Holidays with the Hardings!

The Holidays ...Christmas especially, is a really crazy time for us! It all starts Christmas Eve morning when Eric, the girls, and I have a family gift exchange!

Christmas Eve... Morning

The first thing the girls saw when they came running out of their room was this rocking horse! Evey ran over to it and said "WOW!!!!" and then climbed right on and rocked away!!! Immediately Lucy began insisting that it was her turn. The girls love it! (Thank you so much Sarah, for generously giving this to us since your boys don't use it!)(I love this picture)
Evey likes riding it right after taking a bath. It totally reminds me of the old "Mane and Tale" Shampoo logo! Do you guys remember that???

We gave Lucy a Dora memory game thinking that she'd be all excited about having a bunch of Dora cards.... I don't know what she was expecting, but she looked rather disappointed! (She likes it now that I taught her how to play)They also got "Let's Go Fishin' " which they both liked a lot!

And we changed Evey's bed from a crib to a toddler bed....

......which they mistook for a Trampoline.

Christmas Eve.... Evening

Christmas Eve night we went to My Grandparents house and had the traditional dinner (Tostadas and Lobster... YUM!!!!!!) After dinner my Grandpa reads from the New Testament. When he's done Santa (otherwise known as my uncle) yells down the chimney for all the kids to gather around and tell him whether they have been naughty or nice. Then he asks them individually what they want for Christmas. After that we had a gift exchange and dessert.

After dessert my sister and I are usually pretty sugared up and get a little nutty!

What are sisters for, if not someone to goof off with?!

After all of that Eric, the girls, and I went to spend the night at my parents house and spend Christmas morning with them....

Christmas Day!

My mom and dad got the girls a Ryan's Room dollhouse! It's all made out of wood! It is sooo cute! Thank you so much mom and dad! This is one that I'm sure will last for my grand kids!

My Brother Mike sent this all the way from Michigan for Evey. He knows how much she love stuffed animals. It says a bunch of funny lines from the new movie Bolt."Hello hairballs!" (I just can't wait 'til my kids pick up on that one)
Tim got the girls some Dr. Suess books. (Thanks Tim. They love these!)

Emily got them a pop up version of "We're going on a Bear Hunt," Which I love and may hide til they are old enough not to rip it up. (Thanks Emily!)

Mike also sent them Hungry Hungry Hippos!

Ok, so after opening our presents, we had a yummy breakfast, (Eggs, bacon, hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls, etc.) Eric and I packed up and headed over to Eric's parents and have another Christmas morning there. (Everybody wants to see the babies on Christmas!)
By now the girls were pretty experienced with the whole present idea. They knew just what to do. The first thing they ripped open was this Fairy Tea Set. They may as well have had no other gifts because it is all they wanted to play with.

They got also got some bristle blocks (Eric may enjoy these just as much as the girls. It's really fun to watch him play with these. He's such a little kid!)

Evey got a kaleidoscope too! She doesn't quite get it yet .... but I like it!

After Duan and Vince's we went home for a nap. When we got up we headed over to Eric's Grandmas house for their Christmas dinner. We forgot to take pictures there until after the gift exchange, but we did get this one...
Lucy was pooped after all the festivities, so she found a Lucy size box and curled up like a cat under the Christmas tree. ( I love my kids!!!)


But are we done yet??? I think NOT! The next day we headed to Utah! Are we crazy or what!!!!???

ANYWAY.....

I just wanted to take a quick moment to express my extreme gratitude to our family and friends and especially to Heavenly Father and the Savior Jesus Christ! At times like this I am in awe at how blessed our family is! My kids have everything they could possibly ever need (or want) because everyone is so very generous with us! Our Heavenly Father has showered blessings upon us just as my patriarchal blessing says "that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (How very true that is). I am truly humbled and thankful. I could never want anything more than what I already have.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday!

I was thinking last Thursday as I walked into my apartment stuffed full of Turkey and Pecan Pie with leftovers in hand, how interesting it is that Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. We spend a whole day hopefully being grateful for what we have only to spend the next day shopping greedily for material things. I realize that many people do their Christmas shopping on Black Friday, and I am in no way chastising those that do shop on Black Friday. I just think that it is a funny contradiction. A way that, if we are not careful, the Adversary can use to distract us from enjoying Thanksgiving in the right spirit.


I also think it is a funny contradiction that most people find it appropriate to stuff themselves full of food on Thanksgiving. Seeing as gluttony is greed rather than thankfulness. Perhaps there are better ways to show that we are thankful.

So, in light of the season, I'd like to hear what each of you are grateful for.

(Just some "food for thoughts!")

Twilight

SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!! SPOILERS!!!

Twilight

I know that I'm going to get a bunch of "hate" mail/comments for writing my feelings about this subject but I just plain can't stand it anymore!

