Jaron's 2 1/2

Our little boy is 2 1/2 today. So I thought I would write about him today. He is always making me laugh even if it shouldn't be funny. Like when I tell him I don't want to play baseball with him and he asks me in a stern voice, "Do you need a spankin'?" or when he turns the chair in the kitchen to the microwave, puts his cat on the chair and tells me I need to set the timer because, "His cat is in timeout." He is watching, watching very closely, and learning, so watch out world.

This first video is of him being Mom/Dad. I guess we are a little too firm when we put him to bed sometimes?

He is learning the good stuff too though. He loves to go to nursery. Not so much sacrament yet, but that is even getting better. So most days of the week he gets ready to go to church himself and sometimes even leaves the house in his attempt. I recorded our conversation one evening.



He loves to sing. When asked his favorite song he says "I Am a Child of God and He has Sent Me Here." That is what the song is called. He also likes to sing ABC's and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I could continue on with what he likes to sing, but that could take a while.



As you can tell by the above performance he has a lot of energy and has a hard time holding still! His new thing is the Move it, Move it song from the end of Madagascar. He often changes the words to things such as "I like to eat it, eat it," or something of the sort.



He is really smart, I bet every mother thinks her child is but in any case. He knows his letters (struggles with a few lower case ones), shapes (we are working on the not so common ones such as rhombus . . .) , numbers (working on counting to twenty), colors (his favorite is pink) and is currently working on spelling his name. Here is that work in progress.



So that is what he is up to these days. We sure love him!

Raging Waters

The Resident Council sponsored Raging Waters day was a lot of fun. Too bad Don couldn't come : ( Jaron spent 3 hours in the water a new record for him. The picture of him folding his arms is because I wouldn't let him get in the hot pool. Such a mean mom I am.

Discovery Gateway

For our anniversary gift Don's parents did something a little different, but fun. We went to Discovery Gateway and out to lunch. Jaron has such a good time! He played with the balls, and water those were his two favorite things. His little mind is just a sponge right now and it was a great place to go for that.

Poor Don

So yet again Don has hurt his knee. Last night while playing church ball his left knee was dislocated. It is not the same knee that he had ACL surgery on. I just want to say what a great job he did through the whole thing at staying calm and keeping it together.
The guys that were there with him had to come and bang on my door to wake me up. They were going to try and get him into the back of one of their trucks and take him to the ER. The boys there were unable to get pop it back in for him. When they tried to move him he started to go into shock. His fingers wouldn't bend and the whole works. Don had training in what to do in these situations so was yelling out orders for the guys so that he wouldn't get deeper into shock. At this point they realized with who was there they would not be able to take care of the situation. They called and ambulance & gave him a blessing.
I tried to call our home teachers to come be with the boys so I could go over. No luck there so I called Heather Miller to come up from down stairs to be with the boys until I could get family there. I also called Don's mom since their family is somewhat experienced in this area, two of his sisters have had this happen twice each. I also called her to come be with the boys so I could go to the ER. At the first of the month Don no longer had insurance, so we really couldn't afford for the ambulance to come and take him to the hospital. Luckily his mother was thinking straight and called Aunt Cathy, who was just 5 minutes away at the U hospital still working. She said she meant to be out of there by 7 or so, but for some reason just stayed. She is a nurse and was able to be an answer to our prayers. She came sent the EMT's away, put his knee back in, and then helped get Don home. Since she was able to get the knee back in there was no reason to go to the ER now. We put his leg in his straight leg brace, iced it, and had a fitful night.
This morning Don went into where he works and they took a look at it. For right now he will just keep it in the brace, do PT, and be careful. He will go back to work next week, they said too since we need that money so bad they will make things work. We will evaluate it later to see if more needs to be done. Since it was out so long there might be some problems, but that has yet to be seen.
Thanks to everyone that was an answer to our prayers and there for us when we need you.

Brexton

Jaron and Brexton have been really good friends since Jaron was born. Jaron is 9 months younger than Brexton but they have always gotten along really well, for the most part. Brexton was one of the kids that I watched so they got to see each other several times a week for long periods of time.
Why I am writing this is because Brexton moved from the village last month. We tried to explain what had happened and that we can't just play with Brexton whenever Jaron says that he wants to. The reality of the situation didn't hit him until we went to visit on the 5th. When we walked into "Brexton's house" Jaron was a little confused and it took him a second to put everything together.

We haven't heard too much about it until yesterday when Jaron wanted to go to Brexton's house and play. He had forgotten that his good friend had moved I guess. Anyway we still can visit them, but not as often as we used to. Jaron is a little sad to loose his playmate.

East Canyon

My parents have a time share in the East Canyon Resort. We went up for the weekend with my parents, Tyson, Karlee, & Craig (my cousin) came too! We had lots of fun together playing games and doing nothing all day.
Jaron had a great time swimming, throwing things in the river, playing miniature golf, and building Lagos. The boys were up there Wednesday while Don and I had our day alone.

