Update

We are all still here at the Hooper house.  I have neglected this poor blog that I start questioning if it is even worth trying to keep up!  I do WANT to keep it up, but honestly it has been so frustrating that I'd all but given up.  However, I LOVE  getting to read other peoples blogs, so I will try again.  We will see.  Our computer situation right now has made it beyond annoying to try to deal with pictures so I will try and deal with them when I am stronger.  :)

Seth is doing awesome.  He is a cute and funny and lovable little guy.  He is still in the stage where he will say whatever you ask him to say, so we take advantage of this all the time and have him say really big long words or phrases and crack up at how they come out.  He is such a good little talker that he does pretty well at our game.  He is my sweet buddy that hangs out all day with me while the big kids are at school.  :)

Isaac is doing awesome.  I think Isaac feels every emotion 10x stronger than normal people.  No one gets as excited as he does, or angry, sad, happy...all of it.  Thankfully he is a happy guy so we rarely have to see the angries and sads.  Isaac is still doing Karate.  He is a purple belt right now, but he will belt test this week.  Wish us luck!  Isaac is super loving and kind to me.  He is always making my day giving me and Livvi compliments like "You are as pretty as a pink unicorn" or  "I think you are the cutest mom ever"  (I am the luckiest...that I know for sure)

Grant is doing awesome.  He just earned his Wolf badge in cubs.  He was super excited to get to "wolf" down his treat with no hands.  :)  Grant is growing like crazy.  I feel like I have to buy him new shoes alllllll the time because his feet are growing so fast...they are getting HUGE....hobbit huge!  Grant is competitive and LOVES getting the highest grades and finishing his work first in class.  His teacher comments that he rushes through his work, but he always get 100%, so she is cool with it.  (me too)  He got to go with Ryan on a really cool hiking trip.  (See Ryan's facebook albums for pics).  Grant is still doing Karate.  He is a purple with white stripe belt and is testing this week with Isaac.  He has only one more article of faith to memorize!  Grant is taking piano lessons and is doing wonderfully in them.

Olivia is doing awesome.  Lots has changed for Liv.  She has retired from gymnastics.  It was something we were thinking of, and then we got to be in a musical together, (which she LOVED) and it gave her the courage to try something new.  I know she loved being in gymnastics, but she was ready to move on to other things.  As her mom, I was very thankful, not that I wasn't happy with gym, its just I knew other things could bring her more joy.  :)  Now she is singing in the East Valley Mormon Choir Organization.  She also is taking piano lessons, and plays the violin at school.  She is doing really well with them.  She learns so fast!  She was elected to be the president of her schools national elementary honor society.  She is thrilled.

Ryan is doing awesome.  He has been busy being the best hubby ever.  He has earned a few more patents.  He is the most creative person I know!  He is been on some awesome hiking and canyoneering trips (again, check his facebook...he documents them way better than I could).  He is a very patient man.  (Thankfully)  He is always happy to help me with whatever crazy project or predicament I get myself into. 

I am doing awesome...there is a trend going here...Life is great, we are happy, we are blessed.  Sometimes I don't blog because I am not so great with writing.  How can I express how happy I am to be a wife and mom and all that comes with it?  Its like in that Christmas song...John Rutter I think..."How can you capture the wind on the water?  How can you count all the stars in the sky?  How can you measure the love of a mother?  Or how can you write down a baby's first cries?"   I have been able to do a little more singing lately in these last few months and it has been wonderful.  I am going to start the kids on sight-singing very soon. :)

So now we are (sort-of) up to date.  I kind of glossed over several months, but my hope is just to write a few things more often, so we don't forget them later...Like all the sleep walking that has been going on around here...Hows that for a cliff hanger???

Happy Birthday Ryan

For Ryan's birthday this year, he took us all hiking.  We had so much fun.  The kids are great little hikers.  Even Seth hiked for a while.  When he got tired Ryan carried him in the baby back pack.  It was so nice to get away and enjoy the outdoors for the morning.

The kids at the start of the hike

Ryan's birthday breakfast

Cracking up over a few of his presents...egg nog (he loves it) and the current jar of peanut butter (you never know what the kiddos will find around the house to wrap up.)

In honor of Ryan's 34th birthday, here are 34 fun facts about Ryan...

1.  He sets goals, and works really hard to accomplish them.
2.  He is very patient.
3.  He loves canyoneering.
4.  He invented one of the parts in the guitar for guitar hero.
5.  For the past 12+ years, Monday thru Friday, he eats peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.
6.  He has camped overnight on the top of Weaver's needle.
7.  He likes to run...(well, I don't know if he really likes running or not, but he runs so he is in good enough shape for hikes etc)
8.  He is an excellent story teller.
9.  He likes the show The Office.
10.  At one time he was extremely OCD about germs and washing hands etc, but has worked really hard to relax about all that.
11.  He speaks Spanish.
12.  He loves milk shakes.
13.  He loves going on vacations.
14.  He climbed to the top of Half dome this year.
15.  He has been to Kuala Lumpur more times than I can remember.
16.  He likes Star Wars.
17.  He is a super husband.
18.  His favorite food is soft shell crab.
19.  His ankles crack when he walks up and down the stairs.
20.  He is an awesome dad.
21.  He likes to read.
22.  He fixes dinner for the family every Sunday.
23.  He is into saving money.
24.  He is into NOT  wasting money...(hee hee...this one is for the kids because we frequently talk about how to not waste money as part of FHE.)  :)
25.  He can do all sorts of weird hand tricks that keep the kiddos entertained during church.
26.  He is really really really strong.
27.  He can do back flips on the trampoline.
28.  He takes care of his family.
29.  He can sing really well--just doesn't do it that often.
30.  He is does not like shopping.
31.  He is good at hunting scorpions with his trusty black light and "death stick" (aka the old broom handle)
32.  He is compassionate
33.  He is happy
34.  He is HANDSOME!!!

