Dad's Birthday!

We celebrated Dad's birthday today!!!

"Kelly Patrick"

Kelly - warrior, fighter

Patrick - noble, patrician

meaning behind his name: "noble warrior"

We are so thankful to have such a man as our Dad!  He has strong leadership qualities and an amazing sense of discernment.  We love you Dad and thank God so much for you and your influence in our lives.  Happy, happy birthday!

Mom and Dad's Anniversary

Today, my sweet parents are celebrating their 31st wedding anniversary!

They have blessed our family with a legacy of love, of commitment, of sharing and caring through the good times and the bad.  They are a beautiful representation of what a godly marriage should look like.  They have never let divorce become an "option" word in the marriage or in their thoughts.  They have prayed for the marriages of all of their children from the time of our births, asking God to bless us with godly spouses who will serve Him.  They are a wonderful example and I'm so thankful that the Lord blessed us with them as our parents.

Happy Anniversary Dad & Mom!  We love you both soooooo much!

Mom & Dad

Dad (Kelly) and Mom (Shelly) are the parents of the Hammond Clan.

(Ha, ha, no kidding, right!)

They are both enjoying 31 years of marriage to each other and are praying for many more years to come.  They have blessed us in so many ways, not only as wonderful, godly examples of a Christian marriage, but in everyday living.

Mom continues to be a stay-at-home mother who is almost through homeschooling her kids after having done it for the past 18 years!  Wow, what a teaching record!  She has been a wonderful source of information and help when it comes to schooling, parenting, teaching, training, and marriage.  She offers great advice, but never pushes to make sure that you're doing what she says.

Dad is still enjoying being pastor of our small, wonderful church.  He loves his flock and enjoys preparing the messages each week and fellowshipping with everyone.  He's the kind of guy who everybody likes and trusts, so the combination make him a great pastor.  He's always available to talk and offer advice or prayer.  

Mom and Dad are more than just parents; they are our best friends.  Both of them keep a close relationship with Savannah, Ethan and Noah since they are still at home, but they also maintain a close relationship with their grown/married children as well.

Dad and Mom are thrilled to be grandparents and enjoy the little ones when they come for a visit!  They are looking forward to many more little blessings in the years to come.

Mom keeps busy with housework as well as farm work.  Whether it's cleaning up the kitchen or fixing fences, Mom and Savannah are usually right there doing it together.

They continue to operate Trail Ridge Farm & Grade A Goat Dairy.  They have had to reduce the herd a little and double up on chores as we children grow up and marry, but they are still enjoying the goats and selling the cheese.  Mom is the main cheesemaker and herdswoman, and Dad is the main marketeer, promoter and seller.

Now that all of us kids are older, they have been getting the chance to go away on some mini vacations together.  They spent a few days up in Ohio at a wedding this past spring and are looking forward to going to Maine this fall.

Dad continues with his pool & pond business and now has the boys who help him with it.  It's nice to see all three of them doing it together.  

Dad has also taken up volleyball with the guys, as well as disc golf.  All of them enjoy the competition and camaraderie it affords.  It's something that gets them all out there playing together and having fun.

We are so thankful to have them as our parents and pray that the Lord would bless them with many more years of serving Him!

"We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done.  For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments."

Psalm 78:4-7

Dad's Birthday!!!

On April 29th, Dad celebrated his 52nd birthday!!!

Our dad is a wonderful guy with a big heart and a huge sense of humor! 

 (These pictures will give you a taste of just how big of a sense of humor my Dad has!)

He loves to laugh and loves to have fun and loves to make others laugh.  He has led our family down the straight and narrow path and for that I am eternally thankful.  He is a godly man, full of wisdom and discernment.  

We are so thankful to have you in our lives Dad, and we are so grateful to God for blessing us with you.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad's Birthday!

Fond Memory:  When the three of us girls were little, Dad worked shift work.  On many occasions when Dad couldn't be there to personally tell us goodnight or good morning, he would leave little sticky notes on the wall beside our beds with a little personal note for each one of us.  When we'd awake in the morning, it was always so special to find a little letter from Dad!  We have saved our little notes in our keepsake boxes and enjoy going back to read them.

Funny Moment: For Dad's 30th birthday Mom was going to throw a surprise party for him.  So she asked my cousin to take him shopping for one hour, let everyone arrive, and then bring him back.  Well...the designated time came and went, everyone was already at the party waiting for the birthday boy, who was nowhere to be found.  My Mom finally got ahold of my cousin and asked him where he was at.  My cousin replied that he couldn't get Dad to come home because Dad was having a good time out shopping.  Mom said,"Well, think of something, but get him home quick!  We're all waiting!"  My cousin eventually thought of an idea to get Dad to head home.  He arrived home very surprised to find a party waiting for him!

Flashback...

