Fall in Pictures

I have fallen so far behind on our lives that I know I just need to start fresh, but first I'll photo-document our fall!  We worked really hard to spend lots of time together as a family and make some fun memories--see for yourself!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a blast camping over Labor Day Weekend!   Here's a little catch up of all the fun we had :)

First, we crammed ourselves into Amy's car and drove off to Jackson Hole, where we got stuck behind slow drivers and got delayed by 3 bison crossings.  But the kids survived and we were happy to make it!

The first order of business: Throw Rocks!!!  The kids and I took a little walk around the lake and they had so much fun getting wet and throwing lots of rocks! 

 

Dallin also loved balancing on the logs around our campsite, he would do it over and over again, and he got really good!

The kids did great at night, and loved being able to sit around the fire in the morning, eating cereal and treats.

They were happy to have Grandma and Grandpa there to snuggle, take walks with, and read stories.

(That's a deer butt in the background...)

We hiked the Hidden Falls hike which was a blast!  Elsie loved the hiking backpack!

Everyone loved the Boat Rides.

The pretty view!

We made it to the falls!

Dallin was upset we wouldn't let him touch the waterfall though...

And Elsie just played and ate pinecones.

And by the end of the hike, she was worn out!

All in all, it was a great trip!  We got rained on plenty and took lots of walks.  We threw rocks in the lake and ate ice cream cones at the visitors center.  I thought I took more pictures, but apparently I was just too busy having a blast! It was great to get some Sister Time too (Welcome Home Kathryn!), it was a great trip!

Rainy days

It's crazy how much rain August can bring! I had no idea that Idaho was even capable of this, I was expecting snow :) This week has been pretty darn rainy, that combined with a small running injury, I've had to get creative with keeping my sanity in check! Oh, and Elsie has already decided that she doesn't need naps anymore… It's been a week to say the least!  

All this rain is making my garden grow! This week I was greeted with a bunch of green peppers and million more zucchini! I may never have to grow zucchini the rest of my life! I have so much that I've cut cooked and frozen, but I love my garden.

Jared and I did date night too this week thanks to My amazing sister volunteering to watch the kids :-) it was wonderful, and he got me these great flowers! Totally made my day!

We did make it to the park a couple times this week, despite the rain. The sun came out while we were there too! The kids had a blast. 

It's fun to see how much they both grown since we last went to the park, they are a lot of fun!

As for the rainy parts if the week we've been doing a lot of reading, love watching the kids read together!

We've built lots of forts and played games and I discovered they'd both already grown out of their summer shoes, so we went shoe shopping. Dallin found light-up shoes- he calls them his 'stomping shoes' and we got some sandals and flats for Elsie too. 

We've read and sang and cuddled a lot, I couldn't help taking these pics of us all snuggled and warm in our reading chair. 

Sweet moments together. 

And sweet moments with daddy too. 

You know, writing this post makes me grateful for the rain, even though I have felt like I am going crazy all week! I'm so lucky to have these sweeties in my life, and I am so grateful to be a stay at home mom. Love the quote 

' Motherhood is not something you do if you can fit in the time, it's what God gave you time for.' 

May my days be filled with the sounds of children for many years to come, and the music of the rain pattering on the windows too.

Just Another Day in Paradise!

Well these days I'm just chugging along trying to be a mom to my two sweet beauties...and I'll admit some days are more gratifying than others, but nevertheless I am happy to be where I am in my life. 

I am still running 3-4 days a week trying to train for my 10k coming up. It's been really fun for me to have a goal to work towards, and running really is a therapy for me. I love the feeling when I finally hit my stride! It's making the early wake-up-call a little more bearable! I'm still probably the slowest runner out there but  I am loving it all the same. 

My garden is another amazing experience in my life! I've harvested at least 21 zucchini and 3 green peppers! 

And it rained like crazy last week so I finally did some much needed weeding while the ground was still wet. Everything is growing! It just makes me love my backyard even more :)

We went to the pool this week, we had a blast! The kids are really getting in to swimming and they love to jump off the sides and blow bubbles on the water...and they really love the slides when I can take them. Here's a couple gems from our swim day-I love thus one haha, Elsie's face is priceless!

Me and my sweet girl taking a selfie :)

Dallin soaking up the sun. 

 

And I didn't get any pictures but thanks to Amy for coming and keeping us company at the end! 

Other things you'll find us doing is reading--I swear storytime just keeps getting longer!

And we eat lots of Popsicles. This day was rainy so we had a Popsicle picnic. 

Life is good for the Hughes family! Living up summer and loving it!...for the most part, let's be honest, we could do without the box elder bugs and the tantrums. ;)

August is here!

The fact that I missed two months of my life on this blog is a little overwhelming! But i've never been very good at catching up… So I'll just start from now and see how it goes :-) one thing I do know is that keeping track of my life and the lives of my kids is important, and I felt that a lot lately, so I'm starting now and hoping to post more often even if it's just a picture or a little paragraph. So here goes. This is what the beginning of August is looking like for us! 

It rained! Every time it rains now, Dallin and Elsie always run to the window and ask if they can go out and play in the puddles, they will jump in every body of water they find! 

I signed up for 10K!! I've been wanting to get back into running for a while now, and I've been going out about once a week all summer… But I finally found a race that will work for me! So five weeks from now, I better know how to run 6.2 miles :-) this was the view from the lake this week, a gorgeous way to start my day.

We had a night this week! Ryan shoupe and the rubber band we're playing at BYU Idaho, so we got tickets and went! We had a great time, it was nice to get out. 

We've been working on making our house look a little bit better the last couple weeks, it's been a bit crazy and time-consuming, because the house is wood siding and we had all the paint was falling off... But we are making progress! It will probably be another two years before it looks the way I have in my head… But I'm happy with what it is right now. Here's the before picture ( what the house looks like when we bought it) 

Here's what it looks like now. (not totally completed) :)

Like I said, it's a work in progress haha! Someday I hope to have lots of bushes and flowers and the white paint all fixed up to… But that is probably for another summer :-)

All in all, life is good. It has its ups and downs, and it definitely has lots of children sibling rivalry… But I'm enjoying it for the most part  :-)