So Happy Together

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

Okay everybody if you want to read MY blog now it is www.thejuniorblogger.blogspot.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is pretty cool in my opinion. :) Now I need to figure out the details.

-Junior Blogger

The Junior Blogger

2010-10-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody who is reading this. Its me Brinli :) I just wanted to let you guys know that I have permission to have my own blog now!!!!! I am going to need my mom to help me set it up so once I know what my blog is then I will let you know. My title is THE JUNIOR BLOGGER. Well that is the one that I am considering. What do you guys think?

Brinli's,well MY, Election

2010-10-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to run for Vice President for her student council. These are some pictures for my campaign.

The jokester hat :)

My friend showed me a cool website that allowed me to do this to me and it is really cool!!!!!!!!

Of course this one went on my poster

The one to let people know who I am.

Well I was running against two of my best friends, a new girl, and one boy. They boy who is named Jack Yarosh ended up winning the election which I was not surprised about. It is good that he has good sportsman ship because if he wasn't that wouldn't be cool, obviously. :)
Well, we are trying to figure out how to post the video so I will keep you guys posted on that :)

OKAY $1.56 in postage DOESN'T mean ANYTHING!

2010-09-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

Nate received his mission call on Thursday here in Michigan, it cost $1.56 to mail it here. He said we couldn't open it, he wanted to open it in Utah. Can you believe HE wanted to open it.

We tried just about everything to see where he might serve,

this doesn't really work!

The Letter!

This didn't work either.

Trav came out to visit and before he left Utah, where Nate is,
he told Nate he was going to open it.

Jae (Trav's wife) helped.
This was our Attempt at tricking Nate into thinking we opened his mission call without him.

I can't tell you the self control and patience I have had to practice for the last 3 days waiting. The anticipation has been excruciating.
Let me explain the significance of $1.56. Since I was being torchered by the wait, I had a friend that said, you can usually tell if they will be serving state side or foreign by the amount on the postage. HUM......It usually weights more if it's foreign, this makes sense to me. So I checked with a friend that just received his mission call to the Pocatello, Idaho mission and his mission postage was $1.56.
EXACTLY THE SAME AS NATE'S!!

So against my gut feeling of a foreign mission I guess it will be a state side mission, RIGHT?

TODAY, Sunday, we skyped with Nate and the rest of the family in Utah
while he opened his letter.

ELDER NATHAN DAYMON LEONHARDT HAS BEEN CALLED TO SERVE A MISSION FOR THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS SERVING IN THE

BULGARIA, SOFIA MISSION!!

First day of School

2010-09-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it just had to happen! This year our school started on September 7th and boy were we prepared :) The summer felt as if, well, like there was no summer.

Brooke on her first day of High School at Dow. The next day she started seminary.
Me on my first day of 7th grade at Jefferson Middle School. It was so much fun getting to see my friends again.
David on his first day of 5th grade at Woodcrest Elementary.

Aaron on his first day of 1st grade. He was excited to go to school for the whole day instead of half like in Kindergarden.
Little Levi just wanted his picture taken :)

Is He Really Gone?

2010-08-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am have been having mixed feeling lately. Sadness, happiness, humbleness, and the feeling like I hardly know my older brother, Nate

Now I am having all of those feelings together. Nate we are missing you while you are in Utah and we will miss you when you leave to serve the Lord for two years.

-Brinli Leonhardt :)

Once Upon our Summer, part 3, Girls camp!!!

2010-08-19T05:52:00.000-07:00

Once Upon our Summer.........

we got home the day right before girls camp in enough time to pack and NOT watch the fireworks on the fourth of July! Go figure :)! The next morning after we got home from Utah we left for girls camp! Just a warning there are not going to be many pictures on this post and I will explain why. Brooke got sick on the second day and so my mom had to take her home and they never came back. I also got sick on the second day so I didn't get to take any pictures here are a few that I took anyway! I was sad that I didn't take any outside of my cabin. Our theme this year was "Oh the Places You'll Go" and my cabin theme was Green Eggs and Ham!!!!

My YCL Stephanie Burns is on the botton bunk there and here is one of my camp friends Tory Mattewson.

Here is Justice Sears, on the left, and Tory teaching her how to play the cup game.
One of my best friends from Midland was in my cabin and that was a BLAST!!! Her name is Anne Skaug.

This is a collage of girls camp pictures of Brooke from last year since we didn't have any of her this year.

We had the best food made and the best time EVER!!!!! We had a skit night which was a total blast and everybody loved testimony meeting. It was a good time to get to know the other girls and know how things were going for them. I cannot wait to go to Girls Camp next year!!! And I promise I will get more pictures :)

Once Upon our Summer, part 2, Wood Reunion

2010-08-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

Once Upon our Summer.........

we went to the Wood family reunion (My mom's side of the family)!!!!! We had a wonderful time seeing long lost cousins at Bear Lake in Utah, again I love that place.

To make a long story short, this lake isn't as pretty as it looks! My uncle took us out on the speed boat and my; cousin and I went on a one person tube, really smart right, and my uncle tipped us with no mercy! I went back to where we were staying and my mom, LOVE HER, said that I was having mixed emotions at the time. If any if you have been to bear lake you would know how cold it is and so I was having a mix of being exposed to the sun, dehydration, and shock. Really fun experience! Well once recovered from that IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!!They had two really nice pools and a park behind the little condo we were in. It was so much fun.

This is a game that we all know! Yeah..... reeeally fun :P

Of course when we take the picture she is wanting somebody else :) This is my cute little cousin Ava who I saw for the first time and we just fell in love with each other.
Aaron would always stand up on the end of the slide so he could "scuba dive" in!!
Lounging in the pool
Happy, Happy

This was after the pool and believe it or not we were going super SUPER fast. (See me holding on for dear life in the right hand corner if you don't believe me :)

Brookes face says it all.

Good Aunts, Uncles, and cousins

We all enjoyed being here with the Wood family.

Once Upon our Summer, Part 1, UTAH with the Leonhardt side :)

2010-08-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Once Upon our Summer..................
it started out with packing and making sure that the house was PERFECT (or pretty close) before we left for Utah. Once we left we started realizing this was the last time we were going to be driving Nate out there! SCARY!!!!!!! It took us three long, painful days to get there although we got to stay in a hotel which was a blast for the other kids. Not saying it wasn't fun for me to! I loved carrying Levi around. And by the way ME is Brinli. :)

BUDDIES IN THE BACK SEAT!!!!

Notice a few things here, the youngest and oldest sons are missing (don't worry Levi hasn't left at this point) and Nate is some were!!!! P.S. Notice my mom near the back of the car!!!!! LOL

The mountains that we don't get in Michigan. :

We were all ssssooooo glad to finally come home to loving Grandparents and yummy cookies!:)

Later after reuniting with family (which we don't have pictures for sadly) and many hugs we had sleep overs with cousins and ate yummy food with our amazing family we haven't seen in forever. A few days later we went to a Bonn fire which was a blast except for when we had to go to the bathroom!! Here are just a few pictures of the little times when we were all together.

Well mostly all of us! Aaron's face looks a little funny! Don't worry we didn't

give him plastic surgery

Girly Girls in a row,

Singing around the campfire with amazing cousins and food! Can it get any better??
The next day my Aunt Amie and Uncle Ryan's house I got to spend sometime with some of my cousins that are so awesome! Can you guess what we did? We put on my Aunt Amie's old pageant dresses and took many pictures! Here is literally the only one that I was available to.

In order: ME, SAVANNAH, AND ALLI! We all had such a good time although the dress that I was wearing was a little to big! :) If I find anymore of these pictures, I will make sure to post them.

Next, we went to see my Aunt and Uncle who live in Idaho. There we went up to there cabin and were joined there by my other extended family the Tippet's. The cabin could pass as a mansion!!! IT WAS HUGE! NO JOKE!!!! Here are some pictures.

We are just hanging out, look at my little baby cousin Gracy! She is ssooo cute and she is faster than the Flash! :)

Picture from the upstairs level which was, like, 500 feet high!! Well it seemed like it

It was Brooke's 15th birthday so we celebrated it there, here she is staring at the very yummy fruit pizza made for her! YUMMMM

Drumroll Please............
Just a girl and her money :p

She loved her money more than all of the really cute clothes she got!

She was a born model :)
The cute skirt that we both love.

