The Hardy Family

Meet Poppy!

2011-04-03T17:49:00.003-05:00

Here is the newest member of our family:

Poppy!

A super sweet Holland Lop that Brianna has totally fallen in love with.

(Now if we can just get Pepper fixed so he can have a friend. :) )

Out with the Old...& In with the New!

2011-01-08T21:02:00.000-06:00

Our trampoline, that we bought when we first moved into our house, was on its final descent.

So, thanks to our Mimi and Poppy, we got a new one with our Christmas gift. We are so excited, and cannot wait to spend several years bouncing on it!

Back Posting

2011-01-01T17:43:00.001-06:00

Sometimes life gets away from you! So...since we are really half way through the year, and I have yet to post on our family blog, I will be catching up our posts to the actual date. (June 5th, 2011)

Christmas Eve

2010-12-30T09:11:00.004-06:00

Christmas Eve has got to be one of my most favorite family days of the year. We have so many fun traditions and have made so many wonderful memories on this day over the years, I look so forward to its arrival!

Sam gets up really early Christmas Eve morning to make cinnamon rolls for everyone. This year the first batch got a little burned, thanks to our very inconsistent oven, but...we managed to save the second batch, and they were GREAT!

Thanks Dad!

We finished our last minute shopping and delivered our "Friend Gifts."

Then, we decorated our Gingerbread House. Each kid took a side of it, and because Brie & Nate had the small sides of the house, they decorated a roof side also.

The end result...

...Magnificent!

After our house was complete, we made our birthday cake for Baby Jesus. We just started this tradition last year, but the kids love it! They love being able to choose their own type of cake and to make it all on their own. It is a special sight to see them working together so well and how important a job they feel it is.

This year, even Alex was let in on the fun!

All evidence had to be destroyed!

Brianna caught in the act!

When the cake was baked and cooled, we packed up the kids, their special Christmas jammies, and a few goodies to share, and headed out the door to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Our Nativity Party

2010-12-20T21:08:00.000-06:00

One of my most favorite activities of the year is our Family Nativity Party. We invite some of our closest friends over for dinner and have all the kids dress up to act out the Nativity Story. Since our familes have all grown since our last Nativity Party 2 years ago, we began our evening this year with 10 Adults & 27 kids ! It was a tight squeeze in our little home, but that did not decrease the fun we had!

We chose parts out of a hat as a family the week before. It is always exciting to see who comes out as what. This year, Brianna was an angel, Nate the Wise man carrying gold, Natalie the Star, William was King Herrod, and Alex was a sheep. The funniest moment of the night was when I was helping William with his part. In his ear I was whispering the lines he was suppose to say. I told him, "Say: WHERE IS THE CHILD?! WHERE WAS HE BORN?!?" William said, "IN A MANGER!" At least he knows the story. :)

Happy Holidays With 5

2010-12-16T20:53:00.000-06:00

One of my really good friends made the comment to me recently that taking pictures with 5 kids is about impossible. I would have to agree! We tried taking pictures of the kids for a calendar for my dad, and every one has at least one person looking away, with eyes closed, hiding behind someone else, just plain silly, or the picture blurs!

It sure makes you appreciate when you get "The Good One!"

Bethlehem In A Hurry

2010-12-12T20:22:00.001-06:00

After our whole house came down with the sick bug, we were running out of time to do our Christmas activities. No matter what, though, we did not want to miss Bethlehem Revisited in Waxahachie. Our family loves going! It helps all of us to remember the true meaning of Christmas amidst all the holiday hustle and bustle. We missed the first week, but crammed it in on a crazy Saturday night.

I have to say, it might not have been worth it this year. It was very crowded! People were very pushy and rude. I even had one guy ram into my back. When I turned around to see who had shoved me, he quickly apologized, realizing I was holding my infant son inside my coat, to try and keep him warm, but also to be able to see the sites on his very first Christmas. He said, "I didn't realize you had a baby." Well, does it matter!?! Shoving someone in the back is just plain rude, whether they have a baby or not! One guy (meaning past his 40's) cut in front of Natalie, who was waiting in line at the unleavened bread house for about 15mins at this point, and practically stepped on top of her doing so. We were so mad that we left after that! People were definitely not behaving Christ-like, and it was very hard to feel the Spirit of Christmas in that environment. We will be trying a new nativity next year, and if we do go back to Waxahachie, it will be on a Sunday night, in hopes that less people will be there.

2010 Christmas Parade

2010-12-04T20:10:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful time at the Neiman's/Adolphus Children's Parade!

The balloons were awesome!

Our good friends came along with us.

Alex tried to take it all in!

We were able to see David Archuletta.

Santa closed the parade with a wave and a "Merry Christmas!"

Great Christmas Expectations

2010-12-04T19:54:00.000-06:00

Each year, when Thanksgiving ends, our family goes into "hyper-drive" trying to prioritize what we want to do at Christmas time, and each year, our plans never turn out as planned. This year is following the trend. We usually go cut down our tree the weekend following Thanksgiving, but we were very busy, then found out that tree farm is closed this year. We decided to go with Home Depot instead. (Too little time and Too much effort to find another location.) We wanted to focus on family activities this year, but we have already had to adjust that too. We planned to go to the Neiman's Christmas Parade as a family, but Nate woke up really sick, so we had to leave him behind. It was great, but still disappointing to be missing a kid. Hopefully this is not the start of a very "ill" holiday. The holiday season is suppose to be enjoyable, not stressful!

Hooray for Fall!

2010-11-26T19:35:00.001-06:00

The leaves are finally falling. The temperature is finally dropping. And it is already Thanksgiving! Where has the year gone!!!???!!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year:

Our beautiful family

Sam's wonderful job to provide

A nice cozy home

& Food a plenty

A free country

A year of Fantastic Health

Family and Friends who love us, and we love them too!

A loving Father in Heaven, who watches over us all!

We have been greatly blessed and I am so greatful for it all!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Messed Up Birthday Parties

2010-11-19T23:14:00.000-06:00

Our family has been a little mixed up on birthday parties this year. Since Alex was born, our schedule has been crazy. Natalie's party was a month late. William missed his completely. (William's was so late, we told him that his 5th birthday will be huge! He is great with that.) Nate had his before Brianna... So now, Brie gets her turn. Brianna has been begging for a sleep-over with her close friends. She saved enough of her reward points up to take all her friends to a movie, but there is nothing but junk out! So... she decided to go to a Christmas light celebration in Fairview instead. After a pizza dinner, we bundled up all the kids and were treated to all kinds of goodies. We had samples of gellato, purple ice cream, bread pudding, lollipops, apple cider, and more. The kids all got monogrammed Santa necklaces and "sparkling" glasses to view the lights through. We even saw Jason Castro from American Idol sing. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the activities. On the way home, all the girls sang Christmas songs together. They all have such beautiful voices! We had birthday cake when we got home,(If we didn't have enough sweets already!), then the girls played games and watched movies. What a great group of kids! I am so happy Brie has such wonderful friends!

A Day at the New Dallas Childrens Aquarium

2010-11-19T13:07:00.000-06:00

We got word that the Dallas Zoo has finally re-opened the aquarium at Fair Park, so since we are zoo members and could get in free, we decided to check it out. It was fantastic! The size of the aquarium is still very small, and they are still waiting for animals to be placed in tanks, but what they did have was very worth the trip. When you come through the entrance, there is a large touch tank full of horseshoe crabs, hermit crabs, calico crabs, and sea snails. It will also be the home to sea stars and anemones soon. The kids really enjoyed being able to handle the sea creatures. William was a little afraid of the horseshoe crabs, but liked touching everything else. Alex and Miller enjoyed watching the waterfalls and the big silver fish in the tank across the room. Brie, Nate, & Natalie were mesmerized with it all. They are very hands-on kids.

After the touch tank, we walked through the area that held fish from Texas lakes and other lakes/rivers around the world. Most liked creatures were the piranha, the huge alligator snapping turtle, and the electric eel, that is not really an eel but a knife fish.

From lakes and rivers we went to Sting Ray Bay. This is a new outdoor area that has been added to the aquarium where you can touch and feed several different rays. As we walked down the ramp to the first tank, the aquarium worker tells all of us that the treats are free today. William, always taking people for their word, tells me, "Mom, I am really hungry. Can I have one of the treats since the guy said they are free?" I had to laugh. When I told him, "Sure, if you want some fish," he got pretty embarrassed. Crazy boy! The kids had a great time petting the rays and dropping their fish treats to them. What a great experience. William was NOT okay with holding the headless fish between his fingers down the side of the tank, so he went to the shallow end and chucked it in the water to see if the rays could find where it went.

Look Out World!! Here Come the Boys!

2010-11-07T18:28:00.000-06:00

For Nate's birthday party, he decided he wanted to have a Nerf gun battle. The result...

...One Great Party!

11 and Growing...

2010-11-04T17:38:00.001-05:00

It is crazy to think that Nate is now 11 years old. I still remember him jammin' to his little red guitar at 3 and it seems like yesterday. Nate is such a wonderful kid! We are so blessed to have him as part of our family. He is very loving, Great! with Alex, a fantastic cook, a terrific friend, super smart (Especially in math!), a just growing to be a fine young man. Happy Birthday Nate! We love you so much!!

At 11:

Nate's Buddies are Carson, Dallas, & Matthew.

Nate loves Legos, Spies, Movie Making, and Bald Eagles!

Nate works hard at scouts and has earned his Arrow of Light!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T22:10:00.001-05:00

We decided to change things up this year and not go trick-or-treating Halloween night. Brie and Nate are getting a little old for it and we received so much candy the night before at trunk-or-treat. Instead, since Halloween is Sam's mom's birthday, we made her an entire spooky dinner with Sam's sisters and celebrated Barbara's birthday. This year was more special, too, because we have a new little cousin to celebrate the holidays with us now. (It is no longer just our kids at our family gatherings! :) )

Our little Monster

The little Chick

Scream

Double Trouble!!!

The Cat Witch

We had a blast. The kids even did sneak out to trick-or-treat at a few houses.

Leading Up to Halloween Night

2010-10-30T23:48:00.001-05:00

This year, Halloween has been very exciting for us. We have been very busy with activities, but still have had time to fit in festivities. We have been watching "spooky" shows that Sam and I grew up watching at Halloween time, like "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown", "The Addams Family", "Hocus Pocus", & "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The kids think they are great! On Wednesday, we went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. The kids really enjoy going every year, even the big kids! The best thing is it's free!

On Thursday night, I took the kids and Carson to Boo on Ballard, in downtown Wylie. What a crazy mess! We got word that there were 4,000 people down there. I believe it too! It was so crowded it took 10 minutes to go from one trick-or-treating table to the next. We will most likely by-pass this event from here on out.

Saturday before Halloween, we went to our church's Trunk-or-Treat. This year they had the cars parked normally in the parking lot, instead of the usual circle, which allowed more cars to participate. It was so much fun. Brianna dressed up like a witch. Nate was a soldier, since he could not wear a mask, Natalie was a "Bat Princess," William was a spooky skeleton, and Alex was a monster.

Natalie Learns to Tie Her Shoes! (Finally!!!)

2010-10-27T15:35:00.001-05:00

Some things are better left alone. Teaching Natalie how to tie her shoes has been one of those things for us. Natalie is very stubborn at times, and when she does not get it right the first time, she gets down right ornery! We have tried for the past year to tie shoes with Natalie but it would always end in a huge argument. Today, however, I think she realized that almost everyone else she knows already can tie their own shoes. So, she sat with me at William's therapy this morning practicing on Alex's baby shoes. She was still getting very frustrated so we put them away. This afternoon, she came to me and told me that she could do it. And... she proceeded to tie her shoe right in front of me. I have to say I was so--- proud of her. I think this is a huge step for her: Realizing that some things she is going to have to work at to achieve.

