Happenings with the Hoekmans!

The Beginning of November....

2009-11-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

Jacob had a lot of fun with his Dum Dum pop here...they are just his size!

John and I went to the River Ranch for our 3rd Wedding anniversary. Due to the world series and a slow week, they ended up letting some employees go home, and you know what that means....it gets busy! We sat in the lounge and had a drink while waiting for our table. It was a lot of fun getting cozy on the couch!

For dinner we shared the Ahi Tuna appetizer and it was as delicious as I remember. John had the Peppercorn Steak, and while I thought I was going to have the Filet Mignon I found myself ordering the Rack of Lamb and boy am I glad I did....it was AMAZING! It was totally delicious!

Since it was our anniversary they brought us a complimentary glass of champagne and it was quite delicious! We had originally planned on bringing a bottle of the champagne we served at our wedding, but decided at the last minute to keep it corked at home!

For dessert I had a berry crisp and John had a chocolate cake and both were incredible! We also shared a glass of port which was delicious too! All in all it was a great evening...the service was impeccible and the ambiance was romantic. A wonderful way to spend our anniversary!

Here is some video of Jacob enjoying his milk....in his high chair we give him cups without sippy lids (these are just like the ones Auntie Debbie and Uncle Ronnie used to have, but they are pastel Tupperware!) and he's started making noises while eating/drinking etc. It's too funny!

Having Fun Making Brownies....

2009-10-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

Justin has had minimum day all week due to parent/teacher conferences. I worked all week, but had today off, so we decided to make the afternoon fun by making brownies! Jacob watched while Justin used the hand mixer to mix the brownies and thought it was cool! Afterwards, I promised Justin he could "lick the bowl" if he'd share the beaters with Jacob! Here he is with his first chocolate covered beaters!!

Success! Yummy!!!

October 10th thru 18th...

2009-10-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

It has definately been a while since we've posted! I've had to learn how to shrink the pictures, now that we have a new camera, and it's MUCH quicker....geez!

These next pictures are from the game Justin had in North Valleys on the 10th. We won 38 to 0...

After the game we ran a few errands in Reno. One was to Cabella's so John could get a new pair of work boots. They have a cart outside that sells kettle corn, among other things. He makes it fresh right there. Well, for once we tried the free sample....oh boy was it good! We had to buy a bag on our way out. Here is a shot of Jacob and Justin enjoying it!!

Yesterdays game against the Reed Raiders was a different story! We lost, 21-0, but they are an undefeated team and it shows....they were really good. They had a big time passing game and did great. Justin had quite a few great tackles. It was excited! It was also cold and foggy, so we didn't get too many pictures as our hands were in our pockets!!! They lost the game, but we still made the playoffs! We play on Halloween!!! Then Justin will go trick-or-treating with his friend Tyson. They had a blast last year!

This is Jacob's friend Jake. I tried to get a better shot....

Today we ran errands while Justin had a visit in Reno. We went to Chili's for lunch, and ordered Jake the Mac and Cheese off the kids menu....when did my child become old enough to eat off the child's menu???? Holy Schmoly! He literally ate EVERYTHING except for one bite. One bite! I think we may have a lefty in our household too........

Yummy!

Jacob's 18-Month Appointment

2009-10-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you know that Jake's appointment went great! The doctor is not concerned that he isn't talking very much; he communicates and understands just fine, and we had a routine autism test and he passed with flying colors. He is getting more "vocal" though; and we've gotten to the point where we have to spell certain words so he doesn't understand what we are talking about! Ha ha!

He is now 23 lbs and 10 oz., 32 3/4" tall and his melon is still livin' large at 20 5/16"! Sheesh! I want to try and crochet him a hat for this winter, but have no clue on the sizing!

Hope all is well with you!

Catching Up.....

2009-09-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since I've blogged! It's, of course, going from newest to oldest, but here are some pictures! It is locking up everytime I try to type; so I am not putting much!

This is the wedding of John's cousin Erica to Christian at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego. It was so amazing!

Lookin' Good!

Justin and Jacob with their cousins Katie and Sarah.

Erica looked beautiful!

They even had animals and trainers come and show us animals!

Great party favors.....I wore mine all night!!

Their delicious and beautiful cake.

Party Animal!

The setting was absolutely gorgeous!

The boxes had our names and table numbers on it, and then inside was what we had ordered to eat. We just had to pull them out and stick them on the table! They also had little bottles of olive oil with recipes attached. Very cool!

The Kings...

Here are some pics of Jake in the park at the Marina.

Having fun on the boat while the guys do the auto pilot and hook up the new GPS!

The pre-wedding BBQ the night before at John's uncle Glenn and aunt Melissa's house.

Erica and Christian the bride and groom.

I think I have too many pics on this one post...I can't get anything typed and all the pic tures are so far apart....I will just post it and fix it as I go....it's been almost an hour already!

Fun with football and popsicles!!!

2009-09-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

Jacob tripped over his "Mr. Frog" blanket and got a bit of a fat lip! So popsicles were on the menu...he really wanted to try and eat it himself...it was quite cute!

Now what do I do with it??

Yummy!

