Halloween 2011

So this year was honestly one of the best Halloween years by far I think! Not sure what came over me but felt like a kid again and had the BEST time being w/friends and family that night! We do pretty much the same thing each year but this year we added some neighbor/friends to the mix when we trick or treated and it turned out so awesome! We live on really steep hills so the only way to do it here and have a great time is pulling trailers behind our four wheeler - it truly makes it an adventure!

Also my best friend/sister-in-law came w/her 2 kids and stayed the night so that was a lot of fun too - even though we always stay up so late talking then have to wake up early to do a workout BUT it's the best moments w/her b/c we get to chat and talk w/absolutely NO kids interrupting us so it makes it ALL worth it :) Love it when she stays! Also I usually don't ever dress up and feel like a loser mom - but this year I decided to change my whole mind set about it and have fun w/it instead of feel so stressed out and try to enjoy the holiday! So I put on an old Bee costume from when Brooklynn was a toddler and had lots of fun w/it! I've realized as I'm getting older that no one makes your happiness we are in control of how happy we want to be or can be and although 'some' people in our lives can have an effect on it, it still is truly up to us to be happy and make each moment in our life a positive moment and try to look at whatever it is in a positive way! I had a blast and the kids were smiling from ear to ear w/the loot they got that night so I know they enjoyed themselves as well!

Grandpa Hirschi came over and Uncle Jeff too for dinner, our traditional Halloween night Chili in a Pumpkin w/scones! Grandpa came trick or treating w/us for a little while then they went home - We were w/some great friends and stayed out the latest I think we've ever stayed out - we do stay out a long time usually but this time took a little longer b/c we went up to the top of all the hills to the houses that were handing out FULL SIZE candy bars - it will definitely become a yearly tradition I think and hope all of you had just as great of a time as we did this Halloween and now onto being thankful this month and being grateful for what we all have :)

 Our scary corpse bride...

 Cutest Hershey kiss ever and the other awesome hero of a Spiderman!

 Out on the trailer w/the crew!

 Randi and her kiddo's!

 The scary faces of the Hirschi Family! (well from some of us anyway) ;)

 The duo superhero's, they both ended up wanting to be Spiderman this year! Spencer is on the left Gavin on the right..

 Is everyone ready??!! We had two trailers and four wheelers between us and made it work!

 Trick or Treat...

 My sweet little monkey!

Before the rest of the crew came aboard :)

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 :)

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!

Thanksgiving 2010

I know I know - I'm so 2 months ago but better now then never! Just a quick recap of our fun Turkey day celebration here in Logan! We were way excited to host it this year at our house for the second time - really loving it and hope we can do it more often! My family all came except my brother and his family couldn't make it b/c of work! So here are some fun highlights of the time we had together :)

As you can see there was pulling tubes w/the four wheelers in our backyard, snow forts, a homemade skating rink Brian built for the kiddo's, wrestling each other, a four wheeler trip over to Green Canyon and LOTS of playing games, shopping and eating! I didn't get any pic's of the awesome food but it was a success, even w/putting the stuffing together, cleaning and stuffing the bird at midnight the night before, thanks to mom, Brian and the whole clan pitching in! Built some fun memories! Oh and thanks to my sis and her hubby for breaking out the last 2 chocolate pies after a LONG drive here too! I was so busy doing my first homemade apple pie, the lemon merange pie, dad's holupchi (a polish dish), cleaning the house, getting beds and rooms put together, dealing w/sick kids I kinda didn't get to the last minute things but I have the BEST family ever and they helped me knock all the rest out in the wee hours of the morning! But let me tell you we had the best turkey and dressing ever b/c of slowly cooking it all night long and using some awesome fresh herbs it was delightful and so worth the long and tiring night :)