Here is a little video of our weekend fun.  We went out on Saturday with most of the Copelans and Allisa AJ and kids and Bauer, Dani, Gma and Gpa Hardy.  We had a great day and then Monday came and was sunny for a few hours and it was a great time.

Some of the not so fun stuff was:  We had a transmission break on the FJ, Bren smashed his face on the 4-wheeler.  A wheel fell off Matt Kjars 4 wheeler. A shock broke on the RZR.  I rolled the RZR with Hailey buckled in  next to me when the shock broke.  Jackson Kjar and Jadynn crashed not 15 minutes after we arrived and the 4wheeler that Jackson was riding flipped.  It was a very exciting time.but on the bright side:  No Deaths and No Permanent Injuries, except for the Battle Scar under Brens Nose.  Maddie was very excited about having her birthday party out at the Dunes..... when we wished her happy birthday in the morning before heading out she told us that she really wouldn't be 5 until we were out at the Dunes.  So we headed out and had a little party with presents and cake and she was officially 5.  It was very fun to see all the family and hang out with our good friends the Kjars.  The kids all had a great day.  I had fun as well......

Spring Waterfall Trip

We took a walk to the waterfall.  The Girls needed a little energy release.  It was a fun little walk.  We got the FJ out and took er for a spin.  Dansie did well at her recent track Day.  She was in the Softball Throw and took 1st with a throw of 66' 4".  She did well in the 200M and the 4x50 relay taking 2nd in both.  She also did the 100 hurdles and took 5th.  I think that it was the new shoes.  She ran like the wind and jumped higher and was happy.  Jadynn is her happy self doing well.  Maddie and Hailey have their graduation from Pre-School next week. Maddie is ready to start Kindergarten next year.  We have a fun Summer planned. We keeping the tradition of the Sand Dunes over Memorial Day. We are headed to Lake Powell the end of June for a week on a 70' Houseboat.  We are going on a river trip down La Dore thanks to Allisa's good luck draw.  We are going into Shoshoni Lake over the 4th weekend and maybe another time and then we are camping in August at Flaming Gorge.  

Who does he look like

Well I decided to  post some Baby pics of all the kids in descending order.  I have heard the gamut on who he looks like.  Here take a peak now and see what you think.  I think that everyone is right cuz he really seems to look like all 4, even if the others are all girls.

First Bath and two other sisters

Brooks had a bath at home.  Kim and he are getting along very well.  They are not fighting about getting up at night and I am getting some sleep.  That is the beauty of the mom as a source of nourishment.  She gets to bond at midnight.  I really should be jealous of all that one on one time she has with him, but I am trying to be a gentleman.  Kim took a couple of photos.  He really has 4 sisters, so here are some pics of the other two with him.

Pictures of Brooks

Birthing Video/Rated G

Here is a little Video of the Prebirth, At-birth and After-birthing of the boy.  He is a very special addition to our family.  All of the kids are excited to have him here.  I think that Kims ribs are especially happy to have the Little Kicker out.  I was a little emotional during his birth, no real tears, but I had to hold them back.  It was fun to see him come to us.  It was a little unexpected to have a child now or to have a Male Child, but we are very blessed to have an addition to our family.  I think that you could not ask for a more mothered child.  His sisters will love him.  I wish that Grandma Carter was here to see his Red hair, she would  be very excited.  I know that it was a bit of a surprise to us.  I had been feeling that it might be red.  What a fun time for us.  

Brooks Alan Hardy is Born

Brooks Alan Hardy is born.  At 7:48 on 4/30/2009, a beautiful Red Headed Baby Boy was born into our family.  We are very excited to have him here with us.  He is doing very well.  Kim did very well also.  She did have to receive a blood transfusion because she was a bit anemic.  We had 4 names going into it.  Brooks, Crew, Seth, and Corbin.  Brooks won, though it was not very democratic.  Most of the Copelans Present were voting for Seth.  Dansie, Jadynn, Maddie wanted Seth.  Hailey wanted Crew, but Dad wanted Brooks.  I had decided a few days ago that if he was born with Red Hair that Brooks would fit the bill.  It turned out to be Red, so any of the rest of you can use Seth.  He was 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long.  His head diameter was 14 1/2 inches.  Here are a few photos to take a peek at.......

