snow fun

One of the perks of having Christmas in UT is SNOW!!!! and Boy did we get snow! It was AWESOME!!! (all except for Driving to Corinne on Christmas afternoon, that was not so fun). The Hibshmans build a "pond" in the back yard every winter and it was all I could do to keep Brooklyn from 'ice skating' every waking moment. She was totally excited about it!




Mason even gave it a go, although the first time he wasn't so sure and fell off...that wasn't so fun, but he did do it again and thoroughly enjoyed it. Somehow, I didn't get any pics of the sledding hill in the front yard, but after shoveling the driveway and such, the boys built an awesome hill for sledding (anyone feel free to email me some pics of that...). It's a good thing that my kids have such nice Uncles, Grandpa and Daddy to take them outside. I didn't want to stand in the cold and since I couldn't participate in the fun, I didn't want to go outside so much :). Definitely some good times!

(don't miss the other post below!)

festivities

Well, the carols have been sung, Santa come and gone, presents opened and fought over, and many an unhealthy treat consumed. Christmas is over. I enjoyed Christmas, but I must agree with my Dad; it didn't really feel like Christmas this year. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it, though and that's all that matters. We got oodles of fun things from Family and friends and we couldn't be more blessed. Enjoy the sampling of our fun:

no one told me to smile for the camera....

sleeping naked is ALWAYS better...

Finally, the loot. I'd say my kids made out like bandits!

Definitely some good times! We're back in NV now, Jon is back to work. {sigh} why must vacations be so short....? Hopefully I'll soon have information about us moving to some new digs...that has not been going smoothly and I've kind of given up on the whole process. But, the year is winding down so something has to happen soon! Happy New Year everyone! We hope your holiday is cheery and bright!

Merry Christmas!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas (sort of)...and we wanted to send out our holiday greetings! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May the spirit of the season rest in our hearts all year!


This was too funny not to post. Mason is part-Holmes, that is for sure! On Sunday we came home after church to eat lunch then headed back to the church to meet with the bishop. We said, "ok guys, time to go." and Mason immediately said, "wait! Hat"....and we went back to the church all decked out -- with his cars hat on. :) Luckily he didn't mind leaving it in the car, but it went right back on as soon as he was strapped in :). He's too funny!

Back in NV

Before we jump into NV fun times, this is Mason's Christmas outfit! Isn't it awesome! My mom bought it for him. Brooklyn also got a Christmas dress, which is gorgeous, but that pic is still on the camera. Sadly, I misplaced the tie in UT somewhere (still hoping it's been found) so yesterday for church it was tie-less...Still adorable, though!
This was Monday that we got back. Yes, we still live in Las Vegas....Who knew?
Sorry the pics are so dark. It took me a few minutes to figure out we really needed the flash. Brooklyn was totally stoked....Mason could've cared less....
SNOW!!! Can we make a snowman mom??? --actually the snow was perfect for a snowman, but I was too lazy (and didn't have the clothes for mason) to get us all decked out for such an activity. Luckily she was content to build a pile on the sidewalk.
Mason was more interested in the rocks. It was way fun, though!

election

They like me...they really like me! :) I don't know what I'm supposed to do now, but fun for me! :)

more UT adventures

Oh, how I hate Blogger. Ok, in backwards order again..... here I am...officially 28. I have a hard time believing that's my age. I remember thinking how OLD that sounded, and yet I don't feel old (most days). This is my cute daddy. He had everyone come over the night of my bday for a surprise. Our friend made cobbler and it was delish. I made dinner (a beef pot pie, I was rather proud of myself) and had my in-laws come down. It was fun.
This is the beautiful bouquet my sis-in-law sent soon after my mother passed away. I {LOVE} roses, and with the evergreens, holly, and pinecones it was absolutely amazing. Plus, the frosted glass, square vase is way awesome. I'm really excited, because my friend is helping dry the roses, and then we're going to find some fake greenery to recreate the arrangement. Then I can have it around every year to remember!
Another day in UT brought us an opportunity to see Santa and his reindeer. Although Brooklyn stood in line for more than a half an hour, about 10 people away from Santa, she decided she wasn't interested. Mason wouldn't stand with my sister, so he didn't even attempt. We did, however spend quite a bit of time outside with the reindeer. I have to admit, they were kind of cool....

Mason couldn't decide if he really liked them or not. However, it was much warmer inside the greenhouse where the reindeer were, than outside, so we looked at them alot... Afterwards, we went to dinner. There were 10 kids (if you count my nephew who's 15) and 6 adults. It was quite a zoo, but turned out really fun.

test firing

as the motor was burning down

Ok, I'm totally annoyed. I haven't been using internet explorer due to threats of viruses, and I'm having trouble blogging. Oh well...Out of order pics, but what do you do?

While in Utah, we were lucky enough to go see a test firing out at ATK. (That's the place where they build rocket motors in Promontory, about 20 minutes from my parents' house. It used to be known as Thiokol...pretty cool.) Anyway, I'd never been to one before and Jon's dad (who works there) clued us in to the one that was scheduled. It was pretty awesome. It was over 2 minutes long and even from where we were (pretty far away) we could feel the blast and it was pretty loud. You wouldn't believe the dust cloud. I thought it was way cool going up, but not so much fun to drive through as it came down....Ah well. Good times, we definitely need to do that again!

the ever-rising cloud

fire and cloud

zoom in on fire

This is pretty much how far away we were

cool, eh?

our crowd. My sis and her fam and us (jon taking photo)

Mason thought it was totally Rad, he was making rocket noises the whole time

yes, it was far far away....

the kids waiting for the count down to get low enough to count along, Mason was having a little snooze in the car.

off the face....

Sorry all, about falling off the face of the earth....I didn't mean to. Now, I have some serious catching up to do. That will come in the next few days. I have been reading blogs, however. Just not commenting. It has been an eventful month. The month, however, didn't start on a very good note, thus the lack of posts.

My mom and Brooklyn, June 2006

Early December 1st, 2008, my Mother --Carole Holmes-- passed away. It was a blessing, a shock, and a VERY difficult way to start the month. I appreciate everything she and my Dad have done for us over the years, and she will be incredibly missed by many. It was a very hard two weeks that I spent in Utah. Part of the time with Jon (which helped immensly) and part with just my Dad after Jon had to return to NV for work. I hope my time in Utah helped in some way, and it was immensly hard to leave my Dad there alone. He isn't really alone, all my siblings but me and one sister live there, but it was still hard.

So, blogging has been on the back burner. I appreciate all the love and cards and flowers people have sent. Our little family feels very loved during this hard time. Please forgive my absence, and watch for some (more) catch up posts to come soon!