The Hughes Family

Going Private!

2010-11-15T21:11:00.003-07:00

So, I am going to do it! The best way to get me your email address is to message me on facebook! I also made my comments private if you want to leave it in here. Thanks everyone!

Jaycee is 9 months old!!

2010-11-15T20:40:00.007-07:00

My little girl is growing up so fast! I can't believe it! Her personality is really shining through and what a happy, easy going but busy girl we have! I wish she was a bit more of a cuddler, but oh well!

Her biggest acheivement this last month is she is standing on her own! She has stood for up to 2 min! What a big girl!

She also loves to "help" mom with all the chores! Notice the quotation marks! I am so glad that she wants to be with me and try to do what I am doing but it can be challenging to get anything done!

So, I haven't had a chance to put up older pics, but I will finally give ya some this month! Enjoy the pics of our little cutie!!

Feeling Not Quite Up To Par!

2010-10-25T02:53:00.004-06:00

So I have been sick for the last week and my house shows it! The dishes havn't been done, laundry has gotten as far as sorting, and we went on a trip last week to Junction for a funeral and the stuff still isn't put away! I am stressed about money(but who isn't), and today it all just came to a head! Part of it is that I didn't get much sleep last night cause Tom and Jaycee were both sick, and then I didn't think it was a good idea to take Jaycee to church today because she wasn't feeling well and it was cold and the wind was terrible and it was raining, and I am having a hard time sleeping tonight, and I am stressed that my house looks like it does and I was just feeling sorry for myself...still am if you want to know the truth, but I am doing better! My cousin helped me feel like I am a good person and I do try to look out for others. This is stuff I needed to hear tonight. Not to toot my own horn, but so that I felt a little human again, instead of a lump. I have set a goal to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days! There is a great website called readthescriptures.com that is helping me with my goal. Today I was doing extra reading cause I couldn't go to church and I was a little bit behind! I sure love the scripture and I love how at different times in your life they can say different things to you! I am so grateful for what they said to me today! It gave me strength and courage to go on, realizing that if I keep trying, the Lord will reward me in the end, which reward is greater than any monitary thing I could have right now! I still was having a hard time pulling myself out of my slump though and I was reading people's blogs, which isn't always condusive to feeling better about yourself because it always seems that everyone is doing so well and that they have nothing but a blissful life! I was reading what my friend Jayna wrote,(who I have not seen for FAR TOO LONG!) and it helped me to remember that everyone is human! Then I just couldn't let my dishes go any longer and at 1am I started doing them! It was nice and almost therapeutic to do them alone! Not saying I love doing dishes but I needed some me time! There is a sign over my sink that is a picture of Christ and says, "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it!" I gained a whole new appreciation for this tonight! Somebody in my Relief Society class said once that that saying was false because the Gospel makes things easy, and I have always felt kinda bad cause I thought I was not a good member of the church because things were still hard even though I was living the gospel! This added to my depressed state because I really do want to take upon myself the name of Christ and be a good member of the church and daughter of God! Tonight I realized though, that maybe that is how it is for that person, that is not how my life was laid out! The Gospel of Jesus Christ can make things more bearable, there is no doubt about that! I am hear to tell you though that I have been diligent about reading my scriptures and better about saying my prayers and more faithful about going to church, even if I have to go alone cause poor Tom has to work, and faithful about paying a full tithe and things are still not easy! I don't say any of that to make you think I think I am better than anyone, I am just telling people that I am feeling pretty good about the things I am doing to become closer to my Savior and life is still hard! But I cannot deny that I am happy! I have been born of goodly parents and my relationship with my family is as good as ever! I have come to realize how much my parents sacrificed for me so that I coul have thing and be taught correct principles. Even if it was just fighting us to get up for scripture study, or making sure that we knew what Christmas was really all about! The little things! I have the best inlaws and we get along so well! I am married to the most amazing man I know and on top of that am still madly in love with him after almost 4 years of marriage! In this day and age that is saying something!! I plan on being even more madly in love as the years go by for the rest of my life and throughout eternity! I have the blessing of the sealing power in my home and a worthy priesthood holder at my side as my constant companion and best friend! My heart has been completely stolen by a little 8 1/2 month old who is asleep in her room right now that I just want to go hold and hug and kiss and tell her how much I love her. It's funny cause earlier I was frustrated that she was being a huge Mama's girl, and now I would give anything to just cuddle her!! Why do I have to get so frustrated about those things and why don't I take advantage of them! She is a pretty independent little thing and the cuddle time I have is limited! I have AMAZING friends, some who I talk to every day, and some who I wish I kept in better contact with who are all very dear to my heart! I know this life, even though not easy is so worth it! All the joy I feel is what keeps me going! I may have my down days, but I know that I will have those times that bring me up again! I knew this would make me feel better! This hymn has just come to mind!
Count Your Blessings
"When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discourage, thinking all is lost,
Count you many blessing; name them one by one.
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done."
This song embodies this post and what I was feeling at the beginning of typing to what I am feeling now!

7 months and on the move!

2010-10-25T02:45:00.002-06:00

Jaycee's favorite thing this month is to pull herself up to everything and she started walking along the couch! She is still unsure of herself, but she is a little daredevil, so I expect her to try things as early as possible!! The same day she started walking along the couch she said "Dada" for the first time and then almost a week later actually said "Mama" like she was talking to me not like she was going mamamamamamamamama just to hear the sound of her voice! We had to put a big dinosaur toy in front of the dvd player and stuff in the living room and she is learning the meaning of no! I am so glad she's such a good girl and catches on fast cause disipline is not my favorite aspect of parenting, but I am firm with her and she really does know what no means! Just before her 8 month mark, she started standing on her own! Only for a couple of seconds, but she is not afraid to try new things! She is becoming more independent and can play in the living room for about 2 min while I am in the kitchen before coming to find me! She is my little buddy!

Our Jaycee Boo is 6 Whole Months!!

2010-10-25T02:39:00.002-06:00

She is growing so much!

~She loves her See-n-say!
~She loves it when Mommy sings Primary songs, Itsy-Bitsy Spider and finally Patty Cake!
~She had meat for the first time and actually liked it!
~She started waving her arms around all over the place and inspecting her hands! It's so cute to watch her learn what she can do with this newly acquired human body!
~She reached for me the first time and I of course was in tears I was so excited!
~She got her first tooth! FINALLY!
~Because of this, she is not sleeping through the night like she had been!
~She learned to pull herself up to the furniture and she thinks she's so big!!

I can't believe she has been in our lives for a whole six months! It's incredible to me that we ever even lived without her! I am so grateful she is mine for eternity!!

5 months and a lot of firsts!

2010-10-25T02:20:00.002-06:00

(Once again, pictures will come later!)

There were lots of first this month so I am just going to make a list!(Once again from the calendar!)

~Her first fourth of July was pretty uneventful! Daddy had to work and she slept right through the fireworks we did get to see!
~Jaycee went on her first camping trip! It was at Timid Springs up Beaver Mountain for the Ipson family reunion.
~Jaycee got to go to her first funeral! Her Grandpa Great Henrie passed away after having a stroke 4 days earlier while we were at the Ipson reunion.
~While we were in Las Vegas, she sat alone and grabbed Mama's face and gave her a kiss, without me asking for one! SOOOOOO CUTE! And at this emotional time it was so healing!
~First time being away from Daddy for more than just a day while he was at work! After my grandpa had his stroke, Tom had to go back to work, but I really felt like I wanted to be with my family when he passed away! I am so glad I was! What a spiritual experience! Jaycee had to stay with Mama and Daddy was not happy about this! Mama and Daddy both cried as Daddy pulled away and for a lot of the rest of the week! Mama missed Daddy terribly and wanted the comfort that only he could give at this very emotional time! Also she felt so bad that Daddy wasn't there to see his "Boo" everyday! Daddy cried cause he missed us and didn't want us to have to go through this alone! The reunion at Buckhorn was very sweet!
~She had eaten her first food last month, but this month she was learning all about more vegetables, and then started learning about fruit! She is very good at eating her veggies still even though she has tried the sweet!
~She went to the ER for the first time! She had a cough for about a week but one night when she was eating her food, she was gasping for air. It scared Tom and I really bad! We got to the ER and she didn't cough once, which frustrated me at first, but then I remembered Tom had given her a Priesthood blessing before we left the house and it made her all better! Boy are we grateful for the Priesthood and a Daddy who is worthy to give us blessings!!
~We went to the Henrie reunion for the first time at the Johnson Oak Ranch! It was a blast! We were so grateful to be together as a family, but we were sure missing our Grandpa!! Jaycee got to go on her first 4 wheeler ride!
~The day before she turned 6 months old she started crawling in the mother's room at church!
~She is still exploring her voice!
~She is scooting everywhere!

3 months and Mother's Day

2010-10-25T02:05:00.002-06:00

Well, I am a little bummed, cause I was going to sit down and do a post about every month, which I still intend to do, but I wanted to put pics with each, but the only way to get a pic on this computer is to copy it from Facebook, which it is not letting me do right now, so I will have to come back and post the pics later, but I have waited far too long for this to make me quit! Yes I had to get out her baby calendar to remember all this stuff!

Jaycee is getting bigger everyday! She is growing and changing so much! She is loving to watch the colors on TV and she is grabbing objects! She grabbed her toy keys before she was 2 months old, but is now grabbing all sorts of things! Mommy finally got her first smile on camera! It is adorable! Jaycee is now sleeping in her own room in her big girl crib! We took her to the park for the first time and she took to grass quite a bit better than I did when I was that age! She is holding her bottle on her own now, which freaks mommy out a bit cause she is just getting too big!! The big news for this month is that she rolled over on her own! She is getting so big and strong! I love my little girl so much!

A Mommy milestone this month was that I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mother! It was awesome! Tom and Jaycee got me a stroller that I have been wanting and Tom got me a bracelet and some earings! We got to spend the night before at Nana Hughes' and go to church with her! It was definitely a day of contemplation! I couldn't believe how incredibly blessed I was! Tom and Jaycee are my whole world and I couldn't be happier!!

Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 2

2010-10-06T21:18:00.000-06:00

Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 1

2010-10-06T21:16:00.000-06:00

The Plan of Salvation

2010-07-22T22:49:00.002-06:00

Wow, it always is way too long between posts! Well, we have had an interesting couple weeks! On July 8 we were so excited, getting ready to go to the Ipson reunion up Beaver Mountain to a place called Timid Springs. I was excited to go for a few reasons! I LOVE to camp and I was excited to share that love with Jaycee! I love camping food and was excited to make it! I also love Tom's family! My parents have always taught me that when you are sealed to your spouse, you are sealed to their family, so you better like the family! I have to tell you that I have 2 great families now! I felt in a funk though all day that Thursday but I thought it was just the stress of getting everything ready. We got to the camp and got to bed around 3 or 4 on Friday morning. The next morning I woke up and was still feeling weird, and still couldn't figure out why. Around noon our time Jaycee just started to cry and get really fussy. I was sad and a little embarrassed cause she is never like this and I wanted the family to see what a good baby she is! I am even more embarrassed about how prideful that is. Well, we thought maybe she had a tummy ache cause she got some formula she isn't used to the night before. So I tried to rub her belly to get the gas out. She didn't feel gassy, so I didn't know what was wrong! Our little family all decided to take a nap since we didn't get much sleep the night before. All of Tom's cousins went out shooting, something that he LOVES to do! He felt like he needed to stay with us though! I felt bad but it was so nice to lay next to him and just get some rest! Later that evening Tom wanted to show his cousin DJ something on his phone. So he turned it on and noticed that he had a voicemail but he couldn't check it cause there was no service. All of the sudden a text message from my brother came through. It said something like, "Grandpa Henrie has had a stroke and is not doing well. Call us when you get this!" I was walking across the camp toward Tom and he said, "Nat, your grandpa had a stroke!" I didn't need to hear anymore. For some reason I knew it was bad, and the reason for my funk all became clear! I kindof fell on the ground and started bawling! My cousin Bree all the sudden noticed what was going on and she ran over to me and asked what was going on, I blurted out something about my grandpa having a stroke and she tried to comfort me saying something like let's figure out what's going on and people recover from these all the time but something inside me told me that he wasn't going to get better. All I can remember is saying no, no! Tom came and just held me, and I told him, "We need to leave right now! We need to get to Vegas!" DJ let us use his truck to go get service to find out what was going on. I called my poor mom who had been trying to get a hold of me all afternoon! She said that 11:00 that morning (12:00 our time, right when Jaycee started getting fussy!) Grandma called and asked if my dad was there and that there was something wrong with grandpa. My parents got there and my dad knew he had a stroke and called 911. They had done the CT by the time my parents and grandma got to the hospital. The prognosis was not good! It was not a clot stroke that they can fix within 3 hrs, it was a hemorrhagic kind where he was bleeding and all they could do was do surgery to drain his head, but he would never walk or talk again! He would not have wanted that! So they decided to take him home on hospice. They said he had anywhere from 2 hrs to a week and he would pass away! At this point I was in shock! This couldn't be real! Linda let us take her car and Tom and his cousins packed it as fast as possible and we were on our way to Vegas at 10 pm. Good thing Tom could drive cause I was kindof a wreck! Thank goodness he took a nap instead of going shooting! We got there at about 1 am Vegas time. Grandpa wasn't responsive really, but he did squeeze mine and Jaycee's hands! That was a sweet experience! Most of the family got there by Saturday night. The next few days were a blur filled with both laughter and tears, but no sleep! There were many times we thought it was close and we would all gather reverently for the impending Spiritual event. The Spirit was truly strong in my grandparents house! The angels were close! On Tuesday my Aunt's family got there. They were the only ones left in the family that were planning on coming, to get there. My cousin's husband and 3 year old were truly missed. Well, Grandpa waited for Uncle Jeremy and the kids to get there and then passed peacefully with the whole family standing by! Once again, a very Spiritual experience! The funeral and burial were hard but good! All of the people who came showed just what a great man my Grandpa is! I am glad to call him mine! There has been so much support freom people I have never met as well as friends and family! I am so grateful for all your prayers andam grateful for all the little things people have done like Bree coming to the burial! I was sad that Tom had to come back home on Monday and wasn't able to be there for the funeral! I was so glad he could come be my support person and shoulder to cry on for the burial. He is my rock! Every time I think about Grandpa being gone, it still doesn't seem real, although I know it is. I am so grateful for his service throughout his life. When he died he was the first counselor in the Las Vegas Temple Presidency. Those days they spent there were long and hard but he and Grandma wanted to serve! I miss my Grandpa but am comforted in the knowledge that I will see him again! I am so grateful for the Plan that allows me to be with my family forever!

Jaycee is 4 months old!

2010-06-13T15:48:00.005-06:00

So, I am so behind on my blogging, and I was going to attempt to do posts on everything that has been going on, but it's too much! So lets just start again, with all the things that my little girl is up to now!!

She had her 4 month shots on the 9th and had her first 103 fever! She was miserable and mommy and daddy felt very helpless! She is doing much better now!
She weighs 12 lb 14 oz and is 25 3/4 inches long! She is tall and skinny!
She rolls from back to front just fine whenever she wants to, mostly to her right, but occasionally to the left! She has done front to back a few times, but not a lot!
She holds her head up like a pro.
She likes to grab and reach for things.
She loves to stand up on your lap!
She is enjoying tummy time much more now since we got a tummy time mat!
She definitely knows mommy and daddy!
She smiles all the time, but it is quite a chore to get her to smile for pictures!
She giggles if you act like you're eating her belly, and then kiss her cheeks. She has just started giggling while we sing Itsy, Bitsy, Spider; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; and I'm a little teapot!
She just today put her own binki in her mouth!
She sleeps in her own crib, in her own room!
She sleeps through the night!
She can put herself to sleep most of the time without crying!
She LOVES it when you hold onto both of her hands and say, "Sit up big!" She pulls herself up!
She loves to go to the park!
She is still a little unsure of the swimming pool!
She LOVES her baths every night!!

We are very proud of our little girl! She is the biggest joy! Even though Mommy gets tired, she never gets tired of taking care of her little Jaycee!!

Lots of New Posts!

2010-04-17T15:03:00.001-06:00

I have had a minute to sit down and blog (yes, I know I should be studying!) so I wanted to post about all the things that have been going on in our lives! The first post is Move and a Blessing! Hope you enjoy!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-17T14:48:00.005-06:00

Tom had to work the day of Easter, so the Easter Bunny made sure everything was ready for his lunch when he was able to come home. We talked to the Easter Bunny and let him know that Jaycee can't have candy, obviously, and we let him know that we weren't quite sure what he should bring her. He told us to leave it up to him, cause he knew just the things! Jaycee got a My First Book of Mormon, which she loves to read every night, and The Children's Songbook CD's, which she loves to listen to. We thought this was perfect because it would teach her more about our Savior, whom Easter was all about! This was also a very special Easter because we were able to listen to General Conference! I loved this Conference because it seemed as though EVERY talk was directed straight at me! It made me really feel of the Lord's love for me individually!

