Sad ending!

A very sad ending for the WHO DATS!

For those of you that know our family we are HUGE WHO DAT fans. Yes ALL 6 of us love the SAINTS! We even have a Saints Football Room in our house. Really. It is pretty amazing for those of you who haven't seen it. So as we sat in our Saints room on saturday watching the game against the Seahawks it turned out to be very sad and disappointing. But we have had alot of fun cheering them on this year.

Bryan has a really good friend that is an NFL photographer and has let Bryan come with him to the Superdome for 2 of the games this year. WAY FUN! Bryan got to go down ON the field and BE a photographer. This picture of Drew Brees is with my camera right on the field. What an amazing experience for Bryan who has watched the Saints and cheered them on his WHOLE life even when it was a big joke to be a Saints fan.


This picture Bryan took was from one of the games he got to go to. Look closely in the smoke and you will see Jonathan Vilma. Way cool! Good shot Bryan.


Another exciting experience for our family was that we all got to go to the Cowboy/Saints game on Thanksgiving Day. That was way cool!
Bryan and Brayden cheering when we pulled off the win right at the end.


2 of the BIGGEST Saints fans there are. They both wear Saints stuff year round. If the shirt or hat doesn't say Saints they don't want to wear it.

Bryce and I enjoyed the game. It was very exciting and even tense at times, but I am so glad we got to go to the game and experience it together as a family!

Cheerleader Sierra loves to go around singing the WHO DAT song. Yes we even have a Who Dat song and all know it by heart.

When deciding to go to the game I knew we HAD to take Brayden. But since the tickets were so expensive Bryan wanted it to be just he and I. But I knew that Brayden would be DEVISTATED if he wasn't there and we went. And if Brayden got to go everyone else would want to go. SO Saints, you were worth ALL the money it cost to see you play.



Savanah cheering on our team at the awesome Cowboy stadium.

Outside the staduim.



Freezing our booties off tailgating outside Cowboy Stadium.

Saints we will miss cheering you on until next Season Starts! BUT next year will be OUR YEAR!

Merry CHRISTmas!

MAY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST BLESS YOUR HOME THIS

HOLIDAY SEASON!

LOVE, The Ardis Family!

I love Fall!

I love Fall! There are so many awesome things about fall. For one I love that the weather cools off and it is perfect playing outside weather. Our family loves being outside and on adventures. So we love fall! Especially October. Here are some of the things we have done so far.

Boys camping out in the backyard on Friday nights. The boys look forward to Friday night because we have been letting them sleep in a tent in our yard. They love camping!



With Fall brings school field trips. I got to go with Sierra & her class to the Dallas Arboredium. It was so fun. They had lots of things for the kids to see and do. They all had so much fun that they were actually tired and ready for the bus when the day was over. I also got to go with Savanah on a field trip, but Bryan had my camera in NO at the game so I didn't get an pictures. It was killing me to be without my camera. Will post some of his Saints pictures later.


We also went with our best friends to a Pumpkin Patch. It was so much fun! There was so many fun things to do & it was free, even better. This is Sierra's best friend!


Savanah with her friend!



At the Pumpkin Patch they had a hayride. The boys with their good friend.

The Pumpkin Patch also had this fun train. Only Brayden & Savanah got to ride before the Texas Fall Thunder Storm hit.

Turkey Legs! Gotta have a Turkey Leg when you are out at the Carnival.


They had lots of wooden cutouts, which those that know me know how much I love them. This one was too funny. I think Bryan makes a good Dufensmirth. What do you think? I think we found his Halloween Costume.

They also had this awesome hay maze. The boys spent hours in there. They LOVED it!

What a cutie!



And then the pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins. As well as the jump houses, which the girls loved.

They had lots of wagons to collect your pumpkins that you wanted to take home. So Bryce decides to collect friends.



Fun in the Hay! Talk about itchy.

We went with our best friends and had tons of fun.


Sierra's friend had a Halloween Birthday party and invited all the kids.

Brayden dressed up as Ash. If you know Pokemon you will know who he is. Boys his age are obsessed with Pokemon.


Bryce loves, and I do mean LOVES, Lego's so he wanted to be a Lego Man. This is my creation of a Lego Man costume. He loves it so that was all that mattered to me.

