It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....
That pretty much sums up 2009 for the Fisher's. The year started off tough because James got laid off in December 2008 - Merry Christmas to us, right? But luckily we were able to spend a week in sunny Florida with my family, which definitely brought our spirits up, at least temporarily.
Here is our cute family the day we went to Cocoa Beach. I do NOT understand my family, James, Bridget, Trenna, and I were the only ones who wanted to go to the beach! The rest of my lame family stayed at Disneyworld. Crazy.
I love this picture of the kids! Tonya took this while we were waiting for Brian and Tara on the Mummy ride. My mom and dad used this for their Christmas card that my dad annually sends out in January.
My great family at Dixie Crossroads in Titusville, Florida. If you go to Florida, especially out to the Kennedy Space Center, which I totally recommend, you HAVE to hit Dixie Crossroads. We ate their the last time we were in Florida 10 years ago and have been drooling to get back. So yummy.
The next three months passed with a blur - we spent our time at the pool, remodeling the downstairs bathroom and being together as a family while James and I looked for jobs. It was a great time with James and Bridget, but I was so glad when it was over! Tonya and Alex moved down to Roswell, New Mexico in the spring, which was and still is really hard for me. I miss my sister and it was tough to see her leave.
April brought three great things - James turned 36, we celebrated six years of marriage and James got a job with Horrocks Engineering! It was a pretty great month!
Bridget turned two in July and Tonya took some beautiful pictures of her. I can't believe my baby is two already!
We spent a lot of our time at the ball park during the summer and Bridget loved it! She loved yelling "Go Bees" and wearing her cute pink Bees shirt. Even now, she talks about the games and keeps asking when we can go to the Bees game.
We also spent time with family up in Idaho over the 4th of July. I am not a big fan of Warm River and being there over the summer firmly cemented this point of view. We were ambushed by clouds of mosquitoes and rain that turned everything muddy, wet and cold. James, Bridget and I deserted the river for the comfort of the Anglers Inn in Ashton, ID. While it's not the Ritz by any stretch, it was better than sleeping in a tent at the river. That said, I will never go back in the summer again - EVER.
The one high light was visiting my Grandma June's grave and taking Bridget to the parade in Ashton.
Brenner (My cousin Emily's little guy), Jack, Brian, Abby, Bridget, Bailey, and Teke taking in the lovely Ashton Parade. We deserted the river after one day and spent the next night in Idaho Falls. They have a great fireworks display along the river and we stayed at the Hilton right across from the temple. The only downer was Bridget kicked her brand new flip flop into the river, but otherwise it was so fun!
Yes, James is wearing jeans and a sweatshirt in July. Only James.
Our summer was filled with swimming at the pool, visiting Roosevelt, Tonya and Paige, and playing in the back yard and at the park. It was a great time and we were sad to see the warm days turn cold.
We spent Labor Day up with the Fisher's at their cabin in Midway like we do every year and had a great time! Cindy, Jen and I spent some time at Swiss Days and then we just hung out with the family.
Bridget loves playing with her cousins and has a great time with Mark and Makensie.
In September we went and spent a few days with Trenna on the beach and a day in Las Vegas with Jeremy and Jenny. Bridget had a great time at the beach with Grandma Trenna and we recharged our batteries to make it through the end of the year.
This was taken in Vegas with Jeremy and Jenny at the Silverton Casino. The picture is horrible but it was neat to go into the casino because they have a huge fish tank that these women in mermaid costumes comes and swim. They interact with the kids and pose for pictures. It was so much fun and Bridget got to hang out with Ethan, Dane, Alexis, and Colton which was so fun!
The fall brought Halloween, my birthday and Thanksgiving and we had a great time at all three of them! Bridget was a witch for Halloween and she had so much fun trick or treating until it got dark. We spent Thanksgiving in Roosevelt and Brian's house and despite not having Tonya and her family there, we had a great time!
Christmas last year was such a downer that this year I wanted to make sure that our house looked beautiful and that we got into the Christmas spirit early. I had my tree up from the week before Thanksgiving until the first week in January!
Bridget wasn't too keen on Santa this year but she came around when she realized he brought her presents. She was spoiled rotten by Santa, us and of course the grandparents, but she is such a cutie that I don't mind. This is her loot from Santa.
This year has been great for our family. We survived an adoption that fell through, job loss, sickness (we all had the swine flu in November), losing James's cousin Angie, and worked through many other things this year. We've had a huge share of joyous things as well and they far out weighed the bad things. Bridget turned two, I got two new jobs writing freelance, we spent a ton of time together as a family, we traveled, we worked on our home, spent time with friends, welcomed baby Elle into our friend family, and so many other things I can't mention them all!
We are looking forward to 2010 and what it will mean for our family. We are throwing our name out there again this year to try to adopt and we are all looking forward to a new addition to our family and we hope he/she comes soon!
Thank you for being part of our lives and making them richer. We hope that 2010 is the best year ever for you and your families!
With love,
Brenda, James and Bridget Fisher
Valentine's has never been a huge day for us but this year I was really surprised! On Thursday my doorbell rang and sitting on my doorstep were a dozen beautiful red roses from Bridget and James! They were so great! James hasn't bought me flowers for a while and this was such a great surprise.
While Tonya was here Bridget and I spent a week in Roosevelt and had so much fun hanging with the family. On Saturday we went down to Brian's house and the kids went sledding on his hill. They had a blast!
Bailey and Trenna had the best crash of the day. Tonya put this photo
I love these pictures of Bridget, she just looks so grown up.
Bridget and Paige - BFF's for sure!
The girls weren't too keen on climbing up the hill so Brian acted as the chairlift that day.
Bridget and Grandma Trenna zooming down the hill.
I took such beautiful pictures of my yard I thought it was a shame not to take some of my beautiful girl. Here she is in the tub.
The air has been so cold and crappy this winter that I'm almost ready to move. The only good thing is that this crappy inversion produces fog, which coats the trees and bushes in a fine layer of frost. It's really quite lovely.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....
I love this picture of the kids! Tonya took this while we were waiting for Brian and Tara on the Mummy ride. My mom and dad used this for their Christmas card that my dad annually sends out in January.
