The Hoffman Bunch

Best Benefits of Scripture Study! (also see Seminary 100 yrs post)

2012-01-26T09:27:00.002-05:00

Through seminary we also get the benefits of consistent scripture study. The students are challenged to read on their own at home but we spend our hour at 6 am together studying the scriptures also and WOW!- the results are real and more desirable than anything else. They let us feel the Love of God. Here are some of those benefits we found as we studied this week: "Power to Prosper! (Josh 1:8),Power to overcome evil (1 Nephi 15:24), Power to live righteously (Alma 4:18), Power to teach convincingly (Alma 17:2-3), Power to call down the powers of heaven (Jacob 4:6), Power to change the heart and disposition (Helaman 15:7), Increased hope and joy (Romans 15:4), Increased spirituality (Alma 31:5) Increased knowledge and understanding (2 Nephi 32:3), Increased power of discernment (Helaman 3:29) Increased testimony (D&C 18:36), and a light to see clearly our way(Ps 119:105). The list goes on and on!

Book of Mormon Benefits!

2012-01-26T09:20:00.001-05:00

He uses 'weak' things...

2012-01-24T09:19:00.002-05:00

I've felt so especially 'weak' lately, my faults seeming magnified in front of me. I've ached over my mistakes, the tasks I've left undone, or visits I haven't been able to make (2 friends in the hospital last week) and my heart has only hoped for Heaven's pardon.

Sunday afternoon when I got frustrated with one of my children, my own faults and shortcomings seemed more than I could bear and a literal weight set in on top of me. Now how to accomplish my tasks? It seemed my strength was sapped. Completely.

Thankfully a kind Lord knows and sent a friend to visit the next day. By the end of our fun and stimulating conversation I was lifted again - felt fresh and renewed like the flowers she had brought me. But of course by late night, when all my responsibilities were not done and exhaustion was setting in so did my feelings of 'weakness'.

My husband came to my rescue and said he would teach the seminary lesson this morning. And through the things he taught, as I quietly made the breakfast he usually provides for our family and the students, I learned the lesson I needed to remember.

"The Lord can use the 'weak things of the earth' to accomplish His great works." We studied Gideon whose 'family was poor in Manasseh', who said he was 'the least in [his] father's house'. He only had 300 men, but their hearts were right, and with the help of the Lord, they defeated the armies of the Midianites.

After class I sat down to type a quote from the seminary manual for the students to keep. As I reread it, I recommitted myself to remembering and believing it. "The Lord can do remarkable miracles with a person of ordinary ability who is humble, faithful, and diligent in serving the Lord and seeks to improve himself. This is because God is the ultimate source of power."

I do believe it. With all my heart. "The Lord is my strength" has become our family's familiar saying when we have to arise at 4 am to accomplish the days work, or when my husband is called to operate late into the night after an already overfull and exhausting day, or when we do not know which of the 5 most pressing needs of the hour we should try to accomplish first.

We have come to know that turning to the Lord for help, strength, and wisdom beyond our own yields great and real rewards. Somehow He always parts our own personal 'Red Sea' and and sees us through.

Thankful to remember that this morning.

Love, CaMarie

SEMINARY is AWESOME!!! Happy 100 years!!!

2012-01-19T13:01:00.007-05:00

It never ceases to amaze me what a WONDERFUL blessing and opportunity seminary is EVERY DAY!!!! I am in awe of the whole thing. It is such a powerful force for good in each of our lives - students and teachers! I am overwhelmed so many times with admiration for these 17 or so youth (ages 14-18) that wake up earlier than 5 am to be to class at 6 am.

So many days & nights I do not know how I will have the material prepared for the next day, but through the miraculous blessings of the Lord, His completely inspired program, the support of my wonderful husband & literally relying on the Lord's power to make my weak offering enough, I come away uplifted and grateful every single morning! Hoping the students do too! ;)

Studying the Old Testament this year has been an amazing eye opener for me. I've been so surprised, again and again, to find the roots and reasons of everything our religion practices - it's all in there - from temple worship (which begins with Adam building an alter and offering prayer, to Jacob's temple in the wilderness "Beth-el", to the tabernacle used by the children of Israel in the wilderness those 40 years, and continues on to Solomon's Temple and to the Temples of the New Testament, to the Temples of our day -about 150 worldwide and counting!) All for the same purpose & all with the same reminders of who we are, why we came, where we are going, all with the same opportunity to make sacred covenants with the Lord! - to the call of the Seventy (the Lord directed Moses to call the Seventy when his responsibilities became to great, in the New Testament Jesus refers to the Seventy of His day and today the Seventy in our church have the same role - to do what the first presidency and twelve apostles need them to do in order to fulfill their great, even overwhelming responsibilities). Our prophets and apostles and bishops are all called in the same way Joshua was called when Moses' mission was complete - the same way Christ called and set apart the apostles of His day -by revelation from God and by the laying on of hands the Lord 'gives him of that same spirit'. So neat to see the patterns of the Lord's dealings with the children of men from the beginning of the Bible to the Book of Mormon of our day. I LOVE it!!!

I've been reading "Fire in His Bones" by Michael Wilcox thanks to my sister who shared it with me over New Years. It has left me even more in awe of the wonderful work of God. I am grateful beyond words for the men and women who were willing to put everything else, including their lives, at stake (many times literally burned there) so that we can have the word of God in front of us to study, use, REMEMBER, drink from daily.

The blessing of strength, joy, guidance and refuge that studying the scriptures in seminary is for our teenagers now is AWESOME. I stand all amazed! We are lovin' seminary every day! Happy 100 years to the seminary program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!!!

2011-10-16T20:53:00.004-04:00

Happy 50th anniversary to Mike's parents this August! A night, year, OK, 50 years NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN!!!!

To celebrate 50 years together we:

*Had a couples dinner at the Lion House with Mom and Dad and their 8 children and spouses. What an amazing dinner occasion. The entertainment was our love and odes to Mom and Dad complete with great rounds of laughter and many happy tears. How amazing to have 8 children with 8 spouses around them, each couple sealed in the Holy Temple of the Lord, at the dinner table that night. What a reason to celebrate!

*We did 50 hours of service as a family, doing baptisms in the temple and tying quilts at Carla's house (thank you Gary and Brooke for arranging).

*And we hosted a reception in their honor for friends and family alike to come and rejoice in such a legacy and union!!!

Laura,Lyle, Shanti and James decorated gorgeously with black and gold, red roses! Black and white pics of our parents newlywed days were centerpieces for the tables along with sayings to keep and remember.

Carla and Karie and fams had been busy putting together the list and mailing out the invites and we were thrilled with those that were willing to come celebrate with us this night! THANKYOU!!

Mike&I (&Shanti!) grabbed food and many hands made light work of setting up for the event.

All in all, the best part was Mom & Dad dancing (teenagers&Lyle got the music going with help from CD Earl and Taunna provided), visiting& LOVING the night away!!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!!!

Grandpa and Grandma's, Mom&Dad's 50th!!!

2011-10-16T20:32:00.004-04:00

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!!!

First Stop, Martin's Cove at Devil's Gate

2011-10-16T18:42:00.002-04:00

After driving for a few days and many, many miles we pulled up to our destination.

We had left green behind long ago. Little by little, the lush trees, rivers and lakes became bushes and green grass with streams and small ponds, eventually becoming only sandy brown sage brush with no water in sight as we followed I-80 west.

As we turned toward 'camp' there lay a dusty dirt road in front of us that seemed to stretch to nowhere. Civilization had all but disappeared. None in sight anyway.

Our first thought: "we had driven over 1,800 miles to this?" Hee hee hee!!! And perhaps no one to welcome us. Each of our extended family had called to tell us they'd be late. How come the ones who drive the farthest always get there first?

We continued, like our pioneer ancestors, in faith.

Faith was rewarded! Pulling closer to camp we found signs of life! A neat and tidy, cozy, and small camp - empty, but for a little line of 'homes' - campers that had stayed for the summer (one could tell by the square patch of 'garden' in front). These were actually FRESH and BEAUTIFUL little motor homes and we knew immediately that our missionary couples were here.

Sure enough an Elder came out quickly to welcome us, and as Elders always do, made us happy just by being there. He gave us brief instructions and we began to set up camp, donning pioneer clothing to welcome our family in style!

And the Hoffman heritage celebration began. We were celebrating our adopted heritage, the one given to each of us who has been baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A deep, lasting, and very moving heritage of FAITH, COURAGE, DETERMINATION to FOLLOW the SAVIOR and SERVE Him, a willingness to SACRIFICE the things of this world for the greater blessings of another.

We had been reading "The Fire of the Covenant" by Gerald Lund, the story of what we were about to witness, the handcart pioneers. We read of their willingness to leave their native countries, families, and homes to board ships heading to America - for the gospel of Jesus Christ had been restored in its fullness through living prophet to the earth again!

They suffered sea sicknesses, dark and cramped quarters and lack of healthy food, lost loved ones already, but traveled on.

Next train travel, crammed again in cars - sleeping sitting or sometimes standing up.

And then they arrived to where they could finally BEGIN to prepare for their journey: building handcarts, gathering food, being toughened daily for a journey so foreign to the lives they knew in Europe.

The first 6 handcart companies, for the most part, did well but a vastly different journey awaited the last two companies coming west that year. The prophet Brigham had told no one to leave later than June - and now they were just beginning their journey in late July, I believe, torn between staying where they had no homes, no way to provide for themselves, no protection from terrible persecution or forging forward to find the Saints that would welcome them with open arms and help them in Salt Lake City.

We could sense the adventure, the vast beauty, the fun of their journey as we pulled our own handcarts for a day, walking, singing, talking, some bored already, some feet hurting already, but thrilled soon by splashing in the cool waters as we crossed Sweetwater River on a hot day - vastly different from the day the Martin Handcart company crossed over 150 years before.

This had been a place of holy suffering and sacrifice for them. Frozen ice had been theirs to cross. The horrible and hard memories of the Platt River crossing at the beginning of a terrible blizzard haunted their minds. Their physical bodies weakened from lack of food and days and days of treacherously hard journeying, they felt they could not go on. Then their rescuers, who had just found them in answer to their begging prayers, picked them up and carried them, one by one, across the river there. The ice numbed their bodies and cut their legs as they stumbled through again and again to carry their 'friends'.

I have not yet seen '17 Miracles', the latest movie about the handcart pioneers, that so many have told me I MUST see, but we read of miracle after miracle, and heard story of miracle after miracle as we walked their path and missionaries there taught us of their history. As one man, who had been part of these handcart companies later defended, "In our extremity, we came to KNOW GOD."

I feel a little closer to Him just by witnessing the works of his disciples there, sacrificing all, their very lives if necessary, to follow His prophet and obtain a 'new land' (see Hebrews 11), become Zion.

What I learned most from those little bands of handcart pioneers(500 plus in the Martin and Willie handcart companies), is that 'with God nothing is impossible'. They faced the most impossible odds, no chance at survival, it appeared they could NEVER succeed in what He had commanded them to do, gather to Zion. But through the Lord, they did indeed succeed and left behind a legacy never to be forgotten, but to be followed for generations.

I hope I can be as our pioneer ancestors, follow Him in faith, NO MATTER WHAT, face impossible odds with the confidence that the Lord is leading me along and will, indeed, prepare the way. Give everything I have for the Kingdom of God.

A celebration of our heritage. And WHAT a celebration it was. Family and fun and fine memories to fill us all! Campfire and food DELICIOUS! (Like REALLY DELICIOUS, better than a 4 star restaurant delicious - WOW! Thanks Clayton and Crew!)Handcarts, river crossings, square dancing, 'Ephraim Hanks' visiting camp, mail from the pony express, and best of all, testimonies unshakable.

