The definition of a weekend. . .

We had the most incredible weekend! It all started Thursday night when we headed down to the cabin (Logan's family has a cabin up by Sundance) to party! We, of course, had our other half with us. . . the Flittons! (We have now nicknamed ourselves the Flammers) We stayed up that night playing games and getting settled.

Friday morning my Mom was gracious enough to watch our children (Nana Jan Day!) while we headed up to hit the slopes! That's right, we went skiing! I had a small obsession with skiing that lasted a grand total of the winter of my freshman year, and haven't been since. Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, but I knew it would be fun.

So I, with my fellas (Logan, Ryan, McKay, and Parker) headed up to the Sundance Ski Resort for a fun filled day in the the snow. The weather was good, aside from a few snow storms up at the top that scared the ba-gee-bers out of us.

I didn't know this small fact, but skiing is a lot like riding a bike...once you've done it, you can pretty much pick it back up no problem. I must say that the nickname of "snowplow queen" that was given to me in 9th grade was still in affect, though.

All in all it was a great adventure!

Later that night we had dinner at Ice Burg in Orem and headed back to the cabin for more games and movie fun. On Saturday Logan had to work and the Flittons headed up to their family cabin so I was there alone with my kiddos. Believe it or not, we had the most incredible nap together. It is so quiet up there, it's unreal. I think we all slept for over 3 hours.

That night we met up with our friends, the Paxmans, for dinner and more cabin fun. On Sunday we spent the day relaxing with our kids, playing games together, watching movies and just plain enjoying each others company. It was incredible. We finished it off with a delicious dinner at Nana Jan and Papa Rich's before heading home.

Truthfully it was one of the funnest, most memorable weekends I've had in a long time. What a blessing it is to have wonderful friends, an incredible family, and a great home away from home to slip off to.

(I know what you're thinking, NO PICTURES? Ya, that's right.
I totally forgot the camera. Bummer.)

I'm cool??

Ayden has been really perfecting the art of getting himself dressed. He is always asking if things match. He got himself dressed today and then asked. . . . "Mom, I'm cool?"

How could I respond with anything other than, "Of course are buddy! . . .Always!"

Bestest Friends!

That time has finally arrived! I have been waiting patiently ever since I found out I was going to have children 19 months apart.

Ayden and Sophie are best friends!

They have recently started playing together so well. Of course they fight (which is what they are doing at this moment) but they also play. They make up games together. Sophie loves to dress up and once she starts that, Ayden just has to join in.

Bath time is one of their favorite times, and mine as well. I love to watch them make
each other laugh.

I know a lot of this is because of Logan. There are quite a few nights out of the week that I'm gone and he puts the kids to bed. On those nights there is a lot of wrestling, tents, stories, and anything else you can think of. He is such a great dad, and they absolutely adore him.

After their bath this morning, Sophie found some of Ayden's pull-ups in his closet and decided that they needed to wear them. So. . . . they have spent the morning running around in pull-ups together, dancing and having the time of their lives. It is a joy to watch!




How great are these kids?? I am so lucky!

stinking video!

I have been trying for the last 24 hours to get that darn video to work and it just won't load! So I guess you are left once again without any videos of the Hammer kids! Bummer!

Loving the videos

So many of my blogging friends and family members post videos and every time they do we just love to watch them. Ayden is always asking to watch those videos of his friends on the computer. So I realized that I hardly ever post videos (mainly because they take so long) and that I need to do that more.

My kids love bath time! And I think their favorite part is getting out and running around in their robes. So we had to make a fun video to share with our blogging friends of their favorite time of day!

Papa's girl

This girl loves her Papa. It was one of the first names she learned and she just lights up when she sees him. She loves to give him hugs and kisses. I guess it's true what they say. . .
"Like mother, Like daughter!"

We miss you, NY cousins!

It has been one whole week since our cousins went back home to NY, and we are missing them like crazy. Sophie learned to say all of their names and every time I ask her if she wants to go somewhere she starts repeating them. She misses them like crazy.

Here they are having a delicious dinner together at Nana's house

We let them stay up and watch TV on New Years Eve together

Here are some pictures of them the night we said our farewells. It was sad to let them go, especially because we don't know when we'll see them again!

Sophie loved to give Andrew kisses.

Sophie, Connor, and Abby. For some reason, Ayden didn't want to be in any pictures that night.

Just the girls.

We had a wonderful time with them and are so grateful that they came to visit.

The Candle Pass

My husband's family has this great tradition each year where they to a "candle pass". Each person lights their candle from the previous person and has a few minutes to talk about the good and bad of the past year, things they are grateful for, etc...

We used to do it on Christmas Eve, but as the family has grown so much over the last few years, we have had to change the tradition a little. Now we choose a day in early January and do an adults only fondue/candle pass night. It is always so crazy when all 18 grandkids are there so it's fun to get together as adults sometimes so we can talk and laugh together.


As we were cleaning up, I challenged my brother-in-law, Craig, to a contest. We wanted to see who could fit more marshmellows in their mouth. I knew he would win, because he would stop at nothing less, but it was still really fun.


Mary = 6 Craig= 8

I'm really grateful that I was able to join this awesome family. So many people have issues with their "in-laws" but I have been truly blessed to find this family that I absolutely adore. "Hammer Power, Hammer Power!!"

Once there was a SnoWmAn!!

If there was a contest for the best snowman, I'm pretty sure these awesome guys would win!
WOW!!

Hair day with my girls!

Today was such a fun day! My sister is only in town for a few more days so I'm so grateful that she decided to spend one of those days driving up to Layton to hang at my house!

It was an added bonus that my Mom, Jenny and my Grams decided to come as well!

They got here at 10 and the party instantly began. We did some hair, had a yummy Rumbi lunch, did some more hair, and watched old dance videos. I don't know if I've ever posted about how I feel about dance and the support I got from my Mom and sister. They were my biggest fans (even though I was a brat and didn't deserve it) and I will be forever grateful to them for that. It was fun to look back and remember that fun time in my life.

One of the highlights of the day was when my little sister, the super cool college student, liked my hair so much that she wanted to be the same as me.

On occasion I get a crazy idea in my head of something I'd like to try in my hair. Well, that happened yesterday and I, once again, colored my own hair. Sometimes it turns out well, other times . . . not so much. Well, this time I decided to go a little funky. I was glad that Jenny liked it enough to join the club.

So. . . the picture doesn't do it justice. That is a seriously bright red streak going on in the front. I guess sometimes you have to shake it up a little, right!