We had a great time spending time with the Leonhardt's side of the family and we cannot wait to see all of you again. :)

Sorry

2010-08-09T15:42:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody! Sorry we haven't been posting since May!!!!!!!!! I am working on a summer series of events for blogging right now so hopefully the first part will be done soon. Again, SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

2010 "PROM"

2010-05-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

OOOPS, I must have put in the wrong picture, or maybe not.
(Warning: Long Post)

"PROM" DAY

2010

- plant flowers at the church
- walk 4 miles at the tridge with Briniloo and the other Young Woman
- Brinli soccer game (she was really tired after those 4 miles then a soccer game)
- make cheesy potato soup for Stake Conference Adult session
- Nate pick up flowers for Carley
- Take Brinli to a friends house about 20 minutes away to finish school project

- Think to myself, Nate hasn't ever been in a car accident. (Random, I know)

- Aaron's soccer game
- Hurry home to shower for Stake Conference
- Help Nate clean out and polish the inside of Black Beauty (our little car)

-Think again, Accident? . . . . . HUH?

- Nate leaves at about 4:00 to pick up his cute date, Carley, they go to a friends house to take pictures.
- I hurry over so I can be one of the adoring mothers taking pictures of the cute kids.

- Nate and Carley go to the church (where Daymon is attending Stake Meetings) so we can get a picture of us with the cute kids.

Nate and Carley
Nate is mine but I will claim Carley as my own.

(doesn't she look like she could be one of mine)

- The Two Cute Seniors! Prom Dates! Friends! Head off to Dow Gardens to take some MORE pictures with a different group of friends.

(Nate LOVES taking pictures)

This is the LIMO group! Let me explain. This group of kids are some of Nate's friend from football, student council and others that decided to attend PROM together. They thought it would be fun to rent a limo and go to Mt. Pleasant to eat dinner, then come back for the dance. Nate didn't want to spend the money on the limo ($50.00 for Nate and $50.00 for Carley) He also didn't want Carley to have to spend the money either SO, he decided to follow them in the black car (black beauty).

Right after the evening session of Stake Conference was done (this was good timing on Nate's part) Steve Wilson came up to me and said Nate and Carley have been in an accident. They are okay but they need to talk to you. At first I thought it was a joke but quickly realized that it wasn't. I hurried out to the hall so I could talk to Nate. He was heading down a hill and ran into the back of the LIMO, yes THE LIMO, the same limo that all of his friends were in, yes the same one that would have cost $100.00 to ride in.

This is the result! The car is TOTALED!

We made the best out of the night and both parents took their children out to dinner with them at the luxurious, romantic, delicious, unforgettable. . . . .

"APPLEBEES"

(I am laughing out loud right now)

Prom night 2010
Making the best out of a very interesting, unforgettable evening.

Nate's face says it all.

There's a First Time for Everything

2010-05-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

In years past, Nate ran Track but he is suffering from patella tendonitus and thus was unfit to run this season. So naturally... he decided to try out for the spring musical.
This year the High School put on the play "JOSEPH, and the AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT". We all LOVE this play. We own the DVD and have watched it over and over again, loving the music and Donny Osmond's voice.
When Nate found out this was the play they were doing he decided to try out for it. He has never been in a play before, let alone a musical. Needless to say I was encouraging but a tad bit nervous for his tryouts. He is a football player and a runner, not a drama guy. This was reflected in his biography he wrote for the program, which reads:

"Nate Leonhardt, a senior, is new drama. During football he had a height of 5' 10'' and weighed 170 lbs. and enjoyed tackling people until he broke his hand, developed back spasms and developed patella tendonitus."

The drama instructer was kind enogh to add at the end, (ed. note: Football's sorrow, is drama's fortune!)

Nate came home one day and said, "I get to be one of the 12 brothers, guess which one I am". I had no idea. He said "I am LEVI". We all laughed and thought that was great. Our Levi was a little bit confused when we kept calling Nate, Levi.

I, loving this play, wasn't expecting very much from High School kids. To make this play work you have to have a GREAT Joseph, Narrators, good singers and actors for brothers and a great chorus. I was just excited to go and see my Nate be on stage, in his FIRST play, but when I saw it the first night, second night, third and forth nights (yep, I went 4 times) I was continually impressed with the talent these high school students have. THEY WERE AMAZING!! Truly!! People were saying things like . . . "I have seen this on Broadway and this was just as good".
I wish all of you could have been here to see it.

This is the part where all the brothers decide to get rid of Joseph and throw him in the well. Nate and another brother were going to throw him into the well but one day the other brother didn't show up to rehearsal so Nate, improvising, with one swift motion, picked up the actor playing Joseph, and threw him in the well, with ease.
After, the actor playing Joseph said, "DUDE YOU ARE TERRIFYING". Nate likes to point out that that is the first time in his life he has ever been called "TERRIFYING".

In this picture Nate is seen carrying Potiphars wife onto stage. He is actually look back in disgust as she flirts with the other guards. The actress who played Mrs. Potiphar said she wanted a shirt that would say "Nate disapproves of this".

As a side note, the other person who carried out Mrs. Potiphar felt self conscious coming onto stage shirtless, opposite of Nate. This caused him to do an excessive amount of pushups before going on to stage, and run grab some ice, to harden his pecks.

One of Nate's main pitches to get his friends to come see the show was to inform them that for the only time in their lives they would have the chance to see him drunk. The brothers are all posed for the song "Those Canaan Days". In this song Nate had a very important solo that he was very excited about. He was so excited about it he volunteered to sing it at home the day it was assigned. He composed himself and sang loudly and strongly the word, "EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEME". That was his one word solo. For the next couple of days he'd go around and would spontaneously sing that one word in various different voices and styles.

This is the "Benjamin Calypso". This is one of the few dance numbers Nate actually participated in. He was pulled out of the hoedown for his own and others safety. While the guys were in an inner circle and the girls were in an outer circle, everyone had their arms on each others shoulders. Nate put his arms down to early and realizing his mistake, with a very swift and somewhat violent motion, he attempted to put his arms back on the other guys shoulders. As he was doing this two girls were going between and Nate accidentally hit both of them very hard in the head.

The next day Nate was asked to be one of the two brothers to escort Jacob off stage while the dancing took place. Purely coincidence I'm sure.

This is the finale. Joseph has his coat and has forgiven his brothers. Everyone is happy.
Here are some random pictures of Nate with his acting buddies after the play.

Nate and his buddy "Elvis" (Pharaoh)

Friends that attended the play.

left to right Carley Ostergaard, Nate, Dallin & Camilla Jones.

Nate and 2 of his 12 brothers. Judah (Ian) and Naphtali (Bryan)
Nate and one of the Narrators (Kathleen)
Potiphers Wife (Jen), Nate, Pharaoh (Ben W), and Potipher (Ben G)
Another Brother Issachar (Joe)

Another Brother, Zebulun (Josh Fridstrom) and great actor, Nate said he would watch him and feed off of what this actor was doing.
Joseph (Josh Finch) and Nate. This young man, Joseph, is quite talented. His voice was perfect for this part. He also seemed to be a very nice, kind, good young man. I love seeing that!
Nate and his wife (Deejay).

Nate and 3 other brothers. Asher (Manny), Benjamin (David) and Simeon (Nathaniel).

When the Hubby's away the Wife likes to .....

2010-05-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

START A HUGE PROJECT!
Why do I do this? I have no idea! For some reason whenever Daymon takes a trip I plan a really BIG project to try and get done while he's gone. I think it helps me stay busy and not miss him so much, or maybe it is because I can leave a mess out for a few days and not feel like I have to hurry and clean things up before my hubby comes home from work at the end of the day.

Either way I am so glad I attempted to redo my front room. I have been wanting to repaint it ever since we moved in and finally I did it. I don't know if you can tell but the crown molding and baseboards are cream and I wanted them white. So I started by re-caulking all the crown molding and baseboards, patched all the holes and cracks in the walls, pulled off the old wallpaper (the kids helped with this part, they did an awesome job).

BEFORE

DURING

During the first night of the repainting Levi bonked his head on the fireplace bricks. There was a LOT of blood and Daymon was gone. I didn't know what to do, Daymon would just say "Super Glue, where is the super glue". He likes to super glue wounds. I ended up calling a GREAT friend, who also happens to be a doctor, he said he needed stitches and just laughed when I mentioned SUPER GLUE. I quickly found out Levi is much tougher than I am. He didn't whine at all, all the whining came from me.

Cute little black and blue eyed boy!

AFTER

TAAA DAAA! I really love the color. It is so soothing and warm feeling in this room now.

Embarrassing Moments

2010-03-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

I was just looking trough some older pictures and found some of these! How embarrassing!!

Haha we caught you! Is that chocolate on your face?

Watch out! If Mom uses this weapon you end up like this!!!!!!!! P.S Nice dooo David:)

I don't know what to say about this one? lol!!!!:)

Here's what it comes down to. If you are tired. . . . . . have a baby brother. . . . . . . and you want to lay down on your mom's lap while she was burping the baby. . . . . . . . DON'T-----don't do it!!!!!!!!!!