Jaycee is starting to learn to hold on to things! It is exciting as a parent to watch her learn and grow!

Jaycee gives very good kisses, although they are getting a bit slobbery! :-) The doctor told us she is teething, which Mom especially is not looking forward to!! (Ouch!)

Family Portraits

2010-04-17T14:33:00.010-06:00

All of Jaycee's Family

The Jeffery and Linda Hughes Family

The Duane and Norma Henrie Family

The Tom and Natalie Hughes Family

Our sweet little Jaycee in her blessing dress

While all of our family was here for the move and Jaycee's blessing, I wanted to go get professional family pictures done. Hope you enjoy!

First Visit To Grandpa Hughes

2010-04-17T14:22:00.006-06:00

Jaycee and Grandpa Hughes' Headstone

Jaycee, Auntie Melinda, Me and Tom with Jeff's headstone

Jaycee with Nana and Grandpa Hughes

The whole family!

As many of you know, Tom's dad passed away when he was 14! I have never had the pleasure of meeting this great man, but I look forward to that someday! I do feel like I know him though and that is a great comfort to me! I believe very strongly that Jaycee still remembers her Grandpa and other family members who have passed away! It was neat, especially for Tom, to take Jaycee out to the cemetary where her Grandpa is buried. We were able to do this the same Sunday that Jaycee was blessed because it happened to be Jeff's birthday! That day will always be special for 2 reasons now! I think it is neat that she was able to be blessed on his birthday!

Move and a Blessing!

2010-04-04T13:02:00.005-06:00

Jaycee and Grandpa and Grandma Henrie

Our family

4 Generations

Jaycee and her cousin Danielle

So, March 26-27 we moved into a new apartment! Our other apartment was home, but it was time to move on! I am doing a class to do Medical Transcription from home so I can be with Jaycee more and still be bringing in money. They apt we moved to is setup in a way that I can have my office in the main area of the house so it's not in a back bedroom. We like the new place and are excited to be part of the ward! They seem really nice!

March 28 Jaycee was blessed! Her daddy did the blessing and did an amazing job! There were so many family members and friends there to support us and we really appreciate it! Our parents and siblings helped us do a luncheon after at Auntie Melinda's apt clubhouse and it was so nice! Lots of people brought salads that were so yummy! It was truly a great day!!

Always listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost!

2010-03-21T13:53:00.002-06:00

So I have to say how grateful I am for a husband who is so close to the Spirit and listens when the Holy Ghost speaks to him!

Last night we were out doing errands after dark and I had to mail a couple of my assignments to my school! I like putting it into a mailbox rather than just send it out from my house, so that I know when it will go out! Tom doesn't think that makes much sence but he puts up with my OCD anyways! Well, our post office is stupid and you have to get out of the car and go inside to mail your letters instead of putting it in that blue box because there is no outside blue box! So I told Tom to pull in the parking lot with the car lights shining in the building so he could watch me while I was in there. I got out and got to the first set of automatic doors and they opened and Tom started honking the horn. I was kindof upset cause I thought he was just trying to scare me! I looked back at him and he was waving frantically at me and hurried and rolled down the window and was like, "I have a really bad feeling, get in the car right now!! I am taking them in!" My heart started racing! I was like what is going on? Tom went inside and kept looking to the south in the building. When he got back in the car I asked him what he was looking at. There was a guy just hanging out in the dark in there just around the corner from the door so I couldn't see him as I was getting ready to go in! I don't know why this guy was there, and don't really know if anything bad would have happened, but it was all just a little too freaky!! I was so grateful that Tom had a feeling that I shouldn't go in there and told me to get back in the car! I am so grateful that He was worthy to hear the voice of the Holy Ghost and was close enough to listen!!

I love my hubby so much! He is my whole world!! Thank you baby for protecting me! I am also grateful to the Lord for warning my husband that something was not right!

Just as a side note, Jaycee's personallity is really coming out! She is smiling when we talk to her and I think she knows who Tom and I are!! I love my little girl and don't know what I would do about her!!

My Smart Sexy Hubby!

2010-03-19T20:22:00.002-06:00

So, Tom has been telling me for a while that he needs to go to the eye doctor, but we have both been putting it off due to the expense issue! Well, yesterday we passed a doctor that took walk in's so we went in. He got his eyes checked and did need glasses. His perscription isn't terrible, but it did help to get the glasses. He can see street signs better and see products on the shelf at his store better! He doesn't need to use them all the time, but he does like to wear them most of the time!! We got him some really nice looking frames, and it didn't take any time at all for me to get used to him wearing them! I think he looks hot!! (But of course I think that all the time...so this is nothing new!) So what do ya think?

One Month Already!! I don't know if I am ready for that!!

2010-03-09T13:52:00.005-07:00

Three days old

One month old
Jaycee is one month old today!! How can she be that old already? This little girl has brought so much love and joy to our little home and family! The Lord has truly blessed us with a special spirit! She is amazing!
She is 9 lbs today. So she's gained about a pound and a half since birth.
She is more alert and awake during the day.
She is getting more chubby and eating really well.
She is recognizing mom and dad's voices.
She has met lots of people in her extended family and is happy to be held by anyone.
She is sleeping 4-7 hours a night. (The good news is when she does wake up, she eats and goes right back to sleep.)
She can control her neck muscles really well, and can hold her head up by herself most of the time.
Her legs are very strong.
These are just a few of her landmarks! We already don't really remember life without her, and definitely don't know what we would do without her! She is the best thing that has ever happened to us!
Mommy and Daddy love you Jaycee!!

She's here!

2010-02-19T18:00:00.002-07:00

Woo Hoo! Our little Jaycee was born February 9, 2010 at 10:07 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long. She was 3 days past her due date and Mommy and Daddy were getting VERY anxious, not to mention Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles. Here's the story. It's a little long, so I wouldn't be offended if you didn't want to read it!
At 3:00 am my water broke, but we weren't exactly sure that's what was going on. It didn't happen like all the books said it would so we were a bit confused. We later learned that it was a high tear and they actually had to break my water again later that day cause there was still a pocket of water that was under her head that was preventing me from dialating more and preventing her from coming down like she should. Well, we got to the hospital at about 5:30 am and they tested me and my water had definitely broke and we were there to stay...finally!! We called both of our parents and they moved me to a delivery room. They started me in pitocin because the contractions I had been having were just not strong enough and they immediately gave me my epidural. I was surprised that they offered it so quick, and I thought about just putting it off until I was in more pain, but then I decided that 16 weeks of contractions was enough, and I went for it! I was completely calm until the anesthesiologist got me to sign the consent. I got really nervous then. Tom acutally said he had never seen me that scared before! The anesthesiologist had me lay on my side and gave the lidocaine. That was painful, but then when he started putting the catheter in the pressure was worse. (Thank goodness for the lidocaine!) The hard thing too, was that I was still getting over the strep throat and had to cough, but I knew that I couldn't. Tom was so great! He just held me and had me look in his eyes and I am happy to say that I made it through! The rest of the day went pretty good! I was dialated to a one until about 1:00 pm. They broke my water again around 11:00 am, so it took a while, even with the pit to get things going! I was totally comfortable though, so I didn't mind. I was just glad to not be sent home! My mom got there around 3:00 pm and I was dialated to about a 5 at 5:00pm. At some point they rushed in and put me on oxygen and made me lay down on my side. Aparently her heart didn't like the fact that I was sitting up, so we did that and everything looked great again. Within the next couple of hours I increased to 7 cm. The nurse said I was doing good, about 1 cm per hour. Then about 30 min later I was feeling pressure and they checked me again. The doctor said, "You don't have a cervix." I actually looked at him and said, " Where did it go?" Not my best moment! He had to remind me that it meant I was fully dialated! We were so excited! We were about to meet our little girl! He said she was still high, so we needed to let the contractions work a little more to bring her down. He needed to go check on another patient and said I could probably start pushing in about 45 min. It was actually a good thing that he gave us this time, cause it kinda hit Tom and I like a ton of bricks that we were almost parents! We were both pretty emotional! Tom suggested that we say family prayer. (I love what a Spiritual giant my hubby is!) My mom said the prayer and it was beautiful! We were all 4 bawling at this point, Tom, I, my mom and Tom's mom. I didn't quite make it 45 min before I was feeling like I needed to push. Tom and I had decided ahead of time that we wanted to be the only ones in the room when we had her(along with the staff). So our mom's went out into the waiting room. Tom was absolutly the best coach EVER! He kept kissing me and telling me I was doing a good job! He would help me push even if the nurse had to step out of the room. Tom vowed he would not watch her come out though cause he thought that was gross. The nurse was like, "Oh, my gosh! She has dark hair!" That was it! He had to see this hair! He kept telling me that he couldn't believe how much dark hair she had! I was so excited to see this! About an hour and 15 min into pushing my epidural started to run out and wear off! I really wanted them to dose me again, but I didn't want to pay for another bag, but the biggest reason is when they dosed me that afternoon the numbness went up to my armpits and I couldn't cough, which was really hard, cause I was still getting over this strep! Tom's mom kept having to pat my back to I could keep coughing! I was so grateful she was there!! Plus I didn't want to be all numb for hours after I had her! So for the next 45 min the pain just kept getting worse, and I was getting really tired! The nurse finally at almost 10:00 pm said would you like me to go get the doctor to see if he could help! I told her I don't care if they had to use the vacuum to get her out or whatever, I was getting way too tired! Dr. Barton came in and we didn't need the vacuum. He gave me a small episiotomy, only 2 stitches worth. It was all kindof a blur and all of the sudden she was here. Tom said she came out and Dr. Barton moved her around just a bit and her eyes opened right up! They put her on my belly and of course Tom and I were immediately crying! It was such a spiritual experience! Tom was able to cut her cord which was also pretty special! They took her over into the warmer and Tom got to go watch them do their assessments and give her the vitamin K shot and put that stuff in her eyes. In the mean time, I was over in my own little world bleeding way too much! I was watching her be cleaned off and weighed and I could feel myself falling asleep! Dr. Barton was getting a little concerned, I could tell! He was massaging my uterus from the outside and the inside to try to get it to clamp down. They gave me 3 meds, I think, to help me to stop bleeding. In the midst of all this one thing I could never forget is how Tom thought she was so cute! You see, he doesn't think newborns are cute! I told him that Jaycee was going to come out as a newborn, and was probably not going to be that cute either. He said if she wasn't cute, he would tell me! Well, while they cleaned her off, he came over and gave me a kiss and said, "Babe, she's absolutely gorgeous!!" He was in love!! While they were trying to get my bleeding stopped I remember saying, " I want my baby!" They gave her to me and I tried to breastfeed immediately. She latched right on, but I didn't remember much after that! Tom went out and got our mom's but I don't remember them coming in! My mom was really concerned that I would drop Jaycee, which was a valid concern. She was also really nervous because she hemorrhaged really bad when I was born too! I don't remember them taking her away from me! Well, they got things under control and I woke up a little more! They had me move over to the stretcher to take me up to maternity. They put her in my arms and we were off! We got upstairs and they took her into the nursery to do her assessments there. Tom got to go with her. They brought her back and bathed her right in the room! I fed her and we were all exhausted! At about 2:00 to 2:30 am my mom went back to my house, Tom's went back to hers and we sent Jaycee to the nursery because I didn't feel like I could take very good care of her because of how tired I was and how much blood I had lost! I was up about every hour trying to go to the bathroom, and by 6 ish I couldn't handle it anymore and wanted her back! So they brought her back to me! I was feeling much better at this point! All in all, it was a great experience, and yes, I will do it again! She is absolutely gorgeous and we love her very much! We thank the Lord all day every day for this beautiful addition to our family!!

Week 38 and 1/2

2010-01-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

Just kidding!

2010-01-28T14:12:00.003-07:00

So I think Jaycee has a sick sense of humor all ready! Wednesday morning I was woken up by contractions at 2 am, but knew I had to go to work, cause I was the only nurse in our admit department! I couldn't sleep through them the rest of the night, so I got no rest. The contractions continued throughout the day and I had to leave work early! I got home and laid down for a while and was able to get a couple more hours of sleep. At about 6:30 pm I started to have regular contractions that were every 5 min apart and increasing in intensity. At about 8:30 they started getting closer and were continuing to increase in intensity. By about 9:00 they were every 3 min and still increasing! They continued at every 3 min and by 3:30 am I was having a lot of pain. Then they started to lessen in both intensity and they weren't as close together! They calmed down so much that I was actually able to get an hour of sleep before they woke me up again! I have continued to have contractions all day, but they are at random times, still increasing in intensity, but not regular at all! I had a MD appt today and I was only dialated to a 1 cm. He was planning on stripping my membranes today, but was unable to cause my cervix was still too closed! So we wait! Jaycee's Daddy and I were getting pretty excited last night thinking that our sweet little girl was for sure going to be joining us by today at least, and so were her grandparents, but the Lord has other plans! I am trying to be SO patient! It's hard, but I think I am doing better! Tom gave me an absolutely AMAZING blessing last night! We were both bawling by the end and there were some pretty amazing promises about our little girl! She is truly loved where she is now, and I can guarantee you she is already loved by us here!! We can't wait to meet her, but we want things to happen the right way! Please pray for us that this can happen soon and we can have our little girl here in our arms!

14 days left!

2010-01-23T20:52:00.002-07:00

So when people ask how much longer, I say two weeks, but when I saw the little countdown thing on our blog just barely and it said 14 days, I kinda got butterflies! It seems so close! Jaycee's mommy and daddy are definitely ready for her to join us! I feel very ready, and maybe this is my downfall! I know there are things that I am sure I have forgotten and things that I have not thought about, but I feel like I have done everything I want to do before she is born. My house may not be perfect, but I feel really good about everything! I was talking to Tom today and he is really excited for her to be here too! I love hearing that! Just to think that this little person that we have created because we love each other will be here shortly it so amazing to me! It makes me so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for allowing life to continue on this way! For us to be able to have our own children is such a great gift, and she's not even here! Now don't get me wrong, I am not going into this blind. I know that being a parent is NOT going to be easy!! There are probably going to be lots of tears on all 3 of our parts along this journey, but I have an amazing partner to share all this with, and I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else!! As I have sat and pondered about this upcoming change in our lives, it absolutely amazes me how much I love her already! I haven't even seen her, and I am in love! I can't imagine the intense things I am going to be feeling when I do finally see her!! I have dreamed about what her personality is going to be like, and I hope she is a lot like her daddy! There are so many reasons I have fallen in love with him and I hope she takes on those good qualities! I have dreamed also of what Tom's face is going to look like when he sees her for the first time and when he holds her for the first time! I know that I can't even fathom how I will feel and how great it will be! I am so excited about the Spirit that will be in the room! I am pretty sure Tom's dad and some other loved ones who have passed on will be close by and I hope Tom can feel his dad so strong! What an amazing time in our lives!! I can't wait for her to be here! I am trying to be patient, and praying for patience every second of every day!!

I had an amazing baby shower today with people from work! It was so much fun and I am so grateful to the people who threw it and all the people who came! Jaycee got so many great things! She is one spoiled little girl!! I am so grateful for how giving people have been toward us! We have been truly blessed!!

37 Weeks = Full Term and Mommy is READY!!

2010-01-16T07:00:00.002-07:00

So we are excited that we have made it to 37 weeks and are officially full term! That means Jaycee can come at any time!! I know she won't come until the time is right, so I am praying for patience! All of you out there that think I am horrible for wanting her to come NOW, please don't judge! I am still very sick, and having lots of pain and contractions, that seem to be going nowhere, I am not getting any sleep(which I do realize won't change), feeling lots of pressure, and am working up until she's born! I am tired, exhausted, and sore, and probably a little ornery! I know that all you mom's out there felt the same way, and when you were to this point, you wanted to be done too!! I do realize that the more time she spends in there, the more she gets to grow and the better it could be, but believe me, I have done my homework and she would grow up just as healthy if she came now! I am praying for patience, and the Lord has blessed me! I am better than I was! I have been given many blessings that she will come when she is supposed to and she will be healthy! So, just so you all know, we are looking forward to Jaycee arriving! Mommy and Daddy are both very excited, as are Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles! We'll update all when the big day arrives!!

