New Addition

I am now a proud mommy to ........

an English Bulldog.

For Christmas this year Daniel and I wanted to get the boys a puppy for Christmas , well yeah we have 2 dogs already but they are so big and hyper and don't like just sitting and being good inside, so we decided to get a small inside dog instead. My pick was an English Bulldog because they are SO cute. It took me for forever to talk Daniel into thinking they were cute too. But I finally did. Then we went on our trek to find one. Once we noticed how expensive they were we weren't so sure we could afford one. AKC registered pure breed high pedigree's are $3000 for females with breeding rights and $2500 for males and breeding rights. Seeing this we decided to look around every where. And when I say every where I mean EVERYWHERE. Montana Wyoming and Utah (of course Idaho as well.). When we finally were pushed to the very last minute with out any luck we thought maybe a pug , min pin, or a Boston terrier would be good. But we just didn't fall in love with their cute little faces , not like we fell in love with the bulldog face.

Finally on Friday Daniel found a number on a couple puppies for verily cheap, a female brindle papered highly pedigreed English bulldog. They were asking $1500 with no breeding rights but we still couldn't handle that much. But the people were so nice and took the price down considerable low with breeding rights.

So now we have a sweet little girl brindle in color with the best attitude almost potty trained at 7 weeks ,so of course she is very smart ,English Bulldog named TINY DIVA. We had to go with a name that made people think before they saw her, because she is by far tiny. What bulldog is?

Our Christmas Traditions!

Since the day that my children were born I've always wanted our own traditions in our house.
The ones I use to have in my family , ones that Daniels family have had in their home, and new ones we could call our very own.
For our Christmas traditions we have in our home they are as follows,
We decorate the tree together ( usually the Monday following Thanksgiving).
The kids put the ornaments on the tree, even when they were one year old, they were so cute at that age ,because most of the ornaments went on one branch of the tree. But as they've gotten older they have decided to decorate the whole tree rather then one branch.

We paint a new ornament every year, it started by me painting them before the kids could paint them themselves. But now that they are older they paint them. It's neat to see over the years how much better their paintings become.

Bradleys OrnamentDustins ornament
I also buy a new ornament for them so when they are older they have their own for their new home and tree. Although I do hate thinking of them as older and not living with me for the rest of their lives.
Then they make a ginger bread house, I think they have more fun eating the goodies that go on the house rather then decorating it. I'm pretty sure the icing is their favorite. Because we usually go through a whole tub of it while we decorate.
I also like to take the kids out to look at all the beautiful lights , Daniel gets to go along even though this is the least favorite part for him. Candy cane lane is a must to drive past and look. One of these days I'll talk Daniel into putting lights on our home or at least have him help me put them up. As for now we will enjoy every one else's lights.
I try to take the kids to see Santa so they can give him their lists , but as time passes they have begun to think they are too big for that scene. So they usually write him a letter and we send it off to him.
We also take the kids out shopping for Christmas presents for one another. I take one of the boys with me and Daniel takes the other. I think they enjoy this the most because each year we start the shopping earlier and earlier. They get a budget of how much they can spend and use every last penny of it too. They get to wrap these presents as well.
They love watching Christmas movies with us, so we watch one every night starting from the first week in December until Christmas Eve. My favorite is Polar Express, and Christmas Story. But really I love them all.
Bradley's is Christmas Story and Dustin's is Grinch ( the one with Jim Carey).
On Christmas day we unwrap our presents to one another and enjoy them for a little while, then hop in the hot tub to warm up. At about 9 or so we head out to my mother in laws first to unwrap gifts with every one there. Then after we have visited for a moment or so we head to my moms to unwrap gifts and eat a wonderful Christmas dinner with all of them. If we are lucky and the weather is nice we usually make it home in time to relax before bed and enjoy all the things we got.
I think Christmas is my favorite time of year , not just because of the gifts, but because of all the time we get to spend with our families. As years pass it's nice to see our traditions grow.

Veterans Day

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of those who have served , and still serving for our country.
Today my youngest son talked me into going to the school so I could hear him sing to the Veterans , he really didn't have to do much talking . So at 10 A.M. I went to the school to watch the 21 gun salute and hear the kids sing to the veterans. It was a tearful event. The kids aren't sure what they are thanking the Veterans for but they knew it was something special because most of the adults attending had a tear in the eye or running down their cheeks. There are 3 teachers I know of for sure who have some one serving right now and many who know some one who has served. I personally know of a few and I am so thankful for them to be willing to risk their lives to keep our country free and able to enjoy the many things we take for granted.
I just want to say THANK YOU one more time , I couldn't ask for a better place to raise my kids and live my life and that wouldn't be possible without the people in the Military, Navy, Marines, and Air Force (if I'm missing any other division I'm sorry). Happy Veterans Day . Don't forget to thank them for all they have done.

