What happens with a day off...

Life has been so full of stuff lately; school, homework, patients, preparing lessons for RS, practicing the organ (of which I have now been offically called to do and am excited to broaden my horizons and develop my talents), mommy duty, wife duty, craft projects (what made me decside to start these I have no idea) and what ever sleep I can manage. School I guess is same old same old, I guess it is just the seniorititis that is kicking in. There also is the small detail that I am studying for the tests that tell me I am qualified to get a job... a small but very important detail. Church has been hard, really hard the last month or so. Payton is such a doll and we love her, but on Sundays words could not describe how we feel. Chad and I rotate weeks who 'gets' her during the 2nd and 3rd hours, but the past few weeks with me playing the organ and teaching Chad has gotten the raw deal. Overall I think it is the looming idea that church is going to be this way for a long time if we are planning on more kids...oh well :) As for the crafts, I dont that I really wanted to do them I just did them becuase I've been meaning to for so long and I was tired of looking at the stuff I bought to do them. But they are finished now, a new shelf and decorated letters for Paytons wall. So I guess my point of listing this is I had a day off today, at least from everything but mommy duty and wife duty. We spent a wonderful day at the zoo thanks to the creative christmas present of a year membership to the Denver Zoo.

Today was a wonderful day to be at the zoo there was no one there!! It was a little chilly but that's okay with me becuase the animals were a little less stinky than I remember over the summer. The highlights of the day were Elephants (Paytons fav), the Giraffes (my fav) and the Monkeys (becuase who doesn't love the monkeys?!).

Payton loved the animals, especially the roaming geese and peacocks which she would run after when we put her down. I may not be a little kid anymore but I still am amazed at the animals when I go- how big they are, what their skin looks like and how the move, it's great! I know I am looking forward to going again and I am also excited to see Payton's reactions to the animals as she grows up and understands more. As a final stop we went to the gift shop and Payton got a giraffe stuffed animal to add to her collection.

Well it is snowing and I am really not looking forward to my drive tomorrow, at least it's Thursday and only a half day, YEAH! Oh and LOST starts too, DOUBLE YEAH!!

Our Christmas Trip

School started again and things have been crazy. Even though we just got back from Christmas break I can't help wondering when the next one is...

This year we decided to spend some of our break visiting family. On the 27th of December we left at 8 in the morning on a day that 6-10'' was forecast for the Denver area. Heading out in the snow we are lucky to say we missed the worst of the storm. The drive was great, Payton was a trooper sleeping and eating most of the way!!

Our trip consisted of stopping in Utah to see our good friends Brandon and Sarah. We went to Temple Square which was beautifully lit for the holidays and played a fun game of The Settlers of Catan (which we have been hooked on ever since). We left the bitter cold of Utah and headed North to Idaho to see Great Grandma Coke and Grandpa Charley. We had a nice time visiting over lunch and a tricky puzzle. With a quick hello in Rexberg to the Marquez family we were on our final stretch to Dillon Montana. We enjoyed the two days with Great Grandma Mae and Grandpa Bert, playing cards, giving lessons on how to use the computer and eating...boy did we eat!! Grandma and Grandpa fixed us up really well with home grown fried chicken, sausage, bacon and eggs for breakfast, and on our final night a steak that only a picture could describe :) What topped off the stay was Grandmas final offer if we stayed an extra day- Prime rib! Payton is going to miss her nightly bath in Great Grandmas Huge jet tub. Our drive back was windy and snowy but we didn't have any problems. We made good time pulling in about 9:30pm and enjoyed celebrating the New Year. It was a great trip and we enjoyed seeing all of our family. Thanks for the great memories!!

The Start of Something New

So this is our family. Chad, Shanda and Payton Hammond. We are very busy with both Chad and I in school and our one year old daughter Payton who is interested in everything. Though we are always on the go one things is for sure, we love it!!

With so much changing Chad and I agreed that this would be a great way to let all of our family and friends know what's going on in our life. While we are excited about this, there are no promises of consistant or lengthy posts...but be assured if there is something good happening in the Hammond house you will know about it sooner or later :)