Natalie Loses Her First Tooth

2010-10-23T10:30:00.002-05:00

We thought for sure that we were in for big dentist bills as a few weeks ago we noticed that Natalie had sprouted a permanent tooth behind her lower baby teeth. Her lower two front bottom teeth had been the tiniest bit loose for a while, but never loosened anymore, no matter how hard you wiggled them. After the permanent tooth came out, we realized why. Then, they were no longer loose at all. I was going to call the dentist next week for the dreaded appointment of telling us how many teeth they were going to have to extract. However, Natalie came running into my room last night crying, saying that her mouth really hurt. As soon as I looked in there, I could tell one tooth was very loose. I wiggled it a little bit and could tell it was coming out very soon. After some coaxing and reassuring, it finally loosened enough and came out. Natalie was so excited. Now we have noticed that 3 other bottom teeth are going to be falling out soon too! Hooray! Now the thoughts of massive dentist and orthodontist bills can be pushed aside. (At least for a little while.) :)

The Best Kids!

2010-10-21T22:45:00.002-05:00

What?!?!? A Teenager!!!!???!!!

2010-10-17T15:21:00.001-05:00

Yes! We have a teenager now. Brianna is officially 13! I cannot believe how quickly it has gone from the day she came into this world until now. When your parents tell you time flies...They are exactly right! Brianna is such a beautiful young woman. She is kind, loving, very helpful, and SUPER Smart! She brings so much joy into our family. For her special day, Sam bought Brianna her first dozen roses, since no one is suppose to do that but dad. :) At least at this point, Brie still loves us and thinks we are cool. I hope as she gets older that that lasts.

At 13:

Brie's best friends are Bailee, Alexa, Amy, & Emma.

She loves working every week at the Zoo.

Brianna's favorite pastime is, of course, READING!

She also loves rollerblading, making movies, camping, helping animals, and playing spies.

Happy 13th Birthday to our Beautiful Girl! We Love You!

Applelicious!

2010-09-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

After 6 really long months of trying to be patient as wind, water, and critters of ALL sorts played havoc, we have finally harvested our FIRST apple off our apple tree.

I never knew how much went into growing an apple until now. When our tree was covered in blossoms this spring, we were so excited. Then came.... The Birds! Waxwings! They began eating our blossoms like they were going out of style. We thought for sure it would be another fruitless season. However, the birds managed to leave the very bases of the blossoms, so they were able to pollinate and form fruit. We started with over 100 teeny apples on our tree at the beginning of the season. Then, Texas' famous spring winds began to blow. We watched sadly as our tree was blown and twisted all over in the wind. When all was said and done, and the winds began to calm, we were left with about 30 apples, still holding strong to their branches. Next came... the bugs. I do not think anything grows well in Texas because of the bugs. Our apples were sizing up so well. But, you would see a perfect apple one day, the next it would have one small hole, then the next it would be brown, shriveled, and mush! Yuck! We treated our remaining apples for bugs, then came the Mocking Birds. We tried everything to get rid of the darn things. Foil, Loud Noises, Brie running out there all day to scare them off. They were bound and determined to finish off our apples. When we went on vacation, we were pretty sure there would be nothing left. However, when we came home, it was a splendid sight. Only a few were left, but they looked AMAZING! In all, we harvested 6 apples. Not even enough for each of us to get our own, but we still had pure joy! What a feat we had accomplished. Maybe next year we will have that large harvest we were hoping for. Apple pies, Applesauce, Baked Apples. Yum! Just maybe.

Our Trip to CA

2010-09-19T22:15:00.005-05:00

This year has been quite a slow year for trips, compared to last year. As our summer drew near the end, Sam & I decided to attempt some kind of trip with the family. We initially wanted to visit our friends, who just moved to VA, but they still were in temp. housing and trying to get as settled as possible. So, instead we chose good old California. The kids have been bugging us on when they would get to see my brother and his family, so we thought it would be a great get away. We were very pleasantly surprised. Alex did amazing on the drive. Even in a very squashed van and almost an entire day wasted in Gallup, NM. fixing bad tires, all the kids did Fantastic. We took 3 days going so we could stop at the Grand Canyon on the way. Only Sam had seen it before. It was incredible! I was really sad to see how terrified Brianna was though. We found that she has a very legitimate fear of heights. She wanted nothing to do with looking out at how large the canyon was. While we were in AZ., we also visited the Grand Canyon Deer Farm. We actually went there before going to see the Grand Canyon because Nate really wanted to see some deer. After we went to the Grand Canyon, we realized that we did not need to visit a deer farm to see them. We were able to see lots of pretty incredible deer and elk inside the park. The kids were thrilled!

Will NOT be our next Christmas Card. Getting 5 kids in the picture is about impossible.(Especially if the lady taking the picture doesn't know you have five kids and is from Spain. :) )

Great pic if we could just photo shop Sam in with us.

The kids had to have a silly picture.

A few of the Elk we saw. They even followed the street signs. :)

Alex getting licks from the camel at the deer farm

Next, it was on to CA. Everyone was so excited to see Uncle Eric, Aunt Niki, Tim, Jacob, and Savannah. We went to the Santa Ana Zoo, Disneyland, the beach, the LA Zoo, to Poppy & Mimi's several times, and just had a blast. Nate and Brianna went with the boy to Jujitsu a few times and Nate went with Tim to a swimming safety course for Boy Scouts. There was not a dull moment and the trip of 2 1/2 weeks went by way too--- fast! We cannot wait to see everyone again hopefully soon!

Sweet Savannah

"Drivin' " at the Santa Ana Zoo

Cooking Crabs & Shrimp at Mimi & Poppy's

Disneyland Day

At the LA Zoo
(Was not a fun outing because we kept getting attacked by bees. )

Nate Gets His Webelos Badge

2010-08-13T22:17:00.000-05:00

We are so proud of Nate! Tonight he received his Webelos Badge at Pack Meeting. He has been working so hard. Even though he gets discouraged sometimes, he has stuck with it and completed all his requirements. His last award to get in Cub Scouts is his Arrow of Light. Hopefully that will happen very soon. Way to go Nate!

Nate getting his awards

The "Party" afterwards

Welcome Baby Miller

2010-08-11T21:29:00.005-05:00

We are so excited Sam's sister Emily and her husband Dusty had their first baby today!

Miller Kingston Heath was born at 8:00 am weighing a whopping 10lbs 1oz and was 21"long!

Such a beautiful baby! Way to go Emily & Dusty! :) Our kids are so excited to have a cousin close by!

We cannot wait to share our family gatherings with him!

Can't Stay Gone for Long!

2010-08-03T22:57:00.000-05:00

Our good friends that are moving to D.C came back this week to visit on their way to their new home after vacation. We were thrilled to see them again. It has been only a month, but I sure missed them! It is going to be a hard transition when they are gone for good. After this visit though, I realized that distance will not end our friendship. We are just too close. Tonight was their last night here, so we thought we would say farewell with a bang. 1 hour before showtime, we decided to visit Medieval Times together.

We had such a great time. Some of our kids even thought it was better than Disney World. (I don't know about that, but it has been over a year since that trip. They forget easily.)

Their poor daughter seems to get nervous with change and ended up getting sick during the show. She was fine after that, at least until we brought them to their hotel. It will be a big adjustment for their family, but I know they have prayed about it and know it is what's best for them. I am so grateful to have their examples of faith for our family. I am so grateful that we have been blessed to know them and share so many good times with them!

A.R.T.

2010-07-30T19:49:00.000-05:00

Brianna and several of her friends have joined together to form a club with the purpose of looking for lost animals and reuniting them with their owners and "rescuing" sick or injured animals and getting them to facilities to be treated. They call themselves the Animal Rescue Team. It is still very new, and they still have several things to work out to make sure everyone stays safe in the club, but I am so proud of her and her friends for coming up with an idea and carrying it through to do good for others (and animals). The club recently found this dog and brought it to the city animal shelter where it was reunited with its owner within a few hours of arriving. They were so excited for the happy ending!

Ever seen a rabbit molt?

2010-07-29T19:35:00.000-05:00

Yeah, me neither! That is why when we got up this morning, we were a little panicked about Pepper's all of a sudden loss of hair. Poor guy! All his flecked fur is coming out by the handfuls! I thought he was really sick, but Brianna looked up his symptoms and we had a good laugh knowing it is a natural process for him to possibly drop all his fur. (It sure makes a huge mess though!)

William is Back in Therapy

2010-07-25T10:42:00.001-05:00

Our house is just always crazy lately, it seems! We think we get one thing under control, then something else comes up. For a while now, we have known that William is having difficulty with his speech. The poor guy learned to talk through the middle of his swallowing issues. (Not a good combination.) I decided to wait until his 4 year check up to bring it up with his pediatrician. She recognized my concerns right away and put in for William to get an oral evaluation for speech & feeding. After 2 months of waiting, he was finally seen. Yes, It was not good. Out of 70 sounds William should be able to make right now, he failed over 40 of them. He also is still showing signs of decreased muscle tone in the right side of his face. (The same issue they worked on 2 years ago.) All of it seems to be bad (but good for the time) habits he formed to help protect his airway while his dysphaegia was at its worst. I am glad he did, but now it seems like it is going to be a huge process to retrain his way of doing things. For now, William is going to therapy twice a week to focus on speech, articulation, and feeding. I am so grateful for his therapist, Mrs. Kathy. She is the same therapist William had when he was undergoing his vital-stim therapy. She is amazing and William really likes her a lot. Mrs. Kathy wants him to have an OT evaluation also, just to make sure there is not some underlying muscular/neurological condition we might be missing. I don't know how long it will be for that to get scheduled though. I am just hoping we will see improvements soon. I am so saddened to watch my son be made fun of by other children for something he cannot control. He is a great kid and does not need that starin on his budding confidence.

July 4th

2010-07-05T21:04:00.001-05:00

The Fourth of July was a blast for our family this year. Even as the kids get older, we realize that there is something new to amaze them each year. To start off our weekend, our ward held its annual Fourth of July breakfast but added a "bike parade" to the fun. The kids were encouraged to decorate their bikes, scooters, or wagons in a patriotic theme. We did not have much time to do so, but our kids enjoyed just riding in the parade with all the other kids.

That afternoon we went to a dinner party at the Williams' house, which was incredible! We all had so much fun! We ate lots of fattening American food and then shot off things we weren't suppose to shoot off in their front yard. The kids also were able to light some sparklers. When the party ended, we took the kids to a quick firework show at the highschool with Sam's parents. The show was not great at all, but he time to spend together as a family is what made it worth every minute! With Sunday being the actual 4th, we did not go anywhere but to church. That night, being so exhausted from the day before, we chose to stay home and watch the fireworks across the area from our upstairs windows. It is kind of nice being on a "hill" so that we can see so many shows.

Last Year at Twilight Camp

2010-06-26T08:31:00.000-05:00

Sadly, this was Nate's last year to Cub Scout Twilight Camp. This boy is just getting too big too fast. He had a great week swimming, doing archery, building campfires, etc.. but was so disappointed because on the last night of camp, Family Night, camp was shut down 2 hours in to it due to inclement weather. Everyone had to pack up and leave immediately. We were able to complete the egg drop, since our pack had that first. Not one of our family's eggs broke. Yay!

But... we missed the water slides, wrist rockets, & campfire. Nate was pretty sad, but I bet he'll love going to Boy Scout camp even more. (They get to do the more grown up camping! Just what Nate likes!)

Does he have the right?

2010-06-24T22:55:00.002-05:00

So I had this situation come up at the pool on Tuesday. We were swimming with some friends and there was a man smoking out by the kiddie pool. After a few moments I hear, "That's gross. That man is smoking cigarettes and it's gross. That really stinks!..." I not so quickly realized it was William. I immediately tried to get him to stop because he was not being very quiet at all. First I told him it was not nice to talk about others. "It really stinks, mom. Cigarettes are bad for you," was his reply. I told him he was being rude. "He is smoking and I don't want to smell it anymore!" he tells me. I finally told him I was going to wash his mouth out with soap if he did not stop. So he did. After we went home and I had a spare moment to think about it, I realized, maybe I should not have stopped him from voicing his opinion about something that bothered him so badly. Not to mention something that could potentially harm him. This is my son who has gone through 2 years of being connected to a nebulizer for breathing issues. His lungs are just now beginning to function somewhat normally. Does he have the right to be so vocal at four? In my opinion, I am going to apologize to my son because I feel in this situation he does. He does have the right! I am so sorry William!

