Christmas 2007 with Team Hoopes

This was our third Christmas since we were married, and we've been so blessed by the little addition to our family. I told a few people I just wanted Jacob for Christmas, and they could tie a ribbon around his belly and I'd be happy with that under the tree. Even though he came 3 months before Christmas, he was my favorite present this year. Here are a few pictures to show you how much fun Jacob's first Christmas turned out to be! On Christmas Eve we found that Santa had made an early delivery to Spanish Fork at the Carter house, where we spent Christmas this year. Or, rather, Jacob just happened to fit snugly inside the stocking Jeff's mom had brought to be her stocking for Santa's filling purposes. Waking up on Christmas morning! Time to put on the Christmas suit and bib!! Here is Jacob with a few of his presents: First teddy bear (the one used in his monthly pictures is actually one that I got for Jeff a while back) The still-wrapped plush barn filled with little animals that make their sounds! I love this one!! The barn says My Barnyard Buddies on the roof - it is great. Jeff took a picture once the package was opened, but it is far too blurry for your viewing pleasure. This way you can see how excited Jacob gets to open presents. Little People nativity set! (He's had this since Thanksgiving actually, but I took this picture on the 26th.) Here is Team Hoopes trying out the new queen-sized sleeping bag: After such an exciting morning, Jacob was pretty tuckered out. Look where we found him taking a nap! Here's to warmer days when Team Hoopes can go on hikes, with Jacob riding in our new Kelty Kids Pathfinder! (Modeled here by Jeff's sister and our niece.) The day after Christmas we continued the festivities and made gingerbread houses in Herriman with my sister's two girls. Here we are with our finished products and some cute kids! Jacob had a story read to him by his cousin and we caught her in the act. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Jacob is growing...

This is Stacey writing...even though it says it was posted by Jeff.

Despite reminders from key people, I have neglected to keep the monthly pictures of Jacob updated here (though I have taken all 3 of them!). Here are months 1, 2, and 3 so you can see how he's changed. It is amazing! The last time I weighed him at the student health center, he was a whopping 13 lb 14 oz (with clothes and diaper on – he was asleep). So, he is definitely growing.

October 20:

November 20

I caught him just in time for this cute one, right before he sneezed!

December 20 - love that smile!!

And all three with no interfering words in between!

He is also now keen on holding onto things. I've been trying for weeks to get him to like little rattles and other toys, and just yesterday he finally succeeded and seemed to be enjoying his little crab rattle. We'll post some more pictures later so you can see how much he enjoyed his Christmas and see how much we enjoyed having him around this year!

Blogger Word connection, oh my

So, I leanrned something interesting today. You can publish to a blog straight from Word 2007. So, I am typing this in Word, I click publish, and, it is there. Wow. Let see if this really works.

Racquetball and pretty legs

So, today Landon called me up and invited me to play racquetball. I knew he played pretty well, and given that I have played twice before in my life, I figured that it would be fun to go and play and practice. However, on my way down, I decided there was no reason why I would not be able to beat Landon at this game—after all, I have the agility of a cat, the speed of a badger, and the cunning of a grouse—how could I lose?

So, we played. The first game I was warming up, and as a result, did not fare so well. I lost 15-2. Remembering the fencing scene of Princess Bride, I thought, “I will have Landon play with his left hand.” So, I did. Unfortunately, it did not serve me well, as it did not change the overall outcome and it decreased my score by 50%, leaving me losing at 15-1.

So, I thought, “What real advantage do I have over Landon?” I told Landon we would play Contact Racquetball, where I could physically block him. But, it did not work out well. I would hit the ball and immediately turn towards Landon to attack him, but, usually my focus on tackling made it so I could not get the ball to hit the wall. I did manage to get to him a couple times, but he still was able to win 15-1.

So, things did not go so well for me on the courts today. Oh well.

In other news, when I went to the locker room today, there was a sign that said, “Free swimming suits, ask for one.” I did. They are apparently not issuing suits any more, so they are giving them away. I got one. Here I am in my new BYU Issue suit, showing off my notoriously pretty legs.

