New Year's Eve

Well what a fun day we had. Our friends from our ward invited us to go with a group from buckeye to a bonfire. this was not just any bonfire... the was a christmas tree burning bonfire! oh my word was it hot!!! Muy Caliente. We rode quads and the kids played in the dirt. our one little friend was lost for a bit and gave us all quite the fright, but eventually found him and we went on to the tree burning. Needless to say.... fun was had by all. Thanks Thompson family for a fun day, and Happy New Year to all. Love, the Hoopes Family







warming cookies on the lantern alex, max, ashley, connor









the fire ust getting started, maxed at abouut 40 feet or so?? it was soooo hot!

The christmas trees are almost gone.

New year's Eve is soooo over (at 830 pm)

Paintballing

Dan Doug Brandon David ... the paint balling bricade in Buckeye

ECLIPSE IS THE LAST...NOT!

SO I JUST FOUND THAT STEPHENIE MEYER IS MAKING 2 MORE. I AM SOOOOO EXCITED! I have not gotten much down around the house, and just been reading. the addiction continues, he-he

Late but wanted to share.

OKLAHOMA CITY BRICK TOWN DISTRICT

These are from our yearly trip to Oklahoma City for the Company Christmas party for Factor/W.R.Hess co. We had a great time. We went to Oklhoma city, then to Dallas Fort worth (David wanted to show me where he served his mission) I t was a blast to see his excitement to share it with me. Then we went to the JFK memorial stuff in Dallas, then Back to oklahoma city,for the party, then we got iced in. % hours stuck on the tarmack of the airport, which they denied to local news stations that people on our plane had called to complain to. As you can imagine as the extreme claustrophobic that i am, It was not fun!

The trampoline project... what were we thinking

So just after we started building the tramp, about 10 pm and did i mention it was sooooo cold!



At 215 am.... thank heavens for Becky 3 and T.. it would have taken us twice as long without them. we had soooooo much fun with them. They are the true defintion of friends. 2 am, freezing cold. tired, hands hurtiing, in the dark, chirstmas day with us.... enough said

Christmas 2007... Joy, Joy, Joy!!!

our project is done, at 215 in the am......

and at 7 am. the fun begins....

Oh my Goodness I just died when my sweet friend brought this centerpiece. Candy canes with a round vase and roses and greens in it. the picture doesnt do it justice. It was the cutest thing. Everyone will get one from me next year! she even said this will Kary a great idea. She was right. We were so luckyto have so many that made the trip from Gilbert and Chandler to be with us. we are blesses to have such great friends.
The sims Family, 6 months pregnant and all 4 just got home from a Carribean cruise the day before. Cute cousins in new dresses. Sierra and Mariah

We had a fun Christmas with our friends and Kary's family. Everyone was together, and there were alot of us. For Christmas eve at our home there was 28. Fun fun. David smoked a yummy Brisket ( so everyone said) and everyone participated in bringing something

Our bestest friends T and Becky 3..the biggest ASU fans on the planet
Poppy... cute little man
all the kids and grandkids and Nana....

Golf Banquet

Well connor has been in golf for over 1 1/2 years now. we went to Tink & Connor's golf banquet. What a blast. all the kids had their raffle tickets drawn and they all won! Ashley a new bike, Connor a little robot and Ethan a Nutcracker. we feel so lucky to be a part of the program! These are two of the coaches ( golf pros that help out the kids).Fun, fun night!

Santa came to Preschool. Yippee

Santa came to the funniest preschool party!. oh Ethan was so excited!!!. for the gift exchange he got Hot Wheels, of course his favorite thing. 1 Party down 2 to go....

Connor and the Pulled tooth..

Sorry the picture is crumby, but the lens on my phone is broken!.. This super kid has been through 5 eye surgeries, and this is his 2nd tooth pulled from a dentist.(the 1st a dentist didnt do it right and the tooth went dead, so they had to pull it last year) this, his adult tooth is coming in and there was a cavity and no room, but he didnt even make a sound. He is such a trooper! we were so proud of him, and then he went right to cub scouts. This little boy has sure had his share of not fun happenings in his little life, and he is still smiling!

Choo choo train

My cute friend, who is also my visiting teacher, made this adorable candy choo choo train for me and brought it over. I thought ist was so fun I had to share it! My kids as you can imagine, loved eating it all up!

Mesa Temple Lights

Well we went to see the temple lights again this year. we have gone every year. This is our 3rd year at Mesa Temple and we always went to the Temple lights in Temple square in Slc. It is always so fun, so cold, and the kids are always so excited to the Giant Statue of Christ. They act as though they have never seen it before it's so funny. It always turns out to be a fun, inexpensive family excursion!

I Have an Addiction...

I have an addiction to these books...Oh my goodness i can't put them down. My book club was reading this right before I joined and so i wanted to catch up. So my friend Michelle lent me Twilight to read, and the rest is well...History! David and just got back from Oklahoma City (in the middle of the ice storm. and i couldnt put down, Twilight, now I am on to her new sequel. I don't normally read these kind of books. Well I do now! I am usually a reader of history, biography, Spiritual uplifting. etc. well things Have changed and i love to read these! Stephanie Meyer is the best.

