One of my Favorite Things

One of my favorite things is sitting around a table and hearing students talk about how they are doing and how God is meeting them! I loved hearing them talk about the realness of how difficult at times it is to walk with God and I loved hearing them talk about how they've decided to trust Him rather than themselves!

When we returned from our travels over the Christmas break we came home to this group of friends! They are students and some staff from this past summers X-Project. We had a blast catching up, remembering stories from the summer, laughing and just being together again. I love that God changes hearts and lives....mine included!!!

Christmas....

Just in case you were wondering, I do realize it's mid-January and most stores already have Valentine's candy and swimsuits on their shelves:) BUT, I had to post some pics from Christmas! I don't know about you but we here at the Hardy house aren't so sure about Santa as you can tell from this picture:) Coop sat for maybe 3 seconds and decided he really didn't want to be on this strange man's lap! Ava...well, no pics for her because she wasn't even going to be caught in the same room with this strange man!

We had a great time celebrating at our place as well as our families! Ava loves every single one of her babies she received! Here she is with her American Girl bitty baby whom she named Baby Ava. Her cousin Seth received her twin...wish they lived closer together to play together!

Here was one of Cooper's favorites....a box! After opening lots of fun toys this is what we found him doing...it's the simple things I guess:)

It kind of looks like Ava is pretending to be asleep here in my lap but she really is asleep. This NEVER happens....she laid down and was out in just a few minutes....I absolutely love how much fun she has when we are at our families! She wears herself out:)

I asked Ava what was her favorite gift from our family Christmas at home. Her answer, "My princess bucket!" Remind me next year of the pure delight in their eyes as they open their stocking stuffers which include things like $1 princess buckets:)

Our Birthday Princess

4 years ago today our sweet Ava was born! What a precious gift and answer to our prayers! Matt and I have had so much fun retelling the story of that day with her and she LOVES to hear all about it! Last night Matt used her dollhouse to re-create the day she was born, today we looked at her 1st year photo album and watched a few videos from her first year! I think I might have LOVED watching the videos just as much as she did! It makes me sad that I've already forgotten so many of those memories....I guess therefore all the more reason to refresh my memory each year by watching the videos:)

We had a few families over to celebrate...McDonald's Happy Meals were on the menu for the kids and of course cake. But the cake wasn't a hit with the birthday girl...she took one bite, made a funny face and said "I don't like it." What?? How can you not like your birthday cake?? But if the truth be told I'd rather have pie, or cheesecake or a brownie than cake...note to self for next year! What a fun few days to CELEBRATE Ava and who she is becoming!

The First Snowman of the Season

We finally (well, not we, but Matt and the kids) were able to get out to play in the snow a little bit! It was so cold for a while and then Coop had strep throat last week so they have been waiting patiently. We have a picture last year of Ava kissing the snowman they made so they decided to take one this year too. The eyes are blueberries, nose is celery and the mouth is carrots. There wasn't enough time for sled riding so hopefully that will happen over the break!

2 Dates in 1 Week

December 7th, 2002 - Matt and I were married! We celebrated 8 years this week! We went to dinner and had a blast thinking back on that special day and these last 8 years! We've literally gone around the world together and experienced the highs and lows of life - marriages of sweet friends, infertility, seeing college students come to know God, deaths of dear friends, a miscarriage, vacation adventures, precious gifts of children, deep friendships, celebrations of life and the list went on! We see God's hand in our falling in love and we are so thankful! That was the first date of the week for Matt!

The second was tonight...Matt asked Ava if she would like to go on a date with him and you should have seen her smile! I wish I had the video camera on....she lit up! (Side note...I teared up:) ) She ran upstairs and picked out a Christmasy dress, put on her black shoes that she loves and took off with her Daddy! They went to dinner and the best part I think for Ava...cheesecake! He took her picture here in front of a Christmas tree while they were out! Way to go Daddy!! Both of your girls felt so loved by you!

Leaves and Snow in One Week

This week we've raked and bagged TONS of leaves from our front yard AND we've played in the snow!!! One day we had light jackets on and the next heavy coats and hats!!

This year because of the economy our city wasn't able to come and pick up our leaves that we used to rake to the curb. So we had to rake them and take them over to the yard waste place where they take it and make it into free mulch for the community. Monday was a very warm day here so we made a day of it....the kids loved it, Matt worked HARD, and we all chipped in to bag all the leaves! We should of counted but all and all it was around 30 full bags! The next day came the rain and then the snow! Which meant time to put up the tree! Ava and Cooper are at such fun ages for this...(well, besides all the glass ornaments and potential for pulling over the tree:) They have had more fun with the empty boxes and tins that I put under the tree I'm beginning to think who needs the real thing!

Today brought more snow...I really do enjoy it....when it's just covering the ground and we are able to go about our normal day driving wherever we want. We debated on going to the Lebanon Horse Drawn Carriage Parade but decided at the last minute this morning to go for it.

The kids LOVED it! There were around 150 carriages pulled by all kinds of different horses...many of them dressed up for the occasion! I love this pic of Coop...this is what he did for each one...giddy as could be and waving his little hand. Side note - LOOK at this gettup! This snowsuit is from the 70's...you guessed it, it was Matt's!!! We couldn't resist:) He'll hate us when he gets older but it sure was fun today!

Hoping Once is Enough

This week was not what we had planned! Monday afternoon took us by surprise and kept on coming! I was ready to head out the door to go to aerobics and suddenly didn't feel so well.
I will spare you the details but I'm so thankful Matt was home because I began throwing up and throwing up some more...ugh! I laid in bed that night praying that this would be my one time of the stomach flu for the season...please Lord! Anyway, then Matt followed suit on Tuesday and then Cooper on Wednseday and oh so thankfully Ava did not follow!!

So this week needless to say we missed several nights of taking time to put leaves on our thanksgiving tree. The kids have looked forward to doing this every night after dinner. Even Cooper loves it although I'm not sure he really knows what I'm asking him each night as we write on his leaf:) It's been great for me to think about what I'm thankful for and how I want to give God praise! We love hearing what Ava says each day...some days it is the same as the day before but some days she really seems to put some thought into it.

After too much time inside this week.....there was TODAY! It was so sunny and warm!! We didn't miss out! We had a whole Saturday with NO plans! How often does that happen?? We really thought hard about going to the zoo because we love the zoo but that would cost money in which we are low on at the moment...so back to the drawing board....we went to one of the great parks in this area that we haven't explored yet....the Cox Arboretum.

These are some of the pics of the day! What a great way to end the week!