THe HoPPiNG FaMIiY--chasing bugs and eating dirt

Pray for "Jack"

2012-06-17T12:59:00.001-07:00

We have the most precious chocolate lab, Jack. We love and adore him so much! He has become a part of our family! This past week was a really hard week for us. We thought at one point we were not bringing our sweet dog home from the vet hospital, but with lots of answered prayers he came home on Friday. He was diagnosed with heart disease, an enlarged heart. The veterinarian, Dr. Dixon said he was definitely born with it, which is giving him major health issues now. He is fairly young to have problems according to Dr. Dixon. Jack is only 8 years old. He is taking several different medicines to see if we can control the heart. We go back on Monday for another ultrasound, so please say a prayer for him tonight, especially Michael. We have been taking really good care of him this weekend! Michael and I have cooked many meals trying to get him to eat. He did eat a little bit, which is great. Here are a few pictures of our sweet dog, Jack.

This is Jack when we picked him up on Friday. You can tell he has lost some weight.

GET WELL JACK! We love you!

Watercolor Beach

2012-06-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful family beach vacation to Watercolor resort. We stayed in a beautiful 5 bedroom home in the heart of Watercolor. It was the perfect house for our big group which included Nancy, Bryan, Greg, Callie, Michael, the boys and me. It was nice to get everyone together! My parents met us for a few days too, which was nice to see them. The boys loved going to the beach, and they made many good memories. We even had a chance to drive over to the Naval Museum of Pensacola. The boys had a blast seeing all the airplanes. We spent entire day there!!! Here are a few pictures from our trip--

Dawson

Love this picture of Parker

Mimi and Dawson on a beach walk

Beach talk!

Daddy and Parker swimming

Playing in the sand

Parker and me on a beach walk

Uncle Bryan and Parker relaxing on the beach

Parker being "Parker"

Dawson (The water was so beautiful and clear)

Love this picture of Dawson

Uncle Greg playing with the boys

Daddy and the boys

Mimi and the boys

Uncle Greg and Parker

Naval Museum

My boys! Love this picture of them, so sweet!

Our family *Hard to believe we will be a party of five next year!

May Happenings at the Hopping's

2012-06-10T20:06:00.001-07:00

Well, May has been a busy month for us! Dawson finished his first season of Tball at Briarcrest, Fun Day at Briarcrest, Parker's spring musical at GBC, took a trip to the beach, Mother's Day, and then Memorial Day. Wow! Lots of fun memories! Here are a few pictures from May! I will post Beach pictures in next blog post.

Last Game

Dinosaur Exhibit at Zoo

Parker Spring Picture Day at School

Fun Day at Briarcrest

Dawson is Mr. D for the letter people parade at school

Fun Day at Briarcrest

50s Day at Briarcrest

Parker's Spring Musical at GBC

Fun Day at Briarcrest

GBC spring musical

Beach photos on next blog post!

Easter

2012-06-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

Easter Egg Hunt at School

We had a wonderful Easter with family this year. We went on several Easter Egg hunts and saw the Easter bunny a few times. Dawson had an exciting school party. The egg hunt was inside due to the rain, but the children had a great time collecting all the eggs. The boys were excited to wake up on Easter morning to see what he left in their baskets. Happy Easter!

Look the Easter Bunny came!

So much candy!

Our Family

Gigi and Popaw with boys

Attempt for boys' photo!

Parker not wanting to look at the camera

Boys being silly!

Sweet Dawson

T-Ball

2012-06-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Dawson played t-ball this spring at Briarcrest and LOVED it! He had a great coach that really helped him learn how to hit and throw the ball. Michael and I are so proud of him. He did great and scored many runs! Here are a few pictures from the season--

PoPaw and Dawson at TBall

"Good Game"

Go Saints!

Dugout time!

I am ready for the game!

Batters Up!

Happy Valentines Day and St. Paddys Day

2012-06-09T07:31:00.003-07:00

Silly boys on Valentines Day

Pure sweetness! Love this picture!

Happy St. Patrick's Day
It was a beautiful day!

Gator Time!

After church

Dawson turns 5=WOW

2012-06-09T07:21:00.002-07:00

Dawson is growing up right before my eyes! He turned 5 in January! We had a great birthday party at the Childrens Museum of Memphis. He wanted to have his party at the airport, but we had to settle for the childrens museum with the FedEx plane. He had a Jet Airplane Party! It was a great time! He wanted his entire class to come! Here are a few pictures from his party--

Airplane Cake

Daddy and Pilot Dawson *Thanks Gigi and PoPaw for the fighter jacket!

Dawson is FIVE

Happy Birthday to me!