Christmas and New Years

2010-01-02T13:17:00.008-07:00

I know how late this post seems, but I tried to do it right after Christmas, but blogger was being stupid and I lost patience. So I let it go and figured we just wouldn't have a Christmas post. I can't sleep though, so I thought I might as well try again! We really did have a great Christmas. We got to go to Las Vegas and be with my family! It was Kyle's first Christmas since his mission and Jane's first Christmas in our family! That was a lot of fun! Last year my Grandma Thompson decided that she would go to one child's house every year for Christmas. She is starting with the oldest and working her way to the youngest. She went to Uncle Fenton's last year and my family's turn was this year! It was so much fun to have her there and be all together! On Christmas Eve we had a really fancy steak dinner that my parents made...it was so yummy! We sang songs and read the Christmas story! The Spirit was so strong! We all went to bed and woke up Christmas morning to lots of good presents! It was great and we feel very blessed! Then we spent the rest of the weekend just being together! We got to go shoot Tom and Kyle's new guns on Saturday, which was a lot of fun!! Then we went to Macayo's for my birthday dinner! Yummy!! Sunday morning we got up bright and early cause our flight left at 6:15 am to come back home! I was so grateful we got to go!! Linda picked us up from the airport and we went to her house and slept!! Then we had our Christmas with her and Melinda! That was fun too and we got even more great stuff!

Our New Years was not so great! I ended up in Labor and Delivery with bad contractions, that we attribute to working to much and too long of hours! New Years Eve I was there for 14 hours and I was doing X-ray procedures a lot of the day! I had to wear those lead aprons, but I have to wear double since I am pregnant! New Years Day started in the X-ray room as well, wearing the lead! By the time I got to the ICU at about 8:30 that night to do another procedure, I think my body was saying, absolutely not!! You are done! No more! You need to rest! I started contracting, which was nothing new, but what was new, was I was laying down and drinking lots of water, and the contractions wouldn't quit. I was a little nervous cause I was only 34 weeks, almost 35. So Tom met me, and I had to call another nurse to take my call! My doctor said no more call, so that was the end of that! I calmed down more and more once I got to Labor and Delivery, and was able to go home a few hours later!

All in all though, our holiday's were good! Hope your's were just as good! Once again, sorry about the late post!!

My very sleepy thoughts!!

2009-12-16T03:43:00.002-07:00

So, It is 3:45 am and I am still awake! This week I have been having problems sleeping cause I hurt too bad and can't get comfy, but tonight it's the worst! The last two nights I have tossed and turned and got a little sleep, but tonight sleep isn't coming, which is really a bummer cause I am so tired, but I know that this happens to everyone and it's just something that I will have to live with! Thank goodness for facebook and my blog to keep me busy! I really should be doing homework, but I am afraid I am a little too sleepy for that and wouldn't remember what I have learned and that wouldn't do anyone any good at all. So, as soon as I am done with this post, I will try again to sleep and see if it comes!!
While I was looking at backgrounds to update my blog for Christmas, I decided that this was the only one that represented the real meaning, which I have been thinking a lot about lately! Our Christmas is not going to be an expensive one in any way, shape or form. Friends that we usually buy for are going to have to just get a card or something this year cause we could only buy for family and that didn't add up to much! But as I was a little depressed about this, I realized that some of the best Christmas' are the meager ones. You sometimes are allowed to focus on the Savior more than the gifts!! My parents surprised us with the best gift ever of plane tickets so we could go home for Christmas this year. This was our year to be with my family and we screwed that up by getting pregnant. There is no way I should be sitting in a car all the way to Vegas to get home, so we rearranged things a bit and was going to spend Christmas with Tom's family and Thanksgiving with mine. When they got us the tickets though I was so excited cause we could stay on our normal schedule, but more importantly, it's Kyle's first Christmas since he's been home from his mission, Jane's first Christmas as an official part of the family, and my grandma is going to be there too. She is taking a turn at each of her kids houses each year and there are six kids, so this wouldn't happen again for at least six years! Another reason I am so excited is that my parents will get to see me so far along in my pregnancy. I have changed a lot since my mom has seen me last and even more since I have seen my dad! My grandma, Kyle and Jane haven't seen me in quite a while too, and I am excited for that! Probably the next time they see me, my stomach will have deflated some, and our little Jaycee will be in my arms instead of my belly!!
Wow, I am rambling tonight, good thing I am not doing my homework! Back to the true meaning of Christmas! When we told my mother in law that plans had changed and we were going to spend Thanksgiving with her and Christmas with my family, she was so excited for us! Then her and Melinda decided that they would go work at a soup kitchen on Christmas morning! How amazing is that! If that doesn't say the love of Christ, I don't know what does! I am so excited that Jaycee's Nana and Auntie are such amazing people who know their Savior and serve Him every day of their lives!!
He has done so much for me in my life and I love that this time of year, I can take time out to really think about my blessings and what He has done for me!! I am so grateful for the Atonement where I can repent for the things that I have done wrong, and He takes my burdens upon Him! He actually makes me whole again! What greater love!! I hope that I can teach Jaycee to love Him as much as I do and I hope that she will gain an appreciation for what He has done for her!! I have chosen the best Daddy Jaycee could possibly have to help me do this! Tom is a man who has a very deep testimony of the Savior and what He has done in his life! I am so glad that he is mine forever and that we can take this parenthood journey together!
Well, I better close this before it turns into a book of random thoughts! Have a good night all, and wish me luck for getting some sleep!!

We can't handle any more catastophies!!

2009-12-06T12:46:00.002-07:00

So, I just thought I would let ya'll know about our weekend! Well, actually it started Thursday night! At about 7:00 pm ish I got a phone call from my mother-in-law, Linda! She sounded happy enough as she said, "Guess where I am?" When I asked where, she said Jordan Valley Medical Center. I asked why, thinking she was there visiting someone she knew, cause she is always doing things for other people. She told me she was in a car accident. She didn't exactly know how bad it was, but they brought her by ambulance on a back board and wouldn't let her get off. She drove a 1991 Honda Civic Hatchback, and was hit by a 3/4 ton Chevy. He rearended her going 45 miles per hour as she was coming to a stop. She said that she was going to get someone to give her a blessing, and I told her if she would wait we would be there in like 15 min. Tom was asleep and he woke right up when I said that and was asking me who it was and what was going on. I told him and of course he was kinda freaking out!! Linda had a spinal fusion when she was 14 years old as a result of polio and would be in a lot of trouble if one of those cracked! I told her to call Melinda and let her know what was going on and we would swing by and pick her up on the way to the hospital. Well, we got to Melinda's and she didn't answer her door or phone, so I just kept calling and when she finally answered I asked if she was ready to go to the hospital with us. She had no idea what I was talking about and I had to tell her what had happened. That was horrible, but as soon as she got out to the car, we got a hold of Linda and she was able to talk to her. She happened to be in the shower when Linda tried to call her and when she had seen that she missed so many calls, she tried calling Linda and couldn't get a hold of her. Anyways, we made it to the hospital and she was off the back board, but still had a neck brace on. Tom gave her a beautiful blessing and blessed her that she would be able to get well! After a while they took her for x-ray and ultrasound. While she was gone, some other friends came and helped give Tom and Melinda blessings to help them feel at peace! They are just a bit uneasy about anything happening to anyone in their family since they lost their dad, which I think is pretty understandable! Well, she got back from radiology and we waited for the results. Everything looked great!! We were so relieved! We were able to take her home and Tom and I ran to get her perscription. It was about 1:00 am by the time we made it home and we were all exhausted! We said a few prayers of gratitude and all tried to go to bed. Tom and I stayed up for at least a half hour more trying to decide if it would be better for me to go to work or stay home at 7:00 am. I really wanted to stay and take care of Linda, but she had Melinda and Tom there and I wasn't sure how much she needed me, when we were so short staffed at work! I decided I was too tired to decide then and set my alarm for 5:00 am and decided I would figure it out then! I kept waking up because I was having acid reflux that was really hurting me, and at 3:00 am I woke up with the worst acid reflux I had ever felt! I decided I needed to go throw up. I got up and threw up quite a bit and it burned SO bad! I needed to go to the bathroom so I yelled for Tom to get me a bowl I could throw up in. That's when I started throwing up blood! Lots of it! We decided that we better go to the hospital. I got to IMC ER and they, of course, sent me over to Labor and Delivery. They put me on the monitors and while they were getting my history I threw up more blood! This time at least it was less! They brought me in something for nausea and something to help reduce the acid in my belly. They took some blood and of course my blood count was low, but not dangerous yet, so if they could reduce the acid and stop me from throwing up, I would probably be okay and they wouldn't need to scope me! I did not want to be scoped! I didn't want to be sedated while I was pregnant, and I wasn't about to do it unsedated! We were able to go home about 9:30 with a perscription for acid medication! We went and picked up Linda and went to see the car. It was TOTALLED!! The truck had hit the back, where she had her massage table, which rammed into her seat bending her seat back over the massage table, and the bent part jammed into her back. This gave us the reason for the big bruise and cut on her back, and let us know how truly blessed she was to not have any of those fusions separate! Then we took her to the doctor to have a follow up and decide what to do to get her better and working again! We got home and made dinner and ate and all of us crashed! We were all so tired, especially where Tom and I had only gotten an hour and a half of sleep! We do feel very blessed however that even know all these things had to happen, neither one of us were injured beyond repair!

Tom's Song

2009-12-05T17:56:00.005-07:00

Have you ever heard a song that has touched you so deeply, you just couldn't stop thinking about it and what it meant for you? Well, usually I have that happen with a country song or a church song, but this time it was with a rock song! I have no idea how that happened. At Thanksgiving time, when we were on our way home, Tom had a CD in. It was just quiet and I was actually listening to the words. It was crazy, all of the sudden it hit me! I asked, "Is this like your theme song?" Tom was caught off guard and he listened to it again, and was like, "Wow, it kinda is!" I love this song because it talks about a boy who was picked on as a kid, but when he got older he had such a great life and wanted everyone to know that he had succeeded in life. Well, even if that's not what it means in real life, that's what it means to me! Tom had a hard childhood. He wasn't the most popular kid and a lot of kids made fun of him for one reason or another. People told him he would never succeed in this life! Well, I am here to tell them they are wrong! He is a huge success as a man, preisthood holder, husband, father, son, brother and part of society! He has had a lot of pain in his life for many reasons, but through his faith he is able to work through the pain! He is the most amazing man I have ever met and I am so glad he chose to spend the rest of eternity with me!! I honestly don't know what I would do without him in my life! So I say to all you who used to put down my husband, take a look at all the blessings he has! And know that he blesses my life every day just by being who he is!! Enjoy! This is Almost Over by Limp Bizkit

The Start of the Third Trimester!

2009-11-14T23:01:00.002-07:00

Tom, Jaycee, and I are officially in our third trimester!! We have reached 28 weeks today! It has been an interesting week! I have been worried about Jaycee cause I felt like he was not moving as much as she usually does. I would lay down when I could but there was still little movement! I have had a very stressful week, and I was afraid I was passing that stress on to her! Tom kept telling me she was okay, but I just had my doubts! I asked him to give me a blessing and am so grateful for that gift! He gave me one and I was reassured that everything was still okay and she was healthy and growing like she was supposed to!! It amazes me how the Lord can comfort us in a way that is not possible through any other means! I am so grateful that my husband and the father of my child is worthy to hold the preisthood and can tell me the things the Lord would have me hear! I am grateful for the gospel and the gift of family! I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the Lord today and am so grateful for the blessings I recieve every day! I am happy to report that now that I am laying down Jaycee is kicking her mommy like crazy!! I am so grateful for that little piece of evidence that she is doing well!! It amazes me how huge a roll she has taken in my life and I haven't even met her yet! Next to Tom she is my whole world!! I thank the Lord for this special gift of bonding and feeling so close to this AMAZING spirit already!! I already feel like a mommy!! It's exciting and scary all at the same time!!

Jaycee's Cedar City Baby Shower!!

2009-11-09T12:56:00.022-07:00

My mom, Aunt Gaelynn, and Grandma Thompson threw me a baby shower in Cedar City at my aunt's house! I was so excited! We did it early because I don't want to travel after Thanksgiving! I was humbled greatly by the generosity of my friends and family! We got some amazing things that we would never be able to afford on our own and a lot of super cute homemade things that took so much work! Jaycee's daddy and I feel very blessed by all the help we are receiving from EVERYONE!

Here's Mommy at 27 weeks! I am standing next to my bassinet and the dress I was blessed in that Jaycee gets to be dressed in also for her blessing! I am very excited about that!!

Here's Jaycee!

Grandma Henrie, Mommy, and Nana Hughes! These two great ladies have made such an impact on my life and I know Jaycee already loves them! They are going to be so much help after she comes! I am grateful for all they do!

Jaycee was not in this picture yet, but here's her mommy, Grandma Henrie and Great-Grandma Thompson!

Mommy was talking to Daddy on the phone and she was missing him like CRAZY!!

My cousins Andrea and Valerie! I was so glad to see them! It's been too long!

This is how you know Auntie Melinda already loves Jaycee! She wore this diaper thing for a game!

This is my first attempt at the "Moby" type wrap Sarah made for me! It was a lot of work for her and I love it and really appreciate the work! I better learn how to tie it though before Jaycee gets here!!

This beautiful afghan was made by Daddy's Aunt RueThella! It is beautiful and must have been a lot of work!! The great thing is we can use it for all of our kids because the colors are so neutral!! I love it!!

My friend Hanna gave us these cute onsies and a pair of booties and hat that match! She made the booties and hat and they are soooo cute! They will match so many outfits that she already has too which is great!!

This cute little outfit was given to us by Daddy's cousin, Sara Laub! It will look so cute on her!!

This is a cute little stuffed Eeyore that Jaycee's Nana Hughes and Auntie Melinda gave her! I am sure there will be lots of playtime with it!!

My cousin Valerie gave us a cute little outfit, bottle, a dishwasher holder that you put nipples and binki's and whatever else you need to put in it to protect all the stuff but still be able to sanitize them in the dishwasher! I love that!

My cousin Andrea gave us this cute sign that says, "I Am A Child Of God" and a cute little blanket animal thing, and a rattle!! Jaycee is going to love this stuff!!

Grandma Thompson gave us an awesome mobile that has the mobile part, plays music and actually puts a little picture show up on the wall! It is so cool!! She also gave us the softest outfit!! So cute!!

Aunt Lorraine and her girls gave us one of those Boppy type pillows, a cute outfit and a headband she made!!

This cute card Megan gave us! It was a baby with headphones in that said ipood! It was so great!! She gave us a gift card to Wal-Mart! Thanks Megan!! It will surely help with diapers and wipes or whatever else we need!

This is Jaycee's "First Doll"! It was given to her by her Grandma Henrie! It is so cute and I love the Pippy Longstocking hair! I am sure Jaycee will love it!!

This blanket was made for me when I was born by my Great-Grandma Gillins who just passed away recently!! It is beautiful and still looks brand new!! I was bawling when I opened it! Thanks mom for passing it on!!

This was all the yummy food!!

It was a great shower! My Mom, Aunt Gaelynn and Grandma Thompson did a great job and I am so thankful for all the work that they put into it!!

Our Halloween Creations!

2009-11-01T12:51:00.003-07:00

This is our pumpkins that we created! They were free from a guy I work with! We had fun carving them! The mummy Tom carved is my favorite!!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-23T20:17:00.001-06:00

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Hope you enjoy this! I love these! Can't wait for the Christmas ones again!! Hope everyone is doing well!!

Happy 28th Birthday to the most amazing man I have EVER met!!

