Mom and Dad

So, I don't have many pictures of just Grandma and Grandpa so I did the best I could. We did a little thing for Dad on Father's Day but since we were nomads for Mother's Day we didn't get anything done. So...Mom, I hope you had a wonderful and special day because you are such a special person. I remember the first time I met you I was terrified (although James never had anything but nice things to say about you). I remember you took James and I out to Mama Inez for some mexican food and bought me a tweety bird watch for my birthday when you came to Rexburg for mother's week. It was the sweetest thing ever and I wore it all the time until one of the kids broke it. I remember talking to you on a couple of drives to Rexburg and learning a little more about you and really enjoying the time together. You have been close for all the births of my children and I have loved it. I actually enjoyed sharing the birth of Jarom with you and my mom (even though I felt a little awkward). I'm glad that you were able to see him the second he arrived into this world...heck I think everyone got to see him before me. I just want you to know how special you are to me and I really hope that we can share many more memories together. Dad, I know we said Happy Father's Day but I just had to say a little about you too. I remember most clearly when we came to live with you while looking for a house. It was a little weird when mom went on her trip and it was just us...but it was nice to spend a little time with dad. I will never forget how much it meant to me when you would call up after we moved just to say hello and see how things were going with the kids. Not having James there was really hard and I'm glad that you were there for us. You are a funny guy and we sure love you. I hope you know how special you both are to us and how much we love you!!!

Funny little Beka!

This morning I got in the shower to get ready for church while James was sleeping in a little. I got out and James was gone but Beka was in the bed in his spot. When I sat down I noticed she had a funny little look on her face so I asked her what was going on. She looked at me and said "Mom, the kids were goofin' and so I was goofin' too because they were going to make fun of me." I almost laughed but she was so serious about it that I had to compose myself. I thought it was so cute the way she gave her excuse for "goofin" with the kids. She always tells me that the kids are "goofin" when she doesn't like what they're doing. She's a funny little one. I told her that it was okay and that I wasn't mad so of course we had to jump up and head downstairs for breakfast. 

Happy Father's Day!!!

The kids came up with 3 of their favorite things about dad that they wanted to share.

Sariah...

1. Giving daddy big hugs and kisses.

2. When daddy tucks her in at night.

3. Racing with daddy.

Rebekah...

1. Holding daddy's hand to race.

2. Asking daddy "how do me look?"

3. Sharing things with daddy.

Jarom...

1. Watching daddy play Mario Bros.

2. Going to the park with dad.

3. When dad plays games and talks to him before bedtime.

Ana...

1. Dad loves me.

2. When he writes notes back and forth with me.

3. Riding bikes with dad.

Teancum...

1. Playing baseball with dad.

2. When they work together on stuff...like scouts.

3. When dad listens and talks to him...he wants to grow up and be like dad!

Happy Father's Day to such a great...we love you dad!!!

A little thought

David O. McKay said " Every person who lives in this world weilds an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone; it is not alone what he does. It is what he is...Every person radiates what he or she really is...It is what we are and what we radiate that affects the people around us." I read this the other when doing my scripture study and it really hit me like a ton of bricks. I think I need to really pay more attention to what I "radiate" by how those around me react and work on being better. I love when I read or hear things that make me want to be better. Hopefully I can be more of the person I should be so that people will want to be around me.

Tanks birthday surprise

James convinced Teancum that we needed to start a new family tradition...the birthday person gets to take a bite out of the cake before we dish it up. How dumb could we all be? Reluctantly Teancum gave in and started to take a bite and WHAM!!! James shoved his face into the cake. Fortunately Tank was a great sport about it and laughed for a while. He had to blow his nose a few times after washing his face because dad got him pretty good. It was pretty funny and I'm glad that he had a fun time with his little party.

Strawberries anyone?

Sariah wanted some strawberries yesterday that were all chopped up to go on our french toast. Dad had just left the table and she was wondering around picking at everyone's food that was left (a normal thing for her to do.) I saw her trying to get the bowl of strawberries to pull on to the chair and then follow dad into the living room. As I got up after telling her no, she yanked it down in a hurry to get away from mom and fell off the chair taking the bowl with her. She was not happy about this at all as you can see. James took her upstairs to clean her up and she actually thought it was a little humorous to see herself in the mirror. James took one of the strawberries off her head and showed it to her, so she picked it out of his hand and ate it. I guess she decided that she really didn't want it to go to waste. What a funny little girl she is. I guess dad needs to always take her with him when he leaves the table because she just follows him anyways...she's definitely a daddy's girl. 

