Sam's business invited our family to attend a Frisco Roughrides Baseball Game. Included in the deal was an All-You-Can-Eat and drink buffet. It was fantastic! We had so much fun. The first hour and a half it was hotter than blue blazes, but once the sun went down behind the buildings, it was great. The Roughrides played the Corpus Christi Hooks and really slayed them. We even got fireworks for homeruns a few times.

So Sam and I finally made it home from California early Monday morning, after some some crazy delays with our flight. As tired as I was, I knew that some of my girls from American Girls Club might not have gotten my email about club being on Tuesday so I got up. Sure enough, at 9:30am the doorbell rang. It was Brianna's friend Katelyn. She tells me, "Hi Sister Hardy! Are we having Girls Club today?" As she is talking, I noticed a strange sight behind her head. As I strained my tired eyes harder, I realized what it was. Totally HORRIFIED I grabbed Katelyn by the arm, practically jerking it out of the socket, pulled her in the door, and slammed it shut behind her. "What was it?" she asked me.

All I could do was point out the window.

To get a good idea of really how big this ended up getting, by the end of the day, the hive stretched almost halfway across the arch. Both these pictures were taken shortly after we discovered it, and many of the worker bees were "working" elsewhere.

I was terrified to go outside. We have had wasps in our chimney before, but never this mass amount. I was glad they were honeybees because at least they did not fly at us and attack us like the wasps would when they would get in the house. Chip was a great help. Every bee that came in he took care of it. I tried all day to get a hold of a bee keeper to come and remove the hive, but none would return my calls or emails. By the end of the day, I knew I had to go the pest control route. Luckily one of our family friends did bee removal for a profession up until last year. I owe him big! He came over late Monday night, in his shorts and t-shirt to rid our porch of the bees. My kids were fascinated! They could not believe that he was out there with 1500-2000+ bees and did not get stung. My luck is not that good, but he obviously knew what he was doing. We are forever indebted to him!

Now we just have to wear shoes around the outside of our house since dead bees are everywhere. Today, Wednesday, we are finally starting to have long breaks without seeing bees flying to the porch. Hooray!

I had the joyous opportunity last week to go to California to see my brother, meet his beautiful wife, and to watch them go through the temple for the very first time. It was absolutely amazing! I flew into Orange County on Tuesday night, then we got up early the next morning to head to the Newport Beach Temple. Everyone looked incredible. Both Eric and Nicki were very nervous but they were awesome. I was thrilled because they asked me to hold Savannah while she was sealed to them. That was so special to me and I will always remember that.

After the ceremonies were over, we took several pictures then went to lunch with several of their friends from Church. They are so blessed to have such genuine friends.

I fell in love with Nicki from the moment I met her. She is so kind and loving, a wonderful mom and fantastic wife to my brother. I am so glad they found each other, and so glad to have her as part of my family. Jacob and Savannah were wonderful too! Jacob was my best friend from the start. He is such a sweetheart. I loved all the hugs I got from him because it helped me not miss my kiddos back home as much. I am so disappointed because I did not get any pictures of the boys. The next time we see them I will make up for it. Timothy has grown so tall. And as always, he was fantastic. I love him so much! I will probably not even recognize Savannah the next time I see her. Babies change way too fast!

On Friday, Sam was able to fly in and join us for the weekend. It was so nice when he did because I REALLY missed him. We are not normally apart from each other for more than a typical work day. 3 days is a long time! We had a great date night that night. We were able to go out with several couples and just be adults!

On Saturday, after the schedule had calmed down a bit, we were able to go through the San Diego Temple. I loved every minute of it. Sam and I were able to have some great conversations with Eric and Nicki on the way, unlike the ones we have when our 7 kids are in the mix. It was great! Eric and Nicki were able to relax and enjoy their experiences now that they knew what to expect.

