Thursday, September 16, 2010

A New Puppy (or is it...Poopy)

We got a dog. WE GOT A DOG! I can't believe it!

The kids and Randy (who is also a kid, if you didn't know) have wanted to have a dog for so long and I finally caved! She is 9 weeks old and is a mix between a Border Collie and a Blue Heeler. She is such a sweetheart.♥

I have always said that I like dogs as long as they belong to other people and am really surprised to find that I LOVE her! I couldn't wait to get home from work today just so I could play with her. She loves to roll around in the grass and even showed off today by doing a somersault. Suh-weet!

Here she is...little Rogue!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Boring? NO WAY!

We have many, hmmm...shall we say AMUSING? learning experiences while reading the scriptures together as a family.

Here are just a few of the most memorable moments from tonight:
  • "What is a harlot?"
  • "What are loins?"
  • "Why do the children suck?"
  • "Mine own? That doesn't make any sense!"
  • Replacing "swear words" with alternate words: dang, heck, donkey.
  • "It said AMEN at the end of the verse. Does that mean we don't have to say our prayers tonight?"
What often follows these questions and somewhat evasive answers are red cheeks, nervous giggles and knowing glances.

Who says reading the scriptures is boring?

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

CAREN ♥

This year, we made the decision to have a foreign exchange student stay with us from Germany. We asked for a 14-year-old girl so she would be the same age as Taylor. We thought it would be a fun cultural experience for Taylor.

She arrived here June 18th and brought us some yummy German chocolate and gifts for all of us.

Some of her favorite things to do while she was here were: riding the 4-wheelers, shopping, shopping, more shopping, playing on Facebook, eating American food, playing baseball, shooting guns, hanging out with friends and sunbathing.
She left to go home on August 2nd and we cried and cried as she was leaving our house until we thought we were all out of tears. We cried some more as we watched her walk through the gate to go through security and we knew that we probably wouldn't see her again.

Her name is Caren and we love her just like a sister and a daughter. She will always be a BIG part of our Hughes family! We miss her!

Click to play this Smilebox photo album

Friday, May 14, 2010

First Impressions

Have you ever judged someone by their appearance? NEVER? Well...you are a better person than I am for sure! :) I have a bad habit of trying to deduce someone's character within a few minutes of meeting them. Some would say I'm somewhat Sherlock HolmesISH. ONLY, I'm hardly ever RIGHT and usually terribly WRONG! You think I would learn after being so terribly wrong so terribly many times. Here are a few quotes I looked up about FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
  • Sometimes the very smallest player is the best one on the team.
  • I've never met a person, I don't care what his condition, in whom I could not see possibilities.
  • Beware, as long as you live, of judging people by appearances.
  • Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.
  • AND my FAVE: You know what ASSUME stands for!!
I can only imagine what people must think of me when they first meet me! HA!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

I'm BACK!

FOR REAL this time! ;)

I finally looked at my blog today and couldn't believe it's been a year since I posted anything. My, how time flies. YIKES! I am going to be better about posting SOMETHING at least once a week and you can all hold me to it!

If you have any GREAT blogging tips, please let me know what they are. I feel like a beginner all over again (a baby blogger). Here goes!

Monday, May 4, 2009

We are glad to be alive!

August 26, 1999

I still can't remember the details from our accident this many years later, maybe because it is too painful and traumatic for my mind and body to deal with. Randy has recounted the accident so many times to so many people that I can write from his memory. The following is "THE accident according to Randy".

We were coming home from a wonderful vacation to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and Grandma Spendlove's in Hurricane, Utah. We decided to come home a little bit early so we could get some things done before Randy had to go back to work.

We were driving through a ravine on a 2-lane highway and were almost to Toquerville, Utah. A small white car was coming towards us in the other lane and suddenly veered into our lane coming straight at us! There was nowhere for us to go, so Randy took his foot off the gas and we hit head-on. We were going 50 mph and the other vehicle was going 15-20 mph faster than us, so you can imagine the damage.

