October 13, 1944- August 20, 2011

When I think of Dad, many magnificent qualities come to mind.  One of which is hard work.  Dad didn’t feel like he had put in an honest day’s labor if he didn’t come home dirty, sweaty, and bloody.  He would always come home with at least a couple new cuts or scratches which he usually didn’t even realize he had.  Dad gave us kids the opportunity to also come home from work dirty, sweaty, and sometimes bloody during those days working at the car wash.  Dad taught us that work was a good thing, something to not take for granted.  Thank you, Dad.

Dad was also a spiritual man.  He honored the priesthood he held and taught us to honor it too.  Dad served faithfully in all of his church callings.  Through his example, I have learned that when the Lord calls, you answer.  He had a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and enjoyed discussing gospel principles.  Over the last couple of years my Dad was an instructor in the High Priest group and I was a Relief Society Instructor, we taught the same lessons and enjoyed studying the lesson material and discussing it together.  Dad’s spiritual example also taught me the important things to look for in a husband of my own.   Because of Him, I have been blessed with a husband who loves the Lord as much as my Dad did.  Thank you, Dad.

Compassion is another quality my father understood.  My Dad had a compassion for mankind like no one else I know.  I remember as a child watching my Dad come home one night.  It was late and I saw him in the kitchen putting together some cheese sandwiches and wrapping them up.  I asked him what he was doing and he told me that he had seen a homeless family the night before a few blocks away and he didn’t have anything with him at the time to give them.  He was hoping that he could go back and find them to offer some food.  We didn’t have much at the time and I remember thinking how generous my father was at offering a humble cheese sandwich to someone with less than us.  Thank you, Dad. 

My Dad could also be silly.  He was really good at making up little rhymes and songs off the top of his head.  They were usually about us kids.  Doo Dah Dan and French Fry Freddy are oldies but goodies in the Hughes household, but my favorite will always be the one about his St. George Girl, that’s me.  Family Home Evening charades that ended in a trip to Thrifty for Ice Cream and socks in a pan were always fun.  He also loved playing with the grandchildren.  His latest game was chasing my son around with a tickle claw saying “belly good”.  Thank you, Dad.

Silliness, Compassion, Spirituality, and Hard Work are just a small few of the many magnificent qualities that Dad embodied.  I will forever be grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with a Dad that understood what life was about and lived it perfectly. 

 I know that our Father in Heaven lives.  I know he loves us, I know that my Dad has found rest in him and I will be with him again.

It only took about 3 months…. but I finally have a complete, fully functioning kitchen (And I have the pictures to prove it).  We purchased our new home a little over 3 months ago and it has been quite a ride.  We are FAR from being what I would consider “settled”, but we are making strides and this weekend was a big step in helping me feel more comfortable and set in the new pad.

When we first looked at the home, I knew immediately that the kitchen would need some attention to make it “mine”.  Although I appreciate some of the great things previous owner’s added to the kitchen, (granite counters with full backsplash, nice hardware, hide away cutting board, deep undermount sink, fancy faucet) I didn’t prefer the gray walls and black cabinets.  I also didn’t appreciate the fact that they took ALL the appliances with them leaving us with quite a bit to purchase.

After ordering and installing new appliances, painting walls, sanding (thanks Dad), priming (2 coats) and painting (2 coats) cabinets, putting hardware back on, putting cupboard doors up we finally have a finished product.  The only thing lacking is some decorating that I know my talented friends will help me with. 

Enjoy the pictures- I know I do!! 

Before….

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And, my favorite, After!

May thanks to soooo many people who helped with this project!  I love you all!

It was my idea to buy a house with a pool. I know maintenance, power use to run the pump (and heater if we use it to heat the jacuzzi), danger for little kids, but I am tired of living in AZ and not having a pool. Ginger has avoided getting into the pool, because it is still quite chilly, but today was the day. (Video below, or just click here.)

Bill Cosby had a show called Kids Say The Darndest Things and even though I didn’t really watch the show, I have 4 little ones that say some hilarious things.

As the title suggests, kids don’t often hear words to songs very well sometimes even kids songs.  In fact, sometimes kids have never even heard certain words before (let’s hope they don’t hear a few select ones for a long time).  For example, Audrey used to sing the line “I’ll prepare myself while I am young” in I Love to See the Temple as “I’ll prepare myself while I am yum“.  The other day the kids were laughing about Carson singing The Twelve Days of Christmas line “…and a partridge in a pear tree” as “…and a cartridge in the pantry.”  Well, today as we were driving home, The Beatles’ Ticket to Ride was on and Gracie asked if they were singing, “She’s got a chicken to ride.”   You can imagine Ginger and I were almost in tears, because just the other day she told us that she used to think, “in the sun he melted” from Once There Was a Snowman was actually, “in the sunny mountain!”

Children.  The gift that keeps on giving.  Please post some of your own mis-heard lyrics.  I’ll have to think of some from when I was a kid…

I don’t care for this one, but mom loves it so I do too.