I promise it will not turn out pretty.... at all! :) I think Brooke was the only one who wasn't laughing!

I AM Eponine

2010-03-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

I am sure many of you have heard of the play Les Miserables right? Well there is a program at my middle school called head to head. It is a competition against other schools in things like language arts, math, art, social studies, acting, and singing. If you can guess of course I did the singing. I did a solo and ensemble and the solo turned out better than the ensemble overall. For my solo I did a song that Eponine, from "Les Miserables" sang called "On My Own" this is now my favorite song EVER! I will go around the halls at school singing it and get glares from people like "what in the world is she doing?" Ps. my dad thinks that it looks like someone punched me in the face because I am not smiling at all!!!!!!!!! LOL what is that about? what do you think? ENJOY!

The Bigs and Littles

2010-03-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

Hey this is Brinli! Well since I look at the blogs ALL the time I thought "hey this could be fun so I started looking trough some pictures and thought it would be cool for a flashback on the kids so here it goes. ENJOY:)

LEVI

Take one guess who did this. Love his cheeks.
This was at Christmas. He was excited about the earrings he gave me.

AARON

Can you guess why I chose this picture. The file I got it from was named 11 months and chubby

Not so chubby anymore:)

DAVID
If your kids don't want to brush their teeth, show them this picture. This is what happens.
He looks a little MORE AWAKE!! This was at his pinewood Derby and his car was pretty cool actually:)

BRINLI

This is embarrassing. REALLY embarrassing!LOL:)

This picture was actually taken in one of my favorite cousins room *cough cough* Alli and Savannah. Love you guys! Anyway i may be considering photography:)

BROOKE

Smile for the camera Brooke!!!! We all love your smile:)

This was a picture we took so Brooke could pass something off for the personal progress program.

NATE

He went from Batman..........

to football man:)

Hope you enjoyed this because there is going to be more posts that I will be doing in the future.

Nate's an Eagle Scout

2010-02-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

Nate did it! What an adventure!
Nate's Eagle "Court of Honor" was on Sunday in combination with two of his friends, Trenton Dunford and Jared Peterson. It was a WONDERFUL day. Both Daymon and I were so humbled by these three fabulous boys. They are some of the best of the best.
The program was great. The boys fathers spoke for a minute about the boys and then the three new Eagle scout young men sang "I Need Thee Every Hour". WOW!! I wish you could have all been there to feel the awesome spirit that was present.
They also put together a video presentation of these young men and their growing up years. I will try and figure out a way to put it on the blog. SO . . . . watch for that.

Watch out Mission Field!! These amazing boys are coming!

Sweet Jean Dean from the ward made this cake for the boys!

The proud parents!

They BOYS and their Moms!

My Baby is THREE!

2010-02-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Where has all the time gone. Sweet little Levi just had his 3rd birthday. He was so excited all day. We made him his favorite breakfast, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. Sounds good doesn't it. Well honestly I think he would have rather had pancakes instead of the hash browns. I will know better for next year.

He kept saying "it's my Birfday?" I'd just say "Yep" and would proceed to sing him the Happy Birthday song. I think I sang him every rendition of the birthday song I new, many times. It was so fun watching the excitement on his face every time I broke out in song. Oh, he is a cutie!

We had a birthday party for him that night with the Larsen children and Hannah Hirschi. Hannah and Beth decorated the whole downstairs for the party, all they needed was some colorful paper and tape. They were so creative, It turned out AWESOME!

Getting ready to blow out the candles!

Good old Mickey Mouse!

I think Dad wants a turn. :)

Levi, HAPPY BIRTHDAY we sure LOVE YOU! You are such a blessing to our family, you bring us such joy and happiness.

Nate's Senior Pictures

2009-11-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I have a Senior in High School!! Where did the time go?
He has been such a joy to have as a son.
We just had his Senior Pictures taken and I thought you may like to see them.

Is he cute or is he cute?

2009 Family Photos

2009-11-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

SIX really isn't that many children, but I feel like it is whenever we get ready for a vacation, EVERY Sunday, Parent Teacher Conference time, dinner time, sports events, the kids concerts in band and choir, every morning before the kids go to school, scripture reading time, AND when it is time to take FAMILY PICTURES.

It has been 7 years since our last professional family picture (I think that says it all right there). The chaos that precedes the photos is almost not worth it and the more kids you have the harder it is to get everyone to smile, have their eyes open and look in the right direction. AAH! We made it and without too much weeping, whaling and gnashing of teeth, from me.

This picture cracks me up! It is actually not bad for everyone else, just me. The first thing I noticed is that my arm is totally FAT. The second thing is that it looks like I am trying to strike a pose, when the truth of the matter is, I was trying desperately to keep Levi in his place because he was trying to escape. I have a death grip on his shoulder.

Aaron was laughing when we looked at these last few pictures. He said, "Mom, we took so many pictures, I forgot how to smile".

Well these are all our poses, and quite the poses they are. You will just have to wait and see which one we decide when you receive your Christmas card. (we will probably pick the one with the fat arms, hehe)

ANOTHER VOTE

2009-11-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends, THANKS for looking at the house again and letting me know what you think. We really can't decide what to do. Should I paint the whole thing black? Is white still the best bet? It seems like the last vote White was the winner but there were some suggestions for Black, and since I LOVE TO WORK AND PAINT, I thought I would try the Black but it is a time crunch again because of the cold weather so if you can let me know soon I would love it.

Also, would you paint the whole entryway black and have NO white at all or leave part of it white?

THANKS in advance again!

Football is Here!!

2009-10-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

We love football season, especially since Nate started to play. I have been a little bit melancholy reflecting over the past 8 years of Nate's football seasons. It has been so much fun to watch him and his team play and get better and better together. This is his Senior year and so these players have been together for a long time and they have a great team. THEY ARE AWESOME!

This year Nate started the season hurt because of an interception he caught, during practice, where Nate said "he was picked up and body slammed". He hurt his hip, they call it the "hip pointer" so it was very difficult to walk, breath, or move in general. Not the best way to start the Senior Football Season.
He healed fairly quickly and was back at it. The team has played great and they are currently 8 - 1. The only team that beat them was Mt. Pleasant.

This was the game against their BIG RIVALS - THE OTHER MIDLAND TEAM - D O W!! As all of you know when rivals play, you never know how things will turn out. DOW's team did a great job with their defense but we were able to pull off a win.
YAY!! 14-0

Just look at that kid! He is ready to go!

Can you guess Nate's number??
12
The team is currently in the playoffs with their first game on Friday.

GO CHEMICS!!

"The Project" House

2009-10-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

We have this house "the project" house that we have been working on for about a year. One year ago on October 31st, yep, your right, HALLOWEEN, we closed on this house on Halloween and it has been quite the project. It is a great house it just needs A LOT of work.
SO, I am in need of your opinion and quickly because the weather is not allowing very much time to get this done.
Should we paint the entry way WHITE OR PEACH? What do you think?

Peach?

White?

Okay, I just noticed all the mess outside, latter, pumpkins strewn about, mat skiwampus and the compressor is out. Sorry, Don't look at all the mess, just vote on the entry way. THANKS IN ADVANCE!!

Little Cuteness

2009-10-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were looking through some of the family pictures today and we found this one!
This is one of my favorites pictures of Aaron. Cute Little Cuteness!

"Monkey SEE, Monkey DO"

2009-10-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

What a funny morning. I just couldn't wait to record this for all to see. Levi is learning so quickly lately and seems to copy everything we do, whether it is good or bad. For example. . . Levi is starting to show a little interest in potty training (very little) and so, sitting on the toilet this morning, I was on the floor next to him, he noticed an owie on my finger and said "yet me tiss it" - translation "Let me kiss it". So I let him kiss my owie and then he said "yet me bwouw it" - translation "Let me Blow it". I guess that is what we do to him when he has owies. Then he pulled off a little piece of toilet paper and put it on my thumb to help it and said "hoad it" - Translation "Hold It".

Oh my it was cute.

Then he noticed a zit on my forehead and he said owie (if only he knew), and we went through the same process that we did for the owie on my thumb.

The next thing I knew he was taking the toilet paper and carefully wadding it up and sticking it up his nose.

He was so proud of himself.

You might be wondering where he would be getting a crazy ideas like this. . . .

Nate seems to have some issues with bloody noses lately and so,

Levi SEE, Levi DO!!

2009 Summer Time Fun

2009-10-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

I started this blog thing to keep in contact with family, friends and to have it partly be our families scrapbook and, just like my old scrapbooks, I am VERY behind, so GET READY THIS IS A CATCH UP POST!

