Kauai

Jay and I just got back from Kauai and we had a WONDERFUL time. Our friends Matt & Megan came with us and we met both of my brothers and their fabulous wives there too! To say the least, with 8 people together, there were LOTS and LOTS of laughs! Jay did tons of boogie boarding (which I didn't get a picture of), I laid in the sun every chance I got & we ate lots of yummy food. Jay and the guys played golf one afternoon and I was able to get away and have a massage at one point. Then there were the "adventures". One was planned, the other...not so planned! You can read about those by the pictures below! Its always so nice to get away with just Jay...we were able to spend lots of time together and had lots of good talks...which are my favorite! =)

This picture was taken the moment our feet hit the sand for the first time!!

This is the Napali Coast line...one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen!

This is the Waiohai (where we stayed) and Poipu Beach (where Megan swam with the turtles! it was on her check list.....CHECK!)


This my friends was the unexpected "adventure". We rode in this boat out in the OCEAN for a good 5 hours! I was pretty sure I was going to die! Yes, I'm afraid of the ocean and so why I got in this boat to begin with is a mystery....I guess I just didn't want to "miss out". It started out pretty fun....the boat is speeding along, bouncing along but about 40 minutes into the ride as we are being slammed into the boat over and over and over and over, I start to wonder (along with EVERY OTHER PERSON ON BOARD) what the @*%# we got ourselves into! People were getting sea sick, there were times when we couldn't see anything but GIANT waves in front of us, our hiney's were taking a beating along with our backs! Our hands (which were holding on to ropes for 5 hours) were cramped and as red as you can imagine! And NO ONE was wearing a life jacket! "It makes me look bad" Captain Joe said! He said no one had ever fallen out of his boat....I think he's a liar. The whole point of the boat ride was to ride out there to see the Napli Coast line which you cant see from anywhere but a boat or a helicopter, but because we were so afraid we kept our eyes peeled on the rolling ocean most of the time. Did I mention that the wind was blowing like a mad man and when we left it was raining??? Bitterness was starting to set in as we headed back....going through sea caves, seeing turtles, dolphins and whales was promised and up to this point we had seen ONE turtle. LAME! But, the trip was redeemed! Going with the waves proved to be much easier than going against them (although we were all so exhausted and beat up it was still hard). But the most exciting was that we came across a pod of dolphins! The Captains 1st and only mate, whose name by the way was Chance, told us that there were probably 300 hundred! It was awesome and totally made the trip for me! Once we finally got back to land (praise God we made it!) I looked at Megan and said "WHAT was THAT???" Everyone was....well I don't even have the words to describe it....we were just happy to be alive! The rest of the week was filled with jokes and life and death tales from our trip and we all decided that THIS would be the adventure that we would never forget!

Lovin my man at one of the Wiamea Canyon look outs.

Jay and I at the Luau...no I'm not leaning on Jay....My brother Chad who thinks he's "Artsy Fartsy" took the picture with the camera at an angle...He said it would look cooler...what do you think?? =)

This was our planned "adventure" which none of us were really looking forward too...we had all had our fair share after the Zodiac trip, but it was paid for and we couldn't get our money back so we went. 7 hours, that's right people, 7 hours is how long this one lasted, but it was much more mellow, in fact we were bored. We took a 2 mile kayak trip down a river, hiked a very short distance to a tractor that pulled us around the ranch that some of Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones had been filmed at. It took us to the zip lines (3 to be exact) where we stood in line for who knows how long to wait for everyone to go. The zip lines were....fun? They were OK...nothing special. I think because it took 7 hours to do, well, not really anything was a bummer. Plus we had a tour guide who SERIOUSLY didn't stop talking THE entire time! But here is me and Jay in our Kayak. Jay said it was good for us to do this together in case we ever got our selves in trouble and needed to know how to work a kayak.....huh?

Dinner at Tidepools with the whole gang! DE-LISH

The Phillips sibs and their mates!

Here are those dolphins I was telling you about! Pretty awesome!

Wolfpack ends and an 11 year old emerges

It was an eventful and intense year of Wolfpack basketball that has now come to an end. It was so much fun to watch the boys grow together as a team and see individuals get better and better. To see friendships made between both the players, coaches and the parents. We love our Wolfpack family!

