Early Christmas Present

We had our ultrasound on Tuesday, and have been too busy since to blog about it....But Trey is having a BROTHER! As soon as the lady told us it was a boy it just felt perfect, and Trey very sweetly looked up at at Bill and said, "Dad, what are you going to do with 2 buddies?" We will just have to be insanely happy I guess.

Trey and Libby

I have to put these pictures on of Trey with his baby cousin Libby. He is practicing being a big brother. He is very excited to go with me to the doctor tomorrow to find out if he is having a brother or a sister.

My brothers and sister

My sister Bristy and her husband Brad.

My brother Brett and his wife Lori.

My brother Marshall and his wife Brittany, with their baby Libby.

My brother Chad and his wife Tawna(sorry it's blurry).

This is Brett again. Don't be offended, this is a gesture of love in our family.

We also had an extra visitor at the Christmas Party this year. Santa Claus came to Town! The whole family got to sit on his lap.

My nephew, Drexton, wasn't quite sure what to think.

Hooper Family Christmas Party

My mom and dad throw the family a Christmas Party every year. It is always fun. We are a family that loves to play and laugh together.


Every year, my mom has an ornament for all the kids to make. This year it was a miniature Nativity.

Here is a shot of some of Trey's cousins.

This is Drexton.

That is Jax in the Red Sox hat,

then Logan, Addie and Jake.

And the newest addition is Libby.

Other things we do that I didn't get pictures of: the kids all make gingerbread cookies and decorate them, we eat till we're stuffed, and play our annual game of Pictionary (boys against girls, there is a lot of laughing and name calling involved, but it is so fun, and it is the only time I ever get Bill to play any type of board game).

Trey's Christmas Concert

As you can see, Trey is thrilled to be here. His class sang "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas". It was hard to hear, but he moved his mouth the whole time so I'm sure it was awesome. He has been practicing his stage skills by playing Rock Band.

Grandma and Grandpa Hooper were able to come watch him sing too.

I have been converted

This is especially for my friend Jane. She will truly appreciate it.
As most of you know, I am a die-hard Diet Dr. Pepper drinker. Well since being pregnant I cannot stand the taste of it, and water gets very boring (I don't care how good it is for you!)
Anyway, I was really wanting a pop one day so Bill brought me home a Sonic Route 44 Diet Coke with Lime. I heard angels singing, and the heavens opened. I will gladly admit that I am now a Diet Coke convert and I feel no shame.

Christmas Kickoff Party

It has become our tradition to have as much of Bill's family as possible over for dinner the day after Thanksgiving. We always have the famous "Shipley Taco Salad", which for my fellow Utahns is really meat nachos. Most of the older boys (Bill and his brothers, and Michael-a nephew) compete to see who can make their salad the hottest with peppers and salsa and this really mean Thai seasoning that could melt your esophagus if you aren't careful. So it has also become tradition to serve Tums as a side dish. After dinner we finish up the leftover pies from the day before and then cram everyone into the basement to watch a Christmas movie. It is always a lot of fun. It is great to start our Christmas season with the people we love best. This year we missed Mom and Dad Shipley very much and had our minds on them a lot. Grant's family, and Kathy's family weren't there either because they all live back East, but they are always there in spirit when we start sharing funny stories of when they were all growing up. I am glad to have been able to marry into a family that was as close as mine was growing up.

Thanksgiving Rocks

After dinner we went to my mom's house for pie. Little did we now what awaited us. My brother had set up a TV and RockBand in my parents garage. It was so much fun!

Trey really got into singing. He had a death grip on the microphone, I'm surprised we didn't have to pry his fingers off of it. Bill is an awesome drummer, and I was laughing to hard to be good at anything.

Thanksgiving

We started out our Thanksgiving week with a weekend in Salt Lake to see Coldplay in concert. It was such a good show. If you are a fan and they come here again, you should go. We would probably go again. The lead singer is a spaz, but it made it fun to watch.

We had dinner at Bill's sister's house this year. She outdid herself on the food. All I have to say is sweet potato pie, with real sweet potatoes, YUM! Bill's brother and his family came up from Arizona too so the cousins all loved being together again. (Yes, that is my kid chewing with his mouth open.)

1 Day to Coldplay

Tomorrow is the Coldplay concert! I am so excited. It is going to be even more fun because we decided to stay the night. We were a little scared that would be driving home at the same time as all the teary-eyed Coug fans. Go Utes!! (sorry Jane, and Cheryl, and Emily, and ...)