I started reading the Twilight series about 2 months ago! I had seen the trailer for the movie online (which looked fantastic) and finally decided to read the series that everyone told me was so amazing.
I was truly impressed with the first book! I loved the idea of a human and a vampire being in love! I loved the story, the suspense, the action. I wouldn't have changed a thing!! After reading the first one, I quickly ordered the rest of the books, dying to know what happened next and expecting the same brilliance as the book I had just read. I waited for what seemed like months (but was only a couple days) for the next book to arrive at my door. As soon as it came, I dove in......... and fell hard!!!!

New Moon

Even in the first book I had a hard time identifying with Bella. She is just different than I am. She's anti-social and very self centered. In the first book it didn't bother me too much. The story was good, the characters had depth and I identified with her enough to enjoy the book without much distraction! But in New Moon, her true nature was revealed. Completely self involved after Edward left! Complaining here and there! "Poor me" this and "poor me" that! "Edward left, my life is ruined!!!" What made me the most upset was how she allowed her pain to affect everyone around her. Her pain was all that mattered! Charlie did so much for her and she never showed the slightest bit of gratitude! She hardly talked to him. She lied to him!!! She kept herself so distant from him! What kind of daughter does that?!!! What kind of relationship is that??!!!!
And JACOB! Don't even get me started on Jacob! "Her Sun"!!!! Whatever!!!!! She used him. She didn't care about him. All she cared about is how he made HER feel. Not how he felt! What a selfish Brat!!!! It disgusted me, the way she used him so that she could have her sick little fantasies!
Ok, so enough about how much I hate Bella! What's with Edwards voice in her head? I totally thought that they had some kind of special connection and it turns out to be nothing!!!!!! What the heck!!!! Why would the author lead you on to believe that, only to tell you "just kidding."?? Grrrr!!!!
Next, the most suspenseful part of the whole book was Bella running through the crowd to stop Edward. If that's suspense, just kill me! And of all the things for Edward to do, to show that he's a vampire seriously, WALKING INTO THE SUN!!!???? How lame!!! Couldn't he go pick up a few cars and throw them?? Run? Jump? Climb?? Eat someone !!??(Ok, maybe not that) But seriously just walk into the sun?? So stupid!!! He can do so many cool things and all he decides to do is walk into the sun!
Also, What's with Bella at the end of New Moon thinking that she's dreaming! It was so unbelievable! While reading a book you should never get the urge just to roll your eyes! What a Drama Queen! "I'm sleeping I'm sleeping. This isn't real!" What a load of Bull!!! And then, to not yell at him??? Seriously, of all the times that she is finally justified to unload, she doesn't!!! I was totally expecting (and looking forward to) a scolding for Edward! He deserved it! The way he left her was disgusting and terrible! He needed to be yelled at! That's what I would have done! (And I rarely ever yell! Ask Eric!) But like I said before Bella and I, obviously, are a different breed.
Lastly, The whole book they keep on building up that Victoria is after Bella. So naturally as a reader I expected for Victoria to show up sometime in the book and actually go after Bella! But nothing happened! Nothing at all! The only reason I kept reading was to get to THAT part and I got nothing. Nothing!!!!!!

So my overall feeling of New Moon is " It Sucked!" The only bearable part was Jacob whom I loved!!

Eclipse

Overall Eclipse was OK. Bella is less bratty because things, once again, are going her way (for the most part. She's so self centered). There is actually a climax, which is a plus! Victoria FINALLY comes for Bella. There is tension between the two boys (Edward and Jacob). Not only b/c they like the same girl but also because of their natural instincts to hate each other. ( I still find it hard to believe that two awesome guys like these can be so infatuated with such a brat. Am I the only one who sees her for what she is??) But in the end we get to see some action! (though I would have liked to have read more about the fight between the Newborns, the Werewolves and the Cullen family. But overall, I was satisfied enough to go on to the last book, thinking to myself "New Moon was just an in between book. A setup for Eclpise."

Breaking Dawn

The Last book "Breaking Dawn" was ok.
Surprisingly enough though, I found it to be relatively predictable. I was glad to have Edward and Bella married. But I knew that once they were married, naturally, the next step was for Bella to get pregnant. So when she started eating a ton, I knew what was coming. But was definitely interested to see how their baby would turn out! But I also knew, once Bella was pregnant, that Jacob would imprint on the baby! Otherwise, they would not have talked up imprinting so much. So that also came as no surprise. I was excited to see Bella in action as a vampire and enjoyed her first hunt. But for some reason thought that she and Edward would be able to talk to each other back and forth in their minds. I was really hoping that the voice in Bella's head (in New Moon) was foreshadowing some power that she would have as a vampire. I guess I just couldn't let go of the idea. I did think that her ability to block was really cool though! The fact that she could protect so many at once was great. I also liked meeting all the other vampires. And that Renesme had her own powers as well, which was pretty cool. (fun fact: Eric told me that Vladmir in the book is actually Dracula. I thought that it was cool the Stephani Meyers did that.)

