Holiday's with the Hoopes

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but Oh so "Delightful"

The fun of snow days in Idaho! It has snowed around 18 inches so far. The kids had an absolute blast. After breakfast they went out to help Dad shovel off the tramp & the walks. They played on the hills of snow piled up high. Dad pulled them on a sled behind the 4-wheeler. This afternoon the wind picked up & it is a blizzard out there! Brynn looked out at the trampoline & said, "Oh, no! We better go back out & shovel again!" I think we plowed the driveway 3 times. It's gonna be a white Christmas!

'Tis The Season

We took a fun trip on Dec 5th to Salt Lake City to start off the Christmas season at Temple Square. We went with our wonderful Canadian friends, the Webster's. We had a great time & everything was beautiful. Our kids were a little disappointed at first because they thought they were going to see the "real" Mary & Joseph. The nativity looks so real & they kept wanting to go talk to Mary & to pet the sheep. Jadie stayed home with Grandma & they had great fun too.

The "Jingle Jig"

Jadie loves listening to music & dancing just like her big sisters. She's got her own moves. Too cute not to share.

Up on the housetop...

The kids really wanted to go walk around, so off they went.

Here we go!

We made it to the very tip top. Wow, you can see everything from up here!

"Hey it's Dad up there!" Jadie was so surprised, she couldn't stop laughing & talking & pointing. She had never seen anything like it!

The house is finished. Now on to the trees.

Happy Halloween!!!

This Halloween was so much fun. Last year was fun because the kids went trick or treating for the first time & it was oh so cute. They were so excited. But this year they knew what it was all about. Justin & I decided that we needed to get in on the fun of it too, so we made some new family traditions. Halloween morning we dressed up & surprised the kids. They LOVED it! They thought that was the best! We had pumpkin hotcakes (pancakes, we call them hotcakes) & I cut the eyes & mouth out so they looked like jack o' lanterns. AND.... they were even orange! At the table Brynn said, "Mom, do you want to hear something really spooky?" I said sure. It was silent....then I heard "Ooooooo--whooooooooo....did that scare you Mom?" I couldn't help it but I busted up laughing because she was so serious & trying really hard to be spooky. We then played some games like, "hide & seek-trick or' treat," & "pumpkin, pumpkin, CAT!" (another version of duck, duck, goose). Then it was time to paint & carve our pumpkins. Justin carved this really cool pirate ship. The girls were really impressed. (Dad is so cool!) For dinner we had "worms". (spaghetti) All during our eating Tori would say, "these are such good worms mom...I love these worms!" and then she would snicker like she was pretending so well that they were worms. It was such fun because they really got into it. Then it was time; time for the anxiously awaited thrill of Trick or Treating. I went with them to the first two doors & then they wanted to do it themselves & I was asked very nicely if "Mom, would you like to stay in the car & keep warm?" I got the hint. So the 3rd house they excitedly went to the door themselves & came back just beaming, not that they got Twinkies or anything, but that "We did it!!! We did it all by ourselves! And we said, thank you so much, Happy Halloween! This is great Mom!" It was priceless. The next house we went to the same excitement rushed to the door. I rolled down the window so I could listen this time & the lady was oooing & ahhhing over how beautiful the two princesses were. In the most polite "princess" kind of way I heard, "thank you so much, ba-bye!" Tori was coming down the steps & she lost one of her shoes. The woman called out, "oh, Cinderella you lost your slipper!" What happened next, I wish I had a video camera for. She so gracefully walked back up the stairs, slipped her tiny foot into the shoe & carried on. Then turned, curtsied, & waved. The lady had the biggest smile on her face. I know that she closed the door & died laughing. I did! It was adorable. After we went around the neighborhood, the kids wanted to trick Dad. So they went to our door & rang the doorbell. Pretended like they were trick or' treating. They got back to the car & they were laughing so hard. They said, "We tricked Dad so good. He doesn't even know who we are!" Apparently HE tricked them so good by pretending he didn't recognize THEM. It was hilarious. Justin's costume was great. He was a vampire. Not a scary one because we knew that would be a little too much for the girls, so he was a "classy" one. We had neighbor's coming over to our house just to see his costume. He got an applause one time as he opened the door. What a fun night! The best part about it was that the more we got into it, the more the kids did. We can't wait until next year when we add some more fun traditions to it. As for now, on to the next holiday. Tori is already hyped about it because she asked me "Mom, what are you going to be for Thanksgiving....a ghost?" :) Ahhh, good times.

Brynn's Most Wonderful Day.....

Brynn has a special bunny that she has had since she was born. She has been lost since last September & it has been so sad. Brown Bunny is special because Grandma Sermon gave her to Brynn when she was born. Brynn was helping me go through a box of clothes for Jadie one day & as we dumped out the clothes, there was our beloved “Brown Bunny.” When Brynn saw her she screamed “Ahhh…. It’s brown bunny!!!” She hugged her & hugged her & jumped up & down & we both laughed & cried. It was wonderful!! She said, “Brown Bunny I have missed you soooo much!” Then she said, “Mom, I am crying because I am so happy!” She finally experienced how that can happen; that you can cry when you are happy & full of joy. She said, “I have to call Grandma & tell her!!” So she did. And then they both laughed & cried together. It was great.