.:big surprise:.

dave’s brother called it. dave’s ex must have had somewhere to go. she revoked our privileges of having the girls overnight on thursdays. thank you so much for doing us such a favor, katy.

she requested that she have the girls on saturday from 3 to 8- for her sister’s daughter’s birthday party… do you think that maybe the party could have been scheduled on a weekend that katy had the girls?! probably. when dave told her no because that’s our weekend- she flipped and told him he would no longer have the girls overnight. pretty healthy game of ping-pong for the girls to be in the middle of, eh?

dave and i have jointly agreed that it’s best that we stick to the court-mandated schedule until such time that it can be reviewed- regardless of any more games she’d like to play.

lily is asking when she will have a say in where she spends her time. chloe and ella are asking to stay overnight… hearts are breaking.

dave constantly reminds me that our job is to make them happy, comfortable and full of laughter in these confusing and complicated times. so we plan to do just that.

lily has her last softball game on saturday with the end of the year bar-b-q immediately after. chloe has recital pictures somewhere in the middle of all that… and as for sunday- drum roll please –carl and debby are taking us alllllll out on their boat! one big HOORAY! for the HOPE girls. they have never been on a boat and i’m pretty sure this is going to blow their sweet minds. we always have such amazing weekends with them. i’m sure i’ll have some drop-dead-cute pictures of the little ladies on the sparkling lake for next week’s post.

hope all is well with everyone. shall return next week.
kb.

.:hope girls’ first race for a cause:.

what an amazing weekend! the weather was great, the race was great… smiles were all around.

we started off with a slow fun evening on friday… hit the park, had some super melted grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner… my soup was not without the saltines.

saturday we hit the road early to see my little brother bowl in the state tourney. he bowled six games and split it about down the middle, half over his average, half under his average. he didn’t move on to nationals this year, but i’ve got some high hopes for this kid and his bowling career. carl, my ma and eric took us all out to lunch at wendy’s! frosty’s and french fries… yummy. we said our goodbye’s and were on the hunt for a cheap cool birthday present for lily to take to her friend’s party later that afternoon. we found this rockin’ huge water toy- i think it was this big whale that the kids could sit on, and water spouted out of the top… maybe you could aim the spout?! clearly i don’t remember it too well, but nevertheless it was $7 and we were in the check-out line. we dropped lily off at her birthday party, hit a few garage sales and another park. we just hung out outside for the rest of saturday as sunday morning was coming quick and early!

sunday morning we left the house at 6:15am… the girls were rock stars! dave did some weird loud bird call inside the house to wake them up… lily stumbled from her room, but it didn’t stir chloe or ella. we put our REPORT shirts on and piled in the car. what an event this was! so many people had come out to join the fight against juvenile diabetes. we were on our way! 4 miles here we come! ella and chloe were already in the double stroller we borrowed from the cox’ and lily was keeping up with us perfectly. it was a beautiful route through the university of washington campus. we all did an amazing job at the race and it was near flawless… except for when the blankie got caught in the wheel and dave scraped his knuckles trying to get it uncaught.

we cruised inside of husky stadium for awhile after we crossed the finish line… there was water, and bananas and key chains galore! there were sponsors set up all around the field and we were able to get a few give-aways. there was also face painting and balloon making available to the girls… i stood in one line and dave stood in the other. we all got balloons made, lily a crazy hat, chloe a flower hat and ella a flower… i asked for an anchor. dave requested a skateboard, but it was a bit over the clown’s heads. the face paintings were adorable, lily got an army TANK on her cheek… for those of you that don’t know, she’s got this sweet little crush on a boy named TANK. she definitely got us with that one. chloe had some sparkling flowers and ella requested some delightful balloons on her little chubby cheek. we wrapped up at the stadium, and walked….very….slowly back to the car. our legs were tired! dave’s arms got a great workout from pushing the stroller too!

dave requested that we visit gas works park as he had never been, along with the girls. i gave my dad a call to find out where to go- i had been there many times as a kid, but obviously never drove. we were on our way and my dad also suggested that we check out the fremont troll as he figured the girls had never been. and he was right! they were amazed! well, lily and chloe were pretty amazed, ella was pretty passed out. we played on the troll for awhile, snapped a few pictures and headed home.
some of us rested when we got home, some of us played… but then we all wanted to be outside again! so we went down to one of lily’s favorite ‘beaches’ on the green river. sat, dipped our toes… and ate some sandwiches. we headed home as all the girls seemed to need to use the bathroom… and the outdoor, public, community potties on a hot day, didn’t seem like the best idea.

we wrapped up our night with some otter pops and tossing the baseball. the girls were picked up late as usual -which we love!. every extra minute is a blessing. and there dave and i stood: sweaty, slightly burned, tired and with a messy house- sans our three monkeys. it’s still a very surreal feeling to have them with us one minute and then them be gone the next. and not surreal in the dreamlike, Salvador Dali sort of way… weird like: something isn't right.

so, we look forward to our thursday, when we can once again be parents for a day.

