Fun times!

So...we had a fun time in San Diego over our Spring Break although we left the camera in the car for the majority of it. Here's just a little bit of what we've been up to this month!

Friday (april 2)-mom went crazy cleaning and packing for our trip.
Saturday-headed out the door for good old California and got there about 7:30ish
Sunday-had a fabulous Easter with conference, easter baskets and egg hunting, and a lovely turkey dinner.
Monday-took Jarom and Beka to the dentist for teeth fixing and had Cafe Rio for dinner with all the fam (minus Erik b/c of work) and Brian and Melanie....so fun catching up and reminiscing the good old times!
Tuesday-spent some time at the beach where mom forgot to put on sunscreen...BURNED!!!!!
Wednesday-I think we just hung out most of the day and relaxed...I don't remember.
Thursday-went swimming and had carne asada at Craig and Cristina's place....man that's good stuff! Got to see Robin and John and Brian and Melanie again. Sweetness!!!!!
Friday-Cleaned up the house a bit and got ready for Grandma and Grandpa to come with Robin and John....SOOOO much fun to see them all again...it's been years!!!! John got in-n-out for everyone and then we went shopping for the reception food. Grandma, Cheryl, Jonell, her boyfriend, and Pam came for spaghetti dinner and it was one full house with lots of fun!
Saturday-rush to the temple for the sealing, take pictures, get some lunch, rush to the reception! WHEW!!!! It was so fun at the reception to see lots of old friends and catch up a little bit. Good times I tell ya!!!! Then, home to just relax and hang out with Grandma, Grandpa, Robin, and John a little more.
Sunday-headed back home to Utah with many unhappy kids...they love Cali as much as their mama does!
Monday-went out and bought a new Suburban for our little family. Got an awesome car at the right price and feel extremely blessed.
Tuesday-Dr. appt for mom.
Wednesday-Amnio scheduled and done....no good! Didn't hurt hardly at all but no baby til James is gone (unless I miraculously go into labor on my own).
Thursday-No more work for James...honey do list actually got started!!!!
Friday-took the little girls and mom for a date to IHOP for breakfast, a little coin shop shopping, more honey do list jobs done and then on a date....Texas Roadhouse for dinner!
Saturday-cleaned house, sold the van, played at Grandma and Grandpa's house, had a great dinner!

Man...this month has been a little busy but it's been AWESOME!!!! Now...we just have to endure James leaving on Tuesday and a baby coming sometime after that! I feel so blessed that I just can't even tell you about it! I'm truly grateful for my family and how wonderful life can be!!!!!

My birthday girls!

Ana joined our family as one of the best birthday presents a mother could ask for. Ana Jenelle Hoopes was born on my 22nd birthday and it was so fun. Teancum was so excited to finally be a big brother and smothered her to no end. He hugged and kissed, and hugged and kissed no matter how much we tried to stop him with his sick little self (he had a cold at the time). It was too cute! She was a beautiful little baby with TONS of dark hair and fairly dark skin. We got teased a little by the nurse that she wouldn't have believed she was ours if she hadn't witnessed the delivery. She was beautiful and still is.

9 things I love about Ana....
1. Her love for learning. She always asks questions and wants to learn...learn...learn!!!!
2. Her sweet spirit. She loves to look at the children's songbook to read the songs and teach family home evening lessons for us. She has such an amazing little testimony.
3. She is a loving sister. She is so good at helping out her younger sisters and teaching them their letters and numbers while they play school.
4. She is a good friend. She has friends at school that she just adores and always wants to play with. She comes home at least every other week with something that one of her friends made for her.
5. She is helpful to me. Ana is pretty good at helping me around the house, even if it is just cleaning the bathroom.
6. She loves to be loved. She can't stand to be alone at night and wants lots of love and attention.
7. She is one smart cookie! Her teachers always rave about what a good student she is and such a good example to her classmates. She does extremely well and they have a hard time giving her ideas of things to improve on.
8. She loves to read. I love watching her sit down an read a book and get really excited about it. I wish I was more like that at her age!
9. She is one beautiful gal that I can't imagine my life without. I love seeing her beautiful face and smile each day!!!!



5 years ago last monday I gave birth to a beautiful little angel we named Rebekah Janae Hoopes. She was a stubborn thing from the start seeing as she was #4 and took the longest of all the kids to arrive here for us. She decided to make life a little more complicated for me as I tried to get her into this world. She was posterior and caused a lot of pain to the point where I finally broke down and got myself an epideral. She finally came at 8:30 in the evening and we couldn't have been more pleased with her. Tank, Ana, and Jarom all loved her from the beginning. I remember they were so worried because the nurses wrapped her up in the little blanket without a diaper on. They were so concerned that she would pee on them that they weren't really happy until she was diapered properly. Funny kids.

