Birthday Boy

Jordan turns 11!! It's hard to believe little Jordie is growing up so fast! He just celebrated his birthday last Friday with the family. Dad was out of town until afternoon. Poor Jordan got abandoned mid afternoon on his birthday so Mom and Dad could go up to girls' camp with the rest of the bishopric and their wives for bishopric night. We felt bad, but Grandma Barfuss was here to take care of him. We did have a fabulous made to order breakfast of oven eggs, bacon, and grapefruit. Then we braved the scary dollar theater in West Valley to watch Campus Road Trip--a gripping, all-too-Disney movie extravaganza. After lunch, I just had time to grab a bite of this delicious ice cream cake before I had to leave. (One of my best birthday cake concoctions yet, if I do say so myself!! Yum!) We made up for the abandonment the following day with a friend party at the park--laser tag, pizza, cupcakes, presents, and then home for a movie and goofing around. Here is a photo of the gun slingin' group at the park:

Yes, that is a lone girl gun slinger! She held her own with the boys!

Nice Shiner!!

So, Paul and I escaped for a couple of days to celebrate his birthday (I won't say how old he is, but I will just make a comment that he is OLDER THAN ME!!). We weren't gone more than 5 minutes when Eric ran into the arm of the couch as Grandma's house and ended up with this nice shiner. Apparantly this is looking really good (2 days after the incident) compared to the day of when it was practically swollen shut! Good thing Grandma didn't call to report it or we would have added another worry to our list as we were trying to relax! We were already worried about Justin up at scout camp since he called us the first night we were childless to report a whole list of woes, starting with his club foot which is already a pain issue for him daily. But add on to that a plantar's wart on that heel, and a twisted ankle on the same foot which occurred 5 minutes before leaving for camp Monday morning. All in all, it was a week of injuries and self pity for the Hammond boys. On the flip side, despite worrying a little about Justin, we had a great time on our little get away!!

Beating the Heat

So, now that summer is finally here and we are enjoying temperatures in the 90's and 100's, the electrical company decides it must be time to "do some work in the area" which requires them to turn off our power for a mere 9 hours! (or so the notice on the door said this last week) Now you might think the thought of no A/C all day was truly the most devestating thought, but I must say, coming in a close second at least was the realization that there would be no Disney Channel or DVD player to keep the 3 year old occupied so that I could sleep in!!! The power was to go off at 8 a.m. on Friday. So, I prepped the kids really well Thursday night explaining how there would be no TV, video games, or computer on Friday. I told them they would have to wake up and actually play with the boatload of toys that litter our toy room in the basement. I also went over how they could not get into the fridge or freezer unless I was present (they tend to try to air condition the house with that appliance--anyone else have that problem?). Well, as I was trying to sleep in (not always possible with Eric), I kept waiting for my nice cool ceiling fan to suddenly stop. But, low and behold, it kept going. The kids actually played with toys and games, and I did get a little bit of extra sleep in between Eric tattling on everyone or informing me that he needed to go to the potty. Why do kids have to announce that? Anyway....we had made plans to go to the pool as soon as it opened at noon and spend the afternoon, trying to stay cool while the power was supposedly out. By the time we left, the power was still going strong. It went out shortly before we returned when I realized that my keys to the house were in my other purse, locked up tightly inside of the house. With no power, no electric garage door. We were so close to being stranded outside in our swimwear for the everning, but shockingly, I had neglected to lock the back door preventing the breaking and entry plan I was about to put into action! All in all, an interesting day. Here are some photos from our pool excursion.

Eric hangin' with his friend Tysen.

Justin with his good buddy Brett.

Tyler and Jordan are trying out the new snorkling gear.

Making a splash at the fountain.

I didn't do it!!

"Mom, I think that window is broken. It has cracks all over it." --This is the lovely surprise I woke up to Monday morning! Nobody would claim credit for it--I wonder why? After blaming Tyler for quite some time, we finally got it out of Eric that he had, in fact, done it. How, you might ask? He threw a marble, of course! Said marble was laying on the floor under the "bullet hole" as we so lovingly call it! When the snap, crackle, pop sounds died down, I called a repair shop to explain the dire need for it to be replaced before the whole thing crumbled to the floor. When the receptionist learned I had four boys, she basically told me to "have your vacuum ready! It won't last through the day!" Luck must be on our side. A week later, waiting for the replacement to come in, and it's still going strong!

4th of July

For the 4th of July the three older boys, Mom, and Dad enjoy 18 holes of fabulous golf (using the term loosely as only Dad got anywhere near qualifying as "fabulous") at Schneiter's Bluff up in West Point where Paul used to work. It was overcast and breezy, and we had a great time! Eric enjoyed the parade, games in the park, and a movie with Aunt Alisha. We ended the day with a BBQ at home, sparklers, and some fireworks.

Eric got brave this year and tried out the "sprinklers"--as he calls them.

Still fun at 10.

Not so much at 13!

I think Tyler's just burned out!