For Thanksgiving this year we went to Disneyland and spent time with Jon's brother and his family. We had so much fun. The weather was great, very warm (borderline hot). I was able to sit and rest my knees, which I had surgery, on both of them, on November 3, 2009. Yes, I am crazy, why else would I be in Disneyland, walking all day, on two knees that just had surgery and was still stiff and in pain? Now you know that I am crazy (in love with my family) and would do just about anything for them. I have been behind and have been playing catch up ever since.

Oh did I mention that we are remodeling our master bath and main bath, pretty much at the same time, during Christmas no less? Like I said, crazy.

Everyone has been sick on and off, for the last three weeks, except Jon, of course. I hope and pray that everyone is healthy for Christmas. Whether I am ready or not, Christmas is three days away. Heaven help me and my crazy!

Let's see, Halloween came and went. Took the kids trick or treating, while Jon was at the E.R. with Kyli who had fallen at dance the Thursday before. Because they saw something amiss on her x-ray she needed an MRI to make sure she would be ok. Luckily, she was good and just needed to wear a neck brace. Jon caught up to us mid way through and we had a great time. Kyli tried to have fun with friends but was in to much pain and came home early.

Jon has been super busy at work and has put in a lot of over time and out of towners. Kyli has been trying to heal and feel better, while preparing for her performance at the festival of trees at the South Towne Center, Wednesday, December 2nd at 6:45 p.m. Riley and Abbey have been busy with school and cub scouts/activity days. I have been preparing for knee surgery, which I had done on November 3rd. I went in for the right knee and ended up having both knees done. I had cartilage damage and a plica on the left knee which was removed. I am healing well and have minimal pain.

Jon and I are starting a new work out program together in the next few weeks and I am excited to start.

We are taking a family trip to Disneyland over the Thanksgiving Holiday. We will be hooking up with Matt and his family and are excited to see the cousins and catch up on how they are doing.

Last Saturday we had a Halloween/Birthday party for Abbey, My dad, Veronica, Patrick and Christi. I had so much fun. We dressed in costumes, had yummy food and decorated our own mini cake. The boys (Jared and Patrick) had a Wii war with Riley and of course Riley was victorious. Abbey and Keira had so much fun playing with each other and Max had fun watching the war. Keagan and Jackson were way cute and adorable as usual and they were great fun. Unfortunately Keagan threw-up in Kyli's mouth (yuck) when she was playing with him. If we had that on camera, we so would have won $10,000.00. Oh well next time. We missed my mom, she was home in bed sick and is still sick a week later, I hope she gets better soon.

Today we went to Riley's Lacross game, I love it more and more, so much fun. Riley is getting really good and makes assists in scoring, in the game. Riley, you ROCK!

Last night I hosted a Mary Kay pamper party and had so much fun. Kyli's friends came and are so pretty and fun. Shannon did a fabulous job. I love hanging out with Shannon, we talked into the wee hours of the night and I am so tired right now that I think I will try and have a nap today.

Jon is having a work party at our house tonight at 5:00 pm. I hope we can get everything ready and have lots of fun. I don't know anyone, so it will be a little hard on me, but I can't wait to get to know everyone. I really need that nap.

My littlest brother Patrick (who is 6+ feet tall) just turned 30 and is now an adult with the rest of us. We all went to Benihana's for dinner and it was so much fun. All of the kids loved when the chef made things jump and made a volcano out of onions and made a lot of noise with knives and forks and such. I loved watching their cute little faces light up with each new trick. The food was good and I got to see all of the family. Saturday, October 10th we are having a Halloween/Abbey birthday party for my family. I am very excited to see all of the costumes everyone will wear and about my costume. I hope everyone has fun and likes the food. I will spend the next few days getting ready for the festivities.

My sister-in-law turned 30 last week and wanted to go out and celebrate, she usually has my parents watch their two beautiful boys but they were not up to it this Saturday. I went to my mom and dad's house with Abbey, Kyli and Hannah (Kyli's friend) to babysit Max-3, Keira-3, Keagan-almost-1, and Jackson-almost-5-months. I must clarify that Max and Jackson are her sons and Keira and Keagan are my other brothers kids, all very beautiful. When we arrived Kyli, Hannah and Abbey tried to help and did very well but as the night wore on they became tired and grumpy, well just Abbey was grumpy. I had so much fun taking care of the kids but it was hard work and tiring, luckily I got Jackson ready for bed and asleep quickly and he spent most of the time upstairs with grandma and grandpa. Max ended upstairs with grandma and grandpa after a couple of hours of playing with Abbey and Keira. Keira and Keagan are amazon's they stayed up the whole time, they have too much energy, don't know how Patrick and Shannon do it, maybe it's because their kids are so good. The girls were so much help and I am so glad they are mine. I heard that everyone had a great time and so did I, hope to see more of everyone in the future.

With the help of my loving Lord in Heaven, I have learned a huge lesson. Through painful things come insight and knowledge and I have learned a great deal about myself.

