Happy New Year

Yep, we are at it again! Party Animals! Andy, Kristi, and their kids joined us for some food and games on this joyous New Year's Eve.

So, my furnace is broken and the only source of heat we have comes from the fireplace upstairs. Kristi put her coat on because she was chilly. While we were playing games, Kristi and I decided to let the dogs in because it was cold outside. She tried to grab Sadie by her collar and take her to my room but Sadie pulled her down. Kristi was laying flat on the ground when I went to grab my camera to take a pic, but then, my cat went PSYCHO!!! She even looks a little CRAZED in this picture!

 

Molly attacked Kristi while she was down. Philip tried to grab Molly and he got hissed at and scratched pretty good... then, I tried to grab Molly by her neck so she wouldn't do anymore damage and she broke loose from my fingers and bit me in the BUTT! OUCH! I grabbed hold of her and took her downstairs to calm her down. I have no idea what got into her! 

She is the sweetest little kitty ever and she's never done anything like that before!

 She doesn't like the dogs, so the only thing I can figure is that she seen the dogs run by and when she saw Kristi's coat hood over her head that has fur on it, she must have thought it was one of the dogs! 

NOT A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE!

The kids all sacked out on the floor and watched TOY STORY 3 following the crazy attack while we finished our card game of GARBAGE. 

We later joined them until midnight when it was time to watch the BALL DROP!

After the ball dropped, Carson walked up to me with a face like this one below and says, "mom, that was dumb! I didn't even really get to see the ball!" He was seriously upset about this. Awww..it was cute but he was sooo unhappy about it!  

Anyway, the joyous events at the Hughes Home! 

I hope everybody has an exciting New Year full of Adventure, Love, Happiness, and Good Fortune! 

*Love You All and Have a Happy New Year*

Christmas Eve Fun!

Every year, John and I throw a Christmas Eve party at our house with our family. We decided to start out our day with a family outing to the mountains to find the snow for some good ol' fashin sledding!

Jessica catching air for the first time... I think?

So we got home around 330 and prepared for the festivities of the night with my family. Everybody had an assignment to come up with a service they could provide for another and at the end of the night they were to be auctioned off. The way to earn points for the auction was to play our fun games.

I made several Bingo cards just like this one with random pictures from things we have done throughout the year.

The kids loved them.. except for little Mason. He was sooo sad cuz he thought I was making "fun of him." I felt so bad! He ran into a cement wall and skiffed up his nose when I took that picture. : (  I felt bad. Other than that little instance, everybody had fun playing Bingo and Blackout with these cards and for each person who won, they earned 15 points.

Our 2nd game came from the Minute-to-Win-It game show on television.

If you have ever watched Minute-to-Win-It, then you know that the games they play are pretty fun but challenging. We prepared a few of those games to play.

The first game was the "Cookie Challenge."

The goal is to get the cookie from your forehead to your mouth using only your facial muscles!

Not an easy task, but so fun watching everybody try. We actually had 4 people out of the 20 that tried it make it into their mouth! Way to go guys!

Our 2nd challenge involved candy canes. You pick a partner and then using a string tied to 1 candy cane, you have to pick up 4 small candy canes alternating back and forth.

Yep! You know it! My mom and I make a great team! Woot! Woot!

Our last challenge was the "Christmas Bulbs." You take your partner and wrap a string around the 2 of you.

Then you place a bulb on the string and you have to rotate your bodies to make the bulb go around on the string all the way back to the beginning and hang it on the christmas tree to earn your points.

My 2 yr old nephew, Wyatt, and 5 yr old nephew, Mason. They did awesome and got it all the way around and on the tree. They were so cute. They make it look so easy... but it's NOT!

Kind of looks like they were belly dancing! :)

We had a great time playing games, eating, laughing, and singing!

I played the piano while Cameron played his guitar for our christimas singing pleasure! :)

Andy read us "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

followed by the Christmas Story from the Bible. It was the perfect ending to a fun night as we left with the spirit of Christmas in our hearts and our Savior's Birth on our minds this special night. The best gift we can give in rememberance of our Savior is our Service. I was so proud of my family for the acts of kindness and things they came up with to offer to others... from tutoring to babysitting and a buddy to hang out with to helping clean rooms. I love this time of year and hope that we may all remember that service is an act of kindness to be done all year long, not just at Christmas time. It's the very thing that will make your heart smile over and over again. :) Love you guys!

Merry Christmas!

