Merry Christmas

This has got to be the best Santa picture ever! Max did not hesitate to jump on Santa's lap this year and tell him about the race car track he wanted for Christmas. This was very suprising since he has been the one to cry at the sight of Santa for the last few years. Now Chloe wanted nothing to do with sitting on Santa's lap AT ALL! But she was very eager to write him a letter telling him about the Barbie cash register she wanted and she drew him beautiful picture of a Christmas tree.
Our family traditon on Christmas Eve is to open one present of Mom's choosing. It is always new pajamas for everyone in the family. This year Chloe and Baby Chloe got matching PJs.

Max is crying here because he doesn't seem to like this so called family tradition. One present? New PJs? What about all those other presents under the tree??? It's okay Max, you are not alone. Cole and Jack have always cried for the same reason on Christmas Eve. You are not alone!

Merry Christmas to all from the Harding Family!!!

Who would have thought taking a picture for a Christmas card could be so difficult?

Central Section Football Championship

I Love this poster that some of Cole's fans made for the game. The Buffalo incident will forever be a classic story that Cole with be razzed about for years and years.

Centennial High School Football team made it to the Division I Central Section Valley Championship. We are very proud of our Golden Hawks! They entered the playoffs seeded eighth out of nine teams. They caused quite an upset when they beat No. 1 Clovis-Buchanan 26-24. Then turned around and beat their biggest rival here in Bakersfield No. 5 Liberty 21-14. The team they went up against for the Championship was Fresno's Bullard high school seeded No. 1 with a record of (12-0). Bullard happens to be the high school that my sister Gina's kids go to in Fresno. So we had quite a fun time watching the game with Gina, Brooke and her kids in the pouring rain! Bullard won with a score of 42-31, But I have to say Centennial played a great game! It was very close until Bullard pulled away in the last quarter with 2 touchdowns.

Here is Cole and Jack after the game. Jack is a soon-to-be Golden Hawk and will follow in his brothers footsteps and play football for them next year.

And best for last, here is Cole with his cute little girlfriend, Morgan who came to the game to help us cheer Cole on in the freezing cold and rain. I have to say she is a very good sport to hang with us since she goes to Liberty, Centennial's biggest rival!

Itsy Bitsy Spider

This was filmed in Max's office. We spend alot of time here each day reading books, singing songs, playing cars. This was just too cute I couldn't resist filming him singing Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Chloe's Dance Commercial

Chloe's dance class was filmed in a commercial for the dance academy she dances with. I know this is crude video taping off my tv, but you can at least get the idea. Chloe is the one wearing black with a bright pink tu tu.

Halloween at the Harding House

There is no shortage of superheros at our house this Halloween!

The beautiful Belle with Batman.
(We tried to get Chloe to be Batgirl but after seeing the princess Belle at Disneyland there was no question about what she was going to be for Halloween this year.)

You are never too old for halloween. Even our kids were suprised to see mom and dad dressed up as Vulcans. I think Rob makes a pretty good Spock don't you?

Disneyland Trip

Chloe's inspiration for her Halloween costume

Max gets to meet Lightening McQueen in person. He loves this car! Notice he is holding it in his hand. He has this car in his hand everywhere we go.

A couple of weeks ago we were able to take Chloe and Max to Disneyland. It was their first time and it was so fun to see them experience the magic of Disneyland for the first time. Chloe absolutely loved "It's a small world" and Max is not to sure he likes pirates anymore after riding "Pirates of the Caribbean" but he loved the "Peter Pan" ride.

Happy Birthday Max

Max just had his 3rd Birthday! He is the sweetest boy ever!!! He is so easy going and lovable and he always keeps us laughing at his funny comments. Ha Ha Just today we were eating dinner at the table and Chloe got her foot stuck in the chair legs and fell over chair and all. She was crying mostly because it had scared her. Max seeing Jack sitting next to her said, "Jack pushed Dowie over! Jack you busted!!!

Football Season

Ahhh it's football season and we aren't finished just yet. Jack and his Cyclones are headed into playoffs next week. Jack has had a great season and seems to be the Jack of all trades. He has played middle line backer, center, offensive guard, defensive tackle, kick off return, kick off, kicker, punt team, punt return and full back. Got that? I don't. When people ask me what position he plays, I don't know how to answer.
Cole has had a great season playing Varsity for the Golden Hawks. It has been fun watching him and his team play this year there have been some really good games. Cole plays Right Tackle on offense and defense. He has two more games left then he will head into playoffs for the valley championship. GO G-HAWKS!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jack

It's a milestone birthday for Jack! Happy 14th Birthday. It is official, Jack will be able to go to Stake dances now. Cole is looking after his brother by teaching him how to dance with the help of some very cute girls. Lucky for Jack, Cole has connections.

Preschool

Chloe and Max have started going to preschool two mornings a week. They are loving every minute of it. So is mom! I have about 5-6 hours of free time a week wa-hoo!!! They do lots of fun crafts and activities and are very proud of everything they make. they are so cute!

Cole gets HOOKED!!!!

