New Year's Eve 2011

One of the fun traditions that we have in our family is on New Year's Eve. When Mary and I sat down a number of years ago to decide on some traditions for our family, we felt like this one was something that little kids often don't get to enjoy... unless you keep them up at night... but then the adults don't enjoy it :) So we decided to do a pinata on New Years Eve with the kids.





I think we've been doing this for 5-6 years and the kids really enjoy it. They anticipate it and enjoy the candy that they get. Plus, it's always fun to hit something hard with a bat and break it and then get candy for it. That doesn't happen very often! This was the first year (I think) that Jane didn't really need any assistance and it was also Molly's first year of being involved in the candy aspect of it. She was pretty funny because she would pick up a piece and run with it, like it was something that she wasn't supposed to have or get. She often put them in her mouth quickly too so that they couldn't be taken... wrapper and all. It was fun to watch and I'm glad that we have this tradition!

And here is a picture of the mad dash once they were set loose!

Early Morning Scriptures

This year we set some goals together as a family. One of those goals was to improve our scripture study as a family. In the past we have done it in the evening, usually after snack time just before bed. It has always felt a little rushed and like it was "just one more thing to do" before we could get the kids to bed before, as parents, we could have our time to ourselves. Mary has been asking me for a couple of months to consider scriptures in the morning. I was fairly reticent to really consider it because I know that she is not a morning person and I know that I don't like my morning pre-work ritual broken up or impeded and so I'm sometimes a little irritable when it is.

Nevertheless, we talked more about it and I was ready to get on board with this change. We talked about it with the kids and they were game (for the most part). This means that I get up about 25 mins earlier than normal and we rouse the kids around 6:50 so that they can be ready to read at about 7:00. There has certainly been some grumpiness from the kids about this (mostly Sarah) but the actual content of our reading has been so much more meaningful and we have actually had good discussion at times and been able to ask questions and get coherent responses (for the most part).

In my perception of our scripture reading in the past I have felt that we and they have not been very focused and to get through a couple of verses with some meaningful understanding on their part was a huge success. Additionally, I think that I saw this as "good enough" because I felt that maybe the scriptures were still a little over their heads, to some degree Now, I feel like they are really understanding what is happening from one day to the next - they are able to follow the story and we can meaningfully pull out the principles for them to look at and consider. It certainly helps that they are semi-conscious, but I don't think that is even accurate. It's more like their minds are awake but their bodies aren't quite awake yet to be real active and distracting. It has been great! This has also helped us to have a less-rushed and more consistent family prayer together before I head off to work.

I hope to leave for work before 7:20 (so I can be at work at 7:30) and I have to make sure that I have had breakfast and am ready for the day when I wake the kids up for scriptures in the morning. The funny thing about Sarah's grumpiness is that she rarely missed out on saying goodbye to me before I left for work previously, so the kids (with Jane as an exception, as she would sometimes sleep in for a bit in the past) are really only getting up about 10-15 mins earlier than normal.

It has helped, I think, that we have been reading in Alma about Captain Moroni (which is where we were at before the new year) as I think that is a bit more exciting for the kids. I have been impressed with how easy it is for the kids to understand what we have been reading just by having the reading in the morning. It's been great and I'm grateful for a wife that helped us to move in the right direction with our scriptures.

Oh, and I hope that it would be obvious that we do not get up Molly at her age yet. We'll probably wait until she is out of Nursery or is waking up closer to that time. I know this isn't possible for some families depending on what time the parent(s) leave for work but it has been a great blessing to us for the last couple of weeks and we hope for years to come.

Apple & Pumpkin Picking 2011

This year for our Halloween pumpkins, we went to Gordon Skagit Farms just west of Mt Vernon. They have a great little place. They have a corn maze (which we skipped due to the wet and blustery weather) as well as a U-Pick apple orchard with apples that were amazingly delicious!

There was no entry cost for any of the stuff and the pumpkins seemed cheaper than others around and the apples were a great price. Plus, the kids enjoyed picking the apples themselves and being able to eat them immediately. Admittedly, we bought too many apples, but we were able to make and preserve some good applesauce out of those that were getting a little soft a couple of months later.