Updates for the Hardys

Moab 2009

A Few More Moab trip pictures

Some of the Shelves in the toy room

Slide in Toy Room

Book Shelves in the Toy Room

Castle with Faux Water.  Draw Bridge Soon to come

Back shot of the family room with the Orange Potato (Love Sack)

Blurry Maddie in our 7.1 Surround area

Downstairs Family Room

Down the Stairs

Craft Room

Toi Toi area

Still unfinished tiling (hopefully next weekend it will be done)

Downstairs Bathroom with a jet tub and toi toi and sink

Dansies Pig Stye (It is Jeannes Favorite Green Color)

Jadynns Pig Stye  (Its Yellow)

Maddies Bed

Picture of the Wall

Maddies Closet

Maddie Cakes

Maddies Room

Closet Shot

Window Seat

Haileys Bed

Haileys Room

Changing Table

Babys Room

Hall with new carpet

Since February we have been working hard to frame and finish the basement and then we moved the big girls down in their rooms.  Our plan was to rip out the carpet upstairs and paint the three rooms upstairs before we had the carpet laid.  It was a race to the finish, but it has all worked out.  We  have the babys room painted and the changing table done, but we are waiting for the Crib They are not going to ship that until the middle of May.  It will probably work out ok since he will probably sleep with us in the pack and play for a while whilst his mother is feeding him.  We are really hoping that the Ultrasound is correct or a little girl is going to really have to love Blue.  That Dark Blue below the Chair rail was a difficult color to paint.  Took about 5 coats.  The girls all slept in their own rooms last night.  I thought that Hailey would not make it all night.  She has been on the floor of our room for the last 2 weeks because of the all the construction going on, but she made it.  I also was a bit worried that she would fall out of bed since she has been in a trundle bed for a while, but nope.  All is well..... We are closer to having the house where we want it but I am tired of working on it and when I finish the bathroom downstairs, we may take a summer break and just play a bit......

I have not been very good about doing this.  I have been busy getting the basement done and getting ready for the new baby.  Kim is going to have a c-section in  18 days.  We are very excited.  Everything has gone well thus far.  She is doing well.  I finally got the FJ.  I went down to Moab for Easter Jeep Safari and picked it up.  I think the builders were more than happy to be rid of it.  It ran great.  I think that I may add a few creature comforts like 110V plug, Cigarrete lighter plug and an interior light.  I also need to hook up the heated seats and the heater.  I am not certain why they did not do this, but they did not.  I have a little tile to do in the bathroom downstairs and some painting to do.  We have to add cabinetry to Kims new craft room.  The girls really like to play down there.  We put in a little play room with a castle that we have cultured stone on the outside and and loft with a slide.  The slide is a tad steep and sends the littler ones careening into the wall.  I guess that it is our way of toughening them up.

Contest Photos

Bren came up with an idea to add some artwork to our homes for less than it may cost for professional photos. We shall see if we can come up with any that are worth hanging up. I have been trying to think of good things to photograph, and decided to go outside this morning and take a few just for fun. The colors are really great right now. I had a fun time. They are not that great , but I do enjoy the colors of a few of them and Jadynn was more than happy to have her photo taken a few times. The photo of Crazy Hair Hailey (her Indian name) was taken a while ago, but I thought that it was funny and put it on anyway. We have to submit a color landscape, color of a person/persons and a black/white of whatever you fancy by Dec. 25th. The winner of each category takes home a great prize. Should be a fun contest. I am excited to try my hand at a few winter photos.

Fall Family Photos

The Sun was setting and we hurriedly dressed ourselves in some sort of fall colors.  It has been some time since we have attempted to take any family photos.  The beautiful colors that we have been seeing lately inspired us to give it a shot.  The snow melted and left us with some gorgeous reds and oranges.  We are lucky to have some pretty places right here close to us and we only had to drive down the road a bit to find a rock big enough to seat us all.  It actually turned out to be a fun time.  There were a few tears, but we didn't even have to yell.  There were lots of smiles and a few crazy faces.  When you are surrounded by 5 beautiful girls, it is hard to take a bad photo.  We are headed to Florida a week from today.  We are excited to see what Walt Disney has in store for us there.  I am hoping to get some good photo ops at the beach and at the park.  

What we did this summer

I thought that I would add a little ditty about the summer.  It started a little late this year, but has seemed to last for quite a while.  It has been a beautiful summer and we have spent most of our time on the water.  Kim got a great tan and was looking like she came from some place warm. We started the summer with Kims family in Alta Wyoming at a cabin in June.  We had a great time up there hanging out and playing horse shoes.  We headed over to Yellowstone and had a one day tour.  Most every other weekend was spent out on the water. One of my favorite activities to do as a family is rafting.  We took our new raft for 3 days on the Green RIver.  We started at the gates of Ladore in Colorado and ended in Dinosaur Monument in Vernal Utah.  At the start of the trip a fella looked at our group of 14 kids and 11 adults and told us that we were crazy, but I felt that it was one of the most fun trips that we have taken.  We had a pirate day where we had a treasure hunt and I was the pirate king.  It was a lot of fun.  We boated a bit close to home at Alcova and Glendo Reservoir.  We had a lot of fun with friends there.  We had a few trips up to Flaming Gorge with family.  It was a great time.  We all tried a lot of new things.  Dansie finally started waterskiing at the end of the summer and did a great time.  I tried all summer to jump the wake.  This is not that exciting, but I had a lot of fun.  It just snowed here and I was not ready for fall to turn into winter.  We have not resupplied the pellets and I really needed to have a fire to go with our hot chocolate FHE treat.  Oh well......Here comes the snow and wind....