Today the Truckee Renegades played the Hawthorne Serpents in Yerington, NV. It was a 2 hour drive each way, oy!, but it was a fun day! Final Score...Renegades 13 and Serpents 6. It was 13-0 up until the last 2 seconds. We didn't make the extra point, so the Serpents took the ball....it seems that our team thought they were pretty much done with the game, and won, so they didn't do their best their and the Serpents took the ball all the way to the other end for a touchdown! They didn't get the extra point though...ha ha!

Justin was Team Captain and played EVERY play of the game. He got to keep his teammates pumped up out there!

This is where we played. Hawthorne High School.

Jacob was having a blast pushing his stroller around the track!

7-0 at this point!

Justin's First Football Game!!!!!

2009-08-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today was Justin's first football game. The Truckee Renegades were playing the Reno Huskies at Riverview Park, here in our neck of the woods.

A great game was played by all. Justin....WOW...that kid has some talent, and I'm not just saying that 'cuz I'm his mom. He got the first big tackle (and many more), wow! He recovered a fumbled ball...he blocked so the team could get a touchdown....he was a TEAM player. The WHOLE team worked so well together...it seems like they have done this together for years. It was amazing to watch!!! The game was so exciting!!!

Final Score....Truckee Renegades 20 (yes 20!) and Reno Huskies 0.... (I feel bad about that part)

This was the first game played with a scoreboard, duh, so I had to try and take a picture!

Here are the cheerleaders getting ready for the game! Yes...they have cheerleaders! So fun!

Pre Game Prep...Coaches getting ready!

Wow!!! Ref's!!! This IS a real game :-)

Justin's biggest fan...Jacob hanging with Gram-Gram :-) Gram-Gram and Granddad came up to see Jus' first game!

Jacob met a new friend....Jake! Jake shared his cars with Jacob and they had a great time!

Getting ready for a big play...

Here are the Renegades taking the field!

This is part of the halftime show, where they run through the banner!

Fun on the deck on a Saturday Night!!

2009-08-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Justin was having a lot of fun..or was it Jacob??? After dinner tonight. It got cool enough to play on the deck and the boys just had too much fun! ALL the boys!!!

Obstacle Course Fundraiser

2009-08-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Here is some video of the festivities!!!

Did I mention that a bear decided to come down and join in the fun?????????

Celia's

2009-08-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

After the Jamboree we headed to my Mom's to visit and help get ready for Theresa's baby shower, which was the next day. We got to visit with Auntie Vaden as well. We all went to Celia's for dinner....Mmmmm! Erin, Rob, Steven and Mackenzie met us at Celia's and we sure had fun!

This was John's burrito. Wowzers!

Jacob and Mackenzie had a blast together.

Are they trying to find a place to break out?

Too much fun! So cute!

This way Miss. I'll show you to your seat.

Since our party was large we were seated in the same area where we had our rehearsal dinner. It was so fun to be in that "room" again, and it was great because the kids got to run around and have some fun!

Paging Dr. Wall......Steven came in some garb he got from Stanford Hospital while Erin was there. He even had a real stethiscope! He was so adorable and fun...he is an amazing kid! I think he's giving Jacob a free consultation here.

"I think you're going to be just fine Jacob". "Thank you Dr. Wall!"

These two were just adorable!

Mackenzie laid a hug and kiss on Jacob....so sweet! A great way to end the evening!!!

The Jamboree!!!

2009-08-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Justin and his team, the Renegades, went to the "Football Experience". It's where the teams all get together and do 15-minute scrimmages. It gives the players a chance to experience what it's like to be in a real game environment and it gives the coaches a chance to play the kids in the positions they are thinking of putting them in.

We trucked off to Nevada at the butt crack of dawn and had the best time! Justin played at 10 and 10:30 and we were there by 6:45!!! Justin had the time of his life!

Justin and Tyson having some fun before the festivities.

The field. The Experience was held at a new park. There are many football fields as well as a park and baseball field. There were so many teams from all over, I lost count!!! They all play these 15 minute scrimmages and there are kids everywhere!

I must say...I felt very Brady Bunch...it's all astro turf!

Jacob has taken quite a liking to pushing his stroller all over....downhill of course!

Justin's team on the field.

Jacob finally conked out after a little crying/screaming jag. We were sitting by the generators that were filling up the giant bouncy house, so the "white noise" kept him sleeping for quite some time. I think it was about an hour or so!

Cheering on his teammates!

Gotta love it....Hoekman! Go Hoekman!!!

The next Joe Montana? Jerry Rice maybe???? Hmmm....he's handsome for sure!

This is at the end where both teams come up and slap each others hands for a game well played!

The coaches all sat the kids down after the game and told them how proud they were! It was very sweet, fun, and touching.

Crystals

2009-08-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the crystals we found! They aren't the best pictures but....

The Yard has Started....

2009-08-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

John and I spent Monday of last week travelling around to different nurseries to look at trees! We found some that we liked and John and Bob went last week to get them. Here in the front we have a blue spruce and 3 lilac bushes.

Here is a shot from the front door.

The back has a green spruce!

John also seeded for lawn this past Saturday. He has been working really hard to get the sprinklers on a good schedule for the seed to help it grow. John has been spending a lot of time and energy making our backyard come together!

Sprinklers are on and working just peachy!

Football and Birthday!

2009-08-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

We had a busy week last week! Football practice was changed to Mon-Thurs from 5-7:30! It worked out well for my birthday on Friday, we got to have a nice evening at home!!!

