Deer

I woke up one morning this week and found three deer on our front yard. Here is a picture of two of them. Another reason I love Montana! We see them all the time! Gabe has started to say that he wants to ride them. Baaaaaad idea kiddo! Love ya...but no. :)

Carpet, Tableclothes and Other Evils

So the other day I was helping Gabe go potty and when I returned to the dinner table Sammy had effectively pulled the table cloth off the table with the contents of his Gerber dark green garden vegetables onto the floor. It made the biggest splat I have seen. So I got to thinking as I sat on my hands and knees cleaning up the mess...who ever invented carpet must not of had children, what a hideous mess! Also whoever invented tablecloths must not have had children either. Again stupid invention! I can see how for some people they are pretty and great an all but I think from now on I am banning the use of them till my kids are much, much older. Also I am redoubling my efforts to save up for hardwood floors! Bye Bye shag sea foam blue carpet!! (Who puts carpet in the kitchen and dinning rooms anyway?!)

I'll get off my soapbox now. Thank you.

Sammy Turns 1

Our little Sammy turned 1!!! Happy Birthday little guy!

For more pictures and video check out his page.

River Webb

Cutest girlie ever! River you are sooo cute! Thanks for playing at my house!
(Brother Dave's daughter)

Super capes

For Christmas I made super capes for my brothers kids. It was really fun to see them run around in it. (Gabe's super cape is apart of his everyday wardrobe)

Thanksgiving Turkey

For Thanksgiving my family came to our house. My parents brought a home grown turkey. The thing was HUGE! It weighed 50 pounds...not stuffed! It barely fit into my oven! We had to put little Sammy up next to it to give you a size perspective. Thanks for the good food Pops!

Ella's Funeral

"Here Sidney I stole these for you!"

(Sidney is Trent's cousins daughter)

Memories of Ella McArthur

The reason we were in Utah for Halloween was for Trent's Grandmothers funeral. Ella was a wonderful woman that I loved. I will miss her. My favorite memories of her are:

Teaching her how to kick a soccer ball and how she could only get it a few feet until we told her to imagine it was President Bushes head. I'm not kidding the ball went three times as far!

The road trip to Idaho with Grandma McArthur, Daryl, and Bonnie.

Running to the car after watching fireworks at Weber State. We got going a ways and she laughed and said she better stop before she wet herself. She was sooo cute!

We'll miss you Grandma!!

Halloween

For Halloween the boys got to be in Utah with their Nana and Papa. Gabe was a cowboy and Sam was a tiger. Gabe really thought it was cool that you could just go knock on peoples doors and get candy. Kids must have came up with this holiday!

Painting the House

Our house is finally painted! A big shout-out to all those that helped this happen! We couldn't have done it without you! Thanks!

My experience at the swearing in

Trent had a great time getting sworn in (or so it seemed to me). Let me tell you a snippet of what was going on in the balcony with me and the boys. I could tell this whole ceremony was steeped in tradition, they also took as long as they possibly could to make it special. Each person got introduced to the State Bar and recommended by a attorney in good standing which meant a short explanation of why they should be admitted. (Some not so short) Gabe got bored and decided to test how many times he could announce that he had to go potty. Three trips down 2 flights of stairs and across the capital building to the bathroom latter and thankfully Trent still wasn't up for his turn.

So Gabe takes his extra Unders from the diaper bag and holds them up for all to see and announced that he had found his unders. I was slightly embarrassed to say the least. All the while Sammy decides that the best place to play is right on the edge of the stairs.

Congrats Honey but next time I am hiring a babysitter to help! LOL



Here is a video of them presenting Trent to the Bar of MT.

Passed the Bar!!

Yeah for Trent! Good job on passing the Bar exam! We are excited to have that worry over with! Here is a fuzzy picture of them swearing him in at the state capital in Helena.

Fun Montana Pictures

Here are some fun Montana pictures we have taken since moving to this huge beautiful State!

Trent Finishes the Bar

Today is the last day of the Bar exam! YES we finally did it!! We are so proud of Trent and all the hard work he has put in. Good job TRENT!!!

We love you!

Star Spangled Banner

Trent and the guys worked so hard on these songs!

Graduation

ATTENTION THIS JUST IN: TRENT GRADUATED!!!!
Yes, it finally happened. We now have an official graduate on our hands.
Good job Trent!!!!

Observations of a new Montanan

Things I have observed since I have become a Montanan:

I counted about 40 pickup trucks on my way to a store. (Not a long drive)
Went on a run and saw a family of 6 foxes
People tend to be very friendly
There is wildlife all over! Mainly bunnies, Ducks, Foxes, Deer...
Mountains are gorgeous
There are more options for license plates for this state than I have EVER seen!

