Christmas score!

Oh MAN!! Total Christmas score! Jess says the best time for Christmas is when you are kid, because then you don't have to worry about adult stuff, you can just look forward to presents!

On Christmas Eve I went over to Aunt Chelsea's house for a Christmas party where we exchanged presents. I got the cutest things, a little mug that says Violet, some purple socks, gloves and purse that all match, and a really awesome photo album with Christmas photos. I gave Sophia and Abygael an iPod, they were so happy! It was so funny because as soon as Sophia got it in her ears she started dancing and singing Spice Girls at the top of her lungs! We laughed and laughed.

On Christmas day I had a gazillion presents to open! You can not believe how many Santa left, and my stocking was overflowing! And Inky!!!! Inky sent about a hundred presents, but most were for a new girl that lives around the block named Lei Mei.

Anyway, before I tell about Lei Mei (in another post later this week), I need to tell more about presents! I got the Hawaii outfit I had been wanting, and it is so cool! I also got new skis from Uncle David! Grandma Connie gave me a ski outfit, with a really cool winter vest (it is the one I'm wearing in the photo). Santa left the best thing though, he gave me a polar bear stuffed animal that is so cute, I want to sleep with her every night. And guess what? Inky got the same polar bear too! Mama said that Santa told her. Now we have twin polar bears and Cheburashkas.Inky sent some really cool things including a Scrabble game! This is hers and Colette's favorite game, and I like it too, even though I can't spell very well.

As you can tell, I had a great Christmas and now I'm begging Allyson to go skiing with me soon, she is really good.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

It is Christmas Eve! Santa Claus is already on his way, because it is night time on the other side of the earth. That means if I was still in Ukraine with Inky, Santa would have already visited! Isn't that neat?

Daddy showed me a really nifty online tool where you can track Santa, it is at this website.

Here is a screen shot of that website, look at all the places Santa has already been (if there is a present, it means he's already been there).
I hope I can fall asleep tonight, I always have such a hard time falling asleep on Christmas Eve, because I want to stay awake and listen for reindeer.

Merry Christmas! Love Violet!

It's almost Christmas!

Only four more days and counting! I can't wait. Today I took the sled out and did some Christmas deliveries, I took a present to Kit's family, Molly and Addy, and Larson too. It was such a cold snowy day today, it snowed almost 10" last night, that is a lot when you are only 18" tall.

Tonight we are going to watch The Incredibles, which I really like. There is one girl named Violet in it, and she looks I lot like me, plus, her superpower is the best.

I hope Inky's presents get here soon, Mama says that I can open them on Christmas Eve if I am good.

Here is a photo from this afternoon when I delivered the gifts.

10 things I want for Christmas

One of my school assignments is to type a list of five things I want for Christmas, to help me practice typing. I figured if I was going to type it anyway, I should post it on my blog! I'm still a slow typist, but my blog has been such good practice!

FIVE (5) things I want for CHRISTMAS!
1. Candy! I want to have tasty treats on Christmas morning from my stocking.
2. Hawaii outfit. I'm going to Hawaii in January and I really want a new tropical outfit from American Girl. (Here is the link)
3. New stuffed animal (either an owl, cat, bear, or tiger)
4. Playmobil pirate ship or castle. But, these are all sold out all over Utah, and won't be back until January. :(. Maybe I'll get one for my birthday...
5. New puffy vest for cold days

Learning to ice skate!

I am taking ice skating lessons! It is so fun! I've taken ice skating lessons before, when I was about eight, but I was worried I would have forgotten everything. But I didn't! I still remember to skate backwards, do the fish tail and even a simple spin, even though I fell over afterwards.

I love ice skating before Christmas, it is so fun for the holidays. I've also been baking cookies and playing in the snow!

Have a happy Christmas season!

The Nutcracker

What an AWESOME day it has been! I woke up early, dressed in a new pink sweater and skirt and waited for Grandma and Auntie Chelsea to come over, we were going downtown to the ballet! I waited next to the Christmas tree and watched the snow fall outside. I could hear Kit's radio in the next room, it was playing Christmas music.

After what seemed like forever Grandma, Auntie, Sadie May and Abygael got here, we were finally off! The roads were slick with snow, and the entire time we drove downtown I kept thinking "dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh..." but we were in the nice warm car.

Our first stop was the Beehive Tearoom. This is a special tea shop where you can order all sorts of tasty treats and tea. I'd never been, but Nora visited the tea shop while she was here in Utah. And guess what was on the menu??? VIOLET TEA!!!! Of course I ordered that!