We were in our 1978 Ford Bronco (heavy-duty hunk of metal) and that little car pushed us up onto the guardrail, with a hefty drop-off below. The driver of the small, white car had fallen asleep at the wheel on his way home from SUU. It was only 5:00 in the afternoon.

Randy was able to get out of the Bronco. The girls were crying so hard and Randy was bleeding, with a gaping wound on his forehead. He grabbed a clean diaper and put it on his head to stop the blood flow. He was able to get Taylor out and went back for Alyssa, but someone told him to sit down and they took care of the kids for us. I could not move! Randy asked if I was okay and I said, "I think I broke my back." (I still don't remember ANY of this).The EMT people got to the scene and were able to get me out of the Bronco and into an ambulance. Taylor and Alyssa rode with me and Randy went in another ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George.

The girls were okay with a couple of bumps and bruises. Randy had a cut which was about 6 inches in length on his forehead and down around his eyelid. He was sewn up by a plastic surgeon in St. George. He also had severe, deep bruising in his chest form the seatbelt and steering wheel. My injuries were the most severe and I ended up taking a really expensive trip on a life-flight jet to LDS Hospital. My only memory of that trip was a really nice life-flight nurse and small lights on the ceiling of the jet.I had a broken nose, an eye that was swollen shut, 2 black eyes, internal injuries on my right shin, and a fractured L4/L5 vertebrae. The L4 had been stretched out so far that it was completely destroyed. I was in the ICU overnight and then we had to make a decision on how we would fix my back. Dr. Orme was the surgeon and gave us two options:
  1. Get 3 verts. of my back fused together - I would not have much mobility with this option.
  2. Be in a body cast which would bend my back backwards in the hospital for 6 weeks and at home for 6 weeks. This would give my back more mobility, but it was not certain that it would work and they might still have to do the surgery.
It was a hard decision. I received a blessing and Randy and I talked about our options. We decided option #2 would be better because I need the mobility to raise our children, but we weren't thrilled about the amount of time I would be in the cast.

The next morning, the Dr. came in and said he had been thinking and came up with an option that he thought would work out the best. It was to fuse 2 of the verts. together and put a titanium rod in the 2 verts. above that. Then in 1 year, have surgery to remove the rod. He said it would give me the mobility I needed, but he wasn't sure it would work properly.

We were excited about this 3rd option and decided it would be the best.

I went in for surgery 8/29/99 at 11:00 am and came out of surgery about 5:00 pm. I was in the hospital a total of 11 days and had to re-learn basic movements after laying flat in bed for 8 days (my muscles had begun to atrophy).

We had a rough 3 months and lived at my mom's house so she could take care of Alyssa, who was then only 9 months old and Taylor, who was 3. Alyssa was a nursing baby at the time of the accident and had to be abruptly wiened. It was hard for me to hear her crying at night and know that I couldn't do anything to help her. I cried myself to sleep many nights listening to Alyssa cry.

It has been a rough road, but we have come so far! I know that Heavenly Father watches out for us and loves us very much.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

GRATITUDE

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude the past few days. I would like to list some things that my family is grateful for today, at this precise moment.
  • Family and friends who love and support our family, no matter what
  • Our beautiful home
  • Life
  • The smell of rain
  • Homemade chocolate chip cookies
  • Books
  • The Savior and His Atonement
  • Prayer
  • Snuggling
  • Kisses
  • Food
  • Robins just outside our window
  • Green grass
  • Music
  • Heavenly Father's love for us
Henry Ward Beecher said, "Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."

It has been wonderful to ponder these things that we are grateful for. It brightens the day and lightens the load we sometimes feel we are destined to carry.

I was having a really bad day last Saturday and I had three dear friends stop by at different moments of the day to visit me! It is amazing to me how, through the bonds of friendship and love, we can touch each others lives and reach out to help each other at just the perfect time!

I am grateful!