Conrad is 18!!

Interesting Fact: On Conrad's 18th birthday, the temperature in Winnipeg, the city of his birth, was 38 degrees HIGHER than the day he was born!

On the day he was born, it was so cold!

How cold was it?

It was so cold that the parking meter froze. Arthur didn't have to pay any parking because none of the meters at the hospital were working. It was -38 C. On that same day, in 2012, it was zero.

On New Year's Day Erik and Conrad joined the local Vancouverites for the Penguin Plunge in Port Moody. We had a lot of fun people watching both before and after the plunge. Cyndy also joined us. She took a video but it was taking too long to upload so I took it off. Needless to say, there was a lot of screaming!

The boys were really happy when it was over. Erik managed to collect enough "sponsorship" from his great uncle and mother for taking the dip to pay for a Winnipeg Transit bus pass for the month of January.

After the dip we went back to the "Hilton"

and I made New Year's Cookies or Portzelky out on the deck.

We celebrated New Years in Vancouver with Arthur's Uncle and Aunt.

It was a fun time with games, food, laughter and champagne.

Happy 2012, Happy New Year!

Christmas Highlights

We left for Chilliwack just after celebrating a lovely Manitoba Christmas.

We were surprised by how green everything was in BC compared to Manitoba!

(But we didn't take pictures of the greenery for some reason...)

We went on a few outings...

...one to Harrison to take a look around...

(We didn't swim in the Hot Spring.)

...and to the Chilliwack Airport for Pie

Erik's grandma made him a wonderful quilt

and it was handed over to him in a special ceremony!

It really turned out well with the greens and browns.

On the flight home, Erik carried it on with him;

there was no way this quilt was going to get lost!

Ethiopian Food Before and After!