It came out and it was SO GOOD! I put a lot of sugar in it, and it was really yummy! I felt so grown up, because I also had to sit still and talk with the ladies. But soon it was time for the ballet to start.

We got to Capitol Theatre nice and early and got our seats. All sorts of girls were interested in me, I guess they haven't ever seen American Girl dolls, so before the show I got to play with a lot of other girls, and visit with their families.





Soon the show started... and I saw Clara and all the other little girls get dolls! And the boys got trumpets. I was dreaming about one day being in the ballet, it would be so fun. There was also this really funny wind-up bear that danced and the mice were funny too.

My favorite part of the entire show was the Russian dancers because they reminded me of Inky. Plus the Russian dancers did these really neat kick things that looked really hard. I was sad when the show was over, but I clapped and clapped for all the wonderful dancers. It was a really fun day!

Happy Hanukkah!

I am one quarter Jewish. My mama is half Jewish, my grandpa is 100%. My family isn't very religious, but we do celebrate Hanukkah each year, and I know the prayer in Hebrew!

Here it is:
Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
Asher kideshanu be-mitzvosav, ve-tzivanu
le-hadlikner shel Hanukkah

Tomorrow I'm going to learn how to make latkes for the first time, and each night I light the menorah. On the last night of Hanukkah Daddy says I can open one present. I hope it is the Playmobil pirate ship!

Brrrr.... it is cold here!

Yesterday was such a perfect day, it snowed and snowed. I stayed home and played with Kit and helped wrap a few Christmas presents. We also had hot chocolate! Today the sky cleared up and it was P.U.R.E blue! My family and I decided we needed a little fresh air, so we went snowshoeing!

It was so fun! I had forgotten how much I love Utah winters, last year I was traveling from September to May, so I missed out on Utah's winter altogether. This year though, I'm staying home until January, and then I'm off to Hawaii!

I took my camera along today while snowshoeing, and got lots of photos. Did you see the first one in this post, isn't it beautiful? Here are some more-

It was so sunny and pretty, not too cold in the sun.When you lead the group when snowshoeing it is called "breaking the trail" because you are the first one to cut through the fresh powder. I like to break the trail, because then I get to decide where to go!

Soon we took a rest near the river. It was so cold, parts of the river were frozen.

I love Utah winters and Utah mountains!

Now I better sign off, I need to research yoga for some homework!

Assignment for school-

Some of you know I'm home schooled. I really like to be home schooled, but I also really miss going to a regular school with other kids my age. I am home schooled because I travel so much (sometimes the whole school year), and I'd rather travel than go to a regular school.

Here is an assignment I did today for school, I had to take my name and describe myself with the letters. What do you think?

V- Very cute and smart
I - Interested in seeing the world
O-Only likes waffles with real maple syrup!
L-Long black hair
E-Energetic!
T- Terrible about making my bed

Thanksgiving and a weekend at home

Sometimes my family is so busy. I'm always at either at friend's houses, the ice skating rink, ballet, or working on homework. But, I finally got to slow down for a long weekend for Thanksgiving. We made a huge feast and ate and ate all afternoon. Kit's family was so thankful for all the help we've been giving them through the hard times, she brought the turkey! Can you believe that? We also had mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, peas, candied yams, and more! Oh gosh, just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

We also set up the Christmas tree! Every year my family sets it up the day after Thanksgiving, and we have a fire, wrap a few Christmas presents (if we have any by then) and eat Thanksgiving leftovers. The kitties love it, because they think the Christmas tree is F-U-N! It is so cute to watch them playing.

Here are two photos from the weekend, the first is our Thanksgiving feast, the second is Mama and I petting Mabel. (Can you believe how fat she is, she's almost the size of me, sheesh!)

Back from the farmhouse

It is late, I should already be in bed, but this is a holiday week!

We got back from the farmhouse and I'm so sleepy! But, today Jess and I had the best time. First, we dressed as twins. We already look a lot alike, and sometimes we pretend we are twins. Then we played outside as it was getting dark. We even practiced our handstands while leaning up against the farmhouse.

I love my cousins. :)
We aren't very good at handstands, I kept falling over.

Updating my blog at the farmhouse!

Now that I'm back home in Utah I've been working on school work extra hard. This weekend we are down at the farmhouse and I'm working on a family tree report and Russian. I have a Russian program on my computer, so I was able to bring it down to the farmhouse. It is fun to be able to post on my blog down here too!

Last night I had a slumber party with my cousins Abygael, Sophia, and Jess! We had so much fun staying up late, jumping on the bed and playing Snap (I won!). Today I got a special hair style. We are now cooking a roast on the coal stove and I've been interviewing Grandma for my family tree project.