This summer feels like a whirlwind of comings and goings, ups and downs, firsts and lasts. It has been interesting thinking of this being one of our last summers with Nate before he leaves for College and his mission - SO - we filled it with as many memories as we could.

One first and maybe his last. We BUZZED DAYMON'S HAIR! After Daymon buzzed the 3 youngest boys hair he started on his own head and called me upstairs to finish and get all the stragglers. He has wanted to do this for a LONG time but it has never happened until this summer.

He could be bald and he would still be good lookin'!!

The first part of the summer we were able to go down and visit my sister in Indianna for her daughters baptism. While we were there we attended the Science Center and the Zoo.

Bubble Machine at the Science Center.

I don't think you can ever go wrong with trinkets and water.

At the Zoo.

Two cute kids!

Daymon hasn't shaved all week.

The kids favorite part of the Zoo was the little water park.

We have LOVED having a boat and we go out as often as we can during the summer, we were only able to go out a few times this summer but we enjoy being in the water whenever we get the chance and we are delighted when we can have friends join us.

(more to come later)

First Day of School

2009-09-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

What a fun exciting day the first day of school was, Tuesday, September 8th! The kids were so excited and had their clothes out the night before, even the boys. This feels like it will be quite a year. We are in 5, five, yep, FIVE different schools this year! Isn't that some kind of record!! It sure is for me.
Just imagine starting out at 5:50 am getting the first one off, then hurry, hurry to get #2 out the door and on the bus, #3 is pretty self sufficient and does great getting herself ready and out the door 15 minutes after #2, BREATH. . . . . . . . .(there are days that I have to remind myself to breath during the craziness of morning times) then finishing getting child #4 & #5 ready for Elementary and after they get off I get to start on child #6, my sweet little preschooler.

This big kid is such a good sport, letting me take his picture on the First Day of School.
She was excited to ride the bus and see her teachers again.
She has been counting down the days until she could start school, be with friends, open lockers and walk to different classes. She is growing up way to fast.
Starting a new school today! I am excited about this year for him, what a handsome boy!

I am usually sad to have my kids start school, and I feel melancholy the first week but he was SO ready to go. Watch out Kindergarten Here I COME!

"One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the same" do you recognize this song? It is from Sesame Street, oh the good ol' Sesame Street days.

The one in green is my son's friend, our neighbor, walking to school with us on the first day of school.

After the first day of school I couldn't believe the HOMEWORK that the teachers gave to the kids FOR ME to fill out and send back the next day. I was filling out paperwork for hours.

Even during the crazy hustle and bustle that school and six children bring I can't help but be SO grateful for my wonderful kids and the opportunity I have to stay home and be a mother.

"IT'S FANTAASTIC!" -Nacho Libre-

Girls Camp and Brooke

2009-07-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

Brooke's first year of girls camp was so much fun. SHE LOVED IT and I felt like she grew leaps and bounds, in just one week. She was gitty, funny and became more independent this week.

These were two of the girls in Brooke's cabin. Rachel and Sydney

Brooke, Kelsey and Sarah

Sara, Holly, Breezy and Brooke

The girl in the center on the floor is KENDRA. This was Brooke's best friend at girls camp. No matter what we did Brooke wanted to do it with Kendra.

"Brooke do you want to go on the paddle boat with me?" No Kendra.

"Brooke it is time to go to certification." No Kendra.

"Brooke lets go visit the 4th year cabins". No Kendra.

"Where's Kendra?"

Brooke is so much fun and very persistent. She knows what she wants and it is very difficult to get her to deter from it, as you can see. This can be a blessing and a little bit of a curse.

I had a wonderful time being with Brooke, the Young Women, and the leaders. It was so much fun watching everyone and their interactions with Brooke, both those that knew Brooke and those that didn't know Brooke. Some were sceptical, at first, not knowing how to talk to her or how to treat her and then by the end of the week there was an outpouring of kindness and friendship the girls exhibited toward Brooke.

I am continually amazed and grateful for the spirit that our Heavenly Father pours out on the Youth of the Church to strengthen and build them and their testimonies, they are WONDERFUL and I feel so blessed to be able to be with them.

Brooke's Pajama Party

2009-07-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Brooke turned 14 this year and she LOVES being bigger and feels quite grown up. This year she wanted to have a pajama party, play games, have a BBQ and watch a movie. I know, I know, Brooke never asks to watch a show, it was a complete shocker that this is what she wanted.

The BBQ with her friends!

Brooke's Pajama Cake

Brooke with her friends.

Back row, left to right: Lauren, Esther, Katie, Heyjune, Dawna, Sarah, Brinli, Teisha

Front Row: Abby, Novalyn, Brooke

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR BROOKE, WE ARE SO GLAD YOU HAVE BEEN PART OF OUR FAMILY FOR 14 YEARS, YOU HAVE FILLED OUR HOME KINDNESS AND HOPE.

WE LOVE YOU!

Our 1st Half Marathon

2009-06-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

WE DID IT!!!! That's right, we finished the Bay Shore Half Marathon. My running buddies and I decided, during the COLD Michigan winter, to run a 1/2 marathon. I think our brains may have been frozen when we all agreed to go for it. I have to admit it was great motivation to keep us running during the cold winter months (at least it was good motivation for me). We started the real training the first of March and kicked up the mileage on Saturdays.

The first 11 miler Jenny and I were not feeling well, so this made me a little nervous. I wasn't sure if we were ready for the race. We had 4 more weeks to prepare. The next 11 miler we did okay and then the 12 felt quite easy (as easy as running 12 miles gets).

As we talked about the race and going up to Traverse City the kids were so excited, not because of the race but because they were able to go to "The Great Wolf Lodge" (this is a big indoor water park) and stay over night there. The race was Saturday May 23rd so we took the kids out of school on Friday and headed North for the big race, or the water park, which ever is the most interesting to you. I think it depends on your age.

Needless to say I was a little nervous but slept quite well considering a room full of excited kids and tomorrow was the big race. We left at 5:20 am to get to our destination and then waited until 7:00 am to run.

AAWWW, the dreaded anticipation of waiting!!

Look at this amazing group. We were the 1/2 marathoners. (can you tell this is before the race?)

Jenny, Julie, Suzanne, David, Todd, Kimball

This is after the race! Can you see the excitement in my grin to have FINISHED!?

After the race we received our metals that said "FINISHER". We didn't break any records, by any means, but it felt so good to be done. Our motto for this first race was

"TO FINISH IS TO WIN"

and we did it. We also wanted to finish in under 2 hours and we all did it!! That was exciting.

Our times were:

Suzanne Leonhardt Midland MI USA 1:57:11.75

Jenny Larsen Midland MI USA 1:57:28.11

Julie Hales Midland MI USA 1:58:09.25

Jenny Jordan Frogley

2009-05-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Have any of you, or all of you heard of Jenny Jordan Frogley? We'll on Saturday May 9th, we were so lucky to have her come to our home town and perform for us. We have loved her voice for years and found out she is related to Wendy Plewa in our ward. They look so much alike that we were both surprised that we didn't put it together sooner.
We were able to spend some time with her during the day got to know her a lot better. We love her even more after spending some one on one time with her.

Brooke listens to her CD everyday and knows all the words to the songs!

Daymon thought it was AWESOME to sing with her the new EFY theme song for 2009. He said it was an amazing experience. She is just SO good!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

2009-05-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of you AMAZING Mothers that I so admire and look up to.

Today in church I was reminded of a wonderful talk given in October 2000 General Conference "The Joy of Womanhood" by Sister Margaret Nadauld. I remember it sparking something in me 9 years ago and when I heard it again today I also felt the kind, gentle prodding to remember these important characteristics and try harder to develop them in my own personal attributes.

"Women of God can never be like women of the world.
The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender.
There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind.
There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined.
We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith.
We have enough greed; we need more goodness.
We have enough vanity; we need more virtue.
We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

There are so many of you who do these thing so well and have been such a strength and example to me. THANK YOU for your goodness and being who you are!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

PROM 2009

2009-05-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Get ready this is a LOOOONNNGGG Post!Having an older son dating has been so much fun but it has also been a constant reminder of how different boys and girls are. Most girls get so excited about activities, dates, and planning fun things to do, that it makes it easy for mom's, they don't need to encourage and prod, or be involved at all. BOYS, on the other hand, DO need all the encouraging, prodding, helping they can get (at least at our house). It was less then a week before the Prom and no one seemed to know what was happening and plans were not coming together SO, the mom's took things in their own hands. WOO HOO!! (the mother's of these children are PHENOMENAL)
PROM DAY!

