Ode to Becky and James and Family

OK, so this post really isn't to meant to just praise James and Becky, but as I was out enjoying the beautiful snowy day with Sammie yesterday I was thinking about how nice this winter has been with them here. First of all we all enjoyed (or endured) middle school basketball together. This is Oaklee and Sammie decked out in Black and Gold to cheer for their team.This is Britt, Liz, and Caleb after their final tournament. Most of the girls team couldn't make it to the games, so they formed a mixed team and played in the boys bracket. It actually made for some very exciting games and gave Caleb a chance to play on their team. These kids were really fun to watch. Because the tournament was on a Friday and Saturday in Craig the Westfall's offered us their house for the weekend (they were out of state for a couple weeks). We nicknamed it the beach-house and really enjoyed our mini vacation there. This is a picture of the crew playing rock band.

Somewhere in the middle of basketball season, we enjoyed Thanksgiving together. That was the first time that we had spent Thanksgiving with family in 6 years. It was very nice. In fact I think I made it clear through the holidays without the usual twinges of homesickness.The only picture I have of our actual Thanksgiving activities is Becky posing with a couple pecan pies. But the kids all enjoyed sledding at some point in there. So here's a fun picture of all the girls on a sled (with an extra non-Hughes girl in front).

Then came Christmas break. I have come to dread Christmas break in Alaska because we get three weeks off and it's cold and dark and the house starts feeling VERY small. This year it flew by. We got together with the "other Hughes' " quite often.
On one of our get togethers we made gingerbread houses. I cheated. We used gram crackers and I even used hot glue to get them to stay together. But we had fun!!
Here are the finished products. Nothing too fancy, but we had a good time.

And now for the day that sparked my desire to do this post. Yesterday we woke up to a couple inches of new snow and the sun was out. Both are quite rare around here. Stewart had to go to Craig for the day and took the older two kids with him. And the new snow made it easy to get the younger two out of the house. As I was enjoying the peace and quiet I thought about conversations with Becky that I've had in the last few months about how much effort she's making to spend more time with her kids and I started feeling guilty. SO, I got dressed up and went to find my kids. Josh was with friends but Sammie was happy to see me. I spent a good chunk of the day out playing in the snow with her. And as I admired the scenery I realized that I had to thank Becky for that too. I haven't lived here very long but I seem to forget how beautiful it is very easily. Becky hasn't forgotten yet and she's helping me remember how very, very beautiful it is. I like this picture but it doesn't come close to doing it justice. It was so much prettier than me or my camera are able to capture.

Now I have yet to decide whether Becky gets thanked or cursed for this last picture. Whenever our families get together it includes their two little dogs Pippen and Boozer. Stewart has fallen in love with them and decided that he really needed a Shih Tzu. I have sworn off puppies forever. I don't have the patience to train them. But on facebook this week somebody was looking for a new home for a 6 year old shih tzu. So, meet Lacy, the newest addition to our home. So far I don't hate her. And everyone else loves her. I think she might end up being a really good dog for us.