Grandma and Grandpa Hahns Visit

This is catch up more so then not, because I've become negligent to update my blog these days, even though I always mean to do so.
The last week of October we were surprised with a visit we knew was coming but wasn't sure exactly when , by Grandma and Grandpa Hahn. They live in South Dakota and mean the world to Daniel so of course they mean lots to us as well. Although the kids rarely get to see them they still always love their visits and the time we get to spend with them.
They arrived on a Wednesday and left on Saturday which was Halloween, not a long visit but enough time to visit and get to know whats going on in each others lives.
We ate dinner with them a few times , I got to cook for them which is amazing because they always want to go out to eat. Grandma helped me cook and we enjoyed talking and catching up as we cooked. Grandpa helped Daniel out in the garage doing whatever it is guys do out there ha ha. The boys always get to swim in the hotel pool that the Grandparents stay in so we took them to swim and have fun. They absolutely love that part because they usually get the pool all to themselves.
We were sad to see them go but we thoroughly enjoyed their visit and can't wait for the next. Although we were told it's our turn to make the visit over there. So we will see when the next visit will be.

Halloween

This year for Halloween we had a blast as always.

Friday before Halloween the school carnival was put on and we took the kids to have fun. More to support the school and help raise money on our part but the kids enjoyed themselves. It was a long night really because it seems like the tickets never get used up fast enough, but thats because all of the screaming kids every where. He He.

Bradley was a football player also known as himself, and Dustin was frankenstien for the carnival he went without the green face paint.

Then on Halloween we took the kids out trick or treating in my mother in laws neighorhood. We also got to take my nephew with us because his mommy didn't get off work until later. All three boys ran the whole time and wore themselves out pretty quickly.

After trick or treating we headed to my moms house for her birthday party. We had pizza , and cake n ice cream. We got to see my other two cuties there as well. Logyn n Shy were so cute in their costumes.

When it was late and bed time we took the kids home and got them ready for bed then Daniel n I headed out for the big peoples party . We more then enjoyed ourselves.

Dustin in the truck headed to the carnivalBradley headed to the carnvialDustin on HalloweenBradley on halloweenDustin n Taidyn on halloween heading out trick or treating. Taidyn was suppse to be a knight but he insisted a knight needs sun glasses too.

Mom blowing her candles out with the help of the grand kids. I may have decided to dress up with alittle make up too... lol Logyn was a transformer and again he thought he needed sunglasses too.This is Shyann she was a princess bat.

First Plane Ride.

This weekend my husband and I took our boys up to Driggs for their first time riding in an airplane.

The Airport in Driggs had a grand reopening ( for their run way), this weekend and they were letting kids 6-13 years old ride in the planes for free.

My boys were so excited to get to do this. Dustin wasn't too excited once he got there and seen the planes and was insisting we NOT send him up in the plane, but we couldn't let him pass this opportunity up. It took me til I was 26 years old to take my first plane ride. So at 7 and 10 I think they were pretty damn lucky. Once they started announcing names to go up we realised Bradley and Dustin wouldn't be going together on the same plane. All we could think was damn it. Bradley was all gong ho to ride, he was stoked , but Dustin well like I said before he REALLY didn't wanna go.

Well we sent them up on their ways , expecting a fit from Dustin but he was a good sport and went any ways. They were in the air for 20 minutes then back down.

Bradley was the first one off his plane and was smiling from ear to ear, he absolutely loved it and wanted to go for longer.

Then Dustin got off the plane , when we first saw him we were assuming he didn't enjoy it because there was no smile what so ever on his face, but as he got closer to us he began to smile from ear to ear, the first words out of his mouth was "thank you for making me go I LOVED IT". If I was thinking I would of let them take my camera up but of course I missed that opportunity. Oh well maybe next time.

At least now they can say they've been in an airplane for FREE.

This is Dustin's Plane This is Bradleys plane

Bradley's Birthday.

Ok so I totally spaced that we had Bradley's Birthday in all that mess and I haven't blogged about that either. How dare me , I know.

Well my young man turned 10 this year on the 18th of September.

I can't believe he is already so old.

We did the usual , invite a whole bunch of kids over to terrorize our house. Yes they did that well.

I'm pretty sure Bradley had a good time and made out like a bandit on all his gifts.

It has been FOREVER

Yes I know it has been forever since I've updated my blog.

We have been so busy here lately , I get a moment here and there to sit and do somethings, so today I decided it was time to give an update on the happenings of the Hahn household.

Bradley started grid kid football this year and it has taken up so much time, but well worth it.

His season is actually almost up, so now couldn't be a better of time to share everything about his team.

He is playing offense, defense, on the receiving team, and also on the kicking team. He is the fastest bullet on his team so of course he is a running back ,and he does all passing plays as well. He is tight end on defense and he doesn't kick for the kicking team ,but he can sure as hell tackle. There isn't a moment he isn't on the field and enjoys every moment of it . They have played 5 games and although they haven't won yet they are playing pretty darn good. He has made 2 touchdowns for the team out of the 4 that have been made. I wish they could win but as long as they are having fun that's all that matters right. I mean he is only in 4Th grade first year ever playing. I'm banking on this kid getting into high school and getting a scholarship in football to a college of his pick. But college is a long ways out right?

