured back outside. Oh but in the morning we tried a new breakfast recipe, PULT a swedish potatoe dumpling that Ed's mother use to make.  It turned out good for our first try and Ed was so pleased!  But most of the day was either spent outside or eating hahaha.





 

Yeah for family togetherness, traditions new/old and enjoying the beautiful world we live in! A picturesque Christmas at the lake.

~ Mrs. P