We love having company!

One of the things I love the most about having an apartment to call our own is having people over! Just as the semester was finishing before Christmas, I decided we should throw a little post exam celebration party... so we did! I had plans to play games, eat and watch Elf, but we ended up just eating and visiting... and playing Monopoly Deal! (our favorite game!)

Although it was a little smaller than I was originally planning, we still had a blast with the two couples that ended up coming (a couple that I know from school and Siloam and our neighbours)

Here's Brendan and Erin plotting their win...
Team Baden also scheming....

and Mark and Steph figuring the game out!

Aren't they so cute?!

We had a really fun night and really enjoyed getting to know both of these couples a little better!

We also enjoy having friends and family over "just because"! Mom and Dad came over for lunch and games a couple Saturdays ago and we had a lot of fun with them too!

It's become a tradition (for our guestbook) to take a group photo at the end of our "gathering" to capture the memory of the visit....

Here's the one we took at the end of our evening with our Brazillian neighbours...

They have twin 4 year old girls that are SO cute!

We are so thankful for the wonderful home God has blessed us with! and we're thankful for the wonderful friends and family He's given us to enjoy it with!

Wanna come for a visit?? We'd love to have you!

Catching up...

I don't think I really did post about our Christmas so I thought I'd do a quick catch up today just for fun...

We had a great time in SK with Mom and Dad and Melissa and Brad... lots of laughs and lots of fun! It was neat to be together as a family of 6! (and particularly exciting to think about how we'll be a family of 7 by next Christmas!!)

The day after we got home (the 28th), we got up and had our own little Christmas morning together :) We had fun just enjoying our first Christmas together and enjoying the few surprise gifts we had gotten each other.

This is us, just after we got up and before we opened our gifts :) (sporting my new flannel pj's Bobby gave me while we were in SK)

Here's my stocking... I'm excited, can you tell??

Bobby opening the book of family traditions I got him...

He designed this picture with our wedding vows written on it and got a nice frame for it :)

and he got me Season 2 of Heartland... my favorite show!!

When Mom and Dad came over for a visit sometime after New Year's, we got a good picture infront of our lovely tree :)

and of course, had to have a little bit of fun too...

We had a great first Christmas and had fun merging our family traditions and creating our own :) Who knows what next Christmas will be like!

I realized something today...

Today was my first day back at school since December and I realized something...

I have friends! :) Ok, so it sounds silly to say that out loud now that I'm writing it, but to me it feels pretty significant! I'm not the most outgoing person you'll ever meet and I'm not so good at the first steps of making new friends.

But... today as I bumped into people I knew from last semester and caught up on how the holidays were, I realized that I've made a couple of friends here at Prov... and that makes my little heart happy :)

Thank you Jesus for friends!

6 month anniversary getaway :)

As you saw in the last post, Bobby and I were able to celebrate (a little early) our 6 month anniversary at the place we went for our honeymoon (this time just 2 nights instead of a week though!). We have found a great little spot called Barrier Bay in the Whiteshell Provincial Park and absolutely love it there! We had an amazing time there this summer and weren't surprised to discover that it's just as wonderful (if not more wonderful!) in the winter.

A couple months back, I was notified that my anniversary present was a 2 night stay at Barrier Bay and I couldn't have been more thrilled! We figured that we probably won't be able to go back there anytime soon since we'll be in Japan for most of the rest of our lives together so we splurged and called it our 6 month anniversary celebration :)

After a LONG two months of waiting, we finally headed up to Whiteshell on January 4th and settled back into "our cabin". It's so beautiful up there... so peaceful and quiet that it's hard to describe! It's right on the lake but sheltered by trees. There were a ton of birds we saw and I really enjoyed that. (Except for the one that hit our window while we were watching a movie!) They have bird feeders set up by two windows and we were able to see some woodpeckers, bluejays, nuthatches, and chickadees... (and those are just the ones I know the names of!)

On Wednesday we tried out their free snowshoes and had a great little hike on the trail they have made. I think I found a new favorite form of winter exercise! The cabin was great too... this time we actually used the gas fireplace (didn't need to in summer!) and it was so nice to have such a cozy little spot to curl up infront of :)

We thought these trees looked like Charlie Brown trees :)

Don't worry, I wasn't always this unstable! :P

I got a little thirsty :)

I'm so thankful for this special time we could have together. Thanks for the wonderful little getaway, Bobby. Happy 6 month anniversary! I love you!

a Snowshoe adventure!

Bobby and I went on a little adventure this week... Bobby arranged for a 2 night stay at Barrier Bay (where we went for our honeymoon) to celebrate our 6 month anniversary! They have complimentry snow shoes to use so we tried it out and had a blast! Here's a clip of our little adventure...

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

today's the day!

It's Christmas Eve! I was glancing at some of my old blog posts the other day and was reminded of how much I love the actual day of Christmas Eve! (It's my second favorite day of the year next to Valentine's Day!) I don't know what it is, but I just love the anticipation of Christmas... maybe because Christmas comes and goes so fast.

I will always remember heading over to my Aunt Chris' house on Christmas Eve after we went to church for the candle light service. Her house is always so "magical" at Christmas! We always had special crafts that were planned for us, yummy food, and of course, the blessing of having Mom's side of the family all together :) I sure do miss that.

