Hughes Family: March 16th, 2013 – March 31st, 2013

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Cam

St. Patrick’s Day is always fun around here. The kids dress up in all kind of different green outfits (I think they referred to themselves as the “Leprechaun Gang”).

Fran and the kids made Shamrock cookies and I made the kids a pop-up card (Claire makes really cute pop up cards all the time so I thought it would be fun to make one for them).

Jim, Cindy, Fran and I hit Ruth’s Chris for some birthday steak. It was, as usual, delicious! Ruth’s Chris is the only place that can ever seem to cook a steak just right. I like mine rare and I cut pieces off and let them sizzle a bit on the 500 degree plates. Anyone else like their steak rare?

I turned 35 this March. There’s nothing particularly memorable about turning 35, but it was a nice birthday. Fran made me pecan pie and we watched Condorman. The kids (Claire & Gabe) gave me Kit Kats.

Blade HQ’s new store had its grand opening on March 29th, 2013 (and it was also our ten year anniversary). My Mom, Fran and my kids came by, spun the BHQ prize wheel, ate some food and hung out for a little bit. It was a fun (and exhausting) day.

As is tradition we colored eggs for Easter (I make some striped eggs for Chloe since she was already asleep… and because she has very spastic motor coordination… and because I wanted to).

On Sunday afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard.

This was the first Easter where Chloe sort of understood that she was supposed to find eggs and put them in her basket.

We finished off our day with a trip to Olympic Park. We played a bit of freeze tag and took a walk along the Jordan River trail. Lest anyone question the activity’s Sunday appropriateness know this: as we walked along the trail we were visited by the Easter Bunny himself.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Hughes Family: February 25, 2013 – March 15th, 2013

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Cam

The weather outside looks amazing. Winter was really getting to me so I’m stoked that spring is here and the temperature has reached a tolerable level. I might actually go outside soon!

Fran dropped off the kids for more skiing lessons and did some snowshoeing with Chloe. For some reason or another Gabe doesnt’t seem to have any interest in skiing yet. Guess he gets to learn with me next year.

The yearly Blue & Gold banquet was a smashing success. The night included good food, an entertaining magician and Mike got his something-or other belt loop (yeah, I just wrote that). For me the Blue & Gold means the pine wood derby is coming up soon. We’re looking forward to that.

A few weeks ago I went to get something out of our storage unit but it was frozen shut! When the roads were plowed all the snow was pushed against the doors and, as it melted and refroze, it sealed them shut. I could see my handle through the ice… taunting me. After many salting trips I was finally able to lift the door, but…

…all the melted snow had gone into the storage unit. There was a sheet of ice about 6 feet back into the unit and water past that. Most of the items in storage were off the floor, but a couple pieces of furniture sustained a bit of water damage. I’m going to find somewhere better to keep my stuff this year. Maybe I should just throw it all out.

Family games with the family are getting more fun. We played Clue last week with Mike and Claire. Both did really well, but Mike gave Fran and I a run for our money (he actually won a game, but part of that had to do with Fran blurting something out by accident- ahem). Next up: Twister.

Mike has been doing a lot of coin collecting lately. I mentioned it to my friend, Justin, and he dropped by to show Mike his collection. Justin even sold him a few coins (for a great deal, of course). Mike’s paramount criteria is age- the older the better. If you have any old coins let Mike know!

Our home office remodel is finally done. I still take all my pictures with my iPhone so these aren’t great (I probably couldn’t take great pictures with a nice camera either) but you get the general idea. Fran let me decorate it sort of like a man cave with greys, blacks – cooler colors and devoid of charm- that sort of thing. Ha, look at me- pretending to be sophisticated!

White shutters, two desks, built in cabinets, love seat, electric piano, a couple of ottomans, a ceiling fan, one rug and and a solid week’s worth of blood, sweat and tears. I don’t know how/why it took so long to get everything done but I’m really happy with how the office turned out. A big thanks to everyone who helped (Fran, Stacy & Classy Closets).

Hughes Family: February 11, 2013 – February 24, 2013

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Cam

Okay, here’s a quick recap of some our adventures in the past couple of week. I hope one day our kids read this. I hope one day someone reads this. People need to know where we ate.

