The Hoopes Family

Mt Lassen

2011-09-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day!

We camped at Mt. Lassen this weekend. The weather was perfect. Here are some pictures of this beautiful volcano and park. You can see Mt Shasta in the distance at the top.

Joshua climbing up the summit block.

Hiking across the snow fields.

Benjamin at the top with Shasta in the distance.

An alpine view of Lassen.

The kids love to climb on rocks. This one was carried 3 miles away from the mountain during the last volcanic eruption. It is called Hot Rock.

David on top of Hot Rock.

We floated on Manzanita Lake. This is where we camped. It was a very relaxing lake.

Joshua with Lassen in the background.

Megan attempting to manuever the raft.

Marin County Beach

2011-09-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

We tried to see the Muir Woods one Saturday afternoon, but it was too crowded.

So, we headed for the coast and found a great secluded beach.

It was a 1.5 mile hike down, but well worth it.

We played in the water and sand, saw the tide pools, and enjoyed the scenery.

Then we went back to Muir Woods after the crowds left.

Here we are at the top of the hike looking down to the water.

It was chilly up there.

Heading down the trail to the beach.

First glimpses of the beach

David and Ben

Playing in the sand

Abby loved the beach!

Bonus: A petting farm right next to the beach! This place has it all!

First Day of School at Cooper Elementary

2011-08-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here they are, ready to go to school! Abby wants to go too!

I got to go to the first day with Joshua. It was pirate day. Isn't his teacher the cutest? He loved school!

First mate Josh.

Emily and Abby model their somewhat tattered princess wear. We are going through another princess phase. They wear these dresses every day.

Via Ferrata

2011-05-15T17:43:00.001-07:00

For David's birthday this year I gave him an overnight date. We drove down to Lexington, KY and spent the night at the Hilton (very posh). Saturday morning we drove over to Red River Gorge to climb on the Via Ferrata. It is a climbing adventure that is totally safe. We were clipped in the entire time, and there were rebar hand and footholds. Perfect for me! Here I am at the beginning.

David taking a rest.

I stopped after the first 3 sections, but David finished the entire course. The guides down at the bottom were impressed with his first attempt. No one else came even close to finishing while we were there.

This is what the course looks like from below. It is in a "holler" which is Kentucky speak for a "large ampitheater-shaped gorge."

Here is the scout troop behind us. The guides thoughtfully put us in front of them all! We were grateful, because it took them awhile. We were the only non-scouts there. Of course, it was raining, as you can probably tell.
We had a really fun time and look forward to climbing again.

Easter with the Chesnuts

2011-04-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Sarah and John and their boys drove over for Easter. Although it was a little bit rainy, we managed to get outside a little bit. Here are all the kids after church. You really have no idea how difficult it was to get this picture, so if it looks a little crazy...IT WAS!!!

Joshua and Matthew got bug catchers in their Easter baskets.

Ben is learning how to tie his own tie.

Abby did not want her picture taken. She looked awfully cute in her Easter dress, though!

Ben

Emily

Joshua

Andrew...isn't he beautiful???

One last picture of Abby, because she is so cute!

Happy Easter!

Abby is 2!

2011-04-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Abby's second birthday today!

Here she is in her new birthday dress! Opening presents with A LOT of help!

Abby loves dogs, so Emily, Josh, and I made her a puppy dog birthday cake.

What a great 2 years we have had with our little Abby!

Spring Break

2011-04-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

We took a couple of days this spring break to check out the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We have wanted to visit this area for a couple of years, and decided this was the week. It wasn't quite in season yet, and you can see from our clothes that it was a little chilly still. The plus side was that there were very few other visitors. We had the place to ourselves.

Here is our one picture of the whole family. We are on top of "Natural Arch," looking out over a valley.

This is the cabin we stayed in. It is called Sundance. It had a hottub and a sattelite dish! We watched iCarly!

Everyone loved climbing on the cool rock formations.

Abby wasn't quite as adventurous in her climbing, but she still had fun exploring.

At the Angels Windows we found a geocashe treasure. Here is Abby with the M&M's she found in the geocashe box. She was pretty excited to do the next hike, and then disappointed when there were no more treats.

Dave carried Abby whenever she would let him. She is getting too big for the backpack, though. This might have been her last hike she gets carried on! Too sad.

Here is the bottom of Natural Arch. It was a very pretty arch, and I was glad we were there in early spring so we could see things before the leaves came out. There were lots of flowering trees in bloom, but no leaves yet.

Emily wanted her picture taken every couple of minutes! You can see from her attire that it was a little bit brisk.

Joshua on a swinging bridge across a lake.

Hiking out to the Angels Windows

Ben with an arch behind him. It is hard to tell that it is an arch in the picture, but it is. It has a stream running through it. Very pretty.

A waterfall on the stream that cut the arch above.

Dave and Abby on one side of the stream. We all crossed the stream to get down to the waterfall. It was really slick, and Dave took a pretty bad fall. Abby was fine, but the camera was broken, and Dave's elbow still hurts 2 weeks later!

We had a really fun trip.

Joshua's latest Lego Ship

2011-02-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

Joshua loves to build with legos. Here is a ship he made today.

First Day of School

2010-08-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Here are Ben and Em on their first day of school. Ben is in 4th grade with Mrs Parker. Emily is in 2nd grade with Mrs Mosley. We were all excited about their new teachers. They seem really nice, and this is going to be a great year!

Isn't Emily's hair cute? We cut off about 5 inches.
She looks so much older, and she is excited to be able to do her own hair.
Note the Twinkle Toes...

Hopefully Ben is just tired of taking pictures!

A closer up look at Emily and Abby's shoes. They picked out the sparkliest pairs they could find. Abby walks around like the Queen of Everything in these things. She LOVES them. They are growing on me.

Lake Michigan Vacation

2010-08-27T06:24:00.001-07:00

This year we took a family vacation to Lake Michigan. Dave and I can't remember the last time we took a trip with only ourselves and our children. Here is the van all loaded up and ready to go.

We left Saturday afternoon and drove to Ann Arbor where we spent the night with Jeff and Stacey. They cheerfully gave up their air conditioned home to let us sleep there, while they spent the night at a neighbor's home. Thanks guys! It was fun to see you! And thanks for the great meals and fun Scrabble Game.

Sunday we drove the rest of the way to the top of Michigan. We stayed at a "cabin" on Lake Leelanou. The cabin was nicer than our home! Newly remodeled, the place was immaculate. Here we are at breakfast Monday morning. We cooked our own breakfast every day, made a picnic lunch, then when out for dinner.

After a leisurely morning at the cabin we drove into Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to explore the sand dunes. Here we are starting up. The views of the lake from the top were amazing!

Abby couldn't walk up the dunes at all. We all took turns carrying her.
Benjamin...

David...

Even Emily had to take a turn!

Jumping back down the dunes

I married Dave because he can jump so high!

Picnic at Sleeping Bear Dunes

This is the actual "Sleeping Bear" Dune. Benjamin and Dave really loved climbing these dunes. Mostly for the run down, I believe. They were so steep, and ran right into the water. Very pretty!

It was pretty windy at the top. Emily figured out how to survive the sandstorm, though...close your eyes and keep your mouth shut! We dug out sunglasses and hats soon after this summit.

We swam at an inland lake called Bar Lake

Then walked over the dune to Lake Michigan to swim. The waves on Lake Michigan were pretty big. The kids preferred the inland lakes.

Abby didn't care where we were, as long as there was sand to eat.

On Tuesday we hiked another tall dune called Pyramid Point.

At the top of pyramid point

Getting ready to float down the Platte River

The Platte River meets Lake Michigan. This was a beautiful area as the two bodies of water flowed together. We had a fun float, although it took longer than we expected, and also took quite a bit more oar power! Dave got a good workout trying to keep us going down the river.

Watching the sunset over the lake from a park in Empire, MI

The kids waiting for the train in Traverse City.

Here comes the train! It is the only thing left from the zoo that used to be in Traverse City.