I love it!

I was talking to the kids today about what they thought of us having more kids. They were all so cute with their different ways of expressing their opinions. All of them are totally for the idea of adding more members to the family eventually. NO...I AM NOT PREGNANT!!! nor do I plan to be any time soon. I just thought that with the kids being older it would be fun to see what they would say. Tank and Ana think it would be really fun to have twins. Jarom wants a little baby that can wear his old clothes because that would be "so tool". The cutest part of it all was Jarom looked up at me and just said "Mom, I think you need to talk to Jesus about this." I couldn't help but smile at the complete innocence and perfection of such a comment. I love when my kids say things that help me realize that they really do listen and they really do understand. I love you Jarom!

Kary

This is for you because I don't have any contact information from you. You don't have to put it on here but send me an e-mail or something. It's e_hoopes@yahoo.com. I want to be able to chat with you a little more and I don't know how else to get in touch. 

Why we love them

Yesterday was Tanks birthday and he got an action figure of Iron Man from Gma Hoopes. He was in the dining room flying it around when Beka ran in and got whacked in the head with it. She started to cry a little and I decided that she and Tank needed to take care of it. I sent her over to give Tank a hug so he could apologize for accidentally hitting her. She barreled into him almost knocking him over and the two of them hugged fiercely for a moment. When they let go Teancum leaned down a little to be on her level and told her how sorry he was for hitting her and that he would never try to hurt her like that on purpose. He spoke with so much love and compassion towards her I had to stop myself from getting emotional. It didn't help my resolve when I could see in her eyes the love and admiration she has for her big brother. The two of them smiled and went along their merry little way enjoying life. I am so thankful that my children really do love each other and it's so nice to see that they know it too. There's always something each day to remind us why we're here and that life really is great. Thanks Tank and Beka for being my reminder.

Happy Birthday Teancum!

What a handsome kid he is. I can still remember waiting and waiting for Teancum to arrive in this beautiful world of ours. He was supposed to be born on June 1, 1999 but as many 1st time moms I was not on time. The doctor induced me early in the morning on June 9 (arrived at the hospital at approximately 1:30 a.m.). After a little while of labor pains from the horrible PIT, I got a shot of some demerol and drifted into a peaceful bliss just waiting for my son. The doctor came in and checked my progress and thought it would be another couple of hours...WRONG!!! Tank decided it was time and about 20 minutes later he was born. At 11:06 a.m. Teancum joined our family as the firstborn to love and protect his younger siblings who would come later on. He has always been such a joy in my life. He won't ever let me forget when he was 2 days old and I changed his diaper for the first time, he peed on me and pooped in my hand because I wasn't fast enough at getting the diaper underneath. I've learned my lesson and he'll never let me live it down. For 3 nights he woke up between 2-5 a.m. and the only thing that would calm him was laying on James bare chest. It was adorable and I loved to just sit and watch for awhile as my boys laid there perfectly content. I love Teancum and the wonderful example he's been to his brother and sisters. I love to see how much they love him too. Tank...I'm so glad you chose to come to our family. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you in it. I love you! 

Beka's at it again

So, I went up stairs and was talking to a sleeping James. Beka decided she would go ahead and talk to me so I wouldn't get my feelings hurt. We teased the dad a little for the ever increasing gray hair situation he has. I told Beka that was an old man and I was a young woman still. She laughed and then got real serious...

Beka: Mom, you and I are young and we are going to get married.

Mom: Who am I going to marry, Scoops?

Beka: bramma (that's grandma just in case you're wondering)

Mom: Well, if I'm going to marry grandma then who is dad going to marry?

Beka: (with a look that only Beka can give that says duh stupid) his mutha!!!

Mom: Oh, WOW!!!

Beka: HA! HA! HA!

She really thought she was something. I guess we need to have a little chat with Beka about the family thing as far as marriages go. YIKES!!! Needless to say I thought it was adorable and she is a funny little one!

Nursery Drama or should we say Trauma!!!

Well, today was the first day of nursery for Sariah. When James dropped her off she didn't really cry but a few minutes into Sunday School they brought her in to have us come in with her. James went in and stayed the whole time but wouldn't pick her up so she pretty much didn't like daddy at church. She's usually such a daddy's girl that I couldn't figure out why she bawled when I turned the corner to get her. She tried as best she could to get the huge box of toys out of the way and just wanted to be held. I had to stop myself from crying after all of that. It breaks my heart to see her so upset, but I know she'll get used to it and eventually she'll love "ballerina class" as much as her big sister does. 