Love you husband!  Happy Birthday.  :)

Happy Halloween

Well, better late than never...

We had a great Halloween.  We carved pumpkins Thursday evening before we took the kids to gymnastics and karate.  Lots of fun.  And the best part was that Olivia, Grant, and Isaac carved their pumpkins themselves!!!  Seth and I shared, and Ryan had his own.  Nice.  :) 

 Grantman the Cowboy

 The boys

 Grandma Hooper let Grant borrow his sweet cow hide coat to complete his cowboy look.  :)

 Isaac aka Indiana Jones

 I love it!!!

 Olivia is the queen bee

 Very very sparkly queen bee

 Seth was Dash from the incredibles

 He really got into character...he was so fast I couldn't get a good picture of him.  :-[

 The group of us...I was glad Grant let me borrow his karate gui to wear, however I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about the fact that it fit...(At least it was really short on me;) )

We had lots of fun at our ward trunk or treat.  The best was when we got home and the kids had their "semi-annual candy exchange" where they trade each other for their favorite candies.  (They said the "annual candy exchange" was at Easter)  Then they figured out they could give Seth all the gross candy and he would happily give them the good stuff.  He was just happy to be included.  I let them eat candy 'til bed time and the next day too, then we cleaned up all the wrappers and brushed teeth and were finished with it.  :)  It is nice to have it gone!!!

First Meet

Olivia had her first gymnastics meet of the season.  She did great and had lots of fun.  You can't use the flash during competitions, so we don't have a lot of pictures of her competing, but here she is in an arabesque with her medal.  She placed 2nd on each event for her level, and 5th over all for her level.  Great job Livvi!

Happy Birthday Olivia

Our sweet daughter Olivia turned 10!!!!  Yikes!  We had a fun weekend celebrating her birthday.  She requested breakfast sandwiches for breakfast, I took panda express to her at school for lunch, and tacos with extra olives for dinner.  This year we let her have a "friend" party.  I'm not a big party planner, usually we just invite cousins over or something, but she was really excited for one, so I was really brave and we did it.  In honor of Olivia turning 10, here are 10 fun facts about her...

1.  Olivia loves to read, and she is really really good at it.

2.  Olivia is an excellent student.  I NEVER have to ask her if her homework is done.  Its always done.

3.  Olivia is a good friend.

4.  Olivia is a missionary.  :)

5.  Olivia is already an excellent babysitter. 

6.  Olivia is enthusiastic.  I love being around her because it makes me more excited about things too.

7.  Olivia loves gymnastics.  Her strength is her flexibility.  Not many people can do the stretches she can do.

8.  Olivia wants to be an author BEFORE she grows up.  Why not start sooner (her words)

9.  Olivia is selfless.  So many times I see her being a peace maker rather than take what is rightfully hers.

10.  Olivia loves trying new things.  We are in the middle of our first musical TOGETHER and she is doing wonderful!  She helps me with my lines because hers were learned months ago...She also started the violin--SO CUTE!!!

We love you Olivia and we love how blessed our family is because of you! 

Here are a few pics of the fun events...Her party was a watch-a-movie-in-p.j.s party--very fun.

New Belts

Someday I will be caught up, but until then, here is more old news...

Shortly after school started Grant and Isaac earned their Blue with Purple stripe belts, and two more kata patches each.  We are so proud of them.  They are in the advanced class (blue belts and above) and their class was so late in the evening.  They were so tired when they finished, but they stuck it out and did great.  They started the summer as solid blue belts and ended with skipping two stripes to move to their blue with purple stripe belts.  We are so happy for them.  Now they are working a lot with their nun chucks.  (SO CUTE!!!)  And the best part is now the advanced class is on a different day so they don't have to stay up so late.  Good times.

Isaac with a guarding block and Grant sporting a knife hand block.  (I think)  :)

First day of School

Still playing catch-up with the ol' blog. Didn't want to miss this very important day.
The first day of school was great. So far so good. The kiddos love there teachers and are happy to be back in the school routine.

Grantman, the mighty third grader.
Isaac, first grader MVP (at least to this MOM)

Olivia, my darling fifth grader.

It is truly scary how quickly the kids are growing up. It doesn't feel all that long ago that I dropped Olivia off for her first day of young learners kindergarten. I couldn't go home without her, so I took my baby boys (at the time) to walmart and we walked around for hours and ate a LOT of donuts. Since then I've learned not to drown my "I am going to miss my sweet kids" feelings in donuts and although its still a sad day for me, I am super happy that they love school and are excited to go.