Swimming at Old Mission Lighthouse on Grand Traverse Bay.
Everyone worked on a sand castle. This one was made by David and Joshua.

On Thursday we left the Leelanau Peninsula and headed north for Mackinaw City. On the way we drove through several darling cities and saw some beautiful lake homes. We stopped in Petosky for lunch and took a tour of Kilwin's chocolate factory. They were making candied orange peel that day. We all tried a sample, and it wasn't too bad. Course, if you dip anything in chocolate, it comes out OK!

The bridge from Macinaw City to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is where the waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. We are standing in front of Huron. Michigan is to the far side of the bridge.

After Paul Bunyon carved the Great Lakes, he rested against Castle Rock to rest. We climbed to the top to see the view. It was amazing!

Here I am with my handsome husband (seriously, how did I manage to get this guy to marry me?) at the top of Castle Rock.

Note the weather in the above picture...beautiful and sunny, right? Well, the next day we were scheduled to take the ferry across to Mackinac Island and ride our bikes around the island. It is a non-motorized island, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. But, alas, the next day we woke up to low clouds and a steady rain. It was cool, as well. So, with no end to the rain in sight (it was supposed to hang out for 2 days), we packed up and left a day early.

On the way back home we stopped in Frankenmuth to see the Christmas shop and enjoy a Bavarian village. It was a cute town. We were only 2 hours south, but it was already blazing hot and humid again. In upper Michigan, there was no humidity, and the evenings were cool enough we needed jackets. It amazing what a difference there is in such a short distance.

Emily and I had a fabulous time picking out Christmas ornaments.

It was NOT Benjamin's favorite part of the trip. He and Dave managed to make it through an hour pitstop at the Christmas shop without loosing their sanity, however. I was impressed with their stamina.

We had such a fun trip! We would definitely go back!

More Summer Fun

2010-08-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

Apple and raspberry picking at Tukens Orchard

The only ripe raspberries were yellow, so we took them and dyed the jam red.
It is not quite as pretty as the red raspberry, but at least it is the right color!

Abby with her cousin Joey (who was in charge of taking pictures, Kathryn? Is this really all we got out of that whole weekend???)

Abby modeling a dress made by Aunt Amber.

July Birthdays

2010-08-27T05:53:00.001-07:00

We celebrated 2 birthdays in July. Emily turned 7 and Joshua turned 5.

Here is a shot of Emily and her friends at her mermaid party.

Joshua had a joint party with his friend Reid. They chose a bug themed party. The kids had a great time playing "Pass the Parcel" and "Fly Swatter Tag." The best part of Joshua's party was all of the adult help there! Not only 2 sets of parents, but some older siblings helped too. Benjamin even pitched in and ran the fly swatter tag with Brock...they did it all on their own!

Abby had fun at the party with her cousin Rebecca.

For the actual birthdays, we started with a celebration breakfast at Krispy Kreme.

Then, on to Build a Bear, where the kids made their own stuffed animals.
Josh made a wolf and Emily chose a cat.

Here they are with their new friends.

Joshua's pet frog that the kids caught. We let him go after a week of observation.

I forgot to post the picture of Josh on his last day of school last June.
The kids all make tie-dye tee shirts. They looked so cute all together in their shirts!

July

2010-07-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Columbus Zoo had military days through July 4th. That meant that we all got in for free! Hurray! I love the zoo! Here is Josh with the flamingos.

Emily is on an African Safari...Doesn't she look like she knows what she is doing?

I can remember as as child thinking it was so funny to put bunny ears on someone in a picture.
Now Emily thinks it is terribly funny. I don't get it anymore.
I guess I have lost a piece of childhood!

The kids all agree that their favorite part of the zoo was the playground (go figure).
Since we didn't pay to get in, we let them have a ball in the bug themed climbing area.
I watched the older kids while Dave kept an eye on Abby...

Well, not a very attentive eye! I heard some moms laughing at some dad that was sound asleep. Wouldn't you know it was the father of MY children! He and Abby got some good rest in the play area!

Thanks to the Columbus Zoo for a great day!

The kids finished 2 weeks of swim lessons last week. They all had a great time.
This was Joshua's first real lesson, and after he figured out that no one in his class knew how to swim, he did fine. His little voice could be heard across the whole pool, telling his teacher very firmly that he could NOT float on his back because he didn't know how to swim. Later as the class kicked across the pool with kick boards, Josh was tagging along at the end of the group, he called out..."Guys! A little help back here!" And one of his patient teachers came to give him a little push along. At the end of the session he asked when he could come back, so I guess he enjoyed it!

Friday was cow appreciation day at Chick Fil-A. Here is my little herd. We all got a free meal for dressing up like cows! It was a great time!

Of course, I got in on the action, as well! Hey, it is a free meal! At Chick-Fil-A! Love that place!

We spent Saturday at the Boonshoft museum. It was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon, and we all had a good time. Emily is doing a science experiment in the "Do Lab."

Ben has been growing his hair since school let out. He wants to have a more "floppy" look. (His words, not mine.) This is how he went to church today. He got lots of comments on his hair, as you can imagine. It is different from his usual short crop. I can't say much because I let Josh grow his hair out pretty long. Besides, I kind of like Ben with longer hair. I am going to take him in to a salon to have it shaped up a little, though. This is a little crazy!

June

2010-06-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

We've had a great month so far! Here are some of the highlights from the last few weeks.

My parents came to visit for a week. We had a "stay-cation" here at our house. We had a lot of fun together.

Mormor and Abby

Morfar and Abby.

Canoeing on the Little Miami River

Wegerzyn Gardens

Dave, Dad, and I did a duathlon on base this week. We ran 2 miles, biked 10, then ran 2 more. Dad and Dave also went on a long bike ride another day.

Emily had her dance recital on Friday. My parents, Dave, and I watched 3 hours of dance to get to Emily's 3 minutes of glory. And let me tell you...it was beautiful! She was graceful and remembered all of her steps! Good job, Em!

Here we are...tired at 10 pm after the recital was over.

2010-05-31T05:02:00.000-07:00

Benjamin and his partner on TOAD Day (science fair).

Benjamin's poster presentation. His project explored force and motion. He did a great job explaining how the experiment worked.

Joshua's preschool class went on a field trip to Wegerzyn Park. They loved playing in the water! Here is Josh with his friends Josh and Nate.

Joshua enjoying the waterfall.

Josh and I had such a fun time together!

2010-05-31T04:40:00.000-07:00

Here is Abby last week. She can push herself up to stand.

This week she took a few steps. She is growing so big!

Abby is delighted with herself!

We went camping at the Narrows this weekend. Here I am starting out on the mile long walk into camp with Abby.

Everyone else floated down the river to camp with all of our gear.

Unloading the canoe at camp.

Carrying gear to the meadow campsite.

Crossing the little stream on the way to camp.

Eating dinner

The kids always want to roast marshmallows.

Making peach cobbler for the adults

Flashlight art

Canoeing on the Little Miami River

Abby loved being on the water.

We all had a great time!

The best field trip EVER!

2010-05-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

Third graders at Parkwood Elementary go on an overnight field trip to the science museum in Columbus (COSI). We were in the museum for almost 24 hours, and it was such a great time!

Here is Ben climbing the intestine wall in "Grossology".

Benjamin and Archna in "Gadgets". Ben and I were teamed up with another boy named Tyler, and we all hung out with Ben's friend Nikash and his mom, Archna.

Ben, Tyler, and Nikash in the Chemistry Lab.

Dance Party at midnight!

We had such a great time! Thanks to the third grade teachers for putting this together for us!

And finally, Ben's first missing tooth!

2010-05-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

In April, we celebrated Abby's first birthday. Here she is just before she attacked and ate her ladybug cake. She thought her birthday was great!

The lilacs bloom in April...we have bushes that bloom throughout the entire month, filling our yard with the wonderful scent. I love it so much that I would bring the blooms inside, and our house would smell like lilacs, as well. Benjamin hated the smell, though!

Time out for women in Indianapolis.