Thank you, Dear Pioneers. Thank you, Dear Family!

Love, The Hoffmans

A VERY LONG DRIVE

2011-10-16T17:31:00.009-04:00

One year ago we took the 5,000 mile drive from PA to UT to NM and back. When we faced another great trek for the Hoffman Family Reunion (Wyoming), Grandpa&Grandma H.'s anniversary(UT), a visit to GrandmaGreat(Alberta, Canada) we wondered. Mike&I presented it to the children in 'kid council'. Drive or Fly? It was the question.

No question for the children. They shocked us by opting immediately for another caravan across the country. Their biggest reason, once we climbed in the car we were TOGETHER ...all the way there! Oh, and the hotel swimming pools are fun ;).

So facing the challenge of packing everything up and then ON to the excursion (Heather our amazed cheerleader witnessed the wonder - we left our home before she and boys did) we loaded up and headed out.

One trick of the trade my sister-in-law had taught us a few years ago as she gave us a HUGE bag full of gifts upon our driving out of Utah toward PA. "Open one every 100 miles or so" she said. Our reward. It was so fun, exciting, a way to rejoice in our progress, it kept things fresh, engaging and interesting. Thank you!!!

Heather and I hit Walmart at 11pm the night before our trip and gathered the goods. A couple bag fulls of 'tiny treasures' and I was equipped. The children age 10 and down delighted in the surprises.

The first few hours I thought, 'when can we have the next surprise?' echoing in the backseat would cancel out the good of the goodie bag, but soon they adjusted to the schedule (and sometimes I could even pull a little more time between new toy time).

Just what we needed, these trinkets kept the kids happy and busy. (Dollar items for most.)

Even the big kids were thrilled when 1/2 way through our journey they earned one surprise each (a new book, new headphones - I thought of them.)

I couldn't believe it when we neared, finally, our PA home once again and I pulled out the last of the entertainment 3 hours away. NICE.

We had made it to Wyoming, Utah, and Canada and back and had 5,000 miles of memories to keep. HURRAY!!

Next year anyone???

P.S. Top entertainment items for travel (we found by experience)

1. Bendables (you can decorate the windows with these! Big kids got in on the action!)
2. Crayola magic paper&markers (no color unless on the paper).
3. Kid scissors, gluesticks, and paper (OK, a little messy but cleans up fast & worth it, entertains for hours)
4. Somehow still nothing beats singing silly songs for keeping kids happy on the road.
5. Walmart had plastic lap boxes one can draw on and keep tools within. ($2)

Little kids say their favorite was: squinkies.
Hottest big kid series of the summer: "The Great and Terrible"

Of course, modern day technology always helps when one gets desperate - pull out the Leapster and the laptop movies when all else fails!

Happy driving!

Our Josh, The STAR!

2011-10-16T17:22:00.002-04:00

Isaac persuaded Josh in 8th grade to tryout with him for Beauty and the Beast, the middle school play. These two best friends landed the roles of Beast (Josh) and Gaston (Isaac)- arch enemies onstage! ;) That was beginning of a new career for Josh. He has since starred in more plays than we can name, and is a common castmember at our AMAZING Community Arts Center which hosts Broadway plays and creates Broadway quality plays with the local high school students as cast and crew. This summers: Hairspray! Josh and his friends have organized several benefit concerts as well. Way to SHINE!!!!

p.s. the lesson - peer pressure can be a good thing, eh? ;) Thanks for all the good you've brought to Isaac Josh! Love, The Hoffmans

THE MOST AMAZING EVENT OF THE SUMMER!!!

2011-10-16T17:16:00.004-04:00

The arrival of my BEAUTIFUL, PRECIOUS, BELOVED neice, Brielle. Here she is at her first few moments home! Which we caught because we could NOT LEAVE for our 2 week vacation without letting the children see her. We LOVE YOU BRIELLE!!! Our deepest congratulations Kristi,Calt,and Camden! From all the Hoffmans

Heather's Visit!

2011-10-16T16:27:00.006-04:00

A remarkable 'tender mercy': my sister's husband, Jeff, started working in a new area of his company. The bad news, they told him, was that he would have to go far away for a couple of months for training. Where? Of all places, the town our parents live in. WOW! So my sister Heather packed up her family of 3 little boys and headed 'home' to Michigan (who ever thought?) with her hubby to live with Mom&Dad for a couple months.

Part of that trip? VISITING US!!!! HURRAAAAYYYYY!!!! What a wonderful blessing for the three PA sisters to have the Perry,UT sister join them for a couple weeks!!!! We tried our BEST to show them 'THE BEST TIME EVER!!!' (which included her baby boy, Davis, watching Tangled daily- he can't live without it! BEST MOVIE EVER!!!!). ;)

Here are some pics of Reptileland which comes highly recommended by my 4 youngest and HORSERIDING!!! Cooper and Landon were NATURAL cowboys! Made the Hoffman's proud!

So grateful for time with you Heather and Crew!! AND CONGRATULATIONS on finding out the Baby to come is a GIRL!!!!!

The Philadelphia Temple Groundbreaking!!

2011-09-19T14:05:00.008-04:00

Go to:

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=8358272

and

Philadelphia Temple Groundbreaking from Hudson Whitenight on Vimeo.

to see Clara Joy and Daddy watching intently! Pres. Hoffman turning the soil and many members of our stake and friends from other stakes we have met here in the the church news. We were SOOOO grateful to be there!!! What a WONDERFUL weekend it was for all of us!!!

There could not be a better 18th wedding anniversary celebration than our dinner with President Eyring and his wife the night before the ground breaking. We learned SO MUCH!!! (..to bless all the rest the years to come...)

LOVE, Michael&CaMarie (18 years wed!)

My Photo Book Sep 08 2011

2011-09-09T14:56:00.001-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo Book

2011-09-09T14:50:00.001-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

A surprise visit from Mom and Dad!

2011-08-29T01:44:00.003-04:00

Really made my heart sing!! What better thing than an unexpected drop-in, Mom and Dad from Michigan. They had decided to go an hour or more out of their way to drop in for lunch with my sister Kristi and I (Kristi in pic with Mom, Dad, and Littles) this day on their way to Kari's (3 more hours to go). One hour with Mom and Dad always does fill our buckets! (and our bellies! I was laughing at Clara's belly in this pic!)

Happy days!!!

A few friends make it worth the race!

2011-08-29T01:26:00.003-04:00

Emily hates track. hates it. hasn't wanted to do it the last two years. but she does. why?

Because of Anna. Anna at least likes track a little, though she doesn't like the stress of the races. She pushes herself so hard at them! How can the shortest one on the track come in as one of the top 3? pushing... really hard. Emily hates coming in just behind her.

Why does Anna do track? Something so hard and constantly stretching? Because of her friends, one of those being big brother Isaac, who always talks her into it.

I guess friends make it all worth it in the end.

So here is a pic of Isaac and Anna and Emily with some of their friends, enjoying track. ;)

Dancing Doll

2011-08-28T23:08:00.004-04:00

I must admit one of the most darling things to witness as a Mom is a little girls love of dance! It seems the fountain of love, laughter, joy, and movement well right up in them and the desire to dance erupts! Zoie Grace wanted to DANCE!

She'd been asking for a while. And quite opposite from my oldest girls, who were enrolled at age 3 just for fun (by a Mom full of zest and a little more time), Gracie had to keep asking and asking and asking. Finally, Mom bravely took on one more 'class'.

This only got the ball rolling - Katey wanted to dance and Esther Bethie too. Soon I was at the dance studio every Monday afternoon for a couple of hours and Wednesday too. And Zoie danced! And Katey.. and Esther... and, I must admit, my heart too!

Could anything be quite as cute as Zoie's still-baby-looking body with a teeny bit of pigeon toe doing leaps through the air? Could anything be quite as breathtaking as Esther's surprised grace, her body just that much older and stronger and leaner than her sisters, as she posed a beautiful pirouette? And no achievement could be quite as exciting to Katey as she conquered her first back-bend and practiced cart- wheels to perfection!

So I loved the show and brought Emily and Anna along to see the 'pre-recital' performance on the last day of dance class (no recital for us, they are always on Sunday here) to celebrate the girls growth. Can't you see Emily's dancing smile?!

"JUST DANCE!!!! I hope you DANCE!!!!"

Seminary Graduation!!!

2011-08-25T03:12:00.003-04:00

Wow, what a TREMENDOUS year of JOY and LEARNING!!!! It has been REMARKABLE!!! Here are some pics of graduation night. We had 15 enrolled in early morning seminary for our class this year, 11 met the requirement of 80% attendance or better to get their certificate from the Church Education System for studying The Doctrine and Covenants book of scripture. I am SO PROUD of these beautiful youth!!! 6 am every school day at our house. What an extraordinary team we had this year with Sister Leggeiri coming from the East to teach Tuesdays and Brother Hill driving daily and picking up anyone who needed a ride along the way!!! And I am so proud of my husband and me too - we did it! - our first year of early morning seminary! Breakfasts and lessons ready to go each day!! We had SO MANY rich blessings come our way!

(As a post note in august I can tell you we have only two that graduated from their four years last year and 7 new ones coming - at least!!! We are SO EXCITED!!!!! Old Testament here we come!!!)

JUMP into FUN with a Party for Four!

2011-08-25T02:57:00.005-04:00

Emily and Anna, our now FIFTEEN year old twins, and their good friends Phoebe and Paige all celebrate B-days the same week of May! Had to celebrate in a very big way!! JUMP!!!!!!!!!!

2011-08-25T02:53:00.002-04:00

One of the advantages of a smaller High School would be more mingling amongst all the grades. We have found there are no lines between grades at Loyalsock. One of the best blessings of the year for Emily and Anna were finding best friends in these two senior girls who literally took these twin freshman under their wings. We will miss you Robyn and Stephanie!!! Off to fly at college!!!

Wicked Whoopies!

2011-08-25T02:46:00.003-04:00

What a THANKYOU!! Wow, from a wonderful friend. Makes me want to be Wickedly good at being grateful too. THANK YOU GLORIA!!!

How fun that when the kids saw the box, but couldn't open it yet because Mom wasn't home from picking kids up from lessons yet, they googled 'wicked whoopies' to find out what these were. :) And an old friend popped up on the screen! Come to find out one of their good friends from NH has an aunt who started creating WICKED WHOOPIES!! (and posed for one of the advertisements.) I think you'd better all take a try!!!

WIIIICCCCKKKKEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!!!

New kittens!

2011-08-25T02:44:00.001-04:00

Now we know why every barn has a cat. yes, the rat. The nicest, cleanest, safest way to keep them out would be the cat. And so the girls are thrilled for here are their 2 new barn cats. Almost too cute for a barn but barn cats nonetheless. Now rats, SCAT!

Trying to save somebunny...

2011-08-25T02:18:00.006-04:00

Missy brought us a bunny. A very, tiny, baby one, not even a week old we estimated. But we had to try. We read up on baby bunnies, got a bottle, goats milk and such, enjoyed little bunny for a few days but found the forecast to be true. As we had read online and heard and studied, we learned baby bunnies just cannot live without a Mommy. She is the only one, this early in life, that can give them what they need.

Sadly, our poor bunny passed away despite our tender, careful care. But she did leave an important lesson behind. Everybunny needs a Mommy.

