December 2013

Our Family's Village

Hughes Family Party

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

Don reading the book from Grandma and Grandpa Gray to the boys.

Temple Square

December was a rush of fun, family, and memories.  We started the month with Bryn’s blessing.  That is Tyson’s new little girl.  That same week Karlee, my brother’s wife, went back to work and their three kids started coming Tuesday-Friday.  Getting that many kids in and out of the car several times a day is really time consuming.  The up side though is that there are playmates a lot of the day. Landon is also getting a taste of what is to come. I have been pleasantly surprised that he loves having a baby in the house.  Landon has to have his way all the time, so I was worried that he would be upset when the answer was no or you have to wait a minute. But it has been really good.  He loves to hold Bryn and get her whatever she needs.

The 7^th was my family Christmas party.  With my parents away their home is still the meeting place, so I put that party together here.  I ended up making 15 large gingerbread houses and 9 small ones.  It is something we have been doing every year since Jaron was born and we really enjoy the tradition.

That next week I got a really bad stomach bug, for the third time!  No one else in our house got it though thankfully.  Karlee took the kids one of the days I was sick so I could rest.  It was a blessing to have the help. It took me all week to fully recover, it was a really bad one this last time.

We sure loved getting together with family throughout the holiday season. The Christmas party at Gram’s was a good memory as was Zoolights even if it was really cold.  At the party Eldon made sure to eat the gingerbread man’s legs first so he couldn’t run away again.  And we were surprised that Landon doesn’t mind the cold as long as there are moving animal lights.

This Christmas season I wanted the boys to focus on giving.  So they made cookies for the neighbors.  Instead of purchasing gifts for each other the boys did acts of service for one another all month long.  I kept track and on Christmas Eve we read what they had done for each other.  The boys really liked hearing what they had done and what had been done for them.  We wanted the Savior to be an active part of the season and talked about why we have Christmas and how Jesus was a big gift from our Heavenly Father.  I really think they all felt something different this year, I know I did anyway.
Kind of a cute story I want to remember.  I was shopping with Jaron a week before Christmas and while walking down the aisle he said, "Mom, I just feel I am going to get a lump of coal."  He was quit forlorn when he said it.  I asked him why he felt that to which he replied, "I just keep making mistakes!"  I felt so bad for him because to a 7 year old Christmas gifts are a serious thing.  It was a great opportunity to let him know that everyone makes mistakes and their is always repentance. I assured him Santa would accept his best efforts.

On Christmas Eve I took the boys sledding. We started just on the front yard but then went down to the church to sled on a big hill.  Bryson ended up hitting his chin on the ice really hard.  I am glad that it was just a large scrape and nothing more, but still very painful. We watched The Polar Express and all rang our bell to double check we could still hear them.  We visited Great-Grandma Barlow at my uncle’s house to pass the time while we waited for Don to get home.  He got home about 6:45.  Once Daddy was home we read the Christmas story from the Bible and then headed out to look at Christmas lights.  The boys went right to bed when we got home; that is after they put out cookies and carrots! They were so excited for Santa to come.

Christmas was a GOOD day.  We just relaxed as a family and ate good food.  We did go to Tyson’s to play games that evening.  But for the most part it was very low key.

New Years we just chilled as a family.  We had the option to go be with family in St. George or up in Kaysville, but just decided to not over tax ourselves (aka me) and stay home.  Jaron and Landon made it to midnight.  Jaron was really proud of himself for doing so.  New Years day Landon was a beast from his late night.  Another event of the day came when the boys were sledding in the yard.  Jaron went down and hit right into the fence.  He hit the top of his head and lost a tooth.  We still aren’t sure how that happened exactly, but he was really upset it was lost in the snow . . . and there was blood. He has no other injuries from the incident. He left a note for the tooth fairy that said, “Tooth Fairy, I lost a tooth in the snow please go find it.” She still brought him some money even though she had to search for the lost tooth, we don’t think she ever found it ; )

Baby girl is doing well, growing and moving like she should.  Fatigue and my sciatic nerve are giving me grief right now, but nothing that isn’t manageable.  Still no definite name, we are leaning towards Kayla Kristine and I still like Anna, but Don isn’t set on that one so we will see.  She might not have a name until she is born.

This season was especially hard on Don.  He had been working so hard that some nights he came home, but really didn’t, he just laid there and kind of stared.  The last weekend of the month he didn’t volunteer to work and slept a lot, which seemed to help get him back to his normal self.  We are so blessed to have a man that is willing to work so hard to provide for us.

We are going to make the repairs this month on the Texas home and give it one last go before we possibly look for renters.  There is a company we would use to manage the property since we are not close by to do it ourselves.  Maybe we will move back into it, we just never know.  My parents release date is May 23^rd and so we are going to work hard to have the next adventure for our family sorted out by mid-May.  We really feel blessed with all we have and are optimistic that the upcoming year will be great.

-Pam and the Boys