Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Soccer + Huddy = cuteness

Hudson had his first soccer game this last Saturday and it was...cute. Huddy marches to his own beat so we were curious as to how this would go, but it was great! He LOVED playing soccer...for a while, but then he was ready to be done...here's how the conversation went:

He comes out for a "break" after playing in one 5 minute quarter:

"Huddy, your doing so great!" says mommy
"I'm sad" said Huddy
"why are you sad?" mommy asks
"because I don't want to play soccer anymore" he says
"today?" Mommy asks
"No, never, ever" Huddy informs
"really? why's that?" mommy asks
"I'm so tired of this" (he went to a birthday party that morning and ate WAY to much candy which ruined the chance for a nap...so I bet he was tired!)

"why don't you rest this quarter and then I bet you'll be ready to go again" mommy tries to encourage

"no, I'm all done" He is saying this as the other Hudson on the team is screaming because he doesn't want to play...

I just sit back and wait to see what's going to happen.

The last quarter arrives and daddy comes over to see if he's ready...

"OK- I guess I'll play" he says

Phew! sometimes not pushing this kid is exactly what it takes to get him to do something. We'll be sure he gets a nap next game! =)


#5- just like Jaxon and Kenna were their first year of soccer!

4th quarter and daddy is giving Hudson the thumbs up for making it back into the game!
This is Hudson meeting the other Hudson during the middle of the game. "I'm Hudson", "No, I'm Hudson" (Pause) I guess we're both Hudson! They then proceeded to give each other a high 5!
This was the "break time" that was almost the end of his soccer career.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

nine

Happy Birthday Jaxon!

I cant believe my first born son is nine years old today! But what a GREAT nine years it has been! When you get the opportunity to watch someone grow it is truly a testimony to how great our God is. This year we are praising God for Jaxon in a different way. You see...he gave his life to the Lord this year and from where we are sitting it is a genuine as it comes.

Jaxon,

You make your mom and dad so proud. You are a responsible, kind, diligent, fun-loving, hard working kind of guy and it is a joy to watch you grow. Now our focus as parents will no longer be to help you see that you need a savior because you have seen that for yourself, but to help disciple you as you grow into a man of God. He is already growing you and what a relief as a parent to see that despite our weaknesses as parents, God will make you who He wants you to be. I don't care what you do in life, if you are doing it for the Lord, I will be proud. Thank you for being a help to this momma and for being such a great influence and example for your sister and brothers. May you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ this year and for the rest of your life. (and thank you Jesus for saving my son...something only you can do.)

Love,

Mommy

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Memorial Service for Charley

Saturday March 29th was the day of the funeral. We gathered at Kholerlawn cemetery at 10:30 am for the graveside service. Kelli read a poem and then my dad talked to the family. It was a beautiful service. From there we came back to our home where my dear friends put on a lunch for the family. Then we headed to the church for the memorial service. The services was perfect and God honoring. Charley would have loved it. We think there were about 150-175 people there. So many people drove from LaGrande and other cities to come and support the family. After the service we held the reception at our house where again my friends took care of all the food and preparation. It was wonderful. Good friends hanging out at the house is what Charley would have wanted. When the day was over we felt that Charley had been honored for the man that he was. A man full of life, a man who always had a kind word for everyone, a man who deeply loved his family. We will miss you Grandpa Charley...we already do. Survived by 4 daughters, a son, a daughter-in-law, 5 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.
We placed at the front of the church things that reminded us all of Charley. His Ireland t-shirt that he wore so often, a baseball bat that was special to him, a belt with his name on it, and a Charley Sports hat.
FCBC was filled with people. This picture was taken 20 minutes before the service actually started. They brought in more chairs and people still had to sit in the overflow room.
Jaxon was one of 6 people that talked about Charley. He did so great...what a special tribute to his grandpa who he loved so much. Until we meet again in Heaven!

Charley Hughes (Obituary)

Charles (Charley) Edmund Hughes, 63, of Boise, ID, died March 23 at Sunbridge Retirement home in Meridian, ID. Services will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at Faith Community Bible Church in Boise.

Charley was born on December 14, 1944, in Nampa, ID to Charles and Gladys (Farr) Hughes. He moved to La Grande to attend school and play football at Eastern Oregon State College in 1963. Upon graduation Charley taught school in Meridian, ID before moving back to La Grande to open up Charley’s Sports which he ran for 10 years. During that time he served as a coach in numerous youth sports throughout the community. After closing the store in 1988 Charley went back to teaching. Ultimately he taught in the Imbler school system for 16 years before retiring and moving to Boise, ID.

Charley will be fondly remembered by many who were touched by his warm heart and contagious smile. He always had a kind word and a moment of his time for anyone that needed it.