Little ones only get what they need to survive and thrive from Mom those first few years. I would be the first to attest to that after studying child and human development and observing many different preschool and daycare settings. Nobody loves or cares for your baby like you do. Nobody can nurture or offer the security, consistency, LOVE, learning, happiness, and joy to your child that you can. Most especially day cares. Too many children for too few under-qualified and even under-experienced caregivers. A combination that creates suffering. The worst was witnessing how the children said they missed their mothers (most often and sometimes dads), how often they cried they wanted to go home, or wished the day was over - no way to spend childhood - in longing for love from their parents. So mothers remember - it is so easy to forget - to survive this life and to thrive, every child NEEDS their Mom, most especially early on.

Notice anything special about this picture?

2011-08-25T02:14:00.004-04:00

Yes, my Honey is in it, but do you like the ties? ;)

Pres. Leggeiri gave the stake presidencies these ties for Christmas.

What a wonderful way to show 'oneness of heart', men!

Suessical the Musical! Cast Party our house!

2011-08-25T01:57:00.006-04:00

I was super impressed, I must admit, when my 4 oldest children, by their own motivation and without help of a single adult, (Dad was out of town & I busy with other things) cleaned the whole basement from it's winter collecting, which included setting up 2 separate family room areas with TV and WII, along with a stage complete with dressing room, lights, and mic; put the trampoline after winter storage; put up the zip line that we hadn't taken out of the box for a year; and made sure the rest the house was straight. Wow! With that much work done the cast is welcome any time!

Greatest part is that all the work was worth it! What a Party!!! What FFFUUUUNNNN!!!! Compliments to the cast! They were SUPERB!!! Not only on stage but as guests afterwards! Way to SHINE!!!

Young Women's...

2011-08-25T01:47:00.003-04:00

...keeps these girls growing! We've been blessed with such a wonderful Young Women's Presidency and advisers. Lately the girls decorated cakes and sewed the cutest skirts for their activites!!! Had to catch on camera. (ew, can't find pic of the skirts - later!) ;)

Braden was baptized

2011-08-25T01:38:00.002-04:00

Always such a wonderful experience for the whole family to have the discussions in our home. These are the sons of a family Mike has home taught for a couple years. We've felt close to them because Logan (pictured right) and Braden (pictured left) have been friends with our children since moving here. Their grandparents are members of The Church and their Mom was baptized at age 17. Logan attended seminary this year and was always CHEERFUL in the morning and Braden (not even seminary age yet would join us on Fridays at 6 am - scripture mastery day!) Braden and Logan enjoyed the missionary lessons and Braden chose to be baptized Easter Sunday. Wow, no better way to celebrate the miracle of the Savior than entering into new life through baptism.

Jems for our Jewel!!

2011-08-25T01:14:00.003-04:00

So funny to think back that I really kept considering the name Jewel or Jewelia in the back of my mind for our Esther. I realize now, as she is our number one Rockhound, who LOVES a ROCK and hunts for minerals, jems, and jewels wherever she goes, that there was a hint of inspiration there!

For my exquisite Jewel, Esther Elizabeth, on her 7th birthday, we provided plenty of sparkling jems for the party! Friends and beads for friends to string into their own ravishing necklaces set the stage some rockin' fun! Thanks to my dear friend Leslie, the one pictured with the gorgeous green necklace she made herself around her neck, these little girls had professional guidance in creating their own jewelry.

Leslie had taken Esther and I out earlier for a special 'jewel-collecting trip' on which Esther picked out the beads for this activity. Esther felt like a million bucks as she left the store with just the rocks she'd wanted! A lot of fun to make necklaces, eat cake with rock candy on it and hunt real, live minerals in the yard.

Happy ROCKIN' BDAY, Est!!!

Kate's Day at the Vet

2011-08-25T01:04:00.003-04:00

Katey's dream come true! A day in the animal world. A little girl with a big love for dogs, Kate knew just what SHE wanted to do on 'career day' (a day when local schools cooperate with local companies to let kids go to work).

Dad was ready, "Katey, you comin to work with me?" (As all the big kids had done.)

"We-e-ll" she responds in her ideas-rollin' kind of voice, "I was kinda hopin' to go to work with Brother Knoebel?"

"WHAT?!" Dad feigned shock "You don't want to go to work with me?!"

Dad did indeed wish to have Katey come to work with him, but knew, as well as she did, her heart. Off to the animal clinic she went a couple weeks and forms later with our Dear Dr. Knoebel and all the dogs they could see that day! ;)

"Every dog (and GIRL for that matter) has it's day!"

The new car...

2011-08-25T00:48:00.004-04:00

...has been SO MUCH FUN to drive!! Tired of smushing 6 kids plus himself into his little Mazda on school mornings (or the other option: taking the huge Excursion and having me need it by afternoon for all the pick-ups and drop-offs and excursions of the evening) Mike decided (especially after an especially strange look from the neighbor as he watched what seemed endless amounts of children load out of the tiny Mazda at the barn for morning feeding) it was time for a new car. What to buy, what to buy... a minivan? a crossover? a Honda Pilot?! (like he's always wanted!).

No, none of the above. Mike got instead what I have always wanted, a cream colored Escalade. Of course, being the smart man that he is he hunted far and wide for the best deal on such a vehicle and we both settled very happily (maybe me happiest of all) into a very well kept, gently used, older, lower miles, extremely comfy and smooth driving, eight seater Escalade. aaahhhh, nice.

The neatest part, of course, is not the car, but the constantly kind, unselfish husband. (He does look good in it though, does he not? ;)

Cape May Escape!

2011-06-01T20:18:00.010-04:00

A new recommendation for all of you!

Thanks to my friends Laurie&Linda who referred a fabulous get away, we decided to snatch up the 1 day we had left for spring break (snow days took the rest) and head to The Shore. No matter that it was still cold and rainy April. Adding our Saturday, it gave us 2 days at a little house near the beach. (We found it on Vacation Rentals by Owner - VRBO.com) Who knew that such a little tiny vacation could be such GREAT BIG FUN???

Beginning with our stop at Kentucky Fried (so we wouldn't have to mess up the clean kitchen again!) and the Cape May cheer (arms above the heads! - who came up with that anyway?), we were set for good things to come!!

With cheerful spirits we could not be detained from having fun, despite the 2 hours or more delay in bad traffic! We decided to make the most of sitting unexpectedly on the freeway and exited for dinner. Lucky for us, a favorite of my sister's, Texas Roadhouse was right there. A first experience there for us we enjoyed everything from the peanut shells on the floor to the balloon tying and rodeo wrestling (OK, Clara conquered this saddle anyway), we loved our feast and left full to the brim (as you can see by my sister, Kristi and Isaac's bellies!)

We were thrilled with our little beach house and with our COUSINS being there!!! (My 2 sisters and families joined us - HURRAY!!!)

Cold could not stop us from running on the beach next morning, and playing on the huge rocks at the shore. With a light house in the distance and waves crashing we found it fabulous, forgetting the freezing!

Got even better when Dad drove up on a bike for 6!!! The darling roof and little bell ringing drew happy laughter from all of us and we jumped on and peddled our way around the quaint and quiet streets of Cape May!!!

The big girls (including Moms) and one big boy, Isaac, (hee hee! we are glad he didn't get scared away!) stole away to a street full of fun shops all with things unique and interesting to us.

A movie party that night complete with treats and a talk til 2 am with my son, Isaac, made it feel like real vacation for me!

Next morning we were off to the Cape May zoo. What a delightful day! Overcast weather was perfect for running all over a zoo without running out of energy!

When we returned to the house we couldn't resist the sunshine that had spread out on our beautiful weekend (despite forecasts of storms). We all headed for the beach, swimsuits on and, despite looking oddly happy running to the water as compared with the jacketed beach walkers all around us, we jumped in, freezing water and all!!!

You'd have thought it was 90 degrees to watch us. Perhaps we made a fellow beach sitters feel warmer in their heart at least by watching the sheer enthusiasm of 12 little kids and a very bold Dad splashing in the water!

Determined to do as much beach time as we could we delayed packing up. Aunt Kari couldn't get over laughing at the scene back at the beach house when we all returned and packed a household of 20 in 45 min. flat to fly north once again!

Wow. That was WORTH IT!!!

HURRAY FOR CAPE MAY!!!!

Mormon Prom

2011-06-01T19:43:00.004-04:00

"What is it?" a friend asked, wondering why in the world we'd create our own prom. Honestly I was wondering myself, as a 38 year old mother of a 17 year old son, heading to Mormon Prom for the first time. Living in PA meant it was quite a drive to the event this year, a couple hours away at least. (though I heard it travels around). We headed out in a rainstorm so bad we had to turn around twice to avoid roads that had flooded out. And so arriving, driving the Excursion filled with myself and 11 eager teens, I could not resist heading inside with the youngest and prettiest/handsomest of them to answer the question.

Thinking I was entering a church building I was shocked to find myself completely removed to an exotic land the moment I entered the church doors. Bamboo, bridges over water and real sand, lanterns hanging as if from air covered the low ceiling of the entryway. A rock path (some real) lead us into an open area seeming more like a beach complete with bamboo hut than the gymn floor. I followed the teens into a pillared courtyard that looked more like a romantic corner of Europe, past the most luscious gourmet spread I've seen at any church event and into a gorgeous garden (indoors still of course).

I was in awe. Who did all this? Looking around and asking around I found nonchalant answers from the adult chaperons, as if it was part of the norm "everyone just donated what they had". Huts? bridges? pillars? and fences of bamboo to name a few? Who just had these on hand? Who bent over and tacked down every single paper rock and strung every little light and hung that many lanterns from the ceiling? A couple of wards did it together. Two wards? WOW. What would ever make them spend so much time and talent on a teenage dance?

Of course, the same thing that got me to leave my nest with 7 younger daughters in it, missing another event that night, wait in a near-hurricane, and drive home in the dark until about 1 a.m.? Yes, our LOVE and BELIEF that these children, growing quickly to adulthood are worthwhile. That a clean, safe, fun environment sharing with friends of similar standards and beliefs is just the strength they need in a world ready to drag them down.

These pics display some of the reasons: clean, happy, modest youth striving to live virtuously in a world becoming vastly different from that daily. Friends having real fun, enjoying one another completely because they feel respected, valued, safe, and joyful in an atmosphere free from swearing, immodesty, and pressure to put their futures on the line.

And so here's Mormon Prom: one more reason why I LOVE this Church and ALL the ways it blesses my family!!!!

Mormon Helping Hands!!! 2011

2011-04-27T11:30:00.011-04:00

One of our all-time favorite events of the year!! This time the Williamsport, PA Stake held the event in Lock Haven, PA. We hit the streets and 'literally' painted the town! Painting garbage cans, picking up garbage, mulching park beds, trimming and tidying - what a grand difference 450 hands can make in a morning!!!

There is nothing quite like the feeling of driving through the town seeing groups of yellow jacketed 'family' in force all around. The joy of working together to better the world lingers on through the day and year, fond memories forever!!!

These pictures document part of the day starting at the lunch we ended with and working backwards through the morning. Love to all the wonderful people who put forth their hands to help here in PA!!!

Suessical the Musical!

2011-04-27T11:14:00.004-04:00

So much FUN! Oh, the things you can think...

when you think about the friends, family, and fun that come with five Hoffman kids performing with Loyalsock High!

A BIG, HUGE THANKYOU to those of you who came to see the show - the reward is in the sharing of course!

And the kids are really grateful for the 2 great, kind, inspiring directors they worked under and lots of fabulous friendships they developed in preparing for the show.

Especially fun for Isaac, Emily and Anna to have Mikela and Kate join them as Whos for the last few weeks of preparation.

Fun to see all the kids "grow wings' as they practiced, prepared, and grew through taking part in this musical.

Wow, so proud of the cast doing their very 'best'! The energy, amazing voices, good lighting and mics, vibrant costumes and overall talent really brought Dr. Suesses thinks to life!

