Hoopes Adventures

It's time to come out of hibernation & catch up a little. After a long spring...it's still spring. I'm not sure how much more I can take. The kids & I have dreamed of all the fun things about summer for a month & we are ready to say, "Okay...on with it!" The few days in between we have took total advantage of. A few weeks ago we went to Grandma's house, (my mom's) and had tons of fun with cousins. The start of those summer yearnings began.

Grandma has tons of super cool climbing trees around which was a big part of my childhood. We had some pretty groovy forts we made in those trees.

Lately Jadie has been cracking us up with her constant get-up. She is pretty independent & her famous words are "My-self!" The other day we were looking at pictures from 2 summers ago. Brynn started laughing, saying, "Look how little Jadie is!" Jadie: "I not witto...I tall, SEE!" Brynn asked if Jadie was 2 then. Jadie: "I not 2...I 4!"
This last week Jadie has been a little cranky. Having a rough morning, I picked her up & as we hugged I said, "Oh Jadie, what is the matter today?" Jadie: "I don't know a matter me!" Then I looked in her mouth & saw her last molar coming in. I think we were both relieved to figure out what "a matter!"

Little miss independent needed a snack, so she decided to get one...herself!

I love the experience of hunting in the forest for that special tree. The kids spied this one for their playroom. That night as we decorated it we had a fun family home evening in our pajamas & sleeping bags. There is something about sleeping next to that beautifully lit tree. We did that several times throughout the holidays

We partied it up this Halloween at our family Halloween party. It was great fun with great food & super company. Everyone really got into it making it a spooktacular night for all of us.

Brynn lost her first tooth! She also has 5 other loose teeth!! When she was a baby she didn’t have just one tooth come in at a time, she got 6 teeth all at once. She had fun looking at herself in the mirror.

Tori was in her bed, wondering what all the excitement was about so we HAD to go in & share the news with her. She liked holding the little tooth & looking at Brynn’s new smile. We all went upstairs together to show Dad. Of course we had to take pictures!
We put the tooth in a Ziploc bag & she stuck it under her pillow. We talked about the tooth fairy & how she is kind of like Santa Claus. She doesn’t come if we are awake. The next morning, Brynn came upstairs with a little disappointed face, holding up her baggie with the shiny tooth still there. “The tooth fairy didn’t come!” We hugged. Then like a little confession Brynn said, “I think I know why she didn’t come last night. It was because I didn’t go to sleep & she got too tired waiting for me.” We all agreed that was probably the reason. It was okay though because now she could take her tooth to school & show everyone!




This definitely called for a celebration. The next day we had our own family party all day since it was Friday. We went for a bike ride & took some fun pictures.

We have had a wonderful summer & done so many things, simply enjoying every bit of it. We spent HOURS playing on the waterslide, got 4 camping trips in, even camping in our own backyard! Several days a week we took bike rides down to the nature park to feed the ducks, chased water snakes & packed picnic lunches. Floating the Teton river with Grandpa Hoopes was great along with hiking to Pack Saddle Lake & swinging out over the lake on the rope swing. When asking the kids what their favorite things they did this summer, it was those two things on the top list & then it never fails but ends with ..."oh & getting snowcones!" We had a great time with Aunts, Uncles, & cousins at Bear World. The bears really put on a show that day. Even more fun times were traveling, as we made trips to Utah throughout the summer, spending time with friends & family. We spent the 24th of July celebrations with family in Spanish Fork, UT. It was a PAR-TAY! A carnival, parade, rodeo, fireworks, & lots of playing with some super fun cousins. We had fun playing time with family members from Texas & had picnics & birthdays parties together. 4 wheeler rides are one of the kids' FAVORITE things to do. We took some fun rides together with my family. It's always great to go to Grandma's house & making Hollyhock dolls is an anual summertime event when all the Hollyhocks are blooming. If you have never done this, you are missing out! (especially if you are a little girl) My grandma showed us how to do this when I was little & I have such fun memories. Now my girls get to have this memory with their grandma. What a great summer with almost perfect weather; ending each day with a beautiful sunset.


Bear world was fun. These bears were ready for treats! The rides are my kids favorite. Even though they are pretty tame, they still love it. Here they are cracking up with their cousin Kaitlyn.