This is Dustin playing with the neighbor kids. The jersey is a bit big

Dustin did well in soccer although it wasn't truly his sport I'm thinking he is going to be a football man too he wants to tackle and smash kids so that pretty much sums it up right. Ha ha.

Along with football we have been shipping out people in our family , not always the best thing.

On Saturday the 26Th of September we had a going away party for my little sister Krystal's husband he is in the Air force and is shipping out to boot camp today as I write this. We wish him the best of luck and now have to feel bad for my sister not being able to see her farely new husband for 6 months. She is very bummed about that , I could only imagine because I can't stand being without Daniel for more then a week.

Then on Sunday the 27Th we went to the Barnes yearly going away to Arizona party. (my grandparents are snowbirds) I got to take some family pictures and was really happy at how well they turned out.

There is a better pic (where everyone is looking). But you get the idea.
All the grandkids. from top to bottom, Dustin ,Bradley, Logyn, Taidyn, and Shyann

Other then these things nothing more has happened too exciting. Mostly football rules our lives as does school and the usual stuff a family deals with. I'm sure more exciting things will come up and hopefully I'll write about those things. HA.

Finally we went to W. Yellowstone

We said at the beginning of summer we were going to explore our backyard as our vacation. Well with everything we wanted to do we only accomplished a couple things on the list. And seeing Old Faithful was among the many things we wanted to see.

So this past weekend was the last FREE weekend in the park so we decided or more I decided no matter what we were going up there and checking things out rather then sitting and working on that damn building like we've done all summer (or at least it seems that way to me).

So Saturday at noon I convinced the kids to pack up the truck and head out. We made a few stops on the way knowing we weren't in any hurry to get there because we had the whole weekend ahead of us.

As we drove through Island Park and West Yellowstone town I told the boys about some of the animals we could see in the park, Bears , elk, deer, etc. They were extremely interested in the bears not that they wanted to run into any, but they wanted to see them from afar. As we drove I would tease them about seeing a bear out the window , one time there was a dog out far from the road ,with it's owner of course, I said hey look boys there's a bear running towards that guy. Dustin replies with, oh it's so cute then as he processed the situation and took another look he realized what it really was, he didn't think I was very funny for teasing him so much, but it was worth the laugh we got from him.

As we arrived at old faithful we realized we weren't the only ones who decided old faithful was a good idea since it was free. After driving around for 20 minutes trying to find a place to park , Daniel finally maneuvered the beast into a spot and we headed up to the over look to watch Old faithful erupt. We actually made it in time to see her erupt within 10 minutes of finding a place to sit down.

The kids were in aw.

When she was done with her show we hiked around to see all the other hot pools and geysers. It was astounding to see all the beauty in the park.





This little guy was wanting some food and wasn't afraid of us at all...kinda funny.

After taking a short hike and freezing our butts off ( it was 45 there). We decided to head for some grub. Dustin insists he has to eat 3 balanced meals a day and they can't be late. Ha ha.

We drove back to Yellowstone town and on the way saw a few beautiful places to pull off the road and take some pictures the beauty in the park has to be captured as far as I'm concerned. We also saw a few elk grazing in the long grass by the river. After making a few stops and getting snowed on , Yes I said SNOWED, we made it in time to eat dinner. The food was something to be desired but we won't post anything negative.

After dinner we made the drive back home. We decided on the way to check out Mesa Falls. Daniel and I never realized how close it is to home. It was so beautiful we couldn't believe we hadn't been there sooner. We will be revisiting though because we only seen the upper falls and not the lower, because the sun had went down while we were checking out the upper falls and we decided it would be safer to make that trip in the day light being as there are bears in that country.

In all it was a wonderful trip and so nice to be out as a family, we will be exploring more of our backyard because although we knew we lived in a beautiful place we didn't realize how beautiful it really was.

Slip n Slide kinda Day

These past few days have been so warm here , not that I am complaining but it's left us trying to find ways to cool ourselves.

So the other day I bought a slip n slide for the kids to play on, it was the best investment this summer and cheapest as well.

I invited my sister over and we had a cousin day and hung out. It was 100 degrees and it was time to cool off. So we got it out hooked it up and enjoyed the fun that came with it.

Bradley and Dustin loved having the water turned up to the max but the younger ones didn't like it too much. So we improvised and turned it half way up and then Logyn and Taidyn enjoyed it. Miss Shyann didn't care too much for the cold water but she thought it was funny to watch the boys run and splash in the water.

It was a fun way to cool off without going to the spray park and fighting the crowds. Although that is fun sometimes.

We have been really enjoying our summer even though we haven't been many places. Sometimes I guess home is just the place to be.