For all you Shae lovers

I get to babysit our darling niece Shae on Fridays now and I love it! She is so sweet and we are happy to get some extra time with her. Plus my kids love having her here. I know that a few of you who read my blog know Zac, Em and Shae and want to keep up with them too so I said I would try to keep you posted as I still haven't convinced Em to start a blog. Here are some pics from yesterday. I braided her hair and although it looked awful after she napped on it, it was cute while it lasted.

PS-Cammee, If you read this thanks for your comment and I would love your blog address!

100 days of school

I don't know what it is about Blythe's school projects that gets the wheels in Brandon's head going, but it is so sweet. He loves to help her come up with good ideas and make them happen. Case in point is Blythe's latest 100 days of school project. She had to come up with a unique way to display 100 things. She and Brandon brainstormed and decided they wanted to use sunflower seeds (their favorite snack to share). First they were going to use the seeds to outline a sunflower on paper, but then decided to glue them in the middle of a sunflower. It turned out so cute and she loved it. I am so happy I married a man who is not afraid of a little hot glue! I love you babe (and not just because you are taking me to Italy!)

PS-it also happened to be PJ day at school if you were wondering about the outfit!

Europe

We are finally going. . .after years of talking about going back to Brandon's mission, we are finally doing it. We leave February 1st and fly to Germany to meet up with my brother Josiah who is an army officer stationed there. We pleaded with my mom to join us and after a lot of guilting about visiting her birthplace in Naples, she finally gave in. The four of us will go from Frankfurt to London and then down to Sicily. There are many families that Brandon taught whom we cannot wait to see. We are also going to visit some cities that he did not serve in and try to absorb the full Italian experience. After we return to Germany we will travel to a resort in the Alps to do a little skiing/snowboarding. I hope snowboarding is like riding a bike and I will easily pick it up again. I'm not worried about Brandon and Josiah, I'm just worried about getting left on the lift! I tease my mom about taking a long time to make her decision about coming, but I was just as bad! After Brandon convinced me that this was an unbelivable trip, there was no way I could not go. We are incredibly blessed with loving family members who are staying with the kids and I feel very content that as much as I will miss them, they will be having a blast with Aunts and Grandparents. I will try to post as we travel but if I don't get to, expect quite a narrative when we come home.

2008 Here we come!

As we have entered into 2008 Brandon and I have made some resolutions for our family, and at the risk of "oversharing" I will not disclose any except one. This year will be a better more committed year for the Hardy Family as we continue on our path of eternal progression. Nice and vague I know! If you feel like it, share some resolutions you have made as we inspire each other to make this year better than the last. Maybe I will gain the courage to share some of my commitments and risk being held accountable!

As 2007 has come to an end, I have also taken some time to reflect on this past year and the growth in myself and my children. Watching how much my kids have changed truly overwhelms me. The biggest change this year has been the addition of Tess to our family. Her presence has made me reach inside for the courage to ask the Lord to forgive me of my shortcomings, and to help refine my abilities as a mother to 3 of his most precious children. I look forward to another year of wonderful experiences as we enjoy the beauty that the Lord has surrounded us with daily, again I say-2008 here we come!

Christmas 2007

What a Christmas adventure we had this year! We spent Christmas with the Griffin side of the family in my parents new hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They just moved this past summer and not having been there since I was a teenager, I wasn't sure what to expect. The more we were there, the more we grew to love it. First of all, there is no better place to be than with family! We are blessed to live by Brandon's parents (and now his sister Em, husband Zac and daughter Shae! Yea!) but we only get to see my family a few times a year if we are lucky enough to all be together.

This Christmas, it happened! My brother Josiah came home on leave from his Army service in Germany, my sister Corley, her husband Jonathan, and my favorite new nephew Asher came from close by Tucson were they are now living, and sisterCallie got smart and moved home from Utah! Sisters Caitlin-15 and Bryn-9 are still at home. It is nothing but fun when all six of us kids are together along with our own families. The holiday was filled with great activities. The kids made gingerbread houses, we had Christmas dinner with our Grammie, Aunts Becky and Paula, and Uncle Ed in Las Cruces, and then we visited White Sands Missile Range where our Grandfather used to work. The kids had a blast. It is so amazing to be driving through the desert and all of the sudden be surrounded with pure white sand that looks like snow. The kids borrowed some sleds and went sledding in the dunes.

The next day we drove up to the Sandia Mountains and did some "real" sledding which also was a ton of fun. Mom and Dad rented a 15 passenger van, so I have to say that driving all together was almost as much fun as the activities we did. Of course we did the usual shopping and saw a few movies too.

The highlights of the trip for me had to be getting to hold my sweet nephew, watching my kids have the time of their lives with my little sister Bryn, visiting the house where Brandon's mom grew up and also sadly lost her parents when she was 6 (Blythe's age-which really puts in into perspective for me), riding the world's longest tram up to the Sandia Crest, laughing at "Uncle Josiah" who played countless games of cowboys with "Nephew Eli" (they referred to each other like this for the duration of the trip!), and finally playing a game my brother came up with called Griffin Family Trivia. We played this the night before we left and I have to say that I have not laughed that hard in a while. Josiah came up with a bunch of questions regarding our growing up together and we laughed and talked about things that alot of us had either forgotten or not thought about in quite a while. I highly recommend doing this at your next family function, it is a riot! We commenced the night with a few home movie clips that brought back fun memories of growing up together as well. This trip was great for me as I feel like my parents got a good chance to bond with my kids, Brandon and I got a lot of help with our kids from many willing hands, and I got some good time with my brother who I miss everyday. I look forward to the next time we are all together-Christmas 2009!

Christmas Pics 2007