Three grown-up brothers create the most epic Halloween photos ever with their baby sister

The Schmidt family's Halloween photoshoot has become an annual tradition.
Two of Patti Schmidt's three sons were already well into adulthood when her daughter Avery was born, and the third wasn't far behind them. Avery, now 5, has never had the pleasure of close-in-age sibling squabbles or gigglefests, since Larry, Patrick and Gavin are 28, 26 and 22, respectively—but that doesn't mean they don't bond as a family.
According to People.com, Patti calls her sons home to Point Pleasant, New Jersey, every fall for a special Halloween photoshoot with Avery. And the results are nothing short of epic.
The Schmidt family started the tradition in 2017 with the boys dressing as the tinman, the scarecrow and the cowardly lion from "The Wizard of Oz." Avery, just a toddler at the time, was dressed as Dorothy, complete with adorable little ruby slippers.
The following year, the boys were Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca, and Avery was (of course) Princess Leia.
In 2019, they did a "Game of Thrones" theme. ("My husband and I were binge-watching [Game of Thrones], and I thought the boys as dragons would be so funny," Schmidt told TODAY.)
In 2020, they went as Princess Buttercup, Westley, Inigo Montoya and Fezzik from "The Princess Bride."
Patti shared a video montage of each year's costume shoot—with accompanying soundtracks—on Instagram and TikTok. Watch:
"They laugh a lot during the shoots," Patti told People. "The boys are good sports. They adore Avery."
That much is clear. How lucky is this little girl?
Middle son Patrick, who is a professional surfer, told People "It's fun, and Avery has a blast."
Patti is the one who comes up with the theme, which she surprises the kids with. This year's theme remains a mystery, though she asked followers for ideas. People offered some fun possibilities including:
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- "Alice in Wonderland," with the boys going as the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the Doormouse
- "Brave," with Avery going as Merida and the boys as her little brothers
- "Sleeping Beauty" with the boys going as the fairy godmothers
- Frankenstein's Bride, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman
- "Friends" with Avery going as Phoebe and the boys as Ross, Chandler and Joey
- "Guardians of the Galaxy"
- "Harry Potter"
Patti offered one vague clue for what this Halloween holds when she told TODAY, "There may or may not be a good-natured groan or two when I pull out the next theme." Hoo boy, can't wait to see what it is.
And yes, in case you were wondering, the brother dressed as Westley did yell "As you wish!" as he rolled down the hill.
@pattiaveryschmidt Reply to @hmccrow Here it is with audio 😄 #bigbrothers #babysister #theprincessbride #halloween #halloweencostume
And no, the boys and Avery don't just get together for Halloween. The boys and Avery do all kinds of things together, which Patti shares on her TikTok page.
"They are close despite not only age differences but physical distance," Schmidt told TODAY. "Our two oldest sons live in different states, but they're within driving distance, and I try to get everyone together as much as possible."
Here they are teaching Avery how to skateboard:
@pattiaveryschmidt Families that skate together… #goskateboarding #bigbrothers #familytime
Avery is a seriously lucky little girl.
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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.