Yep! It's BROKEN! My mom was walking up my brothers walkway to their door when she missed the step going up. The doc says she broke a bone in her hand and needs to see the ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON this week. I'd give you a close up of the GOOSE EGG on her nogen if the camera would do it justice but it just won't. It's like a mini me growing off the front of her forehead. Sooo sad! I'm sorry mom! I know your pain... in fact, Brayden, Breanna, Wyatt, and I know your pain. This has been A REALLY BAD YEAR for my family and breaking things! I don't know why but I sure hope that 2011 BRINGS BETTER LUCK!!! So Brayden will be getting his cast off his arm tomorrow as mom is getting one on later this week! What luck!

Sounds of Christmas!

The coolest part about my kids going to the same school as thier cousins is that I get to see all of their performances.

This is my little Makayla singing a song with actions. I have to say that The Grinch was my favorite song!

Carson's class sang a Christmas Hoe Down and 6 of the kids came out to the front to show us how it's done! It was so adorable to watch Carson do the "dosey doe" with his cute partner Shay. I had a big smile for them!

And here are my nephews Eric, Philip, and my little brother Brayden!



They all did such an awesome job in their program!

Merry Christmas!

A day in the snow!

Today was a beautiful day for sledding and snowmobiling! We took the kids to Crystal Summit, our favorite place to go. There's big hills for sledding fun and lots of open area to snowmobile. Carson enjoys to jump with his dad on the snowmobile. This is him sledding down the hill with his "Rock On" fingers!

John's at it again... he is fixing my snowmobile.. I smoked a plug with all my running back and forth draggin the kids back up the hill. These kids have it sooo easy! When I was a kid and wanted to go sledding, we had to walk back up the great big hill that you thought would never end when staring at it from the bottom! But we had so much fun anyway!

Just a couple random pics of Makayla flying down the hill on her sled! 

We had a great time and can't wait to do it again! Hoping to have a beautiful day for Christmas Eve so we can go play again!

Tonight, Carson and I attended my nieces christmas dance recital. They did such an awesome job. The hip hop dancing was pretty cool.. didn't know you could really teach someone how to dance that way. I have no natural rhythm so trust me, I would not look as good bustin' a move as they did!
So, they had a special visitor at the end of the recital... Yep, you guessed it! Santa Claus came to visit all the little kids. Carson was 2nd in line to sit on his lap. When he was done he came down and said "mom, uncle Andy is Santa Claus!" Me: "He is?" Carson: "Uh huh!" Me: "That's really cool that Uncle Andy got picked to be Santa's helper, huh?!" Carson: "Uh huh!" He had a great big grin on his face.
So, I'm taking the kids to school the next morning and Carson says: "Mom, how did Uncle Andy get hired?" Me: "I'm not sure but he is sure doing a special job this year." Carson: "Does Uncle Andy get to go out on Christmas Eve too?" Me: "Nope. Santa Claus performs his magic that special night and makes the trip with just him and his reindeer." Carson: "What if Santa had a skinny belly like mine... would I get hired to help Santa?" Me: "I'm not sure about that.. but.. I think Santa has to have a big belly so it can jiggle like a bowl full of jelly. He has to have room for all those cookies that little boys and girls like you leave out for him to eat."  Carson: "Are we going to make cookies for Santa?" Me: "You bet we are!" Carson: "How did Uncle Andy get his beard?" Me: "It's a pretend beard."
I love talking to my kids about the magic of Christmas. It makes me love this season even more. This will be my magical year with my kids as I know that they will one day get older and understand a little bit more.

 

    This is my most FAVORITE time of the year beginning with Thanksgiving until New Years Day! We start out this special time of year with the opportunity to give THANKS for so many wonderful friends, family, soldiers fighting for our freedom and rights, homes to keep us warm and food on our tables, clothing on our backs, our health, etc. I could go on and on...It's always nice to take a breath and reflect on our BLESSINGS. I do it all year long, but it just seems that at this particular time, my heart is overwhelmed with thankfulness and love. This is a time that FAMILY and FRIENDS make time to get together.. to enjoy a night here and there of food and games and cheer! A time for serving others and making yummy holiday treats together! My observation is that people are genuinely happier and more optimistic during the holidays. I'm filled with a warmth, a sense of peace, and a smile in my heart.
     I hope that everyone will take a step back this year and look at what they can do for someone else. We have many people in our own little community in need of our help and I hope that my own little family can ponder the very service that we will give to make anothers life a little brighter.
     May everyone have a JOLLY memorable SEASON as you celebrate with your family and good friends.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Doesn't Buster look adorable?! He wanted to get in on the fun this year too so we found him a costume... and Lilly too! She's our little princess!