Yes We Are Alive!

After a hiatus from blogging I thought I would update everyone what has been going on with the Hoopers! We have moved from Spokane. OK...hold on, I am going to tell you our plans for the summer, it may get confusing.

After moving from Spokane we drove to Billings and dropped our belongings off in a storage unit. Then we drove our family including the cat to Nebraska for six days of relaxation. (We will put on some pictures later)

From Nebraska we drove back to Billings and stayed about 3 days in a Hotel driving around every day to see the city and look at houses. From Billings we drove to Missoula were we are now. In total we figure we spent 7 days in the car.

We are now in Missoula for 2 months while Trent studies and takes the bar. From Missoula we will drive to Utah for about 3 weeks and then drive back to Billings for good.

Whhheeeeewww sorry for the long narrative, we will get back soon with pictures and fun stories.

Love you guys and hope all is well with everyone!

Ode to Trent

Trent Turns 29!!!
Everyone look out! Trent is one year away from being 30! :) In honor of Trent's impending birthday I am honoring him with a slew of pictures. I hope everyone enjoys the seeing pictures from the life of Trent.







Trent I love ya! Thanks for being a wonderful husband and father. We look forward to another wonderful year.

Raptor Reef

Our family went to an indoor water park today. Trent is on Spring Break so we took the opportunity to get out and have some fun. Gabe was a little weary of the water at first but we got him to go down some slides and by the time it was time to go he wanted to stay! Sam on the other hand wasn't to impressed by the experience. Oh well!

Raptor Reef 1

So they have this HUGE bucket that fills with water and then SPLASH, you're all wet. Fun but kind of nerve wracking, you never know when you or your kiddo are going to get rrrreeeaaaallyyy wet.

Raptor Reef 2

Gabe and River playing in the kiddy pool.

Chelsy's misadventures at the salon

I have been unsuccessful in finding a good hair stylist, which has meant some pretty scary hair cuts over the past year. It started with a disaster of one over the summer that has taken forever to grow out.

So I finally went to get my hair cut tonight...The place was filthy and the stylist was very clumsy she dropped 3 combs a clip and cut herself all while cutting my hair.

She did a bad job and so I asked her to fix it. She had to start over and I ended up with hair to my chin. When I got home Trent discovered that she didn't get rid of my mullet-the reason I went in the first place! So Trent ended up cutting my hair as straight as he could. Thanks Honey!

AHHHH! Discount hair salons STINK!

Thank you for letting me vent.

Sam's Blessing!

Sam's Blessing was a wonderful day, thank you to all our family and friends who were able to come and support us. To see more pictures of Sam's blessing check out Sam's blog!

Crazy times

Wow what a crazy couple of days. Heres the update: I (Chelsy) was sent to the ER on Monday morning for some chest pain I have been experiencing. They ran TONS of tests on me and decided they wanted me to stay the night so they could run more tests. I ended up getting a cat scan, coronary angiography, multiple ECGs, and the list goes on. What they found out was that I am actually quite healthy and that their not sure why I had the chest pain, but we do know that it isn't anything serious (they ruled out anything life threatening with all the tests).

I am so thankful to be home again! I learned that the best place to be is with those you love enjoying the present. So often I look to what is going to happen that I lose sight of what is happening right now. If I were to have no more tomorrows I would regret all the time I have wasted planning /thinking about unnecessary things. I challenge each of you to stop and ponder about what is most important in your life and let that take up your thoughts. Count your blessings and live for right now.

I am also so thankful for wonderful friends who really pitched in and helped us out by watching Gabe, making dinner, or phone calls to check up on us. I really love you guys and don't know how we could have gotten through this without you! Thank you!

What I am thankful for...

Something I am thankful for is being able to stay home and be with our kids. On Friday I taught Gabe how to play Duck Duck Goose. It's a little difficult when the circle consists of you, a toddler, and his stuffed tiger and bunny; but guaranteed to make some smiles and laughter.

Kids Blogs

Gabe and Sam now have their own blogs! Look to our links to check them out.

Christmas 2007

First time Gabe held Sam and he had to pinch his nose!

We dressed up and acted out the nativity story for Christmas this year. Trent was Joseph, Chelsy was Mary, Sam was baby Jesus, Gabe was a Shepard, and Milly was a donkey and a sheep.

Sam was our present for Christmas this year.

Sam Keeps Growing

Sam is about 7 weeks old and as of yesterday weighs 12 lbs 5 oz. He is starting to coo and smile and it just melts our hearts.

New pictures of Gabe and Sam