2009-10-15T19:36:00.002-06:00

Today is Tom's 28th birthday!! I love this day every year because I get to just think about my man and how amazing he is and how blessed I am that he chose me!! This is going to be a mushy post, so if you have a weak stomach you better just move on right now!! I get so emotional thinking about how this amazing man has changed and blessed my life! He did the most wonderful thing October 15, 2006! 3 years ago today we got engaged! When he proposed, I was actually feeling quite devastated because I really thought he might be breaking up with me! He didn't though! He asked me to marry him!! I was so thrilled!! Then he did something that I would wish for everyone! He took me to the temple so that we could be sealed for time and all eternity!! I will never forget what an amazing day that was!! We have been through a lot the last 3 years and most of it has just been great!! He is such a hard worker and understands how important that is! A quality that I find so attractive!! He is so funny! One night we were staying at my Grandma Thompson's house. We were in the same room as my parents and Uncle and Aunt Lance and Gaelynn! Tom kept us up for over an hour making us laugh so hard. The rest of the family who was upstairs was laughing at us cause we were all just cracking up! And he just kept saying the funniest things!! He is so sensitive! He is always caring about my feelings or how I am doing! If I am having a hard day he can always make me feel better!! He is such a strong preisthood holder! If I ever need a blessing, I know that my amazing husband is worthy to give me that blessing. He always tells me exactly what the Lord needs me to hear!! He loves his family!! He is so good at taking care of his mom and Melinda! He always makes sure that they are doing okay! He also takes good care of me!! He already loves our little Jaycee! He gives her a kiss every day through my tummy! It is so sweet! He is so excited for the day when she starts kicking hard enough so daddy can feel!! He is my best friend! If I ever need a shoulder to cry on or just someone to talk to he is always there for me!! I would rather be with him than anyone else on the planet!! We love just to be together. It doesn't matter what we are doing! He loves the show M*A*S*H! Anyone who really knows me, knows how important this is!! We really enjoy cuddling on the bed while we are getting ready to go to sleep watching M*A*S*H! Speaking of cuddling, he is first of all a big teddy bear even though he looks scary sometimes, but more importantly, he is the best cuddler!! He holds me and makes me feel so important and loved!! Along with that he is a GREAT kisser!! I love kissing him and most days can't get enough!! Don't worry, he's amazing will all kinds of affection toward me! We're prego, need I say more!! TMI I know, but it is definitely something I love about him!! He is so kind!! He tries his best to help whoever he can!! There are so many more things that I could talk about, but there isn't enough room on this website!! I get so emotional thinking about how much I love him!! This morning I was actually crying at the thought of leaving him especially today!! I know my hormones are making me emotional, but this was more than that!! I can't stand being away from him! We are constantly texting each other and telling each other how much we miss and love each other!! I really hope that's how we continue for eternity!! I hope we don't let "life" get in the way of us telling each other how much we love each other all the time!! I love this amazing man and look foreward to spending forever with him! I think I made a good choice in choosing him to be my eternal companion and father of my children!! Thank you baby for all you do for me!!! Thank you for choosing me!!

Being Sick Sucks!!

2009-10-13T13:57:00.002-06:00

So this last week I have been sick with the Swine Flu!! I was so worried about Jaycee at first but the first day that I was being treated Tom and his friend came and gave me a preisthood blessing!! That calmed me so much and I was able to relax and let my body heal, well, try to let my body heal! I have felt like CRAP!! I have had a sore throat, fever, exhaustion, achey, chest and head congestion, cough, nausea and a lot of vomiting!! Also I get this lovely side effect when I get a virus where my bottom lip swells up and I have this fat lip! It's cute! Let me tell you!! I couldn't return to work until today cause I was still contageous, and I was actually really excited to go back! I haven't been able to go out of the house because I didn't want to give this to anyone, it is no fun! I kindof feel like I am under house arrest! I hate not having the freedom to do what I want, but it is a weird feeling when you have felt so yucky, that you kindof get used to it and still want to get out! I didn't really want to get out necessarily, I just wanted to do something different!!! I was still feeling so sick today though! I had a headache when I woke up and couldn't even get out of bed, except to throw up!! I am still really achey. My boss called me today and asked what was going on. We talked about the fact that maybe my immune system isn't quite what it should be, maybe due to the pregnancy, we don't know, but I do know that this is taking WAY too long to get over!! Tom gave me another blessing today and it said that my body was having a really hard time getting rid of the disease!! No good, but I am going to work tomorrow!! No matter what! I shouldn't be contageous any more, so I need to be doing something!! I still don't feel well, at all, so this should be interesting!! We'll see how it goes!!

I do have to say that I have an AMAZING husband!! He has been so patient with me!! I would totally understand if he was frustrated, but he hasn't been at all! I love him and am so grateful for him and all that he does for me and Jaycee!!

I guess this will have to do!!

2009-10-02T20:23:00.003-06:00

I hate taking pics of myself! I especially hate when I have to stand completely sideways because I know how wide I am front to back and it's very evident in the pics, but people have been asking so I did the best I could! Hope this will satisfy those wanting to see the baby bump pics!!

This is week 22. We had a MD appt today and he said that Jaycee looked healthy. My placenta is low so I have to watch really close for bleeding, but he said chances are good that I will be able to deliver vaginally and my placenta will be just fine!! Here's hoping! Just as long as Jaycee is healthy, that's all her daddy and I care about!!

Jaycee Hughes

2009-09-26T17:05:00.002-06:00

We have decided on a name!! Jaycee Hughes!! We can't wait to see our sweet little Jaycee!! We love her already and are trying to be the best parents we can be!!

It's A GIRL!!

2009-09-24T15:12:00.005-06:00

And Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more excited!! We were pretty sure we were having a boy, but when we found out it was a girl, we were SOOOOOO excited!! It totally feels right!! Now the only problem is the girl's name we thought we liked, didn't feel right to either of us during the ultrasound! So now the search has started for a new girl's name! On another good note, she looks healthy and everything is going well! They did change our due date to Feb 9, it was Feb 6. I was a little bummed, but 3 days is at least less than a week!! We'll see what happens!! So, I know you wanna see pics of our cute little bundle of joy, instead of listening to me ramble, so enjoy!!

Definitely a GIRL!! I am pretty sure "Daddy's Little Girl!!"

I love this one of our limber little angel!! Her feet almost touched her head!
I love her hand just above her nose!!

20 Weeks, A Fever, and A New Job!

2009-09-20T13:26:00.002-06:00

So today, I am really wanting to go to church! I love being there and feeling the Spirit! It always helps me through my week. I can't though cause I have a fever, a hacking cough that is settling in my chest and I ache all over. I get a little upset when people are sick and go out in public cause I don't want what they have. So, I better stay home! I think I will read from the Ensign and the scriptures, but I thought a great way to start was by thinking of and expressing some of the things I am grateful for today!

I am grateful for an understanding Father in Heaven who knows me and my stuggles and helps me even when I can't see it!

I am thankful for the blessing of being pregnant! This has not been an easy time in our lives. We had not planned on moving foreward with this until after Tom finished school, but I feel like if we are obedient we will be blessed!

I am so grateful that yesterday I hit the 20 week point! I am halfway to seeing our little miracle! Pictures will come on Thursday!!

I am grateful for the days that I don't feel quite as nauseated as most other days!! Those are good days!

I am grateful for ultrasounds and we will be able to find out the gender (hopefully) on Thursday! We are very excited!!

I am so thankful that the Lord allows us to feel the movements of those little ones!! I can only feel them if I am lying on my back and there is some background noise going on, like the radio or TV. I have to really concentrate, but I can't deny that those little flutters are there!! I can't wait to feel them more strongly!

I am very grateful for friends and family that are going through the same thing I am right now and how close we have become because of it!!

I am grateful for parents who were so patient with me and taught me the right way! I am so excited for them to come stay after the baby comes!!

I am grateful for in-laws that are the best anyone can ask for! I am excited that they will be involved in our child's life!!

I am so grateful for brothers and sisters who love us and support us!

I am thankful for a job that helps me pay the bills and allows me to work with great people, even though lately it's so hard for me to be there!!!

Last but not least I am so grateful for a loving husband, a partner in this life and for eternity, a daddy for my baby, and the love of my life! He has had a hard time lately because he really wants to work in the electrical field. He is going to school to become an electrician. If you knew him, you'd know how perfect of a fit this is as a career for him! Because of the current economic crisis he hasn't been able to find work as most electrical companies have had to lay off most of their staff because of the lack of work!! He has always told me, ya make more money flipping burgers than you do doing nothing!! He promised me from the time we were engaged that he would support his family, no matter what! Well, today he starts his job at Auto Zone! He has worked there in the past for 3 1/2 years and vowed he would never go back! His friend is the manager of a store up here in SLC and offered Tom a job! Even though he hates the idea of going back to retail, we are so greatful he has a job and he is excited at the prospect of working with his friend!! His first day is today and he just arrived there ready to be put to work! It has been very nice having him be available for whatever needs to be done, but we are even more excited to be paying off bills!!

Thank you baby for being such a wonderful husband and example to our baby!! I couldn't have picked a better father for my children!! I love you so much and look foreward to the many wonderful things this life has in store for us!!

Tauranga, New Zealand!

2009-08-30T10:33:00.019-06:00

Sorry this one is even later!! It's not cause I didn't want to share it! I have been so sick that I can hardly get out of bed for work, and when I am there, I can't be completely there! That bothers me so much, but I guess this is better late than never! We had so much fun there, and you will see a lot of pics with not a lot of commentary. The landscape was just so beautiful and that's what we took most of the pics of!! Hope you enjoy, cause we sure did!!

This is OUR Blog!!!

2009-08-30T10:22:00.002-06:00

and with it being our blog, I feel like we feel like we should be able to share our thoughts, fears, dreams, concerns, happinesses and whatever else we feel like sharing. I got a very rude annonymous comment on here telling us that we don't know how lucky we are and that we should just be grateful for what we have and stop complaining about how long it took us to get pregnant! Well, first of all, we have NEVER complained, and second, I was telling of some fears I have because I have some infertility in my family, and I am sorry if this is stupid to anyone out there, but this was a valid concern to me!! I do realize that we got pregnancy fairly fast, because the chances of getting pregnant are so small anyways, but it was still hard for me to see those negative tests and anyone who has been in my position knows exactly how I feel! The numbers don't matter! It doesn't matter that it took someone else a lot of time, what matters is what I have felt and am feeling!! I am not sharing anyone elses feelings on this blog!!! That's why it says The Hughes Family at the top!! If you don't want to know what I am feeling, don't read it!! I have recently taken off the option to leave annonymous comments on our blog, just so that person knows, and I have deleted your comment because I don't need someone being so negative on here, it's not welcome!! We do know how blessed we are and are grateful for all the Lord has given us!!

Sorry for the rant, and most of you will not understand this, but there is one person that will, and I would appreciate if they didn't comment like that any more on this site!!

Melbourne, Australia

2009-08-19T18:49:00.010-06:00

We flew to Melbourne after we left Brisbane! We stayed with Tom's aunt and uncle! They were so great and we appreciate all they did for us! We spent time at Victoria Market which is the largest outdoor market in the world.

We got to do work for Tom's family at the Melbourne Temple!

We found the whole experience of driving on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car a little weird!!

We went to Old Melbourne Gaol (Jail) It was really neat!

Us at a medevil castle close to Melbourne.

The rest is us at Sovereign Hill a mining Town within the place where Tom's dad was born called Ballarat.

Brisbane, Australia

2009-08-19T18:19:00.014-06:00

We had a lot of fun in Brisbane! This was the first place we went. We stayed with Tom's brother Jeff and his wife Dee and their three girls, Arielle, Seraiah, and Tylah. They were so great and made us feel so at home!! I was sick most of the time and they took such good care of me!! It was great to meet them and be with them!!

This is the family at Daisy Hill Koala Center! It was fun! We got to see 3 Koalas!!

This is Tom and his brother and sister.

This was one of them!

Us at the Brisbane River!
We visited the Brisbane Temple!

The whole clan! They were a blast!!

My Prego Belly!

2009-08-19T17:45:00.002-06:00

The start of my Prego Belly! I was in the temple in New Zealand and looked down and was like, "Holy cow!! Where did that come from!!" It's a lot more firm than my previous chub, so while I still feel fat, at least I can see things changing. I look a lot bigger to myself than I do to anyone else, but at least I can see progress!!

12 Weeks!

2009-08-19T10:58:00.003-06:00

Sorry, this is a little late but we have been in Australia and I haven't been able to update! I am 15 1/2 weeks today and our next appointment is next Wednesday. When we went in for our 12 week appointment though our little one was doing very well! Moving a TON, it amazes me that I can't feel it! It was very neat to see though, and the heart was doing very well!! Not quite as fast as last time and the doctor said that's good cause the baby is getting bigger. I am still very sick all the time and just biding my time and praying to enjoy this time even though I am so sick! It has to end some time...right?? Even though I don't feel well though, we feel grateful for this gift in our life and know the Lord has blessed us throughout everything that is going on in our life.
This is our little one! You can see the face is on the right looking up, then below that is the torso. The baby was moving so much that we couldn't get pictures of anything else! Hope you enjoy!

Baby Hughes Is On It's Way!!!

2009-07-08T12:50:00.007-06:00

So, we have some news! We are pregnant! 9 1/2 weeks! Due February 6, 2010! We are very excited!

If you'll excuse me, this is my online journal and I am gonna record what happened, so if you don't want to read any more that's fine!!! Just be sure to scroll to the bottom to see the pictures!!

So, through a series of very special and sacred events, we decided it was time to start our family...much earlier than originally planned!! Tom was nervous, he wanted to make sure he could financially be able to take care of a child and he wanted to be as good a dad to his kids as his was to him and his sister Melinda. I personally believe he has nothing to worry about cause he's gonna be a great dad! We had my IUD taken out in November 2008 and we actually started trying for the pregnancy in January 2009 on our anniversary vacation! Tom thought that would make it extra special to start trying then, and he was right! It did! There were many negative pregnancy tests and lots of tears from me, but in my head I knew we had not been trying that long! I told myself I needed to enjoy this time with my wonderful husband and I did! I stopped worrying about taking tests and just lived. It helped that my brother, Kyle was getting home from his mission his and Jane's wedding was not too far away. It took my mind off the waiting cause I had so many great things going on in my life!!

Then my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were looking at tickets to Australia and found them at a very reasonable price!! We all jumped at the opportunity and booked our flights! We are very excited about this trip!! We decided that we would not prevent anything, but would not be so upset if we did not get pregnant until after the trip. (However, just as a side note, when we bought the tickets was about the time when we think we actually got pregnant!!)

At the end of May, first of June I had 2 people I am close to announce their pregnancy! We went to Kyle and Jane's wedding and came home and on the way, some other people VERY close to us told us they were pregnant! I was soooo happy for them, but after we left their house, Tom pulled the car over and let me cry on his shoulder! I felt so bad for crying and told Tom it was not that I wasn't happy for them, I was just trying so hard to be patient(I had been told in a blessing that I needed to be patient) and it was just hard to hear from someone else that they are and we still aren't! He was so sweet and told me I was okay to cry and he understood and the Lord understood! He took me to dinner in Beaver and he was curiously asking when my last "time of the month" was. I told him it was a few days earlier, but it was really wierd. It only lasted for a very short time, and was not enough like a normal period! I just told him that I thought it was the stress of the wedding that was making it wierd! Tom started to get really quiet though and asked if I should take another test! I told him I was sure it was negative and I couldn't stand to see another negative! When we got out to the car, I had a message on my phone from our friend. She felt really bad about how they told us and knew we had been trying longer and was sorry we had to find out that way, when we were not pregnant. I called her back and we both just cried! I told her that I was in no way unhappy that they had gotten pregnant and was so glad it didn't take them long, but it was just hard, cause I wondered when it was my turn. She understood and we even became closer than we already were in that moment! I told her about my wierd period and she told me I should take a test just so I know, and if something was wrong, I could get it taken care of. She was right...of course, and planned to take another negative test when I got home!

By the time we got to Fillmore, Tom still wasn't talking much and I told him to just pull over and I would take the test, get the negative answer and he could drive home with more of a clear head! He agreed so we went to the grocery store and they don't sell pregnancy tests in the grocery store in Fillmore, so they sent us to the drug store. We got there just before they closed and payed way too much money for the test! I didn't want to buy the test and go in their bathroom and take it cause I felt wierd about that, so we then went to a gas station!! I went in the bathroom and took the test and it went IMMEDIATELY positive! I just put my hand on my head and didn't know whether to laugh or cry! I waited the two minutes just to be sure I wasn't seeing things, and it wasn't gonna go back negative and it was just tricking me. It was still positive! I opened the door and Tom was standing there waiting. I just stood there with my hand on my head! He was like, "Well?!?" I shook my head yes cause I couldn't say anything! He was like, "No, way!!" Then I told him to look at the test! He took one look at it and turned around and walked out of the bathroom, out of the gas station and out to the car and got in without saying anything! At this time I had finally realized what was happening and couldn't stop smiling! I took some pics of the test and we left. We got on the freeway and Tom started to have a pretty bad panic attack! I told him to pull over so he did and took a few minutes to compose himself! He was happy but sooooo soooo scared! Me I was too excited for words!!

We called our parents and siblings! (Yup, we even called Kyle and Jane on their honeymoon...and they answered!!! They were glad we did!!!) We were waiting until our doctors appointment though before we posted anything!

I have been very sick! Lots of nausea and some vomiting! I just generally haven't felt good and my house shows it! It's been a little neglected lately! Thanks for my cute hubby for being so good to me and taking care of the laundry and dishes!!! Isn't he AMAZING!!!

Today was our first MD appointment! We didn't get to hear the heartbeat cause the doctor said it was too hard to hear this early, but we did get an ultrasound and got to see it's little heart beating! Tom was amazed and asking all kinds of questions and I just laid there and cried! It was so neat! It's heart is beating 173ish bpm and looks good! The size looks right for the gestational age! After we left there Tom was beaming as much as I was and wanted to call everyone we knew! He is really excited and feels like he doesn't need to be nervous now that we know that everything is okay thus far and it's real! It was a great visit and my next one is the Thursday before we leave for Australia and hopefully we will be able to hear the heartbeat that time!