Benjamin's field trip to Wartinger Park. They had to dress like pioneers. What do you think? Does he look like Almanzo Wilder?

Ben turned 9 in May. We had a huge birthday party, and went out to dinner to celebrate. Here he is with his boxers from Mormor.

Benjamin lost his first tooth just before his birthday, but I don't have a picture yet. I'd better get on it, because the permanent tooth is almost in! Here is Emily in all her glory. She is a toothless wonder! And she has more that are loose!

Here she is looking a little more natural!

There are no pictures of Josh this month because he has a huge sty on his eye! I guess I should document the sties, but he would be so angry if I tried!

Poppy Snaps

2010-01-30T11:12:00.000-08:00

Just a note to let you know about my friend Shelby's etsy shop. She and her sister make really cute stuff. She made some things for me when Abby was born, and I have loved them. Check out her site before Monday (Feb 1) and enter a drawing to win $35 worth of free stuff!

http://www.poppysnaps.blogspot.com/

Sunday Dinner at our House!

2010-01-30T09:47:00.000-08:00

We think our kids are great, but trying new foods is not their best thing! Here you see them in their prime!

Abby learned how to crawl today.

2010-01-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

2010-01-22T12:15:00.000-08:00

For New Years 2010, we traveled to Maryland to visit
the Chesnuts in their new home. We stopped off by our old home
in Silver Spring and saw the DC temple.

Benjamin was this small when we lived here!

We spent one day seeing some sights in DC.
The Capitol...

A holiday train exhibit at the National Arboretum...

The Arboretum...

A beautiful Christmas Tree...

Benjamin helps out at the Air and Space Museum

The aquarium at Baltimore Harbor

This place is amazing! So many sea creatures!

Kathryn and Joey enjoyed the aquarium.

This is one big mouth!

John feeds Andrew some ice cream.

Sarah's family

Benjamin climbs the staircase.

Joseph's Family

Megan's Family

I sure love Andrew!
Thanks for hosting us, Sarah!
We had a great New Year's Celebration!

Disney World with the Osmonds

2010-01-20T10:49:00.000-08:00

Last stop on our fabulous family vacation: Disney World!

Megan's parents gave us this trip for Christmas.
We stayed at Shades of Green, the military hotel on the Disney Resort.
The whole Osmond Family was together except for Joseph,
who was deployed on the USNS Comfort. We missed him!

Here is Joseph's wife, Kathryn, carrying their son Joey (and a really big grasshopper!)
She was a trooper to put up with the Florida heat!

Anna and Pat always make a great picture.

Sarah and Andrew

Matthew gets a drink from his mom.

John is always ready to try a roller coaster

In the Tiki, tiki, tiki,tiki, tiki room...
It was cool and comfortable

Benjamin and David loved Thunder Mountain.

Abby tries to pretend she is in her comfortable crib, instead of at Disney World.

Megan on the phone trying to track down our reservation for
dinner with Cinderella and friends.

Whew! We found them. We had a great time meeting all of
the Cinderella Characters.

Morfar and Emily

Mormor

Emily and Ben

Cinderella's Castle

Joshua and Mickey

The whole family

Thanks for a great trip, mom and Dad! We loved Disney!

2010-01-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

Soon after the blessing/baptism, we leaded south for our family vacation.

First stop: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
One of our all time favorite East-Coast locations

We hiked the Chimney Tops, which we have wanted to do for a few years.
All 4 kids made it to the top of the trail. Emily did it in a dress, which is impressive, I think!

Benjamin scrambled up to the very top, first with David, then with Megan.
He sure loves to hike!

Chimney Tops, Elevation 4800 ft

Next Stop: The Florida Atlantic Coast
We were just north of Cape Canaveral.
It was really hot, so the beach was a great place to be.

The kids had so much fun playing in the waves and sand.

June 2009

2010-01-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

I am going to attempt to catch up on this blog and post some pictures from the last 7 months or so. We'll see how far I get before I give up!

In June, Benjamin was baptized.

Benjamin on his baptism day.

The day after Ben's baptism, David blessed Abby.

We did both events back to back so that we could have ALL FOUR grandparents in Ohio.
We feel lucky to have such supportive parents/grandparents. Thanks for coming!
Here is Abby with Dave's parents.

Here is Benjamin with Megan's parents.

Jeff and Stacey were here, as well. Here is the whole group!

Visitors

2010-01-17T11:24:00.000-08:00

Kristin, Amy, and Myrna came out to meet
Abby in May. We had a great day at Wegerzyn Park
and ate at some great restaurants.

Kristin and Amy

Myrna, Abby, Ben, Josh, Emily

After Beavercreek, we all went up to
Ann Arbor to meet Jeff and Stacey's new little Rebecca.

Here is beautiful Rebecca on her blessing day.

Also in May, David was promoted to major.
LTC Ronald Hale swore him in.

Fossil hunting at Ceasar's Creek.

We all love Abigale!

2009-04-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

2009-04-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

Abigale is here! She arrived on April 10, 2009 (her due date, which is only hit by 5% of babies). She weighed 9 pounds and 5 ounces. I don't know how long she was. I guess I should look that up! The delivery went without any problems, and she is doing well.

Easter Celebration

2009-04-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

Here are Benjamin, Emily, and Joshua in their Easter finery. All ready for church.

On Saturday, David took the kids on an egg hunt downtown Dayton. They had breakfast there, met the Easter Bunny, and did some crafts. It was a great event!

Of course, the best thing about Easter was bringing Abigale home!
Here are Kathryn and I carrying her out of the hospital. Mom was also came to bring us home, while David took the kids to church.

Mormor with baby Abigale just home from the hospital.

Abigale Arrives

2009-04-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here is the last "belly photo" taken before Abigale was born. I was ready to have her out of my stomach, and into my arms!

Me in labor. Thanks for the photo support, David!

She's here! One of the 5 best moments of my life! I love holding those slimy, warm, new babies!

Clean her off...weigh and measure her.

And now back with mom and dad. We were sure glad to see her!

Aunt Kathryn in Ohio

2009-04-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

My brother's wife, Kathryn, came to visit for a few weeks before the baby came. She was such a big help! Even though she is half-way through her own pregnancy, she dropped everything, and came to Ohio to help us out! Thanks Kath! We had a great time with you! You really took a load off of me when I needed it.

Here we are a Chuck E. Cheese's, one of the kids' favorite places!

Having a cookout in the back yard.

Kathryn with baby Abigale. Kathryn had her ultrasound here in Ohio. Her husband is deployed with the Navy, and so my mom, Kathryn's step mom, and Kathryn's sister all went to the ultrasound. They found out Joseph and Kathryn are expecting a BOY! How exciting!

1000 Books

2009-03-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

Benjamin has now been immortalized on the halls of Parkwood Elementary by reading 1000 books. Here is the plaque with his name on it! Hurray for Ben!

Emily went to a princess tea party with some friends at the library. Here she is looking beautiful in her princess dress with Liliana.

Grandma comes to visit

2009-03-25T13:25:00.001-07:00

David's mom came to visit in February! We had such a great time with her. Here she is with each of the kids. They sure love their grandmother!

Jeff's family came too

2009-03-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

We went bowling with Grandma. It was a great time. She blew us all out of the water. I guess that bowling class at BYU was pretty good!

Joshua loved bowling.

Emily didn't so much, but she looks happy here!

We went out to John Bryan State Park for a cook out. It was chilly, but fun.

Jeff, Stacey, and Jacob. What a cute family!
Thanks for coming to visit! It is so great to see you all.

Valentine's Day

2009-03-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

The kids all had Valentine's Day parties at their school, and I was able to make it to all three! It was great. Here they are:

Benjamin's class had to make as many words as they could out of the phrase "Valentine's Day." They came up with a lot of great words. They also had treats.

Emily's class had a game, treats, and a craft. Here she is with her friend Megan.

Joshua's class made a book of love, and decorated valentine's. They also had treats. It was a fun Valnetine's day!

