Christmas Card 2025

 

Pugh Family Update 2025

Chad: (mid 40’s) Loved going on a southern England road trip to show Mary, his mom, and some of his siblings the places where he served his mission. Despite Mary’s occasional gasps of fear…he proved that when it comes to driving on the left side of the road…he’s still got it! While in England, he climbed three bell towers, ate two of his beloved Cornish pasties, and got only one speeding ticket.

Mary: (lower mid 40’s) Crossed the White Cliffs of Dover off her bucket list (they did NOT disappoint) and ate more fish and chips in one week than is prudent, but has no regrets. She discovered the Emma M. Lion book series and would be more than happy to talk to you about it. For hours if necessary. It will be necessary. In an effort to stay “hip and cool” for the pack of teenagers now occupying the home, Mary really impressed them with her and Chad’s 6/7 Halloween costume #coolparents4evah!

Jack: (20) Currently serving as a missionary in Mexico City. In his own words: “I am learning so much about the Lord and His love! I love this opportunity that I have to be the Lord's representative in this part of the world! The time is going by way too fast! I don't feel like there is enough time left! Love you all! Go win the week!”

Marian: (18) Legally the mature adult we’ve all known she was since she was nine. Marian had a great mountain biking season as a varsity rider and team captain. Go CHARGERS! She is looking forward to college and next adventures, but is biding her time by working, spending as much time as possible with friends (they are REALLY good ones so who could blame her), making not quite as many chocolate chip cookies as one would hope, skiing, and by going to ALL of her classes. No senior-itis here. Right Marian? Hello? 

Lucy: (15) In solidarity with 15 year-olds everywhere, Lucy has issued the following statement: “No comment.” Mary however doesn’t believe in solidarity so she’ll tell you that Lucy is an excellent student, had an AMAZING mountain bike season (finishing in the top five at regions), is thrilled to have her braces off, and with the perfect balance of skill and confidence, is the best Pugh student-driver so far.

Grant: (13+1 minute) In addition to several vertical inches, Grant added cello playing, wrestling, braces, mountain biking, and political analyst to his repertoire of skills and attributes this year. Still an avid (a.k.a. ravenous) reader, Grant is hoping to be taller than Mary by the time Jack gets home in July. Chances are literally high.

Grace: (13) Ditto to Grant on mountain biking and getting braces, but that’s where the similarities end. Although Grace is known for her kindness, she plays a mean trumpet in the middle school jazz band and has had some killer solos. She loves playing the piano, cute socks, fishing, friends, and making the most entertaining movies. Her Wicked remake was one for the ages.

Rosie: (77 in dog years) Is everyone’s favorite. Her arthritis slows her down a little, but we all know she would run over hot coals to get to Chad if necessary. Perhaps that is why Chad carries 39-pound Rosie around the neighborhood on the rare occasion she is too stiff to walk.

Darla: (7 in dog years) Is cuter than should be allowed, loves Rosie, is vaguely interested in the rest of us, but NOT a fan of the weight-loss plan prescribed by the vet who declared her “chubby”. Mary thought Darla just needed a haircut, but after a trip to the groomer, that line of thinking was ruled out.

Sending you all our love and wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Brace face

Grant and Grace joined the braces club this week....so exciting and also a bit of a bummer because let's be honest, braces are the worst. Well I guess crooked teeth are really THE worst...but braces are a total pain.

The woman at the orthodontist office who talked Grace through the process explained it best. She said, "You'll come in so excited to get braces, it's no big deal getting them put on, and then around 4 in the afternoon you'll feel like you made the biggest mistake of your life."

Here's Grace's before

She felt a close up was warranted

and after!

The amount of poses and faces like this I have in my photo library is shocking (and I love and am keeping every single one of them).

Grant was next! We totally forgot the before dangit!

But this pretty much sums up how Grant has been feeling since he got them on. He basically hasn't talked for 3 days because it's uncomfortable (and painful) and he hates how it feels. Hang in there twinners! Only 2 years to go!

 

I don't want to forget...

 I don't want to forget that every morning at 7:15 on the dot, the kitchen Alexa starts playing "When I was your man" by Bruno Mars. No one knows why this happens (at least no one admits to knowing HOW this happened) but for sure NO ONE knows how to make it stop. We've turned off every Alexa alarm, tried everything we can think of...but try as we might, the sweet sweet crooning of Mr. Mars fills the kitchen every morning at 7:15 without fail. Weekends, holidays, doesn't matter. It's been going on for over a year. Bruno's baby is dancing with another man, which is sad...but I wish I knew how to make it stop!

Family Photos

It's Christmas card making season. The time of year where I scroll through my photo library desperately hoping there is just one picture I can use where everyone is smiling, eyes open, and looking in the general direction of the camera.

For the record, that has happened zero times in my life.

Which is why I usually have family pictures taken in the summer...or the fall for this very purpose.

