Good-Bye 2016

As 2016 is ending I have a few thoughts I want to share about our year. It's been a wild ride this year, but honestly, I think 2016 will go down as one of my favorite years yet. I feel like in a lot of ways, we really hit a groove as a family this year. With the boys being older, one of our main goals was to travel with them and create a lot of wonderful memories this year. It definitely happened! We took family trips to Disneyland, Torrey, Yellowstone, camping in Big Cottonwood, and then San Diego. Our boys were great travelers and remember and talk about each trip with anticipation of when we can do it again. I really feel like it strengthened our bond and identity as a family, and helped us spend real, quality time with our kids. Not that we have to leave town to do that, but it helps to clear away the distractions of normal life and just enjoy being a family. Each of those trips will be a favorite memory this year.

And we had some big changes too- mostly Chase starting kindergarten. That's been a big change for our family, but really it's been awesome. Chase is thriving so well there and is so happy- and we are happy for him. Hudson really enjoys being an only child for a few hours a day too. And then, of course, having our third baby on the way. That was an amazing blessing that came to us this year, along with the blessing of this pregnancy being notably easier than the previous two. Life has gone on relatively normally in the Hugo household over the last 6 months, for which I think we are all very thankful. I have a feeling that this little guy will be the highlight of 2017 for us.

2016 wasn't without challenges- we are ending the year on a more frustrating note with Ben looking for new jobs. It's been a little frustrating and disheartening- but it's also helped us reflect on our blessings and realize the beauty in our life and the joy that surrounds us. You really appreciate the sweet more when you get a taste of the bitter- so we are just pushing on and figuring things out from here!

We really aren't "new years people". I feel like we go pretty gung-ho for all the holidays leading up to New Years, and we do have a whole slew of birthdays coming up in our family in the next few weeks. So for New Years, we don't do much. In fact, Ben and I haven't stayed up until midnight since the first year we were married! We'll put the boys to bed at their normal time, watch a movie together, and have our new years kiss at about 10:30 before we fall asleep. We're okay with that.

Good-bye 2016! You were good to us.


Sledding pictures from the day after Christmas!

Christmas

We packed December full of Christmas activities- the fun didn't stop all month long! Diane and Nathan came out for a visit mid-month. One night we took Diane down to temple square and all enjoyed the lights! Brandon, Angel and their kids recently moved to our area, so they joined us. The kids had a great time with their Grandma and cousins! 

A few days before Christmas we went to Christmas Village in Ogden. We love that place! The boys ran excitedly from window to window and loved all the lights. It was freezing, but still fun!

 Christmas Eve we had a full day of family fun. We started off with a delicious brunch at our house and went to see "Moana" as a family, to celebrate Nana's birthday. Moana was darling- we all loved listening to Chase giggled excitedly through the whole movie (while he sat on Papa's lap). Hudson cuddled up on Ben's lap and contently watched the whole thing too- which I think is a first for him at a theater. Later we met back up at Nana and Papa's for hilarious games (the snowman game made us all laugh so hard- so were the kids playing Christmas charades), a beautiful candlelight dinner, a nativity puppet show (in which Hudson demanded a RED dragon WAS present at the nativity- don't worry, he's a nice dragon) and exchanged gifts. We were all spoiled and had a really beautiful, wonderful night together. Christmas Eve at my parents house is one of my absolute favorites.

 The boys were super wound up when we got them home that night- luckily we give them melatonin, or "a chill pill" as Hudson calls it, and they went to bed without much fuss (it was pretty late at this point). First they set out cookies and milk for Santa, and Hudson insisted on some carrots for the reindeer as well (which surprised me, since we've never done it before). We read them a Christmas book, sang a few calming Christmas carols, and they were out!

 I gift wrapped the top of the stairs, since it's a straight shot view to the living room and Christmas tree. The boys actually slept in until 7:20 that morning and were giddy waiting at the top of the stairs. When we gave them the all-clear they ripped right through the paper and headed down to the tree. They were so excited that Santa had brought exactly what they asked for (Paw Patrol Playdoh for Huds and a Remote Control Car for Chase).

 Christmas Eve/Morning we got dumped on with inches of beautiful white snow! We kind of had to hurry to make breakfast (Ben made his delicious biscuits and gravy- our little tradition), Ben was shoveling our driveway (and a bunch of our neighbor's driveways as well, until I insisted he come in and enjoy Christmas breakfast with his family). We had Nana, Papa and Heidi down to eat with us and the boys excitedly showed off their new toys. Then we got dressed up and headed to church. We all went together since it was baby Anna's blessing! She looked beautiful, Will gave her a beautiful blessing, and the rest of the meeting was full of beautiful Christmas music and messages.