Brilliant!

2011-04-27T11:02:00.003-04:00

Suessical the Musical: READY FOR THE SHOW! Isaac, "Mayor of Whoville, with "the Bird Girls".

Show time!!!!

2011-04-27T10:48:00.003-04:00

...turned into sick time as our family was voraciously struck by the 12 hr flu Thursday and Friday of performance weekend! The children performed Thursday night while mom & clara stayed home ill. The next morning the whole house was hit. As Mom went from room to room to rush children out the door she found moaning, groaning, suffering, sick children in every one. Kate and Mikela were the only ones healthy enough to head out the door with Mikela returning home from school soon for sick within a couple hours. Lots of praying and by afternoon Isaac, Emily, and Anna pulled themselves slowly from their sick situation enough to attend school so they could perform that night.

My parents had come into town to visit - a day early to play with us - but of course, we were all too ill! We put the house on quarantine and family visited through the windows as Mom & Dad dropped goodies on the front porch Friday - sick of not seeing us. He hee!

Very fun Mom and Dad and Kristi and Calt - thanks for the love notes all over the windows! My favorite: Share your talents and your money, but keep germs to yourself, Honey!

The show must go on! All 5 kids performed that night and we all showed up at the stake service project early the next morning (Mikela did stay home with Clara that morning for resting though). Here's to all our health!

and all Kate wanted for her birthday was....

2011-04-27T10:39:00.003-04:00

Pretty pierced ears to wear pretty earrings! Oh, wow. After a couple years of begging... she got her wish come true. Mom admits, the birthstones sparkling on her ears look pretty - a little more grown up - but pretty on her Kate. Happy Birthday Katey!

We celebrated Katey with:
A pizza party, a surprise "Popovich's comedy pet show" at the CAC, a sleepover with a couple friends, fun breakfast and pierced ears in the morning!

Double Digits Day for Kate!

2011-04-27T10:29:00.002-04:00

Yes, it has been one whole decade since this precious person was born! Kate was an extraordinarily beautiful baby and she has grown into a beautiful double digits girl. One's heart can't help but get wrapped up and full of love for Kate! She is vivacious, without guile, genuine, happy, involved, and full of love for her friends and family! She loves to READ (the Guardians of Gahoon series right now), play with her puppy Missy, loves to run, to play period, to help, to know what's going on (and she keeps Mom updated with gentle little info sentences), play the piano and the cello, and sing with her sisters, her heart is true as true, loyal to family and friends and to her testimony of the Savior. We ADORE you Katey!!!! Love, Mom

Mikela hits NYC!!!!

2011-04-08T18:14:00.002-04:00

I WISH I had the pics in NYC, but the transformed Mikela pic will have to suffice. Mikela had the time of her life (young a life as that may be)being picked up in a limo with three precious friends (Leland being the birthday girl!) and headed off to NYC, princess style ;). TOO MUCH FUN!!! AND TOO MUCH SHOPPING!!! Lelands parents and grandparents that were the careful guardians for the day could not believe how much the girls loved to shop. Older and wiser they finally INSISTED that they go to the Empire state building to say they saw something in NY besides stores! It ended up being a 'high'light for Mikela! SHE LOVED THE WHOLE DAY and still has not come down! Picture features Mikela with her new FAVORITE NYC bag, her happening sandals, and stylin' shirt, close up are earrings and some high-quality nail polish to go with the outfit! Too much fun Mikela!

Kara came to visit!

2011-04-08T18:11:00.002-04:00

Kara came to visit and with her brought LOTS of FUN, laughter, inspiration, TREATS (and left some for us to find later!), hard work (thank you Kara for helping!), and LOVE. We love you Kara! The Hoffman Crew

Esther's boots

2011-04-08T18:06:00.002-04:00

Esther is unique in the fact that she likes 'jeans' EVERY DAY, no matter what! And a 'smooth' t-shirt (I still am not absolutely certain what this means). But every day for at least 2 years we have gone to great lengths to make certain there is a clean pair of size 6 jeans in the house - otherwise trouble. Esther wished so much for these boots for Christmas and received them and has worn them every single day since. :) I HAD to get a pic to keep of Esther and her 6 year old style.

First picnic of the season!

2011-04-08T17:33:00.001-04:00

Freezin or not! Two little girls just a LITTLE EAGER for spring to bring warmth and extra sunshine. It was neither very warm nor very sunny, but children have always been good at pretend!

The Williamsport Ward Seminary visits Kirtland!

2011-03-22T21:33:00.006-04:00

And what a wonderful, WONDERFUL trip it was! The students were a delight to be with for the day! We gathered at 6 am, ate muffins and juice, said a prayer and headed out! The drive was smooth sailing, one rest stop half way there.

We arrived first at the John Johnson farm where the Prophet Joseph Smith lived for one year. The Johnson's inspire us in their story of faith, acceptance, and sacrifice in behalf of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a treasure to walk where the prophet walked, touch the staircase railing, see the original mantels and cupboards, and the room where he and Emma lay the night they were awake with their little twins with measles, when the mob crashed through the door and dragged Joseph from the bed and from the baby he was caring for that night, beat and kicked him in the field across from the house, striped him and poured hot tar on his naked skin, then left him (perhaps for dead as he thought Sidney Rigdon may be for he lay lifeless not far from the prophet). Emma fainted when she saw Joseph thinking the tar was blood. And the dear babe he tended to that night died from the exposure. Joseph preached to people who had gathered around the front steps of the home to hear him the next morning, despite he and Emma and a few others working all night to rub and rip the tar from his skin. We stood on those steps. Neatest of all is to walk into the room the Johnsons gave Joseph for the work he had to do. About 16 revelations were received in that room. So moving to be there and feel still the spirit of the work and what happened there.

Next we visited the Kirtland temple, the 1st temple built by the Saints in this dispensation of time. A preparatory temple where the Saints were 'endowed with power from on high', given - along with the priesthood keys of gathering, the gospel of Abraham, and the sealing power - visions, blessings, witnesses, words, and strength to go forth to take the gospel to all the world. This property is no longer owned by the church or recognized as a temple obviously but one can still feel the great sacrifice, work, and LOVE the Saints had as they built a temple to their God. The Saints had to leave Kirtland for the persecution that raged there a couple of years after the temple was completed. My dear kids (seminary students) observed first hand the stark contrast between the small, and almost empty, spirit at the temple visitor's center owned by Community of Christ vs. the absolutely living, breathing, joyful, broad as the sky and deeper than the ocean warmth and fresh-breath and LIFE of the Spirit we felt as we stepped into The Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints buildings with set-apart missionaries serving there. Many of the students, including my Isaac had determined they would not be biased but would listen to both Community of Christ church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presentations openly and non-judgementally. He learned for himself how really and powerfully the Holy Spirit testifies of truth, how WONDERFUL it feels and how much it fills your heart as he and many others of the youth were moved to tears of joy just feeling it at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visitor center. It was obvious to see the Spirit's influence and the effect of the light of Christ in the sister missionaries countenances and the authority with which they spoke. Their eyes sparkled, were wide with life and love, joy and animation, their beings practically glowed (my students said 'they glowed! they glowed!' I agree.) They were wonderfully friendly and laughed in good humor easily, like a bubbling brook it just flowed. Most of all, they spoke with wisdom, light, and truth, with a sure authority. We listened and felt the Holy Spirit witness to our hearts of their words. (It didn't matter which sister missionary - there were 5 who worked with us - they all had radiant light coming from within!)

My favorite part of the tour was sitting with my seminary students in the 'school of the prophets' room above the Whitney store. Why? Because this year in seminary I have felt that. We have our own mini-school of the prophets right here in Williamsport, PA. What an amazing thing for us to go and feel our testimonies of the Savior and His work here upon the earth grow through the witness we felt of the Holy Ghost.

We returned home past midnight, but every single student of the 23 that had attended Kirtland was at church the next morning despite the early hour of the meeting. Why? Because conviction and the Spirit burned in our hearts. I'm sure the Lord had personally arranged this, but much to my surprise 2 of the seminary students were speaking that day in sacrament meeting. To hear these beautiful, wholesome, sound, intelligent youth of promise stand up and bear testimony of the Savior, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to hear them articulate the feelings and experiences we had enjoyed the day before in such a moving way was a great blessing for me and for all the ward.

I am so grateful we were blessed with such a trip, that I am blessed with such a group to teach, and that I get to LEARN SO MUCH while teaching! MOST OF ALL, I am grateful for this great work of the Lord on the earth today, in it's fullness! It brings the GREATEST of JOYS to me!!! My heart cannot help but leap and jump and fill to overflowing my whole being when so filled with the testimony of the Holy Ghost. I believe in Christ, in the power to be saved through Him, He is the ONLY way. I am grateful for the power of the atonement in my daily life. I am grateful for Christ's mercy and charity and love. I am grateful for the great gift of His gospel in my life. I hope with alllll my heart to be true to Him each day of my life, to serve Him in anyway I can.

LOVE YOU! Sister Hoffman (seminary teacher)

Top O' The Morning to Ya! (St. Patrick's Day)

2011-03-22T21:15:00.003-04:00

And ESPECIALLY TO CLARLY!!! Happy, happy LIFE to our little Clara turning 3 years old!! What a joy she is to us!!!

Celebrate with us today! This is what President looks like in Irish green (way to impress the seminary kids, Hon); Anna ready to chase rainbows with Zoie and Clara dressed in vibrant rainbow (we always knew Clara was our little lucherpan (sp?)- gold at the end of the rainbow); Kate and Esther decked for success (or at least to avoid pinches for the day); we couldn't catch a rainbow on film, but here's a 'double sunrise' for you! :)

Lots O' Love, The Hoffman Crew

What a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!

2011-03-03T00:28:00.007-05:00

We want to THANK Joy and Gary Lundberg for a wonderful weekend worth remembering!! From the moment we picked them up from the airport Friday afternoon to our sorry-to-see-them-go goodbye Monday afternoon they were a JOY and delight to us and our whole stake! What a blessing it was to have them.

The Lundberg's have 'gone about doing much good' for many years now. We witnessed the power and influence a loving, committed, devoted couple can be on families first hand as they deeply enriched (and entertained! - their presentations were SO MUCH FUN!) us, married couples and youth alike.

Here are just a few of the most important points they gave us for a stronger, happier marriage:

*Keep a sense of humor! Laugh with (not at) your spouse!

*Men and women are different. CELEBRATE THE DIFFERENCES!

*Keep your spouse at the TOP of your LIST! (So easy to bump them down a notch or two...or more... by accident) One great way of doing this is by dropping everything to greet your spouse with a hug and kiss when they return home. Great results: your spouse will know they are number 1, your children know you love each other, and kissing is a great stress reliever! ;)

*Return to the beginning. Remember the reasons you got together and build upon them. I loved their thought, "People don't fall out of love, they FORGET to love!"

*Then they taught us some great things about communicating with your spouse (or ANY family member!).

Listen - give full attention
Listen - to emotions expressed
Listen - to needs being expressed
Understand from THEIR viewpoint

THEN you can have empathy, "That must really hurt Honey"... THEN you can ask, "What are you going to do?" Leaving responsibility where it belongs. Validating and walking beside your LOVE, not pushing from behind, pulling from ahead; they don't need to be fixed, just heard.

*FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE!!! Be specific in your complements.

With that I'll leave you with their challenge for the next two weeks: SEE EVERYTHING YOU CAN THAT YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR SPOUSE AND TELL HIM/HER. NO NEGATIVES!!!! TWO WEEKS! Watch what it can do!