.:photo session:.

our blog has been lacking photos… so i’m here to fix that problem. i will be composing a blog about our awesome weekend, but until then i’ll leave you with some pictures.

at the beach…

mermaid make-up night…
average night at our house…
nom nom nom
dmh and kessgh

too bright for ella

birthday mayhem

adorable.

.:there is always hope:.

so, i hadn’t blogged about a certain aspect of my life yet because i was waiting to make sure we were steadfast on our path of victory. with a plotted course and destination.

my momma was diagnosed with hodgkin’s lymphoma about a month ago. we had a couple of weeks of tests before that to power through to find out what was going on in her chest.

can i just take a quick minute to let you all know how much of a ROCK STAR my mother has been through all of this? what an incredible woman. i knew how much i wanted to be like her before this squall… but really, her strength and determination are astounding.

she has now completed one full cycle of chemotherapy, two sessions. my younger brother eric and i went to her treatment today to be a part of it. eric wanted to see what was going on in order to be a part of her treatment in “mind and body”. he wanted to not only hear about it at home, but actually see what our mother was going through every two weeks. it was interesting, amazing and humbling on many different levels to see the patients, nurses and doctor’s working so fluently together for one common goal, and sometimes cure.

as i sat down in the chair next to my mom, i looked above the door and saw this:

my heart leapt and i felt so protected. my world is surrounded with hope. the doctors have used the word “cure” from day one, and that is a very great word to hear. so with our course plotted and destination in sight my momma will forge ahead and prepare for glory! someone referred to the people praying for her as her ‘prayer warriors’. ma has made an association with the movie 300 and the Spartan warriors and has held onto this as her mantra of sorts. we borrow quotes from the movie, ideas from the movie, and the glorious victory of the movie to help encourage ourselves through this.

i sent the above picture to dave while we were in ma’s treatment. i needed him to know how much hope and bliss he has brought to my life. he has been amazingly supportive and helpful for me and my family. he and his loving, generous family have created this warm blanket of hope around my life and have already helped me through so much. pretty sure more than they know.

all in all, we’re preparing for glory. mom and our family are amazing and we’ll defeat this. keep the thoughts and prayers coming… they do miraculous things.

.:finally some good news for the hope family:.

so, out of nowhere, dave’s ex realized it was better for the girls to be with their dad more. she is allowing us to have the girls overnight on thursday’s. this phone call came unprovoked and seemingly out of nowhere.

dave and i are very excited for this, but can’t help feel it will somehow turn around to bite us in the butt. when his ex is involved positivity, generosity and benevolence aren’t usually at the forefront of whatever is going on.

nevertheless, we feel there isn’t a way this can work against us. we love those girls dearly and will take absolutely everything we can.

so cheers to tonight! our first (again) thursday night, overnight.

here is to the love and support of our amazing families and friends who have been through this fight with us. we thank you.

.:‘bout time for a blog, eh?:.

well, i’m here at work. missing my boyfriend. sorry for the sap, but our blog is for our thoughts, right? :)

we had an amazing weekend, we had the girlies… dave picked them up from school on friday and headed out to his buddy jon’s parents house to play with the horses, dogs and on the trampoline. i headed straight to my parents house from work, my older brother robby was there! whoop whoop! he had flown in from LA earlier in the day. we all piled in the car to head to eric’s track meet and cheer him on. i believe he hit a personal best in his shot put event… he also ran the 400 meter. i am so proud of this kid! he looked so sharp out there in his sleek black, red and yellow track spikes… and those short shorts! we had a nice bar-b-q at ma’s… just like the old days. dave and the girls wrapped up their evening and i did too. we met at home and we were all absolutely wiped out! the sun took it out of us. the girls wrapped themselves up in the most adorable blankets that my mom made for them. so snug and cute.

saturday morning dave went and picked up amber! HOORAY! amber is beautiful number 3 in the brent and ruth clan. she hung out all day with us, cruised to lily’s baseball game with us and we also hit up a couple cute shops in downtown auburn. we were absolutely lucky to have her hang out with us for a bit. my great friend sonja is moving to chicago. and her birthday was on saturday, so amber was gracious enough to hang-out with the girls so we could go celebrate this bittersweet event. dave and i had a wonderful time at sonja’s birthday party. we were able to meet the whole clan who flew out for this wonderful evening. it was great to be a part of such a celebration. thank you sonja, your wonderful family and amber.
sunday was a day of yard work! holy cow! my hands are so sore it’s hard to type! i really should have done a before and after picture… you’d be amazed. dave and i have done some really amazing things outside. lily gets some credit, she asks to help and completes her tasks quite well. chloe and ella have wonderful aspirations of helping but are quickly distracted by bikes and sidewalk chalk. dave has a couple of his father’s rose bushes planted and i missed their blooms last year, so i am dearly looking forward to seeing those later this spring. we wrapped up the day with pressure washing the whole driveway. a special thanks to dave and stephanie cox for the use of the pressure washer… she’s in one piece, don’t worry! i’m excited to go home tonight and see the work we did.

i think i’ll wrap up here. i hope everyone is well.

happy spring.

