Father's Day Weekend

In our family no holiday is just one day - it's a whole weekend. Actually for Father's Day I was heading out to California so we celebrated with Jeff on Saturday. We went to breakfast at the same restaurant I discovered while Kirstie was here. we had a fun time. Jeff had a surgery on Sunday in St. George so Jeff and the kids were going to leave Saturday and play and then hang out in the hotel Sunday while he was in surgery. Could have been fun. Things didn't go as planned. They had to drive down with him to St. George(4 hours away) early Sunday morning - Jeff did a 15 minute surgery while the kids hung out in the doctors lounge and the nurses fed them and they watched movies. Then they headed back home(another 4 hour drive). Not as fun as it could have been. They did stop and tour Coves Fort on the way home where President Hinckley's family lived and helped traders and others that were passing through many years ago.
I had a fun time with dad on Father's Day. Tony made us a delicious dinner and Mom and Dad spoiled me while I was there. Both are great Father's in my life and I am so thankful for both.

Note the date this restaurant opened on the sign. It is the oldest restaurant in Utah.

Madi- willing to be in a picture but don't expect her to smile. This was right next to the restaurant. It was the spot that the Pony express stopped at back in the day.

Here's the clan ready to eat a yummy breakfast. Looks like there's so many of us in this picture.

The picture above Jeffrey was given to the owner by the governor when the restaurant first opened in 1919. They still have it hanging up.

Everyone was getting a little silly.

Especially Jeff...

and Mikayla and Madi.

Madi and Taylor enjoying their whipped cream.

emma liked hers too.

I wanted one of Jeff's raspberries but first he had to stick it up his nose.

Here is a picture from the airplane on my way to California above the clouds.

Another picture above the clouds. Last time I remember flying above the clouds was when I was young and I was in Evan's plane(dads friend) flying through the clouds.

Father's Day dinner at mom and dad's. Yum, yum. Thank you Tony.

Tracey and Candice

My Friend Kirstie

My good friend Kirstie came into town on business this last week and we had a great time visiting. Kirstie was one of my best friends in high school. She is such a neat person with so many admirable qualities. It was so much fun hanging out with her again and even doing silly high school antics like driving on the trains side of the road instead of the cars side. I would have never known if that train didn't start blowing it's horn at me. Too funny - we were lauging pretty hard. It's all fun and games until someone gets run over by a train. Can't wait to see her again AND see her more often from here on out.

Together Time

It is June 14th and we are still drinking hot chocolate. I don't usually like the 9:00 am church schedule but I do like the extra time we have to spend together as a family on Sunday. This night we had hot chocolate and watched The Sound of Music. After a busy week, it was a relaxing way to end it. I am just thankful that my kids still like doing things with their mom and dad because we love doing things with them.

Emma with her apron on making whipping cream for our hot chocolate with Taylor.

Look at the mound of whipping cream Madison has on her spoon. Note us three girls wearing our new aprons we just made with grandma.

Jeffrey with his extra large cup.

Yum,Yum! Olivia is adding a little cinnamon and vanilla to her hot chocolate.

Movie time in the basement where we have a VCR still. Emma was out in about 5 minutes after so many nights of staying up late.

The Larsen's are finally here - sort of

We received a call about 9:30 Saturday night from the Larsen's letting us know they were here. We walked down the street to their new home to say hi. They came to church on Sunday and then headed to Logan to stay with Todd's parent's until Wednesday when their stuff arrives. It will be fun to have them as neighbors soon .

Cade, Ryan, Ethan and Tawny Larsen. Cute kids.

More fun with the Hoopes/Grandma

We took Mena and Grandma, along with Claire and Olivia, to one our favorite restaurants, Thymes and Seasons. Jeffrey came back from High Adventure and Aiden came back from EFY. They were sad that they didn't have the week to spend together but they had fun with the time they had.

The hand dipped strawberries are so yummy here. It is the best chocolate.

All the kids gathered around the table for dinner. It was a little crowded but it was nice to sit and eat a meal all together.

The boys a little ragged and probably tired after a long week.

Auburn 2nd Ward Reunion

Because Mena was in town and Syd Hoopes-Ash was too, we had a mini reunion with those from the ward we grew up in in California. It was really fun to see everyone. There are quite a few of us who live in Utah now.

From left to right: Brett Ferguson, Syd Ash, Kurt Green, Jonathon Dickson, Me, Scott Hodges and Mena Hoopes

Wendy Green and Evelyn Hodges

Scott with his daughter

Brett and his family

Kurt, Jeff, Syd and Mena

Several of the kids that were there. When Mena and I were figuring how many would be at the reunion, we didn't try to count the kids - too many. Not everyone could make it or else there would have been several more.

Mena and Syd are best friends which works out well since Mena married Syd's brother.

Do we look alike? Not really.

Wendy Green with two of her 6 kids.

Claire, Olivia and Audrey(Syd's daughter).

Tara Hoopes-Larsen, Stone and Taylor

Jonathon is a helicopter pilot and had to leave early to take someone out on a ride. He did a flyby over our house. It was cool.

Tam and Tara

I looked out the window while our party was going on and I saw the girls out talking to a group of boys that came by. They all left and played hide and seek around Wal-mart. Love the wholesome activities the youth choose to do here in Utah.

Grandma and Hoopes Family Visit

Mena came with a few of her children and mom to visit this past week. We had a lot of fun and got a lot done.

The girls thought sleeping in the closet would be a good idea. Me, being a firm believer in a good nights sleep, took Emma and Taylor out. Sorry girls.

Quite often I have given Olivia and Claire the same haircut. This time was no exception. Claire was excited to surprise her mother with her new haircut. We had the girls sit on the couch with their heads turned from Mena and she had to guess who was who.

Cute girls with easy summer haircuts.

Olivia and Claire had fun with Taylor this weekend also.

Mom(grandma) bought us a sewing machine and helped us make aprons. Olivia loves to sew and got her own sewing machine for her birthday this year. She is excited to start her sewing class with her friend Katelyn in July.

Here we are with our aprons on sipping hot chocolate in the middle of June.

We had the Dorius's over for dinner Monday night and had a nice visit.