Pumpkin Carving Time

The FHE before Halloween is all about carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds.

The boys intent on making very scary faces without cutting off any fingers.

These pumpkins were full of seeds and very beautiful, not to mention a great deal at Long's, only $3,99 each! I can't believe Halloween is Friday - it seems after that the days fly by and before you know it we're celebrating New Years Eve.

Expecting week by week #8

Here's Liz with JD's outfit. It's later in the afternoon so Liz looks great and feels pretty good.

Actually she always looks great - it's just that in the morning she's little pale...

The side view postings have begun. She's still her skinny little self but that won't last long! The first thing everyone asks Liz is, "How are you feeling?" So I'm making an effort to ask about the weather, politics, religion etc. since I can tell pretty quickly how she's feeling by looking at her. Liz would never complain and she's already the perfect mother.

Before missions family pictures

When Jim was called on his mission to Chile I decided it would be fun to take a family picture when each boy left on a mission. We stand in the same place in front of the house. Here's the way we were before Jimmy left.

Next is the family before Doug left for Argentina

Here we are before Matthew served in the Philippines. Doug was away at college for this shot.

Here's yesterday's picture. It's so fun to see how everyone has changed. We need to photoshop Doug and Cate in this one. They're in Rexburg, we missed you Doug and Cate.

I look forward to the family picture before Johnny leaves five years from now.

Homecoming 2008

The homecoming game was fun! Tons of people with excitement in the air.

It is really fun to watch the game when you don't have a kid out there. Expecially because I was sitting with great friends.

Monica and Jessica were calm companions. I need to improve my picture taking at arms length skills. Though I have perfected the up the nose shot, notice how tight and supple my neck is, I'll take the good with the bad.

It was fun to chat with Pam and Tara. The guy behind us screamed his lungs out - the good news, his language was relatively clean and by the end of the game he had no voice left. Unfortunately the Minutemen lost by one touchdown....fortunately I've never cared about the final score. It's all about the warm fall nights chanting C-O-N-C-O-R-D Concord, Concord, Concord High.

The Hop-twins

Pop on over to see the latest pictures of the babies - they're just adorable! http://www.hopkinz.com/

He's got spirit!!

Homecoming is all about sporting the school colors.

Today Johnny is all about Concord High Green and Gold!!

We're all going to the homecoming game tonight - should be lots of fun!!

We're leaving the green hair to Johnny!

Today

Some mornings when I wake up I feel a little worried. There's always something to be concerned over. I stop myself by saying, "This is the day the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!" This changes my perspective. When I drop Johnny off at school I'll sometimes say, "This is the only (fill in date here) you'll ever have - make it great!"

Every day is a gift - each brings opportunities. I feel bad when I fritter away the moments with worrying about things that will probably never happen when just outside my window birds are singing and the sky is blue.

As far as I know this is our only shot at earth life - it's so exciting! I love today!!

We need a reunion!

I miss these handsome Hopkins boy cousins (minus Matt who was on his mission)

and these beautiful Hopkins Girl cousins.

We live too far apart and get together far too seldom. These pictures were taken at Grandpas funeral. I wish we all lived in the same neighborhood!

Prop 8 - a response

I have a friend who is gay - he is a such a good guy and I enjoy his friendship. He has sent me a few e-mails urging no on 8. He mentions that he knows I'm probably on the opposite side of the issue. I'm glad he feels he can express his feelings to me, so I took a deep breath and sent him why I'm voting Yes on 8. Thankfully he was respectful and still treats me with kindness as I do him. Here is what I sent, it sums up why I don't feel I can stay silent on this issue.

Dear ______,

I appreciate you sharing your views with me. This is such a tricky election in so many ways. The bottom line is that you know me and you know that I love and care for you and that has nothing to do with our sexual preferences. There are crazies on both sides of every issue and then there are good people who do the best they can to do what they think is right. Basic to my core beliefs are agency and love - in a very literal way I believe we are brothers and sisters and we are on the planet to care for each other.