The kids enjoyed picking out their pumpkins, though some of them agonized a little much over which one was "just right". They also enjoyed seeing some of their "giant pumpkins". Overall, they had fun and were grateful to have some "warm" cocoa when they got home. We plan on making this a family tradition each year.

Easter 2010

We are so grateful to celebrate Easter and it is a meaningful and fun tradition in our family. We do the fun stuff on Saturday and the more spiritual stuff together on Sunday. For our spiritual aspect we often read or talk about Christ's resurrection and the significance of this in our lives and in the gospel plan. The kids always have so many specific questions and it is fun to talk about these things.

Below are pictures and brief explanations of some of our Easter traditions.



One of our Easter traditions is to color eggs. The kids seem to enjoy doing it even if the colors don't turn out exactly the way that they were hoping. However, the kids, especially Sarah, are distraught when we start wanting to eat them. They don't like to see their eggs eaten and they don't like the hard-boiled yolks. They get over it.





Easter Egg Hunt! We do the egg hunt (with plastic eggs containing candy) at least as a family and that's what we did this year. The kids enjoy finding the eggs and we enjoy hiding them. Sarah (and Nathan to a lesser extent) were good about letting Jane find some too - often with Mom or Dad's help. The kids very much enjoy the contents of the Easter eggs as well!



For Easter the kids get a basket that they have to find hidden in the house somewhere. They get some kind of a spiritual gift and then some candy and a simple fun gift (like a coloring book or stuffed animal). This year, all of the kids got frogs as they were given to us from a lady in the ward. Nathan particularly enjoyed his and named him Poxy. Sarah and Jane's have kind of been lost in the shuffle (or for good?) of some of their other stuffed animals.

Easter '09

For Easter we did our traditional stuff. On Saturday we dyed eggs and had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard for plastic eggs with candy in them. The kids really enjoyed both of these activities and Nathan held his own this year in the egg hunt and just needed a little help.




Nathan and Sarah wanted pictures with two of the eggs that they dyed. They were really sad when we ate them for lunch on Sunday.

They enjoyed helping each other on the egg hunt and it was sweet to see how excited they both were for each other's finds.

Sunday morning we went to church and enjoyed a great service. I spoke for a little bit as I was released from my calling in the Bishopric (I'm now serving in the Young Men's organization... for the first time! Fun!) After church we delivered some goodies to some friends down the street and then when we were walking back home there was a lady walking her ponies down the street of our neighborhood (yes, I'm in Idaho). The kids enjoyed seeing them but didn't feel like getting too close.

The kids always get a basket with candy, a chocolate easter bunny, something fun and something spiritual. They enjoyed their treats for a number of days and enjoy their spiritual things at church on Sunday during Sacrament meeting each week. After the baskets, we had a special family testimony meetings where we each shared our testimonies about the Gospel and the impact of Christ and His teachings on us. It's a nice tradition and the kids (mostly Sarah) seem to enjoy it.

I usually get up early on Sunday mornings for meetings but since it was Easter and I was getting released we just had one meeting briefly before sacrament meeting. I woke up extra early (because my back hurt and sleeping was futile) and read the portion of Christ's resurrection from each of the four Gospel's and then read Elder Bruce R. McConkie's concluding talk in General Conference titled "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane" from 1985, which is an amazing talk. Anyway, it was a great morning and I am so thankful for the Resurrection of my Lord and Savior and for the living effects of the Atonement that He wrought for everyone.

Green Eggs for the Hamm's

We had an enjoyable St. Patrick's Day this year. We enjoy making green food and talking about how lucky we are.

For dinner, we made Fritatta and added a good amount of food coloring. It turned out to have quiet a neon-green looking color. The kids were excited to eat this and they actually really enjoy this meal, one of the all-around family favorites. We also had cucumbers, grapes and a lemon-lime soda with extra limes in the drink. Jane even joined in on the fun and ate some avocado.