The girls went as dancers. What made their costumes so special was that these were mine when I was 6. I was in Dance all growing up and my mom kept some of my dance costumes. She gave them to me recently and the girls wanted to wear some of them. Can you believe these are 30 years old. I loved seeing them in my old dance stuff. What beautiful little girls!


And Football. You can't have Fall without some good ole football. Brayden is playing tackle football this year. AND loving it. He practices 3 times a week (2 hr. practices each) and has a game every saturday. It has taken over our life but he is having so much fun and we love watching him play. He is a tightend and wants to be like Jeremy Shockey one day. (Saints player for those of you that don't know who he is.)


We also went to our school Fall Festival and had lots of fun. They have this great festival every year and the kids love going to it.

And if you live in Texas you can't miss the TEXAS STATE FAIR! We took the kids out of school one day and went to the fair. They have lots of things for kids to do. We went to an awesome Bird Show, a Dog Show, petting zoo, rode some rides & lots more. After 7 fun hours we gave out and headed home.

What a great Fall we have had so far. Can you believe we did all this in October, and Halloween isn't even here yet. I hope you have a great Fall & enjoy it as much as our family has.

Back to School!

Back to School was pretty exciting, and sad, at our house. The kids were all super excited about going back to school. (Bryce was excited and way nervous, he doesn't do change very well).

Here is Brayden with his new teacher Mrs. Mize, on meet the teacher night. He was really excited about having her as a teacher since he thinks she is really cute and really nice. (She really is. Mommy was super excited because she is a really sweet teacher, but suppose to be the best second grade teacher to get the kids ready for 3rd.)


Here is Bryce putting his stuff in his new desk. He was really nervous, I even had to drag him into school and into his classroom. But once school started he warmed up and was ready to go.


Bryce on his 1st day of 3rd grade! The BIG year where they learn multiplecation :( He has a really great teacher that is trying hard to make sure he is understanding what she is teaching. I really appreciate all her hard work, already, in helping Bryce succeed.



Brayden all ready for his 1st day.



Sierra on her 1st day of school. I can't believe my baby is starting school. She is so excited to go to school. And what makes it even more exciting - her best friend (our neighbor) Audrey is also in her class. So, she wasn't as nervous as mommy with her first day of school.

Her she is on her first day already busy at work.

Savanah was ready for school to start back, all summer long. She LOVES school and would go everyday if we let her. Seriously, the girl LOVES school. She does workbooks all the time. The rest of the kids love playing and Savanah loves learning.



Here she is all ready for class to start. All summer long she told us that she was getting Mrs. Ahlstedt for 1st grade. Mrs. Ahlstedt was Brayden's 1st grade teacher. Thank heaven's she actually has her as a teacher this year.

All my babies on their first day of school 2010. Can you believe I have a K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. I bet their aren't too many people that can say that. I am excited to see how much they learn and grow this year. I can't believe how big my babies are getting. Where does time go?


It was really hard for everyone to be in school. I really thought 5 years ago when I had so many small babies that I would look forward to this day. Boy was I wrong. I am having fun, though, volunteering at the school. I go and help in the library each week when the kids have their library time. They love it that I am in school with them. I also volunteer for Sierra's class some when they go to art. The art teacher needed some help with the kinder's.

Summer 2010

Yes, Yes I am WAY behind. So today I thought I would catch you up on our busy but fun summer. So here are some random pictures:

We got to kill 2 snakes in our neighborhood this summer. Yeah, mommy was really excited about that one. We live close to a pond that runs through our subdivision. Very beautiful, fun to walk to and feed the duck, but NOT fun that we have now seen 2 snakes. One by the water and one right in front of our house.


We did lots of swimming. Had to survive the Texas summer somehow. We even played football in the pool. Talk about fun stuff!


More swimming! This happened on most days since ALL of our summer was 100 or more. The kids got out of school June 4th and it was 100 or more every stinkin day of our summer vacation. Thank heaven for pools, although the last few weeks the water was even toooo hot to get in.


In July Brayden started football. The first week they practiced they didn't wear their pads or tackle each other, just the dummy. But after that, it was kill time. Can you believe that 7 yr. old football in Texas is the real deal. And these coaches mean business. They scream at these little boys, and expect them to play like professional football players. Never imagined what we were getting ourselves into. Practice started in July and Football doesn't end until the week before Thanksgiving. Brayden practices 3 days a week for 2 hr practices (before games started it was 4 day practices), and then has a game on Saturday which ends up taking about 3 hrs. of our day. Yeah!