Charley is survived by his brother Jim Hughes, his sisters Virginia Scheele and Betty Wells along with his children Jay Hughes and his wife Heather, his daughters Kelli Hughes, Kasey Hughes, Jenica and Rianna McKay and six grandchildren.

An Easter unlike any other

Well, this Easter wasn't exactly what he had thought it would be. We got a phone call at 5:30 am from the Nursing home that Jay's dad was staying at...Charley had passed away. We just sat there for an hour, in shock, and then decided to stay in Yakima and let the kids enjoy their Easter with family. Its a strange feeling to loose someone you love on the day that you are rejoicing that Christ had risen from the dead. You feel sorrow and yet because Charley believed in Christ we will see him again because of Jesus' death and Resurrection. It took some time to process this.
3 major things have happened in the last 4 years and for some reason the Lord has allowed my family to be with us each time. It really was a blessing to have family close during such an emotional time. I took the kids to church that morning and then we ate lunch with the whole family at Josh & Heather's. Here are some pictures from that day. The Hughes kids
Mamo & Papa with all the cousins (except Kara...she was sleeping)
Here's Jaxon, Kenna & Aunt B fighting over the hidden egg that was worth 20 bucks!
All Philips gatherings seem to end in a wrestling match. Grand kids vs. Papa!

The Eve of Easter


We were in Yakima for Easter weekend and the night before we were invited to the Spurgin house to color Easter eggs and decorate Easter cookies! I only took Kenna since the little boys were exhausted and Jaxon was more interested in watching the NCAA tourney games. So, it ended up being a fun time for just us girls. Kenna LOVES anything to do with food and decorating cookies is her specialty. She was in heaven! Thanks Meg for all your hard work, we so enjoyed ourselves! Notice Emme licking the egg...silly girl!
Jaser's and Grandma Meg so proud of his egg!
All of Kenna's BEAUTIFUL eggs!
Ella and her furry mini cup cake!
K had a smile on her face the whole night! Here she is decorating her cookies.

Monday, March 17, 2008

As Good Friday Approches...

To be completely honest until Sunday my thoughts were more focused on whether or not my kids Easter outfits would arrive in time for Easter, but the sermon at church was exactly what I needed to hear in order to change that. It wasn't anything fancy, more like a history lesson on what led up to the Crucifixion (the rest of the story will be told at the Good Friday service), but it made me refocus my attentions on what this week really is all about.



This incredible life saving gift that God gave us through sacrificing his son, Jesus Christ is incomprehensible. Why would God do that?

I sang this song for communion one Sunday and it was really hard for me to get through. These words say exactly what I feel. I hope they touch your heart too.


THIS FATHOMLESS LOVE

Lord, what moved Your heart to love lowly man
Before any star could herald Your praise?
And why did You come, abasing Yourself
Veiled in a robe of frail human clay?
Why would You, the pure, give Your life for the vile
The innocent seeking the guilty
To be reconciled?

I can’t comprehend this fathomless love
I’m gripped and amazed at what You have done
Why would the adored become the despised
To bear all the furious wrath that was mine?
How awesome this mystery
Of Your fathomless love for me

Why would You adopt and take as Your own
Those who had crushed Your one precious Son?
Why mercy and grace towards Your enemies?
Your name they have cursed
And Your throne they have shunned
Oh, how could You choose
To show kindness to these?
The ones who would mock You and hate You
The ones just like me?

I can’t comprehend this fathomless love
I’m gripped and amazed at what You have done
Why would the adored become the despised
To bear all the furious wrath that was mine?
How awesome this mystery
Of Your fathomless love for me

This song is by Sovereign Grace. You can find this song and many more great songs at http://www.sovereigngracemusic.org/

May your focus be on the Unfathomable love that Christ has for you. Happy Easter!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

TAGGED!

I was tagged by a fellow blogger (and friend from church) Katie, to write 10 random things about myself. So here I go!

1.I loved chicken little's from KFC but they discontinued them about 5 years ago. Boise never had them (which was a HUGE disappointment when I moved here) and most of the Yakima chains stopped carrying them. Once when I was in Yak for a visit my brother said he "heard" that one of the KFC's had chicken little's again, so I spent the afternoon hunting them down to then eat 5 of them in case it was the last time ever.

2. I once ate a worm just because I was dared to.

3. I am a really bad liar. Of course I know this is wrong now so I don't actually try to but when I was in high school I thought I was extremely clever to come up with such believable lies, which actually were totally UNBELIEVABLE!

4. I wish I could live life the way people do in musicals. To burst into song at just the right moment because its what SHOULD happen!

5. I'm only organized to make life easier so that I can have more fun!

6. I wish that I could build my own subdivision, have all of my favorite people live there, and live happily ever after. When I'm in heaven one day this will be true!