5 of my favorite things about Beka...
1. She has a beautiful smile that really lights up a room.
2. She has such a love for music and dancing. There isn't a place on the planet that she won't sing or dance.
3. She is such a good big sister who tries to help whenever she can.
4. She has a big heart. It kills her to see people sad and she will even cry with them on occasion.
5. She is such a princess. She loves pretty dresses and wearing make-up (which only consists of clear lip gloss).
I just love my little Rebekah and the joy she brings to our family!

Just something interesting to see.

This is James at drill in February. He volunteered to be tased, it was not something that he was required to do. He has said that it is EXTREMELY painful and that he would NEVER recommend any one ever volunteering for this in their life!!!!

My favorite things!

My last blog post was a little depressing so I thought I'd share some of the things that I love!!!!


Staying up late and watching fun shows with my hubby. He usually lets me choose and so I like to watch the funny or action type shows rather than the chick flicks. I'll have plenty of time soon enough to watch all the chick flicks I want. (Last night was Rush Hour, that's why this image)


Having Grandparents that are still alive to visit. I don't get to very often but I love when I do get to see them and how fun it is to see the kids with them.


My crazy kids that I can't imagine life without. People tease me about having 5 kids already but I don't think if I could do it over again that I would change it one bit!!!! I love the laughter at the dinner table, the crying when someone doesn't get along and share, the helpfulness when someone is having a hard time, the hugs when someone is having a rough day and the big messes we make because we're having fun!


A husband who is willing to freeze his hands to provide for our family. He works so hard for us even when it's not always the most pleasant of jobs. It's always hard when he's away but we appreciate the sacrifices he makes for us to have all that we have, including our freedoms that he helps to fight for.


A loving father who is wonderful enough to cuddle up with and go right to sleep. I've always gotten a little emotional when I see James with one of the kids sleeping in his arms. I know how much they love him and it makes me love him that much more!

I've got SOOOO much on my mind!

This is a boring one just to warn you! I've been up for over an hour with my mind racing and so I figured I would just let it all out. Over the weekend of Bob's wedding James hit a car in the parking lot when we were leaving the dinner. We called our insurance and took care of it all and they came to do an estimate of the damage to our car. It was A LOT more than I was expecting just simply because of where it hit....$1500 and it'll take 3 days to fix. Well, it's the only car we have and so it would cost us to get a rental on top of the $500 deductible and whatever it goes over and we're trying to sell it to get a Suburban because we just don't fit in it anymore. What do you do? Do we pay to fix it and then sell it, while still having to pay some money out of pocket for what we're upside down on it (only about $400-$500)? Or just sell it like it is and use the money from the insurance to pay that difference? I never know what to do!!!!!

Yesterday I called to pay our last health insurance bill before James goes active duty. To get on Tricare Prime, which means you don't pay monthly or anything else, you have to have the application in by the 20th of the month to get coverage for the 1st of the following month. Problem...James goes active on the 21st of April and there are no orders til after the 1st of May....no Prime until June 1st. There is a slight chance that if DEERS (the people who determine eligibility) get the activation status change in the system before that we can have the application in before he leaves and POSSIBLY get it for the 1st of May. I know it doesn't sound like a huge deal but this is what it means to me. If I have the baby before May 1st with the other insurance I pay close to $1000 or more for it all, or if I have the baby on the 1st or after, I pay nothing (if we get the other insurance). Again...WHAT DO I DO??????? I know it seems like no big deal to some but for me it is. I like to know what's going on and not feel like things are up in the air. I don't like taking chances. I don't like the idea of maybe we'll get the insurance or maybe we won't...ya know what I'm saying? If I know right now that there's no chance that we can and I'm going to have to pay no matter what, it just makes it easy.