This next week will be extra special because it is Thanksgiving! I love this time of year, and I can't wait to eat cranberries!

It feels so good to be home

It feels really great to be home. Canada with Kate was so fun! I'm going to miss her girls so much and the beautiful Calgary weather we had. I will also miss the baby elephant Malti.

But, I have to say it feels GOOD to be home! I was in my travel box for a eight days! Mama says I'm a real girl, but then why do I have to travel in a box? Other girls travel in planes and cars. Mama reminded me I travel that way too sometimes.

Anyway, Kate sent me home with some of the best gifts, pins for my collection, my angel costume, stickers, maps, a new bracelet, and more. I love everything so much.

When I got home Mama had some surprises for me too! New PJs for winter nights and a bedroom - yes, I repeat - my own room!!!!! It is sooooo perfect! I've been begging my parents for ages for my own room, and they decided to set one up while I was away. What a great homecoming gift!

Mama took a video of my surprise when I first saw my new room, she says maybe this weekend we can upload the video to my blog.

Right now I'm sitting in my new room in my new cozy PJs playing on my laptop. I'm checking Inky's blog and Nora's blog (did you know Nora was here while I was gone?) and I am updating my blog. Pretty soon I'm going to head up to Kit's room and ask her how things have been here in Utah.

Here it is, my own room!

Bye-bye, Canada!

Hi, it's Violet. Today I'm leaving to go home. That's me waving goodbye.

I had lots of fun in Calgary, but I miss my family. Mama, Daddy, that means you!

I did some really fun things, like going to the zoo (And meeting an elephant named Malti :). She is SO cute!) and playing games.

I'm going to miss my host sisters, who have been really nice to me. But I'll still be glad to go back to Utah.

Bye, everyone!

Violet

Hallowe'en: Parties, Pirates, Puppies, Candy and Cookies

Hey everyone! Can you believe it is November 4th? Did you set your clocks back last night? It sure is nice to get an extra hour of sleep, especially with how busy we've been at Kate's house. So, do you like how my pumpkin turned out? I decided to carve a heart to represent how much I LOVE being in Canada.

Today we woke up to snow, so I'm a little sad because we were hoping to go to the mountains. Instead, we will watch the fresh new November flakes come down and dream about sledding and skating and turkey, and CHRISTMAS at home.

Sigh. Kate and I have to pack up my things today as I'm heading home tomorrow. I've been so busy, I've hardly had time to look at my journal, so its a good think I've been blogging and sending pictures out. Did you see the pictures of the Hallowe'en dog party? Here is the link.

I went to a dog meet up--there were pugs and French Bull dogs and Boston Terriers. I totally fell in love with "Lola", a cream coloured girl who kept busy trying to keep the other puppies in line. She'd go up to a group of misbehavors and scold them (arf arf!) and then run right back to me for reassuring pats. And of course, the sheriff dog was so funny.

Then yesterday, we volunteered at a Christmas Craft Sale and sold some neat quilts and primitive dolls and a nativity scene, and the proceeds all go to the Boston Terrier Rescue Society. Sometimes people choose a pet and then for many reasons, it doesn't work out and the pups have no place to turn. Its so sad :( So, I was glad to help. I've also been selling Girl Guide cookies with Kate, and I was invited to attend all her Unit meetings while I've been in Calgary. Everyone was so awesome - we had a costume party, and they made me an honourary guide! I even got a "Cookie Crazy" crest for selling cookies at a senior's residence. I'm supposed to sew it on my camp blanket. We sold so many boxes and it was nice to visit with all the grammas and grampas and they love those chocolate mint cookies.

I am a little full of chocolate myself. We got SO MUCH trick-or-treat loot, you wouldn't believe it. Kate and I decided to dress as matching angels. Did you see those pictures? It was fun to have a hallowe'en ball in the dining room with everyone. We put up spooky spider webbing everywhere. The Hallowe'en Night event at Heritage Park was very cool. Both in atmosphere AND temperature. It was a clear and cold night, and there was even a full moon! Thank goodness for the hot chocolate because it was all set up outdoors. We saw a very scary play that was in an unheated tent and the air was so cold we could see our breath. It made the play seem even more real because it was set in a spooky graveyard. Then we went to the "Pirate Cove" tent and it was fun to check out all the sea-dogs and walk the plank for a gold doubloon.

