Sabbath Snapshots

After we got home from church this afternoon, Haylee fed Avery some sweet potatoes.  They got all over the front of her....

 

 

....and the back of her! :)

 

Kelsey got a new dress from Haylee that she wore to church today.  Haylee's teacher brings in items from home for the class auction once in awhile.  Haylee often brings home toys that his kids have outgrown.  This time she brought home this adorable dress that his daughter outgrew.  It fit Kelsey just right!

 

Nate figured if Kelsey was getting her picture taken he needed to as well.  For some reason he felt like he needed to pose with one arm in his shirt.

 

Then these two best buddies needed to take their picture together.  I just adore how much they love each other.

New Bike!

     Yesterday Haylee bought herself a brand new bike!  She is one excited girl! :)

Swim Lessons

     Nathan, Kelsey, and Mackenzie recently took a series of swim lessons through IWV Swim School.  Nathan was pretty shy and cried at first but by the end was really enjoying himself.  Kelsey still needs some work but she definitely has no fear about jumping into the water!  Mackenzie did great and I think she has really gotten the hang of it!  I don't have a picture of Mackenzie because her lessons were at a different time.  But at the end of Kelsey and Nathan's last lesson, the teacher put stickers all over them so I just had to take a picture.

This is a really cute picture of Avery that I took while they were swimming.

Only an Aunt...

Only an aunt can make you a sandwich like this!

      Amber has been helping me get organized so she's been over quite a bit.  For lunch one day she made Kelsey a peanut butter, jelly, banana, marshmallow, sprinkles sandwich. (maybe honey too?) Now Kelsey only wants Amber to make her sandwiches for her! :)

Kelsey and Amber

May 15, 2013

First Fathers and Sons Outing

Nathan and Daren heading off to the Fathers and Sons Outing

May 10, 2013

 

     I have been slightly paranoid to send my little boy camping with his dad so this was his first year to get to go on the annual Fathers and Sons campout.  Poor Daren has been waiting so long to have a son to take with him.  He has gone other years.  He has taken other kids whose dads weren't able to go that year.  And one year he was taking the son of a some friends so he decided to take some of his daughters with him as well.  But finally, he got to take HIS son!  I had all sorts of thoughts of Nate wandering off into the dark and getting lost or eaten by a wild animal. Or of him falling into the campfire. But he came back in exactly the same condition he left, except a tad dirtier.
     This is a picture of them right before they drove off.  Nathan was so excited to go on an adventure with just him and his dad.  I knew I was having a hard time with this but I didn't expect the reaction I got from Kelsey.  Right after they drove off Kelsey burst into tears and sobbed to me about how there was one more thing she wanted to tell Nathan before he left.  And how she didn't know how much she loved him until he drove away.  It was so sweet.  Those two really are close little buddies.  She got her tears out and then we had a nice girls evening. We were sure excited though when they got back home the next day!

Mackenzie's Baptism

Mackenzie Rae Hardy
Baptized March 29, 2013

     We have a new member of the church in our family! Mackenzie was baptized on Friday, March 29, 2013.  We had many Hardy relatives come to this special occasion. Grandma Bobbi, Devin, John, Kathleen, Kyla, and Jayde came.  Everyone wanted to stop by Death Valley on the way home so we drove with them to see the sights before turning around and heading back.  It also happened to be the week after Grandma Poetschlag's birthday so my aunts and uncles on my mom's side were also in town for a visit at about the same time.  Here is quick recap of our fun-filled week.

On March 23 Grandma Bobbi and Devin arrived.  We were visiting with Aunt Diana and Uncle Brian at my mom's house so they came there to see us.

Nate was very interested in Uncle Brian's truck!

Natalee and Aunt Diana have a special bond.

Sisters: Aunt Diana and Mom(Karen)

All the kids with Great-Grandma Poetschlag

Devin holding Avery Grace

Uncle Brian making Avery smile.

 

March 24: Daren and I were weak! We couldn't resist this little Chihuahua/cocker spaniel mix that looks like a beagle puppy. We named her Zoey and she and Charlie have become fast friends!

 

March 28: Daren took Kelsey, his mom, and Devin out to explore some trail that he had been curious about taking his motorcycle up someday. They came across an old mine shaft and had an overall good time exploring the area.  They got back just after John and Kathleen and kids arrived at our house.

Devin with some Joshua Trees

Grandma Bobbi, Kelsey, and Devin

Brothers John and Daren holding their baby girls. Jayde is just a few weeks older than Avery.

 

March 29: Baptism Day!  Great-Grandma Moffitt and Walt also surprised us by driving up for the occasion. I am so proud of Mackenzie and the good choices she makes. She really does try her best to do what's right.  After the baptism we went to the park for a yummy dinner and cake. Daren's mom brought some kites for the kids to play with.

Mackenzie has her special baptism bag from Grandma Bobbi and is all ready to go!

Mackenzie with her daddy.

Cousin Breyer flying her kite.

Kelsey trying to get her kite up into the air!

Mackenzie's special baptism cake.

Great-Grandma Moffitt and Walt came by later that evening to see our house and play with the baby. :)

 

March 30: Death Valley Day.  We drove the Trona way to Death Valley and I was surprised how much I enjoyed the scenery.  We stopped first at the Sand Dunes. I figured we wouldn't be too affected by the heat since we are used to Ridgecrest heat. But it sure felt hot out there!  The kids were getting pretty red so we got back into the car and headed over to the main visitor's center. Unfortunately, right after we arrived at the sand dunes, Haylee dropped her camera into the fine sand and her camera was instantly ruined.  It was especially sad because she had just gotten it for Christmas a few months earlier so she just hadn't had it very long.

     We watched a short movie about the history of Death Valley and then ate lunch at the visitor's center.  Then it was time to take some final pictures and head back home.

     We decided to go home a different way and stop by Darwin Falls on the way home.  We did not realize it was quite a hike to get to the falls!  And we had a 4 month old baby with us!. But we made it and I think the kids ended up having a good time doing it.

Devin at the sand dunes.

Kelsey and Kyla at the sand dunes.

Nathan playing in the sand at the dunes.

Kelsey

Mackenzie

Natalee and Nathan

The kids found this fun tree in the visitor's center parking lot.

Natalee

John, Kathlee, Kyla, and Jayde

Kelsey LOVES Kyla!

Some beautiful scenery (yes, I think desert scenery is pretty) on our way to Darwin Falls.

On the hike to Darwin Falls.

The kids picked out some walking sticks to make hiking a little easier.

I wasn't sure it was worth it. :)  I heard it used to be more spectacular.

 

And a couple of cute pictures off of my phone:

Grandma Bobbi holding Avery

Little Jayde Hardy. What a cutie! We were so excited to finally meet her.