Christmas 2010

It was a fun Christmas, with all of my family in town but Richard. We're glad we saw them at Thanksgiving. Christmas Eve was spent at my parents' house, and included the traditional talent show & white elephant gift exchange, and of course, The Elves delivered Christmas pajamas to the door.

James read an M&M Christmas poem.

Jingle Bells duet

 Blake played Jingle Bells on the recorder with his nose! 

 Papa always plays the song about the Christmas animals, while the grandkids sing with puppets.

 sisters

 waiting at the top of the stairs Christmas morning

 Brynlee loves the bike from Santa!  She didn't want to get off of it to open presents.

 Santa brought a ping pong table!

 stockings

 Marinne got a phone, so I apologize in advance for all the texts you're going to receive!

 silly bands

 Ray got wireless headphones, thanks to the Coke Rewards he's been saving.

 Marinne bought me this lovely hat with her own money.

 We do Christmas morning at our house, then head over to my parents' for Christmas brunch.

My sisters and I made this quilt for my mom's Christmas gift. 

Our Christmas was wonderful!  Now on to the new year!

Hammond Halloween 2010

 It was another fun Halloween at the Hammond house!

 Ray and I were Edwina and H.I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona.  I'm sure the people who haven't seen the movie were confused, but the ones who had seen it got who we were!

 We had friends and family over for our annual Halloween party.  We order bread bowls that look like pumpkins, and have soup and chili.

Here are the people who came:

 Parkinsons

 Stephens

 The other Hammonds

She was a cleaning lady, and he was Mr. Clean!

 Tim and boys (sad that the rest of their fam couldn't come)

 Smiths

Buff and Blake (costumes made by Bethany herself)

 My parents were there too, but I never got a picture of them:(

 Marinne was a witch.

 James was a prisoner.

 Blake was a fellow inmate.

 Brynlee was Cindy Lou Who (another one that some people didn't get, but I thought it was a cute idea)

I covered a pumpkin bucket to make it look like a Christmas ornament.

 Ray's jack-o-lantern served as a great good luck charm, and The Giants won the World Series!

 The kids sorting and trading candy.

 Jordan and Karin always make the best doughnuts from scratch for the party!

Mamacita's Birthday!

My mom is the best mom ever, and it's her birthday today!
 I am lucky to be her daughter!

 We celebrated on Sunday, since she had surgery the day before her birthday (poor lady)!

 She does so much for our family, and we appreciate her so much!

I made a Mary Engelbreit cake for the occasion!

Brynlee is growing up too fast! She is my buddy all day while the other kids are at school.

Here she is at the D Backs game.

Her attention span is increasing, so she will sit and color or do an activity for a while, which is nice for me! This girl has so many funny faces. She is quite the little actress, and will show faces for every emotion we name.

In this picture she had painted her own toe nails, legs, and hands.

 She also loves lip gloss, and gets into it on a regular basis. Her favorite song is "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam", and we have to sing it at EVERY Family Home Evening, and sometimes just when we read scriptures. She knows how to sort the silverware and put it away. I'm amazed every day at the new things she says. She is speaking in sentences, and has the silliest laugh.

She is keeping me BUSY, and entertains the whole family! What a fun girl! I'm so glad to be home with her every day to watch her learn and grow.

In other news, my sisters and I made a little blog for crafty stuff, recipes, ideas, etc. Here is the link: Sisterhood of the Crafty Pants



James is 6!

My James turned 6!  Where has the time gone?  He has been such a fun kid to have around!

We went to Peter Piper Pizza with family for lunch, then got to go to Sunsplash water park that night.  It was a fun birthday!PaPa & BrynleeI can't remember the last time I was this excited about anything!  James did a happy dance when he opened the "New Super Mario Bros."  Wii game.

I made a San Francisco Giants cake for the occasion. 

We love James and his cheerful personality!