Nate was a good sport and let me plan the activity for the group before they all got dressed up. They met at the church and were given 7 individual envelopes tied together with a bow and some instructions. They were to go on a Video Extravaganza!

They were to do everything that each envelop asked them to do and record it, if they got done with all of the activities there was a prize waiting for them at the end.

ENVELOP #1

Find the statue of a family at the tridge and record all of you doing “Ring around the Rosie’s”, yep, you got it “Ring around the Rosie’s”!! (Find someone to record you ALL doing it)

ENVELOP #2
Take a video of you doing a line dance on the tridge. The music is provided for you in the CD player in the back of the Van.
(Find someone outside of your group to video record you)

ENVELOP #3
Go to any park and take a video of the boys pushing the girls on a swing.

ENVELOP #4
Go to the MALL, each couple must go to a different store or area in the store and somehow make a pose like a manikin together and video your position and hold your pose for at least 30 seconds, if you can do it longer, WAY TO GO!!

ENVELOP #5
Go to the middle of the mall and find the bed in the play place and see how many you can fit on the bed to take a little nap. We of course need it recorded.

ENVELOP #6
Go to Meijer and each couple must find something from a different isle, something a little obscure. I know you can do that!!
You need to, as a couple, come up with an ad to sell the product. RECORD it.

ENVELOP #7
Hurry to the Larsen’s (405 W. Chapel Ln.) house and we have their permission to use their trampoline in the back yard. You need to video each of you doing your favorite trick!! Okay we are looking for crazy, funny, creative.

They did everything except making the ad in Meijer. They were running out of time so they just skipped to the last envelop. They did great!

It was Stake Conference this night and two of the older boys wanted to attend conference so the girls went to get ready while some of the boys attended Stake Conference. After conference the boys picked up their dates and went to the Dunford's home for a beautiful dinner.

Before they ate we, of course, had to take some pictures.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE! Nate with his cute date, Laura Workman!

from left to right, Alex Ostergaard & Annie Kruegar, Craig Jones & Carly Ostergaard, Trenton Dunford & Alyc Sponseller, Nate Leonhardt & Laura Workman.

AWESOME FUTURE MISSIONARIES!!

AMAZINGLY COOL GIRLS!

CUTE, CUTE!

The dinner consisted of a delicious Salad, Tomato Basil soup, Shishkabobs, Baked Potato, with a yummy Trifle Desert. That is making me so hungry, the food was delectable.

I have to add one interesting fact about this group. Most of them didn't want to spend very much money and they didn't really want to go to the dance. OKAY, MY QUESTION TO YOU IS -- HOW CAN YOU GO TO PROM AND NOT DANCE??? At least this was what most of the mom's and I thought. Of course we took the matter into our own hands and one of the moms was able to set up some decorations at an aerobics center which means, mirrors, sound system, good size room, etc.) and I came up with 2 more envelopes for the kids to open and follow.

ENVELOP #8 You may have gotten out of going to the Prom but hey, hey, hey, you need to go to
4422 No. Saginaw , when you get there You’ll know what to do!!
We put the key in the envelop.

The group got there and seemed to really enjoy themselves.

ENVELOP #9 LAST BUT NOT LEAST, you each have $1.00. You can go anywhere you want to pick up a treat for the movie you made, you can combine your money to get something bigger or you can get your favorite treat, chocolate, popcorn, gummy worms, whatever $1.00 can get.

They were running out of time so they just skipped envelop #9 and just ended up coming to our house and going in the four seasons room to watch the funny video that they put together that afternoon. We could hear them laughing and having a great time together.

To me, this is what dating should be like at this age, get with a fun group and go out and have a blast together. I think they all had a great time and they created some great memories!

Band & Choir Concert

2009-05-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

Brinli had her 5th Grade Band and Choir Concert at Adams Elementary. They sounded very good for being in 5th grade. The big instrument to the side of her is a TROMBONE, it is almost as big as she is, she thought this instrument was COOL because of the slide.

She has a gift for music and can play quite well.

Brinli and Alexa

Brinli also sang in the choir, she was part of a special group that sang a pretty

descant to one of the songs. She is growing up way to fast.

"FLAT DAVID"

2009-05-04T05:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of the "FLAT STANLEY" books? They are pretty fun books, full of great stories and adventures.

Well, each student in David's class made flat pictures of themselves and sent them to someone who could show them a good time and take them to see all the wonderful sights where they live.

"FLAT DAVID" wanted to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Leonhardt in Utah. We couldn't think of a better place to hang out and relax than with Grandma & Grandpa. They showed him a great time, and took him to see many things.

At the Elementary School with Grandpa

We love this picture, it looks like a fun ride.

Hold on tight so you don't fall!!

With his cute cousins, Jake and Abby!

He even got to go to church!

Hangin' out at Grandpa's house.

With Cute little Grandma!

(I can just see mom climbing up those treacherous rocks to make

sure "FLAT DAVID" got the best view)

YOU TWO ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST! WE LOVE YOU!!

Funny Kid

2009-04-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Nate came home from Track practice and grabbed the whole bowl of Taco Salad and said

"WHAT ARE THE REST OF YOU HAVING FOR DINNER!"

I love this kid!!

"10 in 10" Week #8

2009-03-31T09:04:00.001-07:00

I hope you are all doing great on the weight loss band wagon. I for one have fallen off!! AAHHH! The weight loss roller coaster is NO fun, although it does make it a little more bearable knowing we are in it together and we can help and encourage each other along the way.
I hope you haven't fallen off the wagon yet and I hope you are all still doing great!

WEEKLY CHALLENGE:

- exercise five days!
- no sugar for two days!
- four servings of vegetables each day!
- lots of water!

BEST OF LUCK THIS WEEK!!

"10 in 10" week #7

2009-03-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Another week passed and I am still up on the pounds. YUCK! Once again I hope you are all doing great with this. This weeks challenge is a little more difficult, for me.

-limit caloric intake to 1400-1600 calories daily
-exercise at least four times this week.

Okay for me the exercise is not a problem but is it really possible to stay between 1400-1600 calories? I don't know if I can do that. I like food way to much. I hope it will be easier for you to do this. WOOHOO! Good Luck!

Here's to trying!

The Big 9 Year Old

2009-03-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

David is now 9!! David's birthday was filled with games, yummy food, cake, streamers, and lots of singing. Birthdays are always so much fun. One of my favorite things to do on my children's birthday is to sing every variation of the Birthday song throughout the day. I have to sing the song at least as many times as they are old. So only 9 times today. You can imagine how fun that is for Daymon's birthday.

We started out the day by waking him up with a birthday song and his favorite breakfast, Bacon and Eggs! He also gets to pick his favorite dinner, which was "Shrimp Fradiavlo". That's kind of fun to say. Try and say that 3 times fast. hahaha

If you want to check out the recipe go to:

http://happyhardtsrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/shrimp-fradiavlo.html

We always play the "hot and cold" game to find the gifts, you know, as you get closer to the gift you say hotter and as you get further away you say colder until you are burning up and find the gift. The kids love that! Levi even joined in the action this time, running around in circles laughing and saying hotter, colder, with his cute little baby talk.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID! WE LOVE YOU!

"10 in 10" Week #6

2009-03-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

Okay each week I get a little more behind with my posting. I am sorry it's Friday and I haven't posted the challenge for this week. I am sure most of you are already doing this so it is not to big of a deal.

The goals for this week are:

-keep doing the good things that are working for you
-increase your exercise to a minimum of four days this week
-and at least three of those days should be a good cardio workout.

You can do it, I'm not doing great at it right now, but I will be your best cheerleader.
YOU CAN DO IT!! Keep it up!

Good Luck this week!

"10 in 10" Week #5

2009-03-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are on week #5. Time has flown by and I am still struggling to get below a certain weight. It seems like whenever I get to this weight EVERYTHING stops. AAHHH! (Actually I would just like to fit in my pants better) Oh, well, I will keep trying.

I hope all of you are doing well and feeling successful on your 10 weeks to becoming more healthy and hopefully shedding a few unwanted pounds at the same time.

"The challenge for this week is to:

-keep drinking lots of water
-exercise three days
-limit sugar
-increase our daily veggie intake.

Good luck and let us know how the week went!" -Julie-

I hope you have a successful week!! GOOD LUCK!

The Man of My Dreams!

2009-02-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

WOW! Talk about waiting until the last possible day. It is still February so I wanted to quickly throw my sweet Valentines experience your way.

Before you were married did you ever make a list of the qualities you wanted in a spouse? Well, I did. When I was in Young Women, I won't tell you how long ago that was, but it feels like yesterday, my leaders asked us to make a list of what we wanted in our future husbands, write it in our journal, then set goals to aspire to be as good as the person we wanted to marry. I did this and I still have the journal. It is HILARIOUS reading some of the things I wrote. I wish I could share some of those things with you, but I just can't find it buried under all the boxes that I haven't unpacked yet. We would have had a good laugh together.