What's next? Well, he will be playing more basketball with a different team for a few months but will be back with the Wolfpack when they start up again in the Fall. But the NEXT big thing is that Jaxon will be 11 soon on April 2nd to be exact! I wanted to write about both because basketball has become a huge part of Jaxon's life (our lives) and it is a tool that is helping shape him as a person. I picked the picture above because it so represents who Jaxon is...no, not just a basketball player but a leader and a good one at that. He is quiet, yet he stands tall and strong for what he believes in. He has a quiet confidence and is not easily shaken. Other kids look to him for guidance on and off the court and they aren't sure why, they just know they want to be his friend. I can tell you why. It is because he works hard at everything he does, he is teachable, agreeable, trustworthy, and content. He is content to loose and content to win. He just enjoys the activity of the sport, or the challenge of learning and what the outcome is doesn't really matter to him, he just enjoys the process. At his last parent/teacher conference the teacher said she "admires Jaxon as a person and see's him as a critical leader for his class today and for the years to come" and that he is a blessing to her and has helped her learn more about herself. Really? You would think that pride would swell within me and I'm sure that there was some of that, but it quickly turned to an overwhelming thankfulness and tears of joy that our son is growing and turning into the young man God wants him to be. I often marvel at who God has made Jaxon. I can take no credit because he is who he is despite Jay & I's weaknesses so it must be God's grace.

I have to say that each year with Jaxon gets better and better.....and harder and harder. Better because each year I am graciously reminded that Jaxon is a gift from the Lord. He is solid and responsible and a vital part to our family. I love being his mom and I take seriously my responsibility to raise him up to be a godly man. The Lord has already saved him (the greatest gift a mother can receive), but my job is to train him, direct him, love him, encourage him and then let him go....wow....that is really painful....that is the hard part. I love seeing him grow, mature, accomplish, succeed but the more he does this on his own the more steps he takes away from needing his Mama to hold his hand. I'm afraid the next 7 years are going to go by faster than I can handle...I love this boy who is quickly turning into an amazing young man. If this is what he is like at 11 I look forward to knowing him as a 15 year old, and 18 year old and so on...

I love you Jax. You are a true blessing and it is my pleasure to watch as God grows you into the man he wants you to be. The Lord has always amazed me with what he has for you and I'm sure there will be many more amazing moments. I know God will use you to do great things, things that will further his kingdom! As you grow I pray that you would guard your heart and mind, that you would trust in the Lord alone and that in everything you do, you would do it for the Glory of God! Happy 11th Birthday, my son. I cherish you.

Love,

Mama

My baby is 4...

For a lot of mom's I know, when their baby turns 5 they have a hard time with it, but for me age 4 has proven to be the toughest one...at least when it comes to my baby. You see, we have played a little game with each of our kids where we have teased them, telling them that they cant grow up past the age of 4. 4 years old has been Jay & I's favorite stage with each kid. They aren't quite 5, which seems long gone from the toddler years, and they aren't still in the toddler years! =) They still say and do funny things, funny things that we can laugh at before they start to become concerned that you are laughing at them. You can still cuddle them, kiss their boo boo's, help them get their shoe's on and they will still look at you like you are the one and only "special mommy" in the world. Ive cried the last few days as I feel like a stage in life, that I have loved, is slipping away. I look forward to the life of having older kids, cause they are just such great people, but leaving behind the little people stage is taring at my heart. I knew this day would come and to be honest I looked forward to it in some ways but now that I am here I find myself longing to hold a little baby of my own who only I can know in such a tender way. Jay's pretty sure getting "things" taken care of was a good idea or I may have found myself pregnant again! Ha! He tried to tell me that I had grand babies to look forward to....SILLY MAN! No, actually he has been great through the tears and irrational ideas...like getting a reversal. =)

As many tears as I cried Ty still turned 4....I tried to tell him today that maybe I shouldn't feed him anymore and then he wouldn't grow bigger, but he didn't think that was a good idea cause he loves donuts and is tummy might die if I didn't feed him! SEE! Its why I love 4 year olds but especially why I love Ty Ty!

Born 4 years ago today was my baby...Ty, Ty Ty, Tyger, T-Y or to be official....Tyson Brady Hughes! Happy Birthday little man! You are my sweet brown eyed boy who gives affectionately lots of kisses and hugs and I love you's. Your smile melts my heart, your brown eyes are beautiful, but when you crawl into bed with me in the morning to cuddle me, I know its going to be a good day! I love how you think you play basketball like a big kid, how you like to wear underwear that looks like Jaxon's underwear, how you manage to get Kenna to give you what ever you want and how you and Huddy laugh together when you play. But I especially love that you look just like your daddy!

Tyson,
Since I cant keep you at the age of 4 but for only 1 year, I pray for your future. I pray that you would know Jesus as your Lord and Savior and that you would live your life with a passion for the gospel. I pray that your heart would love others because Jesus first loved you and that you would be used to further God's kingdom. I pray that you will marry a woman who loves Jesus with her whole heart, a woman who wants to stay home and raise your children, a woman who wants to be in the divine role God has given her. That she would be your help-mate and encourage you to be a godly man. I also will pray for the things of today...for you to learn self-control, to speak kindly to others, to put others first. I pray that you would learn to obey mommy & daddy because you want to obey Jesus first. I pray that you will learn from your brothers and your sister that people are different and yet all valuable....and so many other things! I look forward to seeing you grow from a little boy into a "big guy" as you would put it. But no matter how big you get you will always be my baby!