After church (and much needed naps for everyone) we had Brandon and Angel's family over for Christmas dinner! We made a turkey, and it turned out great! (Technically, my mom did it for us while she was here for breakfast, but we did manage to cook it the right amount) The kids had a great time playing with their cousins, and it was sweet to see that bond forming.

AND, as if the day hadn't been packed enough, after dinner we headed to Salt Lake (very slowly, the roads were still snowy) for after-dinner dinner/desserts at my Aunt Georgia's house. It was my only chance to see Kelly and Ella this season, and I was so glad that we did! We had a great time hanging out as cousins, my boys enjoyed all the attention, and we all had a great time.

Christmas was a wonderful success! This year I feel like I learned (or relearned) again the true meaning of Christmas- the gift of the Savior. Our life isn't perfect, but we have so much to be grateful for. And through it all, true peace can be found in Christ. 

Early Christmas Festivities

As soon as we got home from San Diego (like that very night) we started celebrating Christmas! I love to really start the month off strong and spread the holiday activities and spirit through the whole month. That Monday we did our annual "Kick off to Christmas" party. The boys were so excited! They loved decorating the tree, were super psyched about their new matching jammies, and then we snuggled on the couch and watched a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie and drank hot chocolate. I love this little tradition- it's such a fun way to start the holiday!

 December 1st we had our BYU friends Christmas party! We've been friends for 8 years now and we love these people! We hosted at our house this year. The adults had a wonderful time chatting around the table while the kids ran wild through the house. We now have 8 kids between our three families (with two more little boys coming in 3 months!) and it is crazy and what a mass of children it is! This Christmas party is one of my favorite events of the season and I'm so glad we made it happen. Also, this picture, with all 8 kids smiling and looking at the camera is nothing short of a Christmas miracle. (L to R: Ella, Hudson, Ryder, Brooklynn, Sophie, Kynlee, Chase and Drew)

 December 1st also started our daily acts of service countdown. I love the excitement the boys feel while pulling the little squares off the calendar I made and finding out what we'll do that day and who we will make happy. We made these cute swirling sugar cookies and took them to the fire station and police station one day. It was one of my favorite things we've done- both the fireman and policeman who took the cookies from us seemed so genuinely touched and surprised, and my boys were so sweet wishing them a Merry Christmas. We also had one day where the boys picked some toys to donate- and I was impressed with their willingness to give away a few of their toys. The picture of Hudson and the reindeer was just an activity we did one morning, because this boy has been asking me if we could make a reindeer from his handprints for over a month now!

 We took the boys to see Santa! I love doing this a Farmington Station, where we've gone the last 4 years. He's the sweetest Santa, takes his time to talk to the boys, and makes it such a fun little experience! Chase asked for a remote control monster truck and Hudson asked for Paw Patrol play-doh. Hudson also reminded Santa that he LOVES the balance bike Santa brought him last year.

 On December 3rd our service activity was to support a local charity- the Festival of Trees. My mom and I have volunteered there for years, but Ben and the boys had never seen it. It really is an incredible event and supports such a great cause- charity care at Primary Children's Hospital. The boys were a little underwhelmed- they heard "festival" and immediately thought of the fall festival at school- with train rides and a bouncy house and donuts. But they were good sports anyway! Ben took the boys home after an hour and my mom and I stayed for 5 more hours frantically working the ticket booth (it was busy!).

 I only had to take like 300 pictures to try to get a few cute ones of the boys, in their suits, in front of the Christmas tree. I really love these dapper little humans. This Sunday our service activity was getting to church early to hold the doors open for people as they came. Hudson was ALL OVER this!

We had another couple of baking service days- one to be delivered to a widow (our neighbor, Margo) and one for the mailman. We made some delicious mint brownie cookies with peppermint sprinkles. They took a big part of the afternoon, turned out to be a little more complicated than I originally expected, and my kitchen was pretty messy, BUT I did have a great time cooking with my sweet boys and love seeing them get excited about taking treats to others. 

Just nine days into December and it just feels like Christmas! I really, really love this time of year. The older my boys get the more fun and meaningful it all is. I think it's going to be a great month for our family!

Our November

A big highlight of November for Hudson (and mom) was that our co-op preschool is no longer at our house! He was thrilled to go to preschool at Mari's house and it's been fun for mom to have a little time two mornings a week to herself!

 We had "Friendsgiving" with our dear friends, the Bennetts. They are expecting their third boy too, so we are just a general mass of little boys running around. We made a turkey, pies and sweet potatoes and Bennetts brought delicious rolls and salad and we had a wonderful feast! Thanksgiving food is too good to only enjoy once! The boys had a blast running around together and playing and we had a great time chatting with Chad and Alyse. I had to laugh, at one point after dinner, Alyse and I were each laying on a couch, pregnant and exhausted while the men did the dishes.