Fran and I try to have at least one date a month (usually we have more). We really enjoy Thai House in Lehi. The center picture is green curry. I don’t know how to explain it, but it tastes green. And green is delicious. I honestly can’t remember what we did after we ate- it must have rocked so hard that it jarred the memory loose.

For the past few weeks I’ve been looking for a handgun (more on that in another post) and my search took me to Cabela’s. This wouldn’t have been a big deal but it was Saturday and I had all four of our kids. Not my best idea in retrospect. It was literally too busy to shop (luckily they didn’t have what I was looking for) so we walked through the animal displays and aquarium instead.

Fran decided that the kids should have cubbies for their toys so off we went to Ikea. Each of the boys got a 2×2 unit and the girls share a 4×2. Gabe, who is the neatest of our children, seemed quite excited about organizing his toys. I think the other two responded positively as well. Sadly, if history is any indicator I would guess that the sheleves- if the shelves are still intact – do not look like they did on that beautiful first day.

On Valentine’s Day Fran dressed up the kids in cute shirts, made them heart shaped waffles for breakfast and even let them eat some of their Valentine’s Day candy!

For Valentine’s Day dinner Fran prepared a raclette (the plate has a misting of heart candies) and served us fancy chocolate covered strawberries. Then the kids are more candy while Fran cried. And let me just say for the record that I love Fran. She is a wonderful wife, fantastic mother and my best friend. She makes me truly happy and there is no one on earth I would rather have by my side as we journey through this life.

Fran and Claire went to a BYU ballet production of Sleeping Beauty (once again, I wisely opted to stay home and hold down the fort). Fran’s report went something like “There were a couple of really good dancers and a bunch of so-so dancers. If it had only been an hour it would have been perfect… but it was three.” Culture has a price.

What do you do with snow, besides curing it’s existence? You sled. The kids got together with their cousins and did a few downhill runs in Mapleton. I hear it was crazy. Fran snapped a shot of the sun halo earlier this month while they were sledding.

Another trip to the aquarium (seems like they go there a lot).

A couple weeks ago my treadmill blew up (really). I was joggling along and sparks started flying out of the motor and the belt seized. I’m going to get it fixed, but in the meantime I opted to get a new S77 model. Comparing this model to the old one I have concluded that 6mph is not necessarily 6mph. I’m excited to get back on track (ah, it is a pun!).

And then we went out again. Thanksgiving Point sandwiches, quiche, salad and a few desserts later we were ready to cry our eyes out while we watches Les Miserables. Yes, I look annoyed in this picture. But that was after Fran took about twenty pictures of me and our food. I returned the favor but all I could elicit was amusement.

We capped off last week with a double birthday party (for James & Nelly) down in Mapleton. By the time we finished singing “Happy Birthday” in English and French the candles had burned down to tiny nubs and a skeleton was clawing his way out of the cake.

And this video? I don’t know, I just thought it was really beautiful so I wanted to share it.

Hughes Family: January 26, 2012 – February 10th-ish 2013

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Cam

They say time flies when you’re having fun. I must have been having a ton of fun these past few weeks. I’ve certainly had some fun… I read a few books, worked on my car a bit and we went snowmobiling. But I’ve also spent a lot of this winter sick- seems like a week on and a week off (that’s not fun). And work has taken more of my time up these days (in a good way, but I still wouldn’t call it fun). Here’s some Hughes family highlights.

A few weeks ago we went up to Daniel’s Summit with some of our friends (both sets of Browns and the Sabins). The cabin we stayed at was fantastic. It was fully furnished, decorated and much larger than we had expected. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice place to stay in Heber .

On Saturday we rented snowmobiles and hit the Daniel’s Summit trails. Here are a few of the groupies (I don’t have a good shot of the Sabins, but you can get their trip take here).

The morning weather was excellent and skirting along the trails was a blast. Many exciting looking hills beckoned and resulted in a fair amount of stranded snowmobiles. Luckily there were plenty of people in our group to help dig, push and swear the snowmobiles back to safety. Near the end of the day it began to snow and I realized that it’s probably time to invest in “real” recreational winter clothing. So cold.