Love,
Mama

It's official! Ty is 4!

Here he is checking out the amazing cake that Heather Crosby made for him. I think he's trying to decide if he should touch it or not....

Isn't this amazing??? Love it!

Playing a little "Super Hero" Musical chairs.

His Super Hero friends that came to celebrate with him!

The next 5 pictures are from the last 4 years, starting with Ty at age 4. He's always kissin' his Mama or his Mama is always kissin' him...

Ty at age 3...Sea World

Age 2

Age 1

5 months old and one of my all time FAVORITE pictures of Ty as a baby.

Fiesta Bowl....didnt really help my chances...

You are probably wondering what I mean when I say the Fiesta Bowl didn't really help my chances....well, it has been an on going "discussion", since Jay and I were married, about how he would love to move to Arizona and how I would NOT! Of course living there has NEVER crossed my mind until we were on the airplane ride down there and I was reading a book. The section I was reading was about husbands loving their wives as much as they love their own bodies (Eph. 5:28) which is such a huge task for husbands if you ask me. The author, formerly from Chicago, moved to AZ for his wife's health. She suffered from arthritis and when they vacationed in AZ she always felt so much better. So he moved them down there, in their retirement years. After reading the inspirational story, I looked over at Jay and smiled, knowing he would do the same for me...and then it hit me! "THAT'S how you're going to get me down there!" I blurted out! He looked at me like a weirdo and said "What?" and then I went on to explain. He just smiled a sly smile and said "Hey, if its what the Lord wants." Of course I laughed but deep down I didn't think it was THAT funny. When we landed in Phoenix, the warmth felt great but the scenery does NOTHING for me. In fact its just so prickly and I do not prefer it. This is where the story gets funny. Jay goes in to get our rental car and comes out with keys to a white Grand Marquis. Do you know what that is? Its the epitome of an old persons car and its ugly! Jay thought it was awesome (goes back to his weird mobster obsessions), but Jaxon and I were looking at him like he was crazy! The back end is as long as the front end and since Jay has a tendency to run into things in his big car, I thought "Oh boy, here we go." We stopped off at Walmart to pick up a few things and I HAD to take a picture of the way he parked the car for the very first time. He was 3 feet OVER the line! Jaxon and I were rollin'! Later Jaxon noticed that on the key chain it said "GRAND MA" (short for Marquis) but we had a hay day with that! The whole weekend we drove around in the GRANDMA! What is even more funny is that we stayed in Sun City which is just rows and rows of condos where the retired people live and so when we were driving in to the sub, we fit in quite nicely! The only other way we could have fit in any better would have been if we would have driven in on a golf cart! =) What wasn't funny was how Jay kept telling me to get use to riding in style cause when WE live here that's what he's gonna drive. =) Not to mention that he said about 25 times in 2 days that he would "love living here". So it really has nothing to do with the Fiesta Bowl, but everything to do with the location of the game. =) It wouldn't be right for me not to give him some attitude about this dream of his but you all know, Id pack my bags and follow him anywhere!

Now, the Fiesta Bowl was an awesome experience! And to just go with Jaxon and Jay was really really fun. Its the first trip alone we have taken with just Jax and it made me realize how quickly he is growing up. On the plane we didn't have seats together and he was more than fine with sitting by someone he didn't know. He could pack and carry his own bag. He read books and didn't ask when we were going to be there. He just enjoyed being with us and we enjoyed being with him! But to be at such a big game like that with our little athlete will be a day I will never forget. Id like to say that he was star struck by the whole weekend, but you all know Id be lying. While I'm jumping up and down in excitement, Jaxon was his normal "steady" self. About the most I got out of him was during the game and even that was just a few high fives! We couldn't be anymore different, but I wouldn't change ANYTHING about him. I just know I'm going to LOVE being the mom of older kids. Jaxon has eased us into it nicely!

PS. You know this was written by a woman cause I didn't even mention anything about the win! Just all relational stuff! HA!

Jay & Jax rollin' in the GRAND MA! Notice the park job!

Heading out to the game! GO BRONCOS!

Mitch & Jaxon's first tailgate party!

Kelli, John, Jay, Heather & Jax...all 11. Must be some Moore fans in the house!

I loved being with my boys!

Check out how close we were to the field! Unbelievable seats! Jaxon got excited about that. Even better John,who is 7'1", sat right behind him so he could stand on the seat to see over the adults standing in front of him!

Final Score: TCU-10, BSU 17!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just love this picture. This group of people are all from our church or at least we know them through church friends. It was so fun to all be in the same section together!

The 3 youngest Hughes stayed with Crosby's and Heather said that the kids kept telling her that they were going to see their mommy, daddy and Jaxon on TV....She was a little worried that they would be upset when they didn't see us, but THEN.....we appeared! They were so excited!

