Monday, December 29, 2008

Christmases Past


As I was posting this year's Christmas pics to my computer, I came across some pictures from Christmases past. It was a wonderful few minutes as I looked at how much my children have grown. I love them all so very much and am proud of the people they are becoming! I love you Travis, Justin, Miranda & Jared! Thank you for bringing so much Christmas joy to me!


Christmas 2007 - happy to be together!
Christmas 2005 - people are getting taller!
Christmas 1999 - We flew to Utah on Christmas Day to spend the holidays with Lon's family. We had a wonderful white Christmas! Here, everyone proudly shows off their BYU shirts at Grandma Hirsche's house!
Christmas 1997 --- Travis & Justin both got Spiderman pajamas complete with webs and Miranda had to show off her PJs as well! Jared was only 2 months old and unable to show off his jammies!

Happy 16th Birthday, Justin!

In honor of Justin's 16th birthday, I wanted to share this picture of Justin taken when he was 7 years old. Isn't he just so cute! We are very proud of the young man he has grown to be! We love you, Justin!
I can't remember the last time Justin had a party for his birthday so we decided to "surprise" him with a backyard movie shin-dig. Most of you know that Justin is a true Batman fan, so we borrowed an outdoor projector and showed "The Dark Knight" outside on a huge screen. We set up lots of camp chairs and blankets so that Justin's friends from school and church could watch the movie, eat lots of goodies and fix up a s'more in the fire pit! The weather was nice and cool (sorry, more bragging about the beautiful Florida winters!) and everyone had a great time!






Justin & his friend, Trace. Trace was a my partner in crime and passed out invitations at school.

Christmas Kayaking and Other Holiday Festivities

I know I really rubbed it in with my Thanksgiving post, but nothing tops this one --Kayaking on Christmas Day! My sister's family got kayaks for Christmas and Miranda & Savannah and Jared & Caleb got to try them out in the canal behind my parents' house. The weather here has been in the 70s all week and it was perfect for a trip in the Indian River Lagoon! Of course, when we are scorching off the tops of our heads in the summer, some of you can rub your wonderful cooler weather in our faces :)


We always have Christmas Eve at my house with lots of hors d'oeuvres, sweets, good laughs and even the traditional Christmas Eve pajamas! Madison came to visit with us and we enjoyed talking some pictures in front of the tree!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Our Christmas Angel

Madi had her Christmas picture taken this week - isn't she adorable! Lauren said the photographer was jingling some Christmas bells and Madi was mesmerized by them!


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A Florida Thanksgiving

Bright sun . . . cool breeze . . . shorts . . . t-shirts . . . barefeet . . . hammocks . . . palm trees . . . just a few of the things that make Thanksgiving in Florida FABULOUS! The weather was absolutely perfect as we gathered at my parents' home for Thanksgiving! We ate . . . and ate . . . and ate . . . talked, laughed, watched some football, enjoyed the firepit and the kids ended the day with the traditional after dark"kick the can" game.
Miranda & Savannah enjoy a laugh in the hammock! Many a lazy and beautiful day have been enjoyed in my parents' backyard hammock! The kids have always loved it -- it would be fun to collect all of the pics we have taken over the years and put them in a hammock collection.

Which is the bigger turkey? Haha! I couldn't resist a jab at Chuck, my most fav brother-in-law! In addition to the traditional oven-baked turkey, Chuck, also known as the "Chef Extraordinaire," tried his hand at a deep fried turkey. It was delicious!

Enjoying the fruits of his labor -- that is one big turkey . . . . . leg!
Only in Florida can you sit around the fire pit, barefoot, with green grass on Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 24, 2008

My Three Sons!

We took some candid shots after Madison's blessings. It's not too often that the boys are all dressed so nicely with such big smiles on their faces so I couldn't resist sharing one! I am so proud of my sons - aren't they handsome!

Madison's Blessing

It was a wonderful evening as Travis' family and Lauren's family came together in our home for Madison's blessing. Papa Lon blessed her with health, happiness and much joy! Everyone wanted to hold Madison -- she got passed 'round and 'round! I know we wore her out!

The Grandmas! Great Grandma Elaine (Lon's mom), Grandma Mary Ann (Lauren's mom), Mimi (Marisa's mom) and Marisa (the no-name grandma!)

I think Madison was a little startled by the flash, but I love how blue her eyes look!Four generations of Hirsches! Travis proudly shows off his beautiful daughter! She was blessed in the same blessing dress that Miranda wore! "So you're Grandma Hirsche, " is what Madison seems to be saying as she looks up! The pic is a little dark -- I haven't had a chance to lighten it up yet -- but here is the Grandpa shot! Pops (Marisa's dad), Papa Lon, Travis, Grandpa Chris (Lauren's dad) and Uncle Chuck. Lauren, Madison & Travis Miranda and Savannah share some girl talk with Madison! Lon's mom and sister, Michelle, came to visit and we had a WONDERFUL time with them! The week went by much too fast! We were so fortunate to have them here with us at Madison's blessing!
Uncle Chuck (aka Bishop Gantz!) holds Madison!

Misc. Madison

Aunt Miranda hugs a sleepy Madison! I still haven't decided what I want to be called -- but don't want to be grandma . . . .any good suggestions? Whatever I am called, I sure am in love with my first beautiful granddaughter!
Uncle Justin & Uncle Jared love their niece!Madison has her eyes open more & more! They are so bright, blue and beautiful!
We love the wrinkles she makes on her forehead when she is just waking up!

