We've been a bit preoccupied. . .

Yes, indeed. We have been preoccupied with the following. . . OLIVER D HOPKINS and DREW J HOPKINS arrived August 15, 2011! Ollie weighed a whopping 3 pounds 11 ounces and Drew weighed in at 4 pounds 5 ounces. We may be falling into the "proud grandparents" category, for which we do not apologize! Also, meet LOGAN COUCH, their cousin. We were all laughing so hard it made Drew and Ollie cry! I wish I had a picture of Jacoby with the babies. He LOVES babies and wanted to see their toes :) Ollie and Drew were born on Jacoby's 3rd Birthday - thanks for sharing buddy!

OKAY...TRYING AGAIN

Well, apparently in the pre-publishing window it shows some funky letters etc but when published it shows the picture? So without further ado - those who have been mourning our old kitchen with all the broken drawers and doors...please meet and help to feel welcome our new kitchen (in other words, come visit)!

PLEASE HELP!

I am trying to add pictures and the jibberish above is what happens instead of a picture...I know there are many of YOU who can help! I am using an apple if that matters.

Boring without pictures, I know

If anyone wants to help me figure out why it does not post a picture, but puts a HUGE address - not a link - instead... SAD day.

The pictures that I tried to put on here were from Cobh, Ireland. Apparently, Frankie and I are going to either retire there or go on a church mission there OR maybe both! It is beautiful and small and the last port the Titanic stopped at before it sunk :( Not so sure that would be a selling point for me. At any rate...

This week Jessie and David (well actually just Jessie) have an ultrasound to find out the babies gender. We have our thoughts on this, do you? Post what you think the twins will be and we will see who is psychic! Maybe whoever is right should get to name them? Of course I am just kidding about that. Place your bets before Thursday afternoon!

Check out the cute beginnings of the nursery on Jessie's blog.

By the way, just wondering who hijacked summer...snow on May 9...are you serious????

Much love.

Spring is coming, right?

After enjoying the morning in my pjs, painting toenails and fingernails while listening to General Conference, I decided updating our blog allowed me to continue my laziness a bit longer;)

First, thoughts on Conference...Elder Uchtdorf makes everything sound better with his accent, don't you agree? I laughed so hard when he was talking about texting and his concern that people were texting one another, "He has been talking for ten minutes and hasn't mentioned aviation yet!?"

Second, loved Elder Bednar's talk about line upon line. Worth a reread definitely.

Third, quote I wrote down immediately.... "Preach the gospel at all times and IF NECESSARY, use words." Think about it...LOVE IT!

Some of you may know that we have done a bit of work on our kitchen. This was caused by drawers not working and cupboards not closing. I will attempt to post a before and after pictures here, cross your fingers!

Uncross them, it didn't work. I tried to add them and when it "uploaded" them it put some big dog address thing instead of the pictures. You could not click on the address thing like a link either...Hmmm. Ideas welcome:)

At any rate! All of the kids except Cody will be making an appearance at home this month. Yes, that excites me! I will be able to see Cody when dropping Larkin off in Salt Lake:) Even Bella is coming!

I am trying to convince myself that motivation will automatically come back to me... I have a feeling the reality is that I will be working hard to find my old friend.

I am anxiously awaiting Frankie's return from London and Dublin and not just so I don't have to work (although that may be part of it).

I LOVE reading all of your blogs, please continue. Brett be safe.

Much love.

Transitions

I have never felt that I handle transitions very well - it unnerves me creating a lack of sleep. The internal struggle to stay positive and to have a little faith bring calmness; however, it generally feels like the calm before the storm. This is a challenge I have worked on over the last 30 years, Frankie calls it being flexible;). Well for whatever reason there are many transitions right now AND they are exciting ones!

First, Frankie and I are frantically trying to get all the house projects done in preparation for being grandparents! I must admit that I have had a great example to follow so hopefully all will be well there. We are adjusting to the idea of twins, we were so happy with one and just shaking our head at two. (btw Jessie and David are the parents, little detail there).

Second, our kitchen is bare as in there is nothing in there. When most of the drawers do not function and doors do not close it is time to redo. We couldn't have come this far without BRAD, TANNER, and TAYLOR. THANK YOU!!!! I have got to meet new people who are so kind. I love when others are kind. Hopefully, the hard part for me is over! We will see. And if it is not, I will be flexible:)

Third, my beautiful nieces Katie and Savannah are getting married. Savannah in April and Katie in July. I know I have mentioned that being an aunt is my favorite "job." These two beauties are one reason why. . .I love them and have so many fond memories of them - they are a joy in my world.

Fourth, I have been working at the store a lot more. I say kudos to working moms! I can't do it. I feel frazzled much of the time and like I can't do many of the things I wish I could. Luckily I have a boss who understands this. I do like spending time with Frankie. I am hanging on for summer when school is out and others can work during the day:)

Fifth, Brittanie and children are coming to spend the night! So excited:). They live in Minnesota! Also, David, Jessie, and Bella are coming in April for savannah's wedding! And Bug is coming for a few days before Cody's brother's wedding at the end of April. Is anyone else coming?! We would love to have you!

Sixth, health concerns have reared their ugly head again in our extended family and this makes me . . .many things! I know all will be well but I wish these trials were not here.

Good for you for hanging in there and reading this lengthy post.

Much love!

Greetings!

We have been to Arizona and that is about it.

That is Frankie's blog post - a man of many words!

I would add many more things that might seem boring but truth be told, we have been way busier than that. We were able to be together as a family over New Year's week-end and that my friends was divine! I will be spending the next several days getting caught up and organized. I have made no resolutions and have not taken stock of my life yet this year... hmmm. Oh wait! I did commit to my dear friend, Kimmy, to be in the 1000 mile challenge. However, I plan on biking much of it ;)

Would you like to read something that will help you feel encouraged? I am going to try and add it here...if not, it will have it's own post!

I will also try and post pictures of many fun things we have been doing - really if you are reading this...you are one of my greatest treasures - thank you.

Much Love,

Tammi and Frankie (sort of, if one sentence counts)

Okay, for some reason I cannot post it here... you can go to my facebook OR try this link:

http://lds.org/ensign/2011/01/make-yours-a-great-life?lang=eng

IT'S A GOOD DAY

It snowed! Actually, it is still snowing. . . this picture is at 5:30pm. I wonder what tomorrow will bring? I did discover today our snow shovel is broke; I don't remember it being so last year...

Also, I have no scraper in my car but a magazine worked fine! I am not sure if Frankie has one so I will make a trip down to the store before it closes.

This snow is pretty wet and slushy and PRETTY!

The snow was not the best part of my day...I came home and found THESE TWO in my living room watching sports center. For those who don't know them, these would be David's buddies from high school. Brock Pond on the left and Jeff Hendrix on the right. I love these boys. They make me smile. How many boys this age would come see an old lady like me? I have many fond memories of baseball trips with David, Brock, and Jeff. Jeff is getting ready to leave in the morning for a couple of years. He will be serving a mission for our church in Atlanta, Georgia. They are lucky to have him and he will be a great asset to the communities he serves in. You can tell what a big personality he has by his expression! These two boys and David well words cannot express the fondness I feel for them. . . something about watching a baseball game with boys who really love the game...good times. Thanks for coming by guys... miss you Dave!