Grandma McKoy

2 August 1927 - 9 December 2007

Sunday evening my dad's mother passed away. I have been thinking all day about what I would write on our blog as a tribute to her and probably the best thing I can do is to make a list of things or memories I am grateful for. But first, a quotation: 'Mercies and blessings come in different forms—sometimes as hard things. Yet the Lord said, "Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things" (D&C 59:7). All things means just that: good things, difficult things—not just some things. He has commanded us to be grateful because He knows being grateful will make us happy. This is another evidence of His love.' -Sister Bonnie D. Parkin Though this is a bittersweet time, and some days we will feel more of the bitter than the sweet, I know that being grateful for Grandma and the memories I have of her will make me happy. I choose to write in the present tense for some of these. Family members: leave comments with your favorite memories, or what you are grateful for concerning Grandma. I AM GRATEFUL THAT...

• Grandma tells the best stories and probably has the best memory of anyone I know (maybe next to President Monson!).

• when Grandma lived with us she would take walks in circles in the family room to get exercise. I don't know if anyone ever saw her do this but she claimed to do it while we were at school/work.
• she had certain soap and toothpaste she used, at least in the latter decade of her great life: Camay soap and GLEEM toothpaste. I never did like that GLEEM.
• I know that death is not the end and that we will see Grandma again! This brings me so much peace.

• Grandma was able to be in the temple with us the day Jeff and I were married.
• families are forever

• I grew up always knowing Grandma, and living close by her for much of my life.

• Grandma and I both wore hearing aids. (I still need mine! But she doesn't!)
• Grandma had a testimony of The Book of Mormon and of tithing (here is a video about her testimoney of tithing)
• she taught me this little poem:

Late one day in the middle of the night Two dead boys got up to fight Back to back they faced each other Drew their swords and shot each other The deaf police man heard the noise Came and shot the two dead boys If you don’t believe my story’s true

Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

• she used let me sit on her lap or run up to her and say "ding-dong!" while I pressed the mole on her forehead
• she raised my dad
• she taught me to play "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-Eater" on the piano
• she came to my band concerts, even when they were too loud for her I'm sure
• she and Grandpa accepted the Gospel in 1961
• she was and is a hard worker
• our birthdays were only 2 days apart
• Jeff and I took videos of her on Mother's Day 2006
• Grandma bought me a bubble gum ice cream treat at a park one summer day, even though she thought it sounded disgusting
• she always told me the story of when I was little (4) and I thought my Grandpa was dressed up as Santa and I said to him, "Are you my grandmother's husband?"
• Grandma shared her chocolate Velamints!
• the missionaries who served in Grandma and Grandpa's missions still care for them
• she let me and Jamie have sleepovers at her houses in Lovettsville and Arlington
• she let me go with her to get the mail from the P.O. box she had near Lovettsville
• one time at dinner she mentioned that she liked asparagus a lot, but especially when it is "young and tender." Erin and I both looked at each other across the table and said, "babies?" You had to be there.

• she lived in Herndon Harbor House for a while so we could go there and hang out
• she had a crisper on her counter that had these great, tasty and big cheese crackers in it when she lived in Arlington
• she introduced me to Vienna Sausages, our meat of choice now for our 72 hour kits (I would eat them even if it wasn't an emergency - they always remind me of her and how she cooked up some VS and eggs for breakfast once after one of our sleepovers)
• she was so particular about her foods. Salads with no dressing, hamburgers from BK with just mustard, her "about a 1/2 a cup" servings, had to be careful with strawberries or they'd make her legs break out, fried chicken, and boy did she love tomatoes! She also introduced me to apples with a sprinkle of salt - I still love it. (here is a video about, amoung other things, her love of tomatoes)
• I took time to go visit her on my own the times I did these last few years whenever I was at home
• she asked me to sing "I Am a Child of God" to her once a couple years ago at the care center in Fairfax
• she has passed on great recipes to her kids so that we can still enjoy her good cookin', in a way. I wasn't a witness to it, since it happened before I was born, but she always told amazing stories (at least in my mind) of how she would prepare fabulous meals for entire wards.
• Jeff and I were able to do temple work for many of Grandma and Grandpa's ancestors in this last year. There is still much more to be done. I'm also grateful that I was able to tell Grandma that we were doing this, and hear how excited she was.

