The Last Day of 2009

I can hardly believe that today is the last day of 2009. A decade has come and gone and I am sitting here wondering why time seems to go so much faster now that I have kids. Maybe it's because I am so much busier than I used to be. Whatever the reason I am glad that I have kids, but a little sad that time is going so quickly. I look back at the photos of my kids last year and the year before, and it makes me miss the days when they were so little. It's not that I don't love exactly what age they are now, I am just a little afraid that this stage will pass as quickly as all the others have and before I know it they will be all grown up! I am sure that I am being ridiculous, but maybe I can get past these fears if I get them off my chest and move on. Does anybody else ever feel this way?

2009 has been a great year. I prefer to look at the positives and forget about the negatives. Our kids have been so happy and have learned so much, and I feel blessed to be able to be part of that. We have done many exciting things together like go boating with our cousins, ride bikes in the neighborhood, go to the dollar movies, play baseball and basketball at the park, go swimming, visit the fire station, and so much more. We love to go go go and it has always helped us learn, grow and have fun.

I am excited for 2010. I think it will bring many good opportunities for our family, and we plan to take advantage of as many of them as we can. I hope this new year turns out to be one of the best yet for us and for all of our friends and family. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can hardly believe I have already gotten around to posting a few more photos. I am glad that I fit it in because a few of them are great!

Grandma and Grandpa Hoppie gave Zane and Ny this ghost night light in October. Ny slept with it just like this for several nights in a row. Can you see its belly glowing?

Here are some of the girls in our 'hood all dressed up for a kiddie Halloween party. It was so much fun!

Here is one of the turkey cookies Zane and Ny made for thanksgiving. They used a copy of their hand print to cut the shape. So cute!





Jeff and I right after our 10th anniversary cruise. Can you see the ship behind us?


I took the kids to the live Nativity in Draper this year. It was FREEZING, but well worth the wait in the icy cold line :-)

Nyah had her preschool Christmas program this past week. She is the one in the polka dot dress up front. So cute!

This is me and Ny after the program. She is so beautiful, and so sweet. I just love that girl!

She wanted to get a picture of us with her candy cane in it. Candy canes are oh so important, and must not be left out of cute photos!


This is our ginger bread house. The kids chose to build Snoopy's dog house. Too funny.

I have more, so maybe I will get a chance to add them sometime soon. Merry Christmas!

A little Peek Into My Life

Wow, it has been a long time, and there are so many fun things to share. I guess I will just post some photos and let you see for yourself!

Jeff helping Ny carve her pumpkin into a kitty cat.

Zane and Ny on a walk by Great Grandma's house.

Zane playing Flag football.


Jeff and I in Ensenada for our 10th anniversary!

Suprise, surprise... I am short on time, so I will post more pics asap! Enjoy!

My Family

I have some cute pics of the kids and of Jeff's birthday dinner, but I think I will post them later. Today I just wanted to record how much I love my awesome family. Every day my children say or do something that brings love and light into my life. They are so funny, so adorable, so smart and kind. They love to cuddle up with me or with Jeff, and it just warms me up! Whenever I ask them who loves them the most, they say, "You and Daddy". So true.

I am also blessed to have the kindest most generous husband who always tries to put my needs and the needs of our kids first. How did I get so lucky? He works darn hard for us everyday, and he is committed to being the best dad and hubby around. I adore him, and I love him more and more everyday.

I know this is a little squishy for a blog, so I guess I hope nobody else reads it, but I wanted to make sure it was out there just in case. I read a blog today that was written by a loving mother and wife who passed away last year. You could read how much she adored her family, and I thought that it was an amazing gift she gave her family. They will always have that to look back on and know of her love for them. I feel pretty confident that I will live to be an old old woman, but I guess you just never know :-)

FINALLY, SOME BOATING PICS!!!!

Jeff and Ny on the tube with Nikki and Brayden

Zane swimming in the lake


Brandon and Aunt Kimmie

Peeps on the boat and in the tube

Matt, Zane, and Trent

Jeff just chillin' on the boat

Nyah, trying to muster the courage to jump in :-)

Shay and her little cousins trying to get her wet!

The Aunties being silly

Zane with a grasshopper crawling up his arm!

There are several other great pics of the boating trip, but I think I will just post them on Facebook in a few days. It really was a fun trip, and we are so grateful for Pam and Andy and their generocity. Zane is already asking when we can go back to Boise and hang out on the boat with our cousins again. Maybe next year.....

Because I Love You

Okay, so I am slow getting boating pics up, but I will do that soon. I just wanted to share a little conversation I had with my precious daughter Nyah recently.

Me: I am so lucky that you are my daughter. Do you know how you came to be mine?

Nyah: No.

Me: Heavenly Father decided to send you to me and to Daddy.

Nyah: Wow.

Me: Why do you think Heavenly Father decided to send you to us?

Nyah: Because I love you.

Talk about melt your heart! I was not sure what answer she was going to come up with, but that is the very best one I can ever imagine. I love that girl!

Boating!

