Our little helper

Kurt, AJ and I went to the store. Kurt was able to see first hand what a helper AJ can be in the store. He can turn around in the cart and anything within his reach is fair game. As you can see he helped himself to the hot dogs. :)

Tradition

I am a traditionalist, I admit it. I like family traditions. I don't particularly like it when holiday traditions are changed. A few years ago my parents decided to stop holding the Hislop Family Christmas Party on Christmas Eve. It is now the Saturday before Christmas Eve. I enjoy the party and seeing Santa and exchanging presents, but something is amiss...it is NOT the traditional party I grew up with. Our tradition was changed. It is now a NEW tradition and it has been a few years and I admit it is starting to grow on me, it really helps to have Kurt and AJ in my life; this is the only Hislop Christmas Party they have ever experienced so the Saturday before Christmas Eve is our new tradition...and nobody better mess with it! :)

I have been thinking about this because our Thanksgiving tradition was changed this year. This year we went out to eat. It was a nice meal, and it was nice to be with family, but it didn't FEEL like Thanksgiving. We didn't have a prayer, we didn't have yams or cranberry salad or rolls. The Stoffers weren't there. We didn't look through the ads or visit as some watched football, we didn't play any games. We didn't have leftovers to nibble on later in the day. It just wasn't the same.

Kurt and I talked it over and we decided from now on we will have Thanksgiving dinner at our house. That is the only way I can think of to preserve a family tradition I hold dear. We talked it over with my parents and they were actually happy one of their children wanted to take it over. Anyone will be welcome at our home for Thanksgiving. If it is the "off" year for my siblings and thier in-laws I hope they come to our home, but if they choose not to, I will still have my traditional Thanksgiving. I know traditions can be stressful for some and for others they just are not important, but they are to me and I would like to establish a few for our family so I guess I will start with cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Umm Umm Good!

EVERYTHING tastes better when you can feed yourself!

Reading with my boy!

AJ and I were in his room playing. I picked up one of his books and started to look at it, he immediately pushed my hands away and crawled on my lap and then picked up the book and put it back in my hands. It made my heart melt. My son and I sat down on his floor and read some books. Kurt had walked in the room just as all this happened so he went and captured the moment with a camera. I LOVE being a MOM!

Gisela Fischer Gibson

Kurt's Mom passed away on November 5, 2009. The nursing home had told us they thought it would be rather soon so Kurt's sister Astrid bought a plane ticket and arrived on Wednesday, she passed away Thursday morning. Although it was sad; it was also a happy time to be with family. All of her children and grandchildren (except one who was on a mission in Greece) were able to come and pay their respect. We enjoyed having the family around. Most of them were able to stay with us at our home and we had a great visit. We were also truly thankful for a wonderful ward who provided us with a scrumptious luncheon and a Bishop who was there to support us every step of the way.

Mom Gibson will be missed, but we know she is in a better place. We are so thankful for the reassurance and peace the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives to us through the Plan of Salvation.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I admit, I think almost EVERYTHING AJ does is adorable! Here are some pictures of him Trick or Treating! This was the first time I had met our next door neighbor and I took a picture!

AJ's Moves

AJ is quite the dancer. He will turn his hands and lift one leg up and then the other. We find it endearing.