So Gross

So Don came into the marriage with this ultra gross pillow. He says he got it from a hotel (even more scary). I have tried for several years (4 in fact) to convince him to purchase another one. When he wouldn't get rid of it. I decided that I should at least wash it. I put lots of bleach and oxy clean. It looks much better, that his hard to believe I know.
Well he finally consented because his was going a little flat. So here is the old and new pillow, can you guess which one is which?

Here's to Eternity

(Our first photo together)

So it has been 4 years since we were sealed in the Manti temple. These 4 years have been really fun. I sure am glad that I chose this guy to be with me for eternity, he is such a good friend. It didn't take me long to know he was the one for me, sure we have our tough times, but all in all we are so good for each other.

I keep a list of all of Don's strengths by the computer, just in case I need a reminder some days. I thought it would be good to share. These are in no order just what came to mind the day I made the list.
1- He has a lot of faith.
2- He is relaxed about life.
3- He does not care what others think of him.
4- He has a great sense of humor.
5- He is GREAT with children.
6- He is very patient with me.
7- He is an excellent teacher.
8- He is very athletic.
9- He is a very good listener.
10- He is an loyal friend, and not just to me.
11- He is smart!
12- He wants to make others happy.
13- He is outgoing.
14- He is super-mad handsome.

A lot of his strengths are my weaknesses, I think that is why we go so well together.

So here is to eternity, I love you Don Juan.










So in response to Jenny's comment:
This year was a great anniversary, just like the rest. My parents were so nice and took the boys all day and let them spend the night even. So we did all the things we don't get to do too often. I started the day with a run, we went to a movie (not the dollar theater), I took a nap (as long as I needed one for), we went to dinner at Red Lobster (we splurge a couple of times a year), and then we went to my cousins play (Pirated, at Roger Memorial Theater in Centerville) with my brother and his wife.

Summer Days

Sugar House Park


The Zoo (riding the train)


Our court playground

Our growing garden

We are so lucky to live so close to so many things. Our regular summer outings include going to the park (out our front door), the zoo, the library, & Sugar House park to feed the ducks. Here are some pictures of us doing those things this month.

The Summer Buzz

It is really nice to have boys. Hair cuts are easy to do. We decided to give him a buzz, what do you think?

Garff's Pool Party

July 15th Garff's had their 2nd annual pool party & hot dog roast. It is such a fun think to do and we really appreciate them inviting us to go.

Bryson isn't much of a swimmer this year. But we always seem to go when he is tired. So maybe he really does like it.

All the dad's with the boys.

Visit to Aunt Tricia's

So Bryson's 10 month photo was taken at Aunt Tricia's house in Washington, UT. We were outside swimming. Jaron has really taken to the water this year and had fun playing.
The boys had a great time with their cousins, or at least the ones that didn't go to Hawaii with Tricia & Gordon. We watched "Madagascar" and at the end of the movie the kids really liked the song and dancing to it. We listened to it several times a day. He is a few videos of them dancing.

24th of July

We started out the day by going to the free day at Red Butte Garden. Jaron had a great time playing in the water and . . .
didn't want to leave.
We then went to the Bees game that night that was followed by fireworks. Bryson was a happy boy the whole time and loved the fireworks. Jaron also did really well. He loves the bee mascot. So that is what he is looking for most of the game. But he does love his sports. So the fireworks, the game, and the bee was a big hit.

Nativity

It turned out okay I think.

Bryson is 10 Months

Bryson has been growing up by leaps and bounds since last month. He crawled on July 4th and hasn't stopped exploring since. He was so content to not be moving around, but once he found out he could and how fun it was he is really excited to look around. Jaron is not as excited as Bryson. Shortly after Bryson started crawling Jaron was playing in the hall with a toy, Bryson wanted to play too and started to crawl towards him. Jaron yelled at Bryson, "STOP! STOP Crawling!" It took a few weeks for Jaron to adjust to brother wanting to play, but he is doing much better.
Bryson pulled himself up to standing on July 18th and thinks he can walk now, which he can't. He is always falling on his face and getting bruises when he attempts to walk, so I would expect him to be walking soon.
Another new thing is that he really doesn't like baby food anymore. I have started to just mash up what we eat and give it to him and he is happy with that. He is eating a bottle every 2-3 hours, eating every meal, and snacks; I think he is growing.
He also loves to dance to music.

Marriage Tag

What is your husband's name? Don Eldon Hughes

How long have you been together? Since March of 2004

How long did you date? 2 months before I made him propose

Who said I love you first? Don

Who is taller? Don, he is 6'7"

Who sings better? Don

Who is smarter? I think overall Don, but we both have strengths

Who does the laundry? Usually me, but he helps fold a lot

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me, most the time

Who pays the bills? Me

Who mows the lawn? If we had our own lawn, it would be Andrew

Who does the dishes? Me

Who drives when you are together? Don

Who is more stubborn? Don, but we both are stubborn

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me

Who kissed who first? He kissed me, but he says I pressured him into it.

Who proposed? Don did after I bought the ring and gave it to him.

Who is more sensitive? Me, but Don is really compassionate for a guy.

Who has more friends? Don

Who wears the pants in the family? That is a constant battle

I tag anyone that wants to share.