Daniel hangs out with us a couple days a week.  Nicole (my sister in law) & I got certified to be his respite workers earlier this year.  Most days I pick him up on my way home from work and he’ll run errands with me.  We’ll go to the grocery store, pick kids up from school, and run them to their extra curricular activities.  Sometimes, I take Daniel for his blood transfusions. Over Fall Break, Daniel came with us to try a new indoor glow mini golf here in Chandler.  It was pretty fun.  Below are some pictures from our outing. 

This year the kids talked us into dressing up with them for a family theme.  It’s been a few years since we had done that so I guess it was about time again.  This year was a big MARVEL year in our house as Audrey and Grace initiated a Marvel Movie Group with their friends.  They started at the beginning of the year and watched a movie each weekend leading up to the release of Infinity War.  It was fun for the kids to take turns hosting movie night in their homes.  When Halloween rolled around, we knew it was going to be a MARVELous Halloween!  We carved pumpkins, had a ward trunk or treat, and went trick or treating with friends.  We built the Avengers Tower out of our van for the trunk or treat.  It turned out really great! Grace drew the “A”, Marc cut it out & I helped him assemble it.  The flashlights behind the “A” made the glowing tower look really cool at night.

Family Action Photo! My FAVE!

Black Widow & Dr. Strange before the Trunk or Treat

Dr. Strange

Black Widow

Captain Marvel (Thank you Grandma for your help with this costume!)

Hulk, Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, & Dr. Strange

Construction of Avengers Tower

Lit up at night

Action Pose

Carving Pumpkins

The Loot

Catagorizing the Loot

2nd Cousins

I LOVE this photo!  Audrey has had the opportunity this semester to spend time getting to know her 2nd cousins better.  Sunday’s are a fun time for family dinner at BYU.  Marc’s cousin Eric Lara & his wife Jen (who I grew up with) have 3 of their children living in Provo.  Jacob, Siera, & Haley.  Haley is Audrey’s roommate.  The kids look great & the Fall leaves in the background are beautiful!

Carson earned the rank of Life Scout back in October.  We are so proud of him and his hard work.  We are also thankful to our good friend Chris Price, who is also Carson’s scout leader.  He does a lot for the scouts in our ward.  We are grateful for him and the other leaders who put time and effort into the scouting program.

This year for Fall Break, Marc and I decided to take the kids to Utah for General Conference.  We have talked about it the last couple years since Sophia turned 8 & was old enough to attend in the Conference Center.  We figured since Audrey was already up there, we might as well.  We are SO GLAD WE WENT!!! It was such an amazing experience and I highly recommend it if you’ve never been.  On the way up, we stayed in Mesquite, NV and made a trip to the cemetery where my dad is buried.  It was a pretty great experience for the kids since they were able to see many ancestors headstones.  Many generations of Hughes are buried in the Mesquite City Cemetery.  I’m really glad we stopped to spend some time there.

This cemetery is so small and quite peaceful with it’s many large trees. The history here means a lot to my family.

My Dad’s headstone with me, Grace, Carson, and Sophia

The back of my dad’s headstone

My Dad’s parent’s Dee & Lois Hughes (Great Grandparents to my children)

My Dad’s grandparents: Charles Arthur & Orilla Leavitt Hughes (Great Great Grandparents to my children)

My Dad’s Great Grandparents James and Carmelia Hughes (Great, Great, Great Grandparents to my children).

It was actually pretty amazing to see this many generations of my direct line in one place.  It truly was a beautiful experience.  I’m so very grateful for my knowledge and testimony of the plan of salvation.  I’m also so blessed to be part of an eternal family.

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The next day we had a quick breakfast at McDonald’s in Mesquite, then made it to Provo in time to pick Audrey up from her last class of the day!  We went back to her apartment and had some lunch, then it was pretty much shopping the rest of the day.  We finished the day with dinner at Brick Oven Pizza in Provo.  It was fun to have Haley Lara with us.  Hayley is Marc’s cousin Eric’s daughter & Audrey’s roommate.  It’s been fun for these two second cousins to get to know each other & make memories.

I think this photo is so cute

Lunch in Audrey’s apartment

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Saturday was completely extraordinary!  We had tickets for the morning session of General Conference & The girls and I also went to the women’s session that night.  The spirit was so strong. Sophia was so cute and could barely keep still in her chair as we waited for conference to start.  She kept saying, “I’m so excited”.  I hope she remembers that feeling her whole life.  It was very special.  It was extra cool to be in attendance for the big announcement of “Home Centered, Church Supported” curriculum as well as change from a 3 hour to a 2 hour Sunday block.  I have a very strong testimony that as we follow this guidance and direction from our Prophet and church leaders, we will come closer to Christ, closer as a family, and stronger in our testimony of the gospel.  I know that our families will need this and this is direction from God.  I felt it in that room when President Nelson announced it, and I feel it still when I ponder about these changes.  I’m very excited.  I’m also very excited about President Nelson’s challenge to the women of the church and have taken this very seriously.  I want so much to be the best wife, mom, Relief Society President, and daughter of God that I can be.  I know that if I put into practice the recommended challenge, this will help me in all those areas.

Here are some pictures from our Saturday.

Marc, Ginger, Audrey, Grace, Carson, & Sophia in the Conference Center Saturday Morning Session October 6, 2018

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square was phenomenal! If you ask Marc, he’d probably tell you it was his favorite thing about being there in person.

Ginger, Audrey, Grace, & Sophia before Women’s Session Saturday night.

The girls inside the Conference Center waiting for Women’s Session to begin.

It was so fun seeing Audrey and hearing about her life at BYU.  She is doing so well! Marc and I couldn’t be more proud of her obedience to The Spirit and her courage to act on those promptings that took her to BYU.  She’s conquering fears and growing up.

Here are some fun photos that we took between Saturday Sessions:

Sophia is always camera ready

Taking a nap on Temple Square

The original photo taken when we visited Utah for Veronica’s graduation from BYU

The re-creation that has been years in the making!

Carson and Sophia didn’t want to be left out of the fun…look closely at Carson’s hand. HAHAHA

We drove all the way home on Sunday.  It was a very quick trip, but so much what our family needed.  I’ll leave you with this picture of the low hanging clouds.  We don’t see things like this in Chandler, AZ.

We were in awe with these clouds. Pretty Cool!