My friends

Parker driving

Carmen and Connor

Mallory and Kirklyn

Gage and Carter eating cake

Dawson and Gage

Trip to Denver, Halloween, Thanksgving in Telluride and Christmas 2011

2012-06-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

Wow! I am trying to play catch up on our family blog. I am hoping to get caught up with blogging this summer! =) Anyway, Michael and I took a trip without the boys back in August to visit Chris and Noelle in Denver. Let me just say Denver is fabulous! Their home is right downtown, in heart of everything! It is fabulous! We walked everywhere, and it was wonderful! Maybe one day we could move there! Ha! =)
This year we spent Thanksgiving in Telluride, which was great going skiing on Turkey Day. Dawson learned to ski for the first time. He loved every minute! It is so beautiful in the mountains! It wasn't too cold yet. Noelle and Chris came up from Denver, so that was fun visiting with them. We will be back this summer. We spent Christmas at the farm in Canton this year and drove back just in time to see what Santa brought the boys. The boys had fun doing all the "farm things" at Mimi's, riding tractors, playing with the dogs, etc... We even got a chance to do Christmas on the square of Canton and visiting the Children's Museum of Mississippi. It was so pretty, seeing all the lights on Canton Square. It was fun to look at their expressions on Christmas morning. Here are a few pictures--

on the patio rooftop at Chris and Noelle's house

Rockies Game in Denver

Halloween-Dawson Police Officer and Parker Fireman

Thanksgiving 2011

Santa at Church

Telluride

Mom and Me at dinner in Telluride

Uncle Chris and Aunt Noelle at dinner in Telluride

Gigi and the boys

Popaw and the boys at dinner in Telluride

Telluride

Christmas at the farm

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve w/ Jack in background!

Christmas Morning Santa Came!

Parker got a TRUCK!

Dawson got an AIRPLANE!

Children's Museum of Mississippi

Christmas night by the tree (after bath).

Mimi and the boys

Uncle Greg and the boys

LOOK! Santa brought a GATOR to the farm!

back to school fun, happy fall yall, and much more

2012-03-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

Wow! Time has flown by this month! I can't believe Christmas and the New Year will be here very soon. Just crazy! Anyway, I know it has been awhile since my last post (almost 2 months). We have been trying to adjust to Dawson's school schedule and routines. I think we have it down now! =) Dawson started JK at Briarcrest this year and absolutely LOVES it. He goes 5 full days! He is learning so much and I am so proud of him. He started reading his take-home stories to us last night. I am so amazed he is READING to us! As a teacher, it brought tears to my eyes. He is growing up too fast! Parker is doing great! He started 2 year olds at Germantown Baptist this year and loves his teachers & friends. He had a great check-up from his immunologists this past week. Since he started the new medicine in July, he has been a pretty healthy and very active toddler these days. He is talking so much now, saying new words everyday. He is counting and saying his colors too! Wow! Here are a few pictures from the first days of school-

Dawson and Mrs. Downs his JK teacher

Dawson first day of JK

Parker first day of 2 year olds

First Miss. State game against Memphis

Our family Miss state vs Memphis game

Fun in the SUN and Chinaberry Farms

2011-08-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

We have been having a great summer so far. Dawson has learned how to dive into the pool and then swim like a little fish all around. It is amazing to see the difference from last summer! We are so proud of him. He is doing great! Parker loves to go swimming too. He floats all over the pool trying to catch up with his big brother. I am so glad they like the water! It is a fun time for us all!

Dawson Diving!!

The boys have loved watching their garden grow outside. We have so many tomatoes this year! Dawson decided to eat one the other day, which really shocked me since he doesn't eat too many veggies. The basil is as tall as Parker. Dawson helps out by watering the garden everyday. He loves watching them grow and turn red!

Yay! Tomatoes!

Peppers

Oregano and Basil

We also got YARD OF THE MONTH. We are really excited! The boys love the sign. Thanks to Michael and the boys!

Cooling down after a hard day tending to the yard!

Dawson has been going to Briarcrest this summer for some different camp activities. He is really enjoying meeting new friends and getting to know the school for next year. He is really growing up so fast! I can't believe he will be starting Junior Kindergarten in a few weeks. It is very bittersweet for me. He keeps asking when he is going back to school, not too much longer now. Parker will go back to GBC next year. He is excited to meet his teachers and new friends too.

