Hughes

September went by in a bit of a blur which seems to be how most months go around here. Jared
spent lots of time at the station again but we’ve adjusted to his busy schedule and fortunately we had
another pretty smooth month.

Olive is as busy as ever keeping up with her big brother. She loves to copy everything he does,
or anything anyone does for that matter. It’s fun to watch their relationship change as she gets
older but it is also providing us with extra challenges since they are much more prone to fighting
lately. And I mean actual slap fights complete with screaming in each other’s faces. Her vocabulary
continues to expand even if her pronunciation isn’t perfect. One of her most used words and my
personal favorite is ‘han size’ (hand sanitizer). She makes this frequent request throughout the day
when asking for hand sanitizer or lotion of any kind. She is still showing some interest in potty
training but no breakthroughs on that front. We just let her use the potty whenever the mood hits
her. But I’m still so pleased that she is so willing to try. And obviously it represents something
positive to her that she enjoys doing which is my only goal with potty training.

Preschool has been a huge success for Jack Attack. He seems to be quite popular in his class because
whenever I drop him off he is bombarded by a crowd of his classmates all asking him to play with
them. (The little girls in his class are especially enthusiastic.) He usually lets out a huge sigh, as if so
many requests to play might somehow interfere with his busy schedule, before conceding. He always
has so many stories to tell me about games he played and songs he sang in class or about fighting
with Miss Janae’s son, Adam. Fortunately Miss Janae informed me that they only pretend fight each
other which was a huge relief. He has really missed Jared the last few months but he has handled
his daddy’s schedule remarkably well for a three-year-old. He is always trying to think of ways
to ‘surprise daddy’ when he gets home from work either with a story from preschool or a picture
he colored. Lately he has really wanted to send a letter to daddy in the mail (thanks to Daniel Tiger). So that will probably be one of our projects for this week. He is just such an inherently sweet kid. We’ve been working on preparing for General Conference the last few weeks. And I’ve put together some fun activities
to really get Jack excited and involved with the messages. I don’t know who is more excited, me or
him.

Jared took both tests for the AD/O classes and passed both practical exams. So now we just have
to wait to hear if he passed the written portions. If he didn’t pass he can retake the written test
up to three times before he has to take the class again. It sounded like there weren’t very many
people feeling all that confident about passing anyway. Jared said the test was pretty confusing and
they hadn’t covered everything in class so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. We are really looking
forward to seeing a lot more of Jared in October. We even made a ‘Fall Bucket List’ with lots of fun
activities for the cooler weather. He is such a great husband and father that having him gone really
makes a huge difference in our day-to-day activities. I’ve had a lot of people tell me just to buck up
because “I’ve dealt with a husband who is gone all the time too,” and I just remind them that it’s not easy to do when I have a husband who is so involved in raising our children. But I have learned to
cherish any time that he is able to be home with us.

My month has been good but a bit hectic. Three of the sisters on my committee were released
leaving a lot of stress on me. But another sister was called to the committee last Sunday and
hopefully more to follow soon. Even though I have been under a lot of pressure I feel very
fortunate to have this calling. It not only gives me more opportunities to serve sisters in our ward
but I’ve gained such a strong testimony of the Relief Society and the good that can be accomplished
through Christ-like compassion. I’ve also had some really great experiences with the sisters I visit
teach the last month. I have never been one to question visiting teaching but I don’t think I had
really strong convictions about it until this year. I feel like I’ve really moved past just checking
sisters off my to-do list and developed meaningful relationships with each sister I visit. I loved the
messages in the General Relief Society Meeting and I’m looking forward to Conference this coming
weekend. It is definitely one of my favorite times of year.

Love,
Jared.Dani.Jack.Olive