Toy Story 3 Adventure

2010-06-19T23:40:00.000-05:00

To add to the chaos of the day, we had a baptism today, a soccer party, and then because Sam has been out of town and the kids have been at camps, we all wanted to squeeze in going to see Toy Story 3 in 3-D. Somehow we managed to pull it off and boy was it worth it! Well worth the wait and months of hearing, "When does Toy Story 3 come out again?" The entire family sat virtually motionless the entire movie. Even Alex. He just slept the whole time :) I'd have to say it is a must see! Be warned there are some intense moments. At one point William tells me, "I don't want to watch this part anymore!" but by that point it was pretty much over. All of us loved it, and I loved all of us being together to do it. (Even with our extra buddy :))

The End of Soccer

2010-06-19T22:00:00.002-05:00

This soccer season has been crazy to say the least. Having Alex right at the beginning of it just added to all the excitement of the sport. However, I have to say that I think Natalie has got the best team around! The families that comprise the team are just incredible, the girls all love each other, and her coaches make it so worth the effort on our part. They have all be so kind and accepting with us missing practices, being late, and just plain being scatter-brained. I hate being late anywhere, but we are just a circus full of laughs right now around our house. We are hoping it will get better soon, before next season, because Natalie LOVES soccer and she loves her team. One of the team's families always opens their home to team parties. They did again this time for our end of season get together. As always, everyone had a blast!

"Nat" (as they call her) and Coach Angie

Coach Lorenzo, Coach Angie, Coach Rich, & the girls

Coach Angie & the girls with their cake

Saying Goodbye Can Be SO Hard To Do!

2010-06-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

One of our closest family of friends has moved away to Washington DC. This has been quite hard for my family, especially me, because we have been through a lot of challenging times with them. William and their youngest son went through their dysphaegia with aspiration together, along with breathing scares, being housebound for months, and constant illnesses. Without their love and support, I do not think I would have ever made it through those years. Then, when we decided to have another baby, they were trying also. It seemed like a bad omen but several of us lost multiple pregnancies around the same times. Many times I just wanted to give up and say, "Never mind! Our feelings that we were suppose to have another one were obviously WRONG!" Now I look at the grand picture, I realize that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us so much that he places special people in our lives to help us make it through our challenges. Now that we are both holding such beautiful babies in our arms, because we had such great friends to encourage us never to give up, and now that are sons are doing so well, it is time for their family to move on to other areas of need. Heavenly Father has bigger plans in store for them. We would never exchange all those memories and experiences with them. We have grown so much and learned so much from them all! I am just grateful that part of their life's journey included our neck of the woods. This family is incredible! We will miss them dearly, but never forget them!

Hatching Butterflies

2010-06-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

Our family has been very privileged this year to have butterfly eggs around our home. Brianna and her friend Bailee have gotten quite good at finding them and caring for them through their phases. Our whole family has been amazed at the process. What a miracle life is!

Getting Ready to turn into a Chrysalis

A few minutes later. (Literally)

About a week later.

Butterfly Releases

Swimming with Friends

2010-06-10T09:38:00.000-05:00

We are so blessed to have so many friends to share pools with. It makes our summer exciting without having to go very far from home.

The babies at the Pool

Missing the family

2010-06-02T18:20:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone, this is Sam ... .I'm out of town this week working in Charlotte, NC, helping Wells Fargo bank get some software installed and tested. We are working through some issues, which is making the trip a little stressful, since it makes us look bad when we struggle to get things working. But hopefully things will take a better turn tomorrow and we'll make some progress. Any time I get a moment to think of something else other than work, I get to thinking of Raechal and the kids, of course. I am missing them so much, and I've only been gone two days. I miss Alex, and keep feeling like I'm going to miss him doing something - like laughing or something cute like that. I'll be home Friday night, so it isn't really that far away, just seems like it when the day goes on and then at the end of the day you don't get to come home. Just back to a lonely hotel room :-( And there's really not even time to do anything like see any sites, since we don't finish working until late.

Anyway, at least I don't have to travel too often these days. This is actually the first time all year, so I can't complain to much. It's rainy here, which I wish would make its way over to Dallas, but doesn't seem like it will.

Well, just wanted to check in. I'll be home soon!

-Sam

William is 4!

2010-05-21T16:10:00.001-05:00

We are so excited for William's big 4 birthday! What an amazing adventure at life this little, but BIG, guy has had! We are so glad to share that this past year has been incredible. Much has changed for William, and we could not ask for more answers to prayers than have already been answered. His health has improved so well! We are so grateful. He still has a few bumps in the road to overcome, but they are so minor in the scheme of things.

William is one major ball of energy now. Sam and I, even though we are chasing a lot now, are happy and amazed that William can accomplish things, like walking across a soccer field, without needing to be carried 5 feet into it. He even prefers to walk/run at the zoo, and doesn't tire very easily. He loves to jump on the trampoline, and seldom ever coughs at all when doing so. He loves to create and build things, especially with Legos. He is very creative and smart.

William is huge! (At least in our family!) He is 1" shorter than Natalie, and a good 10lbs heavier than her. We are constantly being asked if they are twins. My mom likens him to a puppy. His hand are huge. His feet are huge, and he is not quite graceful with them yet. That is okay though. We love him just the way he is. He is a very tender little boy. He loves giving hugs and kisses to all of us. He always brings me flowers, which melts my heart. We are so happy to have him be part of our family.

William Tidbits:

Favorite Food: Ice Cream

Best Buddy: Dakota

Favorite Discussions: Anything with "Potty Talk" (We are SO trying to change this! Especially announcing when he is going to the bathroom, then play by play accounts of his actions the entire time!)

Favorite Book: Anything Nate likes to read to him

Why William is Banned from Our Bed!

2010-05-20T15:56:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Crazy Times at the Hardy Household!

2010-05-20T10:28:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, you just have to laugh it off and move on!

A post from .... Sam (surprise!)

2010-05-19T11:09:00.003-05:00

So yesterday my beautiful wife was giving me a hard time about not ever posting on or reading the blog ... so I decided to take a minute and do just that! Actually, I do read the blog, but I should post more often. Raechal does a great job at capturing all the crazy moments that happen and everything else, along with awesome pictures of the kids.

Since Raechal had such kind things to say about me in her last post, I wanted to thank her and let her and everyone know how wonderful she is! I could never do enough to show her how thankful I am for her and how awesome of a Mom she really is. You can tell by reading what she said about the kids in her last post how devoted and loving she is toward our family. I see this every day, and every day I am more amazed at what she does day in and day out for us all. Raechal never thinks of herself, always puts the kids' needs first, and never complains about it. I feel so lucky and blessed to have her as my wife, and the mother of our children.

Just this morning I had one of those moments, you know the kind - where in the middle of doing something else you just stop and out of the blue notice something about somebody. I couldn't help but notice how beautiful my wife is ... of course, I notice this all the time, but I don't know what it was about this moment in particular. She just struck me at that moment, and I just had to stop and think about how lucky I am and how much I love her. I love those moments where I am reminded of just how great of a woman she is. I love her so much, and I am so happy for the wonderful times we share together and as a family.

I will be sure to post more often ... I need to talk about Father and Sons Campout still, and I need to make a belated post about Father-Daughter campout so that my daughter does not feel left out anymore!

-Sam

Baseball Night

2010-05-16T21:42:00.001-05:00

Having Family Home Evenings lately has been a little challenging. Tonight we decided to play baseball. It was a blast! I love these times with the whole family. They are priceless! It makes me so grateful for all my kids, even if we do almost have enough for our own baseball team.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-10T08:55:00.002-05:00

A Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mothers and to all my friends who are mothers! Your wisdom and sharing of your experiences as a mother help me in so many ways on my own journey as a mom. I am so grateful I have a Father in Heaven who knows where my weaknesses are and fills them with such special people to help me out! For my children, I could not be more blessed! After finding out last year that it is a miracle we even have any, I look at my role as a mother with different eyes. I think it has helped me not take for granted what a beautiful gift each of my children are. My Brianna, such a sweet and tender girl. No matter when or where, she is always so willing to be a helper. She never complains if I ask her for something and shows great love towards her siblings and especially to me. I love her so much! My Nate, is going to make a great father some day. I have never seen a boy so enthralled with babies as he is. It warms me to the core to see him interact with Alex, and to watch Alex's face light up with joy when Nate does. Nate is another tender child who wants to please everyone. Kids are drawn to him to be his friend, and such a loyal and devoted friend he makes. He is an amazing child. I am so grateful he is my son! Natalie, even though she is constantly on the move, she never misses a detail. She is such a devoted child to making sure she knows you. Anything that will make you smile and happy, she has it figured out. If she gets in her mind to do something nice for someone, she sticks with it from beginning to end with a smile on her face. She is also a child who laughs for almost anything. Once she starts, it almost always ends in tears because it is so hard she cannot stop. I love her and enjoy watching her grow and mature. William is just a sweetie. He is so much like his dad where I am concerned. He will go to great lengths to open a door for me or to pick me a flower, even if it is somewhere he is not suppose to go. His heart is sincere. He is always the one to give others a hug. He knows how to melt your heart. With all the challenging times he has been through, I am so glad he has turned out so well! Alex...we call him "Mr. Smiles!" I have never known a baby to smile as much as Alex does. It is very easy to get smile pictures of him because he smiles on cue. He is such a sweet baby. I really look forward to seeing what kind of traits he will develop as he grows. He is surrounded by such love, I hope they will be fantastic traits to carry him through a happy life. I am so grateful for my five little miracles. They are so special to me. I feel honored to be their mom. Even though I am their "teacher" also, I feel like I am taught way more by them than I could ever teach them myself. They are wonderful! Most of all, I am grateful for my fantastic, superb, incredible, totally devoted husband. Sam is a miracle all on his own. He loves me so unconditionally and puts up with so much. He is such a fantastic father, I could have never asked for someone better. There isn't anyone. He gives his all to make me and the kids happy. He is such a hard worker, and never a complainer. He loves us so much, and it really shows! He makes my role as a mother such an enjoyable one. I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

Crazy Life at the Hardy's

2010-05-05T16:06:00.000-05:00

Life at our house has been a bit crazy lately. Since Alex's arrival, things have just seemed to turn upside down. Alex has brought us pure joy, but with him has come all kinds of illness. We have been sick with something every other week. First, from the antibiotics given to me during his birth, both he & I got thrush. Those were not exciting times. Next, everyone except Sam, Natalie, and Alex got a weird stomach bug/headache/fever virus. We were going to surprise my Grandma for Easter by going to visit her, but it is a good thing we decided not to because we would have had sick kids in the car. No thanks! After that, Sam was working a ton , so to preserve my mobility, I was carrying Alex on me in his Baby Bjorn. What a huge mistake! I aggravated several nerves and muscles in my neck and shoulders and have had to visit the chiropractor several times to feel somewhat normal again and to stop the "pain headaches" I was getting from it all. Then, I got strep and an ear infection. They put me on antibiotics, only to give me and Alex thrush again. Last, and hopefully the last, I got mastitis from pumping in an attempt to take my wonderful daughter to concert that I had bought her tickets for at Christmas. I was trying to do something nice, and ended up sicker than a dog. This week we have been to 4 different doctors' appointments, including one for our indoor rabbit who ended up having ear mites. Poor thing, but Yuck! Craziness all around, and hoping life will be "normal" now. I have to say though, My Kids ARE Wonderful! Even though our house is a huge mess, their bedrooms could use an overhaul, and we have eaten lunch and dinner out more in 9 weeks than I think I have in my life, they have been a saving grace. They always have helping hands to hold Alex, have made meals, planted gardens, completed piles of laundry, and been absolute saints when we have had to visit our doctors. I am so grateful for them and so happy they are mine! Life might be crazy, but I wouldn't trade it. One day we all will look back and laugh, "What great stories those days made!"

Natalie's Gymnastics Party

2010-04-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

Poor Natalie. Our life was quite crazy around her birthday so we had to push back her party all the way into April. She was so sweet though. With a new baby to love and cuddle, she did not mind the change. Everyone had a blast. There was lots of running, climbing, laughing, & playing.

Happy Easter!!!