Monday, November 3, 2008

6 random things about me ~ I've been tagged!

One of my friends -- Janet -- "TAGGED" me! Janet and I have known each other since we were kids -- I was closer in age to her older sister, Marilyn. Marilyn and I roomed together at BYU and spent many Friday nights raising a ruckus both in Florida AND in Utah! I love all those Waters people! Janet, here goes:

1. I love to read! I can't stand to not be reading a book and can often be found reading more than one book at a time. I will read just about anything and can suggest a book for just about anyone! I love to read juvenile literature and have read many, many Sunshine State books. You almost can't go wrong with a book from that list http://myssyra.org/grades3_5/35list.html or http://myssyra.org/grades6_8/68list.html My favorite author is Sharon Creech and my favorite book (written by her) is Walk Two Moons. Some of my other favs are Touching Spirit Bear, Star Girl, The City of Ember, and I, of course, love the Harry Potter books and the Twilight series. If you ever need a suggestion, let me know :)

2. I have a secret desire to publish a children's book! I have written the copy for a picture book called A Face Without Freckles -- it is about having freckles -- you know all the Hirsche squirts have freckles and I think they are just great -- but I just haven't gotten around to doing all the leg work (which I have heard is time consuming and very few publishers accept un-solicited manuscripts). I want it to be easy - like, "here's a story I wrote" . . . . "we love it" . . . . "it's published!" But my connections in the publishing world are non-existent!

3. I teach 2nd grade. When Jared started kindergarten, I started substitute teaching and really liked it! I went back to school and took the graduate level classes to get my teacher certification. I spent the first two years as a "gypsy teacher" -- teaching with short-term contracts covering teachers that were out on maternity leave. This year I have my very own classroom and love it! (most of the time :) ) I have a candy-themed room -- on my big bulletin board, there is a HUGE "Hirsche" candy bar that I made with brown construction paper and foil and it is even spelled Hirsche. Then underneath the candy bar, it says "Welcome to Mrs. Hirsche's 2nd grade class, where learning is sweet!" My sister, Tina, helped me come up with a lot of the cute ideas and even made me some candy bar pillows out of fabric I had saved to make candy bar costumes.

4. I stole a car in college :) This is the greatest story ever! One of my best friends from high school and BYU, Stacey Harker, arranged for us to borrow a car from a friend. I had never seen his car. It was parked at the Bean Museum and after getting the keys from him, we trudged up the hill to retrieve it. It was a lovely Datsun B210 or the same version of a Nissan (you youngins' won't remember them but hey were ugly!) and it was unlocked. Stacey had some difficulty getting the keys to fit in the ignition but after wiggling them a bit, it started right up. We tooled around Provo, running errands, stopping for lunch and basically just cruisin'! We noticed he had a garter belt hanging from his rearview mirror and we made a few jokes about that. Stacey noticed his cassette player was missing and that she never knew he went to college anywhere besides BYU (there were some parking decals on the window from another school).

After a few hours, we returned it to the same parking lot but a different spot and left some cookies in the car , a few dollars to cover gas (I now sound like an old person since you really could go lots of miles on just a few dollars!) and a note thanking our friend for letting us use his car. We went back to the library to return his keys and starting giving him a hard time about the garter belt and asking questions about the missing tape player and decals. He was insistent that he did not have a garter belt hanging in his car! And after several minutes, we figured out that we had been driving the wrong car all over town! Thank goodness we didn't get pulled over or someone would have had to bail us out of jail for grand theft auto!

5. I HATE being hot! My neighbor calls me a weather wimp because I rarely venture out of my house when the temperature is up! I am in heaven right now with the windows open and the cool breeze wandering through my house! I often freeze my husband and kids to death in the winter because I don't like to turn the heat on!

6. I collect rattan handled pots/biscuit jars. My grandmother gave me a biscuit jar many years ago. It is cream colored with small pink flowers on it. Since then, I have collected about a dozen more (mostly my mom gives them to me -- thanks, mom!!) I have one that is shaped like a clown in a box and another that is a gingerbread house.

I am really new to the blogging world, so my group of blogging buddies is quite small and most of them have already been tagged - so anyone that reads this and has NOT been tagged . . . . . . YOU ARE IT!!!!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Can't get enough of that Madison

I continue my quest for the perfect yawning picture! I think I have gotten pretty close with this one, don't you?
Every time we see her, she just gets cuter and cuter! It's amazing how much she has changed since she was born . . . . just 10 days ago! It is still a challenge to get a photo with those beautiful blue peepers open!
A Daddy Daughter moment

Happy Halloween

It is a tradition to go to my sister's house on Halloween for a night of chili, candy and costumes!!
Jared was a ghoul. He had these really neat glasses that glowed red under his "mesh-type" mask. They didn't show up well in the pics, so I took a picture so you could see what they looked like. Jared was definitely scarin' up some candy!
Savannah & Miranda ready to prowl the neighborhood. Savannah was a cave girl and Miranda was a tiger!
Chase was ready to fight for candy!






Army Medic Caleb can save anyone suffering from eating too much candy!!!




Cousins Josh & Max came as doctor & aviator!













Another tradition is to dump all your candy in a pile and participate in a trading frenzy! It is so funny to listen to the kids as they shout out, "I'll trade you one butterfinger for two blow pops!" How about a laffy taffy for a now n' later?" And you think the stock market is exciting!!