Christmas '08

So, this is obviously long overdue, but if timeliness was a requirement I would've had to stop blogging long ago. Anyway, the kids didn't get up earlier than normal, which was nice... in fact I think they didn't get up until after 7 am (we'll enjoy this while it lasts). The tradition in my family growing up was to take a picture of the kids just before they got to run down the hall and open the presents. We have continued this tradition so here is our little trio together for Christmas for the first time. It was a beautiful morning, having snowed much of the night and it continued to snow for much of the day.

Nathan's Christmas was all about Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. He got this little interactive book (pic below) from his Nanu and Bumpa (Mary's parents) as well as Thomas PJ's, another book and a bunch of the trains that you'll see below. He also got a Disney Characters "I Spy" book that he really enjoys as well. He got a Dinoco (CARS) helicopter from Uncle Kris and some art supply stuff from his Aunt Jenny's family. The kid was in heaven! Thanks for all the wonderful gifts everyone.

Could this reaction be any more excited! Sarah got some first readers books from her Oma and Opa (my parents) and has really enjoyed them (if only she'd read them instead of trying to memorize the story and then just quoting it almost word for word after a couple of reads!). She got some My Little Ponies from her Uncle Kris, some play food stuff from Nanu and Bumpa, and some art supply stuff from Aunt Jenny's family. She also received a hat and glove set from her cousin Ruby. Thanks again for everything.

My Mom made this adorable skirt for Sarah and a matching one for Jane that they both should be able to wear in a few months. Adorable... Sarah is really excited and both of her matching outfits with Jane have come from her Oma and Opa and they look so cute together.

As mentioned above, Nathan got a bunch of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. The pic above is of the stuff that he got from his Oma and Opa. Mary and I were so particularly excited for Nathan's Christmas because he's at the age where we know (sometimes) what he wants (and this year it was SO obvious) but he's not to the point where he's really asking for it. So we knew it would be (and it was) a totally, unexpected surprise of pure delight! It's so fun to be a parent at Christmas and seeing your kids get so excited over their presents. Anyway, so Nathan got this James and Rickety combo pictured above. As soon as he gets it he says "James" and takes them and runs into the toy room where his brio train tracks are (we've had a bunch of this for a while but we haven't really had any Thomas pieces to go with it) and starts playing. After a bit we go in and tell him that there are more presents to open. So he comes back in and opens the large set that we had gotten him with a bunch more Thomas characters and some more track. As soon as he opens this up he says "Huh! James!" and runs into the toy room to retrieve James where he had left it and bring them all together. The kid could not have been happier and it was so fun because, for the most part, he woke up that morning not expecting much of anything. So cute! Here he is below after his Dad totally loved using some of the new pieces to build a really cool train-track.
When we were younger (I don't even remember actually doing it) we all designed our own plates and then they were somehow laminated or something so we had them for a number of years. I know we did these at Christmas at some point because we always thought my Dad's plate was the coolest and it had some kind of a Santa on it, or something. Anyway, my parents got us this plate set for Sarah and Nathan and Jane to do some plates. Sarah was the only one that really did one on her own and it was pretty adorable as you can see above (it's a "kitty cat"). Nathan's was his hand traced, a little bird, and some clouds in the middle and then around the outside of the plate was some train track and then a bunch of the Thomas character's names as Nathan announced them. Jane's was cute too as it just had some stats about her being born and what she was currently doing (crawling, eating, nursing every three hours, getting bit by Nathan, talking, and some other stuff I can't remember). Anyway, we were really excited about these and the kids were excited to use them. However, unfortunately, it apparently wasn't a very good product as the dishwasher destroyed the finish on the plates the first time we ran them. We were really disappointed as we had carefully followed the directions :^( It was a really cute idea though!

The rest of our day was just spent with Mary and I playing some games and just enjoying relaxing. Last year we had these grand plans to cook this great dinner and then never got out of our jammies. So this year we changed course a bit and just did a whole bunch of appetizers. We made some really good stuffed mushrooms, had little smokies, cheese logs, wassail, and some other stuff. We just let the kids play all day and really enjoyed the day, though we terribly missed not being in W. WA with my family. However, we were grateful that we didn't plan on going because the weather certainly would've kept us at home. Anyway, we hope everyone had a wonderfully Merry Christmas! God Bless!