Cut the Flour

2009-02-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

I loved this game as a child, and now my kids love it. We used to play it in conjunction with another game we called concentration. My kids are young, so we just take turns cutting the flour till someone knocks the penny in. Then they go after it with their teeth. Here is Joshua digging in after he tipped over the penny. He was a pretty good sport.

Clean sink

2009-02-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

Benjamin called me up to his bathroom the other day, very excited. There was a plant growing out of the bottom drain! We had noticed that the drain was running a little slowly, and I added ZEP to my mental list (a totally useless list). So, now we have vegetation coming up. How did it get there? Our pet hamster planted it for us. He lives in the bathroom at night, and throws his seeds into the sink. (And all over the rest of the room, he's not a very tidy eater, but still very cute.) We left the sprout for a while, but it didn't seem to be doing very well, so I pulled it out.

Here is a picture of our cute Zander.

Wallpaper borders

2009-02-03T17:28:00.001-08:00

Wallpaper borders are something to think seriously about. Before you put one up, even a really cute one, consider whether you will EVER move away from your house and want to sell it. We loved a house here in Beavercreek, but didn't buy it because there was too much wallpaper to remove.

We have a very cute border in Joshua's room that was there when we moved in. It was great for Josh, but now we are moving the new baby into his room and Josh is going to bunk with Ben. So, the sports border has to come down. I have spent 2 hours scraping at the ceiling, and have sore fingers and arms, and am about a quarter of the way through. It is going to take longer than painting the room!

So, really think about it.

By the way, I painted the room the most cheerful yellow color you can imagine. Yellow is definitely my favorite color. Such a happy room!

Morfar Visits Ohio

2009-01-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, we gave my dad a gift he couldn't return. It was actually more of a gift to ourselves, but we were feeling selfish. We spent our frequent flyer miles, and brought him to Ohio for a week! He had to work the 4:30 am session at the temple, but was able to clear the entire week and come! What a great grandfather. The kids were so excited, and asked everyday for a week if he was coming that day. Finally, he arrived, bringing gifts! WOW!
Here is Emily modelling her new princess dress from Morfar. This is quite the dress. We caught her staring at herself in the mirror in it. She did look awfully beautiful! Benjamin got new Pokemon cards, and Joshua got Diesel #10. They were all pretty excited.

We left on Monday to spend 2 days at Great Wolf Lodge, one of our favorite places to go as a family. Fun for everyone!

After a long day of swimming and waterslides (not me, of course, they don't let people that are so obviously pregnant on the slides), the kids went down for a bedtime story with Wiley the Wolf. They all met him, although Josh wasn't willing to get very close.

Here we all are, enjoying the good night animal show.

My dad got me out of the house, and I did 3 things I had never done before in Dayton while he was here. The first was to visit Charleston State Preserve. They call it the "miniature Niagara." It is certainly tiny in comparison, but it was beautiful, and a fun winter hike. We only took Joshua, while the other kids were in school.

As you can see, the falls were frozen. It was really beautiful.

Another new things I saw was Mendelson's Liquidation Outlet. If you know my dad, you'll understand that he spotted this place from the car on our way to the Children's Museum one day, and absolutely had to see what it was. It was mostly junk, but interesting none the less. We also visited the Dayton Institute of Art, which is free to the public. We didn't see the grown up exhibits because we had kids with us, but in the basement they have the "Experiencenter" with hands on activities for kids. Mine loved it. Dad and I had fun, as well.

Mostly, I enjoyed seeing my kids play with my dad. He did a lot of reading, snuggling, and playing. He repaired some things around the house, took my car into the shop, and even suggested a trip to Hobby Lobby (which I took him up on, of course).
Thanks for a great trip, dad!

Christmas in Ohio

2008-12-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. Here are a few photos.We have had rain the last few days, so no white Christmas for us, but it was still cozy and snug in our warm home here in Ohio.

The kids were up at 7:00 am, and we headed down to open our stockings.

After presents, the kids put on their new clothes and started playing. They had a fun afternoon. Benjamin is teaching Emily the finer points of how to play Pokemon. He also put together some Lego Star Wars sets, and played with his Star Wars figures.
Emily got a music box with jewelry that she put on right away. She also got some new Polly pockets, Tink slippers that are darling, and a Barbie car.
Joshua has a race car track that is so fun to play with. He got a pop gun from Santa and a fun doodle pro.
He also loves playing with his crocodile dentist game.
He and I played it at least 20 times yesterday.

All of the kids got their first Webkinz animal, which we have been trying to play with since yesterday. Apparently Christmas is a popular day on their website.

We had another family over for dinner, with lots of kids (pretend cousins?) to play with. We had a great Christmas, and send a big thank you to everyone who thought of us this year!
We miss all of our family!

Christmas Eve 2008

2008-12-26T11:57:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve, with many family traditions. We ate meatballs and found an almond in the riscrem (Dave won the chocolate Santa, but he shared).

We re-enacted the Nativity play. Emily was Mary (of course),
while Joshua played opposite her as Joseph.

Benjamin was a handsome wise man.

Dave played the shepherd, while I was the angel and narrator.

The kids all opened one present on Christmas Eve. What a surprise, it was pajamas! They jumped all over the place, though, and put them on right there in the living room.
They all looked so cute! Dave and I have matching jammies,
but they weren't as flattering on us as on the kids!

The Nutcracker

2008-12-26T11:06:00.000-08:00

Emily and I went to see the Nutcracker on December 12th. She really wanted to go, and I was excited to have a mother/daughter evening, but I was worried that she might not like the ballet. I needn't have worried. She loved it! I offered to leave at intermission, but she wanted to stay for the sugar plum fairies. We sat on the 4th row back, and had great seats to see all the facial expressions, and even the sweat glistening on the leading man! It was great. Before the ballet, we went out for french fries and all you can eat sundaes at Max and Erma's. Emily said it was the best night of her life, which is all a mother can really ask for!

Here we are getting ready to leave.

Here is Emily with her "fancy" sundae. She thought mine was boring because it was mostly brown (chocolate), while hers had every color of the rainbow. I think we both liked our own!

Visiting Santa

2008-12-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

Greene County offers a free night out with Santa. They have lights, a wagon ride, face painting, and of course, the chance to sit on Santa's knee. We went last weekend, and had a great evening.

Emily and Josh posed with one of the "reindeer."

Dave and Josh waiting to have their faces painted.

Benjamin had a snowman put on his cheek!
We splurged and bought a picture with Santa. Dave doesn't like buying pictures, because he can usually take better ones, but he has been strangely pleased with this one of our family.

2008-12-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

Dave wrote up a trip report for our Grand Canyon 2007, adventure, and posted it to Summit Post last week. Today it is on the main page of summitpost. Go to www.summitpost.org in the next few days to see it on the headlines, or anytime after that and look under the Grand Canyon section. We also have a description of the trip here on our blog if you look in the archives.

Presidential Traverse

2008-12-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

This September Dave met John Chesnut in Boston and drove up to the White Mountains of New Hamshire to do the "Presidential Traverse"---a 24 mile ridge crossing over at least 11 peaks in 15 hours. There is enough up and down in this trip to be equivalent to climbing the Empire State building 7 times. I've always want to go up Mt Washington, so I'll have to get Dave to take me back (shouldn't be too tough). See John's trip report details and pictures:

Link to Presidential Traverse Trip Report: summitpost.org

Emily joins the Radio City Rockettes!

2008-11-18T13:06:00.000-08:00

Today, Emily and I went to tea with the Rockettes. They are in town to do their Holiday show, and had a meet and greet with military wives and their daughters. David put our names in, and we were selected to go! We had a great time. We had our pictures taken with the beautiful dancers, ate lunch together, and talked with them about their exciting careers! They gave Emily a Christmas ornament that they all signed, as well. She was in love with the whole thing. She was able to get in line with the girls, and tried some high kicks. I think she has some real potential!

Here are Emily and I posing with the Rockettes!

The Rockettes, combined with our first snow, and the fact that one of the radio stations has already started playing non-stop Christmas songs, has really put us in the mood for Christmas. Or, as Josh says, "It is snowing to get ready for Santa!"