 Daylight savings time has been rough around here- hence for the first time in probably three years, Hudson cuddled up on my lap and fell asleep right at the first of church! He stayed asleep the whole meeting, it was so sweet!

We had Chase's first parent teacher conference and it was great. We love Mrs. Miller, and she loves Chase. Her first question to me was, "Where did the tractor obsession come from?" He is (obviously) doing really really well in class. He's well behaved, learning a lot, and we've been able to see that growth at home. He's already acting more responsible and often responds when I ask him to do something, "I can do it, I'm in kindergarten now." He's reading well above kindergarten reading level, his handwriting and motor skills are improving every day, and he's learning so much about life and interacting with others. Chase is just an awesome kid and is thriving in school- just like we knew he would!

The day of his conference also ended up being election Tuesday, we went out to ice cream to celebrate a good conference (not the election) and had to laugh when Hudson wouldn't take his eyes off his ice cream for one second for a picture. Then we put the boys to bed and watched the results of the election roll in. The results were surprising, since almost every poll had Hillary easily winning the election, but in the end, state after state came in for Trump. We were pretty shocked. This whole election process has been ugly in America this year, worse than I can ever remember. People on both sides sharing intolerant, hateful, and close-minded comments, and social media allows it all to spread like wildfire. In the aftermath, it was a good reminder to me that 1. everyone has a reason they voted why they did- and just because the "issue" that draws them to a specific candidate doesn't appeal to everyone, doesn't mean it isn't valid. We live different lives and have different needs and we should all respect everyone, regardless of who they voted for and 2. This world just needs kindness- and really it is everywhere if we look for it. But this was a good reminder to me to be a little extra kind. There are a lot of people struggling, and they need kindness. That was kind of a tangent from our normal activities on the blog, but it's been on our minds and in our conversations a lot these last few months. Ben and I actually voted for a third party candidate for president, because we didn't feel like either major candidate represented us well. But now it's time to just pull together, support the people around us, do what we can to make our community a great place, and teach our children to be kind. 

 Chase started feeling sad that fall was almost over and we hadn't jumped in the leaves enough. So we made that happen.

 November was so warm, we played at the park with no jackets frequently! This was probably our last warm day and the boys were running around the park (at sunset) as happy as can be. It was a really fun evening. And then two days later we woke up to snow! Just a tiny amount of snow, but it was suddenly cold and definitely different! The boys wanted to play in it so badly, I let them "shovel" for just a minute before school. Luckily, right after Thanksgiving a huge snowstorm came in and covered us in a thick blanket of snow. The boys have already spent many happy hours out playing in it!

As a final part of our November, we did another thankful tree. I love doing this and helping the boys understand the spirit of gratitude. Hudson didn't quite get it this year- he mostly kept being "thankful" for things he wants, but doesn't actually have. But I feel like we are getting there! 

Thanksgiving in San Diego

We took off the weekend before Thanksgiving for our much anticipated trip to San Diego, California! My parents generously treated us to a week there and it was amazing to be all together, enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery, in such a fun area! Our week was packed full of activities! We took our new van on it's maiden road trip, and I think we all give the van two thumbs up! The DVD player saved us- as did all the additional packing space! We split the road trip up with a night in St. George- and you should have seen how giddy the boys were about our hotel in St. George. These boys love to travel (and apparently aren't that hard to impress!) After another six hours of driving on Saturday we were so happy to be out of the car and at our resort. We didn't have much time before sunset, but the boys were anxious to hit the pool, so we did!

Sunday after church we headed out to La Jolla to see the beautiful San Diego temple. Then we headed to the beach to see the seals and sea lions- they did not disappoint! Hudson loved seeing the animals up close, and Chase was much more interested in playing in the sand, discussing the architecture of the wall and how it was possibly built. True to their natural personalities! 

 We paid a little money to go tour this sea cave- it was pretty cool! 145 steps down and you end up with this view! The boys thought it was a grand adventure and worth the short stop.

 Monday was a full day in San Diego- the boys started by touring the USS Midway, a retired air-craft carrier that is in now permanently in port in the San Diego Harbor. The boys loved it! After lunch at a delicious place Ben found we headed out to Coronado to play on the beach for a little while. We ended the day in Old Town, toured the Mormon Battalion Museum and had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.

 Tuesday we had a "chill at the resort" type day. The men golfed, I napped (a lot- all this traveling took a tole on my pregnant, tired body) and in the afternoon we entered cupcake wars! We let the kiddos have a lot of creative license and ended up with a Martian-Dolphin cupcake- that was mostly covered in sprinkles.