2010-04-05T10:17:00.000-05:00

Today was a wonderful day! Easter Sunday, and my husband let me sleep in 4 hours longer than normal. I cannot say I didn't freak out when I woke up and realized that he had not brought me Alexander to eat after 2 hrs., but Sam assured me Alex was very happy and just fine while I got some extra well needed sleep. Sam is so sweet like that!

Our family enjoyed a very relaxed Easter, hunting Easter eggs, watching General Conference, making Easter goodies to bring to Grandma & Grandpa's, and enjoying time with our family. It was very nice to not feel rushed. It was not until mom decided to tell everyone to dress in "Sunday clothes" that the calm tone of the day changed. I really wanted to get a picture of all of us together since we do not have one yet. What a nice thought. That is easier said than done. Trying to get 7 people not only dressed but also to cooperate for a picture is quite a feat. I think Grandpa did pretty good though.

Here is our first family of 7 picture.

Alex wanted nothing to do with being happy this time, but oh well. We know he is still cute and happy most of the times! :)

It was a fantastic day! I am so grateful for our Savior's sacrifice for us and that he was resurrected from the dead. What an amazing gift we have been given from our Father in Heaven. I feel so lucky to be part of His plan!

Happy 6th Birthday Natalie!

2010-03-18T20:52:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe that our little Natalie is now 6 years old! Time really flies! Natalie had a wonderful birthday. We did our traditional pancake breakfast, complete with original Hardy Family singing, then took Natalie bowling. We had tons of fun! Natalie wins the prize for the most original throw of a bowling ball. (No roll about it!)

After bowling, we had dinner with Grandma at Mooya's. I've got to say it was pretty good! The kids loved that they could choose exactly what went on their burgers, and the burgers came the way they ordered them, no mistakes like Mickey D's. We are now looking forward to Natalie's birthday party at her gymnastics gym. We had to postpone it a little because of the baby, but Natalie handled that very well. She was very understanding! :)

Natalie's Fun Facts:

Favorite Color: Pink (But if you ask her around Brianna, it's blue.)

Favorite Movie: Princess and the Frog

Friends: Tyson, Mandie, Megan, Carolyn, & Lillian

Favorite Sports: Soccer & Gymnastics

Natalie is a great helper. She loves to do things to please others. She always tries to learn new things, no matter how hard they might be. She can be very loud at times, but she can also be very tender. She is a great snuggler. Happy 6th Birthday to our Irish Princess!

Nana took Natalie out for her birthday to Sweet and Sassy to get all "dolled-up." I have to admit she looked pretty darn cute!

Baby Alexander's Blog

2010-03-09T09:24:00.004-06:00

Before and throughout our pregnancy with Alexander, we kept a journal of our experiences. Now we have chosen to switch to a blog baby book of his first year. All our pictures of his milestones will be kept there so our family blog is not overrun with baby info.
You can link to it at anytime at http://www.thenewhardybaby.blogspot.com/
or find the quick link on the right side of our family blog entitled "Baby Alexander's Blog."

Our Baby has arrived! It's a Boy!!!!

2010-03-03T07:08:00.006-06:00

Welcome Alexander King Hardy!!!!
Born March 2, 2010 (3-2-1-Blastoff! :) )
9 pounds 9 ounces 19 1/2" long
Perfect in every way!!!

Thanks to my wonderful doula Elizabeth for helping bring this beautiful baby into the world! You are amazing and we loved having you be there with us! Thanks for the magical experience!

To My Beautiful Wife - from Sam

2010-01-18T15:37:00.003-06:00

I've been thinking about my wonderful wife a lot today since tomorrow is her birthday! I just wanted to return the kind words my wife had for me about our Anniversary and our marriage. Raechal is the most beautiful woman in the world, and the most amazing woman, mother, and wife anyone could ever ask for. She works so hard at everything she does, and amazes me every day when I see her in action. I could not be more blessed than I am now to have found and married her. We are all looking forward to giving Mom a special day tomorrow since it is her birthday - she deserves it so much!! Happy Birthday, Honey!!

Also, I wanted to comment on this year's Anniversary as well. I thought it was a wonderful time. As Raechal said, I surprised her by going on a little weekend trip to somewhere new. We went to a small town in East Texas called Jefferson. There is a lot of historic and romantic places to go and see there, so I heard it would be a nice time. I picked a Bed & Breakfast that was great for the most part, and even had a little bit of history to it since Pres. George W. Bush had stayed there once. We had a great time seeing some of the antique shops and riding the Christmas Train which toured some lights, and we just enjoyed walking around and not having to rush anywhere or worry about anything.

It has been a wonderful 13 years and I am looking forward to all the years to come!

Christmas Eve with the Hardy's

2009-12-25T12:20:00.000-06:00

One of our family's most treasured days of the year is Christmas Eve. We love gathering with Sam's parents and sisters to have a big steak & lobster dinner together, sing Christmas carols while Grandpa plays his guitar, read Luke 2 from the Bible, get our new Christmas pj's, and to open one present from under the tree. This year was exceptionally special because it snowed most of the day, adding a kind of magic to the feeling of the season.

We also added making a cake for baby Jesus, to celebrate his birthday with the next day. It was a wonderful experience. Our kids actually worked together, without bickering, to accomplish their goal. They were so pleased with their results.

The kids in their new jammies.

Check out those socks! (They're actually Brie's)

Natalie with Gracie in the sonw.

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-23T09:50:00.001-06:00

What is the holiday season without gingerbread houses? Well, probably a lot neater and less kiddos speeding around on sugar rushes. I think after this year I have decided to buy pre-made royal icing. The kids were so excited to put their house together but each one quickly crumbled under the weight of our home-made frosting. Can't say we don't deserve an "E" for effort though! :) What do the kids enjoy most about their houses anyways?...EATING THEM!

Brianna Visits the Temple

2009-12-20T09:29:00.000-06:00

Brianna, now that she has turned 12, had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Dallas Temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was a wonderful experience! Sam and I both were able to attend, which was so special for us. Sam was even able to participate as the priesthood holder with her. It was such a spiritual experience for all of us. I am so grateful for such an amazing daughter who values her baptimal covenants and know the importance of being righteous. We have been truly blessed.

13 Wonderful Years!

2009-12-14T17:41:00.003-06:00

It is hard to believe that Sam and I have already been married for 13 years. So much has happened in that time. I am grateful every day for such a special man in my life. I could never ask for anyone more dedicated and loving towards me than Sam.

When Sam and I were first married, We promised each other that we would try our hardest to make every anniversary special. We would take time away just to spend it with each other. As we sat together this year and pondered what we had done in 13 years, we were amazed to find that we could remember almost every anniversary.

1st Year: We went back to the Hotel Inter-Continental

2nd Year: We went to the Double Tree Lincoln Center

3rd Year: We went to Abuelo's (Did not leave home this year due to Nate's arrival. We pushed him under the table during dinner, and he never made a peep.)

4th Year: We went see the Nutcracker at the Bass Performance Hall and "stayed" at the Hotel St. Germaine for all of 10 minutes. We had to rush home because Nate had pneumonia. The hotel was so--- kind to let us stay, at no extra charge, for Valentine's Day. It was great!

5th Year: Sam and I stayed in our brand new house together (Before we moved the kids in!)

6th Year: We went to a spectacular drive-thru light display in Arlington then stayed in the Sanford House Inn.

7th Year: We visited San Antonio. We strolled down the lit up Riverwalk, went on a carriage ride, where the driver talked our ears off the entire ride, and stayed in the ?

8th Year: Neither of us can remember

9th Year: We ate dinner at Mi Cocina, went to watch Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and stayed at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine.

10th Year: We were scheduled to take a hot air balloon ride, but the company kept canceling on us, and William kept getting sick.

11th Year: To make up for our failed 10th year attempt we took a cruise to the Yucatan and Cozumel. Wonderful!!!!!!!

12th Year: We went back to San Antonio. This has become one of our favorite quick trip spots! We stayed in the Beauregard House.

This year was Sam's turn to plan. I, for the first time, had no idea where we were going. He did a great job keeping it a surprise.

I had made several guesses, but when we headed on the freeway to go East I was stumped. We ended our drive in Jefferson, Texas, a little town with a huge history behind it. It was great! We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast called the House of Seasons.

Our suite was the exact suite President Bush and his wife stayed in on their visit to Jefferson. It had lots of memorabilia from all kinds of presidential events. It was really neat. Our arrival day was very rainy so we decided to do indoor things like touring the antique shops and trying out their best restaurants. That night, we took a train ride through the bayou to see Christmas lights. The lights were great, but Sam and I will never forget our guide's singing. We much preferred the music piped through the sound system of the train. It was still really nice though. We then ate a romantic dinner at a little Italian restaurant in one of the historic hotels. It was a wonderful finish to a wonderful day!

When we woke up the next morning, we went down to breakfast in the main dinning hall. What a feast! I think we gained 10 pounds just from breakfast! After that, we ended our stay in Jefferson by visiting the Jefferson Museum. It was full of incredible artifacts from American History. My favorite was the lavish art gallery. It was breathtaking! They even had to have humidity controls on the walls to make sure the levels were just right to protect such old paintings.

I am so grateful for Sam! Our trip was wonderful, and I can't wait to add many more trips to our list as our years together continue. I could not be more blessed to be married to him! Happy 13th Anniversary Sam!

The First Snow of the Season

2009-12-10T16:53:00.004-06:00

Don't ever tell your kids that it has been too hot for the newly falling snow to stick! (Especially if you live in Texas!) You'll end up eating your words!

It did end up sticking, even if it was only for a few hours. The kids had a blast in it! Then all was back as it was. The shining sun, and a fairly nice warm end to the day.

Got to love Texas weather!

Going Back in Time

2009-12-07T14:57:00.000-06:00

This year, we carefully planned out our Christmas activities way ahead of time, because it always seems like we have so much we want to do but time gets away with us. One of the biggest things we did not want to miss was going to Bethlehem Revisited.

The night we picked to go was a very foggy, misty, & cold night, but that did not stop us. We bundled up, packed our umbrella, and headed out to Waxahachie. It was absolutely wonderful! There were hardly any people there because the weather, and we were able to move through the town at a very nice unrushed pace.

We had time to stop at the various shops and sites and talk with the kids about what we saw and what was happening. It was great! The kids were even able to hold some of the farm animals without interruption.

The night was, in a sense, magical and we left greatly feeling the Spirit and what it must have been like in Bethlehem the night our Savior was born.

Poor Pepper! (And Brianna, Too!)

2009-11-29T16:37:00.000-06:00

In the midst of Pepper having "free-roam" time, Brianna was trying to show us how Pepper had eaten through his entire chew ball to get out his peanut. The peanut was wedged in between the tray and the wire floor to his cage. Brianna went to pull out the peanut, and in the process, the tray fell from the bottom of the cage, landing right on top of Pepper, who just a second before, had climbed underneath it. He ran off, then the kids started telling Brianna and I that he was not using his right leg. Brianna immediately burst into tears. Sam and I tried to console her as we checked the rabbit over. Seeing how distraught Brianna was, we decided it was best to bring him to the vet to be examined.

They took x-rays of his paw, but could not find anything wrong with it from the elbow down. In order to x-ray higher, Pepper would have to be put to sleep. After Brianna and I discussed the options, we declined to put Pepper under anesthesia and brought him home with a shot and a slew of pain killers. Brianna is still very shaken by the situation. She has cuddled him close for several days, but is relieved that it is not anything very serious. As much as this rabbit is loved, extra time and attention is what we think will heal him.

A Visit to the Tree Farm

2009-11-26T15:52:00.001-06:00

Picking out our family Christmas tree is always a big deal for our family. The past several years we have had the best time actually visiting tree farms and cutting down the one of our choice ourselves. The kids really enjoy running through the many trees to find the "perfect" one. This year we decided to visit a new farm. We got information about it at the State Fair and thought it would be fun to try something new. This one boasted about their playground, train rides, Santa visits, and more. We were very excited, but quickly disappointed shortly after we arrived. The farm was fairly small in size, all the activities were provided for "an extra fee", and "to prevent law suits" they preferred to cut down the tree for us, would not bring it back to barn or tie it on our vehicle. I guess we had been pretty spoiled. Even though our past tree farm did not have a playground, it did have a friendlier atmosphere, one that we will choose to return to next year.