Recently, I have been on a get healthy and strong kick. I never thought that I would love exercise or love to run, but I do. I can run for 5 miles straight and lift weights, do push ups and sit ups among other things, in the same session. I can and have done 3 hour sessions. If I don't do at least 1 1/2 hours, I feel like something is not right. I feel strong. I learned that I can mentally push through physical pain to achieve whatever goal I have set. I am physically tough, that was a recent insight.

On the other hand, I have a big, gushy heart and am very emotional and sensitive, not only to myself but others. I have recently learned that, I love this about me. I have compassion, tolerance, patience and am learning unconditional love. I never give up, even when I am told I should. If I love you, I will never give up trying to have a sold relationship with you. I don't always have the right words to express how I feel, but I never give up trying to find the right ones and I think that is a great quality to have.

When I thought about what I have learned about myself, I learned that I would rather be strong and tough physically and have a big, gushy heart, than be the opposite.

I hope, I can be an example to my kids; that you can be strong physically and that being compassionate and having a huge heart is also strong. You don't have to be hard and unbending emotionally to be strong, actually it is a weakness, that caring about others and standing up for them and yourself is being strong. Never giving up, is strong and always learning and growing intellectually, spiritually and emotionally is strong. I also learned that asking for assistance and advice is being strong and that admitting you made a mistake or a bad judgement is strong. I hope that I can be a good example to being honest, even in hard times. Honesty, is a lost art, as is loyalty. I will never give up hope or give up on loved ones. I am finally, finding things that I love about me. I want my kids to know that if someone makes you question the good things about you, then love that person for who they are, but never listen to what they say, if it makes you not want to be you. Everyone is unique and should be loved for their uniqueness.

Yesterday was very difficult for me, for many reasons, first and foremost, because I missed the three lights of my life. They all had a great day and that made me joyful. I wish I knew the key to fitting in with certain people, when I am me, it doesn't work, when I try to be a little less like me and a little more liberal, it doesn't work. I am not a judgemental person by nature and I like most people. I am pretty laid back about other people, just not myself. I worry constantly that I say the wrong thing and have hurt someone and that to me is devastating. I try desperately to not care, but alas, I do. I care about other people way to much, I really need to put me somewhere near the top of my caring list. Sometimes, I need to realize that the situation, is just not worth my time or emotion.

The kids started school today and I (as usual) had a hard time. My emotions go from one extreme to another. On one hand I am glad the kids will be back with friends and learning and expanding their knowledge. On the other I know that with all good things in life there are hard and even painful things in store. As much as I would love, that the world was a loving, embracing, fun filled way to learn and there was no pain, I know that is not how it works. Life is about learning and growing and the knowledge we gain from difficult situations and how we handle what life throws at us and how we treat others. I truly believe that we are meant to love others as GOD loves us and to learn to look for and see only the good in ourselves and others. As an observer (which I am more comfortable being) of life and others, I have found that those who put more value on worldly learning than spiritual, are usually the ones who give in to selfishness and strive for power, so they can feel important and be seen as smart and important and better than others. It truly saddens me that for the most part that statement is true. I feel that the way we treat others is more of an indicator of who we are and the power each of us holds within our spirits. Whether we chose to believe or not, we are spirit beings having a human experience not a human trying to have a spiritual experience. The most desirable knowledge to me is how to be unconditionally loving to all, even those who judge me and assume things about me, without actually knowing me at all and to always look for and see the good in everyone. I unfortunately have a childish side (becoming childish to interact with others who are childish) and find great excitement in playing with the heads of those who assume a great deal about me, but don't really take the time to get to know me. I seem to want to play a part for them and exaggerate that part to the hilt, since that is what they seem to think about me anyway. It is too much fun when they fall for the ploy, but a huge part of me mourns the true relationship we could have, if only they where open to the real me and actually wanted to get to know me. Oh well, here's to those wonderful few who really know me and love me for being me and those I truly know and love for them being them. To those who are confused about the meaning of life, when the real meaning of life is shown to you, whether it is on earth or after, if you care, you will be mournful of the lost chances of true friendship and love, I know I will. This little observation is for me and no one in particular.

We just returned from our family vacation and we had a great time. We went to Bear Lake with our good friends the Holbrooks. We went boating and rented wave runners. I love wave runners, jumping the waves at top speed is thrilling. I would love to make this a yearly activity. Riley, Abbey and Jon all got a little sun burned but surprisingly I did not. Hope next year is as fun as this one.

I just wanted to apologize to anyone that is offended by any emails I may forward. I pass along things I find informational or funny and for no other reason. I personally only take what benefits me in any form of communication and disregard the rest, the only exception is life and death and the parody of life and death and naively thought that others did as well. If you would like for me to not forward any emails just politely ask me to stop and I would be happy to oblige.

Every July 23rd Bountiful has fireworks, unless it falls on Sunday then they do it on Saturday. Last night we went with Tom Hardy (Jon's Dad) and we sat right under the beautiful display. It was so much fun, until the middle, when some of the fireworks blew up in a giant fire ball. Luckily no one was hurt and the fire ball quickly burned out and left a huge black cloud that could still be seen even though it was dark. After a few minutes my heart settled down and I could enjoy the rest of the fireworks. We are so grateful Jon's Dad is willing to take us to see the fireworks, it is Kyli's favorite thing and she has missed it two years in a row, I hope she forgives us.