You cant just go home and go to sleep after an adrenalin rush like that! So, we took the boys the In-n-Out for a little Bronco celebration!

Just the 6 of us

In 14 years since Jay and I have been together we have NEVER spent a Christmas with just our little family. As much as we love being with all of the extended family it was time for us to keep it small and intimate. Everything leading up to this day was so memorable for me. It was the first year we actually had time to take the kids shopping so that they could shop for one another. To see them roam the mall in search for the perfect gift for their brothers or sister was so sweet! Then watching them wrap their gifts for each other, then give them to each other was such a blessing to Jay and I. It truly is better to give than to receive and this year our kids experienced that. It also made Jay and I look at each other and say "we need to do this more often". And we will. Christmas Eve day went to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Costa Vida, then came home and watched the Nativity Story together...the kids LOVED this and want to "watch it together every year" (Kenna). Then we had dinner together, cleaned up and headed to church for a reflective Christmas Eve service. We then headed back home to open our gifts!!! It was such a fun day! Christmas morning we opened our stockings and had breakfast together. Then we hopped in the car and drove to Yakima to spend a few days with my family. We had a great time....unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures...which is weird, I know.

On December first we started reading a story for advent called Jothem's Journey. It is a story about a little boy that gets separated from his family and while he searches for them he encounters the people in the Christmas story and comes to learn about the Messiah. GREAT story! Our kids looked forward to reading this together each night...actually I looked forward to it! We would light the candle on the Advent wreath and cozy up by each other and daddy or I would read our chapter for the night...it was so relaxing! Then we would have wonderful conversations about the story and how to apply the lessons to our lives. It felt like Christmas should....to be focused on Jesus, his coming, his death, and his promise that he will again one day return as our king! What a meaningful month it was for us. I'm already looking forward to next year and I cant say that it has been that way for me....for a while.

Here are some pics from our time together!~

Tyson and all of his pearly whites! My little cheese ball!

Huddy....could those eyes be anymore BeaUtiful??? And I'm diggin the feaux hawk!

Our sweetie heart! Cant believe how old she looks in the picture. =(

Poor Jaxon had a canker sore the size of a quarter inside his top lip....made it hard to smile so I got a "stop making me try to smile, mom" look. =)

Our Christmas Eve Dinner! Yummy!

The Ham that we bough the day before Christmas Eve....not easy to find a ham that late in the month!
Kenna watching the end of the Nativity Story. She was all teary eyed! It was so sweet.

Jay & the cuties!

Mama and her little chicks!

Poor Jaxon just couldn't smile any more...so here are the other 3 hammin' it up!

Christmas Eve reading our Advent story. Ty seems to be paying really close attention. =)

Advent Wreath

Ty & Hudson

Daddy just opened up the present the kids got him...a NEW wallet!

Kenna got some slippers from Jax! She "was totally wanting some just like these!"

Hud & Ty opening up their storm trooper helmets!

"now we're just wike wheel (real) star wars guys, Huddy!" Tyson age 3 1/2

Here is Jax opening up his "big" gift from Jay & I. It was a little box with a BSU Fiesta Bowl T-shirt in it and a ticket to the Fiesta Bowl!!!! But when he ripped the package open the ticket fell on the floor and he didn't even notice...so while we snickered at his excitement over the t-shirt, Kenna pointed out the ticket on the floor. This is the picture of him figuring out that he gets to go with us to the FIESTA BOWL!!!!!!!! GO BSU!

He knew that Jay and were going but we didn't tell him he was going to get to go. NOT ONCE did he ask if he could go so it made giving him the gift even more exciting! When we asked him if he thought we were going to take him he said "no, I thought you would have told me by now". He was AS excited as we have EVER seen Jax!

Looking forward to Jan 4th! Go Broncos....PLEEEEEAAASE make it worth the money we spent!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

One of our FAVORITE Christmas traditions

If you live in Boise there's no doubt you know of this place. Every year this guy lights his house up for all of Boise to see and every year we drive up Quail hill, park, walk a ways in the snow and marvel at all of the lights...all of his hard work! The kids love it, I love it...even Jay loves it! =) This year we went the night before Christmas Eve and it took us 30 minutes to get up the hill to the house. It was bumper to bumper traffic! But well worth the wait!

Apparently 10 year old boys don't wear pants anymore no matter what the temp!

This year the neighbor next door went all out! I love it! DITTO!

Welcome back???

Facebook has taken over blogging....its sad, I know. This is my attempt at coming back to the bloggers world...we'll see how it goes. Im going to attempt blogging in December...if it doesnt work then I will have to say goodbye to this past time...one that I enjoyed for so long. =) Im just not sure I can keep up with both....plus its a lot of work if no one looks at it! =0)