The evenings consisted of card games, (Sabotage, Bang and Uno with a punishing twist), casual conversations and a massive pillow fight. We ate most of our meals at the Daniel’s Summit restaurant (supplemented with snacks) but on our last night the Sabins treated us all to a delicious meal at the Spin Cafe in Heber (thanks!).

I’m pretty sure everyone had a fun time. These little getaways are something we used to do more frequently and I’m hopeful we can make them a January tradition again.

The adults weren’t the only ones playing in the snow though. Fran has been taking Mike and Claire to skiing lessons for the last couple of years. It was my intent to join them once they had caught up to my skill level. Sadly, I think that ship may have sailed. Next year I’m going to get my own lessons and then hit the slopes with them a few times.

Every time I shovel our driveway I end up with these huge snow mounds. As I was topping off a particularly tall pile I remembered that I used to dig snow caves when my dad would clear our driveway. One evening when I came home I was delighted to see that my kids had spent a good part of the evening hacking away the snow. Not all their tunnels and caves survived (they play pretty rough), but here’s what was left of their work.

I can’t wait for spring. I’ve gotten to drive my car a couple of times, but mostly it just sits…. and waits. Occasionally I start it up for fun when I feel like destroying the earth.

I might stretch out posting intervals to two weeks (on a regular basis) so I can better accommodate all the “fun” I’m having these days.

Hughes Family: January 14th, 2013 – January 25, 2012

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Cam

I feel like a broken record, but where does the time go? As I have mentioned in similar posts it’s too cold to actually be doing anything. I’ll start out this post with proof:

Last week our main water pipe froze. We had no water all of Saturday and part of Sunday. I’m not really sure why the pipe froze- it wasn’t as cold as it has been, and none of our neighbors were affected. Lehi City was nice enough to send someone out on Saturday to check the water meter (sometimes they freeze), but that wasn’t the problem. I ran a hair dryer on the water pipe going out of the house pretty much all day. We gathered snow and melted it for use in the toilets and drank bottled water. We are survivors.

The kids and I spent an afternoon playing with paper. Don’t underestimate the amount of enjoyment that can be derived from plant fiber and scissors!

Fran took the kids to the Aquarium (and in case you haven’t visited before, it’s very cool!). This is the first time that Chloe sort of knew what was going on- you can see that look of wonder etched onto her face here.

Fran and Claire went to see a BYU production of The Phantom of the Opera (Mike wasn’t interested and kids under six weren’t allowed so I stayed home… but secretly felt the same way Mike did). The consensus between attendees was that it was good, but long and slow in some parts.
I went with some friends to see Arnold’s latest fiasco, Last Stand. It some ways it was classic Arnold- tons of action, over the top violence and a lot of fun. Still, Schwarzenegger is starting to show his age and his movie days may be over. I loved the ZR1 action and was happily surprised when the movie culminated in a Corvette vs. Camaro showdown in a cornfield (I missed that particular trailer).

Claire is the sweetest kid. She makes adorable little cards and cute drawings for us all the time. This past week she made a shopping bag-shaped card holder and a giant pop-up card. Some of her sweetness has rubbed off on Gabe and he also gives us cards from time to time. There is nothing better than getting hand made gifts from your kids.

I decided to try out the Nike Fuel Band. It certainly gets high marks for coolness and design, but I’m not quite sure it always knows what’s going on. Time will tell and at the very least the Fuel Band will be a fun way to keep track of my activity levels.

Hughes Family: January 1st, 2013 – January 13th, 2013

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Cam

The past couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful for us (which isn’t a bad thing). School started back up and the weather has been frigid so our activity opportunities have been limited. It’s almost relaxing (well, for me anyway).

Nothing like a hike up the “Y” on the first day of the year! Especially in the snow. Not me though- I decided to sleep instead.

Our kids are so cute. They spent almost all of Thursday afternoon/evening creating a museum. They started drawing money a few days ago and decided to put in on display. The had a “grand opening” at 7:00pm and Mike read a speech (written by Claire). Then they cut a piece of thread strung across the doorway and invited us in. The presented all the different kinds of money they had drawn (here’s an unencumbered view of the wall). While I don’t dig tape and thumbtacks on the wall I don’t think I would want to stifle this kind of creativity.

I finally got my car back! This whole project has taken much longer than I thought it would, and there’s still a lot of work to do. The weather has been so frigid that I got to drive the car home, take it for one quick spin and then had to park it in the garage. I’m really looking forward to spring.