Our Tree

Poor Sam had to carry William on his shoulders, hauling our 10 foot tree back to the barn with Nate, while Brianna helped push Natalie in the umbrella stroller through tall grass and cracked earth. It was a great family effort, but a little more than we expected. It was hard for me to feel helpless watching them. I have to say that they are great kids though, and had a blast at the end riding the "horse" carousel. We even spent several extra dollars to get them ice cream. They deserved it!

Much to be Thankful for!

2009-11-26T14:40:00.000-06:00

At this time of Thanksgiving, our family has so very much to be thankful for. We have been so deeply blessed!

First off, we are so grateful for our health. Each one of us has had great health through this season. With the guided hands of his doctors and therapists over the past 3 years, William is finally free of all breathing medications and has had incredible success at overcoming recent illnesses all on his own, without the need for antibiotics.

Through inspired doctors, we were able to find the causes to my difficult pregnancies and are now currently expecting our fifth child. We could not be happier and more excited for the day of its arrival.

Sam, Brianna, Nate, & Natalie all are very healthy. We are indeed very blessed!

Next, we are grateful for Sam's job, that continues to provide our needs for our family. He is so smart and good at what he does. We are so proud of all his accomplishments!

We are also very grateful for such a loving family and loving friends that we have been blessed to have in our lives. We could never repay the kindness, generosity, and true love that everyone has shown our family.

Last, but most of all, we are so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who has continued to pour his blessings upon us. Even when things have looked bleak, in the end, we have been greatly rewarded. We are so appreciative for it all!

Family Photos

2009-11-25T20:47:00.000-06:00

A friend from our ward took family pictures of us and we are so thrilled! They came out just beautiful! Here are some of our favorites. Our most favorite family shot we are saving for our Christmas card. :)

The Crazy Crew

Our Beautiful Brianna

Our Handsome Nate

Always "Spirited" Natalie

Serious (only when HE wants to be) William

Thanks so much Mandie for your beautiful artistry and talent!

http://mandiemcmurdiephotography.blogspot.com/

Busy! Busy! Busy!

2009-11-21T03:53:00.004-06:00

If you think you cannot add any more events and activities into your life, your wrong! More always seem to come! We have been so incredibly busy with everything, I think the holidays will be a welcomed break!

Brianna has been involved in Junior Zoo Keepers, Volleyball, Activity Days, Science Co-op, and now Mutual.

Nate has been involved in Fencing, Cub Scouts, Science Co-op, and now Basketball.

Natalie has been involved in Gymnastics and Soccer.

William has been involved in twice a week preschool, terrorizing the house, and just being 3!

Mom has been chauffeuring, pregnant, teaching school, cooking, cleaning, and the list goes on...

Dad has been working, traveling, working, traveling...., getting his masters, helping mom & the crew, and his list goes on...

Plumb-out exhausted, us Hardy's are ready for a turkey dinner and relaxation this week!

Camping at Eisenhower

2009-11-08T03:25:00.000-06:00

Texas always seems to be a bundle of surprises when it comes to weather. This year has been no exception! With our cold front in August, and weeks and weeks of torrential rain, trying to plan a family camp out has been quite a challenge. Luckily, the weekend we finally decided on was an absolute success!

We were intending to go to Broken Bow, Oklahoma since one of our really favorite camping-buddy families was suppose to be moving close to their, but the weather was going to be in the 30's at night, and pregnant or not, I was just not up for that. Also, our friends have not yet moved, so there was no point in driving several hours to be close to them if they were already closer to us.

We decided Eisenhower would be a better pick, since it is only about an hour away, and if weather moves in, we could move out and be home quickly.

Brie and Nate went up the day before us, since I was not fancying the idea of 2 nights on an air mattress. We met them there early the next morning in time for the beautiful sunshine and a hike.

What we were not expecting were all the bees at this time of year! Our hike was quickly ended when one crawled up Nate's shorts, couldn't find a way out, and stung him in his thigh. Of course his screaming throws all the other kids into a screaming crying frenzy and we had to play "reassurance police" anytime anyone saw a bee the rest of the time we were gone.

The kids had a blast making a fort out if a cave in the rocks by the lake. I wish they would have gotten a picture of it, but unfortunately they didn't. We will try harder to get more pictures on our next adventure!

One of our many "Camping Buddies."

"Look Out Below!"

(It did make it to the water and not on his head!)

Whittling Away

Natalie is not pictured because she was always on the move!

Happy Birthday Nate!

2009-11-05T07:05:00.000-06:00

Fun and excitement never end at the Hardy household, and with the arrival of Brianna's birthday, comes the introduction to "Birthday Season!" Nate was next in line for a celebration, and celebrate we did! No longer is he in the single digits, but moving in to a life long bliss of the doubles! 10!

It is so hard for me to believe that I have 2 kids already in their double digits. Especially Nate! There is so much I remember about him when he was little. I actually use to be the most important thing in his world. Sometimes in the midst of it, you wish they would spread their wings and fly on their own, but looking back, it just goes by too--- fast! He is growing and maturing so fast that I know we will blink our eyes and he will be on his mission then married to some beautiful young lady and starting a family of his own. :(

Nate is such a great kid! He strives to please everyone, and is greatly disappointed when he feels he has not done his best. He is super smart and a super talented fencer! All those years of light sabre battling with Sam sure shine through!

Nate is a fantastic cook, and sometimes I think he cooks better than I do. (Don't tell!) He is so incredible with William that it makes my heart melt every time I hear William belly laughing while he is playing with Nate because I know Nate brings him so much joy. What a great big brother. And finally,now, Nate and Natalie are becoming the good buddies they use to be, when she was smaller and very much less opinionated. He and Brianna, I believe, will always be the best of buds. They have shared so many good times together and are always thinking of each other when they are apart.

Nate has such a tender side to him and wants to make the world be fair in every way. When something goes wrong, he has a hard time seeing why people do not know what is right. I hope he continues to fight for the right way through his life. He is strong and I know it will make a great impact on others if he does!

I am so grateful for Nate! He is such a blessing to our family. I am so happy to be celebrating such a fantastic son!

The King himself, in his self-decorated crown

Halloween Never Ends!

2009-11-01T21:39:00.001-06:00

Well...Almost! In our family, Halloween is a very celebrated time of year. Not only do we love the pumpkin carving, treat tasting, and costume partying, we also love the TRICK or TREATING! There was plenty to go around this year! The kids went to the Tri-Ward Trunk-or-Treat, then followed that up with Trick-or-Treating at Grandma's house on her birthday. They loved every minute of it. Now we just need to figure out what to do with a 20+ pound bag of candy. Sam said he would gladly bring it to work, but I think I know that means he would like to sneak it all for himself.

The Spy, Indiana Jones, Dorothy, and Buzz

(What a mix!)

Brie and her friends

Nate and The Boys

Natalie smiling big with her friends.

(William still thinks mom and dad are the best. We'll hold onto it while it lasts!)

Halloween Parties Galore

2009-10-31T19:59:00.001-05:00

This year our family decided to continue its "tradition"(I guess we have started) of having a Halloween costume party for the kids. The one we had last year was tons of fun, but it was a little challenging having such a large mix of ages running around everywhere. This time, we decided to have 2 smaller parties, 1 for Brie and Nate, and the other for Natalie and William. It worked like a charm. Everyone had a fantastic time. We played loads of games and could not pass up eating lots of treats. I think the sugar rush will take months to wear off!

The Spread

The big kids party away!

Cleopatra Divas

Crazy girls and a swamp monster

"Buzz" showing his super strength!

The Little Kids enjoying their treats!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-10-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

Our Final Results!

Daddy/Daughter Campout

2009-10-24T21:34:00.000-05:00

Adding to Our Family

2009-10-17T07:18:00.002-05:00

With the arrival of Brie's birthday also came the arrival of our newest family member. Meet Pepper:

About 6 months ago, Brianna decided that she wanted to get a rabbit. She has been working the past year as a Junior Zoo Keeper and has really enjoyed the rabbits she gets to work with. Brianna came to us with a proposal that if she did not have a birthday party, we would not buy her any presents except a cage, and she saved all her money, she would buy the rabbit and all its food, fluff, toys, & equipment. We thought that she was very dedicated to this, so we said okay. For the last six months, we have heard nothing but, "Rabbit this... Bunny that...." And... as her birthday grew closer, we knew that she was going to achieve her goal. We bought her a cage, and with that came our cute baby silver fox bunny. He is around 6 weeks old and and loves to snuggle and be held. Brianna's idea of a female mini lop or Holland lop quickly changed when she saw this little guy. It was instant love, a precious thing to see.

Now we just have to get Chip to not puff up like a huge hairball when he sees Pepper.

Happy 12th Birthday Brianna!

2009-10-16T19:12:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that twelve years ago, Sam and I began our family with this tiny little girl. It is crazy to think back that far and realize how little we knew of how great a child she would become. Brianna is such a delight to our family. She is loving, kind, super smart, tender, and ever so very helpful to everyone in our family. I am so glad she is my daughter. She has taught me incredible things over her twelve years. I am deeply grateful that Heavenly Father blessed her to our home. Happy Birthday Brie! We will love you always!

State Fair of Texas 10/15/2009

2009-10-16T06:25:00.006-05:00

The rain finally let up for a day, so we decided to take our chances and run to the State Fair before it ended for the year. Sam was out of town, so I had to brave it by myself. It just happened to be a cold and windy day, but that did not stop the kids' excitement to go and they were fantastic! We all had a wonderful time. Everyone helped out when needed, and we left the fairgrounds with great memories!

What a huge tractor!

Nate is Fearless!

What happens when you let a 3 year old in a sandbox!

He had sand coming off for days!

Natalie sporting her battle wound from trying to do a somersault around a piano bench. (The bench obviously won!)

Are they old enough to drive those things!?

The parade ended a great day!

Rain! Rain! Rain!...So here we come Amazing Jakes!

2009-10-14T19:34:00.001-05:00

All it has seemed to do around here lately is RAIN! Everything is so soggy and swampy. The mosquitoes are multiplying like crazy and mud is on everything! We really wanted to try and go to the State Fair of Texas, but of course the day we thought was going to be free and clear of rain, ended up soggy and wet like the rest of them.

Sam had just found our that he had to leave to go out of town the next morning, so we really wanted to something fun together as a family before Brianna's birthday on Friday, since he was going to be gone. We decided to go to Amazing Jakes. We had not been there since it opened about a year ago. What better fun than an indoor amusement park, out of the rain, and on a 1/2 price Tuesday. SCORE! Even better, we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves!

We ate dinner, brought Brianna a little birthday cake to celebrate with, and played until the place closed. It was great!

(Can't believe she is turning 12!!!)

Natalie tried rock climbing for the first time, and what could be funnier than her charging to the top, speeding past Brie & Nate's times, only to find out that once she was there, she could not get back down. She let go of the wall to descend but just hung in mid-air. It was hillarious. The worker had to fasten into belts, scale the wall, and hold her to bring her down. Little Miss Daredevil was not bothered a bit though.

I think Sam got prett dizzy of going around in circles. Because of my "current condition" I am unable to drive in speeding out of control racecars, so he was forced to take each of our 4 lovely children (who were all under "legal driving height") around and around the go-kart track. Of course they all wanted to go again and again too.

Go Natalie!

2009-10-10T15:33:00.003-05:00

William and I were out for a date day today, and as we drove to get the mail on the way home I see Brianna and Nate waving their arms crazily on the sidewalk next to the mail box. I rolled down my window and they are telling me, "Mom! Mom! Look at Natalie!" I of course could not see her, nor did I know what they were talking about. I was scared to death thinking something had happened to her, but when I looked through my front windshield, I did see Natalie, with Daddy in tow, riding her 2-wheel bike all by herself with no training wheels. She had the biggest smile on her face! I was so--- proud of her. She had told Sam and I that she was never going to take off her training wheels. I do not know how Sam convinced her, but whatever he did, It Worked, and on the 1st Try! Way to GO!

