Happy Father's Day!!

Father's Day 2008
I just wanted to take this opportunity to say what a wonderful Daddy and husband Karl truely is!!! I can't believe he is on Father's Day #2 next thing you know it will be 20! Time has gone by way too fast since Lars' birth! Sometimes I wish life would slow down a little bit!
Karl is not only my best friend, but he is a wonderful husband! He works very hard to provide for his family. Then somehow in his free time manages to paint, build and entertain!! :) Every once in a while we let him have some time off to ride his motorcycle or go to the gun range, but he always manages to be home in time to grill dinner for us!
Karl also spends time playing with Lars, which is one of the greatest joys of my life. I love to see Lars' face light up when Karl comes in the room! They spend lots of time playing ball, drumming (make noise:), building things and splashing in the bath or pool.
THANK YOU KARL FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT DAD!!

1917 Military Truck

For those of you who know my dad, Dale Hardy, you will not be suprised at all by his resent request. He has been a major player is having several old LeTourneau Vehicles located, rebuilt and modeled. As a result of his interest in LeT vehicles he is a member of a Historical Truck society. One of his good friends in the society is the owner of this 1917 Military Truck, that is currently the oldest vehicle taking part in the "Transcontinental Motor Convoy", traveling from D.C. to San Fran. For more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcontinental_Motor_Convoy
Dad's request was to have Lars' picture taken in the 1917 truck! Lars and I had a great time checking out all the military vehicles that are taking part in the TMC. Lars took a particular interst in the motorcycle:) The owner was nice enough to let Lars sit on it for a photo op!
Dad, wish you could have come with us!

Big Boys!

I can't believe how big these boys are getting!! Our friends Dave and Kristen just moved into a new house and their barstools are the perfect height for the boys to sit in, by themselves! It's hard to believe they are big enough to sit in a stool by themselves!! They were all so cute sitting up at the bar eating their lunch.

Time has really flown by this past year, Luke and Lars are 14 months old, Isaiah is 11 months and Davis is 10 months! Next thing you know they are going to be going to college! Now I know why "adults" are always saying kids grow up way to fast!! (that doesn't mean I'm an adult, does it? :)

Fun with the Fam!

Lar and I went to Nebraska this past weekend for my cousin Jake's wedding. As you can tell we had a great time hanging out with the fam! Although, Lars has some stranger anxiety with most people, he felt right at home the the craziest people around. Maybe cause that is "his normal", with me for a mom!!

My Aunt Becky took us to the Omaha Zoo on Friday before the wedding. Hands down this is the best zoo I have been too in a long time! If you are ever in NE you have to go!! If you see any crazy animals out of the cages, don't worry, it's probably just my family! :):)

Lars is normally a great kid, but I have to give him major props for this weekend! He was really on his A-game the whole time! For four days he never got to have a whole nap and he went to bed around 11pm each night. He didn't complain, he just kept rolling with the punches, and hammin' it up! We had such a great time!!

Painting Pottery

This morning I was just trying to waste a little time before Lars needed to take a nap. I decided to go into a local pottery store to check their prices. Well, as you can see, we ended up staying more than a few minutes! The girl working at The Pottery Wheel in South Riding was very helpful and their prices were reasonable!! Don't tell Grammee, but Lars painted a flower pot for her birthday next week!

I was really bummed I didn't have my camera with me! He looked so cute and had such a great time painting! I did have my phone with me, which I used to take some pics, but they are a little grainy. We are definitly going back, WITH the camera!!

You can tell he had fun by the paint that he wore home and tried to share with Garfunkel!! :):)

Lars' new shoes

My sister, Kim, sent Lars these shoes that have a squeaker in the heel. Every step he takes they squeak! Today is the first day he has really worn them enough to realize that he is making the squeak sound. This is a great way to get him to walk, because he loves to hear the squeaker!!

After he was all dressed for bed and just playing a little more before going up he spotted his squeaker shoes. He brought them over to Karl and started trying to put them on. Karl helped him put them on and then he proceeded to "walk" around the kitchen, squeaking all the way!!

Ryan Marquiss is HOME!!!

For the many of you who having been praying for our friends the Marquisses, you will be thrilled to hear that they were able to bring Baby Ryan home yesterday!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Ryan was born with his heart and a portion of his stomach outside his chest. Doctors didn't think he would ever even be born, but he is a true warrior and is fighting for his life, with God's grace now he will get to be at home with his family!! Ryan is still on a feeding tube, so they are learning to manage that. He has a special breastplate to protect his exposed organs.

Please continue to pray for the Marquiss Family as they have a lot of adjustments to make.

Here is a link to his homecoming! He is so cute!!

Welcoming our Baby!

Lars' 1st Haircut

Lars had his first haircut yesterday. He was beginning to have a little bit of a mullet! For some reason his hair grows faster in the back than on top, so we had to put a stop to the "Business in the front, Party in the back" look. We only cut the back, but he looks super cute!
You can see in the video (which is kinda long), we created our own cartoon cuts. Karl cut his hair with the clippers, while he watched a video, ate a cookie, and combed his own hair! Anything to distract:). I have no idea how my dad cut our hair (all girls) when we were little! How do you get a kid to sit still?

Week of 1st!

This has been a big week for Lars with food.
Monday, he had a hot dog and ate the whole thing!
Tuesday, he had pizza with his friend Maryn! He LOVED it!!
Wednesday, he had Terryaki Steak (Chinese Food:).
Thursday, he fed himself a whole bowl of macaroni! You can see him enjoying it in the pictures and then confirming it in the video clip.
I don't think there is any food out there that Lars doesn't like! I hope he stays that way:):)!

Lars dancing to guitar!!

Hope ya'll enjoy this video! It's Lars dancing with Greg Speier playing guitar!