Justin is really enjoying football practice. His game number is #58, but they use practice jerseys for games and he's number 95; it's a white jersey. You can see he's pretty much the tallest one here...his back is to us; he's between number 15 and 99.

Jacob enjoys his time on the baseball diamond and the grass!

When I got home from work on Friday I found this awesome banner the boys hung! They also baked me a cake and Justin made me a gorgeous card!!!

John barbequed a HUGE ribeye for me and we had baked potates and veggies....

I didn't get a picture of the food, but here is the cake and a special bottle of VJB John had for our dinner!

Thank you everyone for all your calls and cards and birthday wishes! It truly was a wonderful evening!

Here is some video from Jus' practice.

Dan's Annual Taco Feed

2009-08-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the 8th my birthday fun continued! Our friend Dan has his annual Taco Feed every July. The Ghost Riders (who literally travel by stage coach and dress in period gear) come through and Dan lets them camp on his (and Sabra's) property. They have the Taco Feed each year which is always a blast! They make tacos (complete w/cactus and everything!) and everyone brings a side dish.

Justin got to pet his first horse with Grandpa Bob!

I got to experience Jacob's first pinata....I was a little apprehensive...I can see what he can do WITHOUT a stick...so giving him one.....he had a lot of fun!!!!

I love this picture....Jacob sure had fun testing his walking skills over all the different terrain!

The pinata finally let loose and you can see Justin, and the other kids, going for the goods!

Jacob had more fun playing with the pinata after it was finished!

Every year they have this band as well and they are great!

Awwww!

Yee Haw!!!!

We all had a really great time!

They had so much wonderful food I thought Jacob would just devour (John even made his famous guac) but all he wanted was the lime tortilla chips!

Jacob had his first lollipop...courtesy of the pinata!

John got this video clip while I was with Jacob by the pinata!

Crystal Peak

2009-08-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

As part of my birthday weekend we took Spidey up to Crystal Peak. It used to be a crystal mine, and now people go up there and you bring shovels and picks and you can dig for crystals! We had a ton of fun!

Jacob likes it in Spidey!

Here we are on the road!

The scenery is so gorgeous...the weather was absolutely perfect!

First we drove up to Boca.

This is where we stopped and had our Subway sandwiches!

Jacob enjoys the bumpiest parts!!! He is going to be a ringer for Disneyland! Yippee!!!

The sign says that you are allowed to fill 1 5-gallon bucket, per vehicle, each week. I guess, since a lot of the rock is white, people were taking it for landscaping purposes. They would literally fill up a pickup truck bed over and over again!

John is up by some Quartz rocks.

Some were such a pretty color of green and blue!

You really realize how far off the ground you are when you see Jacob next to the big ol' tires!

This is the kind of stuff you sift through to find the crystals!

The boys on the hunt!!!

Neat stuff, truly!

Jacob and I had his picnic lunch while John and Justin went further down the side to see what they could find!

It's a beautiful view!

Here we are on our way back down!

Jacob conked out on the way home! I think all the rocking and bumping put him to sleep!

Here is some video of the drive!

Here are the boys on the way up having fun!

Pictures of Jake

2009-08-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Gram-Gram and Granddad visited last week and we had a blast! Jacob sure "hams" it up for Gram-Gram! As soon as he sees her red light on her camera.....he just poses for her! She got some great shots of him and I'm not afraid to say I stole them from her blog! I tried to take some too, but he likes her camera better!

We were saying "Cheeeeeeese" and he LOVED it!

Here is his "Rock Star" pose.

See what I mean??? The kid just POSES for Gram-Gram! Too funny! I had a bit of fun with his hair...Mom and I kept saying he was Doc Brown!!!

"I'm going to take you BACK....to the Future!!!"

Football Has Started!

2009-08-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Monday football practice officially started! Justin is on the Renegades and so far he is having a BLAST! Last week was "conditioning week" and Wednesday they got all their gear. We are lucky; it's brand new this year! Next week they get to practice with all their gear on!!!
Here are some pictures from practice.

Their colors are red and gray.

Jacob was having fun cruising around in his shades and flirting with the ladies!

Here is Justin getting his gear.

One excited kid....

Lookin' good!!!!

Jacob was getting some tips from one of the Jr. Coaches and was loving every minute of it!

My Mom got some GREAT pictures of Justin and his team; check out her blog too! The link is on the top right of my blog site!

Mamma Mia!

2009-07-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wow...Mamma Mia is right! While watching the movie together and playing on the couch, Jacob scooted off the couch, and then climbed right back up by himself! And here I thought it was the other boys messing up the couch cover.....LOL. The couch cover makes a good grabbing point! Jacob also managed to let me get some of his "groovin' to the music" on video!

Jacob Says MAMA!!!!

2009-07-23T11:35:00.001-07:00

On July 20th, he finally *truly* said it, and I got it on video! I was actually going for something else; Shyla was in her kitty bed and Jacob was trying to get into it with her! By the time I got the camera he was walking, but he was saying Mama so I kept it going! I even got a HI MAMA!!! Yippee!!

Grandma Hoekman's 90th Birthday!

2009-07-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

Grandma Hoekman had her 90th birthday on July 15th. We all went down and spent some time together, then went to the buffet for dinner. It was a great, fun day!