The test that I thought was going to be so negative! The line going from top to bottom on the left is the positive line, it's not there if your not prego and as you can see, it's very dark!!!

The little white blob at the bottom of the black blob with the little plus signs around it is our baby!!! I think it's cute already but I am biased!!!

The heart and heartbeat! On the left the little white blob at the bottom of the darker blob is the heart close up. He was able to count the heartbeats on the right. The two plus signs measure two beats. Every time the wave goes up and down thats a beat!! The heartrate was 173ish!!!

He said our baby looked healthy and thats good news to this new mommy and daddy's ears!!!

A Wonderful Day For A Wedding!

2009-06-06T10:15:00.022-06:00

Yesterday was a great day! My brother Kyle married the love of his life! They were married for time and all eternity in the Las Vegas Temple. My grandpa was the sealer and it was a very neat experience! Then we went outside to take pictures and Jane's dress was breathtaking! She looked absolutely gorgeous!!! Kyle looked very handsome in his tux and they made a very cute couple!!! Then we had a beautiful luncheon that was at my parents' stake center and the food was amazing and the tables looked beautiful!!! My mom did a great job decorating!!! We had stuffed chicken with bernaise sauce and fillet medalions, with mashed red potatoes, green beans and 2 yummy salads with chocolate fudge cake for dessert that was to DIE for!!! The kids had their own buffet too with chicken nuggets, pizza bites and other kid type food, which was a big hit! Thanks mom and dad for all the yummy food!!! It was a beautiful luncheon!!! We went home and rested for a bit and went across town to the reception. It was beautiful! We don't have any of family pictures from the reception cause we let the photographer take care of that, but we did get some pictures of the beautiful decorations! The Larkins did an AMAZING job and the place looked so elegant! We took pictures at the reception and then all of our friends and family started coming! It was so fun to see everyone and I know that Kyle and Jane appreciated all the support!! There was dancing, cutting the cake, the boquet toss, and all the other things you do at weddings and you could tell Kyle and Jane were so in love!!! It was beautiful!!! They left and went on their honeymoon with us all waving ribbons as they walked out! It was a great day!!!

The proud sister and brother-in-law!! We are so excited for them!!

Parents of the groom!!

Just Married!

So cute!!Taking lots of pictures!

Me giving the handsome groom a hug!
Me and my new sister!! Doesn't she look beautiful!!

Kyle and I!
Tom and I!
Sorry, I love this picture so I had to post it!!

Aww, he loves me!!
James Bond Wedding Photo!!
The beautiful centerpieces my mom got for the luncheon!
My mom and I! I love this picture!

The Bride and Groom at the luncheon!

Parents of the Groom!

Parents of the Bride!

The beautiful reception!

The food at the reception!

We are so happy for Kyle and Jane and I am so lucky to have another great sister! We love you guys!!!

This AMAZING Man!!

2009-05-23T00:16:00.003-06:00

I just want to say that I love Tom! I haven't been the nicest person ever lately! He stands by me and helps me so much with everything I need! I want the whole world to know how much I love him!! Sometimes I sit and think about how I am the luckiest person in the world because he loves me and he chose me!!! Thanks Tom for all you do for me and all you mean to me! I love you so much!!

AUSTRALIA! HERE WE COME!!!

2009-05-17T19:18:00.002-06:00

So we are so excited! Tom and I along with Tom's mom and sister are going to Australia and New Zealand in August! We just bought the tickets! They were great priced and we couldn't pass them up! I called my boss and she said I could have it off and we got the tickets! They were on sale for us to go from LAX to Brisbane, Australia, then to Melbourne, Australia, then to Auckland, New Zealand, then back to LAX for $792 a person including taxes!!! That price is unheard of, and this was the last day they would be that cheap! Now comes the sacrifice to make this work! I am going to try to pick up as many Saturday call shifts as I can before we go so we can both pay for the tickets and build up some spending money for the trip as well as keep everything paid here! Also we had many family reunions that we had planned to go to, but are not going to be able to go now, but we have decided that at least we will get to see all our family at Kyle's wedding and we feel like this is a sacrifice that we are willing to make! We are both so excited though and feel this is a HUGE blessing and we couldn't pass it up! I will get to meet Tom's brother and sister and their families and his aunt and uncle and cousins for the first time! We might never get another opportunity like this!!! Any donations will be accepted!!! Ha! Ha!

Congrats Kyle and Jane!

2009-05-12T10:31:00.004-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted this yet, but I have not been online lately cause we've just been busy! Plus I am trying to not spend so much time online! I wanted to post though that my brother Kyle and his girlfriend Jane got engaged! Yay! They have been engaged for a couple weeks now! They are getting married June 5 and I can't wait for them! We love Jane and I am so excited to have her as my sister! We love you both!! Cute couple, huh!!

Fun Dinner On The Way Home!

2009-04-14T19:49:00.009-06:00

Dillon and Cameron were so cute playing together!
See! They thought they would both fit! It worked for picture purposes, but they couldn't move, so one of them had to get out!

How cute is Ellie! She was so mellow and good too!

Ellie and Emma! I bet they have fun family reunions with all these cute kids!

The kids playing with Emma's toys!

On our way home from Las Vegas, we stopped and saw some friends and family! We first stopped to see Scott and Sarah! I haven't seen them in a year and a half! So sad! Then Valerie made us a yummy spaghetti dinner and it was so much fun to visit!!!! Becca and Miah, and Shawn and Andrea came over and we just had a great time! Thanks again Mike and Valerie!

Our First Family Pictures In Two Years!

2009-04-14T18:39:00.008-06:00

Kyle, Jane, Dad, Mom, Natalie and Tom
Dad and Mom
Aww! So in love!

Jane and Kyle

Tom and Natalie

We haven't been able to have a full family picture since Kyle left(obviously!) and all the men looked so handsome in their suits! I love these pics! Hope you enjoy!

The Big Dinner After Kyle Spoke In Church!

2009-04-14T17:46:00.018-06:00

Russell and Alex just hanging out!
James and his girlfriend, Heidi! She's so cute!

Tiffany, Uncle Michael and Kari eating the yummy dinner my mom made!

Cute baby Keegin!

Uncle Jim, Aunt Cathline and Cynthia!

Jane, Kyle, Emma and Tom just hanging out!

Aunt Gaelynn, Grandma Thompson and Mom! Betcha can't tell they are related!

Valerie, Emma and Russell! Emma is so cute!

The McGlothlin Family, Valerie, Emma and Mike!

My mom with Emma! She was getting a little sleepy!

Aunt Carol and Uncle Bruce!

Aunt Gaelynn and me!

Kyle and Jane! Aren't they too cute!

Getting a little nap before Sunday dinner!

Me and cute little baby Keegin!

Me and cute little Emma!

We had a great time! My mom made yummy taco salad and it was fun celebrating!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T17:03:00.006-06:00

Kyle, Normand and Tyler before the big Easter Egg Hunt!

Easter Egg Hunt!

They had to look EVERYWHERE!

This is what the big boys wanted to do for their Easter Morning!

The Easter Bunny hid eggs with money and candy in the back yard at my parents house and the kids had a lot of fun on their hunt! We did this Saturday so that we didn't have to take the time while a whole house full of people were trying to get ready on Sunday for church. Also, we really wanted Easter day to be about the Savior, not so much about the Easter Bunny!

Fun With The Fam After Kyle Got Home!

2009-04-14T16:24:00.010-06:00

Tom and I out 4-wheeling the day after Kyle got home!
Tom and Kyle! Aparently they will be America's Next Top Models!!! Ha! Ha!

Dad on his 4-wheeler!

Kyle and Jane! Aren't they SOOOO cute?!?!?!

Kyle and Jane on the red one and Tom on the yellow! We were having a blast!

Malayna was so excited to see him! It was too cute! She was so excited that when she litterally jumped out of my arms into Kyle's she almost broke his tooth! Loved it!

Some of the kids dyed eggs, and Aunt Ana helped!

Grandma Thompson making the frosting for the cake for dessert the next day!

Mom frosting the cakes!

We had a blast the day after Kyle got home! We went and did some quotes on some jobs for my dad and Kyle and we went to the Apple store so Kyle could get an iPod. Then Jane met us and we went 4-wheeling! We got back and Lance and Gaelynn surprised us and came early! Then we dyed eggs and got ready for our Easter Celebration! It was great to just be together as a family!

Welcome Home, Elder Henrie!

2009-04-14T14:28:00.024-06:00

Jane made this cute sign for Kyle! Isn't she the cutest!
Hanging the sign on Kyle's window!

Grandma Thompson, Jane, Sister Larkin, Tom and Brother Larkin all helped put the sign up!

Jane and her Daddy!

Tom and me waiting for Kyle at the airport! I was so excited I can't even explain it!

Grandma Henrie and I waiting for Kyle!

I saw my dad first and ran and gave him a hug, then I saw Kyle! I ran to him and probably almost knocked him over! I just stood there hugging him and bawling for like 2 minutes! He looked so great! It was so great to see him in person!

Yup, there's my cute hubby and my brother! And yes, Kyle is talking to Jane on the phone right then!

My mom and I. We went to eat at Baja Fresh after leaving the airport!

My three men! Tom, Kyle and Dad!

Kyle and Grandma Thompson!

Tom and I couldn't wait to see him!

Kyle and Grandma Henrie!

They brought back a matching hat for Tom! He loves it!

This is the super cute, super warm sweater they brought me!

This is the gift he brought back for my Grandma's! It's a nativity made of stone!

Kyle with the cute sign Jane made!

Me in Tom's hat! A little big, but I love it!

Tom taught Kyle and my dad that stick game that his Uncle Dave taught him!

Tom and my dad playing the game!

Tom and my Grandpa Henrie watching TV!

Grandma Thompson and Grandma Henrie

They finally meet! Kyle couldn't be officially released until 6 pm and they were waiting all day just to see each other!

Kyle was released to my parents April 1, 2009 and they toured Chile for 8 days and we picked them up from the airport April 9, 2009 and just had a great day together! He really wanted to be with Jane, but we took what we could get! He looked so good and wasn't wierd at all, which was great! He was still Kyle and we love him! We are so grateful that he was willing to serve the Lord for two years! And now we are grateful that he's home!

Fun with the Ipsons!

2009-04-14T12:59:00.020-06:00

Tom shooting his new gun!
Me shooting! Yes, I shoot left handed!

Justin, Aunt Mary and Tom just chillin on the couch at Grandma Ipsons!

Rick getting his hair cut!

And the salon opens up! Between Melinda and Jessie, they cut almost everyone's hair! Thanks guys!

Uncle Dave taught us this fun game with a stick! Uncle Dave is the only one that could beat Tom! He was pretty proud of that!

Everyone had the funniest faces in this I couldn't help but post it! This is Adam, John, Libby, Aunt Ruth and Joe! We were pretty much having a blast!

John and Tom having a Mercy Fight!

Libby trying her hardest to beat Uncle Dave at that stick game!

Melinda trying to beat Tom! I love that you can see what's happening right in their face! Melinda is trying so hard and Tom is wishing she would put up a fight!

Yup, I didn't stand a chance against my super strong husband!

So, why does Tom look so terrified?!?!?!

Ah, cause I'm cutting his hair for the first time!

He looks a little more relaxed! He knew I was doing good!

All of us crowding into living room at Grandma Ipson's to watch General Conference!

The other side of the room!

Yup, still in my PJ's and Tom was wanting to sleep not take a picture!

We had such a great time with Tom's family after the funeral! The salon was open in Grandma's kitchen, and we were playing games, and just visiting and hanging out! They are such great people! Wish we could have had extra time! Can't wait for the reunions in July!

Grandma Ipson's Funeral!

2009-04-14T11:58:00.020-06:00

This is Tom and I the night of the viewing.
Us again!

Tom's cousin Mandy and I! It was great to visit with family!

Tom and his cousin DJ!

Me and my cute hubby again!

Travis and Tom! They are brothers at heart!

My Grandma braved the weather to be there to support Tom and me! Thanks Grandma! We love you!

Tom was a pallbearer! Doesn't he look handsome in his new suit!

The whole group at the cemetery! It was so bitter cold and the wind was blowing so hard! Plus the ground was muddy!

Tom put his boutineer on the casket!

Tom's Grandpa Ipson's sisters and Aunt Mary. Melinda and Sara in the background! Everyone was freezing!

Linda looks beautiful!

We were supposed to be there for family pictures, but we were so cold and our feet were muddy and we didn't know we were supposed to stay there! It's a great pic of Melinda and Linda though!

Some of the Laubs at the luncheon! It was so yummy! Thanks to the Relief Society!

Some of the Jacobs and Ipsons!

Some more Ipsons!

Tom and Mike in their stocking feet cause we all had to take our shoes off cause they were muddy from the cemetery!

The funeral was actually really good! It was truly a celebration of her life and the great lady she IS! There were so many great stories of her testimony and her faith! I wish I could have known her better! It was great to get together with Tom's family and get to know them better! I feel like they are truly becoming my family and I love that!

Grandma Ipson!

2009-03-31T19:45:00.003-06:00

Last night Tom's grandma passed away! She went so quickly and peacefully! Grandpa was able to come take her by the hand! She will be truly missed! She was Tom's grandma, but I felt her love for me too and I always truly appreciated that! The thing that I loved the most, was no matter what things she forgot with the dementia problems she had, she always knew me and knew my name even though I haven't been in the family for long! Grandma was such a giving, sweet, woman with the most amazing sense of humor! I loved to hear her stories, especially about how she met grandpa! When I first met her, I didn't know what to call her, and Rula just didn't seem right or respectful but I just couldn't think of what else to call her. Grandma just kinda fit! It was never wierd or awkward. My parents even called her grandma! I think the biggest reason for this was because she was the picture perfect grandma. She loved everyone and always wants to make sure everyone is doing okay. She would always help prepare what she could for our meals. I love my grandma's and think they are amazing women and I put her right there with them! She is amazing! I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and know that I will be able to see her again and meet grandpa! She has been without him for over 26 years! That breaks my heart to think about! I can't imagine being without Tom for that long! I can imagine what a sweet reunion it was for them! I am so grateful to be sealed to her through my amazing husband! Families Can Be Together Forever! Thank you Grandma for all you have given me in the short time I've known you! I love you!

This is Grandma last Mother's Day in her home in Junction, UT.

I just have to add a little comment about the best mother-in-law EVER! This woman has shown me so much about selfless love and Christlike charity in all she does! She is such a strong person and loves people so much and loves helping people so much! I don't know how I got so lucky to marry into such an AMAZING family! The reason that I had to add my appreciation to her in my post is because she took care of Grandma for many years, since it wasn't safe for her to stay in her home alone! She made Grandma part of the family and served her with so much love!

Our Time With The Laubs

2009-03-29T10:10:00.014-06:00

So, sorry it's taken me so long to write this! Last weekend we went to Travis and Bree's to visit and take the Bronco down. We were gonna sell the Bronco when we bought the new truck, but there are some things wrong with it and we didn't know if it would sell. We called the Junk Yard and they said they would only give us $125 for it! it's worth more than that to us so we decided to keep it! Tom's cousin Travis and his wife life in Southern Utah just off the Panguitch exit on a farm. Tom called and asked if we could keep it there if we payed them a little "rent". They told us we could keep it there "rent free". Bree is gonna use it as her farm vehicle so she can go help Travis! We are really excited that we get to keep it and that it will still be running and working. Plus a bonus to all of this, we got to hang out with two of our favorite people in the world. We love hanging out with Travis and Bree. We all get along so well! In about Nephi I realized that we had forgotten our camera. Luckily, Bree let us take pics on her camera then sent them to us! Thanks Bree! Well, Friday night we went out Bunny Hunting. Tristan came out and hung out that night and we had a great time! That's one of our favorite pasttimes! Bree and I got to sit in the car and just chat and Travis drove and Tom and Tristan were standing in the back of the truck shooting at all the little bunnies that they could find. Now in case you think this is cruel, it's really not! The only thing that they shoot is Jack Rabbits. These are rabbits that are infested with Maggots and very diseased! They eat the crop and spread disease around and so when we shoot them, we don't allow the disease to spread and we save the Laub's crop! So we all went to bed that night and both Travis and Bree had to work the next morning! Tom got to go help Travis fix a tractor and was loving every second of it! Tom loves working on the farm. It's relaxing to him in a way. He feels like good hard farm work is the purest kind of work you can do and it's so good for you! He loves helping his cousin out take a little bit of the load off him whenever he can. Tom and I got to go for a walk that morning and breathe that country air! It was AWESOME and so invigorating! We also took the Bronco out for it's first real test against the sagebrush! We could never take it out brush busting before because it was an important part of our transportation and if it broke down we would be in a real pickle! So, we gave it a run for it's money and it did great! We were having a blast! We also got to play with Tom's new toy. A Springfield Armory .45 ACP Pistol. I usually don't like big guns but this gun was very smooth shooting, and although it's loud it doesn't kick too bad! Then Tom and I went to town (Cedar City) to do some errands. We love being there! We want to move there someday! Someday meaning right now! If there were jobs there we would be moving this weekend! Then we went back to Buckhorn (The Laub's farm) and played the Wii, which we have never played! It was a lot of fun and we got some pretty funny pics! That night we took Travis and Bree to the Ninja. It's a Japanese Steakhouse in Cedar City! It was so yummy and so much fun! The only one that I have been to that is better than that was Beni Hana in Las Vegas! The show was great, watching our Chef cook! Then we went back to Buckhorn and watched a movie! We went to church the next morning and I got to see my great aunt and uncle who just happen to be in Travis and Bree's ward. That was a fun surprise! We hung out and left late that afternoon! Tom and Travis got to play Lego's together and had a good time! We didn't want to come home! We can't wait to get down there to visit again! Here's some of the pics of our Wii time!

