The Hughes Family: September

September is a month of celebrations in our family--It's the month Kyndall was born, the month I received my liver transplant and also the month Kyndall was baptized.

I kicked off September by doing something I've been wanting to do for years--I took the plunge and got BRACES! Ugh. I never needed them but I've always had a few teeth that kind of bothered me so a few weeks prior as I was in the office for Kyndall's appointment I mentioned to the orthodontist that I had been considering having a consultation for myself. He told me to just jump in the chair right then and he would take a look. Next thing I knew I was making an appointment to have them done! I'm definitely not loving them but at least I'll have some sympathy and compassion for Kyndall when she gets them in a few years!

September 11th after school treat

Later that night we had a long talk about what September 11th really means. She is finally old enough to understand what happened that day and she had LOTS of questions. I read this book to her at bedtime to help her understand what took place. It's crazy to think that I was 18 years old when this happened and this year marked the 18th year since 9/11/01.

Friday night dinner date with Daddy after gymnastics

I love getting a glimpse into Kyndall's school days. This picture of Mrs. Bailey and her students was posted on the school's Facebook page. Kyndall is on the far left with the bow in her hair--Of course!

We made a trip to Lowe's on a Saturday morning to grab a few things but little did we know the animal shelter was doing an adoption event that day. I probably don't even have to tell you what happened when our animal loving girl realized what she was walking into. Her eyes lit up and the first thing out of my mouth was "NO DOGS WILL BE GOING HOME WITH US TODAY!" I agreed to let her play with them but that only made her beg even more. This sweet little lab took a particular liking to Kyndall and seemed to sense what an animal lover she is.

Her idea of a perfect day!

Even Matthew found one he liked

I'm happy to report that no 4 legged family members were added to our family that day but it wasn't for the lack of begging on Kyndall's part!

Adara continues to come to church with us and I think it's so sweet how excited she gets about having us pick her up each Sunday.

September 16th, 2019 marked FIVE years since my life saving liver transplant. In some ways it's hard to believe it's been that long but in other ways it feels like it's been even longer than that. As always, I used the day to reflect on the priceless gift of life that was given to me on that day five years ago. I thought about how much I've been able to do and how many new accomplishments I've had in those five years that I would've otherwise not experienced. I spent time wondering what my donor's family might be doing that same day. As I was celebrating I'm sure they were reflecting and mourning the loss of someone they loved very much. I wondered who my donor was--Boy? Girl? Man? Woman? Were they a husband or a wife or a Mom or Dad? Where did they live? How old were they? And the question that haunts me the most--What happened to them? These are questions that I still do not have answers to, even five years later. They are questions that I will always long to have answered but as time passes I'm beginning to realize I may never have those answers and I'm sure God has a reason for that. I pray that whoever they were that they were saved and that I'll see them in Heaven someday where I can properly thank them for saving my life.

On Sunday afternoons I make the rounds picking up a car load of sweet girls and dropping them off at church for GA's and kids choir. I love their hearing the giggles from my backseat.

An epic game of Pokemon was going down in my backseat on this particular day...

Kyndall got a shiner on her eye during car pick up one afternoon at school. Something about a water bottle hitting her in the eye. The school nurse walked her out to my car and of course she was hysterical because there was a teeny tiny minuscule amount of blood. They only thing I could do to get her to calm down was offer her Starbucks and that seemed to take her mind off it.

Two days before Kyndall's birthday the WHOLE family flew in--All 7 of them! Grammy, G-Daddy, Nonie, Poppie, Aunt Kelly, Wyatt and Easton. Kyndall had been counting down the days and hours until we were able to get them from the airport and she couldn't wait to greet them as they came through the terminal.

I let Kyndall stay home from school the following day so that she could spend extra time with the family.

We took everyone up to our church to let the kids play on the playground

Then we introduced them to rolled ice cream at Ice Scrapers

Birthday party prep was also underway

September 20th, 2019--Kyndall is NINE!

I offered for her to stay home on her birthday but she absolutely did not want to miss school! Apparently going to school on your birthday is fun?! She woke up to birthday decorations and donuts for breakfast.

We had another surprise for her!!

The WHOLE family showed up at school for a special birthday lunch with our favorite girl and I'm pretty sure she holds the record for the most lunch visitors in one day!

Back at home waiting for her to get out of school for the day--Hey Easton!

It was dark before school so we had to take another picture once she got home

Her sweet friends surprised her with all her favorite things at gymnastics that day--A Coke Icee, a cupcake, Ice cream, Starbucks, flowers and a balloon. She felt so special!

She requested her birthday dinner be at Cane's (of course) and since it was a Friday night and a home football game night I was worried there wouldn't be seating for all 10 of us. Our friend Tyson who is the general manager reserved special seats for us in the restaurant which also made her feel special!

Tyson also gave Kyndall a birthday card that was signed by the Cane's crew along with a gift card to Starbucks--He knows her well!

Wyatt wanted a picture with his new friend Tyson too!

More pictures with her yard signs before they were taken up later that night...

Beautiful flowers from her friends

Present time!

The whole family chipped in and got her a very nice sewing machine for her birthday and as you can see in the video she LOVED it!

The next day was a busy one! First thing in the morning we headed to downtown Forney to watch Kyndall ride on First Baptist GA's float in the Forney Homecoming Parade.

The cheering section

Sorting and trading all their candy from the parade

That afternoon was Kyndall's birthday party at the gym...

Kyndall, Avarie and Adara

Ashlyn, Kyndall and Avarie

Our sweet friends and neighbors the Allens always stop by Kyndall's birthday party each year. They are such a blessing to our family and Kyndall just adores them!

The sweetest group of girls! From left to right--Ashlyn, Malani, Bailee, Bree, Anna Beth, Jaylee, Kyndall, Katie, Adara, Avarie, Nadia, Nozipho, Audrina

Ryann, Kyndall and Bailee

Kyndall really milked her birthday this year, requesting a second birthday dinner that evening. She wanted to stick with her tradition of eating at the Japanese Steakhouse. We invited her best friend Ryann to join us.

The next morning we would have to say goodbye to the family so we stayed up extra late and spent as much time with them as possible. Wyatt requested a fire and marshmallows.

Love my nephews!

It's always a little sad when we have company in town and they have to leave. The days following seem so empty and boring but I had a pretty busy week myself which included hosting a teacher luncheon at the school. I snuck a homemade chocolate chip cookie out of the teachers lounge and took it to Kyndall during her lunch period. Perks of being a PTO kid!

Still so proud of her flag duty responsibilities

9 year old check up and flu shot. Per usual, she acted a complete fool as she cried and screamed and thoroughly embarrassed me. Hopefully someday she'll grow out of this nonsense! In this picture she was simply having her blood pressure taken and she was about to have a come apart! No chance in heck this girl will EVER seek out a career in the medical field!

The only cure for a flu shot (according to Kyndall) is Cane's toast.

The Texas Rangers had one game left in the season and in their home stadium of 25 years, Globe Life Park. Next season they'll be relocating to their new and improved stadium but this one holds a lot of history so Matthew really wanted to squeeze in one last baseball game here. He grabbed us tickets for a Sunday afternoon and it was a gorgeous day for some baseball!

Her favorite part of going to Rangers games is waiting for the players to come walk by during practice so that she can get their signatures on her ball. My childhood friend Jeff Mathis is the catcher for the Rangers and we had hoped to see him play but unfortunately he was out for the season with an injury.