family Christmas journal

If I don't post the pictures now, I probably won't get around to it. I've had this chipboard book sitting in my closet for 3 years so I just painted it with some green acrylic paint I had. I used my Cricut to cut the "H" and the star. Rubons are Daisy D's and the other stuff is Making Memories. I stamped our names on the cover but it didn't work. I will add that today.I added tabs on the side for each year (the book will hold 10 years of stuff) Simple and fun...we will write in it tomorrow. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you have a really nice Christmas and create some great memories. Today, I've been creating a family Christmas journal. My thought is that we can start a tradition to write one page in it every year on Christmas Eve, maybe add some pictures or drawings and other things as well. I'm decorating the cover but I will share some pics with you later.





We don't exchange gifts with Aaron's brothers and sisters. Instead, we share scrapbook pages. We started this 7 years ago. We make 2 scrapbook pages and make copies for all the families. It's fun and I enjoy looking through the book at how fast our nieces and nephews are growing. Here's our scrapbook pages for this year:

The picture that Braden drew on our family page is a classic, I hope you can see it. He also wrote this poem.

Family by Braden Hammond

When I was 1 I cried and when I was 2 I cried

years passed I was 8

I was baptized and I was brave

years passed and I was 18

I went on my mission and I was sad I had to leave my family

but no more spankings for me.

Enjoy your Christmas!

Kevin, Jillian or Rami?

I'm having a hard time choosing my favorite on this year's season of Project Runway. I really like Chris March. He's got a great personality but I'm not crazy about his style. So for me, Kevin, Jillian and Rami are my favorites. Didn't you just love the trio they put together a couple of weeks ago?
I can't get enough of this show. It makes me want to break out my sewing machine and go to town. (I'm in the process of tweaking a vintage skirt pattern) I'll have to wait until after Christmas...

Christmas and traditions

One of our Christmas traditions is that we buy a Christmas book each year. I have the kids write their names and the year in the book. We enjoy reading these books throughout the month and I've also shared many of them for lessons at church during December.

The kids and I chose this one at Deseret Book:




This book is beautiful and it has little quotes and stories that go along with different themes. I found this quote from Linda and Richard Eyre in this book that I wanted to share with you.


"Traditions offer opportunites to create memories, share love, and build strong bonds between family members. They will not only help your family life be more peaceful and rewarding, they will also give your children memories they can draw on no matter where they go or who they grow up to be."

Hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season and creating lots of traditions with your families!

2peasinabucket.com

I enjoy scrapbooking. I love it for many reasons. I like recording memories for my kids and taking pictures but one of the main reasons I love it so much is because it's a great creative outlet. Everyone has their own style and way of putting things together. There is no right or wrong way to do it. My favorite place of inspiration is 2peasinabucket.com. My friend Karin introduced me to this site years ago and it's a great place for all things scrapbooking.

One of my favorite designers is Kelli Crowe. This is one of my favorite layouts:

For those of you who enjoy creating things, check it out. They've got some great ideas! (if you're in the market for a website to suck all your precious time away, this would be it)

DWTS final and my other fave TV show

So Julianne and Helio are the winners on DWTS. The fact that Helio had never danced before and was able to dance the way he did, he deserved to win. I was sad that Marie didn't win but she dug her own grave with that doll number.
Just as DWTS is ending another one of my faves is starting again...

Project Runway!!!!
This week the challenge was to make menswear for Tiki Barber (former runningback for the NY Giants). I enjoy sewing. I took sewing classes all through school and I loved it. As I was watching this episode, I was thinking back to my junior year of high school. I was taking Clothing III and we had to make a tailored piece of clothing out of wool. I made a double-breasted, fully-lined wool coat. It was the most difficult thing I've ever made.

Watching those designers gave me an anxiety attack. I at least had a pattern! They had to design it, construct a pattern and sew it all in 2 days time?! Not to mention the detail work! The zippers, buttonholes, darts, pleats...the list goes on. And most of them made 3 pieces...

Anyway, love this show. Tim Gunn is the best.

gettin' crafty

I live for crafts...and I've seen some really cute Christmas ones this year. I saw this one in my Dec. issue of Parent's magazine and I wanted to share it with you all.

I used a 14 inch styrofoam wreath form. I cut 12- 4 1/2 inch circles (used my Cricut for these). Then I cut my black and white pictures just a little smaller than my circles. I glued the circles on with Alene's tacky glue. I tied some ribbon in bows (some of the ribbon I tied little jingle bells on) to fill in here and there. And there you go!