Three of the Hoekman men.....

Jacob with his Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa.

Grandma!!

Great-Grandpa and Jacob.

The Hoekman Men!!!

The Hoekman Women!

This has nothing to do with the Birthday Celebration, but Jacob is a fan of chips and salsa. He was dipping his chips on his own, which I just had to try and get on video!

And the Winner Is.....

2009-07-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

Bob took 2nd place in his division at the Cannibal Cruise. The Cannibal Cruise is an annual car show we have here in Truckee. It's more than a car show; it's also a craft faire. There are booths, food, music...and not to mention lots of cool, old, souped up cars to check out! It draws a huge crowd and is a ton of fun! Here are some shots of Bob's 56 Ford Truck!!!!

Dig the steering wheel! It's bigger than a VW bug!! LOL. It has the old gauges and everything. It's sweet!! It's been lovingly worked on; that is for sure!

A Day in the Sun....

2009-07-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a gorgeous day; the first in quite a while without cloud cover or heavy wind! While John was out working on the sprinklers the boys played in their water world!

Jacob still doesn't go into the water, unless it's right at the beginning, or end, when the water isn't spraying high and isn't too deep. It's cold when it comes straight out of the hose! But boy did they have fun!

Hey Bro!

He gets in!!! After the hose was turned off!

Brothers having fun!!!

Playtime with Jacob

2009-07-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of Jacob while he was playing with various things. It's fun to see what faces this kid makes sometimes!

This was a toy he got for his birthday; it was 18 months so we just busted it open!

I wonder what he is thinking here???? Did he just push it off the table???

He loves being outside!!!

Starting the sprinklers!

2009-07-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

John has been working in our backyard, super hard, getting our sprinkler system in! John used a.....I am sure I am going to spell this wrong.....Ditchwitch to burrow trenches in the ground for the pipes. Here they are getting it unloaded from the truck.

It's a little scary looking, but super fun to watch do it's thang!

The King of the Backyard Project!!!

After he trenched with the machine, he still had to shovel out a bunch of dirt to get everything just right. In fact, he "narrowed down" our shovel because it was too wide!

Here is John working in the front. He was more worried about doing it out here because of the gas lines!

For those of us who were kids in the 80's.....remember DigDug? Our yard looked like that!

After John got the pipes in he filled the trenches with some dirt, then water, let it soak through, then more dirt and compacted it all down. It's been a HUGE project for him, but he ROCKS, as always!

The Ditchwitch in action!

Jacob's 15-month appointment

2009-07-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Jacob had his 15-month appointment last Wednesday. He did really well! He had 2 vaccinations and they checked his blood (with a foot prick) for anemia. He is doing great!

He now weighs 22 lbs. and 7 oz, is 31 & 3/4" long and his melon has grown, 2/8" to 20 1/8"! Wow!!!

We just wanted to let you know that all is going well with Jacob :-)

4th of July Parade VIDEO!

2009-07-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

Justin was asked if he would like to be on the "float" for CATT (Construction Association of Truckee-Tahoe) in the parade, and Justin was excited to do so! We tried to get some video of him this morning; he had a blast and it was so much fun to see him in the parade!

4th of July Parade Pictures!

2009-07-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today John, Dyan, Jacob and I went to the 4th of July Parade in town, not only to go, but to see Jus' parade debut! CATT asked him if he'd like to be on their "float" and he did it! Here are some shots of some of the things we saw!

Having fun with the Life Flight Helicopter....

Walking with Daddy! He is getting used to walking with shoes....and pavement!

This man was with a Chimney Sweep Company!

Dyan and I.

Jacob wasn't too happy being on John's shoulders, but he looks happy here!

Smokey the Bear!

We had Fire Departments not only from our town of Truckee, but Squaw Valley and Northstar.

This was an old fire truck that was spraying water! It looks like you are about to get nailed with a ton of water, but it just kind of dispersed into a mist. It was cool!

What is a Truckee Parade without an "army" of marching skiiers carrying their skiis?

Lots of local companies had floats!

Lots of old cars and trucks too!

Happy Birthday U.S.A.!!!

This is actually an ambulance leaving the fire department...our spot was right in front of the fire department and they had to get us to make a path so they could leave...they got a call!

A jail on wheels!!!

While downtown we ran into Bob and Linda. We were at the "starting line" while they were at the "finish line". When we went to the finish line to get Justin, that is where we bumped into them...and a nice lady and her horse!

Jacob WALKS!!!!!!

2009-07-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

Jacob has walked a step here or there, but that is about it. Today, with his brother using his remote control car as bait, Jacob totally walked! We're in trouble now!!!!!

It's Been a Busy Week!

2009-07-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Casa Baeza, for dinner. Jacob loves his beans!

Mmmmm!

He decided to try and see what it was like being our cat, Shyla.

Meow.....

John finished the gate yesterday as well. He's been working so hard on getting the fence and gates done!

We couldn't resist getting some video of Jacob eating his beans at Casa!

Relaxing Saturday Fun!!!

2009-06-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Jacob really loves avocados and I couldn't resist trying to get some shots of my little green faced man!!!

Yummy!!!

John put up this pool type play thing we got from Grandma Linda. It sprays water through holes like a little sprinkler thing...the water was freezing (since it comes straight from the hose) so Jacob wasn't too thrilled with playing in it, but he liked playing with it!