Here's a peek into my beliefs - I believe in sexual abstinence outside the covenant of marriage. I believe marriage is ordained by God as being between a man and a woman. I believe God speaks to a prophet today as he did in the Bible, why would we be less blessed than those people. I believe happiness is most likely to be found in living as closely to God's commandments as we can based on our understanding through prayer and study.

The highest commandment is love so you will never find me using hate speech or knowingly offend those who don't agree with me. I do however expect that my voice will not be silenced by those who disagree - that's why I appreciate knowing you. We can disagree and still retain mutual respect and friendship. That's what God's people would do until He comes and sorts out all the "stuff" we've messed up. My life is richer because I know you and I count it a blessing that our paths have crossed. I wish you only the best.

Life as a Hopkins part 10 of 10 by Johnny

The Labor Daybor Offle Wamelette Extravaganza
Ever heard of it? No? The reason you haven’t is because it was created by my oldest Brother Jim. Every Labor Day we go over to his house for a “gram of sugar away from heaven” breakfast. This includes omelets and waffles. The omelets can be made with anything you could ever want: avocados, peppers, tomatoes, onions, cheese, and anything else. On your waffle you can have strawberries with whip cream all over or just syrup. It is an annual Hopkins holiday tradition. The best part of the breakfast is not just the food, but being with family and having good times!

Life as a Hopkins 9 of 10 by Johnny

Fainting
The first time I ever fainted was in Mr. Schneider’s fourth grade class. We were watching a movie from the Champs program. Champs is an anti-drug program for fourth graders. They showed a lot of disgusting stuff. Things like black lungs and people smoking. While we were watching a movie about smoking, one of the things they showed was a person who had to have throat surgery. He had to have oxygen all the time, and that’s when it hit me, The ground that is. I was out cold, until one of my friends who sat next to me woke me up. We didn’t tell the teacher.

(mom here - Johnny will not be choosing medicine as his profession - he has passed out a few times when just hearing about medical procedures.)

Visiting Teaching with Kathy

This is Kathy and I on our Visiting Teaching route. Her van is in the background. Kathy and I have been companions for years. She has been confined to a wheelchair for over 20 years and can only move from the neck up. We have had some fun and crazy adventures and some of the most sacred, spiritual experiences together.

I tell Kathy that someday the Lord will help her understand what a blessing she is to all of us who know and love her. She doesn't think she is able to serve, she's wrong. She has taught me more about living and enjoying life than anyone else I know. One of the things I'm most looking forward to in the next life is seeing Kathy enjoy her perfected body. That will be heaven!

Expecting week by week #7

Jim and Liz say the pictures are not so great from the last few weeks. So Jim attempted to make this one even more gross by grinning with a mouthful of french bread. The smiles are genuine!! Liz is glowing!

I must be equal with these babies starting now! It's so easy to find cute girl things... But I have promised I will switch back and forth so JD doesn't feel left out, which he won't because I love boys, I know how to do boys. It's just that I need some practice with the girl thing - in the love department it's overflowing for everyone!

Life as a Hopkins 8 of 10 by Johnny

My Brothers
I have four older brothers. My brothers can be my best friends, or my worst enemies. Sometimes I want to punch them in the face, and sometimes I want to give them huge hugs. They make me food when mom and dad aren’t around, then they slap me in the back of my head and call me dipwad. Its always fun to watch movies with them, because they make fun of the movies and make me laugh. Its not always fun when we wrestle, if you’ve ever tried to wrestle with someone five years older and 100 lbs heavier, its not very fun. Its like wrestling a grizzly bear who thinks you’re a salmon.

Through the good and bad we’ll always be best friends.

Racoons and Grubs argh....

We have a lovely lawn in the backyard. Dave doesn't want the boys to play football back there because the lovely lawn gets all torn up. The other day Dave noticed that the yard was torn up. He reminded the boys about the no football rule but they insisted there had been no infraction. Matt reported that it looked like someone had peeled back the grass in patches all over the place.

Turns out our happy neighborhood racoons have picked our yard as their fast food stop. They love Grubs and grubs love our lawn...The guy at ACE said, "get rid of the grubs and you get rid of the racoons" and hopefully save the yard.