Easy, cheap and cute!

If you decide to get crafty and make one for yourself, I would LOVE to see it!

Enjoy!

Trading Spaces is back!!!!

NEW YORK (AP) -- Paige Davis is moving back to TLC's "Trading Spaces."

Paige Davis hosted "Trading Spaces" from 2001 to 2005. She's returning to the show in January.

The Broadway actress and TV host will return to the once-popular home makeover series beginning in January, the network said in a statement Thursday.
In 2005, TLC announced Davis would no longer host "Trading Spaces" and transitioned the series to a host-less format.
Davis had perkily hosted the show, which features neighbors swapping homes and redecorating a room, since 2001. Besides "Trading Spaces," she's also appeared on Broadway in the musicals "Beauty and the Beast" and "Chicago."
The new season begins shooting this month and will be filmed entirely in high-definition. Designers Doug Wilson, Laurie Hickson-Smith, Frank Bielec and Hildi Santo-Thomas will also return to the show, alongside carpenters and other designers to be announced later.


I saw this on CNN today and I'm thrilled! I was obsessed with this show and was sad when Paige left. And I know what you're thinking...yes, I was pregnant with my baby girl and I just had to name her Paige because I loved the name...and Aaron gave the ok.

kids grow up too fast

I was searching for some pictures the other day and came across these. We had only been living in AZ for a few months...it's hard to believe we've been here a little over 3 years. I'm also still amazed at how much our kids look alike as babies! These pics of Paige look a lot like Heston!

Our Disneyland trip

We had a really great time on our trip to Disneyland. It went by too fast but we had lots of fun and rode pretty much every ride in both parks. It was our annual Hammond Family Reunion. This year, Aaron and I were in charge. We just had Heston when it was our turn to plan so we wanted to go somewhere that didn't require a lot of planning. My mom and my brother's girlfriend Ricci and her kids, Hunter and Gavin came too.

Mom took Paige and they picked up this hairpiece and the crown. Ricci does hair so she fixed her hair. She was so excited and it looked cute!

They have this show at Disney that's called Jedi Training. They choose kids from the audience to come up and fight Darth Maul and Darth Vader. If you know Braden, he has been obsessed with Star Wars for years. The funny thing is, he didn't get chosen. He went up on stage anyway.

We went down to Newport Beach to play and then we made our way to Matt (Aaron's bro) and Alisha's house to see them and spend the night before heading home.

The kids loved playing at the beach and I really enjoy taking pictures at the beach. B&P are good sports when it comes to me and my picture taking.

Tuesday

I was just watching Dancing with the Stars that I recorded last night (Monday Night Football and Family Home Evening are a part of our Monday routine.) and Marie was the first one to dance last night. The judges were giving their feedback and poor Marie fainted on live TV! I felt so embarrassed for her but I really think people like her and will keep voting for her.

I haven't posted pictures of the kids for a while so I thought I would do that today. Life is pretty crazy with all the stuff the kids have going on. Braden is playing soccer, doing his Taekwondo and Scouts. Paige is playing soccer as well and she's doing cheerleading. The kids play soccer with AYSO. I'm the team mom for Braden's team. Each team has a banner that they display at each game. I volunteered to do it and it stressed me out! I didn't want it to cost a lot and I wanted it to look half-way decent. So for $10, this is the banner that I made for the team. I'm so glad that it's done!

The kids are growing like crazy! They are looking forward to our trip to Disneyland and they are making their Christmas lists up right now.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Since I talked about my gramps in my last post, I just wanted to wish him Happy Birthday. He's 84 today. He went to the hospital yesterday because he was having muscle spasms. They gave him some shots and he's just fine. Grandma told me that he was up at 3 in the morning shaving yesterday. He knew he had to go to the hospital and had to be clean shaven. That's so Grandpa...love that guy!

PBS series "The War"

Aaron is into war documentaries and we have been watching the new series by Ken Burns on PBS called "The War." This series talks about stories from veterans that served in WWII. What their lives were like before and after the war. My grandpa served in the 342nd Armored Field Artillery unit in the Army. He was the leader and gunner on a tank. (There were 5 other men in the tank with him.)Out of hundreds of men in his company, he was one of 12 men chosen to be a gunner. In addition to his duties as a gunner, he would sit in the tank above the driver and give commands to the other guys in the tank by using hand signals. He also would tap the driver on the shoulder so he would know where to go. Here's a picture of him with the tank. He's the one on the right.

