Memorial Day

We stayed at the cabin over the weekend with the Buchanans. On Monday we stopped by the house to see Nana and Papa. I wish so badly we could see them more often.



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{ Ten years of Bliss . . . }

On this special day ten years ago I woke not know how the events of that day would have such a profound effect on my life.

On this special day ten years ago I married an incredible person. He was my best friend and I was madly in love with him.

If you would've asked me where I thought my life would be ten years from that special day my response would have been something like this:

"Hopefully still madly in love with the man of my dreams with a few kids, a nice house and a good job."

I am so blessed to be able to say that all of that has come true, thanks to the decision I made that day. I couldn't have chosen a better man to spend my life with. He is truly the most unique, understanding, generous, loving, selfless, motivated person I have ever know. Not to mention so incredibly handsome! I am thankful for him every day.

Happy Anniversary Babe. I love you 40.

4 wheeling friends

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{ Easter Morning }

We have had such a wonderful Easter with our family. It's nice when church is a little later so we can enjoy the morning together and get pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes before church.

The kids really enjoy looking for the eggs and finding their baskets!

Then we had some delicious baked french toast for breakfast before getting ready for church.

The kids were pretty reverent today (aside from Myla) and I truly enjoyed the talks that were shared.

{ loving the beautiful weather and the flowers }

I'm especially thankful for the resurrection this Easter and the reminder that one day my sweet Mother with be reunited with her perfect body and I will once again hear the sound of her beautiful voice.

{ Performance crazy }

It's that time of year again when we are performance crazy in the Hammer home! Once it hits early spring we have performances almost weekly until the middle of May. Between Jazz games, Conventions, competitions, and special performance we are busy!

The first performance this year (aside from Jazz games) was for Sophie up at a fundraiser in Tremonton. They performed their Starwars dance and it was awesome!!

I love that she's such a poser!

Next up was the Nuvo Convention I went to with Ayden. We were both really excited about his one because we know a lot of the teachers. Some were from SYTYCD and the director used to teach me at The Dance Club. It is an incredible convention and I'm glad we were a part of it! Ayden did so well, he even won a scholarship! All the scholarship finalists got to perform in the closing show.

(Scholarship finalist)

He got to take class from Stacy Tookey, Travis Wall, Ivan, Ray Leeper, and Mark Meesmer. It was an incredible weekend!

We only had 6 days to recover before the madness started all other again! This weekend we had not 1 . . . but 2 competitions to attend! Logan took the girls (he's the man! by the way) down to Salt Lake for Sophie's Medallian Classic while I was in Ogden with Ayden at the Hollywood Vibe Convention/Competition.

Sophie's team competed both of their numbers . . . Starwars and Addams Family. Her team is a riot and they have the most incredible costumes this year.

They did are great job performing and they won Overall High Point the the mini category with their Addams Family dance!

At Hollywood Vibe Ayden got to take class from some great people like Ade and Melissa from SYTYCD as well as a bunch of other great teachers. He also won a scholarship at this convention and gets to come back next year for free! (that makes for a happy Mom!)

After taking class all morning they got ready to compete in the evening. Ayden's team only performed 1 of their numbers, a dance called "9 to 5". Ayden was really nervous but he did an incredible job and they also won Overall High Point in the Junior Group division!

(Prodigy and the other scholarship winners)

His teacher told him she'd give him $5 if he kicked his head in his dance. He took that very literally.

It was a fun filled weekend and I'm so proud of my dancin kiddos for working so hard.

Love you guys!

{ baby number what? }

So I haven't posted about this yet because honestly it has taken me this long to actually believe it. We will be welcoming baby #4 to our family the end of August!

We went to the Doctor today and . . . .

It's a . . . .

BOY!!

We have some very excited little kids that have been waiting a long time for this day to come. From the moment we told them they have been dying to know if they would have a baby brother or baby sister. Ayden was even having dreams about it. But now they know and they are thrilled!

It all started back in December when I was watching my sister's kids. I was taking birth control, more so to regulate my hormones than for prevention since I'm not very fertile and have had to have help every time before. I was on my placebo week and took a test jokingly figuring I hadn't started because I had been spending so much time with my sisters.

When it turned out positive I laughed to myself because the test was really old and I figured there had to be some kind of mistake. I ran to target and bought 3 more test just to be sure. I immediately took another one and when it too was positive I walked around my room laughing and repeating "Oh My Gosh!!" before calling Logan. We were on FaceTime when I told him and the look on his face was priceless. He was as stunned as I was. It just wasn't possible! It took 2 visits to the doctor, 2 ultra sounds, and blood work to confirm it in my mind. I am still a little in shock over the whole thing but I am thrilled about this little soul that just couldn't wait to join our family. It is definitely a miracle in our lives.

{ Myla Jae }

My baby Jae is 2! I can't believe how fast she has grown up and what a special girl she is.

Myla is incredibly funny. She loves attention, especially when she can make you laugh. And if ever she hears someone else laughing, she joins right in.

We celebrated Myla's birthday a day late because Ayden and I were gone all day on her actual birthday. Logan decorated the house as well as bought the gifts and we all woke up to a wonderful surprise.

Myla didn't quite understand that it was for her, but she was happy to be receiving all the attention. She also enjoyed opening gifts!