Speaking of weather… the iPhone hasn’t been doing much to help me this winter. It seems like forecasts frequently change (even hour to hour) and a lot of the time it’s just plain wrong. The other day I woke up and checked the weather. Partly sunny! But when I looked out the window what did I see? Snow. It was overcast and snowy. And the rest of the week was pretty much the same.
This is one of the coldest winters that I can remember. Our gutters keep freezing and then when it melts a bit they overflow onto our driveway where they freeze again. This giant ice patch (right pic) makes it really hard to get into our garage. And it doesn’t help that our driveway is perpetually covered with snow either. Too cold.

We’re making progress on the office little by little. We ordered some wall art off Overstock. These particular pieces are actually pretty cool. It’s an image printed on sanded metal. The sanding causes different kind of reflections on the metallic surface.
Aesthetics aside, hanging this thing was a nightmare. It’s seven individual pieces. They each have two brackets welded on the back (first pic). They are not centered (left right, top or bottom), they are not accessible in any way from the front (for marking purposes) and it’s not possible to accurately measure where to make the holes in advance. Good luck! Hanging this took over an hour and my pieces didn’t end up spaced perfectly, but I’m pretending that’s part of the art.

After a brief hiatus our tradition of eating out each weekend has resumed. Sometimes we skip our outings to reallocate money to cover something the kids have damaged. Most recently we skipped a few weeks to pay for a new mini van battery (the kids often leave the mini van lights on which drains the battery and, over time, ruins it). This past Saturday we went to dinner at Asian Buffet (remember, the shrimp?!).
I’m trying to do a bit of dieting, but the siren song of the shrimp was just too much. More on my progress (or lack thereof) later this year.

Does anyone have anything to add? Hmm… maybe next time I’ll ask the kids if they want to write anything for the blog. That could be amusing.

Movies Watched in 2012

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Cam

I have dedicated this post to movies that I watched in 2012 (these had to be fairly current movies from 2012 year or 2011 to make the list). My goal in 2012 was 50 movies and I ended up watching 56. Not to bad. Same goal for 2013 except that I’m going to try and see half of them in the theater.

Rise of the Guardians, 7/10 – This was a fun movie with a nice twist on iconic holiday and childhood fantasy characters (Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Sand Man, Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost). It’s fun to watch, but somehow it’s missing some heart. And it’s not really a Christmas movie, in case you were wondering.

Jack Reacher, 8/10 – I love a good old fashioned action mystery thriller. This is similar is some ways to the Mission Impossible movies, but the believability level is higher. Despite his quirks as a person, Cruise is still exceptional on screen.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 7.5/10 – As with Red Dawn, reviews for the Hobbit almost had me dreading the movie. However, I thought it was excellent. Sure, certain parts of the movie drag on a little bit, but the visuals are breathtaking, the acting is first rate and the story is timeless.

Arthur Christmas, 7/10 – I thought this was a really original take on Santa’s Christmas Eve delivery escapades. I noticed that this mostly bombed in theaters, which is too bad. It’s fast paced, entertaining and is an excellent Christmas movie.

Lawless, 6.6/10 – Sort of like a western, but it’s actually an eastern with moonshine cowboys. Strong cast, good action but the story was a little empty for me.

Ted, 6.75/10 – Almost heart warming and not as crude as it could have been. Very entertaining, but not everything hit home for me.

Red Dawn, 7/10 – After reading reviews of this movie I my expectations were pretty low. But I really enjoyed Red Dawn. There are some questionable plot elements, but I didn’t have any strong issues with them. The bad acting I was expecting didn’t really show up. And I thought the action scenes were intensely enjoyable. Good flick.

Skyfall, 8/10 – This is good action right here. The first ten minutes of this movie will get your adrenaline pumping like nothing else I’ve seen this year (with the possible exception of Dark Knight). This movie is, more so that previous bond films, a thriller. It almost makes some previous Bond efforts seem silly and Craig is, without question, my favorite Bond.

Breaking Dawn, 7/10 – I thought this was a good ending movie to an interesting series. I actually enjoyed it. I don’t know what else to say.

