We went sledding in Parowan just before Christmas, and a good time was had by all! Really, how can you go wrong when all of your cousins are staying with you - it is like an ongoing party in Parowan. *For the kids, and the DADS!!

We had Christmas in Parowan this year, and I think Santa's sleigh had a hole in it - look at the massive dump of presents! On the other hand, this is 10 adults and 13 kids - gifts from both sides of each family, parents, and Santa. Does that make it seem better?!?!?

Sidney is now full on crawling. She still does the stink-bug walk quite a bit, but gets wherever she wants to go. We often find her in some random place just checking things out. She likes to cross her feet and click her tongue. She is so adorable!

We dressed as warm as we could, and headed out to get a Christmas tree for my mom and dad.

Sledding in WYOMING! Even Coop had a great time!

Wade and I went to the SLC temple this month. What a beautiful temple! It was such a blessing to watch one of my cousins be married there for all time and eternity!

Baby Blues

Need I say more?

Reading Time

These guys just love each other! AND I am loving the fact that Cooper can read her bedtime stories!

Deer Hunting

A fun time was had by all at the deer hunt in Parowan! We all got up early and went up the mountian with Wade. He and Kelby headed out early to find deer. Kelby dropped Wade off to walk and Wade saw this great little buck. A one shot kill, and the rest is history. . . And the history is . . . Pretty soon some of Wade's cousins came along and told him what a great master hunter he was, and asked him what the deer was doing when he shot it. Wade said it was just eating some apples. Apples? What would apples be doing up in the forest? Ha ha - Cousin Mike had packed 15 gallons of apples up there and put them out to lure in the deer - whoops! The nice part is everyone was really excited for Wade! And we are sure enjoying our deer meat and jerky! The nasty child strikes again!

The great bouncing machine! Coop, Mattie, and cousin Sadie.

Everyone was plumb wore out! We were headed home by noon!

Mattie's Wildness!

Well - I don't have a photo to go with the story, but I will never let go of the images in my head. . . There was a roping last weekend at the arena and Wade decided to rope in it one day. We went out to have breakfast (the yummiest breakfast burritos ever - made by the guys in the cook shack) and Mattie was instantly wanting to mount up! She loves every kind of animal imaginable - alive or dead, pretty or ugly - you get the picture.

After she ate, we headed out to find Wade. He was right there close with his horse tied to the arena fence. The horse was big - looking back the horse seems even higher than Wade's head. The horse seemed a little anxious, as all roping horses do. They are trained to be "cowey." I was holding the baby and standing next to my mom. Wade had untied the horse and was holding the reins. Wade set Mattie on top of the horse and her grin was the biggest ever! She loves horses and wanted to go for a ride.

The next several seconds seemed like long minutes and I get teary even typing them. The horse spooked - not just bucked, but went wild. We were telling Mattie to hold on tight as the horse scrambled back and forth - Wade was holding him as tight as he could - if he let go the horse would go on a dead run. He yelled to me to get her and I tossed the baby to my mom and headed towards her. The horse swung around and hit me with his butt, finally throwing Mattie off of the left side towards the fence. It knocked the wind out of her, and she landed withing inches of the fence and a chunk of broken concrete. As the horse scrambled to get away, his hooves seemed so close to her small body. I tried to let her lay and catch her breath, but as soon as she started to get up - I just scooped her into my arms - nothing broken, nothing bruised.

We were all shaken, but I truly don't think any of this has hit me until now. I have just refused to talk about it or have said it was bad, really bad.

I am just sitting here sobbing now as I think of how much our life could have changed in an instant. At first I was glad that we didn't have to spend the day, or weeks at the hospital, but then I realized how quickly our family of five could have returned to a family of four. I just adore our wild and crazy Mattie. She often brings the storm and the rainbows to our life, but she is ours and we cherrish her.

You can bet I have not let a day go by that I do not thank our Heavenly Father for our wonderful family and the love that we have for one another. I know that trials and tribulations will come, but for now, just a reminder of how truly blessed we are.

Mattie, Sidney, Cooper

Seriously - Cooper should be posing for JC Penny's - The kid can really turn it on!

Sidney Elaine

Our family is all doing well - actually thriving! We are having a great summer. We have especially been enjoying our newest family member, Sidney Elaine Hughes. She is almost 6 months old already and is just so fun!
Sidney almost has two bottom teeth and loves to roll over. She is reaching for her toys and especiallly loves to play with her big brother and big sister.

Basic Rundown

Well, Cooper is almost 7 and will be in the first grade this year. Mattie will turn 4 in December, and we can only hope that will help her to settle down a little bit! Sid is about 6 months old and adored by all!

Wade and I are the same as always, but we enjoy life and love spending time with the kids. There is no way I would complain about this - uneventful means safe and sound!

We have spent quite a bit of time in cooler temperatures this summer and are looking forward to getting back to school. You know, into "the swing of things."

Swimming

We have all been having a great time at the pool this summer!


Mattie has a great time at the pool! She is a little dare devil! In fact, today she got saved by a lifeguard.

Summer Competition

Cooper and Mattie ran in a quarter mile race in Wyoming. There was sure a lot of kids!

Coop took 5th out of a lot of kids! We were proud of them both for trying their best!