Sam was the only one who had been inside the Temple before, since he served his mission there, but Nicki, Eric, and I were all rookies. I have to say it was kind of comical because all the matrons knew when we were lost. It was a huge surprise to see how big the Temple really was inside. It was breath-taking! I was so happy to be there with my family. It was so special!

Sunday was me and Sam's last day in California. It was still crammed full of events though. It is amazing how much you can pack into a very short trip. In the morning, we had Church. It was Savannah's blessing day. Eric was so nervous that he would forget the beginning words to her prayer he printed them out and laid them on her dress to read during the blessing. He did a great job and even I didn't know his secret until he told me. Since it was also Father's Day, the big boys got pretty spoiled. Eric's ward gave all the dads popcorn, root beer, and a universal remote. At priesthood, they even had a light luncheon. I thought it was a great way to make the dads feel important and loved. They really enjoyed it.

When we came home from Church, Sam and I took Timothy and Jacob to the park behind their house while Savannah napped and Nicki and Eric made Lunch/Dinner. We had a fantastic time. Jacob wanted me to play "Batman" with him by collecting sticks and leaves as money and buying characters with what we earned. He is so funny. He wanted me to be "Poison Ivy." I told him I couldn't because I was allergic to it, but I would be "Cat Woman." He said that was fine. Timothy and Sam played football for a long time, then tried to knock fallen branches out of the trees. It is amazing how long you can stay outside and enjoy it when the temperature is only 70 degrees!

Eric and Nicki grilled some incredible shish-kabobs, then we had to sprint out the door to the airport. Sam and I were so grateful to be with Nicki, Eric and the kids. We had such a wonderful time and hope to be able to see them more often!

After a very chaotic week in Chicago, our family decided to drive through some of the famous Church history sites on our way back to Dallas. It was a major change of pace for us and a much needed stress reliever.
We started off driving to Nauvoo after Sam finished his class on Friday. We blew in with the breeze right as the "Sunset on the Mississippi" show was beginning. We were so glad we were able to catch it. Other than the huge surplus of bugs everywhere, we really enjoyed the show. Everyone in our family was laughing through most of it. We liked the old pioneer ladies dancing with their walkers and the movie tryout spoof the best. It was 4 missionaries pretending to be doing an audition for a movie. The script was about making eggs--------. The funniest part was when the "director" told the cast members to slow it down. So they did... very v e r r r y slow. We loved it!

When the show was over, we drove to see the Nauvoo temple and then headed to our hotel for the night. The temple was beautiful! It is hard to believe that people could destroy something so stunning.

In the morning, Saturday, we ate breakfast and headed to Historic Nauvoo to catch the "Just Plain Anna Amanda" show and for a tour of the sites in the village. We all were amazed to see what the saints did day to day in the Family Living Center, how they worked to keep their horses fit for travel in the Webb Brothers' Blacksmith Shop, how they played at Pioneer Pastimes, and how they traveled on the Oxen and Wagon ride. They even made us some rope and a horseshoe for our family.

Our kids turned pioneer!




The End of the Trail of Hope
(Where the Saints crossed the frozen Mississippi)

Our whole family did not want to leave, but we had to because we wanted to see Carthage Jail before heading to Kansas City that afternoon.

It was well worth the stop. We all enjoyed the history we learned and saw about what our Prophet Joseph Smith experienced before he passed away. It was a very spiritual experience for all of us!
On Sunday morning, we were in Kansas City, Missouri. We traveled a short distance over to Liberty, Missouri to see Liberty Jail. Up until visiting Nauvoo the day before, I never knew about Liberty Jail. It was an amazing sight to see the place that our Prophet spent 1 very long and freezing cold winter with his followers for false charges. I am so surprised that he survived such horrid conditions. The kids were just as amazed.

From Liberty, we drove to Independence, Missouri to visit the Visitor's Center there. It was fantastic. We watched a "moving movie" about eternal families and walked through a replica pioneer village to show what is was like to live in Independence in the 1800's.