Grandpa never spoke of the war, not to my Grandma, not to Mom and her sisters, not to anyone. It's only been in recent years that he's talked about it. I can recall a time when he told me about his group liberating a concentration camp. When he and his group entered, what they saw...he told about how one of the men dropped to the ground and was crying while kissing his dirty boots. I can't even imagine what Grandpa saw, what he experienced, how many of the friends he lost...

If you get a chance to watch "The War", I highly recommend it.

While we're on the subject of war my cousin, Justin, will be leaving tomorrow to do another tour of duty in Iraq. He'll be there for 6 months. Please keep him and the other soldiers in your prayers. Thanks!

Week 2- DWTS

I have laundry and housework that I need to finish this morning but I've just got to sit down and talk about Dancing with the Stars. Everyone I'm sure has their favorites. My favorite girls are:

Marie- of course, she is my favorite girl. Not the greatest dancer but she is so much fun to watch. And then to see Donny cheering her on last night...love it.
Sabrina the Cheetah girl- Paige enjoys the Cheetah girls (or anything on the Disney Channel) and so she is rooting for Sabrina to win. When the girls come out in their costumes, she says, "I like that dress but she needs to cover up just a little." I agree...some of the costumes they come up with, wow!
Jennie Garth- Maybe it's just me and the 90120 nostalgia but I'm rooting for Jennie. And poor little Derek falling down...poor kid.

My favorite guys:

Helio, the race car driver- He is the guy to beat, in my opinion. Who thought a race car driver could come out and do as well as he has. And even more important, he seems really comfortable being on stage, he doesn't seem to let the nerves get the best of him. The best choreographer, hands down is Julianne Hough. She makes her partners look good and she knows how to put a good dance together. Very talented girl.
Wayne- He's the older guy, what can you say? There's a slight disadvantage because he's limited on what he can do. I can see him being around for a while because he is so well-known.

I'm including a video of Sabrina and Mark's dance last night. I could not stop laughing at Len and Bruno. Watch the part when the judges are giving their thoughts.

Here's the link. I still trying to figure out the video thing

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pBy1N4oqrY




I need to get motivated to go and do my housework...have a good one!

I've been "tagged"...

I’ve been tagged by my former roommate and friend EmmaLee. I really enjoyed reading and learning 7 things I didn’t know about her so I will be a good sport and participate.

Here I go…7 things about me you probably didn’t know:

1. I have to wear a Depends undergarment when I jump on the trampoline with my kids. True story and every mom out there knows (or has experienced) what I’m talking about. I don’t actually wear one but I only have a small window of jump time because I will pee in my britches.

2. My nickname is Kissy. Kissy Coo to be exact. My dad gave it to me when I was a baby. I used to torture my brother Wes by pinning him to the ground and kissing his cheeks until he cried. Dad used to call me Kissy when we were out in public or even worse, when guys would pick me up for dates.

3. My Mom almost named me Summer. My birthday is in July and she liked the name. Summer Sorensen…I don’t know about that, though. Or Summer Hammond, too much "m" action going on.

4. I used to twirl baton and I was in a baton group for a few years called the Rangerettes. I got to the point where I could twirl 2 batons at once. My goal (once I got to be a teenager) was to twirl the FIRE batons. It was so awesome and kind of scary to watch! My teacher Becky stopped teaching to raise a family so I never got to live out my fire baton dream. Hmm…I wonder if they sell those on ebay…

5. I can whistle really loud. A useful skill I’ve learned along the way.

6. I play the drums. My dad has played for years and he started teaching Wes and I when we were about 5. I was a band geek for years but I didn’t play in high school. My uncle Kelly, Wes and I had a band when I was a teenager, it was so much fun! Our band name was "KissyKillerWhiskers"- all of our nicknames. Wish I had my own drum set…I play when I go home to Utah for visits.

7. I haven’t broken any bones so far.

I’m now tagging Amanda Jane- my bf since our days at Vernal Junior High. You're it!

Round 1- The Dancing with the Stars gals

Ok, so what did you think?

The question I have today is where did that Cheetah girl come from?! Wow, she was awesome. I agreed with the judges, that was the best 1st performance of anyone on that show. Looking forward to seeing them dance again.