Wreck-It Ralph, 8/10 – Sweet Nostalgia. This movie was a blast. Fun to watch, great plot (with a satisfying twist) with plenty to offer for kids and adults.

The Amazing Spiderman, 7/10 – This one surprised me by being better than I anticipated. Nice action good pacing. I’m still not sold on Garfield (not the cat) as Peter/Spider Man, but he was okay.

Mirror Mirror, 6/10 – Not too bad. Cute and fun, even. There’s sort of a “made for TV” feel to the movie that’s hard to shake. To her credit Julia Roberts is a pretty good villain.

Taken 2, 6.7/10 – I really liked the first one, but the second was definitely not as good. Liam is showing his age (I’m pretty sure they used a body double when he ran down some stairs… for crying out loud). I felt like there were some bad plot issues, but the story was fun and the action was acceptable.

Madagascar 3, 6.5/10 – Ridiculous non-stop in your face animated comedy, with an emphasis on ridiculous. A good watch, some great moments, but unmemorable.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green, 6/10 – I think this was supposed to heartwarming. Sadly, it came off as a little, well… odd (weird odd). All the acting was good, but the story was hard to relate to. Ah well.

Dredd, 7.5/10 – This was just good old fashioned entertainment. I didn’t have any expectations going in, but I felt great coming out. Gritty non-stop action makes my day.

21 Jumpstreet, 7/10 – Lots of funny stuff here. The movie seems to almost take itself seriously at times, and it doesn’t quite work.

The Pirates, 6/10 – Cute and visually appealing, but I didn’t feel like the movie connected with me.

The Bourne Legacy, 7/10 – Renner is a suitable replacement for Damon in the latest installment. I liked the pacing in this movie and I thought that the performances were strong all around. I’m going to need to rewatch Ultimatum now (Legacy and Ultimatum take place concurrently). The ending on this movie was a little disappointing for me and left me with the “huh?” stuck in my mind.

Expendables 2, 7/10 – Could it be that they put too many action stars in this movie (also, where were Vin Diesel and The Rock… maybe they’re saving then for Expendables 3). Part of me feels like this was a movie they should have made 20 years ago. Still, the first fifteen minutes of this movie are so spectacular that I couldn’t help but go along for the ride (it’s almost nostalgic).

Money Ball, 6.5/10 – Maybe it’s just me, but I thought this was a bit on the dull side. Good performances all around. And everyone likes an underdog.

Gone, 6/10 – Not a bad thriller. Sort of predictable, sort of not.

Columbiana, 6/10 – A straightforward action-revenge movie. No real surprises here (as far as plot goes).

Three Stooges, 4/10 – Oh man… this is about as bad as movies get (I think on my rating system you get a “4” if I make it through the movie). Okay, to be fair there are a couple of funny parts, but this is the kind of ridiculous movie that hurts me in my soul. I appreciate the efforts of the new cast to try and act like the old cast, but eh…

Total Recall, 7/10 – The special effects in this movie are stellar. Visually the movie it a treat in every way (a lot like an updated Blade Runner). Plot wise, the movie shares elements of the original, but somehow lacks the twists and turns that made the original great. The updated movie is two hours of in your face action and, while not thought provoking, I rather liked it.

Journey 2, 6/10 – Mediocre family entertainment. Nothing great, nothing horrible and watchable with few regrets but nothing to talk about later.

The Dark Knight Rises, 9/10 – I thought the third installment was exceptional. If I had to pick a favorite director it would be Christopher Nolan. Nothing is perfect, of course, and there are some odd plot elements that I don’t really understand (watching it a second time actually helped). Great action, plot, effects, acting, etc all work together to create another great Batman movie.

Lockout, 6.5/10 – I like Guy Pearce and I thought he made a good action hero. Some bad CG here, but it’s easy enough to forgive.

The Darkest Hour, 6.5/10 – Reviews slammed this movie, but I thought it was okay. The invisible monsters (“cheap special effect”) didn’t bother me. The dialog was pretty bad and the plot of was formulaic, but this is watchable aliens-invade-earth action flick.