7. I use the word "Nu uh" way to often....wait a minute...that's not even a word!

8. I use to think that the song "Give me the beat boys to free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock-n-roll and drift away" was....
"give me the BEACH BOYS to free my soul". =)

9. I know almost all the words to any Air Supply song there is.

10. If you sneak up behind me and scare me....I will punch you out of instinct!

Now I tag Deanna Winn, Bridgette Phillips, Natalie Renstrom, Heather Phillips & Beth Williams.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Meet Daisy Duke

Hear is our latest addition! She is 8 weeks old and a fabulous addition to our family! The kids are loving her and she is loving them. Yes, I felt the need to have one more baby...so I went for the one that we wont have to pay college tuition for! We look forward to having her around, taking her camping, for walks and bike rides! Welcome to the family Daisy!



Saturday, March 1, 2008

Tahoe Freak Show (or Family Vacation)

I know...weird title for my post....right? Well, not if you were the Hughes in Tahoe! Seriously, I have NEVER felt so stared at in my life! Walking around with 4 kids was as if I were walking around naked! People stared and commented to us and after we passed about how many kids we had. Its not like we have 12! It was bizarre. We got a lot of "wow, you've been busy" or "you sure do have your hands full". One guy even said "you know there's a cure for that!". In Idaho people just think we are LDS but in Cali we were a freak show! I should have put a cup out asking for donations...I probably could have made some serious cash! Anyway...the staring aside we had a blast!

Best Family vacation of all time (so far anyway)! We drove to Tahoe the day after it had snowed about a foot and then the rest of the week it was 45-50 degrees! It was gorgeous. Jaxon and Kenna learned how to ski (I was SO proud of them), Huddy and Ty had fun playing at the resort day care on the days that we skied, and Jay and I got one day to our selves to ski! It was amazing, and yet I was quickly reminded that my body cant do the things it use to! The last time we skied was the year before Jaxon was born!!!! We will make sure that doesn't happen again because we can do this as a family. One whole day we skied with just Jax & Kenna and I was beaming and hootin and hollerin the whole way down the mountain...I was so PROUD of them! Kenna has a need for speed and Jaxon a need to perfect it...fun combo! We did lots of other fun things. Check out the pics below! Good times!




For just $5 you can stare at the Hughes family!

This is where we stayed. The Marriott Timber Lodge in South Lake Tahoe. We were seriously like 50 yards for the Nevada/California state line. We were technically in Cali. It was gorgeous inside and out and right next door to the Heavenly village which has shops, restaurants and an ice rink.


The out door pool was heated!

And, Yes, the kids swam in it!


One day we took the kids up the Gondola and they got to sled at the "Adventure Park". WAY to expensive, wouldn't do it again, but they had fun. Ty didn't love sledding so he reclined in the beach chair with daddy. (I thought it was funny that there were beach chairs, but I guess people need a place to sit)

Huddy had a blast carrying up his disc to slide down his not so huge hill...it was perfect for him.

This is the tow rope for the tubing which me, Jay, Jax & Kenna did. Jaxon is in the orange tube and Kenna is in the yellow one.

The little boys in the Gondola on the way down.

Me, Jax & Jay...the view up here was phenomenal!


This is another view of our hotel. See the Gondola going up...it was seriously right out the back door! So cool!

Jax & Kenna really wanted to learn to ice skate so we put the skates on one evening. Those kids fell left and right! I fell once...didn't skate again. Luckily it was at the end of the session. My tail bone still hurts! But again, I was so proud of the kids, they picked it up so quickly! Ahhh..to be young again!

Jay and the boys ate a carmel apple by the fire while we were falling on the hard ice!


Ski school was a hit! Here is Kenna at the end of a run. She had so much fun...once she got he hang of it.

Here goes Jaxon!



I love this picture! The view of Lake Tahoe was breath taking from atop Heavenly. Heavenly is the ski resort we skied at.

We really couldn't have asked for better weather. It was sunshiny and 50 degrees!



This is the day we took the kids skiing. They stayed on the easy run for about 1/2 hour and then up to the top of the mountain they wanted to go! I was amazed!

This is a cool map of Lake Tahoe. Jay is being educational and showing them where we are!


On our last morning we told the kids we would take them down to the water and throw rocks in the Lake but when we got to the water there were no rocks! Everything was covered in snow SO we threw snowballs in the water instead! Huddy wasn't to thrilled, but he got over it. HE was counting on those rocks!

I just cant believe how much luggage it takes for us to go any where! I'm starting to realize why people stare. =)

This was the way we ended our family vacation...at In-n-out! Any time we go anywhere, if there is an In-n-Out, Jay sniffs it out and we HAVE to eat there. We actually ate here on our way to Tahoe and our way home! And this was the first hamburger Hudson and Ty have ever had from a fast food restaurant. Them there are chicken nugget fans! (say it with an accent, it sounds better).

This was the first family vacation where we really wanted to stay longer! We cant wait to go back!