Texas has lots of great parks. So we explored lots of different parks!

We went to Grami & Big Daddy's and played on their really fun water slide. This is definately a hit with all the grandkids.

And we got to play with my sweet little niece! The girls and I loved spending time with her. She is so cute and smiley all the time. Takes after her daddy, smiley!

We got a membership to the Dallas Zoo and went a few times. It was alot of fun. They have renovated the zoo and it is really cool!




Fishing! We went fishing ever chance we got. The kids love to fish. This is in Utah at Solitude. So beautiful! I love this picture where you can see their reflection in the water.

We got to go hiking and climb in the mountains at our awesome Family Reunion in Utah! We had a blast. The weather was amazing, and the scenery beautiful and the company perfect.



Sierra girl had a birthday. My baby turned 5 (and started kindergarden :( )

Bryce earned his Bear 6 months early. I am so proud of him!



We got to take our children to see the Temple. Priceless!

Here is another picture that I loved from our reunion.



We found another cool zoo. Frank Buck Zoo. The kids loved it because you got to feed a giraffe. Look at his long black tongue. Their tongue's are like 3 feet long, seriously.



We had a very busy, but very fun summer. Thought life would slow down when they were back in school, but boy was I wrong. We are enjoying our new stage of life with everyone in school & sports. Will post about that soon. (Hopefully!)

Blessings!

Lately I have been thinking alot about my BLESSINGS! I am truly blessed and so thankful for all that the Lord has blessed me with. Life gets so crazy sometimes that I am too busy to see my blessings, unless I stop and think about them. I have really trying to do that each day and when I do I find that life is so much more enjoyable.


One of my wonderful blessing is my amazing husband! He is such a wonderful husband and truly amazing father. The kids and I are so blessed to have him. One of the reasons I fell in love with him and am still so in love with him is because of his humor. He is so stinkin funny! I love that he loves to be happy and thinks life should be fun. Each day he keeps our family laughing and I am greatful to him for that. I also love going on adventures with him because he has me in tears laughing. He ALWAYS does something so crazy yet so funny! NO, this isn't what you are thinking. He has shorts, shoes & socks on. He just took his shirt off and made sure you couldn't see his shorts. This was outside at a bed and breakfast we were staying at for our anniversary. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Just had to share this picture because this is what Bryan does all the time. GOT TO LOVE HIM! I do!

Another one of my blessing is my sweet young man Bryce. This has to be one of the bed kids in the world. And I am truly blessed that he is mine. One week I was having an extremely crazy week and was feeling kind of overwhelmed and tired. On one of these days when my alarm went off I dreaded getting up because I knew once I got up I would be running until who knows when. But I forced myself anyways. I was suprised to find Bryce up. I am usually the first one up. He was up writing in his journal about how much he loved Bryan and I. The Lord knew I needed that. That afternoon when I was working with Savanah on her homework Bryce and Brayden were off working on a craft. They called me to my room for a surprise. They had made me a poster and hung it over my bed. It read: I LOVE MOM SO MUCH! He is such a sweatheart and is always doing sweet things like this. He is such a thoughtful, kindhearted little man. Definately a blessing!

Big Red! I love this little man so much. His smile lights up every room he enters. Not only does his smile warm my heart so does all the hugs and kisses this little man gives. The Lord knew I needed someone to give me lots of hugs and kisses. He is also so much like his dad, and I love that. He loves to make people laugh and is always being funny. He loves hanging out with his mom and dad - especially dad because they both Love football so much! WHO DAT!

My beautiful Savanah! She is such a Leader and on some days she is the best helper in the world. She loves to help others and can be so thoughtful sometimes. I love when she wakes up and just wants to help and please everyone all day. She amazes me at how smart she is. She loves to read and I am amazed at how well she reads. I love sitting back watching her with others. She is such a girl! Teachers at school call her MS. Diva and it definately fits her.

Sweet little Sierra! Sierra is my sweet little shadow. She loves and needs her mommy so much, which I love. I love that she loves being with me and don't know what I am going to do when she starts kindergarden. She loves playing barbies with mommy, jumping on the trampoline with mommy and just sitting in mommy's lap giving loves. Her little giggle causes me to laugh also.

I am so thankful for the 5 beautiful blessing that Lord has blessed me with! I have so many more, but I get to spend each day with these special blessings!