Travis and Tom Bowling!

Bree was pretty excited she got such a clear pic of the TV! This is Tom's Mii character "Duck"!

Travis, Tom and DJ

Bree and I watchin our men!
Our Boys playing baseball!

Bree and I bowling!

Now we're golfing!

We had so much fun! Thanks for the good time! Can't wait to come down again!

One of those days!

2009-03-19T16:47:00.002-06:00

Today I am having one of those days. I am sad and I don't know why. I feel like I am not doing things right. I don't feel like a very great housekeeper, cook, money handler or wife to tell you the truth! None of this is because of anything Tom has said. Actually just the opposite! He is constantly supporting me and trying to lift me up, but I am so hard on myself! Sometimes I feel so lazy! I don't try to be but I always feel so tired! I have talked to the doctor about this and she said I need to work on getting more sleep. We only get maybe 6 to 6 1/2 hours a night and I realize that's not enough so I am trying to do better. I had the day off today and I have felt so lazy. I slept in then got up and started the laundry and have cleaned up a bit, but I just don't feel like it's enough. I know that in a couple of hours this will all blow over until the next time I decide to be hard on myself, but I just feel like crap and like I am not doing enough. I wonder if I will even make a good mom when the time comes. That thought alone scares me to death! If I can't even take care of myself and my husband how can I take care of someone who depends on me for everything? Am I the only one who ever feels like this?

This is Appalling! Let's do something about it!

2009-03-09T20:30:00.003-06:00

Today I received an email that hit a few nerves. I know I sent it as an email to some of you but for those of you I don't have an email for I will share this through this post. On HBO on Sunday March 15 they will be showing a Mock Temple ceremony on the show Big Love. This show is about polygamy. Anyways this show will be showing the Celestial Room, and a few other rooms that are very sacred to those of us who have been sealed in the temple or who do endowments. There are a few websites that I want you all to look up. This is serious. If you get the TV Guide you will find and very sacred picture of a woman in her temple clothing. HBO hired a excommunicated member of the church to help with the rooms, clothing and even the convenants we make in the temple. Please spead the word and stand up for what you believe. There is a picture that is on the TV Guide magazine that I do not think needs to be passed around, but it is a woman in her sacred temple clothing. This is out for everyone to see!

Please consider writing to HBO. I just did.

This is pretty appalling: On Sunday March 15th, the HBO how Big Love is showing an episode containing an excommunication as well as temple ceremonies. They hired an ex-member to help create the ceremony, rooms, and clothing. HBO is owned by Time Warner. Send your emails, snail mails, phone calls, to both companies to show HBO that we won't stand for the use of things we consider sacred on their show Big Love, which is using a replica of an endowment room and celestial room to show what happens in the ceremonies there! Just keep it within Church standards please!

HBO is owned by Time Warner:
Time Warner Inc.
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY10019-8016212.484.8000
http://www.hbo.com/apps/submitinfo/contactus/submit.do?title=GeneralInformation&questiontype=generalInformation&questiontype=general

This link allows you to respond and specifically shows "Big Love" as the subject instead of "General Information".http://www.hbo.com/apps/submitinfo/contactus/submit.do?title=Big%20Love&questiontype=biglove

If you would like to protest, I recommend complaining to both HBO and the FCC:

Here are two things your want to RESPECTFULLY say in your own words to HBO:

-I believe it is wrong for HBO to publicly air portions of sacred ceremonies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints without permission from the church and based on information given you by someone who has left the church and may harbor bad feelings toward the church and wish to do it harm.

AND THE BIG ONE THAT WILL ALWAYS GET THEIR ATTENTION:- If you air such an episode, I will cancel my subscription to all HBO channels (if you have them), and will not purchase HBO DVDs or any other HBO entertainment products or packages ever again. Furthermore, I will encourage my friends and associates to do likewise.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO:The FCC is the government agency that regulates all broadcast and cable television. File a complaint expressing your shock and dismay at HBO treating the sacred ceremonies of any religion with such mockery and disregard, and that it is shoddy work hiring excommunicated members/enemies of church and giving them a public pulpit to hurt the church.

To File a complaint with the FCC go to:http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

-Choose "Broadcast (TV and Radio), Cable, and Satellite Issues" and then click "NEXT."

-Choose "Broadcast programs showing obscene, profane, and/or indecent material" then click "NEXT."

- Click on "ONLINE FORM" Fill out the form with your complaint and submit.

PLEASE STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE!!!!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has also commented on this very beautifully and respectfully! Please read!

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma

Patience!

2009-03-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about that word lately and what it means, not only in general, but to me in my life specifically! I definitely know that it is one thing that I don't have very much of and the Lord has been trying to teach me my whole life! Many times when I have had blessings they have told me to be patient! What I want and desire will eventually happen, but I need to learn patience! I have a lot going on in my life right now that I should be worried about, but I am not! I just have this simple faith and peace and reassurance that everything will work out and it will be great! I feel truly blessed! Although I can't see what's going to happen, I know something is going to happen that will be good for me and my family! It seems, however, that if I am a little unsure about something, or if I am wanting, desiring, or craving something so bad my heart hurts, it doesn't come quite as quickly as I thought it would. It is these times when I am making the most important decisions in my life that I get impatient! I think the Lord is asking me to just rely on Him! Submit my will to His. I don't know why I can't learn to do that, because I know that the results will be great, but it's so hard for me! Every time that I am patient, the Lord always comes through for me! I don't want to just force myself though, I want to be cheerfully patient! I have to keep reminding myself that I have already had multiple reassurances that I am blessed, and the Lord will continue to bless me, and the things I am praying for will happen, just not yet! I have to keep reminding myself multiple times a day that He knows all! He will not let anything happen in my life that I can't handle, but I need to let Him take the reins! In order for me to be truly happy, I need to do it His way! Sometimes I have a hard time understanding that if it is such a righteous desire, why is it so hard to make it come to pass. I have to tell myself that just because it's not happening, doesn't mean I am doing something wrong, or that the Lord is upset with me, or that it is not a righteous desire! I have felt His love so strong for me, especially lately, and I know that these feelings and impressions I am having are real and coming from Him. I just need to do it on His time and I will be more happy and full of joy than I can even imagine at this point in my life! I know I would not enjoy the bliss without the trial first! This is a shortcoming I have that I hope my husband, family, friends, and more importantly the Lord knows I am constantly battling with, but I am trying to overcome! I found a scripture tonight in Mosiah 24:15 that has really touched my heart. It says, "...the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

I know this is long and I am sorry, but I mostly wrote it for myself! As kind of a journal, if you will! I need to be able to come back and remember what I am feeling right now when I am having another time because it is bound to happen, but I am really trying!

Cute Little Keegin John Bryant

2009-03-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

My cousin and her husband had their baby Tuesday morning! He is so cute! It didn't even come close to helping with the baby hunger! It was a lot of fun cause I got to go out Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to visit and help where I could! I was so grateful Tiff let me help her out! She had a C-Section and was pretty sore! She was doing great yesterday though and had gotten up quite a bit! Keegin is eating really well, and both mom and baby are learning a lot! She gets to go home from the hospital on Saturday and I bet their other little boy is ready for them to come home, although he has probably loved being with Nana and Papa! Here is cute little Keegin! Yup, can't wait till it's my turn!How can you look at that cute face and all that hair and not just melt!

Joe and Libby's Wedding and My Mom's Birthday!

2009-03-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

So it's been a while and so much has happened! A couple of weeks ago we took Tom's family with us to stay at my parents house because Tom's cousin was being sealed in the Las Vegas Temple! It was so much fun! The ceremony was beautiful! The couple looked so happy!

Then we got to go to lunch with my parents! It was my mom's birthday! We went to a really yummy mexican resaurant and when I asked the hostest what they did for people's birthdays and they said that they gave the person a churro and sang to them and if the were over 21 they gave them a shot of tequilla. Well, we just took the churro and singing! It was funny, they put sombrarro's on both of my parents! It was so much fun to just be with them! That night we went to the reception and the next morning we went to church with my parents before going home! As the closing prayer ended my mom annd I were both bawling and just gave each other a hug! I didn't want to leave! It was a nice ride back to SLC, but Tom and I were ready to be home when we got here! It was a great trip and we were so grateful to be able to go down!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to tell everyone Happy Valentine's day a whole 3 minutes before it ends! We had a great day! We woke up and went to Kevin and Tiffany's and Tom and Kevin went 4-wheeling. In the snow, no less! Kari came over and hung out with Tiff and I and she made us some yummy cookies and a really cute flower thing! Thanks Kari! Then when our men got back Tom and I did our taxes. We are getting a little back, which is better than nothing and way better than owing some! Then Tom and I decided to do something romantic and go to Auto Zone and get steps for the side of the truck, so I might be able to get in by myself finally, and oil so we can change that! Then we went to Albertson's and got garlic bread, bananas and soda! Real healthy, I know! We got one of those $5 pizza's from Little Caesar's and came home and cuddled on the couch and watched the first half of Gone With The Wind! Tom was falling asleep but wants to finish it tomorrow! So I have been in bed updating blog stuff and thought I needed to post something cause it's been far too long! All in all it was a great day! I am so grateful to have my forever Valentine! He is my favorite person ever and I love when he just rolls over in bed and cuddles me without realizing it while he's asleep! He just did that and it's so cute! He still gives me butterflies! Well, I better end this before I make you all throw up! Hope you all had a great day again!

The Most Spiritual Weekend!

2009-01-25T22:29:00.000-07:00

So I am really not trying to rain on our truck's parade, but I have just had a spiritual weekend and I wanted to share something that I found on youtube while looking for the EFY Song. We were able to go to the temple yesterday afternoon with our ward and it was such a Spiritual experience! It always is, but it seems like I came out with more than ever before! Then Tom and I got to spend the evening together! I finally learned how to drive the truck! I think I am doing pretty well. Then we went to church today! It was our ward conference and was so great! Every meeting was great! Tom's back was really bothering him and so I almost mentioned that maybe we should go home, so he could rest it! Boy, I'm glad I didn't open my big mouth! We would have stayed for the sacrament, but missed the rest of the meeting! Our Bishop and Stake President spoke and it was pretty powerful! We got to go to Tom's family's for dinner and after that Tom's mom and I sat and played hymns on the piano and organ. I love the hymns! Then we found all these fun videos of Spiritual songs online and I was just bawling my eyes out! It was such a great weekend I don't want it to end! Below is one of my favorite videos! Have tissue ready!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oteno81QzzQ

The Pics You've All Been Waiting For!

2009-01-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

So finally we were able to get some pics of our new truck! Hope you enjoy! Ya ever want a ride just give us a call!

1 ton-o-fun!

We're both Built Ford Tough!

We had all our cleaning stuff in the back seat and didn't think anyone wanted to look at it! Just believe us that it is really roomy!

460 Cubes!

Big ol' meats!

The guy threw in the shell and carpet kit for FREE!

Funniest thing EVER!

2009-01-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

So the funniest thing ever is me trying to drive our new truck! First of all it's a stick! I could get someone to the hospital if they were bleeding to death in a stick, but I might kill it a few times along the way! I am not very good at it! Starting is the hardest for me! Once I'm in a gear, going into the next gear is not really an issue! Tom took me to the church parking lot and we spent about a half hour learning to drive! This was about all I could take, cause my leg was shaking so bad I couldn't even hold the clutch down! I found muscles I didn't even know I had! I am totally out of shape anyway, but by this time next week, y'all better watch out cause I am gonna have the buffest left leg in Salt Lake County! I am gonna have one fat leg and one super skinny, super buff leg! I am gonna be the funniest looking person!

Our New Truck!

2009-01-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

We bought a new truck today! Well, it's new to us! It's a 1996, Ford, F-350, longbed, crewcab, 5-speed manual transmision, big block 460, with 35 inch dune tires! We are stoked! We got a pretty good deal on it and we feel really good about it! It is in the shop cause it had some issues with the driver's door mechanism, so we don't have pics tonight, but check back tomorrow! We love our new truck and are excited to finally have a truck that we can actually haul stuff with!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2009-01-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Tom's mom's birthday! We were able to spend the evening together! We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner and then went back to Melinda's to watch the movie Amazing Grace! Great movie! It was fun to be together!

Happy Birthday Mom! Thanks for all you do for us!

The Best Two Years With The Love Of My Life!

2009-01-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

So January 6th was our 2 year anniversary! Neither one of us can believe it's been 2 whole years, but we also can't imagine our lives without each other! (Nor do we want to try!) These two years have been filled with happiness and joy, sadness and trials, but always there is love! We are so grateful that the Lord put us in each other's paths and we chose to follow what we knew was right! We love each other more today than the day we got married, which we didn't think was actually possible! We have grown to be a team through everything! We look forward to the many adventures that this life brings to us, but are so grateful for the gospel and for the sealing power! We feel so blessed to know that if we are faithful and endure to the end we can be together forever!

For our anniversary this year we went to Wendover, NV! I know many of you are thinking what in the world is there to do in Wendover? Well, you would be right! There isn't a whole lot! We still had a blast though cause we were together! We went to eat a lot, went to some of the little shops, went swimming, and yes even dropped a few pennies! Don't worry! We didn't go over our $10 limit! We got a really great price on a super nice suite! The selling point was a jacuzzi tub that fit 4 right in our room! It was big and nice and we got in at least 2-3 times a day! We could just watch movies and relax! The relaxing was much needed after the last few months we've had! Well, I'm gonna post a few pictures, quite a few actually so sorry! But I am kinda using this blog as a online journal, so here goes!

We were so excited to get there that we left a day early! We're glad we did! This is us on our way!

This was our room! Our big comfy bed, our nice TV, and of course the tub!
We had to make sure the bed was comfy, and don't worry, it was!

Now that we had found the room with no real problems we had to get all our stuff to it!

We then decided to explore! We found lots of casino, and not a lot else, but what did we expect?Ya can't visit Wendover without visiting Wendover Will!
We found a bunch of restaurants and our favorite pasttime is eating, so that was perfect! (By the way we really are working on that! Maybe next year you'll see the skinny Tom and Natalie!)

Then we went back and went to bed. The next morning we got up and went swimming in the indoor pool in the hotel which was clear on the other side! Yea, kinda sucked! If you think I am letting you see those pictures though you're crazy, sorry! On to dinner!

For those of you who get queesy easily don't look now! There might be kissing pictures, but what's an anniversary without any kissing!
We went to see Marley and Me at the tiny little theater there! I cried during most of the movie, and Tom even cried at the end! Very good movie, but very hard to watch! This morning we came home, took a short nap and started some laundry and went to Body World's at the Leonardo! It was neat to see! Similar to what we saw in Vegas on our honeymoon! We had an AWESOME anniversary and aren't quite ready to get back to the real world! We loved spending time together! We never got sick of each other! Tom is playing X Box now and I am writing this post, but we are in the same room and still talking and laughing! I think we made good decisions on marrying each other!

Here's a look back at our first anniversary! We stayed at Little America and had a blast then too!

Christmas Dinner with Tom and Jen!

2008-12-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tom and Jen James took us out to dinner as their Christmas gift to us! What a great gift! The food was so yummy and we had a blast! Here's some pics of our fun night!

Sorry, Jen but I love this picture! Thanks so much Tom and Jen for the great Christmas gift! We had so much fun!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-12-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

My birthday was December 27th and I had a blast! It started at midnight! We went to dinner with Tim and Autumn to celebrate Tim's birthday on the 26th and mine on the 27th. It was a lot of fun! Here's some pics!