Homeschool Days at the Fort Worth Zoo

2009-10-02T14:38:00.000-05:00

We have not have anything but RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! lately! Everything is very wet and muddy! However, that did not stop us from attending our favorite annual event : Homeschool Days at the Fort Worth Zoo. They have all kinds of neat things for the kids to do and see. This year we brought our friends the Williams' along with us.

It was wonderful! We went to the Wild Animal Show to see actual live zoo animals up close and learn interesting facts about them. It was great fun.

Brianna's Favorite: The Serval

The Boys' Favorite: The Burmese Python

When the rain finally stopped for the afternoon, the sun came out and ended our day with traditional Texas heat and humidity. By that time, we were tuckered out and it was time to go home. Nate and Natalie also had the best part of the deal because they missed school for the day to come with the rest of us. It is always funner when the whole family participates!

The Best of Buds!

2009-09-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

I had to put this post in here because this has got to be the cutest relationship between 2 kids I think I have ever seen.

William and his buddy Dakota just bring the brightest smile to each other's faces whenever they see each other. It just makes your heart melt to watch the two of them interact together. William talks non-stop about Dakota. He thinks he is the best thing ever and will protect him to the end, and vice-versa, if they think it is needed. They speak each other's language, laugh at each other's jokes (even though no one else gets it), and are just the best of buds!

Up! Up! & Away!!!!

2009-09-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

We decided to make a family night of attending the Plano Balloon Festival this year. We had not been since Brianna and Nate were little so we thought it would be fun. As the time to go approached, and the rain finally stopped, I realized that it might not be such a great idea for me to walk around too much. I had been having pretty bad consistent contractions all afternoon. Sam, being the trooper he is, decided he would take the kids himself while I rested. They had a blast.

There were not as many balloons as usaual because of all the rain, but the kids did find a favorite.

William is very much into Toy Story right now, so they all fell in love with this great big penguin balloon that looked just like Wheezy from Toy Story 2. We won't tell William that the balloon was actually Penguin Ice's mascot!

Sam and the kids ended the festival by rocking out to the Kildaires, a celtic rock band that was actually pretty good. They really enjoyed themselves. Hopefully next year the whole crew will be able to go.

Yes, We're Expecting!

2009-09-16T15:08:00.004-05:00

After quite a roller coaster ride the past several months, we finally feel okay to announce to all those who have not noticed yet that we are indeed expecting baby #5! We are very excited, but have been very cautious too. The beginning of the pregnancy was very rough, and we were not sure it would end with a positive outcome. Today we had our "16 week" ultrasound which revealed a very healthy, very BIG 16 week baby. The baby is looking fantastic and we are very hopeful that things will continue to go in a positive direction!

To follow our journey with us , you can click on our baby blog : http://www.thenewhardybaby.blogspot.com/

What do you do when you find the evidence months later?!?

2009-08-28T09:21:00.003-05:00

Upon taking Natalie for her last haircut, I was desperate to get her a cut that would even out her WILD!!!! hair! She has always had very strange hair. Course, frizzy, stubborn, and most of all uneven! It seems that her hair never grows in at the same rate. Well, yesterday, Nate comes downstairs with a pink box, belonging to Brianna, full of hair and a pair of scissors. The crazy thing is, there was so much hair in there, we cannot figure out how we could not obviously see it missing from Natalie's head. Good thing for Natalie, though, is that it was obviously done a while ago, because her hair is quite short now. We would surly know if that much was missing. I really hope that she grows out of her fascination with scissors, hair, and markers/crayons soon!

First Day of School

2009-08-28T09:05:00.003-05:00

Nate and Natalie have started public school! After much prayer and discussion, we thought that they might enjoy it. So far, so good! Nate absolutely loves his teacher Mrs. Jackson! He is already making new friends and getting use to his new schedule. Natalie is a little harder to read. She does not give us much information about her days yet, but I am sure that will come with time and maturity. Her poor teacher had her first baby on the first day of school, so we have yet to meet her. Natalie will have a permanate sub for the next 6 weeks until her actual teacher is back from maternity leave. From all her letters to the parents and students, she seems like she will be a fantastic teacher also.

Becoming Famous

2009-08-07T21:24:00.003-05:00

My brother just sent me this picture from Arizona. I thought it was pretty cool.

Too Funny for Words

2009-07-25T08:55:00.002-05:00

Back to California!

2009-07-23T10:18:00.017-05:00

Since Sam's grandma lived in California for many years of her life, her will stated that her desires were to be buried in Claremont, California, next to her husband Mort. Wanting to be there for those services, our family decided to drive to California, again. Sam and I were just there 2 weeks prior to go through the temple with my brother and his wife. Now we were going to be able to take the kids with us and let them enjoy their cousins.
Even though we had a few bumps in the road, like our whole family getting the flu, we really had a nice time. It was great to see Marilyn's nieces and nephews, and to be able to meet her stepson Jay. It was also great to see where she spent much of her time in Claremont, and the home she lived in while she was there. It really made me miss her more, but I know she is happy where she is now, and for that i am grateful.
Our family visited the beach a few times, and it was fun to watch our kids thoroughly enjoying the time they had with their cousins. The weather was absolutely beautiful, of course, so it made the trip a very pleasant break from Texas' hot 105 days.

Poor William! He was trying to get water to fill the moat of their sand castle. Little did he know that most of it was leaking out that huge hole in the bottom of his bucket!

Baby Savannah soaking up some "rays" at the beach.

Nate's sand"shell" castle.

At Huntington Harbor

The kids at the Discovery Science Center

Washing our dirty van at Uncle Eric's

Honoring Grandma Marilyn

2009-07-08T10:08:00.001-05:00

Our lives have been deeply saddened by the loss of Sam's grandma, Marilyn Nelson. She had been sick with Alzheimer's and heart issues for a few years, and on Monday July 6th, she lost her battle. As sad as we are to not have her in our lives anymore on this earth, we are happy to know that she is no longer suffering. We are glad to know that she is now able to join those that have left her life before her, that she loved so dearly: her parents, her sister, and her beloved husband, whom she has been without for over 20 years. We were very grateful to be able to know her and love her. She was a fantastic woman and always showed us such unconditional love. We miss her very much, but know she will be there with outstretched arms to welcome us into heaven when it is our time to go. We could not be more blessed that she is part of our family.

Happy July 4th!

2009-07-05T09:38:00.006-05:00

Fireworks! Fireworks! Fireworks! That's what the 4th is for our family. I think the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Everyone gets so excited about all the shows happening all over, and we do not have to buy gifts, cook elaborate meals, or travel thousands of miles. It is wonderful. Our family loves to discuss why we are free and what makes us so special to have our freedom. The fireworks and family time just add to that excitement. This year we celebrated by going to Kaboom Town in Addison on the 3rd to watch a spectacular air show from the end of the run-way and then a firework show choreographed to patriotic songs.

The next morning we had our traditional Ward Breakfast at the park.
We followed that by watching fireworks, as close as we could be, at Southfork Ranch. They we litrerally exploding right over our heads. It was incredible.

Go Roughriders!

2009-06-30T08:20:00.001-05:00

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.

Got to love that mustard!

William got a little restless at the end, so he decided to clean all the stadium seats with his yucky melted ice water and a napkin he found. We all thought it was pretty funny!

We had a wonderful time. Thanks Metavante!

BZZZZ! "Welcome Home!"

2009-06-24T21:42:00.006-05:00

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!

A Wonderful Experience in California!

2009-06-24T20:35:00.008-05:00

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!

Our Church History Trip

2009-06-08T13:34:00.014-05:00

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!

The Windy City

2009-06-08T06:44:00.003-05:00

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!

A little background on traffic lights in Chicago:

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.

William is Three!!!

2009-05-22T14:28:00.000-05:00

We are so excited! William has turned 3!!! With everything our little guy has gone through, we were so happy to celebrate this special day with him. It was a great day.

We started it off with the not so traditional french toast breakfast because mom accidentally made pancakes (for the first time ever) for dinner the night before. We did not even have any whipped cream to top them with, so I made homemade. Wow! It was great! (Much better than store-bought!)

After breakfast, we watched William open his presents. He was so excited about his Fireman costume. He dressed up in it right away, and fought fires with his new "fire gun" the rest of the morning.

William got a very special treat too. Because Sam has been working so hard lately, he was able to be home in the morning with us to help celebrate.

When dad had to leave, we headed for the pool with the Williams'. My kids are so blessed to have them as friends. They do not have a single day without talking, thinking, or being with them. They are a great family, and we all love being around them. Their second youngest is William's best buddy. The relationship they have together is so cute. They will be off playing separately, then find each other, speak their own gobbled language to each other and just laugh. It is great fun to watch them interact. We swam for a couple hours, and enjoyed the beautiful day it was.

Our final event for the day was going to the park. If we weren't tired yet, it was coming soon. All the kids ran, climbed, played chase, and swung on the swings.

William and Dakota loved going high and having me run under their swings. ("Underdog" as they call it.) By the days end, William crashed out early. We were all tired. (Wait, we still had Natalie's soccer game to go to. The Crazy Hardy's are just always running!) What a wonderful day and what a special boy!

William's "Three" Tidbits:

Favorite Color - Blue

Favorite Toys - Monster Trucks, "Cars" Toys, & Rocky the Elephant

Favorite Song - "Follow the Prophet" and "Do as I'm doing"

Favorite Food - Ice cream (He out eats everyone in our family with his ice cream)

Best Friend - "Kota"

Cutest Habit - Every time he sees a flower, he has to give it to mom.

Father-Son Campout 2009

2009-05-20T12:41:00.003-05:00

Last Friday night was the annual Father/Son Campout with our Ward at church. We did not get to go last year since we went on a family campout with some friends that weekend, so I was looking forward to going this time around. I know that Nate always has a good time camping and being with his buddies. Also, it was exciting this time because for the first time William was able to go with us! Will loves camping, too, and we even got Grandpa to join us so it was a true Father/Son experience.

So this year the camp was not too far from home - at Little Avalon park near Lake Lavon. It was really only about 15 or 20 minutes from the house, so not too bad. We got there and began setting up the tent right away. It wasn't until it was all set up that Nate spots some poison ivy nearby. Then we started looking around and noticed more..... and more ... and well, you get the picture. It was ALL OVER the place near our tent. There was two grassy areas at our camp site, separated by a driveway. So I walked accross the drive to the other grassy area and noticed there really was not any poison ivy over there, so I decided it would be worth it to take the tent down and move it. Since people were still just arriving anyway, I figured we had some time.

So after setting the tent back up, we cooked dinner. We just had some burgers and hot dogs, nothing too fancy - after all, it's camping right? After dinner, the scouts put on a program with some skits and a spiritual message. It was quite nice actually. The only bad part was having to sit and get swarmed by mosquitos the entire time. Man, the mosquitos were bad! All of us got chewed up, even after putting on a bunch of repellant.

But the real fun came that night after we went to bed. We didn't put the fly on the tent because it was so hot, I wanted to allow some air to flow. Also I had checked the weather the day before and it was not supposed to rain until the next day in the afternoon. So I figured we were safe. We went to sleep around 11pm and all was good .... until about 3am. The noise of sprinkes woke me up and then I felt the drops on my face. Great, I thought. So I went outside and strugged for a bit trying to get the fly on the tent in the dark, as the rain started to come down a bit more and the winds were picking up. I finally got it on when the winds and rain really picked up and one of the stakes holding the tent down came out since the ground had gotten so wet. Since the stake would not stay in the ground, the fly was not very secure on the sides of the tent and water started coming in on the sides. I struggled with this for about an hour, getting drenched outside because by now it was DUMPING rain and we were in the middle of a classic Texas thunderstorm. Finally I got it to stay somewhat secure and came inside. It continued to rain the rest of the night and into the morning. The kids stayed dry luckly, as the water coming in really only got the floor of the tent wet around the sides. There were a few drips coming down from the top but we managed to avoid those areas.