Cole had a little mishap this past month. He was working for his Granpa Reno at his place mowing grass and doing yard work. Grandpa has a little herd of cows and one buffalo named Buffy Lou. The herd needed to be moved to a pasture so Cole and another employee opened the gates to the patures and waited for the herd to move to the new pasture. They have done this hundreds of times and the cows know exactly where to go as they usually run to the next pasture where the tall green grass awaits them. This time though, as Cole stood in an open space the buffalo stopped to eat some grass. She then looked up and saw Cole (he was standing about 30 feet away) and charged him!!! He ran to jump up on the nearest fence but not before she hooked him between the legs. He was very lucky because although he had injuries in a very sensitive area no vital necessities were harmed. He did have to have some stitches and has a long scratch on the back of his thigh about 18 inches long. He had called me after this happened because he knew he needed medical attention. He said to me, "Mom I've been gored in the _______ and I'm bleeding what should I do?" I thought he was playing a practical joke on me so I didnt belive him! He was very calm and matter of fact about it. It took a little while for him to convince me he wasn't joking. Then I felt so bad when I realized it wasn't a joke. Cole has since recovered but missed a couple weeks of football practice. He walked bull legged for a while as well and endured much teasing and nick names from the foootball team and friends at school. They called him Buffalo Bill, Rodeo Clown, and Buffalo Balls.

San Clemente Beach

We spent a week in San Clemente this summer with the Wagner family. We spent a few days soaking in the sun and enjoying the cooler weather. It is so very hot in Bakersfield July and August. We took the time to go to Sea World and Lego Land. It was so much fun! Great times!

I just love this picture of Max watching the beluga whales through the window!

Chloe and Max are exploring the tide pool sea life at Sea World.

May the force be with you Max!!!

Even teenagers can have fun in Lego land. It's just a little disappointing the rides can't go a little faster huh Cole?

Now this ride is definitely for the big guys. It's called the King's Tournament. Cole and Jack call it the "Nut Cracker"

Chloe's 4th Birthday

Chloe celebrated her 4th Birthday this summer. She had a flower party with all of her little friends. We painted faces, planted flowers, made flower necklaces and played pin the spot on the lady bug. We had a blast! It was girls camp this week so I didn't have my usual helpers for the party. Instead I enlisted Cole, Jack, and Riley to help. We had 8 kids including Chloe and Max and we were hoppin! A couple of little girls were quite smitten with my helpers too!

Summer Vacation

If it looks like they are up to no good, your right. Cole and Jack bought all their fireworks at Valley of Fire in Nevada. You know, the kind that are illeagal in California and just about everywhere else. But since we are at the ranch out in the middle of the country we let them have their fun. Just one word of warning, if they catch the haystack on fire, they will be dead!

This is the first time I have ever had to bundle up on the fourth of July! It's always so hot in Bakersfield!

We went to Sun Valley for Independence Day celebrations. We watched a parade and went to a kids carnival. Mom went to an antique show. We didn't stay for the fireworks because Cole and Jack had their own firework show planned.

This was Chloe's favorite part of the parade. Pretty girls on horses.

Checking out the carnival games

Of course we take our dogs on vacation with us!!! Idaho is doggie Heaven. We even rented a trailer to pull our luggage behind the Yukon so that Snickers could have the back of the car all to herself. This is a bird that Snickers hunted and killed all by herself. I wish I had filmed Fritzi-girl killing the squirrels as Jack and Cole flushed them out of their holes with the hose. It was hilarious. Fritzi-girl has a new nick name, "Killer".

We visited a new fishing spot this year. It was Bayhorse Lake. It is a peaceful lake up in the Sawtooth Mountains. We explored a the mining ghost town of Bayhorse on the way up to the lake. We took note that there are lots of ATV trails around the mountain ghost mines. We may have to explore this next year.

This is Cole, Chloe and Max enjoying a snack at Bayhorse Lake.

Chloe caught this good size fish. I had to hold it for her because she didn't like the way it wiggled on the hook. Notice the pink Barbie fishing pole. We caught lots of fish on this pole.

Max catches his first fish.

Nice fish Cole but...........................................

Now that's a BIG fish. Jack caught this huge fish at the fish hatchery pond and it was a beauty. Too bad Cole wasn't there to see it. He was hunting squirrels. The funny thing is we had just run out of worms and Jack pulled this old and I mean really old stink bait out of the tackle box and baited his hook with huge wad of it and caught this huge trout on it! It was unbelievable!!! We did release it so hopefully it will still be there next year.

Jack has been riding quads for quite a few years but this year Grandpa Reno taught Jack to drive his tractor and pick up truck. Jack was loving it! But after Rob, Cole and I rode with him on two separate occasions we decided that there is a good reason 13 year olds don't drive. THEY CAN'T SEE STOP SIGNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent the rest of our vacation at the Reno Ranch in Idaho. This is Chloe and Max riding "Flash".

This is a picture of the grandchildren and great grand children singing for Grandpa Harding. Chloe is in there wearing the purple lei. She loved running around with all the kids.

We started our vacation in Utah to surprise Rob's dad with a surprise party for his 80th Birthday. It was so fun to see the whole family and meet all the new additions. Our kids met lots of cousins they didn't know they had.