In the end however, I found the book to have a very weak climax. No action, No fight the way that Stephani had led me to believe. They simply met with the Voltroli and talked. To write a book, a series and make THAT the end. Well, it was thoroughly disappointing. I realize that Stephani wanted the book to end happily. That's great!. But in order to have a book end happily AND good, sacrifices need to be made. Take Harry Potter for example (SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn't finished reading the Harry Potter series) Sacrifices are made. JK squeezes you heart and nearly tears it out when Dumbledore dies, and especially at the end when Fred dies and Tonks and Lupin too! I nearly cried!!! But I FELT something!!! An even deeper attachment to those characters even after they had died. The whole Harry Potter series is heart wrenching and wonderful. Why? Because JK knows how to make sacrifices! I'm not necessarily saying that Stephani should have killed off some main characters, but to not fight at all, for no one to even get a scratch? It was just .... boring!



My overall feeling is that Stephani Meyers is still very obviously an inexperienced writer. She knows how to write to keep you intrigued. She knows how to develop characters, but she doesn't know how to finish a book. She is unwilling to make sacrifices for her stories and therefore, has a very difficult time writing a climax that is as good as she built it up to be. I think that in the long run Stephani will become a great writer once she realizes this, but for now it is clear to me that she is still very new at this.

The Twilight movie.....

....was terrible!!!!!! I was so sad about the movie! It seemed like it had so much potential! I was excited to go see it, ever since I saw the trailer for it! It looked soooo good! And after reading the first book it knew that it had the potential to be really great! So what ruined it for me? Bella couldn't deliver her lines! At least not in a believable way! The movie had very little dialog. Which is too bad because there are so many great lines in the book. So many interludes that could have developed their characters, that could have been funny, that could have been fantastic! But I honestly think that they cut out so much dialog because they knew that Bella in particular couldn't deliver her lines. Instead of dialog they tried to replace it with really loud distracting music! Music is great for movies, but it needs to be picked to help the movie on, not distract form the movie entirely! It seemed to me like they just googled some popular music for their target croud (teenagers) and used it without really caring whether it would help the movie or hurt it. But Eric pointed out that it is also possible that they purposely picked this music to distract from the bad acting.

One way or another it was a waste. Sure everyone looked the part but unfortunately, not everyone could act the part! So unless you are going to solely look at "Edward" for 2 hours, it's not worth your time or money!


Ok I'm done ranting and raving! Go ahead send me your arguments. But I still stand firm. Everything aside from the first book could have been done a little better! I give the Twilight Series as a whole a C+. End of story.

Trick or Treating

This was the first year the girls did some real trick or treating (besides trunk or treat)


I loved that Lucy actually got it this year! Normally she is scared of strangers, but once she realized that they gave her candy she had no problem running up to each door with her bag in hand!

Evey as usual stuck with dad, especially at the end (she was getting pretty tired). But she loved looking at all the pumpkins and was thrilled that she got to put things in her bag!


Of course before bed I allowed them to have one piece of candy! It took them forever to finish these! And Evey kept complaining about being messy! (She has a thing about being clean. She gets that from her dad. No wonder they are two peas in a pod!)

Halloween Party

We had a small Halloween Party with a couple friends.
I love this Picture. Evey is so unaware!

Eric drinking "blood" (aka grape juice). Isn't he a fantastic Vampire?! My very own "Edward." lol! He's got the teeth and everything!



We had the kids paint pumpkins instead of carve them!
Lucy got really into it! I loved Lincoln and Orions costumes (Batman and the Joker!) I want boys!!!

Bates Nut Farm

We met some friends at "Nates Butt Farm" this year. We thought it'd be a fun experience for the girls to see all the pumpkins and the animals!


This is a attempted family picture! The girls really just wanted to run around and play!

Evey for the most part stayed with daddy though. She is a true daddy's girl! She wasn't as excited as we thought she would be, but I attribute that mostly to teething. She wasn't much herself that day!

Lucy on the other hand had a fantastic time! She found this huge pumpkin and decided that she was going to play there most of the time! She would run around it and then stop to play the drums! It was so cute!

Here's Lucy and her buddy Ella chasing each other around the pumpkin! They are so cute when they play together! She named all her dolls "Ella"!

Pumpkins!

Eric and I like to be a little more creative with our pumpkins! We figure that stencils take the fun out of pumpkin carving and should be considered as cheating!


he's supposed to look relieved...


...after doing this ( I know its gross but we couldn't help ourselves. It's a BUTT Pumpkin!!!! ~ the poop is fudge with candy corns in it, in case you were wondering.)