Come to find out the next morning, several people left - those who were looking up weather reports on their iPods and saw what was coming! I never really thought about leaving, though, especially after it had already started raining a ton and it would have been more work to take everything down in the rain and try to get the kids to the car. Raechal called during the storm to check on us and scared me for a minute because she said the worst stuff was coming, and I noticed the wind pick up a bit after that but luckily the tent stayed in tact! I wasn't going to leave unless it blew over or something. Besides, it was kind of fun. It was a fun experience and gives us some memories we can look back on and laugh about.

I wish I had some pictures to post but we did not take the camera. But it was a great experience to spend some time with the boys and my Dad and we really had fun just hanging out for a little while. I'm not sure how many of the wet campouts I want to go on in the future, though!

Junior Zookeepers

2009-05-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

This spring I got to work at the Dallas zoo! Before I started, I had to get a TB shot then be interviewed. I made it in and got the Tuesday A.M. shift, which meant my shift was from 8:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. Since we live so far away from the zoo, I had to get up at 6:30 to make it on time. Working was a lot of fun!! I went every week and helped with animals in the Children's Zoo. I mostly helped with the rabbits and the guinea pigs, but I also helped by cleaning out a sheep stall, cleaning the Koi skimmer baskets, washing windows and tables, and sweeping the barn.

Me in front of the Barn

Almost every week we went on a tour with the P.M. shift JZ's and the Conservation Guides (the program for 13 and up). My favorite one was when we got to go and see all the animals the zoo uses for birthday parties, shows, and other things you normally have to pay to do. They even let us touch a turtle, a Brazilian 3-banded armadillo (the only armadillo that can completely roll into a ball), and a lesser anteater! Towards the middle of the session, they did an evaluation on how we were doing with our job. The week before our last day, they told us the results. I got all five's, which is the best you can do! There were five main sections, and a bunch of parts to each one. I got all fives on the main parts, and only one of the smaller parts was a four (that was encourages hand-washing)! On the last day, we had an end of Spring Session party. We had cookies and ice cream sundaes! At the end, we all got pictures of an animal at the zoo, a certificate, and save the frog bracelets.

Me and my favorite rabbit, Elliot.

(My favorite guinea pig, Gwen, is in the box behind me.)

I really enjoyed Junior Zookeepers, and I really can't wait to do it again in the fall!

-- Brie

The Exciting Times of Sir William

2009-05-08T08:33:00.003-05:00

Things have sure been crazy in the life of William lately. A couple weeks before we left to go on our vacation, William got very very sick and ended up with beginning pneumonia in his right lung and ANOTHER sinus infection. (This made #4 since the beginning of the year!) Our pediatrician sent us back to the pulmonologist for another opinion, and it wasn't great. I got quite and earful from the nurse practitioner about why I had not been giving him his preventative breathing treatments and why he never had a follow-up swallow study after he finished his vital-stim last summer. The reason we were not giving William breathing treatments was because when he finished his vital-stim last summer, he was doing FANTASTIC! We really thought he was all done with aspiration and lung issues. Also, his preventative treatments were making him CRAZY! He was getting so destructive and aggressive from them. He also would not rest well. What child can improve if they cannot rest! He never had a follow-up swallow study because the pulmonologist said he was not going to do any more. His words were, "We are going to treat William symptomatically." (Hence the reason we had not been back to the pulmonologist since July'08. Sam and I were very frustrated at that decision. How would we know if the vital-stim worked!)

Well, after feeling like the world's worst parent, the nurse told us to come back in 6 weeks for another evaluation. HOWEVER, if William got sick again before the end of the 6 weeks, they would want to see him right away. Famous Last Words! On our drive home from Florida, Sunday morning, William wakes up with a horrible bout of croup. We were so glad he made it all the way through our trip to enjoy it, but also very concerned. William spiraled downhill from there. I continually called the pulmonologist office to let them know what was going on, but they were too busy. I was madder than a hornet when all was said and done. William ended up in the pediatrician's office twice that week with severe asthma and low oxygen levels. They thought he had pneumonia again, but luckily his x-rays came back with fluid, but no infection. We definitely have now confirmed that William HAS asthma. As much as I was in denial about it, that it would go away, or never truly existed, I could not hide any longer that my son needs his treatments to stay somewhat healthy. My ideas that all his lung issues would clear up if he was no longer aspirating were wrong. His lungs have had so much fluid, of all kinds, dumped into them that it makes good sense that they would be damaged. William's highest fever during this spell was 102.7, which miraculously cured itself after 1 breathing treatment, never to return.

After all was said and done, William finally did have his follow-up swallow study, which turned out fantastic! I was thrilled! He did have a little trace penetration, but nothing like we have seen in the past. The radiologist and speech pathologists agreed that we should thicken his drinks still when he is sick or starting to cough with his liquids. They also really feel like he is still having reflux issues. They told me that his reflux will make his lungs worse more than his aspiration alone. (We have yet to hear from the pulmonologist on the results of the study.) Also, when William had his 2nd visit to his pediatrician, in the same week after we came home, the pediatrician recommended having William tested for Cystic Fibrosis. He told me it is highly unlikely that William has it, but he just wants to make sure he leaves no stone unturned in trying to get William on a healthy track. I am very grateful for that! We will see how William does over the next few weeks. As for now, he is finally doing better, just slowly increasing his activity level. After he has been sick, it takes him a while to get back up to speed.

Our Florida Vacation Day 6 (It's so hard to say, "Goodbye!")

2009-04-19T07:57:00.000-05:00

Today was our final day at Disney. The week has really flown by so--- fast. We planned to get up really early to head out to Animal Kingdom, but we had a bit of a crazy night, so we slept in a little.

Here's what happened:

In the middle of the night, I heard William crying. He was all the way across our condo, the furthest he could have been, but I could really hear him. I ran into the room he an Natalie were sharing and just laid on the bed next to him to try and calm him down. Next thing I know, Natalie was at the side of his bed and tells me she heard a loud THUNK. I look at William to ask him, and as I do so, I notice there is blood all over the upper portion of his bed. I PANICKED! I turned William's face to me to see that he is indeed bleeding from his nose. I picked him up and ran him to Sam & I's bathroom to look him over with Sam. William had obviously fell between the bed and the nightstand and most likely hit his nose and upper lip on the bed frame. He looked like we had beat him up. I felt so sorry for him, and knew that it must be pretty sore. So, we chose to leave the blood on his swollen nose and just wipe the other areas gently. After all the excitement was over, we ended up with William and Natalie in bed with us. At least they were super tired so neither of them moved!

When we finally woke up from our exciting night, we finished packing the last of our things and headed to the park. Not a single one of us had ever been to Animal Kingdom, so we were very excited to see what it was like.

Check out all the animals carved into this tree!

When all was said and done, we were not too impressed. We had invisioned Animal Kingdom being like a "Disney Zoo," but that it was not. There were really very few animals to see if you were walking. The areas where you could see animals were not laid out very well, so in many of them we could not see anything. The Jeep Safari was AWESOME, though, and we really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful animals being able to roam freely in their habitat. We also really enjoyed Rafiki's Planet Watch. William loved the train to get there and Brianna, Nate, and Natalie loved the educational aspects of it.

On our way to the Conservation Station(After Icecream!)

The best of all, however, were the shows!!! We saw the Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo-The Musical. They were spectacular. Those in themselves made Animal Kingdom well worth the visit. The costumes and set-ups were just amazing!

The Bald Eagle at the "Flights of Wonder" Show

We were sad it was our final day, but it was a teriffic end to a FANTASTIC vacation! We are so grateful that we were able to take this trip. It has been wonderful!

Our Florida Vacation Day 4 & 5

2009-04-18T08:06:00.002-05:00

Day 4:

Today we went to the Magic Kingdom. The kids were so excited as we stepped of the tram in the parking lot and suddenly had to make a decision of how we would magically arrive to the front gates of the park, ferry boat or monorail. We all decided ferry boat would be fun since the line for the monorail was really long and we had just packed our double stroller to its full weight of 200 pounds. We did not want to have to unpack everything again! The kids said we would take the monorail back at night. We were great with that.

The Magic Kingdom is quite disappointing if you are a family who has been to Disneyland. It was very crowded, which made it very difficult to walk in its pretty narrow streets, and it does not have as many rides to keep you busy during the day. We ended up making this day, a relaxing day without much structure at all. It was great. In the evening, we had a great spot to view the SpectroMagic Parade where all our kids could actually see. We then bailed out of the park early, before the fireworks, to catch the show from across the lake. It was truly magical!

Nate, Brianna, and Natalie holding Tinker Bell

Pulling the Sword in the Stone

On Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride

Our Magic Kingdom Favorites:
The Jungle Cruise
Tom Sawyer Island
The Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
It's a Small World
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Peter Pan's Flight
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Cinderella's Castle

Dinner at The Pinnochio Village Haus
The SpectroMagic Parade & Fireworks

Our biggest let down was the Enchanted Tiki Room. Sam and I both have fond memories of the Tiki Room, and never get tired of seeing its mesmerizing show. Well, they have redone it, The Enchanted Tiki Room "Under New Management", to give it a "modern" theme. We did not enjoy it. Some things are better left in their original forms.

Outside the Tiki Room

Day 5:
This was the day we scheduled for the kids to return to whatever park they enjoyed the most. It was a unanimous decision for Epcot. We were very glad. Epcot is such a HUGE park that we were not able to cover much of the front area of the park at all. We started the day by Fast-Passing Soarin', which is a must if wish to ride this ride. Even though we got there right when the park opened, our Fast-Pass time was 11:15. I could not believe the lines, even just to get the Fast-Pass.

After finally getting our Fast-Pass, we rode Spaceship Earth. The kids loved it so much we rode it 2 more times, all in a row. They thought it was so funny how you could make up what you would be like in the future. After that, we took part in a family "Don't Waste It" Garbage Challenge in the Innovention's Building and then rode Soarin', which was fantastic! Disney is so creative. It was so neat to fly over the California pines, and smell the pine in the air as you did, and the same with the satsumas. Incredible. We were a little freaked out that William or Natalie might spill out of their seat though. We made our whole family wear the crotch straps. After that we went to get lunch at the Grill, then headed over to the World Showcase to participate in the Kim Possible Adventure. What an awesome idea! Because we were not in any rush to see everything, this worked out well. We found criminals in Japan and Norway, as we rushed around each country with our secret agent phone giving us clues along the way. We had a blast. Even Natalie and William enjoyed making areas of our country come to life as we found the answers to our clues. From there, we rode Maelstrom, which was closed when we come on Wednesday, and then headed over to Mission Space. We found the Butterfly Building along the way, and also Pixie Hollow. Since the kids made their own plans for this day, they decided to leave the park around 3:30 to go swimming at the hotel. It ended up being a very enjoyable day.

Natalie and Brianna in Pixie Hollow

Our Epcot Future World Favorites:
Soarin'
Mission Space
Spaceship Earth
Innoventions
The Kim Possible Adventure

Swimming at the Caribe Cove Resort
(Getting 4 kiddos to all look at the camera at
the same time is darn near impossible.)

Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom

Our Florida Vacation Day 3 (Here comes the sun!)

2009-04-16T09:11:00.001-05:00

Due to our previous night's events, we decided to sleep in a little to rest up for a full day of fun at Epcot. We had brunch reservations at the Aukershus, so thought we might as well just pass on throwing together breakfast and eat an early lunch. It was FANTASTIC! Our whole family had such a wonderful time. We were able to start our day off with an all-you-could-eat buffet and were visited by the most popular Disney princess characters. (Natalie is all about princesses!) Even Nate, being a boy, seemed to enjoy himself. The princesses kept telling him that he was just a handsome as Prince Charming. William is a complete flirt, so he did not mind having a bunch of pretty girls around either.

After brunch, we enjoyed the World Showcase. Our kids were in heaven! We have done a lot of studies about foreign countries, especially last semester when a good friend of mine held a class once a week about foreign countries for our homeschool group. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the artifacts and goods from other places. They also really enjoyed having their autograph books signed by real people from other countries.

Our World Showcase Favorites:
The Architecture! (It's Amazing!)

The Reflections of China 360` Adventure

Chinese Stick Yo-yos

The Vikings of Norway(Everything about them!)

The German Toyshop Dolls
Japanese Koi Ponds
The Pearl Finders in the Mitsukoshi Department Store
The Great American Adventure
The Epcot Kidcot Stations

William taking a 3 1/2hr. nap in the stroller!