Grubs are really ugly if they look like the label above - yuck!! The yard is kind of a mess - each morning I go out and replace the grass that has been peeled back in patches. If you have any wisdom in this area I would love to hear from you. The boys would like to stay up all night with beebee guns and get themselves a coon! Hopefully the GrubEx will do the trick.

The yard really needs some attention - the tomatoes are dead and saggy but we're still enjoying the fruit. Maybe Saturday will be a yard clean-up party for the Hopkins! John's comment, "Gee we could have been playing football back there!"

Life as a Hopkins 7 of 10 by Johnny

Church
Every Sunday morning I get ready for church. For breakfast, we usually eat as a family. My mom usually makes the breakfast, but my dad is really good at cooking eggs and potatoes. We leave for church at 12:15 so I can help prepare for the worship service. My family usually sits in the same place every week. Sometimes I have to speak in front of everyone at church. One time when I was giving my talk, I was talking about something near to my heart and started crying. I like church because I learn new things about God and Jesus Christ. We have a program called seminary. Every morning at 6 o’ Clock we meet to study the scriptures. We are reading the New Testament right now and memorizing certain verses. I am grateful for my church and don’t know where I’d be without it.

Time to stand up

In conference several general authorities stated that we're living in the time foretold by the apostle Paul. I grew up hearing that we had been saved for the last days. As teenagers we thought that was so exciting. It is exciting but it's also demanding. The time has come to do the hard stuff.

We hold to the iron rod and hear the shouts from the great and spacious building saying we're fools and hateful - it goes on and on. It's hard not to take it personally. Truth is truth no matter how many people disagree.

Marriage is ordained of God. He directed that it be between a man and a woman. Who am I to offend God? Man may be offended but I don't take my strength from the arm of the flesh. My comfort and hope come from the Savior and I stand with Him and the Father. Thankfully I don't stand alone - there are millions of us from all religions, cultures and backgrounds.

We stand for the plan of happiness. We stand for families. We stand against violence and hate. We stand for truth. Don't be afraid to stand with us.

Life as a Hopkins 6 0f 10 by Johnny

Grandma
My grandma died when I was very young but I still remember some things like when we would play the card game called war. Where the highest card wins. From what I do remember she always had candy for me and we played with the other toys she had. I wish I could have known her better we could have been great friends. I think we had a lot of fun when she was still here. I hope she thought I was a great kid that I would grow up into someone like her. I hope to meet a person nice and just like her.

expecting week by week 3, 4, 5, 6

We played catch-up today - these are not the most beautiful pictures of Liz.

Note to self - check the size before you buy - little boy hat big giant girl hat...

Little tiny socks that look like they have shoes on them - in every color of the rainbow.

There are lots of cute girl things - not so much for boys. Jim is looking out for JD so I have to focus...

Liz is a little queezy if she doesn't eat regularly. The phrase most often heard by Liz - "You're going to be so big!!". The boys say - "Finally you'll look like a Hopkins!"

expecting week by week

We're so excited for the babies. I decided that we should celebrate each week when Liz and Jim come over for Sunday dinner. You can't have a celebration without a present so here are the last two Sundays.

Sept. 27 - a pregnancy journal where Liz can see what the babies are doing and write her thoughts. On this date they were the size of a sesame seed!

Oct. 5 - a book of sudoku puzzles to keep her occupied while waiting for her sonogram the following Friday.

Won't it be fun to see the changes as the weeks go by?

Tahoe with a book club friends

I had a great time away with friends from our bookclub - Read it and Eat. Only 7 of us could make it.

We stayed at Charlottes cabin at Incline Village. We had planned to go shopping and eat out but it snowed!! So we stayed in and talked and talked and talked.

We went out for a slippery walk Saturday morning. The air was fresh and crisp with the smell of pine.

These women are wonderful - we laughed and cried and ate a lot of fabulous food. We decided going away with moms is the best - everyone does a little and everyone enjoys a lot.

It made me want to organize a time when I could get away with all my friends, far and near, and take time to relax and chat.