AND my own challenge to you ...... look up more from Joy and Gary Lundberg! Their website is www.allbetter.net

On a very personal note, our family fell in love with these two and hope to keep them forever! Mike & I were so deeply impressed with the purity of their motives, their great desires and devotion toward strengthening families, and with their willingness to work hard and sacrifice in order to serve others. They have been part of many miracles as they have served as instruments in the hand of the Lord. Our children were impressed by their laughter and LOVE! (My daughters were also deeply influenced by Joy's experiences in writing songs for the youth of the church.) Thank you Dear Gary and Joy Lundberg! Our Love to you!

Wow! First time back after a whirlwind of a summer!

2010-10-18T00:16:00.008-04:00

A summer FULL of plenty of SUNSHINE!!! There is no way i could catch up with all we did this summer, but i've included a few pics here, along with our list of great memories from this summer season!

- First and foremost PHILMONT!!! What a fantastic experience for the whole family. It must be what heaven, or living in Zion, would feel like. We benefited so very much from wonderful experiences & training. And by rubbing shoulders with great people - here's a few pics with the general primary presidency & the general young men's presidency which presided over & taught us often during the week. oh, and Isaac returning in honor from his 5 day mountain hike through NM!! His passage into manhood - or at least the right to drive & date ;).

-the Joy is in the Journey!!! That's what we found as we crossed the country visiting my parents in Michigan, visiting Winter Quarters on the long trek West (we picked up a couple pioneer girls here), LOVING our visit with our dear family in Utah, part of which followed us one more night to enjoy Arches - what a TREAT!!!- to arrive finally in New Mexico, 3,000 miles later. (we'd had an oil change the week before, did that mean we needed another already?)

-Believe it or not, after all this wonder, joy, and excitement, returning home was better than Disneyland! We couldn't WAIT to arrive after 2,000 mile drive back!! Our goat had delivered twin babies while we were gone (with the help of our friend), a new batch of baby bunnies, we couldn't wait to sleep in our own beds after nearly a month and our new house had been completely unveiled, cleaned, and prepared for our move-in!!! (more pics later, but this is the kids at the new counter ;)

Other highlights of the summer!: Isaac becoming a Priest, Emily & Anna's friend being baptized to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!, girl's camp!, moving into our new home!, visits from G&G Hoffman, Clayton Hoffman Clan, the Millar's, and the Maxwell's & G&G Cooper, visiting Maxwell's in Kennett to see Wendy, John, and Michael in live performance and sooo much more!!! It could take a whole journal to record our summer but this will have to suffice. Enjoy the memories with us! And on to autumn time!!!

Love, C

The Girl Scout's Progressive Dinner!

2010-07-24T15:53:00.004-04:00

I felt so lucky to sub-in for Linda and Laurie as a girl scout leader for an evening! Linda rushed from the airport and made it for most the night anyway, which made it extra enjoyable! This is Mikela and her dear friends and girl scout troop for the night!

Our master gardener at work!!!

2010-07-24T15:48:00.003-04:00

What does a brother do to show his LOYALTY and LOVE?! This one could not be beat. Here is a glimpse of the gorgeous (and long - couldn't fit it all in!) rock wall built by our master gardener, Spencer Lawrence Cooper! And pics of him putting in the grass with the rest of his crew, working into the night!!! And we couldn't miss catching the beautiful vegetable garden he put in by the barn. Great work, Great memories!!! THANK YOU, Spencer! Thank you everyone that helped make it happen! (Including Steph, holding the youngest participant, HOPE!

Sister's Love

2010-07-24T15:38:00.002-04:00

Can't you just see the adoration in Clara's eyes! She loves and looks up to her sisters SOOO MUCH!!! She was thrilled for Zoie with every present. Clara also laughs harder than the sister being tickled - it's like your tickling Clara if you tickle anyone else! This morning at the barn, Zoie was crying because she'd forgotten her shoes and couldn't come see the baby goats, she had to wait in the car. Clara said in her two year old lingo, "Doie Dad? Doie Crying decause dshe dan't dome dee dhe baby doats?" "Yes, Zoie's sad she can't come see the baby goats." I confirmed. "I feel sad for Zoie too," I sad, "Maybe we could pick Zoie a flower and bring it back to Zoie to help her feel better," I suggested. We entered the barn, played with the baby goats, fed the animals, petted the kitty, swept up and started back to the car. Clara found a hill of gravel and had to try to climb up it! I finally retrieved her and we went back to the car. As I picked Clara up to put her and placed her in the carseat, she handed a flower to Zoie! Zoie was all better, I had completely forgotten in the midst of all the other activities, but somehow, on her own, Clara had remembered and picked a flower (I don't even know when! Because I carried her from the gravel pile to the car!) and first thing back in the car handed it to Zoie. It did make Zoie happy, she even giggled when I told her Clara had done that all on her own to make her sister feel better. Sister love.

Spencer, Stephanie, Maylee and Hope!

2010-07-24T15:15:00.004-04:00

What an amazing JOY to have the Coopers come to stay! For 5 whole weeks we got to enjoy them as family, friends, and next door neighbors! (They stayed in the apartment over the garage). It was such a beautiful blessing to share time, talk, tiny ones, planning and preparing the gardens for the new home!!! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for having the faith to make such marvelous memories happen, Spenc and Steph!! We are SOOO glad you came!!!

Highlights of their visit:
*Spencer building a monumental rock wall that will preserve our memories and love in stone!!! Spencer, I LOVE the stones the children gave me - incredible to do!!!
*Isaac and his friends joining Spencer in the digging and dirt!!! Way to go guys!!!
*Esther, Zoie, Clara enjoying Maylee and Baby Hope DAILY!!!! We still miss coming to the apartment to ask you to play!!! Here are pics from our Reptileland visit.
*Spencer making us ROAR with laughter most every night! (we'll never forget Princess and the Frog quotes and interpretations! ;)
*Stephanie helping so much by watching little ones as I ran to meetings and errands!
*Stephanie even helping with laundry!! Great work balancing a new baby and all that!
*Mike having a hay day with the tractor! We're getting veggies/fruit from the garden!
*Enjoying Mom and Dad, Kari and Clark and Kristi and Calt over Memorial day with Spenc &Steph!!

Thanks for all!!!

Zoie turns 4!!!

2010-06-22T00:48:00.006-04:00

And I ALREADY LOVE that age on her best!! She's the epidemy of 4!! Smart, talks hilariously CUTE! SUPER HELPFUL!!! A ray of sunshine, LOVEABLE, ADORABLE, and drives you crazy if she's out of sorts. Zoie is WONDERFUL!!! I love her! And I know she loves me too - but only far after Daddy, whom she still all out loves, needs, ADORES! I cannot blame her ;). We were so lucky to celebrate with her cousin Maylee and Grandpa and Grandma C. before they headed for home!!! Zoie also loved her little gift from Mrs. Cwockett, with whom she has a darling friendship. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOIE!!!

Memorial Day Weekend!!!

2010-06-22T00:26:00.009-04:00

What a Wonderful Blessing for us to have Mom and Dad Cooper, Maxwells, Laws, and the jr. Cooper family all with us on Memorial Day weekend! Who would have thought a few years ago we'd have most the family in PA for a casual, fun weekend together? Wonder of wonders! I'd like to thank all of those people I love for making it such a memorable weekend! We had a beautiful time visiting the barn and new home. Mike's & guys worked on the skid steer! Like the big version of garden we showed in early spring? It's growing!!! We loved playing in the yard, laughing on the porch, eating Mom's amazing food, watching the children play piano and sing, planning for the landscaping and most of all, just being together! Thanks everybody! Love You!

Hurray for Spenc & Steph!!!

2010-06-22T00:02:00.003-04:00

How we RELISHED having my dear brother and his wonderful wife, Stephanie, along with their precious Maylee & Hope here with us for 6 weeks!!! We feel immensely blessed to have had such an opportunity. Spencer built us a lasting and beautiful monument to remember him by at the new house; an amazingly beautiful rock wall guiding one through the forest and onto a french garden as a welcome to our new home. The green grass we managed to get in with Spencer looks fantastic (more to come!) and the ebb & flow of the garden beds he created speaks peace to the whole area. We LOVE it Spenc!!! Can't wait to place the fountain in the middle and finish it up for you and Steph to visit us again soon and see it completed! Here are some fun pics of our visit with Stephanie and the little girls to Reptile Land. Love you guys!

Goodbye to our Beloved Killpacks!

2010-06-21T23:45:00.003-04:00

Oh we will miss you!!! One year ago (almost!) we were lucky enough to have the best of friends move in a few blocks away, Kimberly and Aaron Killpack, family practice residents. Their little boys, Joseph and Sammy robbed our hearts, and we've LOVED having them near this year. Kimberly's a wonderful confidant; I will miss seeing you walking to Cochran and talking together! Joseph is the funnest of playmates for the 3 little girls. Emily and Anna had a great experience babysitting Sammy and Joseph on parent's datenights. Aaron was an immediate friend to Mike. We'll count ourselves blessed to have been with the Killpack's and wish them the greatest of adventures as they move on to greener pastures! Love you guys!

Way to Go Kate!!!

2010-05-22T10:58:00.003-04:00

We are all SO PROUD and IMPRESSED with Kate's great accomplishment this spring!! She prepared for and ran her first 5K!!!! What an achievement for a girl just turned 9!!! Way to go, Katey! (pictured with "girls on the run" front right. youngest runner - she did GREAT!)

An awful fall this spring!

2010-05-22T10:20:00.003-04:00

Poor Anna took a terrible fall from a high bar she was sitting on at Memorial Park after the AMAZING SERVICE project with Mormon Helping Hands last month. (Sitting mind you! She jumps on the trampoline, plays soccer, rides horses, runs track and then breaks her back falling from sitting!) It was a very high sit - and Emily kept saying "ANYONE, even a boy would have cried Mom!" but Anna is a strong-willed girl and would NOT cry, though she could not breath either for a minute, because her friends were all around her. Instead she got up and tried to play tag (every step was excruciating she told us later). Because of this we thought she was merely badly bruised and continued on with the weekend and week! But Anna could not bend, hardly walk down stairs, and most alarming - laugh! (Anna is ALWAYS laughing and singing - it hurt so bad she begged everyone not to make her laugh). We finally clued in and took her for xrays Wednesday morning at Mike's office. Three broken vertebrae! O Anna, how did you ever survive? (Going to school carrying a 20 lb. book bag!) We were worried about surgery, but after a cat-scan found that her spinal cord was un-compromised and she would simply be wearing a brace for eight weeks (it's even a cute little white one!). Anna kept her smile on so well, we could not know how badly she was hurt.

Thank you so very, very much to those of you who prayed for her. I feel it made all the difference. She's managed this whole injury very well, and has experienced minimal pain since the first week. SO very grateful she is OK.

Love and Thanks! Hoffmans

Thank you so very much

2 cute!

2010-05-22T10:11:00.003-04:00

I just had to share: Esther's favorite gift this year was her science kit with all the parts of the body one can pull out, exam, operate on. Emily and Anna's favorites were there new coordinating swim suits. Quite a difference between childhood and teenagehood, yes? Shocking for me to look down from the organ bench when I was filling in for Bro. Haggardy one Sunday and see our 4 independent, older children so competently caring for our 4 younger children and realizing a whole new stage of life for us - full fledged teenagers! Isaac cannot WAIT to start driving this spring (age 16 for permit in PA) and worse yet, DATING! Emily and Anna are glad they will be included in the regional dances now and have just a few too many boy followers ;)- FRIENDS they tell me! - they are very good at being friends. I'm appreciating Esther's age six more than ever.

Blessed to the Brim by these three WONDERFUL GIRLS!!!