Kyli has been at EFY ( especially for youth) all week and I have missed her so much. She tells us each night at 11:30 pm. how much fun she is having. I am one of those emotional and sad mom's who go into their kids room each night just to smell them when they are gone. I really have missed her and I am glad we are picking her up tomorrow.

On Wednesday July 15th, I went to see an orthopedic surgeon for my knees, which have been giving me problems for years. To help diagnose my problem he suggested he inject one of my knees with a cortisone shot to see if it helped the pain. If the knee that didn't have the shot stayed the same and the one with the shot got better we would know what the problem is and could then come up with a plan of action. Did I mention I have a phobia of needles. Lets just say I got the shot and it HURT! The first few hours I felt fine, then my knee became stiff and I had throbbing pain shooting from my knee to my ankle and it was difficult to walk. We went to see Harry Potter that night and Riley and Abbey had to help me walk. Luckily the next day the pain was almost gone. I really hope that I do not need surgery to fix my knee problem. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family to help me walk and help me feel better.

On Tuesday July 7th, we were at a birthday party for a good friend when I was ambushed by our bishop. He asked me to give a talk during sacrament. He said it would be easy because it was only eight minutes and it was on the comforter. I only had four days to prepare and four days and five nights to wallow in anxiety. I started writing down all of my thoughts and talked with Jon a lot. We were really busy that week; we had two birthday parties, two doctors apts., we went to the movies, went to dinner twice and rented movies. I didn't sleep well that week, thankfully Jon helped me by organizing my thoughts into something that made some sense, yeah for great husbands. My anxiety was so bad that I had acid in my throat for 24 hours before Sunday. Sunday came and I gave my talk and boar my testimony, but I do not have any recollection of what I said. I am not sure if it is a blessing or a curse to not be able to remember what I said, I do remember all of my uncontrollable fidgeting. OH well, at least it is over and I don't have to worry about that for another four years.

Abbey has had this rash for about 3 & 1/2 weeks, we first thought that it was a bacterial infection from swimming which got into her skin through her eczema. I took her in today because she had another rash on top of the original one, which I thought was an allergic reaction to the medication we started her on last Tuesday. It turns out she has two viral infections, one is fifths disease. Her Doctor said that my kids are very unique because Riley had fifths disease and another viral infection as well about six weeks ago, which is very unusual for someone to have two different viral infections at the same time. I guess the kids take more after me and have very unusual health issues, oh well, we are not normal.

Jon's family came to Utah for the fourth of July. We love to spend time with all the cousins. We played games, ate a lot of food and went to see the North Salt Lake fireworks on July third. Uncle Matt bought some light sabres (green). Riley, Abbey and Seth had a lot of fun dueling. On Saturday, July fourth we all went to Lagoon and had a fun filled day of rides and more food. I am feeling very sick from all of the food I consumed. We can't wait to see everyone for Christmas.

crazy pictures!

My first attempt at fireworks!

Aimee, Marc and baby Jack
Matt, Gwen, Paige, Seth and Sophie

Sophie, new member of the Hardy family

Super cute!

Scott, Janie, Jeff, Tyson and Allie

Jon's two brothers and their families and his sister Janie and her family.

Riley and Abbey are taking swimming lessons, they started on June 22nd and have a total of 4 weeks. I wanted some pictures and wanted to practice with my camera, so here are some of the pictures I took.

moment of impact!

jumping off the diving board.

underwater fun!

Best friends forever!

collision! Almost.

Jon and I spent five fun filled days and nights in beautiful Boston, Massachusetts. We stayed in the Marriott Copley. We went to a Red Sox game on Sunday and had so much fun. We were at the hub of everything, all of the tour stops were in front of our hotel. We ate at some really great restaurants and walked the freedom trail. We took the Ghosts and Gravestones tour, Trolley tours and the Duck tours. I fell in love with Boston. Boston is so beautiful and has such great character and history. The people who live there are so nice and friendly. We drove down to Plymouth and visited the Plymouth plantation and the Mayflower II. We drove down in a new Volvo, which was so much fun. We then drove down into the Cape Cod area and visited Craigville Beach. I read an amazing book on Tuesday when Jon had to go to work meetings all day, the book is "Meeting Amazing Grace" written by Gary and Joy Lundberg, I recommend anyone with a family read this great book. I had the best time and enjoyed spending alone time with my amazing husband.

Old North Church where Paul Revere warned of the English coming.
Inside Old North Church, they have individual pews for families.

Beautiful organ inside the church.

memorial for the vets of Iraq

Revere's Home

Smallest single dwelling home in Boston

Omni Parker House

The best tour guide/driver of all Boston

Boston at night

Craigville Beach in the Cape Cod area

The new Volvo we drove to Plymouth and areas of Cape Cod

Plymouth Rock

Mayflower II

The English village

The Wampanoag Indians at Plymouth when the Mayflower arrived.

Plymouth plantation.