Stacking the rings is FUN!

Let's make them into a hat!

Cheese! Having fun laughing while Daddy splashes at me!

Hee!

A Day at the Races!!!

2009-06-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from the track last weekend. We had to get some of Justin in full gear with his new helmet!!! He pulled in a strong 4th place finish! That was with a rain delay!!!

Here's Jake having a snack...he is wearing a hat we found that fits his head. We have problems with that since he has such a huge melon! Do you believe this hat is size 48 months????

Mmmmmm....Gerber animal crackers!!!

Justin had 6 others to race with this time. Such a big difference from last year when the most there were, total, were 3!!!!

Ready to go!!! Lookin stylin'

Here they are all ready to go!!! Gentlemen, start your engines!!!

The Past Few Weeks.....

2009-05-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I've posted...but of course I've been taking pictures and thinking of what I would say when I post...but it feels like these past few weeks have gotten away from me! I've gone back to work about 24-32 hours a week, helping Longs turn into CVS/Pharmacy. My boss has been really cool letting me work around home projects (like the fence and kids) so it's been working out well. But I have been running behind on a few things. So I have a seriously long list of pictures here.....

We finally got a dining room table! We've been using a 4 person folding card table since we moved. We've been checking sales, auctions and Craigs List, but haven't had any luck. We found one on CL but they never contacted us back....Nancy found a listing in our local paper this morning during her break at work so we called them, John went and looked at it, got them to lower the price by $40 and now for the bargain price of $260 we have an oak table with 6 armed chairs and 2 leaves. One chair is pretty scratched up (in the seat) and there are some scratches on the top, but it looks GREAT. We will likely have a table cloth or place mats on it anyway. We SCORED!

We have geese (not to mention other ducks, birds and white pelicans) out on the pond and in the meadow behind our house. The geese have babies now and so we have been walking around the pond a few nights a week feeding the geese. Justin was even able to pet them! They were eating bread of his shoes and from his hands!

Awwww!!

The big ones were hissing, saying "Give me bread NOW!".

Hiss!

Soft!

My boys chillin'.

Jacob should be walking anytime now...at least it sure seems like it! All he wants to do is this...walk holding your hands. He will have a serious fit if you are busy and can't walk with him that instant! Luckily he has a great big brother to cruise with!

Hey Mom! I'm on the deck!

Chilling on the weekend with a Ba Ba.

Look...I am going to open the gate! We've put a clip on the "clasp" so that you can't open it without taking the clip off. That way Jacob can't accidentally get it open and take a tumble down the stairs.

You can see the fence posts in the back...the beginning of our fence!

It's going to be an "open" fence, with wide square wire in the middle. It will keep animals out and kids in, but you can see through it and it won't really look like we have a fence!

Justin was in desperate need of a hair cut. He finally let me cut the hair over his ears a few weeks ago, and trim a bit off the back, but that was it. The poor guy was drowning in hair! John finally just gave Jus a buzz. He always asks for one when we go to have Sonja cut our hair!

Going....going......

On the floor....Look at all that! There was the same amount, or more, on the floor!

Speaking of wild hair......

Daddy had to take some pictures of Jacob "rockin'" the bed head!!!

Looks like someone had a balloon rubbed on their head.....

Oh my....

John's birthday was on May 19. He wanted to grill steaks and have dinner at home. It was a nice evening!

Mom and David got John some great snacks (cheeses, chocolates and crackers) along with this wonderful bottle of Twomey Syrah (with matching glasses!) It was delicious and we opened it on his birthday!

The Helmet is returned, complete, from Impact Racing....

2009-05-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Justin's helmet is finished!!! After John finished painting the shell he sent it out to Impact Racing, where they finish it off with the foam, vents and visor. It just arrived back today...it looks SO cool!!!

Jacob attempts the door.....

2009-05-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Justin had some friends over yesterday and they were playing in his room. They had the door closed and of course Jacob wanted in. John was in the hallway watching him when he called me down to see what Jacob was *almost* doing....he is going to have that door handle any second now!!

Mother's Day at Donner Lake!!!

2009-05-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was a beautufil, fun day! Our friend, Teri, came over the day before and aksed us if we wanted to join her at Donner Lake! She wanted to get a bunch of "mom" friends together for fun, sun and a BBQ. It was so much fun! The weather was great...the wind didn't kick up until the end of the day, and we met a bunch of new people and everyone, including the kids of course, had a BLAST!

Jacob getting his feet wet....He wasn't too sure about this....

The Canadian Geese getting in on the action!

Justin having fun in the sand.

John and Jacob at the shore!

Justin's friend Nick brought a surf board and showed him how to paddle and stand up on it!

Here is Nick out on his board.

John ended up travelling back home (the sweet man) to get us things...the weather was SO nice we didn't bring things like thongs, tank tops, football....John went back and got those things, and among other things, Justin's spring suit! The water is quite cold, so he was very thrilled to wear it!

My little surfer boy!

Teri, Roz and Rob brought kayaks, so the boys went out, after the ladies and men, and had a blast! I was afraid to try it....but I did at the end of the day and loved it!

Here are Teri and Roz getting Nick and Justin (on the left) into the kayaks.

Justin brought his snorkel and had a great time playing with it in the water.

