true love

 Drew loves his blankie. 

 

 He loves it when he sleeps, and he hangs on to it when he wakes up.

He loves to play peek-a-boo with it.

 He loves to drag it around with him and snuggle his little face in it.

We think it is so cute how much Drew loves his blankie.  

Yay for blankies!!

7 years

It's been 7 years since we moved to Issaquah.  7 years!!  It seems like every March I do a post about moving to Seattle.  I probably need to stop that now (I think it's time).  I really don't plan to do many more of these.  Maybe on our 10 year anniversary or something like that.  Mostly I wanted to write about Seattle so I could show off Jake's sweet socks (www.skylinesocks.com). 

Anyway, we love it here.  For so many reasons!!   Seattle gets a bad rap for some things.  Mostly the weather.  I did a little research and found that :

Average yearly rainfall in Seattle is 36.2 inches (92 cm), compared to 19.5 inches (50 cm) in San Francisco, 34.5 (88 cm) in Chicago, 39 inches (99 cm) in Washington, DC and 40.3 inches (102 cm) in New York City.

We don't think the rain here is that bad!  Too much sunshine can be a little annoying, too.  It's so hard to see outside, yet every particle of dust and smudge on the cupboards and floor is completely visible.  Sun causes skin cancer, too.  Sun also makes swingsets and slides too hot to sit on or slide down. 

Seattle basically has everything you need.  The temple is close, there is every store you could want, Broadway, baseball, football, and hopefully soon--basketball!  And with any luck, Jimmer Fredette will still be a part of that.

To be fair, there are some things that drive me nuts about this place.  For example, plastic bags were just banned in all grocery stores in Issaquah, but marijuana was legalized.  Hmm...go figure that one out.  And I've already mentioned that Washington drivers can't merge.  Or think it's illegal. 

Overall, though, we are super happy to be here.  We kinda see ourselves here for a really long time.

wait--we may be famous

Hold the phone!!!  The Hoopes family has actually made it on to LDS.org! 

 

Bringing up children in light and truth

 Blessings of the Priesthood in every home

 

I hope this doesn't change how others view us.  We just want to be normal and down to earth, even though it will be kind-of hard with all the autograph requests and more photo shoots that are sure to come.  I can't wait to hire that housekeeper and cook, to buy a boat and a new minivan (keeping it real), and just finally be famous.  It feels good.

no fame & no fortune

One Sunday afternoon during the Summer, we had a photography team from the Church come to our house to take pictures of our family just doing family stuff.  The photos can show up anywhere on the LDS websites or in the magazines.  We haven't seen any of ourselves until recently.  A friend pointed us out in the January 2013 issue of the New Era.  If you look really closely, we are in the 3rd row of pictures, smack in the middle.  We are praying with our home teachers.  I guess I can't complain...it is kinda fun to see part of us in a Church magazine.  But wouldn't you know it--you can see our home teachers (pink tie, blue shirt--it really is hard to see) better than US.  Our home teachers who happen to come that month. 

Our cute friends up the street have had a little better luck--they have appeared on the Facebook Mormon Channel several times:

(top left; bottom right)

It reminds me of the only other time we had a chance to be in a magazine.  We saw some other cute friends in a big beautiful spread, and I think one or two Hoopes' heads were in a tiny, tiny picture somewhere near the end.  (Unfortunately I couldn't find a copy of that one).

I'm seeing a pattern here.

score update

us v. drew

us-2 Drew-2

We've got to up our game plan.

11 months

 

Drew is 11 months old today!  How we got here so fast, nobody really knows.  It seems like just yesterday I was trying to figure out our new life with 3 kids and a baby.

 

We adore Drew.  We love watching him learn new things.  Here is an up-to-date list of his skills:

  

vocabulary/sounds: mama, dada, uh oh, baba, nana, squeals, grunts

antics/performance: waves bye-bye, stands alone, gives kisses (slobbery, open-mouthed ones), dances, splashes, imitates your cough, claps, plays peek-a-boo with his blankie

food preferences: goldfish (a new favorite), cheerios, banana rice snacks, green beans, bananas, yogurt bites and he likes his baby food now and then--depends on the day.

  We are grateful for you, Drew!

not yet

 Drew wants a carpool to go somewhere like Ali.

Drew wants to play basketball like Jake.

Drew wants to stay for preschool like Emmy.

 Luckily, for now, Drew gets to stay home with me.

yay!!!

(clap, clap, clap)