Dawson 4

Parker 2

Last weekend, we went down to Chinaberry Farms, our family farm in Mississippi. We had a great time. The boys LOVE it so much! The boys love riding the tractors, golf carts, horses, four wheelers, etc. They have such a good time when we go down there. Parker slept the entire way back to Memphis. Ha! We will be back soon! Callie and Greg opened up a horse farm, High Hopes in Madison just down the road from the farm. Callie teaches lessons and boards horses. It is a resort for horses! =) It is just beautiful! Dawson had a good time riding Peter Pan. Enjoy the pictures!

Bye, Bye until next time!

Fourth of July

2011-07-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

We spent the fourth of July here this year. We tried to get away for a bit to Telluride, but it didn't work out. Parker has been battling an IGA immune deficiency so we have been in and out of different doctors offices. I thought it would be a good idea to stay here until we see our specialists. Michael spent the fourth in Geneva, Switzerland for work, so it was just the boys, me and my parents here. We had a great time! I know my parents really wanted to be in Telluride, hopefully, next year we will be there to see the beautiful fireworks overlooking the mountains. We went over to our good friends the Hunts for dinner, water sliding, and fireworks. It was a great time! I know the boys loved the fireworks.

Parker is 2...Can you believe it?

2011-06-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am about to blog about Parker turning 2 on June 3rd. It seems like yesterday when we brought him home from the hospital to meet his family. Here are a few pictures from his birthday celebration with good friends. We had his birthday party at his favorite place "The Little Gym." We decided to do a "Fish" themed birthday party. It was fun finding lots of fish decor for his party. His cupcakes were so cute with fish gummies on top. We gave fish sand toys for party favors. We are so blessed to have wonderful friends that made Parker's birthday so much fun. Happy Birthday, Parker! We love you!

LOVE this pic. everyone was bouncing the parachute and he decided to have a rest!

Happy Memorial Day & Welcome Summer!

2011-05-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord for summers! I realized this winter when we had many snow days that I really love the summertime and being outdoors. It is so nice going outside without several layers of clothes on. I don't think I could live in a place with a colder climate. Of course, the boys don't care what the weather is doing outside hot, cold, rain or snow. They would live outside if we would let them. They love and need fresh air! Some mornings we are outside by 7 am or sooner, which is nice in the summers. They love to play in dirt! Since we had so much rain this spring, we had many rain puddles. The boys loved putting on their rainboots and splashing around in the puddles. I think I did a extra set of laundry the entire month of May because of all the muddy clothes. Oh well, they were having fun and staying out of double- trouble, so who cares right!?

We had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Our friends Ben and Christy came out for a cookout. I say cookout, really I went to Germantown Commissionary and picked up some bbq and ribs. They were delicious, as always! Christy is a great cook! She made some delicious sides along a wonderful homemade apple pie and chocolate chip cookies. She made the crust from scratch, too. I need to take some cooking lessons from her. It was so nice visiting with them and I am so glad they move here from Atlanta. I took some pictures of the boys' swimming in their new pool that Michael got them from Wal-Mart. It has a SLIDE! The boys LOVE it! It definitely made our afternoon more fun and exciting!

Next post, Parker is 2! I can't believe Parker will be 2 on Friday. He is growing up too fast! He is full of energy and fun! He has blessed our lives in more ways than we can imagine. We love you Parker! Happy early Birthday! I will leave you with a few pictures of Parker..

Fun Day at Gtown Baptist

2011-05-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

Dawson and Parker had Fun Day at school last week. Dawson was so excited about eating snowcones and bouncing. Michael and Mimi came to watch them play on all the bouncers. Here are a few pictures-

Greatest two minutes in sports...

2011-05-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

Michael and I went to a fun Kentucky Derby party hosted by our Sunday school class. It was fun dressing up in festive attire for this fabulous event. I have never been to the actual Derby, but one day I really would like to go. I think it would be so fun see the horses, and most of all the fashion, while of course sipping on a mint julep. Maybe one day, I will get to go! Here are some pictures we took before the party.

Sick of Sick Days

2011-05-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, last week was a little rough at our house because everyone was SICK, and I mean SICK. Poor Mimi got really sick too from her visit. I felt really bad that she came to visit and then got sick from the boys.
Parker was really sick, and he was starting to worry Michael and me. We took him to the doctor 4 times. Each time they did a blood count, so they keep telling us he had a viral infection. Finally, after the 4th visit they decided to do sinus and chest xrays. We had to go to Baptist Hospital to do the xrays. We had to check in with admissions like we were going to spend the night there or something. It was really starting to freak me out! Finally, the doctors said he had a severe case of bronchitis along with sinusitis. Then he got pink eye, too. I think it came from the doctors office. He ran fever for 10 straight days. I am so thankful he is feeling better. He really scared us to death. Hopefully, we are over sickness for awhile, or at least I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying too. He is feeling much better, now. Praise the Lord!