Christmas Eve '08

So on Christmas Eve in mid-afternoon, we were out delivering the last of our goodies to friends. We dropped by one family that we haven't spent a lot of time with but have been wanting to get to know more and who have watched our kids on occasion for Mary during the day. Anyway, when we stopped by they spontaneously invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner. Being lonely and missing company (family) and knowing that they were kind of in the same boat (used to big gatherings) we were excited to spend the evening with them. Instead of a simple yummy broccoli cheese soup for dinner, we had that plus ham, potatoes, homemade rolls and all the other good stuff. Their family does a pinata on Christmas Eve and so we had fun doing that with them and just being around them. Nathan loved just playing by himself with all their Thomas the Train stuff (a preview of sorts for him!) in the other room. Sarah loved being around their girls who are mostly a few years older. We enjoyed hanging out with DeRay and Emily. DeRay was preparing to go kayaking on Jan 1st (CRAZY!). Anyway, it was great fun and filled our need to spend some of Christmas with others. They were great surrogate family and it was so kind of them to have us over on short notice!

Here's Nathan swinging for the homemade pinata. He really enjoyed this (and so did Daddy!)

Here's Sarah giving it a good thump. She almost got hit one time diving in for candy a little too soon.

After spending time with our friends we went home and let the kids open their traditional new set of PJ's on Christmas Eve. They were both excited!

Jane did get some new PJ's as well but they don't quite fit her but they do match a pair that Sarah wore, so that'll be fun when they can wear them together. Jane was just as happpy with the tinsel and the bows! What a doll!
We got a little Nativity set from some friends in our Church earlier in the day and the kids had fun playing with that in their new jammies before bedtime. It was a nice Christmas Eve for our family.

General Conference

The 178th Semi-Annual General Conference for our Church was held on Oct 4-5. WOW! I don't think I've been so amazed by the messages as I was this time. It seemed like there were so many where at the end of the talk I said "I have to read that one right away". I was excited when they came out available on-line last Thursday. I can't wait until the Conference Ensign Magazine is mailed to us in November. Anyway, it's a really enjoyable weekend in several ways:

-Amazing Messages

-Participating in Church Services from home... in my jammies, at least on Saturday.

-No, or at least less yard work

-Family Traditions

We try to make this an event for our little family by doing the following traditions:

POPCORN! We all love it and it is an easy snack (just a little greasy) and keeps the kids sitting with us together watching the conference session. It's a nice tradition and Sarah started reminding us about it as soon as the first session started on Saturday morning. It's nice to have the kids excited about something related to this special event.

We do like to dress up a little on Sundays, even if we're not going to go to church.

The second thing we do is Pizza for dinner on Saturday. We usually get pizza from the store but this year we decided to make our own and the kids enjoyed it. They turned out really good and the kids enjoyed them!

This is a cute story below. While Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was speaking the kids were playing on the floor and having a fun time. During his message he told a really touching story about a boy who crossed a dangerous river on his horse to retrieve his family's cows. Anyway, the boy realized he did something he shouldn't have done in crossing the river and said a prayer. Shortly thereafter his Dad came to him and helped him and likely saved his life. Anyway, as Elder Holland was telling the story, Sarah was playing with some animals on the little shelf that supports our computer monitor. I was watching her play and then started paying attention to what she was playing with. Yep, as the pic below shows, she was playing with a horse, a little farmer and a cow. She then recounted the story to us when we inquired about what she was doing with those figures. Kids are always learning, even (and probably especially) when they're playing!
Anyway, what a GREAT weekend! I look forward to studying up on the inspiring messages!

Sibling Hikes/Excursions

This is the fourth year that Mary and I have done our own hikes/excursions with our siblings (Mary with her siblings, me with my bro's and my dad). Mary's info is down below mine.
This year for our hike we went to the Alpine Wilderness Area in the Cascades, which is where we spent most of our time as Scouts. We had never done this hike before but Mary and her siblings did this hike their first year and we had planned to do it two years ago but they had fire in the area that year. This was the first year that Robb was able to go, and it was fun to have him. Jordan and my Dad and I have gone every year and we had Braden two years ago with us. Next year we hope to have everybody (including Chris). We camped at Hyas Lake and visited Little Hyas Lake as well as Tuck Lake. It is right near Deception Pass and Hyas Lake is just below Cathedral Rock. Mary and I and the kids drove over to Robb and Heather's on Wed evening and then Robb and I got up early and met my Dad and Jordan in Cle Elum, WA and headed up to the trailhead.