We had to cut our trip a little short because William fell and skinned both knees and an elbow on their gravel path. But we were able to see a First Edition Book of Mormon and several Book of Mormons printed in all sorts of languages before we headed home. It was a wonderful experience and a very educational one for all of us. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to see these sites. I am very glad the Church has preserved them for all to see and enjoy!

Our family had the opportunity to travel to Chicago this past week and WOW! What an experience! Sam had a week long training seminar in Schaumburg, so we decided it would be fun to go along. The kids and I planned out our activities and were so excited. Little did we realize, Chicago is really not a kid-friendly city.

The first day in Illinois, we decided to stay close to our hotel to get familiar with our surroundings. Lucky for us, Lego had a Discovery Center 1 mile away. I have to say, it was VERY pricey for what we got, even with $5 discounts on every ticket it was still over $60. However, it gave us something to do and a learning experience: Trust previous visitor reviews!

That night, we hooked up with Sam after class and went to the movies to see "Up!". We had a blast! Up until right when the movie started, we were the only people in the theater. By the end, there were only 2 other groups of people, but our kids were the only kids. Nothing like pretty much having the whole theater to yourself!

On Tuesday, we got up early to venture to downtown. Thanks to Elicia and Susie's advice, we decided to take the Metra train in. The kids loved it! We did miss the first train because we forgot to get the parking spot number to pay the meter. This, however, gave us some time to go over some rules and make plans on how 1 mom and 4 kids were going to work the adventure ahead. We had some very hilarious conversations on the train ride for that 1 hr trip. My kids were the only kids on the train, and I think Natalie was driving the business men around us crazy as she insisted on counting to 100 until she could do it by herself. We got some pretty evil eyes, but I was very proud of her. When we were almost downtown, Natalie looks up at me and asks, "Mom. What planet are we in now?" I could not help but laugh. One lady asked us where we were from, and I said, "Dallas." William, sitting next to me, tells her, "No we're not. We're from Texas." I guess we will be learning Geography next school year. LOL!

Our plan for the day was to visit the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. I thought we could just walk from Union Station to the museums since the map made it look like such a small distance. Wrong! When all was said and done, the kids and I walked, with two strollers and a bunch of stuff, 6 MILES!

They are NOT made for pedestrians! As soon as the cross-walk sign changes to "Walk", and you step foot into the road, the sign changes to "Don't Walk." The kids and I literally had to run across every road we had to cross.

The museums, however, were very worth the adventure! The Shedd was beautiful, but packed full of people. We did not enjoy the massive crowds, so we spent most of the day in the Field Museum learning about birds, animals, mummies, native cultures, and dinosaurs. Not only were the exhibits incredible, the architecture of the building was breath-taking! By the end of the day, we were EXHAUSTED! Brianna's comment to me, after much horn honking and almost getting run over on multiple occasions, "Mom, Chicago is beautiful to look at, but I prefer Texas!"

Wednesday, we decided to get a bus pass after arriving downtown, and we took the water taxi to Navy Pier. The kids really wanted to go to the Chicago Children's Museum. When entering the building, my kiddos were in heaven. We ended up staying ALL day. They learned about safety, played instruments, made fountains, created new inventions, sculpted their faces, painted mirrors, and much more. It was a blast. 12 Thumbs Up!

Thursday we spent in Schaumburg again. We went to the mall for a little while and just tried to recover from Tuesday and Wednesday.

Friday we ventured to see the Chicago Temple and took a picnic to a park in Mount somewhere. It was a nice relaxing day. The temple was really pretty, and reminded us a lot of the Dallas Temple.

The park was great, and gave the kids some much deserved time to just run around crazy with no restrictions (Other than: "Do not end up in the lake!") We were also very excited to see a whole flock of Canadian Geese and their gosslings. Brianna and Nate decided to write about them and draw them in their nature journals.

Then, it was time to get Sam from his final class and head out of town. We enjoyed the trip to an extent, but for me, I think the kids and I will be staying behind from now on when Dad goes out of town for business.