Those goals must have worked because all of you know I married WAY ABOVE myself and almost 20 years later I am still playing catch up. He is so much fun and has the best personality, he sure makes things fun around the house. He is a wonderful Husband and the best Dad around. ( just ask the kids)

I think this picture says it all! He loves making the weirdest faces and I think this one is the best so far! What do you think?

There was just one thing that was missing on my list and those that know me know that I always wanted someone that could DANCE!! Yep, I love dancing and that was the only thing on my list that Daymon was lacking. SO, Valentines this year we had a dance. For 3 weeks before we were lucky enough to have a very talented couple teach dance instruction. We learned the 2 step, swing, fox trot, and other dance steps that I can't remember the names of. Daymon, very kindly, agreed to go and learn some dance step. It was SO much fun. Even Daymon admitted that he enjoyed himself.

So, He now has everything on the list (plus some). He is "THE MAN OF MY DREAMS"!

Love You Babe!

Afraid of the water?

2009-02-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

I love the water, always have and always will, if only we didn't have to wear swimming suits. (do you think we can make it fashionable to wear something that covers us from the neck down to, oh, just below the knees?) Anywayz that is a whole different blog someday.

I have one little one that is afraid of the water. AARON! We wonder where he came from because Daymon and I both enjoy the water, especially on the boat in the summer. We have taken Aaron on the boat ever since he was a baby and he seems to enjoy himself, he just never wants to get in the water. We realized this summer that he was afraid of getting his face wet. He didn't want water splashing on his face and NO WAY was he going all the way under the water.

About 7 weeks ago Aaron and his buddy Ben signed up for a ball and swimming class. They seemed to have a great time and after the first class Aaron said "I put my face under the water. . . . .(long pause) TWO times." By the end of the six weeks he was saying "Mom I put my face under the water at least 100 times". He is such a funny boy!

The last class the parents were able to go and watch what the kids learned. Much to our surprise, Aaron really got his face wet, maybe not 100 times but he definitely put it under water. We are so proud.

Watching him swim was hilarious! He is so cute. If you can't tell he is the one that's BOTTOM HEAVY. The teachers couldn't get him to raise his rear. hehe

At the end of class Daymon said "he might be able to be baptized now."

(he has 4 years to go so I think he'll make it)

This picture hurts my neck!

Aaron on the right with his buddy Ben.

This part was the best for Aaron! He, rightfully, LOVES the hot tub.

"10 in 10" Week #4

2009-02-23T11:25:00.000-08:00

This week we are taking things up a notch, or two!! I noticed last week that I felt a little water logged drinking all that water, but I think it helped curb my desire for as much food.

"Let's raise the bar this week and go with three challenges or goals. Here they are: keep drinking lots of water, go two days this week without refined sugar, and exercise 30 minutes a day for three days." Julie

Good Luck this week!

"10 in 10" Week #3

2009-02-16T14:08:00.001-08:00

"The challenge for this week is to drink 6-8 8 oz. glasses of water a day. Several of you have asked for more information about the South Beach diet. Here is the website I went to: http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/shoppinglist_p1.htm. It has a lot of good info. If you don't struggle with carbs or sugar, then this diet won't do a lot for you. If either of these are your downfall, then you could see some could results. If you exercise alot, especially running, I wouldn't do this diet since your body needs the carbs to convert into energy. Some people feel weak or light-headed on this diet--so use necessary caution!
Another way to jump start the weight loss is to stay on about a 1200 calorie daily diet. My sister sent me an email with some good ideas for meals, snacks, etc. that would be good for any weight loss plan you choose. I will forward it along.
Have a great week and let's keep those pounds coming off!"
Julie

"10 in 10"

2009-02-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

I thought I would let all of you know about a group that was started a few years ago by Barb O. It was so much fun! Our goal was to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks by setting a weekly goal and emailing in to be accountable to the group. I seem to always do better when I have someone I have to be accountable to.
The group kind of dwindled for a little while but Julie P. has started it back up and I thought I would let you know what the goals are and if you want to participate you can. NO GUILT!! Just let me know how you are doing and we will try and keep each other motivated.

I will be combining the last 2 weeks so

GOAL #1
Write down everything you eat.

It's eye opening for me to see what I put inside my body. AAHHH!

GOAL #2 (this week)
"One of my main struggles is eating breakfast and lunch instead of grabbing something on the go. So, here is the challenge for this week--only eat when you are sitting down--no grabbing and heading out the door!" Julie P.

"If any of you are interested, I am going to try something crazy starting next week. I'm trying to jumpstart the weight loss by going on the south beach diet. You can find the info online. Basically, for two weeks you give up all carbs, fruits, sugar, and milk. You can eat as much as you want of lean meats, vegetables, etc. The list of allowed foods is actually pretty extensive. The average weight loss for this two weeks is 8 to 13 pounds. So, if you want to join in, feel free!" Julie P.

So there you go! This is the goal for this week. Sit when you eat!
Remember there is no pressure to do this, just fun and hopefully motivating to get our bodies on the right track again.

GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK!

Is the Pine Wood Derby for KIDS or DADS?

2009-02-09T11:04:00.001-08:00

So, what do you think? Is the pine wood derby for the dad's or for the kids? Have you ever had your children say "Dad, it's supposed to be my car?" I haven't either, but pretty close to that.
The most fun thing for me is to listen to the bonding that happens as the father - son team come up with a plan to make a COOL, FAST, AERODYNAMIC design for their car. I do think that the dad's have just as much fun as the boys coming up with ideas and helping pull it together. Seeing them enjoy their time together and build and strengthen that relationship is the most important thing for me.

They named the car "Black Widow"
Two Cute Boys!
the weigh in

Watching the race! Who is going to win?!?

Levi's Birthday

2009-02-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

It's Levi's Birthday was on January 29th! I can't believe he is already two. I have decided that I'm going to call it the Terrific Two's this year instead of the Terrible Two's.
As a family we always decorate the home and have their favorite dinner. Since Levi was throwing up this morning. I just made homemade chicken noodle soup and homemade bread. Yummy! I sure like those two smells better than the smell this morning. After dinner we had pack meeting. It was David's - PINE WOOD DERBY DAY -(I will post on this later).

After the Pine Wood Derby all the kids couldn't wait to come back home and have Levi play "hot and cold" to find his presents and eat cake and ice cream.

Can anyone tell me what the expression on Aaron's face is all about?

Fun with Family

2009-02-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

We love it when family comes here to visit. We were so lucky to have Mom Leonhardt, my brother Mike and his sweet bride Soni come and visit us for about a week. FUN, FUN, FUN! Some of our adventures included. . . .

Hearing Mom say "now what button do I push to kill him"?

Isn't there a saying "when the master's away the cat likes to play?" or something like that? Well, Levi had a little less supervision when the family was here. He used the diaper cream to finger paint on the carpet. Can anyone explain how little kids can get lids off and make such a mess in no time at all?

3 Women in a store, need I say more?

3 boys with their toys, this says it all! hehe

The kids LOVED playing with Uncle Mike!

From left to right Brooke, Levi, Mike & Soni, Mom, and Lana & Ryan.

Our little Albanian reunion. Mom & Dad served a CES mission in Albania for 18 months and got to know and love the people there. It didn't take any time at all for the people in Albania to quickly fall in love with Mom & Dad. They are good ones!

The couple on the right of Mom are people she knew in Albania. Ryan served a mission there and Lana is from Albania. This sweet couple now live here in Midland.

Mike, my brother, the big one on the left, was lucky enough to snag a sweet Albanian girl, Soni. She has made Mike so happy! This makes me happy. She is the beauty to the left of Mom. We will always be so grateful to Mom and Dad Leonhardt for setting things up for these two lovebirds.

This was the last day mom was here, we are all SOOO sad, BOO HOO! We don't want to let her go. Eating always makes us feel better so I had to make STICKY BUNS!

Mom is our sticky buns super model, isn't she cute!!

New Favorite Quote

2009-02-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

I just stole this quote from my friends blog, (thanks Kim) she got it from her friend. I don't know who the author was but it is a great quote I LOVE IT!

Live your life in such a way
that when your feet hit the Floor in the morning
Satan shudders and says, 'Oh, crap...she's awake!'

Author Unknown

I've Been Bug Tagged!!

2009-02-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by my sister-in-law! The rules: Name 10 things that bug you, then tag 10 people. I don't know what she was thinking tagging me, I never get bugged, hehe. I am only going to tag a few people so I won't be placed on their bugged by list. I tag Margene, Soni, Kierste, Heather, Brooke C., Erika J., and Julia K.!! I hope you are not "BUGGED" that I tagged you. I can't wait to hear what BUGS you.