First Snow of the Season!

2008-11-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

We had our first snow of the season this weekend, and the kids were excited! They all dressed up in their warmest clothes to dance in the snowflakes. Not too much stayed on the ground, but it sure was pretty coming down! Here are Joshua and Emily in my old Norwegian sweaters. They still look good! Josh wore his to play in, but Emily complained that it was too "pokey" and took it off again.

Emily and Joshua

Joshua's hair

2008-11-17T05:42:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time with Joshua. We go all sorts of places together. I can't remember the last time I took him out in public that someone hasn't commented on his hair. It is curly, and he is a pretty cute kid (at least I think so). Lots of people ask me where he got the curly hair from. So, for those of you who look at this blog and are interested, I have some pictures of who he inherited his hair from. You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

David on his mission in LaPalma, Canarias.
Probably the only time he didn't bother to cut his hair.

David with some bananas.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Halloween! We went for a hayride to pick out our pumpkins, played at the Cincinnati Zoo's Halzooween, and even went trick or treating! Her are some pictures of the kids dressed up as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader.

Emily, Benjamin, and Joshua

Leia feeding Vader some ice cream

Luke Skywalker with his candy bag.

Princess Leia and her dad.

Mom with Luke and Leia.

Hay Ride

2008-11-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

The whole family on a hay ride to pick out our pumpkins.

The kids picked some good ones!

Joshua thought it was funny to eat the "popcorn."

Soccer

2008-10-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

We just finished an exciting soccer season. Benjamin and Emily played, which kept us busy 2 week nights, and most of Saturday, but they both had a great time.

Emily, making an attempt at the goal.

Ben chasing down the ball. He was a great player this season!

After a sweaty game.

Emily played some of her old preschool friends.
I put this picture in, because sometimes I forget that Emily is tall for her age.

Emily's kindergarten team. They had a fun season.

First Day of School

2008-09-18T17:08:00.001-07:00

We got back from our trip on Saturday, and school started the next Tuesday. Here are the kids on their first days of school.

Benjamin is excited to start second grade with his teacher, Mrs. Hanna!

Emily is going to Kindergarten with Mrs. Matteson.

She just hopped on the bus, and went off to her first day of school!

Joshua still isn't so sure about preschool with Ms. Stockholm. He loves it in the afternoon, though, when he comes home! It is so strange to have my baby leave me for a few hours! He has things that happen to him that I don't see! What a crazy world this is! Doesn't he look handsome with his little backpack on, though?

Our adventures out West

2008-09-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

0In August, we headed west, to Denver, Colorado for Uncle Kevin's wedding to "Princess Tess." We started out with a mini family reunion, however, with ALL of Dave's siblings.

Kristin and Kevin picked us up at the airport. The kids all had to pull their own suitcases. It was so cute to watch them, all lined up like little ducklings.

We met in Colorado, I'm not exactly sure where, but it was definitely remote, and certainly secluded. We didn't run into a lot of other people! We camped, of course (no hotels out there). It was a great few days. The kids ran around, and the adults visited (some of them ran around, too!) The nights were chilly, as were the days. Here are Emily and Josh with some of their cousins, playing in the snow.

Emily and her cousin Anna played all day long. They just love each other!

Taylor, working hard to chop wood for our fire.

Mark, cooking a delicious meal over the fire.

The adults, relaxing around the fire, and talking.

Emily snuggling up with Grandpa, for warmth!

Roasting marshmallows

David, enjoying a s'more.

Here is Joshua with his cousin, Willy.

The area we camped in is rich in railroad history. I was impressed with the rough terrain they were able to get trains into, just to get the silver and gold out! A pretty lucrative time for some. The railway is no longer around, but there are a few tracks left. Joshua was excited to get out there and run his Thomas train on the rails.

Emily and I walked the rails. It was a beautiful area!

Here is Benjamin with his cousins, Taylor, Dallin, and Ryan. They had so much fun playing together!
And, finally, the highlight of our trip: Kevin and Tess's wedding in the Denver Temple. It was a beautiful wedding, and they are going to be such a happy couple!
Emily and Joshua were fascinated with Tess, "the princess." They are still asking about her. They may never call her Aunt Tess, just the princess. Oh well, there are worse nicknames! Emily went through the line at the reception at least 5 times, maybe more. Tess and her parents were very patient with her, especially when she started bringing them bits of food that they had to tactfully dispose of! Here she is, admiring Princess Tess.
Finally, here are my kids with Grandma and Grandpa Hoopes. This is actually in Salt Lake, a week or so after the wedding.

After a fun week in Colorado with the Hoopes', we drove across the mountains to Utah to see my family. Sarah and John were there with their kids, as well. We had a great couple of weeks together.

All of the great-grandchildren love Olde Mor. Probably because she reads to them and sings songs in Norwegian.

Dave and John took Benjamin backpacking up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I believe they camped at Lake Blanche, but I could be wrong. Here are some pictures of their fun 2 days.

Starting the hike (note Ben's backpack, with his sleeping pad strapped to the back! How cute!):

The top of the peak, on day 2:
Benjamin in a little bit of a tricky spot:

Dave, John, and my dad also hiked Mt Nebo, the highest peak on the Wasatch Front.

I had more modest ambitions this trip, and made it up to Cecret Lake, one of my favorite hikes in Little Cottonwood Canyon. I like it because of the wildflowers, and now, because it is a good hike for my kids. Although, Ben did complain that it was way too easy for him! Here are Mormor, Morfar, Ben, Emily, Joshua, and Matthew at the lake.

Emily and Mormor were great hikers! (Of course, Emily did it in a dress!)

My dad let the kids use his tools, and Emily and Matthew spent hours in the garage, sawing up old boards.

We also hiked up to the hotpots out of Spanish Fork, but I didn't take any pictures of it, unfortunately. We had such a fun trip to Utah/Colorado! We really miss the west, but were happy to come back "home" to Ohio!

Summer 2008

2008-09-08T16:03:00.001-07:00

Summer went by so quickly this year! We had a great time travelling, seeing family, and even staying at home. Here are a few of the highlight of our summer.

Shortly after school ended, my parents came out to Ohio for Joseph's graduation from Ohio State. Sarah and John came with their 2 kids, as well. It was so fun to have them all here! Here are Joseph and Kathryn. Doesn't Dr. Osmond look dashing in his doctoral robes?

After graduation, we got down to the real fun, and headed north to Cedar Point amusement park, and Great Wolf Lodge water park. It was a great trip. The kids thought it was the greatest place on earth (they've never been to Disneyland), and were perfectly happy to stay in Snoopyland the whole day. The grown ups took turns watching them run from ride to ride, but we all got some big roller coaster time in.

Mom and Sarah at Cedar Point.

My kids with their grandparents at Ohio State University.

In July, Chick-Fil-A hosted cow appreciation day. Our whole family (including Dave. who took this picture) dressed up like Holsteins to get a free meal. The whole meal! It was great. Our whole restaurant was filled with cow look a likes. My sister did it in DC, and they were lonely cows. The kids thought it was as fun as Halloween.

Wright-Patterson AFB sponsored a "tattoo" for the 4th of July this year. There was music, a fireworks show, and an air show. My favorite plane was the B2 Spirit, Ben really loved the F22 Raptor. Here we all are at the show.

Benjamin played softball in June and July. He really liked playing, and we liked cheering him on.

Benjamin and Emily took swimming lessons in July with their friends Nathan and Liliana. They really learned a lot. I am impressed with their swimming ability.

The Dorwood Optimist Club sponsors "Kindergarten Safety Village" each summer. Emily spent a week there this year, and learned all about fire, water, and school bus safety. Here she is posing at her graduation with the fire dog. She loved her class!

Benjamin has decided that he wants to be a fighter pilot when he grows up. Here he is trying out the cockpit of an F16. He looks pretty good in it, I think!
Whenever it was Ben's turn to pick the activity this summer, he picked either the Air Force museum (filled with planes), or the Wright Brothers Memorial (with a flight simulator).

