Ready To Serve

This young man is ready to serve a mission.

His papers are in. His interviews are completed.

He's been preparing his whole life for this.

He is ready.

His mama...not so sure she is ready.

How do I give him up for two whole years???

But it is what he wants. It is what the Lord wants.

It is what we want for him.

I've been telling him his whole life that he is a good boy.

Today, I told him he is a good man.

Jonny should receive his mission call

after General Conference.

We think on April 14th.

What a birthday week that will be!

Sure do love our Jonny.

Three Good Men

These are three good men.

They released our Bishopric last Sunday.

It was bittersweet for my husband.

He thought this release would be wonderful.

Until a young girl handed him her tithing for the last time.

He just about lost it.

Over the pulpit he did. His wept freely and talked about how

the greatest part of serving is loving the people you serve.

Afterwards, he asked if I was embarrassed by his emotion.

How could he ask that?!

I married him because of his sensitivity.

He truly, deeply loves.

That is what I love most about him.

Besides, I told him:

Real men aren't afraid to cry.

The two most powerful words I know in the scriptures are:

Jesus wept.

It is its own verse in John 11.

And it speaks unfathomable volumes.

Compassion is defined in the dictionary

as a "human emotion."

I think it is better defined as a godly emotion.

We should never be ashamed of FEELING.

Hannah, however, is feeling great about Doug's release.

She has little memory of sitting with her father in sacrament

because Doug served in a former Bishopric

before we moved to our new home.

She is looking forward to Thumb Wars with her daddy!

Mornings

Alexis AKA The Blur,

recently commented on how I have
so few pictures of her lately.

Could this be why?

This is what our mornings look like.

Everyone grabs a quick smoothie or sausage biscuit

and literally runs out the door.

What happened to breakfast with the family?

After the morning rush I feel like
we've been through a cyclone.

The house looks like we've been through a cyclone.

I remember our elderly neighbors

Earl and Hazel Kevitch. I miss them so.

Earl was a concert violinist for the Utah Symphony.

He would practice with his window open.

If I took the time and stopped,

I could enjoy his beautiful music.

Even at age 90, he still had it.

One morning was particularly hectic for the Hardy household.

I had driven in and out of my driveway

about a half dozen times in a 20 minute period,

running kids here and there.

Earl noticed.

I had pulled in the driveway,

ran inside the house to grab something I had forgotten,

slammed the back door and ran back to my car.

I started pulling out of the driveway

when I saw Earl in the rear view mirror.

He was standing in the middle of my driveway.

I slammed on my brakes and got out of my car

to see what was the matter.

Earl said, emphatically,

"Rush, Rush, Rush. You are always rushing!"

He was right.

That is what I do best.

Earl told me to slow down and enjoy life.

I have tried. Then life starts catching up on me.

But every once in a while, I stop to catch my breath.

And try to listen to the music.

First Day of Spring!

Happy Spring Everybody!

What a beautiful day. The snow is melted.
Flowers are peeking.

Our little birdy is going crazy. I think he wants to be free.

So do we.

I think cabin fever has made us all a bit loopy.

Time to go outside and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.

Spring is a sensory experience.

You feel it on your skin. You hear it in your ears.

You see colors that seem to have sprung up overnight.

The scent of spring is most powerful to me.

When I am permeated with the scent of hyacinths,

suddenly I am five years old

playing in my father's garden.

My father gave me hyacinth bulbs

for my birthday last fall.

I planted them in my front garden.

They were more than a birthday gift.

They were the gift of memories.

What's For Dinner? Easy Chicken Soup

2 more days until spring!

So what's with the sniffles and the coughing?!!!

It never fails.

Just when we think winter is on the way out and

beautiful weather is on the way in....

it snows and then we all catch a cold.

Such is life in the Rocky Mountains.

So for dinner it's Easy Chicken Soup to the rescue!

It's mild for tender tummys. It's hot, comforting food.

It's good for what ails ya.

And it's easy.

Who likes to cook when they don't feel good?

I don't.

That is how this recipe was born.

And it makes a ton so you don't have to worry

about what to make for lunch the next day.

So throw it in the pot and snuggle up in your warm blanky.

Dinner is done.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Alexis really kicks up her heels for St. Patrick's!

Grandma Weiler made her this leprechaun costume for Halloween one year. Alexis wore it to school once
on St. Patrick's Day to be funny and clicked her heels as she went down the hall.

We have some funny traditions for St. Patrick's. We're not Irish but we have alot of fun with it! Our traditions include the littlest making an elaborate leprechaun trap to capture the wee fellow so we can find out where he has hid his gold. Did you know leprechauns like peanut butter? I didn't :)

This year, Jonny has constructed some lethal contraption with a mouse trap that will beat the tar of the poor leprechaun. Somehow, every year the little blighter gets away. He pranks at great lengths, turning the milk green and causing general havoc throughout the house.

Luckily, the leprechaun spills his gold everywhere and in the strangest places. It used to be chocolate gold coins, but the little laddy has upgraded to real gold coins. It is shameless bribery I know, but the older kids are already asking, when is St. Patrick's?

The Fort

Do you remember building forts as a kid?

I do.

My brother Rob and I would build fantastic forts.

They were our secret hideouts.
A place to dream and imagine.

I would read books for hours.

We would sleep in it at night.

I thought we were THE master fort builders.

Until now...

Hannah

(with a little help from mechanical engineering major Jonny)

built this fort while we were out to dinner tonight.

I didn't even know we had this many blankets.

Theirs kicks on any design I ever had as a kid.

This fort includes a big screen tv and refrigerator.

They even used the treadmill
as a working drawbridge at the entrance
to fend off encroachers.

Maybe we will have Family Home Evening

in the fort Monday night.

We can begin with...

"And my father dwelt in a tent." 

What were your favorite childhood projects?

Iron Chef Hardy Home

2 Chefs. 2 Dishes. 1 Victor.

Ok. Maybe we watch too much Food Network.

You'd think my family was obsessed.

Hannah claimed she made the best
Peanut Butter Sandwich
& Banana Dessert

Jonny said he could do better.

It was a Hardy Throw Down.

Hannah won big on presentation with her clever

PB & Banana heart shaped sandwich.

Jonny won big on taste with his

PB & Fresh Strawberry Sandwich

grilled to perfection.

But Hannah came back huge with her signature dessert:

Hannah Banana Surprise!

(the surprise is buried marachino cherries...YUM!)

Jonny hand dipped his banana in melted chocolate

and barely made the clock...3...2...1...!

In the end, Chef Hannah prevailed!