Usually...meaning not this year.

I originally thought this picture from our trip to Mexico above could work. No one else in my family agreed.

So right before school started we went up the canyon for our back to school breakfast at Silver Fork Lodge and told everyone to dress cute so we could take our family picture. "No photographer needed! We'll just wing-it," I said.

And we were SOOO close to nailing it...

I mean look at the faces of these people I LOVE the most!

I think this was a pre-photo pep talk? Who knows?

I LOVE these pictures but the lighting is not quite right and the colors are also...not quite right dang-it because everything else looks so great!

This Sunday is the day. We are going to my nephew's baptism and fingers crossed we get lucky and find some good lighting in the backyard and get a photo everyone likes (hello Marian and Lucy I'm talking to you! Last year they HATED the photo I sent out...the one where they both looked gorgeous... 

I don't understand it but I will try to get a photo we all like. 

Wish us luck! 

...and remind me to just book a photographer every year so I don't run into this again.

 

Sundance

Chad and I took our sort-of annual trip to Sundance and it was so nice to get away for a couple of days. We stayed in the cutest little cottage right next to a stream. Heavenly. There was a hot tub, a fireplace (that only smoked a little) and the yummiest food at Foundry Grill and Black Sheep in Provo.

We took both dogs on the hike to Stewart Falls and when were weren't laughing at how out of place fluffy Darla looked in the mountains, we had such a good time talking, planning, dreaming, and taking in the beautiful views and mountain air.

There was a zip line next to the cottage and I was super cool and rode it once.

See! I did it! 

Chad did it like a dozen times... "I feel like you are just here for the zip line" #IYKYK

Watching Chad ride the zipline was the most traumatic thing that had ever happened to the dogs but they recovered quickly.

It was a magical weekend. The kids had fun at home with no parents and Chad and I were able to totally relax and unwind (minus the part where I had to wake up at 7am to register for the activities for girls camp (coming up in June) in the most Black Friday shopping-like experience of my life....and minus the part where BYU lost to Texas Tech.) Other than that it was pure bliss.

 

After every single bite

After the high school mountain bike banquet, we went out for Sushi with Chad's sister and husband and their daughter Ava who also races. Ok actually we TRIED to go out for sushi but we got there just as they were closing up dang-it! We tried again the next night and it was so fun and so delicious that I knew I had to bring sushi loving Grant there for our next lunch date.

Our family LOVES sushi but we had only been to places that were pretty far away so I was thrilled to find a good sushi place just 5 minutes from our house.

Grant was even more thrilled and said "this is the best food I've eaten" after every. single. bite.

I have a feeling this will be his go to request for lunch dates for the foreseeable future.

I'm not unhappy about it.

 

Lunch Club

Marian and her friends started a "lunch club" at school. Mom's take a turn every month or so, hosting the group. All the kids congregate at someone's home to hangout and have lunch together. The high school is right in our neighborhood so it's super close.

I made Jalapeño Beef sandwiches (recipe from my childhood neighbor Grace Clayton) and they were a hit! 

Lucy and her friends showed up too and it was so fun to be a fly on the wall and observe these kids interacting. I was so impressed. They were all talking to each other. No one was on their phone, and they all cleaned up after themselves, loaded the dishwasher and thanked me!

I snapped this picture after half of them had left. There were nearly 30 kids here and I LOVED it! So grateful that my children are surrounded by such awesome kids!

 

The LAST lost tooth

Tuesday, October 28th, 2025. 

The day my last child 

lost her last tooth. 

So exciting. 

So sad. 

No more tooth fairy. 

No more standing outside the bathroom

 (my kids like privacy when they pull their teeth) 

asking "did you get it?"

It's the end of an era.

 

Lost and Found

I lost my wedding ring last week. The worst. I had taken if off to knead some bread dough (which turned out very mediocre I am sad to say) and I put it on the base of the kitchen-aid stand. A random place for sure but I knew where it was and since there was 0% chance someone besides me would clean up the kitchen in anyway shape or form, I figured it was a safe place.

I remembered that very safe place the next morning but when I went to get my ring, it was gone. It was nowhere. Not on the base, not on the counter. Not even behind the fridge ( I know because I checked...and then vacuumed back there because...gross)

I was 100% certain that I had put it on the kitchen-aid but after asking (interrogating) everyone else about it, it seemed that no one had touched it and I must have remembered wrong. I didn't really believe that, but decided to look EVERYWHERE while assuming that it was very likely that someone had absentmindedly picked it up and moved it somewhere else without even realizing it. So I checked everywhere. It wasn't on my nightstand. It was't in my car. It wasn't under my bed. It wasn't on my bathroom counter, tub ledge, or jewelry jar.