One of my favorite places we visited in Dayton was the Cox Arboretum. There was a butterfly house, and more gardens than you can imagine. It was absolutely beautiful! Joshua is pointing out one of the butterflies.

We also visited the Wegerzyn garden with another family. They have a great children's garden with plenty of water for the kids to play in. The kids were able to water the plants (see Emily below), as well as taste and feel them. It was a really fun place!

Next on our summer agenda comes 2 birthdays in a row! First Emily turned 5 on July 30th.
Here she is with her cake.

Not surprisingly, Emily wanted a "pink" birthday party. We ate pink food, drank pink juice, and made pink crafts. It was a great time. The girls even made their own ice cream!

The guests all came in their pretty party dresses. They looked darling, I must say!

The next day, July 31st, Joshua turned 3. He's still my baby, though! Here he is with his "Thomas" birthday cake. We went swimming for his birthday, which all the kids love.

He opened his presents after we went to the kid's favorite restaurant for dinner: Abuelos. Joshua got just what he wanted: trains and more trains. Perfect!

A week in paradise (AKA The Virgin Islands)

2008-06-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

Dave and I left our kids with my parents and spent a week in the Virgin Islands. Dave's sister, Kristin has lived there for the last year, and we decided it was time for a visit. We had a great week: spent mostly on the beach and in the water. We visited 5 different islands, all of them beautiful. St John was probably my favorite. Click on the slideshow to see a few pictures.

Ahoy There!

2008-05-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Benjamin turned 7 this month! He had a wild and crazy pirate party! The boys had a great time! Ben thought it was great! Here are a few pictures.

The cannonball fight. Always a popular game among 7-year old boys.

Walk the plank relay. They were pretty fast!

Joseph and Kathryn came for the festivities. They were an amazing help! Joseph is keeping Kathryn safe during the pinata time. She had the dangerous job of spinning the blindfolded batter before he hit the pinata! She is very brave.

Dave swinging the pinata .
The pirate ship birthday cake. This was so easy to make, and Ben thought it was great!

Uncle Joseph and Joshua taking a rest.

Happy Birthday, Benjamin! We love you!

Spring has Arrived!

2008-05-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

We're jumping for joy! Spring is finally here, and the weather is, well, spring-like. We have cold days, rainy days, and the best of all, warm, sunny days! I actually like rainy days (like today), because I don't feel like I have to work in the yard, and can actually catch up on things like organizing closets and updating our blog.

Here is our house with the beautiful blossoms that I love. We also captured a bee, doing his job, as well as Benjamin, pretending to be a bee.

Emily finished her third session of gymnastics. She enjoyed the workout each week, but mostly liked wearing the fancy gymnastics outfits! She learned a lot.

Benjamin started spring soccer on the black dragons team. He loves to run after that ball! Emily was disappointed to learn that she cannot start until the fall. She was looking forward to the snacks!

Benjamin got a much needed haircut, but the interesting thing about this photo is that you can actually see the hair being cut and flying through the air. At least you can in our original one. Dave bought himself a new camera, and we are all the subjects of his new hobby.

The first week of may we went to Indiana so I could run the Mini. We stayed with some old friends, the Pitchers. The kids had a great time! Here are Bethany and Emily, soon after waking up. They hadn't been up for long, but it looks like Emily has already found a princess dress to wear!

Here are Joshua and Jared.

Benjamin and Joey are exploring the world of webkins.
It was nice to be back and Indy and see so many old friends. Thanks for your hospitality!Benjamin's first grade class incubated chicken eggs for 21 days. The day after Ben's birthday, they hatched! Emily and I went in to visit the new arrivals. They were so cute! I almost wanted to take one home!

John Hoopes visits Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina!

2008-02-14T08:32:00.001-08:00

We had a great visit with Dave's dad just after Christmas. Thanks for coming!

If you come to Dayton, you'll probably end up at the Air Force Museum, like it or not. There isn't a lot to see here, but this is big, and free. Here are Dave and his dad enjoying the planes.

The kids and I finally caught up with them!

John brought Pirate stories and toys. Here the kids are listening to the story while playing with their new toys.

We spent one night at the Great Wolf lodge, a hotel and waterpark. Everyone had a great time! And what a great picture of us in our swimming suits!

We made Thai and Indian food while John was here. Dave and his dad shopped for ingredients at several local ethnic markets.

We drove south to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It was just after a snow storm, and was unusually cold for the south. The scenery was amazing! The waterfalls were frozen, and there was snow on all the trees! Perfect day!

We did a short hike to a famous waterfall.

Emily and Benjamin take a little break.

Here we are at the top. It was pretty and quiet up there.

Christmas Traditions

2008-02-14T08:12:00.001-08:00

Waiting on the steps Christmas morning. It's almost time to visit the Christmas room!

Emily got some princess books. Dave read them out loud.

The kids were excited about their presents. Too bad they didn't open their new pajamas earlier on in the game! Here is Benjamin with the walkie talkies that santa brought.Emily loved her fancy new dress!

Joshua got a race car set, and was done with Christmas. He didn't need anything else!

Here we are on Christmas Eve. The stockings are hung...
I love our Christmas traditions. We have a nice mix of the Osmonds and the Hoopes. We eat a traditional meal like my family had growing up: Norwegian meatballs, mashed potatoes, rolls, creamed rutabega, green cabbage, corn, and carrots. We had rice pudding for dessert, and Benjamin found the almond and won the chocolate santa. Then we dressed up to put on the nativity play (Dave's family), and finally, we all "laid in a star" (also Dave's family). You can see the picture below. It was fun to have Joseph and Kathryn around to take a picture of our star!

2008-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

This is just a cute picture of Emily in her winter gear.

On Christmas Eve this year, we made candy trains. The kids (and Joseph and Kathryn) did a beautiful job. The trains looked delicious!Here is our rendition of the nativity play. Emily was Mary, Dave was Joseph, Benjamin and Joshua were wisemen, Joseph was a shepherd, and Kathryn was the angel. They did a great job!

I went in to Ben's class for their Christmas Party. We had a great time. Here is a photo of Ben with his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Smith.

We met Joseph and Kathryn at Clifton Mill for an amazing light display. Fortunately is was fairly warm, and we had a really fun evening.

Being a Mother

2007-12-14T11:20:00.000-08:00

Snow day! Benjamin was so happy to have a day off of school! He played and played in the snow. Here is his first snowman. He made a whole family of them!
Emily liked making snow angels. It looks cold to me, but she thought it was worth it!
Emily and Joshua under the tree. Joshua looks innocent, but he has been unwrapping at least one present a day. You'd think his mom would wise up and MOVE the presents. But, no harm done. He mostly just unwraps a jack in the box over and over. It's for him, anyway.

Some comments about my children.

Since I am, afterall, first and foremost, a mother, I am going to take a minute here and tell a little bit about my kids. Here is a funny quote from Emily.

Megan (in a big hurry): Emily, you can't go out in those shoes. You look like poor white trash.

Emily (indignant): I'm not white trash! ..... I'm PINK trash.

Does this translate well? It was really funny when she said it!

Also of note, Benjamin's art work can be seen online, now. The website is www.artsonia.com/Benjamin765
He got his 150 patch for reading that many books last month. His goal this month is to earn both 200 and 250. This is a big goal for him. Wish us luck!

Joshua is potty training. I have this glimmer of hope that there will come a day in my life that I won't have a child in diapers. It has been an expensive 6 years.

BAOTAP

2007-11-25T07:19:00.000-08:00

BAOTAP stands for "Books Are Our Thing At Parkwood." BAOTAP is a robot that encourages the kids to read. Benjamin got his patch for reading 100 books this month. Here he is with his certificate. They have an assembly each month to award the kids their patches. This is Ben's 3rd. We sew the patches on to their school shirts. It is really cute, and it sure gets Ben reading!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T07:07:00.000-08:00

We went to the Dawson's for Thanksgiving dinner this year. They have a variety of pets that we are going to model for you in the next pictures.

