Hair cuts

I cut the boys hair. Don thought it would be fun to do a before and after photo. They sure do look lots better.

Snow Day

Jan. 10th it snowed! It snowed enough that day to stay on the ground. Eldon wanted nothing to do with the snow, Bryson LOVED it this year, and Jaron still loved it this year. One snow a year is good I think.
Even Knick had lots of fun running and discovering the white cold stuff. The first time we asked him to go out he walked along side of the house so he would not step in it. But after we showed him it was okay he had a blast running and throwing the snow up in the air with his nose.
It is also kind of funny what an inch of snow, or less does to a city. Everything shuts down. They just are not prepared here for any snow. They sand the roads, but they have so few workers to do that it takes a day before everything is running again. It makes for lots of fun at home when it snows, which I kind of like.

School Graduation

Just for the record, I realize neither of them are graduating from anything. Don thinks that this is the most ridiculous thing ever. I just think it is cute and fun. The boys had such a good time at "school" if you even want to call it that. It was more just getting together and learning to love learning. We focused mostly on letters and their sound, adding in themes and numbers. But beyond that they learned turns, listening, and those sort of things. Jaron learned the pledge, which I will try to record and get on the blog.

Besides school I have been working on teaching the boys scripture stories, and the articles of faith. Here in Texas not many people know what our church teaches or believes. I want my boys to know what they believe and be able to tell others. We are perfecting Article of Faith #4 right now. Bryson also can recite them. We will see what I can do about getting those recorded too.

Bath Time

In the last month Eldon has gained enough control to be able to sit up on his own in the bath. This creates a great photo opportunity!

Landen's Birthday

For Landen Sherrow's birthday we had a zoo day. The boys love playdates!

Sports with Dad

Don is such a wonderful father. On the weekends he always does something fun with the boys. We went and hit a few balls this last week. The boys loved it and talk about going golfing with Dad.

Our stake does softball, but before and after the games Don plays baseball with the boys. The boys really love this time with Dad and the weeks are hard without him around. But we get by and have our fun three day weekends together.

Go Utes!

Here are our little ute fans.

Brothers & Eldon

So this was their interpretation of ,"Give kisses."
I love this one. Jaron's fake smile, Bryson's excitement, and Eldon a little startled. It says so much.

It's Official

Eldon's cat from Aunt Cathy got here on Sep. 26th making his birth official. The other two boys got theirs the day they were born when she came to visit them. Eldon had to wait a little bit since she is a little further away this time ; )

Aqarium

I have been wanting to take the boys to the aquarium for some time now. Finally we did it. With Don done with school and me not super sick we went. Bryson loved it, even more than Jaron did. Bryson just was running all over screaming "Fishy, Fishy," he usually is calm about things. Jaron enjoyed it too and even consented to try and touch a sting ray. No really great pictures though sorry on that one.

Baby Boy #3

We had our ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having a very healthy baby boy. I am not disappointed to be having another boy. We know what we are doing and have the clothes. With so many changes coming up, hopefully soon, having something that is normal might be better.
His name will be Eldon Theodore Hughes, most likely. Don has been fighting for this one and I finally gave in. It is a family name and that is why I consented. Eldon is a name in both his father and mother's line and Eldon Theodore was his Grandpa Gray's dad. Grandpa is a wonderful man and I see no problem naming a child after his father. Only thing I am not too fond of the name.
I have been feeling a lot better with very few sick days now. I am still really tired thought and can't stand for very long, is that weird? I mean I can't stand for more than 15min or so. Anyway, we are doing good.
Don graduates soon and we are looking for a job as a carrier in the Postal Service. It is a really hard market to break into right now, so we will give it a few months or so and then go from there. There are no career jobs to be had, but he most likely wouldn't get one anyway having no carrier experience. So we are starting at the bottom, getting a temp. carrier job (which is full time). Hopefully after a while the career jobs will start picking up again if not . . . we will see. Insurance wise we can join the union and purchase insurance. It is double from if you were a career job, but it is still reasonably priced. It has wonderful coverage, 100% maternity in fact so that is good.