Here are some great things about Myla:

Myla has learned to speak a lot more quickly than the other 2. She can say so many words and phrases and she learns new ones every day! Like: Hi, Mommy, Daddy, Ayden, pohpie, baby, Nana, Papa, Brammy, thank you, mine, chair, sit down, books, popcorn, song, I want ___, cheese, bye bye, show, dance, outside, there you go, I did it!, hold you, look mom, teeth, hair, nose, eyes, ears, picture, pizza, water, juice, chocolate milk. She also has categorized all food into 3 categories... If it is a liquid, it is called water. But when you get her a drink she will specify what kind of "water" she would like. If it is a cracker, chip, cookie, or candy that she would like . . . those are in the "cookie" category. And finally, if it is an actual menu item like chicken, pasta, etc . . . that is in the "pizza" category. It's so funny to see how she has separated out the different items and how it makes sense in her mind. She loves to repeat the things the kids say and I know she'll be talking in full sentences in no time.

Myla LOVES to dance! Any time she hears music he breaks out into a dance. And she is actually pretty good! She watches her brother and sister dance a lot so she has an idea of that to do. She holds her legs out in leg extensions and points her toes. I need to make a video of it. Her new thing is to lip sync while she dances and it is so hilarious! I caught a video of it in the car the other day. . .

I know as soon as she's old enough she will be begging me to put her in dance class.

Myla absolutely loves her family. She is so attached to her parents and siblings. She was at a neighbors house the other day and when she fell down and cried the mother tried to pick her up. She ran over to Sophie and wanted to be consoled by her siser instead. She loves having Ayden hold her and help her with things. She has recently become very attached to Daddy. Any time there is a sound resembling the garage door opening (washing maching, dish washer, etc ..) she screams "Daddy's home, Daddy's home!!" and runs to the door. She also likes to point out things that belong to him like if she sees his shirt or socks on the floor she'll say "Hey Mom, thats Daddy's". When she helps me with the laundry she will tell me who each article of clothing belongs too. She loves to give random kisses and hugs to us all and makes us feel loved. She really has been such a sweet addition to the family. She is branching out to other relatives now as well and it has been fun to see her open up. She loves Aunt Jenny, Aunt Laura and Aunt Whitney. (she sees them the most) She also loves Nana and Papa, and Brammy and Bapa. They have all been so patient with her and she is starting to really come around.

Myla loves the camera! She is always smiling and asking me to take a picture of her. She loves so show off those dimples and has the best cheesy grin!

I honestly don't know what we would do without this little munchkin. She brings such a great spirit to our home and she is such a happy person. I have loved watching the kids grow to love her more each day and form special bonds with each other.

Happy Birthday my sweet baby Jae. I love you!

{ yearly catch-up }

I'm so far behind I don't know where to start. So I figured I'll just go through the pictures I have taken over the last 6 weeks.

One of our biggest adventures was watching the Buchanan kids while their parents were gone to Argentina! The kids had a blast! I am so happy that they are such good friends and get along so well. It was a draining week for me, but I am so happy I could help my sister and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Logan took them all home on Christmas night so I could sleep in Orem and go shopping the next morning with my parents.

{ The gang at Chick-fila }

{ The gang at Arctic circle }

(when mommy needed a break we would go get ice cream and play on the playground)

I wanted to make sure the kids had a good time and had fond memories of when they came to stay with Aunt Mary, so I took them to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden.

They sure do love playing dress-up!

{ Astronaut Andrew and Astronaut Sophie }

Cowboys:

{ Fire-women Abby and Sophie }

{ In the Oval Office . . .}

{ Myla loved this miniature kitchen }

I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to watch these yay-hoos and get to know them better.

Next up was Abby's birthday celebration at Nana and Papa's cabin. We were able to stay there for the whole weekend and that was so much fun. The kids had a great time together, especially in the hot tub with Uncle Brian.

Myla wouldn't get in but she wanted to stand close enough to see all the actions, so of course she got soaked!

Then we threw the kids in the shower. I was trying to get Sophie and Abby in but Myla (fully dressed) kept shoving me like she wanted to get in too. So I stuck her in. The look on her face was priceless. Nana and I were busting up!

On Saturday Laura had invited the Buchanan side of the family up to the cabin for a birthday party. Of course it was perfect, because Laura is the party planning master of disaster.

The rainbow food for a rainbow party!

We had such a great time visiting with Alan's family. They are such fun and friendly people, I wish we were able to see them more often.

{ Alecia. Mary. Laura }

{ Papa and Nana. Both with their eyes closed but still so sweet. }

{ Connor, Ayden and Andrew. The kazoo boys }

Abby had prepared a game for the kids. I think it was something like charades but I'm not sure.

It was a great weekend. I'm thankful my parents bought this cabin where we can all go to make memories together.

Logan has started a tradition of having a boys night. He invites all the boy cousins on the Hammer side to sleep over at our house. This isn't your ordinary sleepover. This is a game night. He sets up a game system in as many rooms of the house as possible and the boys try to stay up all night playing video games. They LOVE it!

They usually take a break in there somewhere and go outside to play steal the flag. Even the snow didn't stop them this time.

Then they came in for hot chocolate. I'm so glad that Logan started this tradition because I know Ayden will always remember what a cool Dad he has for hosting game night.