Ana the Banana

Here are two pretty princesses. These are two nice princesses. One of these princesses likes naps, the other does not. One has long hair, the other does not. They both have a lot of hair. They both like to wear pink. by Ana

Kids say the FUNNIEST things!

So, this morning we decided to all sit down and eat breakfast together (it's a rare occasion to have us all together for this). James kindly asked Rebekah to pray for us and she willingly obliged to his request. James apparently forgot that he was helping a 3 year old pray and went on a wee bit too long. After a little bit Rebekah fluffs her hair and announces that she's all done and James can finish. Luckily James was wrapping it up because the hysterics couldn't be held too much longer after that. Needless to say, it was a fun way to start our day. I love that Rebekah and the funny things she says. I think the best (I almost forgot) was that after everyone started laughing she got very serious and yelled at us all for laughing at her. Unfortunately that brought on a whole new round of hysterics and she eventually joined in. KIDS!!!

Tanko the Franko

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I am so embarrassed!

Rattlesnakes!

I cursed my dad for taking this picture.

Zillion degrees fahrenheit.

Oh man I wish so one saw this photo

Not just me, but Kobe and Jarom in this situation too.

Ah! I'm busted bad for hanging out in this part of town.

Well, I'm out of school and in summer like on High School Musical 2. Only 2 more days until...I shouldn't tell ya. I like playing and practicing baseball for while and I hit pretty good. Okay, that's all and I'm done now. by the Frank

The Grad

I know James doesn't like the spotlight much but I wanted to give him a moment to bask in his successful school accomplishments. James started college before he went on his mission at ISU in Pocatello, ID. After the mission he came to Rexburg, ID and started up at Ricks with me. We got married and then I got pregnant. I finished with the bachelor degree while James graduated at the same time with 2 (almost 3) associate degrees. He held back a little to let me finish since we had Teancum and then Ana 1 month before our graduations. We then went to San Diego where we thought we would do some schooling but it didn't work out and he taught seminary instead. We went back to Rexburg and he got back into BYU-Idaho for a while. From there he joined the Army National Guard and after having Jarom went to Basic Training, DLI, and AZ for more training. We had Rebekah at DLI and moved to Utah while James was in AZ. He started UVSC and switched to the Air Force National Guard. This is where Sariah came into the family. He finally graduated from UVSC in April of 2008 after going on a mission, almost 10 years of marriage, teaching seminary, 5 years of military training, and 5 children. I think it's amazing and he has accomplished something wonderful. These are just some of the bigger things which don't include all of the little bumps in the road that slow us down at times. James, I want you to know what a wonderful example you are to the kids and I couldn't be happier than I am right now.

Back to Monetery we go!

Okay, so I don't know how to rotate the pictures yet so you can just look at it sideways until James shows me how. I thought it would be fun to put a picture of the family at the beach this time around in Monterey and one from before. I'm sad to say that I don't think they like it so much this time around. HA! HA! HA! 

Guess who?

Can you guess who this one is? I am really curious as to who knows which little girl of mine this is...and be honest. I really had to pay attention to know who it was. 

Armjo's ouchie toe!

I found these pictures the other day and couldn't help but put them on here. This was when we first moved in with Gma and Gpa Hoopes after my back surgery. Grams was taking the 3 older kids to church and I hadn't gotten Jarom's shoes on yet, Tank opened the door for everyone but not before it caught Jarom's toenail and yanked it ALMOST clean off. Grandma helped drive us to the ER where I just about lost it. They ended up sedating him to try and rip it off. I left and left Grandma to doing the watching (way too weak of a stomach). Apparently they tried to yank it off but even sedated he pulled his leg back and so they ended up having to numb him first. It was horrible. And to think, they wanted me to just hold him and let them yank it without putting him to sleep...yeah right!!! So, it was interesting watching him come out of the sedation...he looked like a drunk 2 year old. The poor thing couldn't keep his head up, he couldn't talk but he sure tried. Grams and I did get a couple of good laughs out of it...I had to laugh to keep from crying. I can't thank Grandma enough for being there for us in our time of DESPERATE need. Thanks Grams...you're the best!

Happy Birthday to James!!!

Happy 32nd Birthday to the love of my life. I hope it's a good one!!! The "dam" child must be remembered always whether he likes it or not. I hope you know how much I love you and I want you to be happy. I hope we can help you to have a great birthday!!!

Let's give it a try

I thought it might be fun to try and do my own blog since James always says we have a small herd of children. Let's see how it goes. It might be kind of fun for the kids to get on and go to town with their fun stories to tell. I'm excited!!!