On Hallowe'en day, Kate and I went around the City to check out the yards of the neighbours who had really gone all out making their homes look haunted. It was so neat. And then just as we got home, we got a call from the library that Kate had won first prize for a book review she wrote for the Teen Zone's mystery novel contest. You should see all the neat spooky stuff she won! It was very exciting.

Oh, and I forgot to say we went to a play at the Vertigo Theatre called "Number 14" by a theatre group from Vancouver. It was SO FUNNY - about all the folks you might meet by travelling about on the bus. There was lots of acrobatics and slap stick comedy and jokes. They used masks and changed from one character into another right in front of us. And guess what - we went to the play on the bus, so I got to see more of the City and ring the bell at our stop. That was fun.

And then we went windowshopping and I saw the Famous Five monument. In 1927, five women from Alberta challenged a law that excluded women from public office. They were: Emily Murphy (who later became the British Empire's first female judge);
Irene Marryat Parlby (a farm women's leader, who later became the first female Cabinet minister in Alberta); Nellie Mooney McClung (a famous suffragist and member of the Alberta legislature); Louise Crummy McKinney (who became the first women elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta) and
Henrietta Muir Edwards (a founding member of the Victorian Order of Nurses). I felt so honoured to stand among their statues. They are very inspiring.

And then I tried ONION RINGS at A & W. Oh, man are they good! Crunchy on the outside and gooey oniony on the inside. If I wasn't still so full of chocolate....

Well, I think I'll go see if Kate is awake yet. She's just got to get up and see these snowflakes falling. Its so beautiful!!!

Love to all, and home soon!

Violet

Help me see the world!

I thought that I had seen a lot of the world, well I guess I've only seen 3% of all the world's countries. That is not many. I want to see 100%! Will you help me?

Table Hockey, Bears, Butterflies and Dog Math

Bonjour from Canada!

We have been having MORE awesome weather. Every morning I love looking at the super bright yellow pansies in the clay pots in the front garden when everything else is covered in frost.

Kate and I have been working on some projects together for school. It's really nice to have someone to giggle with while I'm getting school stuff done too. My favorite this past week was visiting Oliver and Jasper's house for the Pet Project. They were really good sports and let us measure their heights and lengths (we decided NOT to count the tail because Jasper's is really long and Olly's is stubby.

Then we went shopping at Costco to check out dog food prices for our report. Wow, their stores are really FUN. I got to ride a pony and play table HOCKEY which I am totally obsessed with now. I played on an official TEAM CANADA game and I scored goal after goal. It was so funny when one of my goal pucks went flying out of the goal net and across the aisles into a big plushy display in the toy section. I met Shrek when he helped me find the missing puck.

Then I saw this really SWEET pony and was able to have a ride, but not bring the pony home. Kate explained that there was no room in the van. I was a little sad but I got over it, when I learned I was going back to the Zoo because I'd hardly seen any of it really. So, this time we saw some beautiful butterflies, a burrowing owl, a great owl, an elk, a muskox, bighorn sheep babies, and oh, gosh, I got to ride a bear, and it was all just amazing.

Oh ya, and then Kate and I found this waaay cool microscope that was so powerful. I have to find out if it was a laser or an electron microscope, but anyway, it had all these cool slides related to the Canadian Wilderness area, like quills and plants and stuff. So, after we looked at those, we got kind of goofy, and I discovered I could fit under the microscope and it would show ME up on the big flat monitor on the wall. It was SO FUNNY so Kate's Mom took a picture of my smile so I could see it. We laughed and laughed. We were there for HOURS and we realized we were all really hungry so we had to leave.

And on the way out, guess who was there? MALTI came out again, and holy cow, she is growing so fast. She spotted me out of a huge crowd and came over and tickled us with her adorable little trunk. We LOVE Malti. On the way home we went to Mickey-D's for ice-cream and we decided we would go to the little greenhouse and pick out some pumpkins for the porch. I had to get Kate's dad to carry mine home for me though. If you want to see the rest of the pictures, here you go: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2086835313&idx=0

Well, au revoir mes amis! J'taime

Violet

Hi from Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Hi everyone! I'm having a great time with Kate and her family. We have been really busy since I arrived, but its been so.much.fun. There are lots of sisters to play with at Kate's. There was quite a commotion when I arrived, and the girls were even a little spooked by my mysterious arrival, but we are all having such fun hanging out together. Nellie and I, especially, have become great buds.
Kate has been showing me around Calgary. The weather has been A.W.E.S.O.M.E. I know why they call it "big sky country" because you can see forever, and the sky is SO BLUE. We've had really summery weather. Yesterday we went to an historic park to buy tickets to an upcoming Halloween event. The park was deserted, so even in the daytime, it felt a little spooky. I spent a lot of time exploring the park and I found an old windmill overlooking the water. There were lots of beautiful sailboats out because it was SO SUNNY and warm. I just loved sitting in the grass and watching the boats float around on the blue blue water.