We are still here in Boise with the fam doing a fun boating trip. Zane and Nyah are having a ball with their cousins. Zane is a big fan of the tube rides, and he loves to catch as much air as he can. He even got bucked off the tube yesterday, but luckily Shyalie was a great Baywatch Babe and dove in after him. When she got there he was grinning from hear to ear. He is one tough cookie!

Nyah loves the boat, and when she gets hot and tired we make her a little bed and she takes a snooze. I can hardly believe she can sleep on a wild boat! I guess that is one of the perks of being three.

I have lots of great pics, but I will have to wait until I get home to upload them. Stay tuned...

GIRLS NIGHT OUT (You don't want to miss this!)

Friday, July 10th @ Provo Marriot Hotel

Sorry, this is a little hard to read, but you should look into this if you are interested in changing your body in an awesome way! Kristi and Trish can give you a step by step plan on how to eat to to lose fat, and how to exercise to get you toned! Visit their blog to check it out! I am "Living the Life" with Kristi Approved, and I have already lost over 5 lbs of nasty fat, and started toning and building muscle! After only 3 weeks I shed 1 1/2 inches off my waist, 2 inches off my hips, and 3/4 inch off each of my thighs! This is a great way to live and have more energy than ever!

If you are interested, go to http://www.kristiapproved.com/ or kristiapproved.blogspot.com

Potty Training, T-Ball, and Princesses

I have been so darn busy lately! I want to cram in a few things that I have been meaning to blog about but haven't yet. Enjoy!

Nyah finally decided 3 weeks ago that she is a big girl, and she is ready to wear big girl underwear and go to the potty. I was a little scared since we had big plans that day (Saturday) to go to Lagoon and I didn't want to ruin her resolve by making her wear a diaper, so I took some extra cloths with us and crossed my fingers. I couldn't believe it, but she told us 8 times that day that she needed to go to the potty, and she did it every time with NO ACCIDENTS! She did it at home twice, at Lagoon twice, when we were driving home (We pulled over and took her to Wendy's), and while we were at my sister-in-law's house twice! I don't want to get too graphic, but it was pee and poop! Since that day 3 weeks ago she has only had 2 accidents, and they were both right in front of the potty while she was pulling off her undies. Yay for Nyah!!!

Zane recently started T-Ball on the Lehi City League, and Jeff volunteered to be the coach. I can't tell you how excited Zane was when he found out that his dad would be his coach! We have had 2 practices and 1 rained out game, so Zane is itching to get out and play another team. He really is quite good, he knows all the rules (he watches baseball with Jeff and plays with Jeff all the time), he can throw and catch quite well, and he is one heck of a hitter. I heard that his cousin Tyler (who I think is almost 10) is a baseball phenom, so I guess Zane is trying to follow in his footsteps. There is another family rumor that Jeff and his big bro Dan were awesome ball players in their day as well, not to mention the Softball skills of all of his aunties, so maybe baseball runs in the Hoppie blood ;-)

Nyah will be three on Monday, and I wanted her to have a little party with all of her 3 year old friends to celebrate. Ny wanted a princess party, so we decided to go with it. We get little Disney princess invites and handed them out to her friends in the area. She also told the next door neighbor about her upcoming party, and she offered us some beautiful crystal looking plates and matching cups to make the girls really feel like royalty. I was afraid that they would get broken, but she assured me she didn't mind if they did since she had so many and bought them second hand anyway. I couldn't believe her generosity!

I decorated with purple flowers, a strand of Christmas lights, party favors (crowns, rock candy wands, stick-on earrings, barbie stickers, fashion rings), and the cake.

The Table

The Cake and Place Setting

Lizzy, Nyah, and Megan

Getting Ready to Bead Bracelets

Princesses Eating

Princess Nyah

Heart Shaped Sandwiches

Bracelets!!!

Directly After the Party

( lol.)

It was so much fun to have all those little princesses over making bracelets, eating finger foods, opening gifts, playing together and giggling! Thanks to all of the moms who let us borrow their little princesses for the afternoon. It made Nyah's party so fun and so memorable.

12 Weeks to a NEW ME!

So, I am pretty sick of working out every day and staying the same size. I have been busting my bunz running, lifting weights, swimming, doing aerobics and pilates, and although I am seeing improvements in my stamina, strength, and overall health, I have plateaued in the weight loss category. I know (and have known) what the problem is (I don't eat right), but honestly I have no idea how to plan for, shop for, and cook a really healthy meal. So when I found out that my friend Trish and her buddy Kristi started a business to help women learn to eat right and get a rock hard body, I was on board! They gave me a book (they call it the Pink Bible) that outlines EXACTLY what to eat, how to prepare it, when to eat it, and what exercises to do... for a whole 12 weeks! You should see the before and after shots of Trish, it is unbelievable. So I am starting my journey to a new healthier, thinner, firmer me, and I couldn't be more excited... or scared ;-) I am taking a before pic tonight in a bikini, but don't worry, I won't post it here... but if I end up looking as hot as Trish, maybe I will make this blog private and post my after photo... or not! We'll see....

Wish me luck!

Funny Nyah

Nyah says some of the funniest and or sweetest things, but I always seem to forget to write them down, so I thought I'd put a few of them here.