Benjamin with the corn snake (a constrictor)

Emily with Angelita (a tarantula)
Emily really loved these animals. She held them for the longest, and kept begging for more.

Joshua with a spider for a hat.

And finally, me with the snake, tarantula, and rabbit. The rabbit I enjoyed holding. He is very soft. The snake I could tolerate, although it was a stretch. The spider was way over the top. I am smiling in this picture, but I am also hyperventilating. Even Dave admitted that the spider made him feel a little nervous.

Photo Shoot

2007-11-25T07:01:00.000-08:00

Benjamin, 6 years old
Emily, 4 years old

Joshua, 2 years old

I bribed the kids with McDonald's this week, and they agreed to sit in front of a bush so I could take their pictures.

Falling leaves

2007-11-13T06:35:00.001-08:00

All those trees that we loved so much when we bought our house have started to drop their leaves. The yard is beautiful with lots of different colors. Raking has begun in earnest. Fortunately, everyone in our house likes the task in some form or another. Either actually picking up the leaves, or at least raking them into a pile and then jumping in it. Another popular activity is scooping leaves onto the trampoline, then jumping them off again. Good times.

Here are the kids working in the far corner of the yard.

Resting after their labors.

Chicago with Kids

2007-11-13T06:15:00.001-08:00

The first weekend in November found us in Chicago. My sister-in-law, Kristin was there from the Virgin Islands for a conference, and Benjamin, Emily, and I drove up to meet her. David was on call; he stayed home with Joshua. We all had a good time. Chicago in the fall is a beautiful city. Here are some of the highlights.

Eating at the Rainforest Cafe

The Chicago Zoo (very fun, and free)

The Museum of Science and Industry, one of the few world's fair
buildings to survive the Chicago Fire.

Riding the giant ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

We had a fun trip. Thanks Kristin!

Halloween

2007-11-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a big hit with the kids this year. Benjamin was Batman, Emily was Sleeping Beauty, and Josh was a cow (again). I wasn't sure if Joshua would understand the whole concept, but he caught on quickly, and still carries his pumpkin bucket around saying "trick or treat."

The kids went with friends for the first time. Dave followed along behind to supervise and watch Joshua. It was a fun day.

The bike ride

2007-10-07T18:57:00.001-07:00

My running/biking friend, Jessica drove over from Indianapolis on Saturday. We had a great afternoon. We listened to the first session of General conference, then took off on a 40 mile bike ride. This is no big deal for Jessica, but took an act of courage on my part, since I haven't ridden a bike in months. But, we had a great ride, and the conversation was so interesting that I hardly noticed the distance.

The reward: dinner at Abuelo's.

Thanks for coming, Jessica!

Backpacking

2007-10-07T18:48:00.001-07:00

David has wanted to take Benjamin backpacking for a couple of months, so this Friday, they packed up and went. They drove down after work, and hiked in in the dark (typical Hoopes family trip). Emily, Joshua, and I stayed home and watched Barbie Island Princess and ate cookies. About halfway through the movie, I got a phone call from David just to let me know that they were pretty much lost. Benjamin was a little upset after walking for over an hour and not arriving at camp. They finally set up their tent just off the trail, and had a good night.

Benjamin at their "campsite," finally!

Benjamin loves this picture of himself with this "pretty fungus."

Cousins

2007-10-07T18:20:00.001-07:00

Matthew and Joshua had a love hate relationship. Sometimes they were best friends, sometimes they drove each other up the wall. I guess that's what happens when two 2-year olds hang out for a week. Here is a classic shot of Joshua ordering Matthew "off" of the trampoline. He ordered Sarah off, as well. He's quite the little king at our house.

They got back on, however, for this last shot before Sarah had to drive back home. Thanks for coming, guys! We miss you!

Sarah drives west

2007-10-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

My 7 months pregnant sister, Sarah, drove from Arlington, VA with her 2-1/2 year old son, to visit us last week. We loved having them! Here are some of the highlights.

We drove out to the Audobon Society Apple Fest. The kids learned all about Johnny Appleseed, and Sarah and I sampled apple dumplings, apple pie, apple butter, etc. It was a lot of fun. Here is my nephew, Matthew riding a "horse."

Next, Benjamin modeling the hats we made. Then, Sarah and the kids checking out Thanksgiving dinner. Yum! Finally me and my kids with their cousin, Matthew. We had a great day!

Bye, bye, lovebirds

2007-10-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

The lovebirds were very friendly creatures, and loved our heads. Joshua thought it was the coolest thing ever when they landed on him.

Try not to notice that Joshua is wearing nothing but the lovebirds and a diaper. I swear I'm a good mother, and usually dress my kids. We were getting ready for bed!

Here they are on my head, where they spent a lot of time. I thought I was fairly tolerant of the birds. I didn't say anything when they chewed up a stack of bills I needed to pay. Ignored it when they turned the title page of Benjamin's Book of Mormon into their nest. But then they started in on Pride and Prejudice, and it was time for them to go. We gave them away to a good home a few days later. The crazy thing was that they really seemed to like Jane Austen best! Even after I covered the books with a dish cloth, Clyde would pull it off so Bonnie could get back to work on P & P. They had good taste, I'll give them that!

We miss the birds, but I think they will be better off where they are now.

Lovebirds

2007-09-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pictures of my family this week, because we lost the cord to upload pictures from our camera. This bird will have to do.

I want to start this note out with a story about my friend Shalauna. She is the wife of Brady, and is the mother of twins Cate and Cal. For Cate and Cal's birthday one year, Brady came home with a rabbit in a cage. I remember thinking it was a cute rabbit, but was glad that MY husband would never surprise me like that. Well, Brady, Dave just gave you a run for your money!

Let me back up and tell about my weekend. Deseret Book did a Time Out For Women in Indianapolis on Saturday. Benjamin and I drove over on Friday night and stayed with the Pugsleys. Saturday, Benjamin played with his old friend Riley, while Becky and I went to the conference. It was a great day. I loved seeing old friends again! Just seeing familiar faces made me feel so good! I was on the verge of happy tears all day. The speakers were good, too. After the conference, Benjamin and I packed up and headed back to Ohio. We had a great drive listening to "Double Fudge," a somewhat newer Judy Blume book (at least I assume it is newer, because I haven't read it, and she references Harry Potter). We arrived home, and Joshua came running out yelling "Yea! Mommy! Yea! Mommy!" which pretty much fills my heart with joy and is the best reason to be a mother. I walked into the house feeling good, and saw a bird on my kitchen counter. This was somewhat surprising, especially when I found a cage and another bird. (There were roses, too, but that hardly makes up for anything.)

I wondered which neighbor had asked us to watch their birds already. But, no. My husband has spent the day on Craig's List and found a pair of lovebirds to bring home as our new pets. He said he wanted to SURPRISE me! Now let me state for anyone who doesn't know this about me. I am not much into pets. Animals are fine, but not really in my house. Where I sleep, and make food, and try to stay clean. I'm just not a pet person. I have 3 children. Doesn't that count? David knows this about me. I'm not sure what he was thinking. The thing is that he's not a sneaky man. That just isn't his nature. He must have honestly believed that I was just too lazy to get a pet of my own, and that I would be happy to see one, just waiting for me to take care of, on my kitchen counter. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Now let me tell you about these birds. One of them, Bonnie, looks like the picture. She is very pretty. The other one is even prettier, with bright green and orange feathers. His name is Clyde. Now for the clincher. Clyde has a nervous disorder. Apparently he needs an avian psychiatrist. When he is stressed, which is all the time, he plucks out his beautiful green feathers on his back and chest. Have you ever seen a plucked chicken? That's what he looks like around his neck. He has a beautiful head and tail, with a mutant middle. It's really disgusting to look at. And yet, one has to feel sorry for the bird. I don't know how long lovebirds last. These 2 are 8 years old. If anyone knows, feel free to respond. What kind of sentence am I in for? Of course, the kids love them! They hop around the house and land on our heads and slit paper into nesting material, and poop on the floor/counter/whatever. Dave thinks I just have to get used to having animals around the house. I'm not sure that will ever happen.