We had, as usual, a great time. This was the best weather we've ever had and that made it that much better (last year we had snow in September and two years ago it rained most of the time... and Braden had some explosive trots). We enjoyed playing "Greed" (a fun dice-game learned from Mary's family) and just chatting and being outdoors. One of our main criteria for selecting a site is that we want to be able to have a fire, which is a must and we enjoyed having one this year.

Some highlights:
-No one had the trots
-It didn't snow
-It didn't rain
-It wasn't cold
-Robb got bit by a mouse... in his tent (AWESOME - and it would only happen to Robb if you know our family! - I love you Robb!)
-Being far enough away from my Dad to not hear him snoring.
-Beautiful location
-The rotating "chair hierarchy" based upon your place (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th) in the last game of dice - that made the game a little more competitive.
-Trying to catch the chipmunk

Anyway, we had an absolute blast and look forward to doing it next year. Here are some pics:

Here we are at our camp before we headed out on our day trip up to Tuck Lake. It was a great day-trip!
I always wish that most of the pictures that are taken are more close-up. This picture is an exception... and I'm sure you'll agree. Jordan's the tan one, I'm the short one. We did actually go "swimming" (we didn't actually swim, but we did all fully submerge in water above our heads, even if it was very brief for Robb and I).
We had one chipmunk that was everywhere in the camp and into anything it could possibly get into... except our bucket. We had him on several occasions but the bucket would over tip and he would scamper out. We were disappointed that we never actually got him.
As the pic above of Robb, me and Jordan attests, this really was a brutal climb, more steep then any other hike that I've been on. I understood why everyone that we passed coming down had hiking poles as it seemed like almost a safety necessity that we were lacking while coming down.

Here we are way up above Hyas Lake and that's Cathedral Rock right above us in the background. We are less than 1/4 mile from Tuck Lake at this point and are looking forward to lunch and an extended break. This provided a nice lookout.
Here we are at Tuck Lake for lunch on Friday. Although we were ambitious and wanted to go to the upper lake (Robin Lakes), our legs and stamina were telling us otherwise. After all, wisdom is the better part of valor, right!

I'm hoping that the pic above and the pic below can be merged to include all of us together (Rebecca?)... or at least we tried to set it up that way. We couldn't get the timer thing on the camera to work (Operator Error?).

Here we are next to the Roslyn Cafe, where we ate lunch on the way home. It's always nice to eat at a decent restaurant after a good couple of days in the wilderness. I'm sure the other customers don't always appreciate our ora, but we enjoy ourselves. My Dad always loved the show Northern Exposure which was filmed in Roslyn, so it was fun to drive through the town and to eat lunch there.


Every year for Mary's gathering either she or her sister has been pregnant and the other one that is not pregnant has had a nursing infant with them. And, believe it or not, this is the first year that they didn't go hiking! When one is carrying a baby and the other is pregnant, you can imagine that Mary's brothers have had to carry A LOT of the weight when they would hike... and that's certainly been the case. They're real troopers! This year they went to McCall over Labor Day weekend and enjoyed their time up there playing games and talking and enjoying the beauty of McCall. Here are some pics of their time up in McCall:

Mary with her younger brother Kris with Jane. Thanks for making the drive Kris!
Mary with her older brother Michael... thanks for making the flight, then the drive!
Kris working diligently on the fire they had in the firepit we built this summer. Why is he building a fire you might ask? For Foil-Dinners...yummi!
Here's Michael multi-tasking: talking on the phone to his "girlfriend" and putting together some foil-dinner goodness.
Here's Michael on the phone again - but hiding it. Mary & Kris gave him 5 minute time limits which he pretty much kept - except in the wee hours of night. This is one drawback of not being in the wilderness - technology.