Now that we have the sweet little pups ready to go, I got my little munchkins ready. Carson chose to be a ninja this year... I know it's because he got to wear cool fighting swords on his back! :)

Makayla is out of the whole "pretty princess" stage and on to gore and blood. She decided to go as a bloodied hospital patient who had just been in a crazy accident.

Breanna was born in the wrong era... PEACE & LOVE! Groovy baby!

Danielle at the "masquerade ball"

Ahoy Matey! Pirate Mason on  board here!

Meet Brayden.. the 1 good armed Ninja! The other guy probably looks worse.. right Brady?

Pretty little princess Charlize!

One tired little spider... Wyatt played hard and is ready for a nap!

We had a great time trick or treating! Everybody looked so cute in their costumes! The kids got a ton of candy... here come the belly aches! Hope everyone out there has a safe and Happy Halloween!

Well, Brayden broke the big bone in his arm. He has to see the Orthopedic Surgeon next week to see if it will heal on its own or if there needs to be further action taken. Hopefully it will be good to go and he will just have to have a cast for a few weeks. Sorry buddy, looks like you and I are not compatible with the skating ring!

We let the kids go skating today after school. They have been skating several times and have had a great time. However, today, my mom got a call from the skating ring at 330 stating that Brayden had fallen and PROBABLY BROKE his arm! Mom called me immediately and I headed to the ring... It's DEFINATELY BROKEN. His arm looks a little bit deformed. When we arrived at the ER, the doc said he remembered us for some reason. I told him "that's because you were my doc when I broke my leg in February at the SKATING RING!" So anyway, he told us that it is definately broken..he could tell just by looking at it. He said it may have to be set but won't know until the x-rays have been taken. OUCH! As if breaking it isn't bad enough! I feel so bad for the little guy :( I'll have to let you know what happened when he's all done. : /

Tooth Fairy Update

Makayla lost her first front tooth on Friday, Oct. 15th and then spent the night at a friends house. So the tooth fairy didn't visit that night. The next day, she was making sure her tooth was still in her little case... she opened it and her tooth FELL OUT. She searched and searched but couldn't find it and she just started crying. I told her not to worry.. the tooth fairy would still come. I told her we would write her a note and leave it under her pillow and it would be ok. She settled down and went to sleep just knowing the tooth fairy would come for sure this time... she woke up and NOTHING! I explained to her that sometimes, the tooth fiary has sooo many kids to visit that she doesn't make it to everyone in one night. She seemed satisfied with that answer and said ok. Well, she lost ANOTHER TOOTH on Sunday afternoon. Makayla was sooo excited because now the tooth fiary was going to bring her even MORE money! So, she tucked her tooth under her pillow with her note for the other tooth and went to bed. She woke up Monday morning.... NOTHING AGAIN! What was going on?? She was starting to get upset but was trying to be sooo PATIENT! I told her that I wasn't sure what was going on : /  but not to worry... she will come. Makayla went to bed Monday night and woke up Tuesday morning to find this note.. and 10 BUCKS!! WHOA! I wish I had a tooth fairy that was sooo NICE! She was ecstatic! We had to go to Walmart that day and find her a treasure! She's such a sweetie.. I just love my little girl :)

All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

I know, wrong holiday month, but Makayla has lost her 2 front teeth! She has some missing bottom teeth as well... so at this rate, if she loses anymore, she is going to look like an old lady nawing on her food with just her gums! :) She didn't have any teeth until she was 18months old and then they came all at once... so I suppose it is possible for her to lose them all at once too... hopefully not!
Love you Makayla!

A Leisure Family 'Fall' Day

What a beautiful day for getting lost and twisted in the corn maze at the Swore Family Farm. To start out our fun, the kids got their faces painted. Carson decided to have it look like he had been shot in the head.. I know, a little gory for a 6 yr old.. but that's what he had them draw.

Makayla looked like a kitty cat. I don't know what happened to the picture I took :(
They played some games and earned some candy for their pockets :) There was the bean bag toss... The candy walk...


A miniature maze for the toddlers that the kids whizzed right through...


Look at those handsome cowboys and sweet little cow...


Here is the beginning of our twisting and turning and circles and circles... The maze enterance.



To guide us through the maze, there are trivia questions throughout. If you have the right answer, then you will find another question. If you have a wrong answer, then you will hit a dead end and have to turn around.



We made it through! I still think there were some questions and answers in there that were wrong :) I mean, I couldn't have got that many questions wrong.. right??





We had a fantastic 'fall' day together as a family! I love the changing leaf colors and the festivities that come with the holidays! It brings us all closer again as our lives get busier and busier and I just love it!