Because of You

I saw this on a friend's blog, and thought it would be fun to try.
Here are the Rules-
1. Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 Player, or whatever on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.

If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say? "Somebody Stand By Me", Faith Hill
How would you describe yourself? "Wrong Turn", Jack Johnson
What do you like in a guy/girl? "Feels Like Tonight", Daughtry
How do you feel today? "I Can't Stop Loving You", Keith Urban
What is your life’s purpose? "She's a Butterfly", Martina McBride
What is your motto? "Make Me Believe", Martin McBride
What do your friends think of you? "Let Her Cry", Hootie and the Blowfish (I am an emotional pregnant girl at the moment)
What do you think of your parents? "I'm Goin' Home", Hootie and the Blowfish
What do you think about very often? "Must Get Out", Maroon 5
What is 2 + 2? "Cold Day in July", Dixie Chicks
What do you think of your best friend? "Clocks", Coldplay
Why do you like person you love? "Together We Rise", Armin Van Buren (So True)
What is your life story? "Good Things Happen", Dierks Bentley (This is true, I live a very blessed life)
What do you want to be when you grow up? "Awakening", Switchfoot
What will they play at your funeral? "My Baby Loves Me", Martina
What is your hobby/interest? "Time and Time Again", Counting Crows
What is your biggest fear? "Losing Keys", Jack Johnson (This must be a subconcious fear)
What is your biggest secret? "Circles", Switchfoot (It is such a big secret I don't even know what it is)
What do you think of your friends? "I Love You", Martina McBride
What will you post this as? "Because of You", Kelly Clarkson

Apparently, I have a thing for Martina McBride. She is the one I sing the best to when I am alone in my car :)

Since I am pregnant, Bill doesn't let me do a lot of the chores (dang). But my boys sure are good at picking up the slack.

Saturday they raked up all the leaves in our yard. Trey had a great time using the leaf blower. What a good helper!

Pumkin Carving

As you can see, we take pumpkin carving very seriously at our house. I have two very OCD boys, who want everything to look perfect. Trey had an especially good time with the little pumpkin saw. He didn't care that he gave his mom an anxiety attack thinking he was going to saw a finger off. It's all a part of the experienc right? Anyway, the pumpkins turned out great and Trey was excited to light them up on Halloween night.

Trey was Ben 10 for Halloween, and for some reason I didn't get a picture of him, but trust me, he was cute.
He and Bill traveled the neighborhood, while I stayed home to answer the door. It was fun to see all the neighbor kids. Especially my preschool kids.

Pumpkin Patch

Trey is very proud of his pumpkins.

Every year we go to the Red Barn, and take the Hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. And every year the pumpkins that Trey picks out seem to get bigger and bigger. Bill ends up trying to carry them all because they are too heavy for the rest of us.

Pirate Day

Rock Star Day

Nerd Day

These were all pictures from Spirit week at Trey's school.

Slow Learner

I finally learned how to download pictures from our camera onto the computer. For some reason I always thougtht this was hard so I always waited for Bill to do it for me. That is why I haven't posted any pictures for a while. Here are some pictures to make up for lost time.

Going Private

We are going private with our blog. Please, please post your e-mail so I can set you up to be invited to our blog.

One word quiz

You can only type ONE Word! Not as easy as you might think.Change the answers to suit you and pass it on.It's really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair? short
4. Your mother? hardworking
5. Your father? original
6. Your favorite thing? family
7.Your dream last night?wierd
8. Your favorite drink? Diet Dr. Pepper
9. Your dream/goal? mom
10. The room you're in? laundry
11. Your hobby? preschool
12. Your fear? disappointment
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? sad
16. Muffins? buttery
17. One of your wish list items? dishwasher
18. Where you grew up? Payson
19. The last thing you did? clean
20. What are you wearing? slippers
21. Your TV? overused
22. Your pets? dog
23. Your computer? busy
24. Your life? perfect
25. Your mood? blessed
26. Missing someone? Grandma
27. Your car? Sequoia
28. Something you're not wearing? perfume
29. Favorite store? DP
30. Your summer? wet
31. Like someone? forever
32. Your favorite color? yellow
33. When is the last time you laughed? breakfast
34. Who will retake this? anyone

Tagged by Bristy

8 TV shows I like to watch

1. Dr. 90210 (funny!!!)
2. What Not to Wear
3. The Office
4. Football
5. Baseball in October
6. Basketball
7. Nascar (don't laugh)
8. Project Runway