Then we went back to their house and opened Christmas and birthday gifts! It was fun! Then we went home and since it was past midnight, we decided I could open my gifts! Here's more pics!
I got a lot of great stuff! These are only a couple of things! Then we decided to get a little sleep before we had to get up early to go to breakfast with Tom's mom and sister! It was so yummy and fun!
We went home and crashed some more! Then we got up and Tom flew his helicopter and it flew away on it's own! It was so weird! Long story, but we looked and looked and couldn't find it!

Then when we realized that we weren't going to find it, we went to the mall and spent my Bare Minerals gift certificate! We had lunch and just enjoyed the time together! Then we went home. Tom had to work and I tried my hand at being domestic by making some bread in my new bread maker from Tim and Autumn!
Later that night I went with my sister-in-law and her friends to go see the Joseph Smith movie (so good I cried most of the movie) and then we went to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was a fun night!

Then I came home and hung out with my cute hubby for a while! We went to bed about 12:30! It was a very full, fun day! Thanks to all for the birthday wishes!

We had a great Christmas!

2008-12-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome Christmas! Tom's family came over and we all stayed in our little apartment! It was close quarters, but we had a good time! The night of Christmas Eve we had pizza for dinner and made homemade icecream! Then we watched National Lampoon's Christmas movie. Then we read Luke 2! My favorite part of the night! I am always grateful for a reminder of the real reason for this holiday! The next morning I got up early. I always do this when we have company. I don't want them to need something and I be alseep! It's kinda annoying though! Well, I put the traditional Egg Sausage Casserole in the oven and we opened gifts! We all made out like bandits! I got a camera, a digital picture frame, some slippers, a blanket, a picnic condiment set, the full box set of my favorite british comedy, The Vicar of Dibley, and some other stuff! Tom got a x box, a helicopter, slippers, blanket, a hat and sign from Australia, and some other things! We had a good time! Here's some pics!

Tom's grandma got this cool keyboard that rolls up and you can put it on the table, but it actually plays! It's really neat!

Tom's mom got all the Celtic woman CD's.

Tom's sister Melinda got the new Heavy Metal Shop Hoodie! Tom and his X-Box!and his helicopter!

and his hat!

What is it? What is it? I'm so excited! (Actually I am the one who wrapped is!) It's nice to be married and just get for each other and ourself at the same time!

It's my camera and I love it cause it takes great pictures and fairly easy to use!

The Vicar of Dibley!My digital picture frame!

That night we had a nice turkey dinner and thank goodness Linda was there cause I almost threw up when she was cleaning it out! I'm retarded, I know! All in all it was a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas to All...From The Hughes'

2008-12-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

So I know this a little late, but I figure, better late than never!

Just figure I would give you a quick rundown on life for our little family over the 2008 year!

We started off the year celebrating our first anniversary! We didn't have a lot, but my cute husband wanted to do something nice for me for the big 1 year! We decided that we would go to Little America for the night! It was a BLAST! We are looking foreward to celebrating our 2 year anniversary in Wendover! We're excited that we are at least getting out of town and spending a couple days together!

TOM is working for Intermountain Healthcare as a Safety and Security Officer! He loves his job, but sadly he has to give it up in January. He will be going back to the school he worked for at the first part of the year because it works better with his school schedule. He is needing to find a job as an electrician, but we feel blessed that he has a little more time than originally planned to find that. With these hard economic times, we are just grateful that he has a job and that we are able to pay our bills. He is doing so well in school, and the thing he is most excited about is that he is completely done taking math...FOREVER! He is looking forward to starting his second semester with all his friends! He still enjoys being a big kid and has the biggest heart ever! He is constantly making sure that I am ok and taken care of! I couldn't have asked for a better eternal companion, and I am truly grateful for him each day!

NATALIE is still working at the Intermountain Medical Center in the Endoscopy department! I am still enjoying it, and will probably be there for a while. I am one of the charge nurses and have recently learned to do other types of procedures and am enjoying that! I am serving on the enrichment commitee in our ward and am really enjoying working with the wonderful sisters in the ward! I keep pretty busy with work, but like to get home to visit my parents whenever possible.

No kids yet! We'll see what happens in the future! As for right now, we are really enjoying our time together!

We are so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given us the gift of the Plan of Salvation! We are so indebted to Him for the gift of His Son, who's birth we celebrate this time of year! We are truly gratful for the promise of an eternal family! My husband lost his father when he was 14 and I am so grateful to know that I will meet him and that I am part of his eternal family, and Tom is grateful that he will see his dad again!

We are truly thankful for all of you! Your friendship, love and support means so much to us! We love each and everyone of you!

Merry Christmas!
Tom and Natalie Hughes

The Blessings of the Temple!

2008-12-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I had the opportunity to go to the St. George Temple to be there when my uncle was able to be sealed to his wife and kids! It was such a neat experience because my mom and all of her brother's and sister's were able to be there. The first time ever that they were able to be inside together! My Uncle and Aunt were just glowing! The Spirit was so strong! After ward my aunt told her son, "You get to be my son forever!" He got so excited and said, "Forever? That's so cool!" He's like 5! He's so cute! It was a great experience! What an amazing blessing to be able to be with our family forever!

Tom Passed His Classes!

2008-12-21T20:47:00.000-07:00

So, sorry this is a little late! Tom passed his classes and he NEVER has to take math again! We are so excited! So to celebrate we went to Tempanyaki(sp?) and it was so yummy! We tried Sushi for the first time! After dinner he took me to a movie! We saw Four Christmases and it was pretty funny! It was great to FINALLY have a weekend together! Poor Tom has had something going every single evening since school started and we were ready for the break! It's nice to spend the evening with my cute hubby! We've kinda missed each other! Here's some pics of our fun night!

Hughes Family Elf Fun!

2008-12-12T22:39:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas Craziness!

2008-12-10T20:51:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It took two weeks but it's finally done!

2008-12-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! So we started decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, and we just barely finished yesterday! Sad I know! I have been working a lot of overtime and Tom has had school and work and neither of us have felt well. So, it's done and we are so excited to be able to use our living room again! So here's some pictures of us decorating! I made my own wreath this year and I was pretty proud of myself!

Tom put the lights on the tree!

And the finished product! All we have to do is clean up, but at least everything is up!

It was a lot of fun! We enjoy being together and preparing for the Christmas Season!

My sister-in-law took me to Festival of Trees! I had never been before but we had a good time! We were able to watch the Salt Lake Scott's play and that was pretty cool! I had never seen them before!

Welcome to the first part of our December!

Thanksgiving Fun and Time with Family

2008-12-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

So, I know this is a little late, and I don't have any pictures, (I think I left the disk at mom and dad's) but I just thought I would post about our Thanksgiving! It was a blast. We left for Las Vegas when Tom got off work at about 10 pm. I already had the car packed and went to pick him up, I was all emotional cause I didn't get everything done I wanted before we left town, but my sweet husband just held me for a minute and reassured me that it was gonna be okay and we could just do these things when we got back. He reminded me that this was a happy time and we were going to have fun! So we drove and drove and drove. I couldn't handle it anymore and fell asleep just after Cove Fort and woke up befor the first Beaver exit. It wasn't a very long nap, but it was just what I needed. Tom spoiled me and drove the whole way, even though I offered multiple times to give him a break! It was nice to just sit back, relax, and be with my hubby! When we go on vacation the drive is usually our funnest part!
We got to Vegas at 5 am Utah time and 4 am Vegas time Thursday morning. We woke my mom up to tell her we had made it, I helped her get some things out of the freezer to thaw and then it was off to bed. We weren't having dinner until 12 and I had decided I was gonna sleep until at least 11. That was until Dillon, my cousin's little boy started crying at 7:30 am. I got up, got something to drink and tried to go back to bed but I couldn't, too many people were awake and I didn't want to miss out on a minute of what was going on because we only had a short time there! We had dinner and all of the rest of our meals at my Grandparent's house. The food was all so yummy and I am actually pretty proud of myself cause I didn't over do it! All the men folk went 4-wheeling that afternoon as well as Friday all day and Saturday afternoon. The weather was beautiful! They had a great time!
I can't believe it but me, my mom and some of my cousins went shopping on Black Friday! I vowed I would never do that! I went with a purpose though and accomplished my goal! I only bought one extra thing. I was pretty proud of myself! It was actually really fun! I think the funnest part was to just spend all day with my mom! I really miss her being this far away, and with Tom working weekends, we don't get to see each other as much as we would both like. Tom had to come home on Saturday morning for work that afternoon and I cried so hard when he left! I felt like an idiot, but I hate being without him! I was worried about him driving by himself and feeling a little guilty about not going with him and him not being able to stay!
Well, we had a family reunion for my Grandpa's brothers and sisters and their families and our family was in charge. It was simple but I think everyone had a good time! I was able to come home on Sunday with my cousins and that was a lot of fun, but it was great to be reunited with my hubby!
My mom had recently gotten copies of all of her and my dad's grandparents and parents old slides and she was able to get them on the computer and gave me a copy! Very neat! I love pictures! They are such a great history!
When we got home, Tim and Autumn invited us over for Sunday dinner! We gladly accepted and they had gotten one of our Christmas gifts early. They got us a LAPTOP COMPUTER! I was feeling so bad cause we couldn't get anything that nice for them, but they didn't care. They knew we needed it and wanted us to have it! They are so generous! We love it and it has been put to good use already! Thanks guys!
All in all we had a great time and everyone was safe! We realize that we have so much to be thankful for! We're truly grateful to all of you for your friendship!

We are truly "BLESSED"!

2008-11-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

So, Tom and I have been stressing about some things in our life. Tom was told when he first started school, that he would have to have an apprenticeship job by January to be able to go on in the program! Tom has been trying, but with the economy being so bad, he hasn't found anything yet! He doesn't want to have to take this semester all over again, so when he found out today, from the head of the electrical apprenticeship program, that he had until next August to get a job we were both extatic! We have been really trying to get out of debt lately and my hours at work went from 12 hour shifts to 10's. I have to go in one more day a week, but I am actually getting just a bit of overtime, which will help so much! Another blessing! Well, the reason that I have thought of these as really special blessings, is that Tom was stressed about things above and beyond what he could handle the other night! We asked this guy in our ward, Charlie, to come give Tom a blessing! He and his sweet wife, Chantel, came over and just chatted with us until after midnight. They were so nice, they weren't even worried about the time! It helped to calm some of our fears and stresses just by talking to them, but then when Charlie gave Tom the blessing, the Spirit was so strong in the room that I just burst into tears! I know that the blessing was for Tom, but I felt truly blessed as well! It is neat to see some of the things that the Lord blessed Tom with come to pass, even if they are not quite the way we expected them to be taken care of! This job thing is only one of many answers to prayers and testimony to me that the Lord truly is aware of us and is ready and waiting to give us what we most need in this life, not necessarily what we most want! I know I am totally rambling! Part of that is due to the fact that my heart is so full of gratitude right now for my Heavenly Father and all of our blessings that I can't possibly get them all down on paper, and another part is that I am so tired after a long day at work, that I can't think straight! All I know, is that we are truly a blessed people and the Lord is ALWAYS watching out for us!

knock it off......

2008-11-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

OK this is getting out of hand. What makes these people so much better than anyone else??? Theyre just pissed off because THE MAJORITY HAS SPOKEN!!! But because the LDS church believed so strongly that same-sex marriage is wrong that they funded to have the bill pass.
So freakin what?? The amount of money spent on this campaign was in the millions of dollars. All of it donated to the cause. It just so happens that more than half the people who voted, voted against this gay marriage , so people can get over it. If the LDS church is hateful because they suceeded in helping the "family unit" stay afloat what does it make the pricks, who in spoiled brat fits of rage, shoot out windows and vandalize churches, tag peoples homes and cars, and justify it with "well mormons hated us first!!" Get real. When you act like that youre no better than the people you despise. The church is not out to persecute anyone. This was decided in a completely legal democratic process. They fought hard and you know what, they lost, so lets just move onto something else.

2008-11-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ok so I'm reading about all this bogus crap that being pushed onto the LDS church because they refuse to change their principles on this prop 8 thing. Good on 'em theyre one of the only organizations in the world that has not and will not change their stance on gay marriage. I commend them for it. The LDS church has taken the brunt of this frustration head on and stood their ground through a very difficult election. I've noticed that several other churches have caved under pressure and allowed the whole marriage thing to slide through based on who you love not what they are. People want a very unnatural thing and lifestyle to slide through as something that is natuaral and good............wrong. It's always been a different lifestyle and it appears that 52 percent of people want it to remain as so. This proposition doesn't discriminate and show hatred for anyone. It is just trying to sustain the few tattered shreds of the Family we are clinging onto, while trying to raise our children into good, respectable hard working people.

This boils down to all these people who pitch a fit when ever GOD is mentioned in politics. This country was founded on the principles of righteousness and goodness and honesty they have been starting political meetings and senate functions with a prayer ever since this country was first born. It's all fine and dandy to cry and whine everytime someone mentions god. But it's ok to try and teach 3rd graders about same-sex marriage?? If you dont' want god anywhere near your government you're in the wrong country and you're welcome, even encouraged to leave anytime.

We are SO blessed!

2008-11-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

So, I applied for a couple of jobs and had some interviews. Endo was just feeling like a downhill battle for so many reasons! Well, I had an interview at Primary Children's in an office setting and was so excited about it! I had everyone praying that if it was the Lord's will, I would be able to get this job. Well, they called me for a second interview and I was STOKED! I would have more normal hours, wouldn't have to wear scrubs to work anymore and could actually feel like a person, and NO MORE CALL! This was the perfect opportunity! So I went to the temple yesterday and had such a neat spiritual experience! So spiritual and so neat that I tear up ever time I think about it and it's just too sacred to talk about! Well, not related to that at all, or maybe it is, I had this feeling that the job was not right for me and I needed to stay right where I was. I thought that was weird, but the natural woman that I am, I kind of pushed it out of my mind and actually made up my mind last night that if they did offer me the job this morning that I would totally accept it! Well, I was on time and the doctor interviewing me was 50 minutes late! I thought this was a little frustrating esp. cause a great friend was covering my shift so I could be there and I needed to get back to work so she could have her day off! But frustrating as it was I was grateful to just sit in the waiting room. There were few patients and so I was in there by myself for the most part! I folded my arms and didn't really close my eye's but just thought and prayed for that whole 50 min. I was grateful to be able to communicate with my Heavenly Father, but I was also so grateful that he was communicating with me! I started thinking how great it would be to have this job and everything got very blurry! My stomach began to hurt and I was so confused about what to do. Then a thought just popped into my head, "Why are you leaving?" I tried to argue my point and the sickening feeling got worse! As I began to think about how great I really had it, and what a benefit my job had been in my life and could be in the future, everything got clear. My sick stomach was completely gone, and the confusion was gone! I had got my answer, now would I listen? I still went through with the interview but it was so weird. They really didn't have anything to say to me and I didn't have anything to say to them. There was a weird silence that was very uncomfortable most of the time! Another answer to prayers I feel! I got to work and told my boss I was staying! A load was taken off my shoulders! Literally! I was actually happy at work today! I know things will get better! They have already improved significantly! I don't know what I was walking into and it might have turned out to be a good job, but what would I miss in the future if I had gone against what I felt was right? I hate to even think about it! I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who gently pushes His children in the right direction yet still allowing us our agency! I am so grateful that He kept pushing until I finally pulled my head out and decided to listen!

On a bit of a different note, I have to say that I was very disappointed by the turnout of the election! I am a little frightened to have this man lead our country. However, the thought keeps coming to my mind, "Faith and fear cannot reside in the same place at the same time!" The morning after the election I woke up with just a great sence of peace! I know who is really running the show and I just have to be righteous and follow His prophets and I do not need to fear! We have been told in scripture that we have some trying times ahead! I fully believe this! I also fully believe that if we heed to the council of the Lord and do what we can do to get out of debt, build up our food storage, and get our spiritual lives in order we will be blessed! I do have to add how grateful I am that Proposition 8 passed! We do still have some people in this world that follow their moral compass!

2008-11-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well Obama won but hey I figure the worlds gotta come to an end sometime right?? I'm pretty disapointed but the barrel doesn't always tip the way you want it to. I just hope he does this country well. He's so far from what I believe to be true and good but others see it differently. I saw what I saw and I don't and never will share your victory in this election _tom

What is this world coming to?