Here are us Moms.....Me, Roz, Teri, Molly and...I suck....I can't remember the other two women's names.....they were all very nice and we were lucky enough to have Teri and Roz (and their hubby's and kids) come over to the house for some wine and conversation afterwards!

Brian had an awesomely large kite, and once the wind picked up John and he tried to get it in the air while the Q was going. Yummy chicken!

This was when I decided to go out in the kayak. I didn't have a swim suit on and I was worried about falling into the super cold water, but I really wanted to try it. Justin came out with me in case anything happened; he is just so sweet! We had a great time!

John snapped thiese while we kayaked!

Here is Justin having fun on the surfboard! That "fish" in the background is Mykayla!

Here I am kayaking!! I would love to get a couple so we could do this during the summer months and not only enjoy the great outdoors, but get some exercise too! Woop!

Mothers Day Gifts from Justin

2009-05-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

For Mothers Day Justin decorated a pot for me and planted a beautiful flower! He also made me a lucky, 3-legged pig! I love them!

Candy Sushi!

2009-05-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Justin picked out a recipe from his kid's Rachael Ray cookbook, "Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals for Kids), and wanted to try some candy sushi! It is really easy....

Candy "Sushi"
Makes 4 servings

1 T butter, cut into pieces
12 marshmallows
2 cups puffed rice cereal, such as Kellogg's Rice Krispies
6 fruit roll-ups (6-inches wide) any brand, any flavor
6 strips licorice, such as Twizzler's brand, cut in half

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir marshmallows until completely melted. Remove mixture from heat and add cereal. Stir to coat evenly in melted marshmallows.

Roll out the fruit roll-ups. Place a few spoonfuls of the coated cereal onto each fruil roll-up and gather thward the back edge of the roll-up. Press 2 cut licorice twists onto cereal mix. Wrap and roll the candy and fruil roll-up so that the finished product resembles a sushi roll, shimmying the licorice into the center of the Rice Krispies.

Place a sharp knife into a bowl of very warm water. Cut candy sushi with warm knife and arrange pieces on a plate to serve. The candy sushi looks like a big platter of California sushi rolls!

They sure were tasty! We had a group over on Mothers Day evening, and the kids LOVED this!

Helmet in Progress

2009-05-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

John has been airbrushing a helmet for Justin for his go-kart racing. It's really intense and intricite....you must have patience for this job! John and Bob have watched tons of videos on the subject and it's looking awesome! John is doing a great job! Here are some pictures of the helmet in progress!

Here is the flame part....

John spent over two hours taping over the flames. In order to paint the rest of the helmet he had to tape over the flames and use an exacto knife to slice around the tips and edges of the flamers and then pull off the tape around it....geez!

Here are the flames all covered up and ready for the next stage.....the solid colors on the back!

Here is John at Bob's house, in the back garage, painting in the paint booth!

Supplies!

A masterpiece in progress!

Here it is with the solid colors painted on the back. Now we're ready for the checkerboard pattern! Checkered flag style :-)

There is the checkerboard pattern! You can still see the blue tape around the flames, and the indentations of it under the silver part. Once the back is painted they will take all the tape off.

The helmet looks funny....it's literally just the shell. After you have painted your helmet, you send it back and they finish it up; put the foam in and the visor, vents etc!

Here is the green diamond pattern in the back. Originally there was another designed planned, but it just wouldn't work out (even though John tried VERY hard to get it to work!) so Justin chose this pattern and at the top part sticking up there he is putting Justin's name!!!

Here it is with the tape off and you can see the flames. Looking AWESOME!!!

2009-05-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Does any one remember "They're here"? LOL Jacob just loves watching NASCAR. It is so funny to see him try and grab the cars off the screen. It is all most to a point of being zombied on it. LOL He is AWESOME.

We have Fish!!!!

2009-04-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Today the fish arrived....yes, you can order anything on the internet now!!! We had one casualty; the puffer was DOA. All the others are doing great!

Here they all are in their bags, getting acclimated to our tank....

Blue-Green Chromis

Naso Blonde Tang

Flame Anglefish

Auriga and Saddleback Butterfly Fish

Dorrie!!! The Blue Tang.

Nemo!!!!! The Ocellaris Clownfish.

There is also a Coral Beauty Angelfish and Bicolor Pseudochromis, but we haven't gotten pictures of those yet! Yay!!!! The tank looks great and there is tons of room for more fish!! Justin (this was all a surprise for him; the arrival of the fish) and PSYCHED when he got home from school today!!!

We're almost there!

2009-04-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Jacob has really started "crusing" and he is doing great! He grabs onto furniture, side of the bed, chair etc. and has a great time walking. We've gotten to where he'll walk with us, holding only one of his hands, but he's a bit apprehensive at that. When we walk holding both of his hands he just squeals in delight. He's been walking with his train and having a blast!

Recent Happenings....

2009-04-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

Not too much has been going on at Casa Hoekman.....I've been working full-time hours trying to help Longs have a smooth transition while it is taken over by CVS/Pharmacy. Going back has had it's ups and downs, but it's been great to be back with the girls! Next week I will be working full-time as well, as next week, Wednesday to be exact, we open as CVS/Pharmacy. Well...we will have a new pharmacy and registers (and all Longs product has been replaced with the CVS brand) but we won't have a new sign, outfits or shelving until later this summer...it should be quite the experience! I sure hope it goes smooth for all!!!