We love you Parker, and glad you are feeling better!

Dawson's Spring Program and Mother's Day

2011-05-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

We had so much watching Dawson perform in the Preschool Spring Musical on Friday night. He did great! He sang with all his might, literally! We could hear him sing from the church pews. It was so exciting, his Mimi came up from Mississippi to see him perform. His Gigi and Popaw were there too. It was an exciting family night for us! Here are some photos to prove it!

We had a very special Mother's Day this year. Michael's mom and my mom were here to celebrate. We were so honored to have them both in-town for a wonderful church service and fabulous lunch at Silver Caboose on the Collierville square. The boys made me beautiful cards and handprints from school. It was a great day! Here are some pictures-

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms! Thanks to our Moms for everything!

We love you very much!

Easter 2011

2011-05-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Since Easter was so late this year, I feel like we were talking about for awhile, but the weather was just wonderful being so late. The boys were very excited about going on several egg hunts. I think we went on 100! We had the most fun at our good friends, the Coles. Dawson was really into finding the, "golden egg." He didn't find one over at the Coles, so of course he was a little upset. So, we decided to have another egg hunt here, he found one with some cash in it. I think it made his day! I wish I had taken a picture to prove it. Oh well, maybe next year! Ha! Here are some pictures from Easter this year. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter! Oh yeah, forgot to tell you something so funny! The Easter bunny came to our house this year and brought Dawson a bike and Parker a hot wheel. Well, the bike was too big for Dawson, so the Easter bunny aka Michael had to go out and get another bike. Dawson didn't understand why the Easter bunny brought him a bike that was too large. He kept saying, "doesn't he know I am not that tall!" It was hilarious, so now we have 2 bikes. The things we do for our children, but we love them!

Dawson's big boy bike..however, he couldn't touch the ground, so the Easter bunny had to go get a new bike.

Table

Dawson's Eggs he made

Easter 2011

Michael and the boys

Parker 22 months

Best picture I could get of them together....it is so hard!

Egg Hunt at Cameron Brown Park

Egg hunt at the Cole's

Egg hunt

Visit with the Easter bunny...Brrrr it was so cold.

Look Mommy, I found an egg.

Gigi and PoPaw with the boys

Look, at this egg, "It is a dinosaur egg, Mommy!"

Parker egg hunting. He would stop and open up each egg.

The Easter bunny came!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-05-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

I took the boys to the zoo on St. Patrick's Day this year. It was a beautiful day! I thought these pictures were cute!

T is for Tea Party

2011-03-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Dawson had a Tea Party at his school today! He is learning about the letter T this week. This is the first time he wore a tie like his Daddy. He was very excited! He wanted to pretend he was going to work. He got out his Ipad and started working just like his Daddy, such precious memories. He is so grown up in these pictures. It is very bittersweet, but he will always be my baby!!! I love you, Dawson!!!

Snuggle Bugs

2011-03-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Snuggle Bugs on a cold, winter morning!

More Birthday

2011-03-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-03-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a fabulous day playing outside on this beautiful and sunny valentines day! Here are some pictures from our day!Dawson had a valentines party at school that I helped with. It was nice to see all of his friends in the class! He has the sweetest teacher, we love them! The children had fun eating all the yummy treats. They played many games and sang a few songs, too. Later that day, Dawson and I made some yummy treats for us to eat when Daddy got home. We made chocolate cupcakes with strawberry icing. Those are Dawson's favorites! Parker enjoyed them too! They were delicious! It was fun celebrating today with my little valentines!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day! XOXO

Parker V-day 2011

Dawson V-day 2011

Our little Valentines 2011

Parker and Dawson have changed so much in a year!

Last V-day Dawson and Parker 2010

V-day 2009 Dawson *I think Parker really favors Dawson in this picture

More Birthday

2011-03-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

Stop, Drop, and Roll Dawson's 4

2011-03-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Dawson's sweet friends! Thanks for celebrating with us!

Dawson had a fantastic birthday celebration this year. We celebrated his 4th birthday at the Memphis Fire Museum downtown. He was so excited to have his birthday at a fire station. He LOVES fire trucks. This place was so neat and very hands-on for children. Some the activities we did were-sliding down a pole like the firemen do, looking at the 1st firetruck built, pulling a fire alarm, riding in a basket simulator-putting a fire out, riding in a ambulance, and so much more. Dawson and the others really enjoyed all the fun! I would definitley recommend this place for a birthday party! It was GREAT and so much FUN! Here are few pictures of the celebration-

That was one party, man I am tired now!