.: "is that your first tumbleweed, honey?” :.

what a weekend! dave and i worked on friday and hit the road on our way to idaho about 4 o’clock. i don’t think i was mentally prepared for the drive ahead of us. i was just so excited to be heading out to visit brent, ruth, lil’ brent, sarah, jake, penny and maralyn and robert. we hauled the whole way down there. few stops on the way and only if they were absolutely necessary. our last necessary stop was to get gas on this lonely highway just outside of hailey. it was a scene straight out of a horror flick. complete with tumbleweeds, and a vacant motel with the “o-t-e” burnt out on its sign. when the gas pump shut off it made this huge clanging sound and i’ve never jumped back in the car so fast as i did right then. pretty sure i tripped on the blanket i had wrapped around me. anyways- we hit the road and made it safely to brent’s dwelling at about 2:30 our time, 3:30 idaho time. we said quick hello’s to those awake enough to greet us and both brent’s who came home after doing a spot of cable work in the middle of the night. then we hit the sack. literally- the hope’s have this HUGE bean bag that dave and i both fit on. this thing was incredible! we quickly jumped on that and rapidly fell asleep.

saturday morning came quick, however we were ready to get up and see what sun valley (and brent) had planned for us. we ate a little breakfast, said hi to the sleepy heads, and hit the road for the first of the tours. brent, ruth and penny showed us around their town of hailey. what an adorable, quaint town. we stopped at a few places and headed home to wait for maralyn and robert to arrive. how great to see them! i had only met maralyn once last summer and had yet to meet robert. once they arrived we had a quick lunch and hopped back in the car for the big tour. we cruised through hailey again and in to sun valley. brent was sure to point out all the celebrity’s houses. felt like an authentic ‘star tour’. we stopped at this small shopping village that was simply delightful. dave and i picked up our commemorative golf ball there. we all splurged on some fudge and walked around in the beautiful sun. we snapped a few pictures and headed back to the car. once we got back to chateau hope that huge bean bag sucked dave and i in again and we took a quick power nap. brent woke us up to hit the slopes. i’ve never said that before! we rounded up all our gear and piled into the truck. brent, lil brent, dave, penny and i all headed to the mountain. tubing was SO amazing! we hiked up to the top and let ‘er rip. dave and i flew down that mountain so fast. i had no idea that was what i was getting myself in to! as we came to an adrenaline pumping stop we flipped and i landed smack in the middle of a huge mudd puddle and dave landed right on top of me! you would have thought we were in a romantic comedy where the two love birds accidentally fall down together and steal a kiss. we hiked back to the top even higher than the time before and we all went down at the same time. brent, lil brent, and penny all on one tractor tube, and dave and i on the other. what a blast! penny was the one to land in that nasty mudd puddle on this run- but what a great sport she was. you can tell she’s a tough cookie for being the baby of 7. we had an absolute amazing time! dave and i will try and get the video from brent and post it on here. we headed home and got cleaned up for a delicious dinner prepared by ruth. she made a scrumptious stir-fry that we all devoured.

saturday night was reserved for decorating eggs. some amazing talent at their dinner table. you can check out The Daily Item for the top ten eggs... and vote! i showed penny how my family blows eggs... bless her heart she rocked it out!

sunday morning came, and happy easter! we had a leisurely morning and then dave and i went and explored hailey a little by ourselves. we stopped at a cute little coffee shop and tried this cream cheese jalapeño thing that was a little goofy, but good. we walked around in the sun for a bit and headed back to the house. the whole gang rounded up to play some basketball, walk the dogs and a spot of bocce ball! it was brent, lil brent, dave and i who played. pretty sure dave and i won... oh wait... yeah, it was the brent’s who won. that was a way fun time and i know dave and i will be playing again and again. there was yet another feast prepared for easter dinner. the meat was amazing- well, i heard the meat was amazing. couldn’t tell ya from experience though. everything else was delectable. we wrapped up the night with a game of apples to apples (a schaeperkoetter/hope favorite).

we hit the road monday morning about 8:30. hugged and kissed our family goodbye... tears rolling down our cheeks as we drove away. okay, no tears, but almost! we had sun almost the whole way home, hit a tumbleweed- oops, my bad. and about 10 and a half hours later dave and i were pulling in our driveway. home sweet home. and back to reality.

what a wonderful trip we had. it was so great to visit with everyone. next time we’ll be taking the girls out there to visit this magical town and phenomenal family.
we’re celebrating easter with the girls on sunday. chloe has ballet tomorrow and lily has baseball games both tomorrow and saturday. we’ll just be dragging ella along to all the activities- she keeps us entertained.

until next time...

kb. aka zoe.

*photos courtesy of brent hope*