This year, we're heading to Melissa and Brad's for Christmas Eve! We're leaving this morning around 11 when Mom gets off work!! We're going to hopefully make it to their candle light service and then head home and have some appetizers and sweets... and maybe play some games or watch Christmas movies. It will be a good weekend for sure! It will be our first Christmas as a family of 6... and soon to be 7 with a little Taylor baby on the way! This probably won't happen again for a while so we're all really soaking this one in.

It's also my first Christmas with Bobby! Even though we were dating this time last year, he was in the States and I was in Japan. We're also looking forward to a special time together just the 2 of us after we get home from Saskatchewan... I get 2 Christmas Eves! :)

Well, I should get going... Merry Christmas to all! Have a wonderful holiday and enjoy every minute of it! Make lots of memories! :)

My way of celebrating!

Today was the big day... I wrote my last final exam for this semester!!! I'm SO excited to be done! I had decided a little while back that I was going to celebrate by making Gingerbread men... so that's what I did this afternoon! I bought a mix from Superstore (highly recommended by the way!) and set to work! I had a lot of fun! I made icing and decorated them after too :) Take a peek...

I'm quite proud of myself :) I love being creative... and I love having time to bake and be creative again!!! Tonight our apartment building is having a cookie exchange mingler and I can't wait to share our treats! :)

Prov Christmas banquet...

We had a fun time at the banquet last Friday! Here's a picture a friend of ours took...

It sure was fun to get all dressed up and go out together! The food was SO good too! Christmas celebrations are so much fun!

I love picnics!!

I love picnics... and my husband knows that so he planned a special winter picnic for us... in our living room! I absolutely loved it and couldn't stop smiling the whole time! :) I am certainly a blessed woman! What a fun little date!

winter beauty...

The other morning (it's blog catch up time!) we had a beautiful hoar frost and we were able to snap a few pictures out our window... enjoy!

My husband is the greatest...

My husband did something very sweet and thoughtful today... and as usual, I feel compelled to share it with the world... He had to go to Steinbach to pick up some ink to finish printing our prayer letters this afternoon and he came back with 5 pretty pink roses just for me :) He knows the way to my heart! (but he already has my heart anyway!) Thank you, Baby :)

My day was also brightened by a phone call from my sister... she had her first ultrasound today and they're having a.............. wait. Can't say it on here because Mom doesn't want to know yet and she reads my blog. (if you really want to know, you can e-mail me!)

On the school front... I've got 3 more classes left (one is actually not really going to be a 'class' but we still have to go... just 2 more days for this semester and one more paper to write! Then I have 3 exams (one on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and then I'm done!! Yipee! :) Can't wait for the break... although I seemed to have created quite a to-do list for myself over the break. I guess I'm just looking forward to a change of pace!

This Friday is our 5 month anniversary and we get to celebrate by getting all dressed up and going out for a free meal! (the Prov Christmas banquet is on Friday) :)

Well, guess I should get back to that paper! Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas at the Badens!

It definitely looks like Christmas in our house now! Last weekend we found ourselves a tree, some lights and some decorations at the Goodwill store and set it up! This weekend we got a few more additions to our decorations for the house at Dollarama and now it's officially Christmas in the Baden's house! :) Here's how it all turned out.... Bobby very dilligently fluffing up the tree!
and proudly admiring his job on the lighting... (I very happily delegated him to that job for us for the rest of our marriage! he's so good at it!)so pretty :)

Today we did some more decorating and Bobby wrapped some presents to put under our tree... again, he's so good at this!! :)

He was having fun :)

We used some Christmas money to buy the Willow Tree nativity set because we both like it so much...

Isn't it beautiful?! We really like it!

You can't really see it too well, but I have snowflakes hanging in all 4 windows... and then there's a mobile on the ceiling and decorations on the wall :)

The final product... our happy little tree! minus a topper... we're still compromising on that one! ;)

notice how our card string only has one card on it?! Hopefully we'll get some more to add to it later this month!

Merry Christmas!!! :)

Diaper Backpack...

Since my big sister Melissa is having a baby in May, I'm now officially always on the lookout for anything 'baby'... especially free things and giveaways!

I came across a blog that is currently hosting a giveaway and by posting a blog about it, I get one extra entry. I don't normally enter contests like this but this time it's worth the effort because it's something I'd absolutely love to win for my sister!

This contest is featuring a super cool backpack diaper bag that I'm pretty sure Melissa will really like... just look at all the features...

2 large compartments
Removable padded changing mat
Internal baby accessory pocketing
Ergonomic back panel & shoulder straps
Quick access, insulated bottle pockets
Parent's Organizer
Reinforced base panel for durability
Premium YKK Zippers
100% Recycled 600D Polyester Main Body Fabric
100% Recycled Polyester Webbing
100% Recycled Plastic Buckles
Rubberized, non-toxic, waterproof coating
Lifetime Takeback Policy
Manufactured in a Fair Labor Association and Social Accountability International approved factory

Have I mentioned that I really want to win this for Melissa?!... I think it'd be the perfect gift for a first-time mom :)

The company sponsoring the giveaway (Green Ostrich) also has a ton of really great products worth taking a look at. You can find their website here...

Wish me luck! :)