Abduction, 5/10 – Taylor doesn’t really come across as much of an action star. And the spies in this movie – if all spies were really this bad then… I don’t even know. Poor writing, so-so acting and kind of a pointless plot. This one must have been for the girls…

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, 5.5/10 – I thought I knew what I was getting into when I watched this. Sometimes you see a movie and it’s clear why it didn’t do well at the box office. I don’t get Ghost Rider as a “hero” but I liked the ending of this movie (that’s not meant to be sarcastic).

The Grey, 7/10 – Dark and depressing. Showcasing some of mankind’s darkest emotions. Good action.

Underworld: Awakening, 6.7/10 – Call me nuts, but I’ve always enjoyed the underworld series. No exception here. Kate is a hot Vampire.

Contraband, 6.7/10 – Overall this is a good action movie. Some parts are a little hard to sallow, but if you can suspend your disbelief for a bit you’ll enjoy it.

Jack &Jill, 5/10 – Oh Adam. What have you done. Seeing Sandler play the female version of himself is exactly how you think it would be. Annnoying and gross. The movie has some sweet undertones and a few good moments of comedy but too much of it doesn’t work.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, 6.5/10 – This was a fairly entertaining movie with a fun premise. Some fairly good action w/ a few pulse pounding moments. A couple of plot elements to keep the watcher guessing too. Yes in deed, this historically accurate documentary is thrilling.

Man On a Ledge, 6/10 – The whole premise of the movie is a little silly. And when you watch the movie the whole plot is hard to swallow. Nothing impressive here with regard to visuals, script or acting, but the movie still has it moments.

Snow White and the Huntsman, 6.7/10 – I heard this was a chick flick. No. It’s actually a pretty decent adventure/fantasy movie. I was surprised that Kristen Stewart didn’t reek of Bella . This is an entertaining twist on an old classic.

Prometheus, 7.4 /10 – While not billed as a prequel, it’s pretty prequel-ly. I thought the visuals, pacing and action was great. This is a movie you will think about. The story has some pretty big plot holes (i.e. Human like creates (creators) came to earth and seeded the water with their DNA and then – after millions of years – human life evolved. Periodically these creators visited earth and left obscure road maps to a planet where they were developing weapons (aliens) to kill humans (because now they want their creations dead?). Actually, just read this.

This Means War, 6.7/10 – The premise isn’t really anything new and the execution here is a little over the top. But overall it’s a good time.

Men in Black 3, 8/10 – I had read some negative reviews about MIB3 that had me worried a bit, but I really enjoyed myself. As far as time time travel flicks go I’d say this can hang with the best of them. Tommy Lee Jones is looking a little scary, but Will Smith looks as good as always.

TinTin, 6.5/10 – Visually this was a great looking movie. I loved the animation and the incredible detail that everything had. Even though parts of the movie were incredibly intense, somehow as a whole the film kind of dragged for me.

Battleship, 6.5/10 – Visually very impressive. So many plot holes and unanswered questions that it made my head spin though. We’ve all seen the plot before and the acting here was so-so.

The Avengers, 8.5/10 – This movie was an absolute blast. I saw it in 3D and then 2D (for both experiences). I felt like the 3D made parts of the movie silly and diminished the enjoyment, but the 2D version blew my mind. I enjoyed the way the plot allowed the Avengers to fight each other (mini versus battles). And there were moments of brilliant comedy that entertained both times. Great special effects, great characters, great movie.

The Muppets, 5.5/10 – Ah, it was a musical! Most of the humor didn’t connect with me. I love the muppets, but this movie just sort of dragged on and on.

Wrath of the Titans, 6.5/10 – Visually impressive (almost a rush), but sort of an empty movie.

Hugo – 7/10 – I really enjoyed the film visually and I thought the story arc was excellent.

John Carter 7/10 – I don’t understand why this performed so badly (in terms of generating revenue). I thought the special effects were excellent and the movie (while a little too long) was engaging. I suppose it’s probably a marketing issue more than anything- I really had no idea what to expect going into the movie.

Hunger Games 7.5/10 – This is about what I expected. Good overall cinematography (some shaky cam stuff), decent acting, fairly true to the source material and very enjoyable. Nothing mediocre but nothing spectacular.

Warrior 8.5/10 – Yeah, this is technically from 2011, but near the beginning of the year the lines blur a bit… great movie. I thought it was a great story, well acted and it had a great pace. Sure, it was full of cliches, but it was like a better version of Rocky.

