The Hibshman House

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!)

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:





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!

'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!

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!

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

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.

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!

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!

Oh, how I love surprises! It was our dear cousins birthday last week and her hubby planned a great surprise! No, the surprise wasn't for me, but it was still just as fun! Their families came to town and we all had dinner and went to a show. It was great fun and their house was completely, blissfully, overflowing. After a delicious dinner that left us all feeling a bit uncomfortable, we went to see Phantom at the Venetian. I absolutely adore the movie, but had never seen it live so I was SOOOO excited! And there was absolutely no dissappointment. It was absolutely amazing, to say the least. Incredible special effects, the most talented voices, and all the emotion that the story brings. Sigh, what a night. Besides that, we had an EXCELLENT babysitter(s) and a wonderful night with just Jon and me. I have issues with babysitters. (Not brave enough to just ask anyone, you know.) If anyone gets the opportunity to see the show, you should. Come to Vegas! You can stay with us and go see this show :). It was great fun!

Life has been pretty quiet here at the Hibshman Household. Nothing terribly exciting to report. We've looked at dozens of houses, tried to budget money, played with the kids, played with Jon's siblings, pretty thriller, eh? Tonight, it's 7 p.m. and Jon isn't home yet. He probably will be another hour. I don't know why it's so hard. He's gone all day, what difference does being gone in the evening as well make? It sure does. Bathtime is at least another 1/2 hour and I don't know what else to do with the kids. Of course, I could let them drag out all their toys, but we just picked all those up! We played some games, and at the moment, Brooklyn is doing her endless running. Mason is following her around. It seems to be enough, so here I sit, blogging. I don't know why these days seem so much longer than the others.

It was such a great trip. Look how little and cuddly Mason still looked!

Lots of good memories. Anyhow, I've babbled enough. Maybe we'll do something fun this weekend that will come with pictures and be blog-worthy! Happy weekend all! I hope your holiday week is a good one!

Thinking, it might be fun....I took the side off the crib today. Thus making it a "daybed". Or so they say. Mason and Brooklyn LOVED it. You'd think Brooklyn had never seen it that way. (Let's not forget that SHE slept on it that way for more than a few months). Anyway, I was feeling brave, so we attempted naptime without the side. It went better than expected, but not successfully.