blog mush

Look, mom!  Angles!

Emmy gave up her bed for her animals.

The alleged last box of diapers.

High school & Seminary registration: check and check.

Advantages of sitting on the bench.

We fit together perfectly (thanks, Ashley)!

Rylee wanted to try out Drew's bike.
I think she might need some more practice. :)

Emmy's poster for school.

not just a bike ride

Drew loves to go for a ride on his bike, but it isn't just a bike ride...

it's a rock-jumping,

blossom-inspecting,

off-roading,

  sprinkler-pulling,

drain-dropping

 ramp-scaling

ADVENTURE!

check, please

Date:  March 16, 2015

Pay to the order of:  The City of Issaquah

Amount: Four thousand five hundred and no cents ($4,500.00)

Signed:  Jake Hoopes

Memo:  Scoreboard for Tibbetts Field

With Ross Hoover, Scoutmaster Jim Feltis and Mayor Fred Butler

"My name is Jake Hoopes and I’m an 8^th grader at Pacific Cascade Middle School.

Last Spring when I was playing baseball, I got an idea for my Eagle Scout project when I was at Tibbetts Field.  I noticed there was no scoreboard so I decided to raise money for the City of Issaquah to buy a scoreboard for the field. 

In order to raise over $4000, I had to approach different groups for donations.  Especially my grandpa, who contributed to all of my fundraisers.  Besides him, there were 167 who donated.

I did 3 main fundraisers.  

With Zach and Kelly Zarling

First, my baseball team helped me sell car wash tickets.

Second, In October I made pizza dough and sold it to my church family, the Highlands ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and some neighbors.

Lastly, I finished off my fundraising with selling first aid kits to the Issaquah Little League families.

I am very happy I was able to raise enough money and I’m very thankful for the many generous people who helped.  Thank you also to Mr. Ross Hoover at the City of Issaquah who helped me along the way."

 

WOO HOO!!!!!

friends

Recently Ali was goalie in an indoor game--not her favorite position.   I was so happy that the two defenders were 2 of her best friends.  They played their little hearts out to make it as easy as possible for Ali, often times right there in the box with her!

To me this picture perfectly sums up so much of what friendship is.  Friends quite often save us.  They lighten our load, they are there when we need them, they are on our same team.  I am grateful for my "in the box" friends and I'm grateful for those friends who help and love my kids like teammates.   It makes me want to shout, "GOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!"

it was written

From Mr. Meyers, Jake's Science teacher:

Mr. & Mrs. Hoopes:
Not to worry - it's a good e-mail.  Sixth period is a problematic mix of students and often a bit of a classroom management challenge.  Jake is definitely not a classroom management problem.  In fact, Jake does a great job of focusing, not being a part of the problem and helps to make my job easier in 6th period.  He is insightful, mature and a great addition to the class.

I don't always have the time in that class to give props to kids in that class who are always doing the right thing, so I thought I'd pass along the message so that you could do it for me.

Regards,
Mark Meyers

From Ali's teacher, Ms. Luci:

Ali Hoopes you are a Great Kid.  Ali, you are a thoughtful, caring, beautiful soul.  You are a great friend and a wonderful calssmate.  Your friends are lucky to have you in their lives.  They know they can always count on you and so can I.  Additionally, you work hard and I really like to see you keep trying.  Push yourself on the things you want to improve on and keep on keeping on.  I look forward to watching you grow.  You will be successful in middle school, high chool, and beyond.  Your friends will be strong and important to you and you to them.  Keep that smile; it warms my heart.

From Emmy's teacher, Mrs. Hawkes:

The Great Kid in our classroom this week is Emmy.  Emmy is happy, helpful, and a kind student.  Emmy is always trying her hardest and doing her best work in class.  Many students in our class already see Emmy as a good friend to ask if they have questions or need help.  Emmy is a role model in our class and is always asking questions and offering her wonderful ideas during lessons.  I'm so happy to have this student in my class and proud of her hard work!  Great job, Emmy.  Keep it up!

From Jim Feltis, the Deacon's quorum advisor (Jake is a Teacher so wasn't in the class):

I was teaching a Deacons quorum priesthood lesson a couple of months ago, and asked the question "Have you ever known anyone who treats everyone well, doesn't play favorites, etc.?" I didn't have anyone in mind when I asked the question, but the question fit the subject of the lesson and I wanted to see what they would say and describe. One of the boys raised his hand and said "Jake Hoopes is like that. He treats everyone nicely whether he has known you a long time or just met you."  

We went on to discuss that if something negative does happen to Jake that he seems to be able to push through and brush it off and probably forgive the other person, i.e. he doesn't seem to hold destructive grudges. We also discussed how easy it is for kids like Jake who are athletically gifted to only want to hang out with other athletes/jocks; i.e. people often default to only socializing with others exactly like them. Jake doesn't do that.

Anyway, I thought I should share that with you.

kickin it

Emmy kickin' it with her indoor soccer team.

Introducing: Team Lions Jr. 

Emmy's favorite thing to do during the games (besides score) was yell, "PAAAAASSS!" every time someone else had the ball.

 Emmy, the blur, running with it.

road trip

Baseball has begun and they started out with a BANG!  

ROAD TRIP TO KENNEWICK!

(Nevermind that Jake is on 2 basketball teams, as well.  3 if you count the YM team!  Not playing on Sundays comes in handy when you're juggling this many teams)

They played 2 games on Saturday in sunshine and 70 degree weather.

Take me out to that ballgame!  

Colorado cont.

Proof that we were there...

to celebrate these two.

Happy 50th anniversary.