And lastly, I am grateful, SO grateful, that I was lucky enough to take Jacob to Virginia last month to meet my Grandma. The memory of her holding and stroking his tiny, chubby little baby hand will always remain with me and I'm excited to tell Jacob about it when he's old enough to understand. I love you, Grandma!

Friendless

So, a couple weeks ago I decided to sign up for a Facebook account. I don't know why, as I had no intention of using it, but, I signed up. However, I had no friends. I have had a couple folks try to add me as a friend, but, I have not allowed it.

The bad part is, I want to see accounts of people I knew in High School, but it won't let you unless you are their "friend". It seems way too committal to me. Can't I just see their stuff without all this commitment to friendship?

So, I am friendless. Oh well.

I like how it says, "You don't have any friends yet." The "yet" part really does offer me hope in this sad world. Maybe one day I will have a Facebook friend.

The Parade

So, a couple weeks back, we went to the Christmas parade here in Provo. It was basically amazing. It was snowing a bit, but, it was fun. Jacob enjoyed going. He seemed delighted to be able to participate in such an event. Granted, all he did was just sleep in his little carriage, but, he did seem pleased. Here is Stacey and Jacob (inside his carriage/cocoon) with Santa Claus at the parade.

Interestingly, pushing Jacob around in his little carriage, all enclosed and protected, reminded me a lot of the popemobile. In many ways, Jacob is a lot like the Pope. They are both close to one end of life. Both are loved and cherished by all who know them. Both have some baldness issues (well, the old Pope had more baldness issues than the current See). Both are celibate. And, of course, both ride around in a protected, comfortable, padded little carriage. So, yep, Jacob and the Pope.

Betty Lou McKoy

A couple years back when I was in VA for the summer, I had an idea. I wanted to take a video of Stacey's grandma telling her conversion story. She and her husband were baptized a little bit before Stacey's dad was 8. I have heard the story, but I wanted to get it on video. So, I kept on trying to prompt her to tell the story, but, Betty had other ideas. She told me many different stories about all sorts of things, from talking about her glass eye and hearing aids, to missionaries on her mission who had been run over by trains, to when Mt. St. Helen exploded or about her distaste for ketchup. She was a gem. I finally got a little bit of the story. However, I am posting here some conversion we had about Betty's hearing aids and glass eye. It started when, during my interviewing her hearing aids started to make a noise, so I inquired what was going on. Here is she, Grandma McKoy:

Christmas Decorations

So, Christmas is here. Here are some decorations. We have this little tree, and put all our ornaments on it. It is cute. Unfortunately, the ornaments weight more than the tree, but, so far, it has remained standing upright. This is a Lil' People Nativity Stacey's mom got us. This is a nativity set we bought from a Christian bookstore a couple days after our first Christmas. We love going out after Christmas, and finding cute nativity sets for way cheap. We take them home, revel in how cute they are and in how good a deal we got, and them pack them up. The next year, it is like an early Christmas present to ourselves. Fun. This one we bought at Lew and Dans in Soda Springs a couple days after Christmas. Myrna thought it was ugly, but I think it is cute. This one we got from Deseret Book after Christmas. We ordered it online, and it took forever to get to us, so we picked it up several months after Christmas. This one is one of my favorites. We got it for $1.50 a couple days after Christmas. The pieces are about 1/3 of an inch tall. It is cute.

This is a Heartwood Creek set we bought after Christmas our first year of marriage. In real life, it is very colorful, and pretty cute.

We got this one after Christmas at a Christian bookstore. We found it at one store, but the set that store had left over was missing a piece, so we picked up this one in Manasas on our way to go hiking at another bookstore from the same chain.

So, I determined it was all fine and good that we have these nativities, but I figured that we should allow them to mingle a little bit. SO, we had our first annual Wise Man's party on our dining room table. The Wise Men from each set were invited, and one Camel. They had a pretty good time.