Dad and Jordan

Happy birthday Dad!  We hope and pray that this year brings you many blessings, more than you can count!  We love you and are so thankful for you.  You lead our family well and we are so glad that you are our father!  You keep a smile on all of our faces and you never run out of new things to try and do.  Praising the Lord for you!

Love ya lots!

Joshua 24:15b

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

My wonderful parents...

Dad's 50th Birthday!

dependable determined diligent friendly fun godly loving 
quick-learner strong

April 29th, we celebrated with Dad for his 50th birthday!  It was on a Saturday, so we surprised him when he arrived home from the farmer's market by telling him we were taking him somewhere!  We loaded up in the van with Mom driving and took him to the local bowling alley where we enjoyed a competitive friendly game of bowling!  After that we further surprised him by taking him out to Outback Steakhouse for supper!

He is such a wonderful father and we couldn't ask for anyone better!  He is a wise man with a truly discerning spirit and we love him so much!  We thank God for you, Dad, and hope your day was special!

Favorite Verse: 
"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:14

A Surprise Visit to Canada

For the past few months, Dad and Mom have secretly been working on a plan to surprise Jordan with a visit.  They were blessed to receive two free plane tickets and decided to use them to go for her birthday.  It would also give them a chance to see her halfway through her pregnancy.  So after a lot of planning, last week they succeeded in surprising her by traveling up to Canada!

Last Tuesday, we took Dad and Mom to the airport.  From there, they had one stop in Philadelphia and from there, straight on to the Ottawa airport, where Mrs. Debbie Yuck and Bethany were waiting to pick them up and take them to Caleb and Jordan's house.  By this point it was now about 10:30 at night.  Caleb had been let in on the surprise a few weeks prior to the trip, so while Mrs. Debbie was transporting Mom and Dad to Caleb and Jordan's house, Caleb was busy trying to keep Jordan awake.  He popped in the Ten Commandments dvd with the intention of watching all four hours if need be!  Shortly before midnight, Dad and Mom arrived at their house.  Bethany Yuck, Caleb's sister, then called Jordan and told her to go look out the front window at the Northern Lights because "they were just beautiful tonight"!  To Jordan's surprise, when she opened the shades to look out her front window, Mom and Dad were standing on her porch!

The plan worked!

Mom and Dad spent almost a week up there, enjoying their time with Victoria, Caleb, Jordan and the whole Yuck family.  Below are some pictures from their time there…

This is Jordan's front window where Dad and Mom were waiting to surprise her!  Look at all that snow!

Ice skating on the Rideau Canal...

 They brought Victoria's little sled and she loved it so much that two hours later when it was time to go home, she didn't want to quit!

Food vendors on ice!

Mom, Jordan and Victoria

They ended up eating their lunch at a picnic table on the ice!  Brrrrrr!

 Group photo

Eating out, enjoying a lemon!

They were able to celebrate Jordan's birthday while they were there.

Caleb

The four young Yuck ladies sporting their beautiful hairdo's!

 Victoria, enjoying her food….sitting up like a big girl!

They were able to attend a hockey game of Caleb's favorite team, the Senators!  This was Victoria's first time staying with Grammy and Grandpa Yuck for an extended amount of time without her mommy, but she did an excellent job.  She had lots of aunties to help keep her busy!

Mom giving Victoria her bottle.  Look at how big that little girlie is getting!

Victoria has just started walking, so it was a real treat for Mom and Dad to be able to see her in person!

In her adorable red sled...

...all smiles!!!

Daddy giving her rides in the sled

Cute little monkey with a cute monkey hat!

I love her smile in this photo!

Jordan sent us the photos below from Victoria's 1st birthday party from a few days before Christmas!

 

This was Christmas morning!

After their lovely visit with all the Yucks, Dad and Mom flew back in on Monday, where we were excitedly waiting to pick them up!  We arrived a little early, so we were able to watch their plane come in and we even saw the truck go by with Dad's suitcase on it!

We picked them up and then we all went out to eat at the Flight Deck (that delicious restaurant I was telling you about in one of my last posts).  We had a wonderful time of catching up and hearing all about their trip.  We are glad that they were able to go and we were thrilled to see their pictures when they got back!

(The tall fellow in the back is Superman! He,he,he!)

Superman #1, Superman #2, and Superman #3...

When we arrived home that night, this picture was waiting in our email inbox...

Victoria in her swimsuit all ready for Florida!

Just a few short weeks away and they'll be making their annual trip!  We can't wait to see them again!

P.S. After writing this post, I realized you all might be wondering what we kids did during that week while the folks were away.  Well...we ate TV dinners, and watched movies, and stayed up late, and played games, and ate way too much dessert, and just took it easy.  Oh, and we did all the farm work, chores and jobs while they were gone as well.  But, we had a fun time at home and had our own little vacation! : )