So, we have pet birds. As my mom pointed out, at least he didn't bring home a goat!

"Ocean" and Mountains

2007-08-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

After Benjamin's grand disappointment last week when he learned that in going to "Salt Lake" we were headed for Temple Square and not the states mini inland ocean we felt obliged to visit the city's namesake.

Benjamin, for some reason, was unusually impressed by the tiny thumbnail long brine shrimp and was often found searching for them.

The shrimps weren't hard to find and even Josh managed to point some out.

We spotted some antelope off in the distance, and Joshua took off to find them. We didn't think he would go TOO far, but...

He proved himself fearless...He kept going and going and going...

Finally David headed him off and brought him back to safety.

The day finished off with some amazing floating. The salt really makes a big difference! Can you float with your head out of the water?

Oh yeah, Benjamin is excited that he found some more brine shrimp!

Hair Celebration!!!

2007-07-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON ALL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Last week we celebrated two hair events. Mine grew overnight (thanks, Anna for letting me play with your extensions), and Emily's is finally one length again. Hurray!!! I think she looks great, and she seems happy, as well.

We've been pretty busy getting in our fill of the West before heading back to Ohio. Here are a few of the things we have done.

My parents bought a scooter for the kids. Emily loves to ride it!

We spent a fun afternoon playing with Adrienne Parsons and her kids at the Kangaroo Zoo in Pleasant Grove. Emily cried when it was time to leave her friend Ella.

We met my sister-in-law, Amy, and her kids at Chuck E Cheese's for a great afternoon. Here is Emily with her cousin Anna. They love playing together, and are so happy to be able to see each other often this month.

We went into Big Cottonwood Canyon and hiked to Doughnut Falls. I carried Joshua, but Benjamin and Emily did the whole hike themselves! When we arrived at the falls, there were a few large groups there. It was hard to get a picture with just us, so David photoshopped "the others" out. Here is the picture before...

...and after. I love photoshop!

Dave finally came back to Utah after 2 weeks working as a Radiation Oncologist (on his own for the first time!!!) in Indiana. He also took the written part of his board exam (the second of 3 parts) while he was out there. He doesn't take the orals until next year.

We were so glad to see him! We took a camping trip to Yellowstone with Dave's parents, John and Myrna, and his sister, Amy. She came up on her own with her 5 children! Wow. It was a great trip, and the kids all loved playing together. Here I am with Joshua at Old Faithful.

David, Amy, and I took the three oldest boys (Benjamin, Taylor, and Dallin) hiking up Avalanche Peak. It os over 10,000 feet, and was a steep 2 mile climb up. The boys did so well! It was a hard climb. As we neared the summit, a thunder storm popped up leaving us stranded on an exposed ridge. We all laid down flat on the ground, and waited out the lightning. It was really loud up there, and the boys were a bit nervous (as were the adults). When the lightning passed, we started down in the pouring rain and hail. We walked down holding this tarp over the boys to keep them "dry." We won't forget this hike!

We had better weather the next day. Here are all 8 kids at our picnic site. It was a really fun trip to yellowstone. The highlight for the kids was swimming in String Lake. I liked seeing the animals. We saw coyotes, bison, elk, a black bear and a grizzley bear, a bald eagle, and many others.

One last picture to commemorate all the junk food we ate on our camping trip. Here is Joshua eating his favorite food, Cheetos, with his grandfather. Who wouldn't love a 3 day trip with 8 bags of chips? Josh was in heaven!

A Grand Adventure

2007-07-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our 2007 grand adventure, Arizona. We traveled from the low point to the high point in Arizona. It was a great time. We had 9 travellers, 4 of which completed the entire task. This task was to start at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, travel down to the Colorado River, and back up the Soth Rim, a hike of 24 miles, 6000 feet of descent, and 5000 feet of ascent, then ride a bike 79 miles to the Arizona Snow Bowl, and finally climb Arizona's highpoint (Humphrey's Peak at 12,633 feet).

Now I'll dive in and give you the gory details of our trip. We arrived at the North Rim on the 4th of July, and enjoyed the spectacular scenery from the top. Here's Charlie with our goal in the background, the South Rim. We have a long way to go!

Jeff and Stacey, same view.

That night we camped at the North Rim. We enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner (carb load?), then went to bed around 10:00 pm. After a short 2 hours of sleep, we got up at midnight to prepare for the first leg.

Here we are, starting at 1:00 am, to beat the heat! The views were a little bit dark, as we didn't have daylight until we were almost to the bottom of the canyon, 5 hours later.

We rested up at Phantom Ranch, took off our boots, and tried to dry out our feet a little bit (we had a small run in with a creek in the dark).

Then, it was across the bridge over the Colorado River, and up the Bright Angel trail. We finally started seeing other people about 4 miles from the top. We were pretty tired at this point; some of us delirious. We were grateful to see that our drivers (Dad, Joseph, and Stacey) had also made the 4 hour drive AROUND the canyon, and were ready to get us to the campground.

We all completed the "death march". Here is Dave and I at the top. We were glad that no one had to be lifeflighted out!

Here is David resting up and waiting for the rest of the group at the top!

Day 2 started a little bit later. The bikers had a few false starts...we changed 3 tubes before the event even began.

But, begin it did, and they headed out of the Grand Canyon and up to Humphrey's Peak.

Megan, Kristin, and Stacey served as water support and videographers for this leg. I think we had more fun than the cyclers. We waited at rest stops, eating cookies and taking pictures of ourselves. In between, we refilled camelbacks, videoed the riders, and yelled out supportive (hopefully) comments. They had a tough ride, but claimed it was fun. I don't know about that! Here's Joseph and Charlie.

Lunch at a rest stop.

Here's Joseph climbing a hill, and passed out at a rest stop.

Jeff pulling into the finish line!

John, Charlie, and David are still strong after 79 miles! Good job, guys!

The water crew is still strong, as well.

Megan, Kristin, and Stacey: the closest we came to riding this thing.

That night we stayed at the Ski Lift Lodge at the base of Humphrey's Peak. The scenery was amazing, and we were all excited to go up the the highpoint the next day.

Every night the question would come up, "Where's Joseph?"

Oh yeah, on the phone with Kathryn, again!

Eight participants summitted Humphrey's Peak. It was a great hike: 9 miles round trip felt like a breeze after the aforementioned death march. From the top, we should have been able to see the Grand Canyon, but smoke from a fire blocked out some of the distant scenery. It was still beautiful.

We would have enjoyed the summit block a little bit more if there hadn't been so many flies. They were really quite pesky. John is modelling the look we all wore at the top.

Kristin on the way down.

We scooted on down, and drove over to St George to meet Mom, Anna, and Pat at Pat's condo. We had a pizza dinner, and waffles for breakfast the next day.

David and Charlie has flights back home Sunday afternoon, so they made a quick getaway with one carload early that morning. Wildfires near the interstate caused them to take a long detour, but they still made their flights. Joseph also drove on to Boise that afternoon. Anna and Pat left for their delayed honeymoon to Norway Monday morning. And so our party had to separate.

There were many records set on this trip. Here are a few.
Longest bicycle ride at 85 miles for 2 riders (Charlie and Jeff). (David has done 112 miles, and John did 90 before this trip.)
Highest altitude at 12,633 feet (Kristin)
First state highpoint (Kristin)
Longest day hike at 24 miles (David, Megan, Charlie, John, Jeff, Kristin)
Most gatorade drunk in a 24 hour period (I think this may be true of all of us, we really guzzled the stuff!)
Most calories expended in a 3 day period (David, John, Charlie, Jeff)
Two trips driving around the Grand Canyon in 3 days (Dad, Joseph, Stacey)

Most bikes in the back of a trailor.

Here is a final shot of most of the group. Thanks for getting the best side of us, Kristin!

We had a great 5 days, and will miss being together! Thanks for a GRAND ADVENTURE!