Tink's High School Musical Party

The Birthday crew


the aftermath, & some hot cocoa & new high school musical jammies

Sooooo, It rained here & rained & rained! It rained so much. Rain and gloomy and wind & cold is my favorite thing, but, not on my daughter's birthday party. We had planned to do the movie outside with the movie projector, and fire pit, but it was so cold and soggy we did it in the house. my little sister, Kelly did a hot dog stand with her cart and we did a pinata, it was fun, but not what we planned. anyway all the cake is finally eaten, and presents are put away. Thanks to all of you who could come. thanks for your help. (We had over 30 people here.)

It;s beginning to look alot like Christmas...

The Ugly

The pretty ( but our flash is weird, it's actually prettier in person)

So we spent Friday & Sat getting our house holiday ready!! We have a family tradition that we have been able to uphold every year, but the last 2 years(our home was too small) for 2 trees! We call 1" The Pretty Tree", and one "the Ugly Tree"..with no disrespect. The kids don't even know we call it that! but This year was especially hilarious. Note the lights on the ground, and the decor all in 1 spot, Where they could reach from couch! What a crack up we laughed so hard. Fun times.

But the story gets better! we put lights up outside and 2 deers, 1 standing 1 with the deer moving up & down to get water in a pond made by blue lights. Well, we put it all up & the whole family went out to look at the lights, when our new puppy, River, immediately went over to the "pond", and went to the bathroom. Our little man Ethan said "look River is filling up the pond". we laughed. Well the next day, Ethan was outside working with me in the garage and went over to the "pond", and started to fill up the pond. It wasnt funny (at the time), now great stories to tell!

Turkey Day!!!

Well another Thanksgiving done and over. too many to count We ended up with a big crew here, and what a blast. we had fun. I will admit many missed out on my husbands delicious bird. It was so yummy, (coming from the woman who doesn't each much meat Or poultry). Wow can he make a mean juicy bird! 6 pies and and too much food, for us all to eat. Played some games, Water sliding...Needless to say it was a successful day! We had Usc & Asu Fans here. Stinky Usc won....I will post fotos later! Funny times. What a fun day to be thankful. Some of the many things I am trulely thankful for....
My husband, & 3 kids
Friends
Family
Inlaws
The Gospel
Our savior
Good Education
Good Health
Good washer & dryer (sounds weird but i love doing laundry)
Honesty, & Forgiveness & Patience
The oppourtunity to teach my kids and grow from them teaching me
bath time & bed time ( so fun to snuggle & read, and be my kids last thoughts at night)
A great job that pays the bills

I hope that you all found you Thanksgiving as a great as mine. Happy Thanksgiving, Gobble, Gobble...

Thanksgiving Festivities

Well this is my fourth year being a room mom. I was Connor's kinder 2 times, first grade, & this year, And I am Ashleys this year too. I have to say i am a pro at holiday parties, because I have done a ton of them. Ethan had his first school performance and it was darling! Yummy food too. It's is so fun to get in the spirit of it all. Thank goodness I am pretty much done with Christmas shopping. Happy thanksgiving to all!!

Really is it actually over?

Soccer is really over, we had the team party. Ashley played on Team crew in Verrado. She had fun. She has always wanted to try soccer. We make our little people wait till they get to the size of some of the kids in their class to play sports. She was the 2nd oldest on the team and the smallest. Funny how that always works. There were 5,6 & 7 year olds on the team. She is going to do Cheerleading in the spring. She can't wait. At least we will get a bit of a break! Connor gets to resume full schedule with Golf now because soccer sometimes interfered with his schedule. These kids just get busier by the minute.

Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve

Well most of you got invites to Thanksgiving Dinner & Christmas Eve dinner recently. We know so many are busy, & we knew some already have plans, but don't want to leave anyone out, (It's important to us that everyone gets an invite regardless of plans) If you have plans, or don't and want to come by please do we have a huge group going to be here. We will be eating ALL day and should have fun. David & I went to his cousin Jen's house last year after having a big turkey day at our home, and had so much fun playing games and eating, so we will be doing the same here. Christmas Eve applies too. We have a great big crowd coming. It should be special. We were hoping to make it California for Christmas, but I will be having surgery shortly before and I will not be able to travel. So come see us. Love to all!! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Book Club

I have gotten on the book club bandwagon. We read a book a month that we all decide on and then get together and discuss it. Next month is at my home. Now you all know this is a huge difference from Card Making club. I have done that for 7 Years. So this takes up about the same amount of time, But not as creative.but a nice change. I am reading TWILIGHT to catch up on the book they read 2 months ago that they loved. Read it it's great!

The Giant Dog & the Teacher

This is Ashley's 1st grade teacher, Becky & her dog Ranger. He is a Golden doodle. and as she says a freak of nature BIG. He is hilarious. Becky also live 2 doors away from us ansd she is a fun friend. She comes for dinner & hangs out. It is fun to have great neighbors, that turn into friends.