1- My #1 bug lately is when I ask my kids to do something and they look at me with blank stares!! Can anyone explain that one to me?

2- When I set my alarm to get up and run with my girlfriends and sleep right through it. Yep, that happened this morning. Sorry Girls!

3- It bugs me when all my kids want to do involves sitting and being plugged in to whatever they can get their hands on. (computer, movie, show, nintendo, gameboy, etc.)

4- I am actually stealing this one from Tash. This might be more of a phoebia...the seats in the movie theater. I see them clean the floor, (kind of) but never the seats!! EEEWWW

5- When my hair won't do anything it's supposed to. (this is on a daily basis lately)

6- When I try and eat well and loose weight and nothing happens, or the pounds go up! I don't like that at all, and when everything that is bad for you tastes so yummy! NOT FAIR!!

7- When you buy a house and keep finding more and more things to change, fix and repair! Don't get me wrong we are SO happy to have a home, but enough already.

8- When I just bought a great pair of shoes and outfit for one of my kids and within a month they have put a hole in the pants and outgrown the shoes.

9- When I ask Daymon to go on a walk, or run with me and he just looks at me like I am crazy! (I don't ask that often, really)

10- I'm bugged that I am not in my 20's anymore. When I read to Levi I sometimes wake up an hour later. I go downstairs to grab something and by the time I get down the stairs I've forgotten what I needed. Wrinkles, fat, tired, hair loss, etc. does that paint a pretty picture?

A Little Melancholy

2009-01-28T19:14:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard people say "Enjoy this time with your children because before you know it they are grown and gone?" I used to hear that all the time and I just thought, I know, I know, I am trying. . . . just this month I have come to realize the full extent of that statement.

On January 2nd, 2009, my little boy, Nate got his drivers license. Where has the time gone? He should still just be 2 years old playing with every ball he could find and reading every little book he could get his hands on. It feels like yesterday that he was sitting on my lap and having me sing to him "Angel Lullaby".

He was so much fun and mom's little shadow. One of his best buddies was his Aunt Tash, she would spoil him rotten and give him anything he asked for. (This made it fun for parenting) When he had a dirty diaper we would ask him, "who do you want to change your diaper", his response was always "Tash". Yep, we trained him well. :) He still loves his Aunt Tash.

Little Man Nate at 5 months old. How much do you like our couch?

Nate learning how to walk with our good friend John.

Nate with his buddy Tash.
It's not looking like Nate likes all my hair in his face. Poor kid.

Just look at him NOW!!

We have been realizing that we have about 1 1/2 years left with him before he serves a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This time has gone by way to fast and so I am reminding myself to enjoy each day and take the time to smell the roses with my children.

Trying something new

2009-01-25T17:54:00.000-08:00

I have a good friend that has an awesome blog and I have taken an idea from her. I am starting to add my families favorite recipes on a blog. I named it HappyHardtsRecipes.blogspot.com you can access it by typing in that address or I have it titled on this site under Favorite Recipes. So, if you want, you can test some of these yourself and let me know what you think.
If you have a wonderful recipe that is tried and true and would like to share it with me, please do. I am always wanting to try new things. My family can attest to that.

ENJOY!!

Have a Wonderful Week !

Boy or Girl?

2009-01-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Isn't it amazing what kids will do when they are not supervized! We were visiting with Grandma Leonhardt and Brinli came downstairs with, who we know as Levi, and said "Let me introduce you to Lucy". It was so funny! He posed for us and didn't want to take the outfit off. (we couldn't get the outfit off fast enough for Daymon)

Personally, I think he is cute no matter what he wears. Look at that cute face.

Potty Training?

2009-01-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

Just a few days ago I was looking at one of my girlfriends blogs where she is in the middle of potty training her twins and I just thought to myself, what a crazy time, I am SO glad I don't have to think about that for a while. The very next day . . .

Levi got into Aaron's drawer and started putting on his underwear. I tried to convince him that they were Aaron's but he just kept saying, "NO, MINE". He would take them off (all 4 pair) and put them back on like it was a game. Daymon and I got a kick out of watching him. Taking them off was the best part. He looked like a donkey trying to get something gross off his back legs. It was hilarious.
Does this mean he is ready? I don't think so. Right now I think I will wait until Levi says "Mother, I think I am ready to go potty in the toilet please."

Top 10 for 2008

2009-01-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be fun to share our families Top 10 for the Year. I asked the children what their tops were for 2008. It was funny because Brooke just kept saying "stay in a hotel and swimming", I don't remember doing that. She definitely has her favorite things. As for the rest of the group this is what we came up with:

1. Trip out to Utah to see their cousins, this was the kids #1.
2. David getting baptized by his older brother Nate.
3. Brinli & David serving on student council.
4. Brooke became a teenager.
5. Grandma and Grandpa Wood returned from a 1 year, teaching English, assignment in China.
6. Mike (younger brother) found the woman of his dreams and got married in the Logan Temple.
7. Nate set multiple weight lifting records in High School.
8. Daymon was asked to be the Session Director for the EFY at BYU Idaho and we got to go together. Daymon and I loved this.
9. Grandpa, Trav & Jaxson's visit from Utah.
10. Finding a Home to call our own.

We look forward to a great 2009 and hope that there will be many more visits this year from all of our dear family and friends. Our door is always open!

Scarlet Fever

2008-12-31T07:36:00.000-08:00

Levi has been really sick so we called a dear Doctor friend on Sunday and he said Levi has Scarlet Fever. He prescribed some antibiotic and Levi is doing Much better. THANKS DOC!! Some of the symptoms to look for . . .

-High Fever
-Sore Throat
-Red Mouth
-Swollen tongue
-Rosie Cheeks
-His voice sounded different because his throat was sore
-Little bumps all over the legs
-Vomiting

. . .Tis the Season! I hope you don't get this.

Have a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!!

Did I hear "HO, HO, HO". . .

2008-12-24T14:09:00.000-08:00

. . .actually at my house it was the sound of "SEW, SEW, SEW".

The kids were talking about the family traditions and one of our traditions is to have new pajamas on Christmas Eve. With everything going on I haven't had time to make any so thus the sound of SEW, SEW, SEW, instead of HO, HO, HO.

I started sewing pajama pants after lunch on Christmas Eve and emerged from the sewing room at about 4:00 pm with 5 quickly sewn pajama pants, you can tell they were thrown together. Yep, I said 5. I couldn't bring myself to sew one more, poor Nate! 5 will have to suffice this year.

Joseph Smith's Birthday

2008-12-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

We never think that Christmas time has enough parties, so we always have to add another. Every year we have a birthday party for Joseph Smith on December 23rd. We had 4 families come over and play some games. One was "What do you know about Joseph Smith?" The kids and adults took turns sitting by the buzzer and the first one that knew the answer pushed the buzzer, it was crazy but fun. We have such smart kids, they get that from their amazing parents.
See how you do, Some of the questions were. . .

1. When is Joseph Smith's Birthday?
2. Where was Joseph Born?
3. What was Joseph's fathers name?
4. How old was Joseph when he received the Gold Plates?
5. What was Joseph's wife's name?
6. What was Joseph's mother's name?
7. What was the name of the Angel that first visited Joseph?
8. How old was Joseph when he had an operation?
9. What kind of operation did Joseph have?
10. How old was Joseph Smith when he died?
11. What was the date of his martyrdom?
12. Who was the oldest of Luci and Joseph Seniors children?
13. Name 2 of Joseph's most trusted body guards?
14. What were 2 of Joseph's favorite activities?
15. What titles did Joseph hold in Navoo?
16. What was the name of the first missionary called?
17. Who is the youngest of the Smith boys?
18. How many of Emma and Joseph's children survived?
19. What did the early saints call Navoo?
20. Who was Joseph's first scribe?

So how did you do? I bet you did great.
We had peppermint cake that was made from scratch, it looked great but it was overcooked and dry
(that is what I get for trying a new recipe in an oven that I am not familiar with), but the company was wonderful.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

2008-12-20T06:20:00.000-08:00

This is taking the place of our Christmas letter this year. I thought we would let you know of our in's, out's, up's and down's for the year 2008. We can call this "The year of Change" for our family.

The BIGGEST change

We sold our home in June and moved to a friends home until we could find a home of our own to buy. While we were there we spent a great deal of time fixing it up, so hopefully it would sell in this crazy market. On October 31st we bought a new home and moved in on November 22, with a lot of help from our dear friends and ward members (we couldn't have done it without them).