2010-05-22T08:27:00.003-04:00

Well, as you well know, it is birthday season for the Hoffmans. From March to May we celebrate 6 of our daughters birthdays, 3 on May 2 & 3rd! (It is so great to remember what a joy it was to bring Esther home for Emily and Anna's birthdays and to have all three girls in white that spring for blessing/baptism days.) We were all rejoicing as we partied at the new house (not moved in yet) with church friends for Emily, Anna, and their friend Phoebe born the same week. The next night, Sunday, we celebrated again with newly arrived (to stay for 6 weeks!) SPENC and STEPH, MAYLEE and HOPE!!!! How lucky are we?!!!

"Bess Duh Baby Unnies"

2010-05-22T08:06:00.004-04:00

Yes, Baby Bunnies arrived at our barn a couple months ago! I've been amazed at what a wonder, delight and joy it's been to watch the miracle of life in a bundle so small and helpless. The mother begins to pull out her fur (LOTS of fur) and turns the old, dirty rabbit cage into a downy soft, angel white wonder world for her brood. When they arrive they are pink and hairless, look like an overgrown mouse and completely fragile. They are completely covered by the mother's fur so you could go a few days not knowing they are in there. We loved watching every stage of development, a little fur - you could see what color they'd be, the funniest stage when they are all piled in the nest but spastically flip around not knowing how to jump but having the urge to do so. Next delight is the first time they venture out of the nest and dark den into the world outside - so funny to see them have their individualized way of trying to hop. Then just a couple weeks later they go through the height of their CUTENESS - never seen anything cuter, except humans of course ;).
The girls have LOVED their baby bunnies to bits! We brought two of them here to the house and they've been best buddies to the children this last month. EVERY blessing on the food, EVERY family prayer two year old Clara leans over to the one praying and whispers "bess duh baby unnies"!! The baby unnies have been a sweet blessing to us this spring.

Funnest Family Visit!

2010-05-22T08:00:00.002-04:00

All the plays this spring allowed us time together with our beloved Maxwells!!! Both of our schedules made driving 3 hours straight, seeing the play of cousins & driving 3 hours back the usual; but one of the days(plays) we snuck in time at the barn. It was SO FUN! Sharing new baby bunnies and sunshine, green spring and fresh "barn" air ;). The Maxwells took home their "first REAL pet!": baby bunnies!!! Here they are with Daisy and Buddy!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2010-05-22T07:48:00.003-04:00

Mike's been desperately wanting a garden since we lived here - each spring we've found ourselves too busy growing other "gardens" - "better ones!" I remind him. But we believe in planting a garden and we finally did it this year! Thanks to a couple of family home evenings focusing on the garden and my brother Spencer who came out to prepare the area, put the boxes together, mix the soil and help collect plants!! We enjoyed our evenings working on it as much as ever! (now for the maintenance this summer, eh?) Wish i had a picture of the boxes, they are gorgeous up behind the fence at the barn, well protected from deer and bunnies too! But these pics are of the humble and happy beginnings of our garden this spring. Happy gardening to all of you!

A Very Lucky Mother

2010-05-13T01:49:00.006-04:00

The Luckiest I'd dare say - o yes - we call it BLESSED! Whether or not we deserve such blessings!! I felt the very most blessed to be surrounded on Saturday and Sunday by many we love, MOST especially our MOTHERS!! We visited Kennett to see Marisa's amazing acting and found Mom C. there of course - we LOVE to be near her, even if for only a day! Then we had the honor of Mom H. for dinner on Sunday!- O, the wonderful little stories she shared about our "other mothers", Grandma Kingsford and Grandma Hoffman and Voss. Special to have Stephanie, new mother to Hope, here with us too! So grateful for these and the many other mothers and grandmothers that influence us so greatly; the ones on our Family Trees and in our Friendship Circles. What a Blessing you all are to me and my family!!!!

My mother's day was wonderful, beginning with my children making me the MOST SCRUMPTIOUS breakfast in bed (all on their own) and, most especially joyful, delivering it to me while singing! They sounded better than the Von Trapps early in the morning! It was sooo beautiful! A special treat was getting ready for and going to church WITH Mike. (We made it early that way!) More singing from the Primary children (Zoie, Esther, Kate, and Mikela) at church and beautiful, bright, handmade gifts from them as well! Mike's remarks on motherhood meant so much. A nap, a meal made by the men, and presents to boot!! I could not have had a better day or weekend.

I hope each of you very special women that spend your heart hours and days loving, serving, and nurturing will be blessed with wonderful "Mother's Days" all year as you see the fruits of your labors grow!!

Sincerely,

The Mom

"Play"ing is SO MUCH WORK!!!

2010-04-16T11:55:00.003-04:00

But all that work is finally paying off! Last weekend we SO ENJOYED Emily and Anna's "Honk!" production at Curtin Middle school. It was a delightful, FUN production. Emily made a DARLING DUCKLING and Anna was a GORGEOUSLY GRACEFUL QUEEN SWAN! They were WONDERFUL!!! ALONG with the rest of the cast! A very fun and clever play, SO well done!! Even the littlest girls stayed interested (more like glued) both nights! Thanks to our friends who came and supported Emily and Anna in the fun!!

Last night was opening night for Isaac's high school production of "Sound of Music". I must admit I was AMAZED at the professional EXCELLENCE of EVERYTHING from the expert musician's in the live orchestra to the awesome stage set to the GREAT acting and beautiful singing of ALL the students!!! It was REALLY, REALLY GOOD!!! (And I would say that just as amazed if I wasn't the mother! :)) Of course, Isaac was PHENOMENAL!!!! FANTASATIC!!! WONDERFUL!!! THE BEST!!!! And Maria's acting was really, really WONDERFUL - they made a perfect combination on stage (one would never know Maria was a senior and Isaac a freshman!) so the play really drew us in!!!

Emily and Anna and Mikela and Katey and Esther and Zoie were all SOOOOO PROUD of their brother!!!! (Clara just said, "Icic" pointing on stage and proceeded to be a challenge for Mom to keep busy and quiet!) Emily even FORGOT that sharp looking, grown up, buff, strong, in-control, righteous Captain on stage was her brother and had to proclaim, just like the fanatical, overreacting teenager girls in front of us "I'm in love!" THAT made us smile nearly as much as seeing seven sisters attack their brother with hugs and squeals of delight after the play. A very fun night of pay off. We were especially glad Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman could come last night and that there are TWO MORE NIGHTS TO GO and lots more family and friends coming!!!!

Great rewards for the hard work and sacrifice of so many in the past few months.

Hoppy Easter!

2010-04-13T23:09:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite parts of Easter this year (there were many!) was the GREATEST Easter egg hunt!!!! Our friend Kimberly put it together with a few families nearby. We went to the nearby park on a quiet, absolutely gorgeous Sat. morning before Easter. The little children hit the playground while the teenagers hit the park-grounds and started hiding eggs. It was such a glorious morning filled with fresh green life and sunshine we couldn't help but feel giddy. Watching the little ones searching ecstatically for well hidden eggs only added to that! No pushing, shoving, rushing, panic - only plenty of space, plenty of eggs, all hidden just challengingly enough to make the hunt last for MORE than 10 minutes even! It was wonderful! Thanks again to our wonderful friends who were there and made it sooo fun! It brought back great memories of 950 S. Easter hunts. LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!

Happy Ninth Birthday Katie!!!

2010-04-13T22:52:00.003-04:00

Kate turned NINE!!! this week. REMARKABLE! Here's a few pics of her 5 day long birthday party, beginning with her friends on Thursday afternoon, Hoopla's on Saturday between conference sessions and another birthday cake, song, and the last few presents from Mom and Grandma C. Sunday after Easter dinner with our dear friends The Crocketts and new friend Bill Lee and our missionaries too. (Elder Black and Elder Green pictured here.) One last party Monday as Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman arrived for a second Easter dinner and 4th or 5th Katey birthday party. They of course brought her presents from cousins and themselves! As her mother I can vouch that Kate's worth that much celebration!!! ;)

I wish I had the picture of Kate decked out in her darling ruffled butterfly T, knee and elbow pads and new roller blades - the ultimate at NINE! (Hey, Kari, we'll move into that house just in time for Kate to live it up on wheels with music blasting in that unfinished basement of ours! Those were the days!)

late night choices-

2010-04-13T22:39:00.002-04:00

I'm SO TIRED!! And Mike and I were just trying to plan another crammed weekend. I thought I was so wise to postpone the temple trip. Rather than Emily and Anna and Mike or myself going to do baptisms this Saturday with the youth in the ward, we'd all go as a family soon - when things slow down (from this view of the calendar, it is hard to see when that might be). There was simply too much going on for a day's trip to the temple. I had decided.

Mike left to pick up Isaac from his 10:30 pm rehearsal and I was left to myself. Luckily I decided to pray about all the demands of this week and weekend. The first thoughts that came to my mind upon praying were "easily entreated" in reference to how I should be to my daughters' pleas to go to the temple this weekend. I sat there a minute pondering about it and felt a tug to pick up the book on my nightstand, it was upside down. I thought it was the new one my Mom had given me for Easter but found a surprise as I picked it up and read "The Temple" by Truman Madsen. I wondered where it had come from (Mike's pile on the other side of the bed?). I opened and read a great chapter about the power and blessings of the temple beginning, "Where does one find a balance staff? The balance staff is the temple." The end read, "I pray that in the moments of anguish and stress and burdens that will come to all of us, we will recognize that God has given us a balance staff, which, as the Prophet Joseph once said, "holds the storm." That is the temple. It is the Lord's house. He is there through His Spirit, and He has promised to manifest Himself in mercy unto His children throughout their lives."

O.K., we'll be heading to the temple this weekend.

Do you think this looks clean enough to sell?

2010-04-13T13:48:00.007-04:00

It's not. The mess is in the hall right behind me as I took the pictures. Despite my worst fears that we'd never be able to show this place for selling, we did show it, four times last week (one a complete surprise showing). The sign is officially in the yard as of Thursday. There is one buyer interested, though he's out of state and will come to see it in person soon - too bad our house won't hold still long enough to stay clean (like these pics!). Here's PRAYING this house sells quickly!

Top O' the Morning to Ya!

2010-03-17T15:24:00.003-04:00

And a GREAT morning it is around here!!! HAPPY 2nd Birthday, Clara!!!

A morning filled with springtime, sunshine, love, and lots of smiles as 9 people wished Clara a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Clara celebrated with her own photo shoot for the newspaper. I wish there's someway they could catch the delightful, real-life, little girl I followed skipping into the church to take pics (no camera could hold that beautiful, delightful springtime moment or the joy that tiny two year old brings to us!). The newspaper could never know how appropriate it was that they asked Clara to be included in the story they requested covering Dad as stake president here as she was blessed the day Dad was set apart in this responsiblity.

We've been celebrating all week already as we knew there'd be no time tonight. YM/YW/Pres. mtg/R.S. birthday - we considered canceling out on all of these but I want Clara to always be proud she was born on the R.S. birthday! (Perhaps that means getting used to celebrating two b-days each year.) And it's been soooo much fun celebrating Clara since Monday night! more pics of the party later!

Love, C. and All

F.H.E.

2010-03-14T16:37:00.008-04:00

I LOVE Family Home Evening! No matter how late, how hurried, how hectic, or how unprepared, we hold it. (even if it has to be Sunday instead of Monday once in a while!) And I'm ALWAYS glad in the end!! ;) A few people in our stake have said they wish they could be a fly on the wall for family home evening. I'm afraid they'd be surprised at what they see! Here's a recent, regular, run-of-the-mill family home evening: (Don't even Mike and I look bored?! At least the dog is listening.) We had Emily and Anna throwing their sisters in the air during the lesson, Isaac tickling his siblings, reminded everyone 'no texting', the dog sticking her face in everyone else's, children climbing over the couch and under our feet, chatting off subject is one of the funnest parts of the night, and keeping little ones entertained and engaged enough is one of the greatest challenges of the night, but in the end, I ALWAYS LOVE IT!!
So glad for F.H.E.!