Wednesday was our big day at the San Diego Zoo! It was such a fun day. The whole family was there and we had a great time. The panda was so active, just sitting there eating bamboo right in front of us! Hudson said his favorite was the elephants, bears, and lions (they were huge!). We were there for almost the whole day and still only saw about 2/3 of the zoo.

I don't actually have any pictures from our Thanksgiving day, but it was maybe my favorite day of the trip. We hung out at the resort, swam and enjoyed the pools (and Chase used the waterslides a lot). We had a good afternoon nap and then all congregated at my parent's condo for dinner. Our dinner was mostly bought at Costco and included very little preparation, and it was still delicious. After dinner we played a hilarious game of Taboo and some Apples to Apples (Chase's favorite game these days). We have a lot to be thankful for, and this trip was a good reminder of the things most important, our healthy, happy family!

Friday was our last full day in San Diego and we spent it at Legoland! It was pretty crowded, but the boys had a great time nonetheless. Chase is so obsessed with all things building related, so this place was great for him.

And then our trip was over! We took two days driving home, stopping in St. George again. Although there was a little traffic that slowed us down, the drive was otherwise uneventful. We laughed pretty hard when we finally pulled into Kaysville, to my parents house to drop them off and Hudson suddenly burst out in angry protest "NO! I don't want to go home! I want to go back to San Diego!!!! Vacations are supposed to be long! That was short!" It apparently did not occur to him during our entire two day drive that we were going back home. He's since adjusted, but it was very obvious that both boys loved our trip just as much (if not more) than Ben and I did. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving full of wonderful memories.

Halloween

 I know I say this every year, but Halloween with little ones is just the best. We really love that they have so many opportunities to dress up and I feel like we've fully embraced the holiday by the time actual trick or treating happens! This year the real Halloween festivities started on Thursday with a carnival at Kaysville Elementary, where Nana teaches. Since I was still feeling sickish from the flu, my mom and Pam took the boys to the carnival and they had a great time!

 On Friday they celebrated at school. First there was a costume parade. Each kindergartener was paired with a 6th grader and Chase got lucky to be paired with cute Averee (who was in our old ward). Apparently he didn't want to hold her hand because "my hands get too sweaty!" and compromised on just holding one finger. After the parade the 6th graders put on a spook alley and party for the kindergarteners! Needless to say, Chase had a blast!

Friday night (when Ben was finally back in town!) we had our ward Halloween party! It was amazing! They had a delicious dinner, the whole church decorated, and lots of fun games and activities for the kids. Our boys had a great time. The only picture I got was Chase and his buddy Porter, who was wearing the same costume (thanks Costco!).

 I loved how cute they looked in their costumes this year! Chase saw this costume at Costco back in August and he loved it so we bought it. I've only now bought a grand total of 3 costumes EVER for my kids (all for Chase actually) and then each costume has been worn multiple years, by both kids! Hudson, magically and happily, has always been excited about wearing the hand-me-down costume, and this year was no exception. He was thrilled to be a fire-fighter!

 Saturday night we went to the trunk-or-treat in my parents ward, which is also our old ward. It was so fun. Chase loved running around with all his buddies and it was a beautiful, warm night!

 I love this picture with their cousins. Nora is super into Monsters Inc these days, so she was thrilled with the idea of wearing the old blue monster costume both my boys have worn and loved. So Anna was a tiny Mike Wizowski, Kate was Roz and Will was Mr. Waternoose. These boys love their cousins and it's so cute to see their bond grow!

 Monday, finally it was Halloween. We finally got our pumpkins carved. Ben figured out last year that it's easiest and fastest to use a drill, which is how we did most of their pumpkins which delights the boys. The boys picked out their pumpkins weeks ago with their grandparents, Hudson grabbed the first one he saw, and Chase carefully searched the pumpkin patch for the biggest one.

I decided to try to make "dinner in a pumpkin" for our Halloween dinner. When I explained it to Chase he gave me a huge hug and told me that I was the best mom in the whole world! And it was actually tasty and we all enjoyed it. I was also glad to get a good, healthy dinner in them before the deluge of candy. 

And then it was time for actual trick-or-treating. We stopped up at Nana's first, and did a few of their neighbors who love the boys. This Halloween was super fun because Aunt Heidi flew in for a few days, so she came trick or treating with us! Then we hit up our neighborhood and the boys pumpkins quickly filled up! Some of our neighbors really go all out- our favorite is the house that does homemade scones and hot chocolate! After trick-or-treating we snuggled up at home and watched "The Great Pumpkin" just like we did last year. It surprises me with how old that movie is, but our boys LOVE it. They think it's hilarious. It was a wonderful Halloween! 

Oh, and Hudson had me draw a mustache on his face for trick or treating because "I just need one, okay!"