8 Things that happened yesterday

1. Carpool
2. Grocery Shopping
3. Nap
4. Pregnant Pilates (I used to have balance, and I used to have a core)
5. Trey's flag football game
6. Pumpkin gutting
7. Pumpkin carving
8. Bedtime
Obviously, we lead an exciting life

8 Favorite places to eat
1. Ruby River
2. Carraba's
3. Famous Dave's
4. Sakura
5. Bajio
6. Red Robin
7. Subway
8. Papa John's

8 Things I am looking forward too
1. BABY
2. BABY
3. BABY
4. Finding out what the baby is
5. The Holidays
7. Coldplay concert in November
8. Las Vegas Trip in March

8 Things on my wish list
1. BABY
2. BABY
3. BABY
4. Trey to keep growing up to be a good and funny person
5. Everyone I love to be happy
6. No more sad stories on the news
7. Bill's parents lived out here, or that we could visit them more often
8. Did I mention BABY

8 people I tag
1. Jill
2. Emily B.
3. Emily W
4. Jane
5. Rachael
6. Suzy
7. Jenn C.
8. Cheryl M.

Music to our ears...

Today, Bill and I heard a sound that we never thought we would hear again. OUR BABY'S HEART! It is overwhelming to talk about, but we are so excited and want everyone to know it. Today is actually the second time we have been to the doctor and had an ultrasound, but I am further along now and feel better about letting everyone know.

The first ultrasound was about 2 weeks ago, and it is one of those memories that will be burned into my brain forever. It is too special to me to just casually throw out here for any random stranger to read, but those of you that are our friends and family know it is a miracle and there have been many happy tears shed. And Trey was speechless when we told him that he finally gets a turn to be a big brother. The whole experience has been unbelievable so far and it is only going to get better.

I have a very hard time asking for help, so a huge THANK YOU to all of you who have shown excitement for us and for your prayers. It has definitely been noticed :)

OK, OK

I have officially been tagged for the first time. Thanks alot Emily!
The Rules:
Link the person who tagged you
Tell about 6 quirks of yours
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same
Leave a comment to let them know

MY QUIRKS

1. I am a compulsive reader. I have to have a new book in my house that I have not read at all times. Every time I go to the store, I buy a book. I read while I am at the gym, I read while I am watching TV, I read while I am cooking dinner, I read because I hate to scrapbook!

2. I hate to scrapbook. I love taking pictures, and I love to look at pictures, but I would gladly rip off my fingernails before sitting down to make a scrapbook page. (I haven't done it since Trey was 2).

3. Speaking of fingernails. I cannot stand to have my fingernails painted. I think it looks good, but I feel like my fingers are suffocating.

4. Ditto the suffocating of my hands with lotion on them. No hand lotion please.

5. I have a terrible habit of interrupting people when I talk. I get very excited and want to put in my two cents immediately. I know I do it, and I hate it. I am sorry to all of you who I have done this to.

6. Here is the biggest confession of all. I love the movie Titanic. I know, I know that makes me cheesy and girly. It's not because of Leonardo DiCaprio (he's much better now, than he was then), I have just always been a sucker for a love story.

I don't know 6 people to tag who haven't done it already. So if I tag you and you've already done it, just don't do it I guess. Who makes these rules anyway?
I tag, Bristy, Emily W., Suzy, Jill, and I 'll have to make two new friends to add on :)

What's a Hat Trick?

Trey is playing city league soccer and is on a team at his school too. The other night he played the best I have ever seen him play. He was the goalie for the first half, and had many saves, the other team didn't score on him. He even dove a couple of times and made it look really cool.

The second half he was a forward. My mom and dad were there to watch him, and my dad buys the grandkids a hamburger if they score. Well, Trey scored early in the second half, and my dad yells out "Do you want fries with your burger?!" Apparently Trey thought that would be great because he was playing like a boy possessed. The kid was everywhere! He scored again, and grandpa says, "if you want a drink too, you gotta go for the Hat Trick." Trey ran off like a crazy man. He ran out of time to score a third time, but he was pretty pumped that he scored his team's only goals.

P.S. A Hat Trick is scoring 3 goals in one game (Trey didn't know what it meant either :))

Rock Canyon Ride

Last Saturday, Bill, Trey, my dad, Trey's cousin Logan, and a few other people went on a 4-wheeler ride. They started up Hobble Creek canyon and ended up overlooking Rock Canyon near the Squaw Peak area. The picture Bill took of the valley are awesome!