Too Cute

Bryson is almost 18 months and really starting to come into his own. He is talking more and more and that little personality is really shinning through. He doesn't speak really well, but mom knows what he wants. Just a list of common words: ow-ie, mom, dad, basketball, cup, sock, bannana (nana), What is it?, I did it, Moo (all animals say this, except a bear does say rarr), bye, love you, juice, ok, bath. . . He also has really taken to giving kisses. He puckers up (try to get it on camera it is so cute, but he always says cheese before I can get a picture).
Jaron is really cute these days saying the funniest things. At uncle Jared's b-day party I noticed he was chewing gum. I asked him where he got it, to which he replied, "Off your plate." Gross, but really funny, luckily it was my gum that I had been chewing before dinner. He is so considerate, asking me if I am okay when I sigh or put my head down. He always asks dad how school when when he comes home, really cute.
He is excited to start soccer this Saturday. And the other picture was just so cute!

Valentines

Jaron is really into doing things for other people these day. He was really excited to give Valentine's to every person he knows. To some of the adults we just did photos, here are a few of those.

My Valentine's Day was great. This is the one day a year that I request flowers and one of the very few that I insist we do something romantic. Don is such a good sport and he even admitted that he doesn't mind my corny love notes and cards that I give every year. To my dismay I didn't do them this year because I thought he really didn't care that I did them. So this year I had the wonderful husband that did everything right but I didn't do much in return. He is such a good guy!

Museum of Natural History

So Jaron really loves the movie "Night at the Museum." He only gets to watch one movie a day, if that, and since "Night at the Museum" is a mom and dad movie (not animated) he thinks it doesn't count. He tried several times to get it past me, good thing I am smarter than my 2 year old; at least in this area I am.
I thought it would be fun to visit our own "museum." He was a little apprehensive at first with the dinosaurs because I think he thought the would come to life, even though we explained the movie was pretend. After a little bit he relaxed and enjoyed it. Things that leave an impression on him he talks about for weeks to come. We just heard the story again yesterday and we went on Feb. 5th so I think he liked it.
Bryson is testing his boundaries right now so . . . that was fun. But he liked digging.
This was my first trip to the museum too. Don was there to help and was very supportive of staying in the mineral room for a long time. I was just in heaven being a geology lover. Some of the minerals I hadn't even seen before so that was awesome. They had things from all over the world, soo cool, but then again not many people think it is.

Bucket Head

So really what is with putting the bowls on their head? We do this all day long, there are usually pretending to be firefighters. Bryson actually started it, but Jaron likes the idea too. Pardon the naked/pantless children.

A Whole Lot of Mommy Time

We again have had a major change in our family schedule. I am no longer helping my brothers family out or working at his dental lab. I am staying home. This came after a very strong impression that I had while at the temple. My place is in the home, not at work. We were making it work before and we would make it work again.
Don started a new job last Monday. He works at 6p.m. on Mon. & Thur. and then at 4p.m. on Tues., Wed., Fri.: he works until the work is done which is between midnight-1a.m. most the time. He is still going to school full time, and getting good grades might I add.
We are so lucky to have a dad/husband that will do so much to make his family happy. Also a new development, May is it for us. We will not be going to PT school, there are several reason to that one.
It has been a really hard adjustment for me and the boys. We were really spoiled with Don home so much over the last month since leaving he other job. Besides starting a new job he is working twice as many hours as before. Don is my best friend and not having him there after the boys go down to just talk to has been really hard. When he is home I find that we have to cover just the basics and don't have much time for what I call a REAL TALK. I am convinced that it will be good for me though, I just am still trying to figure out how it is good for me.
But the reason for the post was that since Don is gone in the evenings now, the boys have lots of time with just mommy. I was playing with them the other night and realized while tickling them that I was listening to the greatest sound in the world and my heart just over flowed. Here is a video of the greatest sound in the world:

Halloween

As Many of you might know, I am not a big fan of Halloween. I don't like to be scared and Halloween equals people dressed scary, scary decorations, haunted houses, and scary movies. But . . . the boys are so dang cute! I love this part. Dressing them up all cute. As Jaron say he was "Buzz Lightyer and Bryson is Boody"
Even though we were not with Don's family this year, we still did the Halloween soup and ghost cake. It was fun and Bryson loved the chocolate cake. Jaron however, being like me doesn't like to be scared and there were too many scary things about, so he declined the offer to trick-or-treat. This was a bit of a disappointment to both mom and dad, but we will manage.

Fall Fun

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the smells, colors, cool air, and above all the crunch of the leaves.