Marie really is such a great entertainer, just like her brother. I loved her attitude and she was having so much fun. Jane did great too. She's very elegant, if you watch her arms and fingers, you can tell she's a ballet dancer. They all did well for the first night.

So the guys are up tonight...I'm interested to see how Floyd Mayweather (the boxer) does...still pulling for Wayne Newton...speaking of "pulling", that guy has had a lot of plastic surgery, wouldn't you say?

one of my favorite tv shows is coming back...

and I'm really happy! I don't know about you but, I'm looking forward to new stuff on TV!! When "So you think you can dance" is not on, my other favorite show is "Dancing with the Stars". I've never been big into ballroom but I have a great appreciation and love of what they are doing, and that is dancing.

Aaron is a Dallas Cowboy fan and so I thought maybe Emmett Smith being on the show would get him to watch...um, no. He said he totally lost all respect for him but I on other hand was blown away with his stage presence (all you dancers out there know what I'm talking about) and ability to perform. And then last year we had Apollo Anton Ohno, the speed skater. He and his cute little Utah partner tore it up!!! This year, I am rooting for...


http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/index?pn=bio#t=star&d=23276

I really wish it would have been Donny but I'm pulling for Marie. Jane Seymour has had ballet training so that will give her a little bit of an advantage, it will be interesting. She's so little and dainty, the Latin dances may eat her alive. I hope Wayne Newton does ok. He is "Mr. Las Vegas" ya know. He may surprise us all coming out of the gate as the "old guy"...we'll have to wait and see...

little update

Just wanted to update the ol' blog. I forgot to post about Braden's baptism. It was a really neat experience. We have Stake baptisms and I was a little sad because I really wanted Braden to have his own little day, like we did when we were kids. We got a call that morning saying that he would be the only one baptized that day. It was nice and I bawled my eyes out when we sang my favorite Primary song of all time- "Baptism". Braden thought I was losing it (he gave me this look like, 'What is wrong with you?') but I just reassured him that I was just happy.

I take a lot of pictures but that day I was a slacker and I should have taken more. We came back to our house for a BBQ (Braden chose the menu) and a nice swim. I took some video of that- I need to figure out how to do that. (Janeece if you're reading this, I enjoy your little videos)

Here's a few pics of Heston's 1st birthday and some pics of Paige just being Paige. She loves Shakira and to hear her sing "My hips don't lie" is too cute!

gotta go!

k

Happy 1st Birthday Heston!

Happy 1st Birthday Heston Robert!
I'm so thankful for this little guy...he's growing up so fast...

The picture in the middle is Hes with my Grandpa. The way Heston is looking at him is just priceless...(Heston was named after Grandpa. My gramps is the handsome guy in the uniform in my previous post.)

Happy 8th Braden!

Happy 8th Birthday Braden!

I love this kid so much...his little "GQ" look cracks me up!

family history

I really enjoy doing family history. I never thought I would say that but it's true. I love hearing stories and finding pictures and getting to know these people who are a part of me.

I'm very grateful to have grown up in the same town with both sets of my grandparents and also my great-grandma. Each one of them experienced many trials in their lives...I'm always humbled by what they experienced. They are truly an inspiration to me.

(Top-Lois Hacking Gray and Robert Marcell Gray)

Calvin David Sorensen and Vel Lavaur Reynolds Sorensen

the purple horse shirt

When we were in Vernal visiting, I decided to take my kids to the rodeo. They had never been and I thought they would enjoy it. We went to the trading post and picked them up hats and t-shirts. Paige picked this number for 2 reasons: 1) it's her favorite color and 2) it had pretty horses on it. Once I bought it for her, I could not get her to take it off she liked it so much. It's so ugly it's cute!!

Braden picked one with a dinosaur on it.

My brother Wes has been dating a girl named Ricci. Her kids Hunter and Gavin are in the pics with the kids. It was fun getting to know them better.

my boys

Can you tell which one is Heston and which one is Braden? It has been so much fun putting my favorite baby clothes of Braden's on Heston. I still can't believe it's been 8 years since Braden was 8 months old, now he's almost 8?!!...I'm tellin' ya, time flies!!!
All 3 of our kids look so much alike in their baby pictures.
Braden is in the bottom pic, Heston is in the top.

pics

Some recent pics i thought I would post.