Today was a happy, but sad day as well. Brie gave a beautiful homecoming talk in Sacrament Meeting. Many family members and close friends came to support her. It was so nice. Today also marked the last day of all Hardy’s in nursery. Lucy is still struggling with a cough from being sick, but she did not want to miss her last day. Even Charlie had to jump in on the picture with Brother Manning. He has been such an amazing teacher for Lucy. She has gained so much self confidence because of him. We will miss the Mannings greatly!All this talk of being a big kid has gone right to Lucy’s head. She now thinks that she can just let herself out the door and go on her own adventures. 😳 Today the snow was just too enticing. So grateful that she isn’t a fast runner. She was more fascinated with how the snow crunched around her feet. She is such a silly goose. At least she knows to come in when she gets cold. 🤣

Each year at Christmas time, we try to find a way to help remind the kids of the true meaning of Christmas throughout the season. This year we decided to use “The Shepherd’s Treasure.” After naming our shepherd on the first day, we followed McCleary on his search to find Jesus, the real reason for the season. It was a lot of fun and had some great scriptures and activities to help our whole family remember Christ and what he wants us to do. It was super cute to watch Alex and Lucy, especially, try to figure out where McCleary went. (We are VERY limited on space, so it was tricky to be creative and find new hiding spots. 😂)

Day 1:Day 2:Day 3:Day 4:Day 5:Our treats for our friends turned out so cute! However, the kids’ idea of ding-dong ditching quickly changed when they realized that they would have to run away on ice.Day 6:Day 7:Day 8:Day 9:Day 10:Day 11:Day 12:Day 13:Day 14:Day 15:Day 16:Day 17:Lucy decided that since McCleary kept giving her treats, she would share a treat with him. I’m sure an ancient shepherd loves Doritos. 😂Day 20:Day 21:Day 25:With all the grown ups sick leading up to Christmas, our last few days of our journey did not happen. The kids were still excited to see Baby Jesus on Christmas morning.