Today I met the cutest baby elephant EVER. See, that's her picture at the top. Her name is Malti. I also met a tiger cub and her mom, and some really amazing giraffes and a rather large snake. It was all very cool.

Kate and I are very busy planning a Halloween party. Its going to be on October 28th. We have been busy shopping for treats and putting costumes together. I'm quite excited. This week we are going to be decorating the house. We bought some of that white spiderwebby stuff and some fun fake spiders. Its going to be F.U.N.

Of course, we have to work on school stuff too, but even that will be fun because Kate and Nellie and Emily and Nicki and Jess and Kit and Small Kate and Marisol and I (phew) are all going to do school together. Kate is rather a mischievous one, and Emily too. I am hearing outrageous prank stories, one after the other. Glue in the hair, salt in the sugar bowl, the whole nine yards. These girls are pretty hilarious.

We planted a new tree tonight, as part of a municipal greening "neighbourwoods" program the City of Calgary is sponsoring. Kate and her family and I planted a hawthorne right out on the front garden. Kate called the new tree "Violetta" in my honour. Isn't that something?

Really miss you Mom, but as you might have guessed, I'm having a wonderful time in Canada. I met a lady today who has a Chatty Cathy! She was so nice.

Well, that's it for now. Over and out from the Great Big Blue Skies Over Alberta!
LOVE you,
Violet

P.S. Here are the links to all the albums so far:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2086994423
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2086977826
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2086960207

Halloween last year

Today I'm leaving for Calgary to visit Kate! I can't wait. The post office guy said I should be there in eight days. Yeah right.... last time it took me 2.5 weeks to get to Canada! All the customs people wanted to visit with me first.

Anyway, since I'll be away from home for Halloween this year, I wanted to post what I did last year. I was visiting Hannah and Bren in Virgina, and had such a good time! I got there in time to go to Williamsburg and Jamestown with them, and then I spent Halloween at their house. It was so fun, even though I tricked Kit out of her Halloween costume! (Want to learn more? Check out my album here). I am so sneaky!

Here are a few photos from last year's Halloween, Williamsburg and Jamestown. I know this year will be just as fun in Canada!

Felicity, Kit and I decided to watch a scary Halloween movie.

Maybe it was too scary, we had to cover our eyes!

My Halloween costume of Little Red Ridding Hood was so pretty.

Or did I go as a Safari Guide? (you'll have to look at the album to find out!)

Here I am in fount of the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg. Here I am in front of the James River. I was right outside Historic Jamestown.

My pin collection

Weekend at the farmhouse

I'm really lucky, and here's why-

My Mama's family has a cabin. My Mama has been going to the cabin since she was a baby. Any girl in the world would be so happy to have a cabin like mine.

But that's not all, my Daddy's family has a farmhouse! His ancestors traveled across the frontier as pioneers all the way from Denmark and Sweden and settled in Mount Pleasant Utah, where they built the farmhouse. My Daddy's family still has the farmhouse which means that if we are not at the cabin, or traveling somewhere else, my family is likely to be at the farmhouse. It is not really a farm. A long time ago it was, but now it is just a small house on the edge of town.

This weekend we went down to the farmhouse. Aunt Chelsea brought Jess, which was really fun because Jess and I played stuffed animals all weekend (I brought Cheburashka, of course!). Mama got sick though, so that was sad. I wanted to snuggle her and make her feel better, but she said I was too squirmy, so I got up to play with Jess some more.

On the way home we did the Nebo Loop, which is a scenic drive where we looked for fall leaves and bears. We saw lots of fall leaves, but not any bears. I wanted to see a bear eating or running, that would have been cool. Cheburashka liked the fall leaves a lot.

National Parks

Did you know I've been to a lot of National Parks? One thing that National Parks do is preserve different type of ecosystems that are special to our earth.

So which National Parks have I been to?

I've been to Yosemite. This is a very special park because this is where Mama and Daddy got married. This is my favorite park too.
I've been to Bryce National Park. Bryce is famous for red sandstone pillars called Hodos. You can hike among them!
I've been to Grand Teton National Park, in the winter! It was so snowy and cloudy, we didn't get to see the Tetons. I hope to go back soon.
Also, I've been to quite a few parks and National Historic sites with my hosts, including Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Richmont Battlefield.