John got this great picture of a sunset a few days ago....gorgeous!!!!!

John got the lights in the tank now. So we are all set for fish....almost! The charcoal, water, sand/rock, lights and thermometer is all in it and whatever stuff you put in first! But....since it's enclosed (there may be more reasons as well) the water is running hot. If you open the cabinet doors it is really LOUD (it reminds me of the air conditioning unit I used to be able to hear outside my bedroom window at my Meemaw's house in Porterville) so opening the doors defeats the purpose of having them! John had to get a chiller which should be here next week. Once that is in, and we run it a bit we can get these special fish....now I can't remember their name, that you put in first to get the tank "ready". Then we can get fish! I'm getting a Dorrie!!! Woop!

John is working on painting Justin's racing helmet. He is going to do flames and then put a dragon on the back. He is nervous, being this is his first time doing anything like this, but I'm sure he can do it and it will look great!

For Jacob's birthday he got a Learning Pony...it's a great toy that goes through their growth of 12-36 months and has fun games (learning of course) and it's all about cause and reaction....this was his first time on it...I think we see more of John than anything, but he's getting the gist of it!!!

New Tank Pictures!

2009-04-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

John got the lacquer on the doors today and they look great! It all blends in so well and we are on our way now! We just need some fish!

The Fish Tank!!!

2009-04-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

John has been working hard, with occasional help from Justin, to get his old fish tank up and running. He built this great stand, covered it with veneer and had to use special polish to scrub the acrylic tank so it was clear again!

Here he is with a ton of pipe parts etc....

It's like a puzzle!!

Jacob wanted to help too....

Here are Jus and John mixing the salt with the water, after the rock, sand and coral are in, and filling the tank with the water!

Justin swore he could taste the salt!!! All we adults needed was the margarita to go with this!

Getting full!

All full!! Here are the cabinet doors before John got to lacquer them! They will be in the next post!

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

2009-04-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

While Justin was on vacation we decided to surprise him by taking him to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (formerly Six Flags Marine World). We were lucky enough to have our friends Kristy, her husband Rod, and their two kids Maggie and Zack meet us there! We had such a blast! The boys got to ride rides, us girls (and wee ones) saw shows...then we all rode rides....we all saw shows...it was a beautiful day and we had tons of fun!

Maggie, Zack and Rod.

I'm not sure if I took this picture or if John took it of Justin and I going on this ride, Vertical Velocity. We were in the second row! Boy it was scary...and THRILLING!

This is Medusa. It was Justin's favorite. He and John rode it twice; once with Rod!

John and Justin were in the third row; this was their last ride of the day.

The gang after a full day of fun! Jacob never napped; but he was a trooper and he was relaxing in the stroller, snuggled in my sweatshirt, so I didn't pull him out for the picture!

Justin and John on the front row of Vertical Velocity. Jacob didn't like us being "sandwiched" between this ride and Roar; I think it was a little scary for him! He kept trying to climb up me and over me and off me! I swear he was literally thinking of wether or not he could run away!!!

Fun with Taco Tuesday!!!

2009-04-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

We have stole my friend Katie's weekly dinner of "Taco/Tostada Tuesdays". It's a lot of fun and John makes he and Justin some fried tortillas. This one got all puffed up and Justin decided to treat it like a pita and just fill it up! He had a blast and said it was fun and delicious!

Let the stuffing begin!!!

We set up a taco station on our breakfast bar!

Yummy!!!!

Tasty!!

Easter at Gram-Gram's!

2009-04-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

We all had a wonderful time spending Easter at Gram-Gram and Granddad's! Justin had a go-kart race (the first of the season) on the Saturday before Easter (we are all still scratching our heads at why they had a race on a holiday weekend......oh well!) so Jacob and I went up and spent the day before the boys came down later that evening. Mom, David, Jacob and I had a wonderful time!

These are the Limcello Spritzers Mom made....they were so delicious and refreshing! I wish I was having one out on the deck right now! Mmmm!

Riley and Poopie checking us out....

Getting ready to dye the eggs!!! (We saved some for Dad and Justin to do too!)

Jacob having fun with Auntie Theresa!

Jacob was having fun finding eggs in the morning. At home he likes to toss his play balls around and then go chase them...he was trying that with the eggs...it was hilarious!

As soon as I would put them in his basket, he would take them out and toss them on the floor!

Justin looking for goodies!!!

Jacob and Granddad having fun going up the stairs....this trip was Jake's first time with stairs and he did well....going up.....Ha!

Here are the beautiful corned beefs Mom and David got for the occasion. They were delicious!

The fun place "cards"!!! So clever!

Mom's beautiful table...the tulips were incredible! They are real!

Jacob and Auntie Theresa!

Dinner time is always fun family time! We all had great conversations and delicious food and dessert! And of course wonderful wine!

A delicious dessert Mom made with sherbert and raspberry champagne...oh my it was delicious! I don't have a picture of the chocolate brownie dessert...but it was a killer! MMMM!!!

Jacob's 1 Year MD Appointment

2009-04-09T09:32:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!

Jacob just had his one-year appointment yesterday! He is doing just great...growing just fine! He is totally off formula and seems to really enjoy eating what we eat and loves his milk and juice!