Be Mine!

2010-03-14T16:28:00.004-04:00

All my little Valentine's! Big Valentine, Dad, is behind the camera! Celebrating Valentine's with a special Sunday dinner! Surprises and all!

Mike and I had a wonderful time celebrating Valentine's day! Saturday night we were on a dating panel for the stake youth! Here's hoping nights like these will keep us young at heart. ;) I thought we were staying for the youth dance, but MY LOVE and VALENTINE for LIFE swept me off my feet again by carrying me off to a romantic dinner he'd reserved for us at the Herdic house. The surprise, the candlelight, fresh flowers, and quiet conversation of Valentine memories together made my day! Thank you, Valentine!!!

Memories I missed!

2010-03-14T15:11:00.014-04:00

For posterity's sake (this has become our only means of keeping family history!) and FAMILY's sake (it was SOOOO FUN to have lots of our Fam here at Christmas and they haven't seen some of these yet!) I'm posting some pics, though late, of Christmas, family, and barn memories! Labeled at the bottom.

Top to Bottom:
-Mike and Clara at the new house!
-Kari and kids, Mom, Clark and Becky out the back door of the new place!
-Isaac and fans with friend Josh, who just starred as Ponyboy in Outsiders! So GOOD!
-Marisa holding Clara while Em freezes waiting for water for horses!
-"Farm Girls", Marisa, Mikela, and Kari with goat, Candy!
-Original Farm Girl, Grandma, climbing the ladder to get out of the barn!
-Gavin and Isaac catch themselves a chicken!
-Becky catchin' chickens - on film at least!
-Sadie holding a chicken Anna caught!
-Becky and Clark out front of the barn.
-Kari cooing to Audrey with Clara watching closely (to do the same to her dolls.)
-10 second count down to New Year! (notice Grandma A., Heather, and Spenc present through phone!)
-Gramps and his following.
-Kids with Lewis children at the barn (just after their new baby arrived!)
-Emily (Clayton's wife) came hours out of her way to play for an afternoon! Thanks, Em! After changing from business clothes to torn jeans she played at the barn and ate at T.G.I. Friday's before fleeing the storm coming to get back to work!
-Clara, Zoie, and Sadie, PJclad and playing!
-Handsome Mike in the 'devilish' shirt Mom got him! (prelude to pink! ;)
-Zoie Grace all dressed in red for the season!

SPRING!!

2010-03-08T18:11:00.004-05:00

Kate, Esther and Missy were having so much fun outside today. Just this week the temperatures sprang and they were enjoying spring. On Saturday the kids helped Dad set up the trampoline and they have all been having the time of their lives with him jumping on it. The kids didn't wear coats today and brought out their bikes for the first time this year. I hope you all are enjoying warm weather as well!

Clara's Birthday is around the Corner!

2010-03-05T16:25:00.006-05:00

Unbelievable as it is, Clarly's (nickname from one of Mike's dear patients)#2 birthday next week! We're celebrating already with her 2 year old pictures by Kristi. It was a precious morning, waking Clara with the news that she was taking her pictures today. She sensed the excitement of the special event and held perfectly still for Kristi to put pig-tails in her hair and happily cooperated as we dressed her in her spring green hoodie and jeans with comfy crocs to catch the casual (SPECIAL) times we share daily. Clara carefully collected her very important baby (always attached) along with a bunny she'd spotted out of place this morning and carried throughout the photo shoot. We had so much fun with Aunt Kristi who treated Clara like a princess and got her giggling with hide-the-bunny before long. Go to Kristi's photo blog, forever-photography.blogspot.com, to see the rest the pics! I am so grateful for our treasure Clara!!!!

Great pic of Great Office Staff!!

2010-03-05T16:23:00.000-05:00

Thanks you guys!

one favorite feature!

2010-03-05T16:18:00.002-05:00

a pic i found of our new family room ceiling - i love it! Great work Mitch, Lew, Josh, and all!

SNOW DAYS ARE THE BEST!

2010-02-27T12:47:00.007-05:00

So sad we missed the pic of Isaac in his b-ball shorts, hiking boots, with his friends fur-lined coat taking Dad on in a snowball war. It was hilarious as Zoie and I watched warm from an upstairs window. From our bird's eye view, we saw Anna helping all the little girls while the big boys broke out in snowball war and the oblivious Clara bounced up and down like one little toddling snowball herself. Somehow in the midst of all the action a snowman - BIG ONE- was created, prelude to the 56 they built later on with uncle Calton! (Emily was also indoors and laying low today with what might be strep throat. oh boo. hope this doesn't mean a whole new round of sickness for the family! With the last 'bout, Mikela told her friends, "I won't be at school tomorrow, I'm gonna be sick" and sure enough she was home with the stomach flu right on schedule.) O, the other SUPER funny thing to watch from the window was Clara's sweet gazes and cuddling up to the little snowman (like she does to her cousin, Camden - only this one doesn't move so she could hug snowman as long as she wanted - she even put both her hands up on Snowman's cheeks and gazed lovingly into his face. So super funny to watch!- she is SO LOVING to babies AND snowmen! Happy Snow days to You - probably the last of them (except for our dear VT/NH friends! I saw buds on the little tree out our window today. We know you won't see those for another month or two yet. Hang in there!-as always!)

LOVE, C. and All

Great gift idea!

2010-02-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

Isaac and his friend, Josh, had Emily and Anna coveting their other friend Olivia, as they prepared this darling hoodie for her birthday present. Way to go guys! Kristi saw Olivia wearing it at the mall the next day - we hope that means she likes it as much as we did :). Em and An remind Isaac their birthday's are a couple months coming up!

Pretty in Pink!

2010-02-19T20:33:00.003-05:00

Pree

We NEVER thought we'd see Dad in PINK! Dr. "You break bone, me fix it!" went posh! Thanks to Mom C. for breaking him out of his comfort zone and into black - I'll have to get a picture of that up! (All the sweet old women in Mike's clinic kept telling him how good he looked!) Next Pres. Leggeiri gave Pres. Hoffman a pink tie for Christmas in support of the fight against cancer. Mike wore the handsome tie proudly never thinking for a moment it was just preparation for his big debut in pink. For the office gift swap Brandee fitted Mike right up with, of all things, a pink shirt! Lookin' good Dr. Hoffman. At least three year old Zoie thought Daddy looked good enough to match her pink princess night gown!

Truly we don't know how much wear the pink shirt will get, but thought we'd catch it on film while Mike was lookin' so good ;)!

Ode to my Brothers!

2010-02-11T21:40:00.002-05:00

First, Happy, HAPPIEST birthday to my brother, Clark!!!! We adore him. He's always making the children happy with his entertaining antics. Since I was a child he's brought laughter to our family. He's a genius! He's handsome and loving and kind and supportive. He's shared his talent with our family along with many others and blessed us exceedingly for it. THANK YOU, CLARK! And HAPPIEST YEAR!

Next, CONGRATULATIONS SPENCER!!!! Spencer was just accepted (with scholarship funds and all!) into the chaplain program at BYU. It's been a wonder to watch he and Steph act in patience and faith as they've continued and prepared for this path. Remember, Spenc and Steph: "All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare." You ARE doing something excellent. Great work.

Last of all, THANK YOU TO BOTH!!!! These men bring love to my heart and joy to our whole family! Clark and Becky just visited for the Christmas season and made it so MUCH RICHER!!! And Spencer and Stephanie just told us they ARE coming to be with us this spring! (Spence will spend the 6 weeks with us toiling 'by the sweat of his brow' to put in gardens for us while we EAT UP EVERY MINUTE OF FUN AND JOY we can with our precious nieces and beloved aunt and uncle!

I am SO BLESSED to have each of these, completely different from one another but BOTH: remarkable, wonderful, fantastic, loving, hard working, gifted, excellent brothers of mine!

Lessons in Human Relations!

2010-02-07T15:11:00.007-05:00

(...and horse ones too ;). Recently, Daddy took the girls for an afternoon at the barn. It's been cold, it's been muddy, we've rushed in and out of feeding times quickly with only a quick hello to the animals while we water, feed, and quick-clean-up for several weeks now. Naturally our young horse, Serendipity has grown a little "wild" because of our neglect in working with her. This Saturday morning Mike with his "let's get it done", in-charge attitude, was going to remind her who was boss- or at least get a halter on her. Mike tried several times to put the halter on, but she would toss up her head with a defiant "just try it" in her eyes, stomp her feet and turn her bottom-end on him (HOW RUDE! ...and unacceptable!). Mike thought there was no way we'd get a halter on her ever again. He went back to work watering animals and while he's busy, 11 year old Mikela steps up gently to Dip, pets her nose and talks to her softly, Mikela then holds out the halter and Dipity put her head down to make it easier for Kea to fasten the clip. "Voila", the halter was on. Mike couldn't believe his eyes. He was still shaking his head when he got home to tell me all about it. I could only smile. I had seen Mikela since Dipity's birth offer her solid, still, quiet, confident, gentle friendship. Mikela, much braver than I would like her to be, had worked with Dipity enough to gain her trust, perhaps even her love.

Recently, we overcame Esther's terribly terrible mornings! Grouchy, grumpy, fighting, yelling, crying, stamping, running away and refusing to clothe had left all of us aghast while we were late many mornings just trying to get Est out of the house. Yes, 7:30 am is early to be out for a little kindergarten kid; and mornings have never been Esther's forte, but this really was amazing to all of us and horrible as well. What to do. I must admit in my deep need for a break and some replenishment one night after the kids went to bed I hoped for something helpful and new to see or read. I turned to BYUTV and tuned into the half hour on parenting that happened to be on. I really listened - and LEARNED!!! The spokesman was talking about how to bring walls down with teens, to keep communication open and the parent/child relationship alive and well. I was pleased with the topic, for I suddenly have 3 (soon 4) teens on my hands and could use all the help I could get, right? This man named four keys:

1) LOVE THEM!!! nothing brings down walls faster; say it and let them feel it from you.
2) Trust them; trust is a gift you give, not something they earn. You have to give a little to let the bridge be built from you to them.
3)set limits because you love them and want to keep them safe and happy - state expectations and follow through on them; recognize the children when they do follow through (with a curfew, or acted responsibly in calling you, or did what you asked).
4) Praise them - praise is like air for the soul, the man said (wish I could give credit but I only caught "Brad" as his name, I believe).
I liked his list. I thought it was true. So I recommitted to doing those things. I decided to start with the first; showing more love. I would experiment with my hardest case (NOT a teenager, just a tiny kindergartner trying to wake up for school); I would try literally melting Esther with love, and see how it went in the mornings.

Boy, was I surprised. It worked, the very first morning. That must be a fluke, she must have just woken up in a good mood (after all, I'm a fairly loving mother fairly all the time, right?) The second morning, I tried the same approach, going in to wake her up with only LOVE, and wow! Esther responded happily and cooperatively. It was WONDERFUL!! In fact, by the third morning it already felt like habit. She hopped up faster and happier than the day before. I could not believe it myself, I was SO EMBARRASSED! (And, as usual, reminded that most of our children's issues really begin somewhere with us. I hate that.) I had not even realized how I had just jumped in every morning with "Hurry!- time to get dressed! Wake up! - here's your clothes! C'mon, Gotta go!" etc.. I hadn't realized how little Esther had felt LOVED -at least in the morning! (OK, mornings have never been my thing either but I didn't think I was THAT BAD!)