My last dilemma seems to be one of the hardest to deal with. I don't think it would be as bad if I weren't pregnant but unfortunately for my sanity, I am. As the time gets closer to both my due date and James leaving, the more stressed I get. I almost feel like some days I can't function. I love James so much and I know how much the kids and I are going to miss him. Of course it's only 7-10 weeks or so that he'll be gone, and we've had other times when it's been longer and survived. The part I have the hardest time with is what's happening while he's gone. I've had 5 kids already and I've always been able to rely on him to be there with me and hold my hand and tell me what a good job I'm doing, and how much he loves me. It's always been so nice...and I'm not even mean or ever yelled at him (may be a shock but it's true). He's always stayed with me overnight in the hospital. With Sariah he went home with my mom and the kids and I called him crying because I couldn't sleep without him there, so he came all the way back to be with us. He's so wonderful! I just can't imagine doing this without him this time. I know I'm whining and I feel like such a baby, but I can't imagine any woman who wouldn't want their husband there with them for this miracle taking place. There's still a very small part of me that just wants to have the amnio done, pay whatever it costs, and have the baby before he leaves...but there's the other part of me that feels like I can do it and I just need to wait. I just hate feeling so confused and not knowing what to do. Oh well...I know that this is the time with all of these circumstances where I turn it over to The Lord and allow Him to help me. I know that if I trust in Him, that He will lead us in the right direction and I will know what to do. I just need to have more faith in Him and confidence in the choices that I make. I know that He loves me and is mindful of me and the stresses that I have right now. I just pray that I'll have the courage to let it go and leave it in His hands to guide me in the right direction. If you got through this mess of a post thanks for reading! I love all you wonderful friends I have and I don't know what I would do without you all!

Just a little fun!

Beka being cuteness!


Sariah being a little star!


Beka showing off a little ballerina pose!


Sariah telling me her hair was silly!


My 30 1/2 week belly with the girls!


So, I've been a slacker again on blogging. I just forget about it all the time and all the sudden more time has gone by than I realize! Lots has happened in February. Teancum did his first science project for school and really enjoyed it. It was a fun time for father and son to work together. He didn't get to go on but he got a good grade, but most importantly he enjoyed doing it!

Jarom celebrated his 7th birthday and at the party James told everyone about his fun experience at drill. He got the opportunity to be tased, and told us that it's one of those opportunities that you'll never volunteer for again. James isn't a whimp but said it was the most painful thing that he's ever experience. He also decided to get ahold of the guy who took a video of it so that I could see. Not something I would care to witness in person let alone watch the video for again. OUCH!!!!!! So, Jarom had a really fun time with all the aunts and uncles around and grandma and grandpa. He had a black spiderman cake and mcdonalds chicken nuggets for dinner. Way to make a little guy happy!

Ana has just been pluggin' along in school and enjoying it tremendously. She is one of the best students in her class and is such a sweetheart. She loves going to achievement days with her friends and is really starting to come out of her shell a little bit. Sweet!

James and I got to go to the valentine's dinner put on by the yw of the ward to raise money for camp. They even babysat the kids for us while we ate spaghetti and had ice cream...what a night. After the dinner we went to some friends house to watch a dvd of their favorite comedian. About 10 minutes into there was a knock on the door. Good old Officer Foster drove over to tell us that our son was standing out on the front porch crying. Jarom had decided that he was going to wait til someone asked for him to come inside (we all thought he was upstairs with the rest of the kids) and stayed out there. Someone drove by and noticed him out there without a coat and he would hide himself as best he could into the wall whenever someone drove by. She noticed Office Foster at Walmart and sent him over to check it out. SO EMBARRASSING!!!!! I just couldn't believe that the poor kid didn't knock on the door. He is stubborn and he was absolutely convinced that we knew he was out there and would come get him any second. I think it'll be a while before we live that one down since it was the house of the guy James works with and Mrs Foster works at the school too.

We got the horrible long lasting cold that has been going around which has made life a little crazy. Sariah has had it the longest and I feel sorry for her little self. She seems to be getting better each day and now it's Beka that's not sounding so good. I've missed 2 weeks of church because of it and I can't wait to go back. Well...Feb was a fun month and I'm sure I missed A LOT of stuff that we've done but I'll try to do better this next month.

Just some pictures of the kids

Tank having fun with his science project.

The two girls watching a show while the others are at school...oh...the life of a youngin!

All the kids having fun with their Christmas presents.

Good lookin' kids in their christmas pj's...dang their growing up too fast!

Sariah opening her pj's for her birthday...she seriously LOVES pj's so it was well worth the $3 to make her day!

I'm gonna do it!