2008-11-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

I really hope and pray that the Lord will help us through these trying times! Something as horrific as this is allowed to happen in this world! My cousin told me about this video and I feel like I need to share it! I just can't believe how sick this makes me! There are people that we walk around with every day that think this is okay! This is NOT okay! We have to stop men like this from leading our country! This is the most heartwrenching cruel inhumane thing! Please vote! We have to fight this! Please! This absolutely tore my heart out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYRpIf2F9NA

Happy Halloween, or Something...

2008-11-01T23:07:00.000-06:00

So, our Halloween was a little different! I knew I had to work all day and was on call that night! Tom had to work 3pm till 11pm. I knew that it would be better not to dress up very much, and I am SOOOOOO glad that I didn't! We had a lot of cases to do and some of them got a little messy, enough said! Well, I thought I would at least be able to get off around when it gets dark to go trick or treating with Tim, Autumn and Scott! Well, that idea got shot to crap! I was still at work around 9 pm and Tom called me and said that he had called an ambulance for Tim. They had gone to see Tom at work and show him Scott's costume and Tim started having chest pain that was worse than he had ever had! Scared Tom to death! So, of course this is right in the middle of a case and I was starting to tear up a bit! Tm has kinda become like a brother or something! He is a great friend! So, I composed myself, finished the case, and went to the ER to see what was going on! They released him shortly after I got there and said his heart was fine, but they wanted him to go have a stress test just to be sure! This is an outpatient procedure so we'll see what's going on when he has it done. Let me tell you though, they gave him morphine, and boy was he funny! So, I ran back to clean up the supposedly quick procedure my coworkers were doing, and they weren't downstairs cleaning up after the procedure so I ran upstairs to where the procedure was supposed to be done and they had done it once, and had to wait for the patient to have another procedure before we could start again! I left at 11:30 pm and Tom was waiting at home for me and Tim(drugged out as he was) and Autumn took us to dinner at like midnight! That was probably the funnest part of the day! Hope everyone else's Halloween was great!

Yay for Bowling!

2008-10-27T20:56:00.000-06:00

So we went cosmic bowling with Tim and Autumn on Friday night! We had so much fun! Scott got to come along too! He is quite possibly the cutest kid ever, and I have known a lot of cute kids! He would "help me" bowl! He would go sit right where the lane starts and I would put the ball in front of him and he would push it (I might have helped it a little) and we would both say "Go, Go, Go..." until it got to the end! We had so much fun, and Scott told me that I was his and it made me feel so good! In the mean time he was dipping his finger in a little container of creamer and eating it and spilled most of it all over me! He's so funny cause he gets all excited when he sees us and runs up to us to give us hugs and kisses! He always calls me "my Natayee!" This doesn't help the baby hungryness one bit I must say! He's even broke Tom down! Tom actually likes to hold him and he never holds anyone elses kids! He even lets Scott give him kisses! I only hope that our kids are as cute and as good as Scott! ... Back to Bowling! We had a blast! Thanks Tim! Autumn fell as she was bowling and it was so funny and I was totally making fun of her! Then wouldn't you know, not 20 minutes later, I did the same thing! I have never done that before! It was so funny! I was helping Scott bowl and as he was getting up, he was on his hands and knees and got up to his hands and feet and sliped and did like a somersault(sp?) It was so funny! He looked so surprised! Tim got a little excited, I think, and spilled coke in my shoe! Ah, great memories! Those guys are such great friends and do so much for us! We are so grateful for friends like them! The pics aren't that great, but I still wanted to post some!

Husband Tag

2008-10-27T20:34:00.000-06:00

What's your husbands name? George Thomas Hughes
How long have you guys been married? Almost 2 years
How long did you date? Dated for 8 months, Engaged for 3 months
How old is he? Just turned 27
Who eats more sweets? ME! He doesn't like stuff if it's too sweet or "rich" as he calls it!
Who said I Love You first? I did. I can't believe it either! But don't worry the next words out of his mouth were, "Ya know what? I am falling in love with you too!" I had just said, " I think I am falling in love with you!"
Who is taller? Tom, and I am so gratful!
Who is the better singer? I like to sing more! But I love listening to Tom sing!
Who is smarter? Mostly Tom!
Who does the laundry? Me, unless I ask for his help!
Who pays the bills? Me
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Tom, I sleep closer to the door
Who mows the lawn? I wish we had a lawn to mow!
Who cooks dinner? Me, usually, but Tom will help if I ask! He's so good to me!
Who drives? Tom, mostly!
Who is the first to say they are wrong? I don't know! We are both really really stubborn!, but I think Tom's a little more stubborn! Sorry baby!
Who kissed who first? Tom
Who asked who out first? Tom
Who wears the pants? I would have to say Tom, but we have a pretty good team thing going on!

I tag whoever reads this too! Usually I don't do things like this on the blog, cause I do it on myspace or facebook, but I thought this one was cute and I want my hubby to know I love him!

2008-10-20T23:23:00.000-06:00

I just found this on youtube this is my absolute favorite movie theme song i totally wish i could play this well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI3JesSo-sA

We have to protect marriage!

2008-10-19T13:35:00.000-06:00

I have very strong feelings about this subject! I don't mind others having their own opinions, but I personally believe this is wrong! There are so many reasons! In "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" it states, "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God". We need to protect this sacred value, as well as many others! It will truly affect our children more than we want to realize! Please watch this terrifying video about a family in Massachusetts who is having to deal with this issue head on in their young child's school! School is a place where children are supposed to learn things that will benefit their lives! Same sex marriage is being taught as normal! It is most definitely not normal! I was appalled at how this situation was handled! The school is there to assist the parents, NOT the other way around! Another act that I was terribly disgusted with was when a class of 5 and 6 year olds took a field trip to go see their teacher's wedding! It happened to be a same sex wedding. This is a very impressionable age and these children will remember this for the rest of their lives. The thing that made me the most mad is that the parents of these children should have had to sign a permission form to allow their children to go, and only 2 families stood up for the right and did not allow their children to be exposed to that! Why in the world are my tax dollars going to provide a field trip for students that is so against anything that is natural! To a wedding, let alone a same sex wedding! Field trips are allowed for the purpose of teaching children a valuable lesson that is not able to be taught in the classroom! This is not a valuable lesson! This is a lesson that is detrimental to the well being of our children and our society! The Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome, was quoted at this event, saying, "The door's wide open now. It's gonna happen, whether you like it or not." What a coward! What about our founding fathers who built this country on the principals that God has laid down! What about fighting for what we believe in! That is what this country has always done! We don't just lay down and take it! The campaign promoting the legality of same sex marriage states that this will NOT be taught in our schools! Well, as you can see this is a blatent lie! One created by the adversary to lull us away from doing what is right! I hope this is okay, but I am going to use someone elses words now! One of Nancy Jones' friends wrote this and I think it is an important issue to think about as well! "If a new precedent allowing gay marriage is adopted, it could prove detrimental to our church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints would be forced to adopt/accept gay marriage, or it would lose its tax exemption status. Just think for a moment what that would mean for the welfare programs--hence our tithing money. This is also setting precedent for gay marriage to be taught in schools not as an alternative lifestyle, but equal to the traditionally defined marriage." I say again, traditionally defined marriage is between a man and a woman! This view should not be changed and challenged in the young impressionable minds of the children of today! The Church also put out a great statement about this cause! Please read this, it is called "The Divine Institution of Marriage". Please, please, please help protect our children! Lets get the word out that we can fight this! We don't have to just lie down and take it! Another thing that we can do is pray! The Lord is mindfull of all his children and he listens to our prayers! I know this to be true! There is an e-mail going around that can bring the whole world together to petition God for His help in this matter and others surrounding this election! It is the following!
ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT
This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced, and from the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees. Do you believe we can take God at His word? Call upon His name, then stand back and watch His wonders unfold. This scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land and the ability to call upon God to heal it. I challenge you to do that. We have never been more desperate than now for God to heal our land. This election is the scariest I remember in my lifetime.
2 Chronicles 7:14. 'If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.'
During WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill, who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour for one minute, to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace. This had an amazing effect, as bombing stopped. There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. The United States of America, and our citizens, need prayer more than ever!!! If you would like to participate, each evening at 9:00 P.M. Eastern Time (8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific), stop whatever you're doing, and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, for peace in the world, the upcoming election, that the Bible will remain the basis for the laws governing our land, and that Christianity will grow in the U.S. If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along. Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Thank you. Please pass this on to anyone who you think will want to join us. God Bless You!!!
Please pass this word along! Please take the time to vote! It is a responsibility that we should not take lightly! Also please get involved by going to the Protect Marriage website! There is so much that needs to be done!

Happy Birthday, Tom!

2008-10-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

Today is Tom's 27th birthday! Things are going oh, so great this week, at we were pretty worried that the day wouldn't be the great day of celebration that it should be! We're both still depressed about the puppy and stressed about work and school and bills and whatnot! Well, I suggested that we go up a canyon, didn't matter which, and hike around a little and look at what leaves were left to look at. Tim lent us his truck, we packed a lunch at Linda's and off we went! It was fun just to spend time together! We tried to go up Butterfield Canyon, where Tom has spent much of his childhood, but the road was closed so we went up Little Cottonwood! It was a lot of fun! We then went and Tom got to spend his birthday money from both of our parents! I suggested we go to a haunted house. For those of you that know Tom, you know he likes to be scared. Movies, haunted houses, whatever! For those of you that know me, you know that I absolutely despise anything scary! I don't like it at all! So, you know how much of a sacrifice this was for me to suggest it. We ended up going with Tom and Jen to Nightmare on 13th. I had my face burried in Tom's shoulder the whole time and about broke his hand squeezing it so hard. We were on some stairs down at one part and I was so close to Tom that as he lifted his foot I kinda stepped on it and fell down some stairs! Doesn't that just sound like me! The people gave me an ace bandage and I was able to finish. Tom had a lot of fun though, and loved it, which I am grateful for! I just want Tom to know how much I love him and that he is my everything! He completes me in every way! I really hope he had a great day! Love you baby!

The Saddest Day!

2008-10-13T15:07:00.000-06:00

So we had a really hard day! Our cute little puppy, Donk, that had stolen our hearts in just 2 days had to go to another family today! Situations arose that did not allow us to keep him and we found a super nice family to take him! They have a back yard and a bunch of kids who he'll love playing with! In the short time that we had him he was already making leaps and bounds in his training! We taught him how to walk with a leash, and go up and down stairs. He, for the most part, went potty outside and had very little accidents in the house. He got to know us and would come when we wanted him to, for the most part. Thank you everyone for your congrats! We were really excited to get him and take care of him and wish we would have been able to keep him! It was a pretty tearful goodbye! To make matter's worse I have been up all night sick, and could not go into work today! I was so excited to show everyone pictures, and tell them how good he is doing, but it's probablly better that I could not. We know that the Lord will watch over him and he'll have a very happy life!

Throughout the Ages

2008-10-08T19:48:00.000-06:00

So I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it was awesome! Take a look and have a little laugh! If you want to give it a try go to yearbookyourself.com!

Wecome with the 50's! These ones crack me up, especially of me cause I really think I look like my grandma!

Here is the 60's! Tom's so cute with glasses and I wonder how long it would have taken to do my hair!

Can you say BIG HAIR! This is the 70's!

This is a little tribute to the decade we were born it! The 80's!

In 1990 Tom would have really looked like Scott Bird and I really think my hair looked like this at one point in my life!

We're closing things out with the mid 90's! Hope you enjoyed!

No cute Halloween Background!

2008-10-07T17:34:00.000-06:00

So, I just set up this blog and it was a lot of work! I love the way it looks now and I can't bring myself to change it! I am not the most creative person in the world and when I find something I like I seem to stick with it! Please look for something around Christmas though! I have great ideas in store, and I will just have to make the change! I know you are all waiting anxiously now! Ha! Ha! If anyone has any ideas on how to change things a little easier, let me know!

It's Conference Time Again!

2008-10-04T23:15:00.000-06:00

So, today was the first day of general conference! It was amazing! I have actually never felt the Spirit more while watching Conference! I think that I was more prepared to hear the messages today than I have ever been! I pretty much cried the whole time...both sessions! I know, I am pathetic! It was great cause during the second session they had a primary choir during the second session! It was incredible! I can't wait until I have children! I know they are a lot of work, and you never sleep again, and they complicate things, but they also have such an honesty and sweet spirit! You can't help but know that they came from our Father in Heaven! I am so grateful that Tom will be the daddy when we do have kids! He is so amazing with kids and he is gonna be the best dad ever! We went to a birthday party tonight for two of my cousins, the pictures aren't that great, but they're pretty cute! I love this one with Tom and Baby Normand! See, he will be a cute daddy!

This is me and some of the family!

This is one of the Birthday Boys! He was showing us how old he is! So cute!

Tom and I were just having fun with the camera!

All in all, I had a great day and hope everyone else did the same!

Aussie Footy by Tom

2008-09-29T22:56:00.000-06:00

This is an explanation of how footy works. They play the game on oval shaped cricket grounds that are a ton wider and a ton longer than our football fields theres two large poles and two short poles on each end of the field if the ball kicked between the two long poles its a 6 point goal if it is kicked between a long pole and a short pole (called behind poles) its only one point the players must bounce the ball every 15 or so steps and instead of passing overhand they "handball" or volley it to each other blah blah blah its a ton different and way crazy....oh and they dont use pads or helmets and theyre more hardcore than the NFL could ever even hope to be

We're still for Geelong, the greatest team of all!

2008-09-29T15:15:00.000-06:00

So, on Friday we had a little party at our house! It was the Australian Football League's Premier Game! It is kinda like our Super Bowl here in the States! In order to be part of the Hughes family it's a requirement to be a fan of the Geelong Cats! They did great this season, they only lost one game! We were super excited cause we knew they had a good chance of winning again this year! (They won the Premiers last year!) They played against the Hawthorne Hawks! I was especially excited because I have never seen an Aussie Footy game before, but have heard a ton about it! Melinda, my sister-in-law, and I went and bought some Australian food, or as close as we could get here in SLC, before the game started and we were getting really psyched! Melinda also made an Aussie dessert called Pavlova! Tom doesn't like it so much but I loved it! So, the pre-game show came on and Tom was able to make it home from work in time so he didn't miss any of the actual game! It was so much fun to watch! They don't wear a whole lot of padding like our guys do! However, I have never seen anything so brutal, which I was warned about! They didn't stop the game when people got hurt. If they didn't get off the field fast, they were gonna get run over again! The Cat's did really well the first half and then we don't know what happened! They ended up loosing by 26 points, but that doesn't change the heart of true fans! We will definitely still be supporting them and I would definitely like to see another footy game, but I can't wait to see one in real life! It was a blast beoming more involved in Tom's culture!

So this kinda shows that they kinda go all out to get the ball! The ball is a bit wider than our ball here so you definitely cannot grab it with just one hand. It's also very smooth leather and hard to hold on to!

This is the team captain! He got hurt in the middle of the game and wasn't able to play for about a quarter! He was really fighting at the end and took the loss pretty hard! It was sad! I hate loosing! I got these pics off the GFL site! Thought they were pretty cool!

Families Are Forever! And I am so GRATEFUL!

2008-09-24T21:49:00.000-06:00

Today I decided that I wanted to go to the temple, so I did. About fifteen minutes after I decided, I was dressed and out the door. It was such an amazing experience, as it always is! Afterwards though, I went to the cemetary where my father-in-law, Jeff, is buried! I sat by his headstone for a while and just cried and cried. Part of me is upset that I have never been able to hear his voice or see him in person. He passed away when Tom was 14 after battling 8 long years with multiple health problems. I want to be able to tell my kids stories of their Grandpa Hughes and I can't, cause I never met him! I have never had the chance to tell him thank you for raising such and amazing, strong, gentle son! He can't tell me stories of when he lived in Australia or when he came to the states, or what Tom was like when he was little. As I was out there feeling sorry for myself, I looked at the back of his headstone and there was the picture of the St. George Temple! I began to feel calm, I was still crying, but instead of tears of self pitty they were tears of joy. This is because of the teachings of Jesus Christ that families are forever. I know that I will be able to meet him someday and give him a hug! I will be able to talk to him and hear his accent! I have tried to learn as much as I can about him from Tom, Linda and Melinda. He was and is an amazing man! He was very family oriented and he loved Linda very much, as she did him! That's so important to me! My parents are still very much in love and I enjoy watching them be together! I hope and pray that my marriage will be so strong for so many years! I know that Jeff does love me already! Even though he hasn't been able to tell me face to face! He has let me know in various special ways! I hope he knows that I feel the same! I am so grateful to this great man for the legacy that he left for his children, which I consider myself to be, and the rest of his posterity! I am proud to call myself a Hughes, and I am proud that my children will carry on that name! I strive every day to do what is right so I can tell him that I brought honor to his name when I see him!

This is Tom and his dad! I think Tom was about 5, but I am not sure!