The LITTLER changes

Nate is a Junior in High School! Where has the time gone? He must have some hard classes because it seems like he is studying all the time. He is playing and loving football (I don't think that will ever change). The Midland High Chemics had a wonderful season. The team won districts and went on to play some pretty tough teams and did very well. They didn't make it to the State Championship this year but we are planning on making it next year (Nate's Senior Year).

Brooke has decided to grow up this year. She is officially a teenager, and she let's everyone know it. She is doing great at reading and she loves to play jump rope with a new friend at school, Donna. It is so fun listening to her talk about her new friend. They seem to have fun together. Brooke also loves to play with Aaron, they are real buddies.

Brinli is a big 5th grader, the oldest grade in the school. She started playing the Trombone in band. Yep, that's right the trombone. She is actually really good. . . it's because she has "big ol lips". She is still so fun and the life of the party. She is a huge help with her siblings and still loves to be with her friends. She loves to sing, play soccer, basketball and play on the computer.

David's big change this year is that he was Baptized. This was such a wonderful event we were able to share with our dear friends here in Midland. He and his friend, Gideon Pierce, were able to be baptized on the same day. David continues to be good at everything he tries. We have been remodeling the new home and replacing many things. He loves to create new things with the old junk we are getting rid of. This has been fun to watch.

Aaron is 4 years old and started pre-school this year. There are 4 mothers that switch weeks and teach the children. This is something he really enjoys. He is the funniest kid we know. His nickname is Mal, which is short for "malnourished". He doesn't like to eat anything good for him. He loves video games and snacks. This makes for a great combination.

Levi's, our cute little 23 month old, biggest change is that he is finally starting to talk. He likes to repeat everything we say. This has been SO much fun, insightful also. One of our favorite things is to listen to him say family prayers. This is SOOO cute!

Daymon has been amazing at keeping up with fixing 2 homes, the one we moved from and our new home. He has been working so hard and could really use a break. In our last move we changed wards, which means that Daymon was released from the bishopric which he served in for 4 1/2 years. This was a bittersweet thing. He is happy to have more time but he will really miss the association with the ward members. The people in the ward are amazing and will be missed. In our new ward he was just called to be on the Activities Committee. He will make that SO fun.

I am just trying to keep up with six great kids and a wonderful husband. I highly discourage moving 2 times with 6 kids in 5 months. The kids were troopers. I am still running a couple times a week with my amazing 3 friends (we are crazy). It has been so cold! We have learned to really bundle up with underarmor cold gear and yaktraxm as our friends. I was just called to serve as the Laurel Advisor and I couldn't be more excited. I get to work with some amazing sisters and fabulous young women. I feel very blessed.

Something that hasn't changed is our gratitude and love for our Savior and for His restored Gospel. It is True! We Love It! Also, for all of you, our dear family and friends.

We Love You!

The Leonhardt Clan

Locks of Love

2008-12-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

Brinli just cut her hair for the 3rd time to give it to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is an orgnization that takes donated hair and makes wigs for those that are sick and have lost their hair. If you want to know more about this organiztion you can check it out on their site http://www.locksoflove.com/

Brinli said "I am glad to know someone will be getting my hair that needs it".

YAY for SNOW DAY's

2008-12-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

We love snow days at our house. The kids have a ritual when they think they might get a snow day. They wear their pajama's inside out and backward, do the snow dance, flush an ice cube down the toilet and sleep with a spoon. I have no idea where they got these ideas but this week it worked. We had 2 snow days in a row.

The first snow day we made our fun goodie plates for friends filled with nutter butter reindeer, Reese's peanut butter squares, candy cane cookies, toffee, and marshmallow wreaths. Brinli and David are getting really good in the kitchen.

The second day we went sledding at City Forest (our one hill in Midland).

David and Brinli

Brinli and Aaron

Brooke was FREEZING!

Brinli went down the big jump and wasn't quite the same after that.

Aaron was so happy to be out of the house after being confined for a few days with the flu.

FUN, FUN, FUN!

What a tangled web we weave, when we try to do more than possibly conceived!

2008-12-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well some people have asked if we have fallen off the face of the earth and in some ways we feel like we have. We bought a new home on Halloween Day! Ironically we sold our last home on Friday the 13th. This whole adventure has felt a little funny,and hope it has come to a close.
We are still tiling the laundry room and putting decorative boxes around the outside windows of the home we rented for the last 5 months. We have felt truly blessed to have had such a great place to live.
The new home will be wonderful and we are really enjoying our new neighbors. They seem to be great. We hope to get to know them all better after we get done living in our construction site.
We currently are missing a ceiling in the kitchen, don't have a main floor bathroom because the floor has to be leveled and replaced. We have tiled, painted, added a gas line, and taken the cabinet doors off to paint in the laundry room, added canned lighting in the family room and kitchen, replaced a toilet upstairs, painted the bathroom walls and trim, painted walls and trim in the boys room and did a little decorating for Christmas. Here are some of the projects that we have tried to do.
Bathroom Floor

Kitchen Ceiling

Laundry Room

We have also been sick with the Flu the last few days. Aaron had it on Monday and Levi and Brooke were up most of the night last night.
Okay I just read this and it sounds like I am complaining. I am sorry! I am grateful that we have the opportunity to do all the things we have done. We feel very blessed!

Halloween Night

2008-11-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

Halloween night at the "Trunk or Treat" Nate couldn't be there because he had the first "playoff" football game against Arthur Hill (which they won). Ben (batman) was the stand in for Nate because they are about the same size.

David "the thing"

Brinli "the Regal Princess" (I don't know what that means that is just what it said on the package)

Brooke "the cat"

Levi "the bee"

Aaron "the pirate"

We had a wonderful evening full of fun, visiting, eating, and more eating. After the "trunk or treat" we had to divide and conquer for the evening. We went to a friends home and had soup, bread and treats, it was so fun being there with our dear friends, Daymon was able to throw down some food before he hurried off to the football game, then I took the rest of the kids out for some more trick or treating fun.
Earlier in the day we CLOSED ON OUR HOME! Yep, we finally found a home, so we are not homeless any longer. What a wonderfully strange feeling. We are so excited about this new adventure but will be so sad to leave our dear sweet friends in this ward. They are wonderful people. I have to keep reminding myself that I am not moving very far away so I will still see them.

HAIR CUT TIME

2008-11-03T10:45:00.000-08:00

HAIR CUTS ALL AROUND! It was time for the boys to get haircuts, all four of them. So for a few hours on Saturday they patiently waited to get their hair cut. They looked so good and like future missionaries I just had to take a picture so you could see them.
The girls felt left out so I had to add a picture of them also.

Future MIssionaries

2008-11-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

2008-10-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

At the end of the day do you empty out your pockets filled with the paraphernalia you have gathered throughout the day?

(this can be quite interesting some days)

My kids have a paper route and it is typical to have rubber bands left out, when I notice them, I pick them up and put them around my wrist until I can put them where they belong. . .

could it really be true . . .

our children learn from our example?

Homecoming 2008

2008-10-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

This was Nate's first real date, he even did the asking. I was so proud. What an awesome group to go with. . .

back left, Carly, Annie, Katie
front, Blake, Nate Daug-E-Daug, Scott

Nate and Annie

Aren't they cute!! They didn't even plan to match!

What good, good looking young men.

They met at Katie's house to take pictures, I think that they would have been fine skipping out on that ordeal, but look at the cuteness we would have missed. Annie, Nate's date had just returned from a Fleet Feet Meet (that sounds really funny) and she looks beautiful. It was so funny because I was more nervous than Nate, I was explaining how much money to bring for the evening, tipping, ordering the food, etc. he was just so nice to listen and let me feel like I had done my job in preparing him. They went to dinner at Logan's and then dropped in to the dance. Nate said the dance part was okay, he liked visiting with his friends there.
After the dance the fun began. They went to Adams and played flash light tag, if you don't know this game you need to talk to Annie, then they played sardines. This is another great game. Someone hides and everyone tries to find that one person, when someone finds them they hide with them until everyone finds the hiding place. This is the funny part. All the kids were in the hiding place waiting for Scott to find them and then someone heard sounds like snoring, someone had fallen asleep while waiting, It was NATE!! They all just laughed and had a great time together. I was so happy that things went well. In my opinion dating should be fun and this one seemed to be just that! FUN!

Forgot Already

2008-10-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I spent 5 hours with Kierste learning how to do this, got home and forgot everything. I hope this will work! Practice makes perfect, right? I will keep trying.

Ta-dah!

2008-10-20T10:46:00.001-07:00

We made it! It's going to be so fun to keep in contact with everyone this way! Be patient, because I'm learning. Hopefully we'll have more updates later!