The other night Jeff was not here and I was putting Nyah to bed. We usually have family prayers before bed, but it was just she and I this time. Anyway, Nyah and Zane always want to say the prayer, so we usually let them take turns (sometimes we let them both have a turn on the same night), meaning Jeff and I don't get to say the prayer very often. So on this particular night, Nyah wanted to say the prayer (of coarse), and after she did, I asked her if it was okay for me to say a prayer too. Her response? She gives me a great big sigh and says, "This is gonna be a long one" before she kneels down and closes her eyes. Ha! So of coarse I tried not to make it too long, just to prove her wrong :-)

Later that night I had gone down to the basement to chat with Kimmie, and Nyah had gotten out of her bed and was looking for me. When she didn't find me she started crying... hard. So I ran upstairs and reassured her that I didn't leave her and that I would never leave her alone in the house and she said, "You were talking to Kimmie?" and I said, "Yup." Then she said, "Oh, I just lost you." So I just giggled and said, "You lost me for just a minute, but I was here all along." I could feel her breathe a sigh of relief.

Gotta love her.

Walk MS Was Awesome!

As many of you know, our family has been very busy with moving and renting homes and such, so I have not had time to update my blog until now, but finally I have a moment to post some cool pix of Walk MS Salt Lake City, and Walk MS Provo. Enjoy!

Emily, Me, Rachel, Jessica, Jen, Shelley, Anna

Kim, Mama Judy, Zane, Me, Jen

Mickey, Evana and Matt, Me, Isaac in the back, Kim Lau's cute boyfriend, Kim

Aimee, Chantell, and Vanessa... the Mary Kay entourage!

Jessica, Shelley, baby Anna, Selena

Here is an action shot of the Fam.

Heather, Brian, Pam, Kimmie, Jen, Megan, Mama Judy, & Ny in the stroller

Near the end of the walk, a sweet older lady tripped and caught her fall with her face. Ouch! I called 911 while Eve got right in there to stop the bleeding. Eve is my hero! The poor lady wasn't responding for a while, but then was able to answer a few simple questions. We left as soon as the fire fighters came to the rescue.

This was taken at the Provo Walk.

Ally, Lori, and Jessica are holding my darling little Nyah.

This photo was also taken at the Provo Walk. Interestingly, out team shirt won the Best T-Shirt Award at this walk. I was surprised, but it was a cool moment :-)

Our team was so cool, everyone had such a great time. I don't have the team photo from either walk yet, but as soon as I do I will post it here if anyone wants to steal it. The Hoppers raised almost $3500 this year, which is just a bit better than last year. WoooHooo! It has been such a great experience to help this awesome cause, and see so many others do the same. Some of the girls on our team helped us make a team flag, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of it other than in the team photos that I don't have quite yet. Krista and all the girls who came made it a really sweet flag, and I can't wait for everyone to see it. Stay tuned....

To Catch Up...

I have so much I want to blog about, but so little time to do it in. Here is what I can cram in for the moment!


My sister in law Kim won tickets for raising money for Walk MS to the David Archuleta concert and gave them to Zane! She had to work the night of the concert, so I got to go with him instead of Aunt Kimmie. Zane loves David like you wouldn't believe. Every time I turn on the radio he asks if I can try to find an Archuleta song. I told Zane that David is a member of the same church that we attend. One day I was cleaning the living room because someone from church was coming over. Zane excitedly asked, "is it David Archuleta?" I said "No, unfortunately we would have to win a chance to see him." And then, like a week later, Kim won tickets! Zane was THRILLED to say the least!

Me and Zane chillin' before the concert


Me and Zane goofing off with earplugs.

Zane in front of the crowd. As the crowd began to do the wave before David came on, Zane asked, "why are they doing that?" and I said, "because it is fun." He then put his hands in the air and said, "Wooooooooooo!" He LOVES the wave. Also, right as David was about to come out everyone was chanting, "Da-vid, Da-vid, Da-vid" so of coarse Zane jumped right in and joined the millions of excited fans in welcoming David onto the stage :-)

Since the show started at 7:30 (Zane's bedtime), and there were 2 opening acts, it was quite late by the time David came out. Zane danced to the first 3 or 4 songs and then conked out on his seat. I leaned him against me for most of the rest of the show, but I figured we should leave before the crowd since Zane was out of it.... and waaaaaay to heavy for me to carry!

The next morning I got up bright and early to run my first 5k. This was taken right after I finished. My time was 31 min and about 27 seconds. That is about a 6mph run!

Later that day we all went to the park. Jeff played ball with the kids, and coincidentally, they had a ball doing it ;-)

The swings were next. Nyah giggled the whole time, and I couldn't stop chuckling about Zane's hat and glasses.

Here is a photo of Nyah's first rock climbing experience. She really enjoyed it. She sure makes one cute little monkey girl.



Here is a shot of Zane's new shark tooth. See the little white dot behind is front bottom tooth on the left? The one on the other side has started to come in too, so we have been wiggling the baby teeth every day to try to prevent him from needing them to be pulled. I hope they come out soon.

There is so much more to tell, but I am so tired, and I need to get to bed. I hope I will have time to post Walk MS photos soon. Until then....