political discussion

I only heard part of the beginning of this conversation at lunch the other day:  

the correspondents

Emmy"...makes you drink coffee and say bad words and drink Coke...and just makes you do bad things."

me: "Who does?" 

Emmy: "Obama*.  I can't believe he won.  We didn't vote for him. We wanted Mitt Romney."

Avery: "I would vote for President Monson."

*Editor's Note:  To be fair, I did correct Emmy.  Mostly. And I'm with Avery--good thing for President Monson!

boys trip (& mom)

This weekend Jake, Drew, and I went to Colorado!!  We went for Ryan's Eagle Court of Honor on Saturday, and Mitchell's "unfarewell" on Sunday.  

We had so much fun seeing Drew's little cousin buddies.  Dax was born a couple weeks before and Rylee was born a couple months after.  It was actually quite difficult taking a picture of these 3!!

 We all had pizza at Pasquini's. YUM!

 Drew & Rylee liked hanging out.

 The four of us had lunch at Panera.

 Grandma counted the number of future Eagle Scouts in our family.  There's 10 and here they are!

Mitchell served cotton candy at the end of Ryan's Court of Honor.  It was awesome!! Pretty sure they won't have cotton candy in Columbia.

 Another attempt at a picture of these two little movers.

 The Originals.

 Mitchell, Coby, and the new Eagle Scout.

Flying home, we were on the same flight as Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandpa surprised us and bumped us up to First Class!  We were loving it!  And luckily Drew behaved like the dream baby he is.

Drew especially loved looking out the window with Grandma.

Thanks to our big cousins who pave the way for the ones behind!!

us v. drew

 

us-2  drew-1

hymn books

Ali recently found this small hymn book and hasn't stopped singing since (mostly Silent Night).  She now keeps it with her scriptures.

 

Yesterday in church, Emmy used the hymn book for an ipad.  I reminded her that it was time to be reverent.  She said, "I know, Mom!  I'm texting Jesus."

good advice

While I was making dinner tonight I was getting a LOT of help from my sweet little Emmy.  And so was Drew.  So I strongly suggested to her that she show Ali our new basket for stuffed animals up in the bonus room and then reminded her to put her toys away while she was there.

She looked up at me and in a very sweet voice said, "Ok, Mom.  Now you should say that with a smile."

Emmy earlier today waiting for the dentist--all smiles.

the perfect gift

It's nice when you give your friend the perfect thing:

first talk

Jake gave his first talk in Sacrament meeting today! 

Thursday night he came out of the den with the laptop and said, "I finished my talk."  Whoa!!  We were so impressed.  He sat down and read it to us and we thought it was great.

Hi my name is Jake Hoopes, and I am a Deacon in this ward. As some of you know I strongly dislike practicing and playing the piano. And what’s disappointing is that I’ve been told to keep with it from my dad, my mom and the prophet of the whole church!!!!! They’ve told me that practicing will help me on my mission because everyone will want to hear me play the Hymns of the Church. Piano will help me not give up on other things and to keep practicing to my highest standard. Also it will help me develop my talent and that I don’t just do nothing all the time.  Also on my mission I will feel the Spirit through music. This is a quote from the article Keep Practicing written by Willis Jensen from the new Era of 2013. The quote is “Education is an important part of Heavenly Father’s plan to help you become more like Him. He wants you to educate your mind and to develop your skills and talents, your power to act well in your responsibilities, and your capacity to appreciate life. The education you gain will be valuable to you during mortality and in the life to come.” And I know keeping a balanced life will help me prepare for my mission because it will make me more smart and ready to go. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

klondike

Klondike weekend: January 11-12

Lowest temp: 4 degrees!!!!!!

Level of fun anyway:  Very high

Level of gratitude that I'm not the one going:  Highest possible

sunshine

Enjoying the sunshine from opposite sides. 

#hashtags

I really like hashtags.  It's so easy to get your point across in a quick way.  I think too many words sometimes make a story or picture boring.  And definitely longer.  For example, instead of saying all of this, I could have just written: #ipreferhashtags or #hashtagsaremorefun.  See what I mean? 

Speaking of hashtags, here are some Instagram posts (hashtags included):

 so hard to wake him up to go places

#youngest  #idlikeanannyplease

 watching his siblings play outside

#forgetthesebabytoys  #entertainment

 Jake's new favorite thing

#settlersofcatan  #waybetterthanvideogames

 Who's that girl with the straight hair?

#emmysdreamcometrue  #pleasedontrain

 

 #scotchtaperules

 

I could avoid it no longer.

#decembercombatzone  #somebodyhadtodoit  #countthisasmyworkout

in the crib

I knew Jake was playing with Drew, but I didn't know exactly what they were doing--until I walked into Drew's room and saw them here:

It wasn't exactly what I expected to find, but I thought it was hilarious, super cute, and unbelievable that the crib didn't come crashing down.  Yep, those are the boys, in the crib. 

before & after

 Before

 

 After

#christmastradition

#smashthegingerbreadhouse

2013

What's ahead?  We're not sure, but we had a lot of fun today thinking about it!

 

 

 Happy 2013!