We Bought a Zoo 7/10 – I thought this was a really thoughtful movie. Loved the actors (Maggie Elizabeth Jones was especially endearing) and the story.

Safe House 6/10 – I can’t put my finger on it, but something about this movie didn’t work for me. It wasn’t quite a thriller, it wasn’t quite a mystery, not quite an action flick… I don’t know. Nothing bad, but nothing good. I hope there are some really good movies this year…

Chronicle. 6.5/10 – I’m actually super impressed with what they were able to do with $12 million. I’ve never been a huge fan of the “found footage” type movies (Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, etc) but over all this was well done. In a word: disturbing.

The Debt. 7/10 – I don’t really like spy movies all that much but I enjoyed The Debt. I liked the plot, the acting and the pacing.

Drive. 6.5/10 – I thought this movie had a lot of potential. When you step back and think about it the plot borders on the verge on pointless but there’s something raw and captivating at the same time. Clearly the “drive” referred to to by the title has very little to do with driving, and everything to do with the protagonist’s (but is he a protagonist?) drive to protect. Supposedly the movie has some very graphic violence, but I was able to see a slightly edited version so I can’t comment on that one way or another. In a word: Okay.

Tinker, Taylor, Solider, Spy. 6/10 – Not a bad way to kill a couple of hours. Maybe not the best way to start off the year… It’s kind of like an old fashioned mystery. Some parts move slowly, but by the end everything comes together pretty well. Not a movie I’d own.

Hughes Family: December 17th, 2012 – December 31st 2012

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Cam

We have survived 2012! At times it seemed like we weren’t going to make it… And yes, I’m half kidding when I say that, but parts of this year were rough. As I have mentioned in the past the holidays are always extra stressful but we found time for a little relaxation and celebration (as we seem to every year). Here’s a quick (really quick) rundown of the last couple of weeks.

We started off the holidays with some apple cider. That got us all in the mood to party.

We headed north on Christmas Eve for dinner with the Lotts and Watsons. I wish I had some better pictures of the meal- it was incredible. That log looking thing on the right there is sort of like a cake (in case you were curious).

Here we all are together. One big happy and very full (in a physical sense) family. Some of us look better than others. Some of us intend to fix that in 2013 so they aren’t the one who look weird in net year’s pictures.

We ended up with a white Christmas! Before I got up the family was outside playing in the snow.

I worked my way out of bed about 9:30 (a wonderful gift from my family- sleeping in on Christmas). We drank hot chocolate and ate croissants and then…

…the chaos began. Actually it wasn’t too chaotic. We tried to keep things low-key and more organized this year. Here are a few pics of the kids with their gifts.

The kids made Fran and I adorable coupons! Some of them were good for “100x”! I think it will be hard to redeem them…

I hope our kids look back with fondness on our Christmases (I have a lot of happy Christmas memories from my childhood). And maybe they could even take a moment to reflect on what Christmas is really about.

Christmas dinner was spent with the other Hughes family. I love Christmas meals! (I gained nearly ten pounds in the last two weeks).

There has been a lot of snow lately (not just on Christmas), so naturally the kids did some sledding.

And I spent a lot of time shoveling the snow off our driveway.That’s a a big job, in case you’re curious. But this right here- that’s a photograph of satisfaction. It snowed another six inches about an hour later. I was not able to get a good shot of the disappointment.

Fran got the kids a new playset for Christmas and it was installed a few days after Christmas With four kids she figured it was time for something a little bigger and a little sturdier. I think it looks nice (I haven’t actually seen it in person yet).

On Friday we went to see rise of the Guardians. It was a cute twist on classic holiday icons. It’s not quite a Christmas movie though.

And Monday we hosted our annual New Year’s Eve party. Here are the party goers (we have lost some people over the years and, for the record, we miss them).

These days we start the party late and all indulge in ice cream sundaes and witty banter. We play games, we reminisce, we share our fictional resolutions and have a good time (even the kids).

I told you it was going to be quick. I’m a bit behind, so I had to cut some corners (I feel really guilty about it… not so guilty that it will move me to any kind of action though). That’s it for 2012! I’m sure there will be some spillover in a few upcoming posts, but it’s over. Gone. Done. No going back now. Bring on 2013.

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