After we walked the entire World Showcase, we went to a few other areas of the park, like the Figment Ride & "Honey, I shrunk the audience." Our little ones were quite freaked out after the show though. (Going from Figment to huge lions and snakes might not have been a great idea.) We had to let them run through the jumping fountains for a while to help take their minds off of it.

The rest of the night was an enjoyable low-key ending to a wonderful sun-shinning day. We visited The Land and The Seas buildings, ate dinner, visited our favorite characters, then finished with a bang watching Illuminations. Our feet were very sore after all the walking, but no one seemed to care. It was a Great Day!

Nate and Mickey

William and Donald(His new found favorite!)

The Whole Crew with Goofy!
He was such a good sport!
(And we managed to get a GREAT Picture!)

Spaceship Earth at night

Tomorrow: The Magic Kingdom

Our Florida Vacation Day 2 (The Day of Mayhem!)

2009-04-15T09:46:00.010-05:00

Today was going to be our first day at the Disney World parks. We were so excited! We should have known, however, that it was going to be an interesting day when it started raining right at the start! It worked out well because we had planned to go to Hollywood Studios, which has mostly shows and indoor attractions.

On the way there, we were gratefully blessed to see a wild bald eagle, sitting on top of a light post outside the park. I was quite relieved because that is Nate's favorite bird and he knew that a large percentage of them live in Florida at this time of year. I had promised him that we would see one at some point during our vacation. It was great to have it happen on our first full day! (Check-mark one item on our lists of musts!) Unfortunately, we were unable to get a picture of it because there was not really a place to pull over inside the park, and there was no where to turn around. I do not think he will ever forget though! He was absolutely awe-stricken!

When we got inside Hollywood Studios, we purchased rain ponchos from a gift shop, a fantastic tip from my friend Elicia. However, all they had were child sized. They had sold out of all the adult sizes. Luckily Sam and I are pretty small adults. They were a little tight around the neck, but they served their purpose well.

Some of our favorites for the park were:

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

Star Tours

The Honey, I Shrunk The Kids! Movie Set Adventure

Lightning McQueen & Mater

William told us that he was going to buy them!

Toy Story Mania

& Beauty and the Beast -Live On Stage

The best highlight of the day, and maybe even the trip, was that William measured 40" tall exactly, so he was able to ride every ride that we wanted to go on with us. Yay!

It was around 6:00pm that we felt we had seen all we wanted to see. We were also pretty wet and wind blown from the day's crazy weather. We decided to take a shuttle bus over to Downtown Disney for dinner instead of staying for Fantasmic.

The kids were so excited to visit the Lego Store, World of Disney, and to eat a T-Rex, a brand new restaurant to Downtown Disney. It was an erupting volcano full of dinosaurs, mammoths, fish, and even ice-caverns. It was Way Cool!

To eat at T-Rex however, we had to wait 2 hours to be seated. By the time we ate, it was after 9:00. When we were done, it was after 10pm. We walked back to the bus station to take us to the Pop Century Resort, which would then take us back to Hollywood Studios, where our van was parked. We did not think at the time though, about Hollywood Studios closing. When we made it back to the Pop Century Resort, we realized that there were no buses going back to Hollywood Studios. I just wanted to cry! Here we had William and Natalie sound asleep in the stroller, no one in sight, and absolutely no knowledge of where Pop Century was located in the Resort or how to get back to Hollywood Studios from there! It was a little frightening. Sam saw a cleaning lady sweeping the outside walkway of the hotel, so he asked her what she thought we should do. Luckily a few moments later, a bus pulled up delivering people from Hollywood Studios to the hotel Sam went to talk to him and he said he would be happy to bring us back to the park. We were the only ones on the bus, the only ones on the tram through the parking lot, and probably the only ones who were so excited to reach Hollywood Studios that morning that we did not take notice of where we parked! Luckily, the tram attendant told us that we would probably be the only vehicle in the parking lot, and we were!

Our lonely van in the parking lot! Even the kids

had a good laugh!

The drive home proved just as eventful as the rest of the day. Disney World is completely enclosed with its own roads. When leaving, we knew we needed to go on 192 West. When the signs came up for 192, they read East, and our hotel was in Kissimmee, so we took that exit. Little did we know that our hotel is 17 miles away from Kissimmee (but still has a Kissimmee address) and that the sign meant East for 1 freeway, but both East and West for 192. We did not figure that out until Thursday. We ended up in Celebration, a city with amusement parks and attractions we had never seen before. We knew we were going the wrong way, so we made a U-turn and finally made it back to our hotel around 1:00am. We were worn out but ready for the next day: Epcot!

Our Florida Vacation Day 1

2009-04-14T09:09:00.003-05:00

Our family has been so excited to go on our much needed vacation that when the day finally arrived to be in Florida, it hardly seemed real. After we left Baton Rouge on Easter Sunday, we drove into Crestview, FL. around 10:00pm. We immediately went to bed in order to wake up for our departure to Disney World at 5am the next morning. Little did we know what was ahead of us.

We had planned to leave early on Monday morning, drive 5 hours, and be in Disney by 10 or 11 in the morning. Things did not end up how we planned. We did indeed leave at 5am, but with a detour to the Capitol in Tallahassee, the 1 hour time change, me getting pulled over for going 14 mph over the speed limit, and gas/potty stops, we got into Orlando at a lovely 2pm.

The Capitol Building in Tallahassee

Detouring to get a picture of Monster Trucks for William

We still had not eaten lunch yet, so we decided to go eat lunch at Cici's and pass on going to Animal Kingdom until Saturday. (We would have only had 2 hrs. to be at the park. Way not worth it!)

The funnest Cici's Pizza ever in Orlando!

The day turned out wonderfully despite our change of plans. We went to Cocoa Beach instead to let Brianna and Nate see the ocean in Florida. It was not what they expected, (very spoiled by the beaches in Southern California), but they had fun bouncing in the waves, finding shells, and then getting ice cream at a fantastic ice cream shop called, "Tutti-Fruitti Gourmet"! It was great!

Brie and Nate enjoying the waves

Natalie showing off her new Ariel swimsuit!
(William wanted nothing to do with the
ocean, so he slept on my lap the whole time.)

All the kids had Bubblegum ice cream except William.
He had Superman, which fit him perfectly!

Visiting Baton Rouge

2009-04-12T07:45:00.001-05:00

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit my family in Baton Rouge during Easter weekend and we all had such a fantastic time! We drove in early Saturday afternoon and were able to visit my grandma and grandpa at their beautiful new home. It was wonderful to see them. It has been almost 2 years since we have seen them. Too long! We were given the grand tour of their home, then spent some time just visiting with them while the kids played with Grandpa's well known blocks.

From Grandma and Grandpa's, we went to visit my cousin Megan, her family, my Aunt Linda & Uncle Mike, and my other cousins Sarah and Michael at Megan's home in Covington. They had a huge crawfish boil and all kinds of treats for the kids. It was so nice to see all of them! Megan had made the kids these really cute frosted cookies and my aunt decorated Easter eggs with them. (Each year we get all the supplies, but always seem to forget to do them.) The kids loved it. They also really enjoyed playing with Megan's dog Stella, and riding in the wagon with their little son Matthew. (What a doll!)

The Kids and Stella the Dog

My Aunt Linda, Cousin Megan,

and her son Matthew

Sam and I really enjoyed socializing with the adults while the kids were able to play and just be kids. When it was time to go, all they wanted to do was have us tell them that we would come back again. Unfortunately, we were only going to be in Baton Rouge for a total of 27 hours. We still had several people to see, and had to include sleep in there somewhere. We definitely realized that we have to go and visit more often.

After we made it back into Baton Rouge from Covington, we checked into the hotel then decided to take the kids to our famous Coffee Call on College Street for hot chocolate and Louisiana's famous beignets! Call us crazy, considering it was after 10:00pm at this point, but I really wanted to share the exciting memories I remembered from my childhood of Louisiana with my kids. It was well worth it! The kids were completely covered in powdered sugar, full of it too(right before bed), but we had a great time and only managed to spill one cup of hot chocolate as we were getting ready to leave. Luckily it all stayed on the counter.

William covered in sugar

For Easter Sunday, we sneakily hid Easter eggs in our hotel room for the kids while we were at breakfast. After Natalie kept telling us she wanted to go home because she was not getting an Easter Basket this year, she was quite surprised. So were Brie, Nate, and William. Instead of Easter baskets though, we gave them Easter Bags full of goodies. The bags were more compact and fit in our back-pack unnoticed. After all the eggs were found, we were dressed in Sunday best, and our van was again packed, we snuck away to visit the state capitol of LA before going to church. The kids have been studying American History and the 50 states this semester, so they have been making a book to keep track of all the state capitols they visit. They were so excited to see how incredible the Louisiana state capitol was! It was covered in beautifully carved statues and very very tall. They were also quite amazed at the number of sparrows that built their nests inside the decorative metal work above the entrance doors. I was so glad that we were able to go, even if it was only a quick trip and we couldn't go inside.

Our Family outside the Capitol

From the Capitol, we met my Aunt Pam, Uncle John, cousin Johnathan, his wife Katie, their beautiful little daughters Grace and Agatha, my grandma and grandpa, and Grandma Mutt at their church for Easter services. It was a wonderful sermon and very spiritual. We really enjoyed the opportunity that we had to be with our family, whom we never have been before, on this special day. It really meant a lot to me. It made me feel so blessed to have the family that I have, whom I love so very much, and know that they love me and my family so much too! It was GREAT!

After services were over, we followed my family back to my aunt and uncle's neighborhood to have Easter Dinner at their clubhouse. It was incredible! We sat an enormous table that stretched the length of the room we were seated in. Everyone had a massive buffet of food to choose from, the kids had visits from the Easter Bunny, who brought them little goody bags and Easter Eggs, and then we had dessert. Oh my goodness! I think we must have gained 20 pounds each after that meal. The togetherness and laughter we were able to have was priceless! I didn't want it to end, but knew that if we were going to keep on our schedule, it would have to.

For the last couple of hours we had, before we needed to head out of town, we went over to my Aunt Pam and Uncle John's house to visit with them a little longer and to let the kids move around before being couped in the van for several hours. I cannot say enough at how excited the kids were to be able to visit their home. We have had some wonderful memories there! My older children especially remember them. Brie and Nate played pool, explored the yard, and Natalie and William raced the kiddy-car with Aunt Pam, played soccer, and had a blast with little Grace until Natalie wiped-out and skinned her knee pretty bad. Thank goodness for Dr. Uncle John though! He had her bandaged up and fixed up quicker than whip! We were really sad to leave when it was time to go, but we knew we needed to get on the road before it got too late. Grandma and Grandpa had one more surprise for the kiddos, before we headed out of town, that we needed to go by their house and pick up. It was also really starting to rain! We gave everyone our kisses and hugs goodbye, pushing back tears from my eyes, and headed out. Grandma and Grandpa met us at our van at their home with an enormous Easter Basket for each of our kids, full of all kinds of goodies. It was so nice of them to do that. I know the kids will have that in their memories for life! I could not tell them, "Thank you!" enough.

As we left out of Baton Rouge, there was one last thing I wanted to do. The last time we came, Sam and I took a trip down to New Orleans to visit my other grandma and grandpa's tomb. I wanted so badly to leave some flowers in the vase on the front of it, but we could not find a shop to buy some. This time, I found a beautiful bouquet of Easter roses for them. As we arrived at the gates to the cemetery, we realized that they were chained and locked shut. I was devastated! I couldn't see why they felt no one visits their loved ones on Easter, but it was what it was. I knew that my grandparents knew my intentions, and that was enough for me.

From this point, we headed on to FLORIDA!

Beautiful Baby Savannah

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Photo Cube

Welcome Baby Savannah!

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My brother and his wife Nikki had their beautiful baby girl yesterday. We are so excited for them and cannot wait to get to meet her! They are hoping to move to Texas right after school gets out in California in June. Our family is anxiously awaiting! Our kids cannot wait to have cousins nearby.

(Make sure you pause the playlist to hear the music.)