JaNuArY uPdAtE ~

James (11 months)

Jaimee (around 11 months, I think)

Our new employee...cheap labor ;)

 So I came across this picture of me from when I was the same age as James is right now about 11mths give or take and thought there was a big resemblance so I tried taking some pics of James downstairs to emulate my pic the best I could and he wasn't having it! He knew he was gonna go in the hot tub w/his daddy and he didn't want to miss out on anything knowing his dad was just outside starting w/out him - but I picked the one where he was squinting w/not a happy face but it was the closest It came to looking like my pic. What do you guys think?? Cheeks, nose, eyes, even the hair a little and chubbies all look familiar, right?!? :) 

The rest of the pictures are just some cute shots we took during this CoLd winter month of JaNuArY.. it's almost over now, YAY!!! February here we come!! Busy month ahead - Valentines Day, my parents coming to town for a long weekend over Presidents day holiday, our 5th Anniversary, James' 1st Birthday and hopefully get some skiing in too!! So fun posts to come!!! Check back soon :)

Our Sunday best, thanks nana :)

Getting ready to hot tub!!

Another Hirschi that loves the hot tub!

Daddy and his boy's!

Best Highlights of 2010...

I'm posting a picture for each month of the year that was the best highlight or memory for us in the year of 2010!
January~

Ice Skating at Merlin Olsen Park

Brooklynn turned 9!

February~

Birth of Baby James

Baby James coming home 2 wks later - thanks to miracles & prayers!

March~

Our little Spencer turning 3!!

April~

Blessing Baby James & sharing that day w/cousin Nikki's baptism!

May~

Moved to our Bear Lake House & Brian turned 36!

June~

Did the Hyrum Triathlon Relay - we got 1st place overall!

July~

Turned the BIG 30!

August~

Had our Penning family vacation in Seaside, Oregon

September~

Brooklynn started the 4th grade in a new school!

Spencer started his first year in Preschool!!

October~

Hirschi girl weekend in Arizona!

A little family getaway to SLC - Zoo, Planetarium & Lagoon!

November~

Thanksgiving w/my family - lot's of wrestling, food & games!

December~

Baby James' first Christmas!

Our very 1st family ski day - a start of a new family tradition!!!

Hope your 2010 was filled w/lot's of fun, exciting and adventurous memories like ours! Here's to another great but even better new year w/more traditions and building special memories! 2011 here we come :)

The big double digit's!!!

She had to do this in order to get her wish made - her brother was too excited to help her blow out the candles!

This was a very happy Birthday girl indeed! I just still can't believe it's been 10 years since I had her - crazy how fast the time goes by! She has been a BIG blessing in our lives! We got to celebrate it at the Hirschi's the Sunday before and then again on her actual day which was Thursday the 6th! She had her best 2 girlfriends over, some family and our family friends the Hooley's! She picked Chocolate cake of course and got ice cream w/it! Opened presents and played around the house! It was a good night :) She also got many loving phone calls from family that couldn't be here and they all sang her happy Birthday which she felt very loved!

Here are some of the best traits and her favorite things and hobby's about Brooklynn that make her special and a very important child of God:

• Loving
• Caring
• Loves her heavenly father and the gospel
• Gentle heart
• When her brother, Spencer, is really sad especially at bedtime she'll sneak in there and give him loves or read him a book to calm him down.
• Loves and cares for animals
• Has great values
• Her smile brightens up the room
• She is very smart and tries really hard at her school work and improving at things she knows she needs to be better at.
• She is still a kid and not in a hurry to grow up too fast (this is my FAVORITE thing)
• Very creative 
• Helpful 'most' of the time ;-)
• Responsible and trusting
• Learns and adapts quickly
• Is good at helping w/baby James when asked to! (but still asks for a baby sister) sorry girl!!!
• Is getting better with her social skills at school and making new friends
• Is a GREAT reader and loves to write
• Absolutely adores horses!
• Loves to play games (that's my girl)
• Is a 'daddy's girl' 100% through and through!
• Is pretty good at sharing her time and space w/the little brothers - get's better everyday!
• Really enjoy's her 'alone' time though!
• She loves to ski
• Likes to ice skate
• Loves listening to music and just got an ipod shuffle for her b-day w/$ from her grandparents in WA
• Is just easy to love -- period!

December Memories ~

We had a great holiday season and loved every minute of it :) There was only one moment that wasn't too happy and that was James getting tubes in both ears and his adenoids out the Tuesday before Christmas! He was a trooper though and only took a half hour to calm down and be released then he slept the entire day and night! He was pretty out of it to say the least but the surgery went great and he recovered quickly! We are still having to put some antibiotics in his left ear b/c of some blockage but hopefully that will clear it up soon!

Even started a new family sport/hobby to do together! We went skiing for the first time as a family on New Years Eve day and built some awesome memories together and will keep it a tradition! I wasn't so sure I'd like it but I've turned a new leaf and am in love w/it and can't wait to go again! We got to go 2x's the week after Christmas so that was really cool! Poor James stayed home of course but he'll get to start in a couple years w/us! We also got to go caroling as a family at a nursing home w/some other families in our neighborhood and that was a very special thing to experience and it will also be our yearly tradition as a family! Here's to building new and keeping to old traditions for years to come!! Hope you all had a great and happy holiday season like we did, love you all!