Other places it was not:

kitchen garbage sack #1

kitchen garbage sack #2 (much messier than sack #1)

recycling bin

pile of random papers on my desk

game drawer

dog bed

dog bowls

dishwasher

garbage disposal

behind the washer and dryer

in the washing machine

lint catcher in the dryer

bottom of laundry basket

every pocket of everything I'd worn that week

under that couch

on top of the alexa (sometimes I put it there...)

behind the computer

on the piano

It wasn't anywhere. I started to panic when 2 days went by and my frantic searching, prayers, and $50 reward offer didn't produce any results.

Later...

My sister Kate's 3 adorable kids spent the night on Saturday. They were teasing Grant who was hiding under a blanket on the couch. I came to help them in their teasing and being the good mom that I am, sat on Grant... which put me at the perfect angle to see something shiny and sparkly tucked between the sections of the wicker basket on our coffee table.

FOUND IT!!!!

I screamed out loud and literally jumped up and down with joy!

I LOVE this ring and all it represents.

Two 20-something aged babies who fell in love, made promises to each other and God and through college and law school, and moves across the country, and babies, and careers, and more babies (sometimes two at a time) and happy times and hard times and all the times in between...this ring encompasses all of that for me. I am really NOT a sentimental person...especially about physical things, but my wedding ring is definitely the exception.

p.s. someone definitely moved my ring. 

I will for sure never find out who. Just as I will for sure never leave it out again ;)

Mountain Biking in Gunnison

These girls had their region mountain bike race in Gunnison last weekend. Where is Gunnison you ask? Well, it is a pretty remote town in central eastern Utah and the drive there (and the drive between the race course and our hotel in Richfield) was STUNNING!

I love the friendships that mountain biking has created for all my kids

These girls work and ride SO HARD!!!

Marian has raced varsity this year and I am sooo impressed! For most races she does 4 laps which is over an hour of racing!

Go Lucy go!!!

So much grit and determination is required of these kids.

There is so much beauty in the backdrop of these races.

It was a little cold during staging...but I think they would take that over excessive heat any day!

Lucy rode so hard and held her 5th place spot the entire race!!! Just before the finish line she got passed and it looked like she would come in 6th but she dug deep and gutted it out and pulled in ahead by 5 100ths of a second!!!! Way to go Lucy girl!!!! 

Making podiums is a BIG DEAL and Lucy has worked so hard and wanted this so bad so it was SOOO fun to celebrate her success and hard work!!!

 

And All That Jazz!

See that cute dinosaur up there? That's my Grace! She plays trumpet in the school Jazz band (and the concert band) and it is pretty much my favorite thing in the world. The Jazz band is surprisingly good for a middle school band and their Halloween concert last week was awesome! Grace surprised us all with a trumpet solo!!!!! I was so proud of her and I love seeing my kids do things they love!

So fun to have my parents come and enjoy the show. Grant is SUCH a good brother and always comes to support Grace.

I can't believe my babies are this big! When did this happen?

 

NYC with Marian day 3

French pastries for breakfast: check!

Triple check!

We made a valiant attempt to go to church but the times listed online were wrong so we missed it...shoot!

We rallied and walked down to Chelsea Market on our way to explore the high-line

It was SO BEAUTIFUL!! We absolutely loved it! The gardens, the views (of the city and of peoples cool apartments), the architecture...totally loved it. Especially enjoyable was the mango sticky rice we picked up at Chelsea Market and the High-line summer playlist on SPOTIFY. Well done NYC.

Then it was a quick train ride to the airport, wardrobe change into the requisite I LOVE NYC t-shirts and with that the trip to the "greatest city in the world" was done! 

 

NYC with Marian Day 2

We started off the day right with delicious acai bowls before heading on the subway

 to Battery Park

We took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty. So cool!

The views from the statue's pedestal were great!

Not a great picture but we opted not to wait in the line of 1 million people to get a picture with the iconic Bull on Wall Street

Possibly the best food we had all weekend.

We spent the afternoon at the 9-11 museum walking tour. Apparently this is the only picture I took. The fountains are such a beautiful memorial. One stream of water for every victim that died in the attacks that day. The rose means it is that persons birthday that day.

Levain cookies did not disappoint. I "accidentally" ordered one of every kind and the chocolate chip walnut was the winner by far.

After cookies a little souvenir shopping, we made our way to Columbus Circle for Dizzy's Jazz club at Lincoln Center. The musicians were amazing. The views of Central Park in the background were amazing. The style of jazz was a little too free-form for me but the experience overall was so cool.

I think the pictures from the Jazz club are on Chad's phone which means we may never see them...but you never know.

After the Jazz club we went to "Top of the Rock" at Rockefeller square. The views!!!! So cool to do it at night!

We were all ready to get in bed and watch a movie (or BYU football game if your name is Chad) and eat the left-over Levain cookies but we made a quick stop at Bryant Park on the walk home because it was just so charming!

Chad stayed up to watch BYU win their game, Marian and I watched about 1.5 Psych episodes before falling asleep with cookies in hand. It was a great day!