Ok...I know I probably shouldn't but I know I'll feel better if I do. So...the past couple of weeks have just been a JOKE in my opinion. Money is a necessary evil that I despise. James and I always seem to have issues with it no matter what we do, that's just life for us. So, I'm almost 6 months pregnant and our insurance company decided to drop us because of a case of missing money. Well...after many phone calls and HOURS of stress I was able to get some answers. My credit union noticed a double charge and asked for one of the payments to be returned. The insurance co. returned the money and charged me $25 for it...LAME!!! So, this was back in Nov. and I just found out about a week and a half ago that I had no insurance and this was why. The bank didn't return the money to my account and just held on to it...costing me my insurance and now the insurance still doesn't want to give it back to me. It's just been the biggest joke and an all around nightmare. Who wants to pregnant with no insurance. To boot...it's the only insurance we can get. So, I'm praying and praying that those making the decision to reinstate us will soften their hearts and let me have my insurance back. If not...well...I'm hoping for the best. I'm sure it will all work out. All I can do is trust in the Lord and know that He is in control. Whew...I feel much better now!

My 4 year old....oh my!

So, the other day we were going to pick up Teancum from school to go and do some work on his science project with dad at his school. Sariah asked if she could sit next to Beka and I said sure, I didn't see any problem with it. Apparently beka did and so we had a melt down but we had already started driving and it was too late. Beka keeps telling me that she doesn't like Sariah sitting next to her because she's annoying and she doesn't like her. I tried to be nice and tell her that she shouldn't say things like that. Next thing I hear the cutest little "Mom, in case you didn't hear me, I don't like Sariah!" I had to do everything I could not to laugh.

This morning I asked the girls to go and clean up my little office area since they made a huge mess of it. Of course they didn't do it yet because I wasn't sitting right on them. I asked them if it was clean and with out even the slightest hesitation Beka looks up "uh...not so much!" I died. It's just hilarious the way she says stuff to us sometimes that just slays me. So, she gets embarrassed and starts jumping on James back. I told her to stop because it was getting annoying but she didn't want to so I said to get off dad because it was getting awkward. Immediately she looks up at me and says "well then don't look anymore!" I swear!!!!!! I love my kids and the funny stuff they say sometimes!

How firm is your foundation?

We had a fantastic lesson in Relief Society on Sunday and I just wanted to share a few of the thoughts that I had. Most of you know that James and I had an extremely rocky 2009. There were times where I know that I was a HORRIBLE person and I lost sight of the things that were truly important in my life. I began asking all those aweful questions like "why me?", "what did I do to deserve this?", "why do my kids have to be put through this?", "will it ever end?" "why don't you love me anymore?" I'm embarrassed to even admit it but those were just a few of the thoughts that I had. We went from living in a beautiful home, in a beautiful area that our whole family loved. We had a good job with benefits and stability for us all and then the rug was pulled from underneath us. We were all devastated. I had a hard time trying to explain to my kids why we had to move and why we didn't have a place of our own. It was not easy for them either. James was able to get a part time job but it didn't have benefits or anything else. Shouldn't complain...it's a step in the right direction. So, I tried to repent (A LOT!) and change my attitude but I was still having a hard time.

Time went on and I was still struggling, then we had an experience that made me stop and think a little (or a lot) about the fact that our Heavenly Father is perfectly aware and in control. We almost lost our dear little neice. It was a really hard week for everyone and I remember the start of the change I began to feel. As I rushed screaming kids downstairs for the other adults to work with her we were scared. I remember shaking and crying but realizing that I had 8 kids looking at ME to know what to do and how to deal with it all. The only thought that came to my mind was that we had to pray as much as we could and hope that it was the Lords will to let her make it. I remember gathering all the kids around me with tears in our eyes and praying, and praying. It was not an easy task but we somehow managed to get it out. Things didn't get better right away but I remember feeling very strongly that The Lord was aware of our situation with our neice and our situation as a family. Things still weren't easy but having that confirmation made it more possible for me to get through. Fortunately through miracles and the will of The Lord, our little neice is strong and healthy and made a full recovery.

At times I know that I have faultered with the strength of my testimony but I know that My Heavenly Father loves me. I know that things aren't always going to be easy in life, but if I put my faith in Him, and trust that as I live the commandments and strive to do all that I can, things will be ok. It may not always be the way I want them to but I know that they will be for the best. As hard as it was for me to leave Monterey, I feel like there have been reasons that we needed to be here. I feel very strongly that James and I needed to be here for our neice. I am grateful for a worthy husband who honors his priesthood because I know that he listened to the spirit and did all that he could to keep our neice alive. I will always be grateful for him and the way that he responded to that situation. He is such a good man and I love him with all my heart. I know that no matter where we go or what we do, if we stay close to our Heavenly Father and as a family, we will always be happy!