Out on a Date!

Nikki and I went out on a date to Le Frolic. We left Winnie at the Bailey's house for3 hours for the first time. She was fine and had lots of fun. We haven't been on a date in 9 months or so, although we have gone out to restaurants with Winnie. It was very nice. We ordered a bottle of Italian red and had an appetizer, an antipasti platter, dessert and coffee. We even had a $50 gift certificate from Social Services.

The Italian antipasti platter is one of our favourites in town. Lots of tasty finger food - olives, pickled and roasted vegetables, olives, blue cheese, hard Italian cheese, proscuitto, salami, mushrooms, crusty bread, etc... Very fun to eat together.

Nikki heading to the restaurant. We've been getting a lot of snow lately although it isn't too cold yet. -8 C or so.


My dessert, a peanut butter cheesecake. It was very good, like a gourmet Reese's Pieces ice cream sandwich. Very soft and rich.


Nikki's dessert, the Chocolate Fondant. It was the most expensive dessert on the menu but it wasn't that good. Quite dry and plain, actually. No better than a lightly cooked brownie from a mix. It needed a dollop of ice cream or at least, whipped cream, to be any good. The waitress asked how she liked it and when Nikki said it was so-so, the waitress didn't charge us for it, which is a nice gesture.

Your November Dose of Winnie Goodness

Teaching Winnie to stick her tongue out


Almost got it!


Standing next to Colin's exer-saucer




Playing with Tupperware








Til next time!

Winnie's Halloween Costume

Winnie had two Halloween costumes: a devil and a ladybug. Here they are:



I'm using the Picasa slideshow feature. Tell me what you think!

Julie and Keith's Baby

Some older news... Julie and Keith had their baby. A boy, Daniel Evan McLean. Here's some pictures of the day he was born.

More Pictures From the Summer

I finally found the charger to our camera (cleverly hidden on our bedroom floor) and I recovered the 2nd batch of pictures from the summer. There are some real winners!

Mr. X stalks his prey


Playin' on grandpa


Mom, daughter and cousin


Our excellent family BBQ


Mom with granddaughter






Pouty face baby


Shauna with baby


Auntie Gake with baby


Winnie dressed up in her "northern" attire (muskrat hat and moose moccasins lended to us from our friend)


Curtis, foster kids, Winnie on couch

Some Recent Pictures

Last Monday we had a bonfire with the Cubs. Lots of stories, songs, games, etc... It was cool but warmer than lately, about 0 degrees.

Two of the Cubs at the bonfire (one might be familiar to some of you)


The Cubs at the bonfire


Here's our dinner from tonight. Onions, carrots, cabbage, bamboo, chilis, mushrooms, bean sprouts, BBQ chicken and Shanghai-style noodles in hoisin sauce. Very tasty.


Here's some family pictures. Speaking of family, Social Services is threatening to dump some emergency foster kids on us very shortly but just for the weekend. I'm glad we're back to fostering a bit but it is very stressful and nerve-wracking waiting. Also, we are billeting a Katimavik volunteer for a week to give them a taste of Yellowknife culture.

Morning in the Naphan household


Winnie eating some green beans made by Natasha


Going for the grapes


Getting some help picking up the grapes


(We're aware that grapes aren't the safest food but she really likes them and she just gums them a bit)

October News

It has been a while since we posted any updates from our neck of the woods. It has been quite a busy few weeks. Winnie is getting bigger by the day and more and more active. We are trying to introduce new foods and while she is interested in playing with them, she isn't too interested in eating yet.

Cubs has started and it is going well. We have about 14 boys enrolled and the first two meetings have been fun. We are taking a break this Monday for Thanksgiving and then starting back up.

Nikki got a little sick this week and was under the weather for 3 days, which makes it hard to care for the baby. Winnie seemed to stay healthy.

Lastly, we got snow earlier this week (grrr) and it hasn't gone away yet. It's hovering between -5 and 0 C.

I'm back into trying to make a good loaf of bread and here is a nice one I made. I usually have a hard time getting it to rise but I've figured out a pretty good system. This loaf was huge! I should've split it into two long loaves.


Winnie eating a baby cookie


She really likes them!