So I learned, or remembered, as most of us do from time to time, that really the key to relationships ... from horses to teens to toddlers and poor kindergartners that have to wake up too early and get right out the door to school is LOVE.

I'm so glad my husband is good at remembering that and from the beginning of our marriage has LOVED me! It feels SOOOO GOOD! I want to LOVE my children too.

I'm recommitted.

LOVE YA!

CaMarie

P.S. If anyone has suggestions of how to let a child feel more loved (especially in difficult situations like busy schedule, or demanding day or even sad time), please let me know under comments. THX!

Child's Play!

2010-02-04T23:15:00.005-05:00

It has been such a COZY winter this month with my little ones playing all around: everything from American Girl Dolls (almost daily as in the last pic) to Snake Shows featuring the "lava" snake and twin snakes, etc (this show, as seen in the first pic, is at least 1/2 hr. long; all the snakes are specially designed from fancy beads Grandma gave them for Christmas).

I have loved it and hope you take a minute of joy in it too ;).

Last of the New Year's Fun for you!!

2010-02-04T20:52:00.003-05:00

When Mom and Dad and Clark and Becky headed back to Michigan, we just couldn't end the party yet. We decided to carry on with ice skating and one more splurge dinner at Applebee's before Kari and kids headed down the road.
Here's a few pics of the end of New Year's fun for you!

Christmas Parties!

2010-02-04T20:22:00.002-05:00

I'm putting away the last of Christmas now, and had to catch the last of a few Christmas memories as well (some we made after Christmas!).

Three EXTRA ENJOYABLE parties for us this year:

- The highcouncil coming to our home. Such a wonderful blessing for us to mingle with these wonderful people.

- The bishops party held at the Leggeiri's home. We pray and hope and pray for this fantastic force daily as they carry such a heavy load, give so much personal sacrifice and make such a great difference for good in this world.

- And last, but not least, Mike's office staff came and partied here (see pics). It meant so much to enjoy these faithful friends in our home, after all they've done to make the office a success and all they do daily to be a great support to Mike!

Thanks and Love to ALL!

Pictures of Today are in the Heart

2010-01-21T20:20:00.005-05:00

No pictures to show but a few treasured pics to tell.

Our Excursion broke down last night after stake/YM/YW/RS meetings; a little tricky maneuvering and we, along with all our stuff, returned home safely, albeit a little late. Lucky for us the Excursion already had an 8:00a.m. appointment for inspection scheduled for this morning. Sadly, it would take a couple days to get fixed. Thus I've been home ALL DAY!

With the gift of a little more time and a little less running than usual, with January's quiet, and night wrapping around the house early, PEACE and COZINESS filled our home and my being! I've taken some of the greatest pictures of all in my heart today! I'm posting a few here on Blogger for Hoffman history's sake:

-Homemade, fresh ground whole wheat bread (along with jam like Grandma's or extra virgin olive oil dipping sauce and spices like we enjoyed at our favorite restaurants in NH!)

-All the leather cushions and decorating pillows off the couch lying spread all around the floors with an American Girl doll carefully laid out on each (the work of the little people)

-Several sizes of little brown MaryJanes scattered just under the barstools (missed the cubbies again)

-Truly darling, animated, and enthusiastic twin girls searching out Mom after school to tell of their adventures

-A most amazing orchestra rehearsal (music stands and all) right in the kitchen while Mom makes dinner (I love the harmony and racing rhythyms!)

-Not only a live concert in the kitchen, but a live piano concerto loud in the formal room, along with sweet baby 'signing time' music coming from the family room, and a book being authored in the library by girls ages 11 & 8.

-after 1/2 hour of sighting no children under 5 in the home I wandered up the stairs to check in and ran into them coming down, surprising me, already in PJ's (ALL BY THEMSELVES!) and ready for a performance of their own - a fashion show hosted/DJed by 5 year old Esther who introduced her sister, Zoie, as "Sweetie". With rosie red lipgloss and a huge smile, her 3 year old PJ tummy wrapped with a stylin' belt for the show, she couldn't have shined brighter!

-Dad coming in the door JUST in time for dinner and to catch the end of the fashion show - they did it all over again for him, complete with the announcement to turn off all cell phones, pagers, and cameras (how does a 5 year old know to say this so officially?)

-tiny Clara leading the racing mob with flapping happy arms and hopping, happy legs, and the biggest, first hug of all for Daddy when he came home!

-My favorite live guitar rendition of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz floating down the stairs as I check on little ones in the room next door (Isaac is REALLY GOOD at it!)

-and that same 15 year old typing away on his laptop and talking on his cell phone just behind me now, while the plunking and practicing on the piano ever continues in the background, a little more lulling now that it's past 8 pm and Kate returning to my side several times (up out of bed again;)) with her new ideas for finishing up her book.

-Clara going CRAZY with squeals of delight and flapping arms again when Mom and Dad pull down the tiny statue of Santa coming down the chimney (OK, only half of Christmas is taken down!) and it matched her all time FAVORITE book she's LOVED since Christmas came "Up on the Housetop" (I think I might not put the rest of Christmas away for another year just so she can just keep looking at that book and statue daily!)

The warmth in my heart makes the cold outside all the better, and I hope the photos last forever.

P.S. Five year old Esther just came down to tell me that Zoie is crying because Esther told her that Esther would die when she was 100. Zoie didn't want to be without her even a day. Me neither.

CHRISTMAS CAME!!!!

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It came just the SAME... WITH BOXES and RIBBONS and TAGS!! With gifts wrapped completely in LOVE!! A very joyous and wonderful occasion indeed!

pics from top to bottom: Grandma and cousin Camden, Clara, Esther, Zoie Grace and all the CHILDREN!!

CHRISTMAS EVE!!!

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Did I ever tell you that Christmas eve is my FAVORITE night of the year?!!! Ever since I was a child there is no other night quite as wonderful! And this one held fast to that tradition. Could there be more joy than that of gathering with family in a warm, beautiful home, lit with candles and lights of the season, to worship and wonder at the Savior's birth? We did what we always do, ate a wonderful dinner, gathered in the 'formal' room (the one with the piano in it), opened with a prayer, SANG carols, enjoyed the talents of each family member - everything from singing "Picture a Christmas" to whistling (hilariously) Joy to the World with a Nintendo gig at the end, to harp playing, to story telling. The reading of Luke 2 (this year the dog came in dressed as a cow and took center stage staring down ever so still and closely and reverently at baby Camden lying on the floor, we couldn't believe how funny it looked!) Mom C. always includes a beautiful gift that relates to the message of the evening and this year's was more beautiful than ever, hand painted and created blocks spelling out FAMILY in whimsical and wonderful ways. The children at the close of such a night throw on PJ's (this year provided by Grandma!) and ecstatically choose one gift from under the tree - usually given by siblings - this year the children missed that part and pictures because they were so worried Santa was coming NOW! Oh the anticipation, the joy, the wonder, the LOVE!

The Christmas eve tradition started when I was a small child and we gathered with my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins (we always celebrated Aunt Loraine's b-day!) Mom continued on more lovely than ever as the extended family night date was moved earlier often, and now it is my turn these past couple of years to implement and preserve such a precious night. The warmth in my heart for this years Christmas eve was as bright and joyful and cozy as my very first memory of Christmas in Canada crowded with cousins and stockings on the staircase of Grandma's home. Thank Heaven for tradition, the tradition of Christmas, Christ, and Christmas eve.

The Party's just Begun for Everyone!!!

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Each year Daddy's birthday is just the beginning of ALL THE FUN!! FOR EVERYONE this year as Mom and Dad (Cooper), Clark and Becky, Kristi and Calt and Baby Camden all showed up that evening for the beginning of a MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!! We had the FUNNEST night eating Chinese food, having live entertainment on the guitar by our neighbor Bill (that was a BLAST- thanks Bill!), great conversation and LAUGHING ALL THE WAY! The finale of it all for Mike and BOYS was watching the Utes win their game! Happy Birthday, my Michael!

Sugar Cookies no matter what!

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We'd just enjoyed a wonderful Christmas choir concert on Dec. 22, starring Emily, Anna, and Mikela! (in our book anyway) And came home to a holiday spirit we couldn't resist. Who could wait any longer to let their hair down (literally, it was a mess you can see!) and kick back to make cookies for Santa! Even if it was past all of our bedtimes! Daddy jumped in enthusiastically as well and the girls and Dad stirred up a storm of sugar cookies! Happy baking to all of you! (Hopefully you wisely do yours before 9 p.m.)

Most Amazing Mission Call

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The Hoffman Family is filling up with missionaries! Justin in Mongolia, Dylan just returning from CA, Kasey in Kentucky, Andy headin' out soon with Erin close behind him! FANTASTIC! But just after returning home from UT for Thanksgiving we received the most amazing news from Grandpa and Grandma Hoffman, seasoned missionaries setting out for their second (Grandpa's third) mission soon. Where were they called to serve a mission? RIGHT HERE, IN OURS!!! Pittsburgh, PA. After much consideration they decided to put in their papers and leave it up to the Lord and His apostles as to where they would go in this great US of A to serve. We count it kind and tender mercies from above that they would come here. All our love to all our missionaries - with great expectations for GREAT THINGS to come!!!

Hoffman Youth Early Morning Temple Trip

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A little late getting this on Blogger but wanted to show you these amazing youth! What a WONDERFUL GROUP! These are most the Hoffman cousins age 12 and up EARLY in the morning at the Bountiful Temple when we visited for Thanksgiving. WAY TO BE, Hoffman Family!

Christmas presents early!

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Christmas presents began early this year with gifts from Debbie. She spoiled every child with a snuggly outfit. This pic is of Debbie with the three little girls in the outfits they love.

All the Christmas concerts!

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We had so much fun attending Christmas choir, band, orchestra, high school, middle school, and just for fun concerts all December long. This is a quick pic of Mikela, Esther, Kate, Clara and Emily waiting for Isaac's choir concert to begin. Loads of fun! (and a great challenge to keep 3 under 5 busy during these events, but they are getting better!)

Oh, love from Puppy too.

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Clara, Emily, and Zoie with Missy the Dog.

Happy Holidays from the Barn!

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Zoie Grace and her pet chicken! Esther and Zoie with bunnyfoofoo. Candy atop her perch with Trixie and the other chickens looking on.

a little exhausted from the holiday rush?

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They didn't make it through their goodnight snack.

What a girl can't do! (After and Before)

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Emily wanted record of her deed. She's done this too many times not to get it on film (I mean digital). What 10 people in a house can't do (in the way of making a mess I mean)! And what one 13 year old girl can - way to clean up the office/library/hang-out spot Em! P.S. Just to justify my embarassment at such messy pictures - I always heard a parent should have so many books children are tripping over them!

Merry Makeovers!

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Just before Stake conference we revamped the Bungalo above the garage with some of the new/old furniture we've collected for the new home. It was fun for us to have the mission president and his wife stay there, since then a man moving into the ward has used it as he finds a home for his family here, and Clark and Becky are staying there this week! We'll miss having an apartment ;).

My Merry Little Helpers!

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Christmas could have never happened with such joy, delight and success without my Merry Little Helpers! This is us getting the house ready for the high council party here (or was it before the sing-along here - SO FUN!) We did the same thing just before Grandpa and Grandma and Clark and Becky showed up. A special thanks to Debbie who put in extra hours cleaning and wrapping this year, - thanks to her I got more sleep than I would have! (and kept my sanity as well...i think!)