He now weighs 21 pounds and 7 oz. ( a 2 pound and 7 ounce increase) and is 30 1/2" long (a 2 1/2 inch increase). His melon is 19 3/4"....the doctor even did it again to make sure! She thinks it may be plateauing finally, but they are going to check again at 15 months to make sure. It runs in John's family, having big old heads, but they will do further testing at 15 months, if it hasn't leveled out, to rule out other things.

It also seems that his umbilical hernia is going back in itself, so they will watch that, along with his heart murmur. Dr. Arth noted that in his chart (the first and only one until today) about 6 months ago or so; it seems like ages ago! No other doctor has mentioned it until yesterday when Dr. Brown noticed it. Again, they are just going to watch it and see how it goes.

All in all he is doing GREAT...has TONS of teeth and now I have to get better at brushing them twice a day....boy does he hate it...I have to pry his mouth open! Hopefully doing it more will make it better for him and a routine that he just tolerates!

We think by 15 months we will be needing a new car seat. He is long enough for a new one, but not quite there on weight yet. He is still at 75 percentile for height, and his weight is even, so it's all good!!!

Jacob's First Birthday Party!

2009-04-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 2 hours after Justin's sleep over birthday party ended, Jacob's began! My friend Dyan was there to help John and I get the place decorated and set up! Mom and David came early and lended a helping hand as well! It was a great party! My Mom has also posted pictures (some of which I stole and put on here!) on her blog, Diane's World. Check it out!

Jacob playing with Elizabeth and Emily; Wayne's girls. They made the cutest homemade cards for Jacob!

Having snacks with Zach, Kristy's son!

Mmmmm..crackers and cheese!

The kids playing...Jacob sure had a good time with the kids!

Zack and Maggie; Kristy's kids!

Me, Wayne and Emily.

Myself, Meera and Karen....Meera and Karen are dear friends of mine that I haven't seen in years. They both told me they couldn't make it....but they planned the whole time to come! They were in on it with my mom and surprised me big time! It was AWESOME to see them.

Jacob and Meera.

Kristy (whom I've known since Kindergarten), Zack, Jacob and I. I was so excited Kristy could come so I could meet her kids! We hadn't seen each other since her baby shower, when she was pregnant with her first child!

Cake time!!! Mmmm! This is his first taste of chocolate and he loved it!

Cake time with Gram-Gram and Granddad!

Cake with Grandma and Grandpa!

Playing with Zack.

Zack having fun!

Meera and Jacob again!

March is also the month my Mom has her birthday, so we gave her her presents at the party!

Her new Chris Issak CD....

Her new license plate frame from the boys....

Justin also opened some gifts himself!

Mom and David were staying at Boomtown with some free nights we had received so we decided to go to their steakhouse for birthday celebration dinners! It was delicious! Justin had shrimp scampi (his new favorite) with a loaded baked potato and fries. Since it was also his BD we let him have all the potatoes he wanted....

Mom had fish. She said it was delicious!

She also had the risotto and creamed spinach. She said both were delicious. She started with a "wedge" salad that looked delicious and I had the cream of mushroom soup....SO yummy!

I had the prime rib (so tasty!) with sides of roasted asparagus and blue cheese mashed potatoes. The service was excellent and the food was yummy. It was a great meal!

Justin's 9th Birthday Party!

2009-04-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had parties for both boys. How lucky are they that their birthdays are one day apart?? Hee :-) Justin had a few friends over for a sleep over on Saturday, and here are some pictures of the party! Fun was had all around!

Pictures of the decorations!

Justin went with the "Tony Hawk" skateboarding theme. The plan was we were going to take the boys to the skate boarding park, but they were having too much fun outside playing with the Nerf guns, that they opted to stay here!

Gifts!! Always fun :-) (We let Justin, of course, open all his gifts from family on his actual birthday!)

Cake! Justin wanted a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. The filling was also frosting! It was yummy!

Tyson asked if he could blow out the candles. Which of course Justin promplty replied with, "NO!"

Andrew, here in the striped white shirt, has a "ball" gun that Jus got for his birthday. It was like a sling shot, you had to pull it back and then it spews out little bouncy type tennis looking balls. The boys were having a blast. Dyan and I were just trying to stay out of the way!

Later in the evening the boys went into Justin's room to play PlayStation 2 games.

Then there were a few serious games of Twister!

This picture is so wrong...but I coudln't help taking it. Tyson is there in the back and he kept saying, "Andrew, my head is by your butt. DON'T FART". It was so hysterical we all had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard!

After Tyson lost he said it was his turn to spin and that John had to play. John and I talked later that evening and we both swear the mat has gotten smaller......

The boys went back to play video games in Justin's room and they were still in the same spots when we found them the next morning! The last time I heard any peeps out of them was around 4:30 am. Tyson said they went to sleep around 6, and poor Andrew had to be up and out the door by 8 to go skiing with his family!

Justin's alarm went off around 7. We aren't sure if he left it on from waking up for school, or if he set it so they could get Andrew up. Justin LOVES his alarm clock but John and I had to laugh when we heard it go off at 7....all the boys got up and had breakfast, then when Andrew left Tyson and Justin promplty went back to sleep for a few more hours! It was a very fun party!

Justin's 9th Birthday!

2009-04-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 31st was Justin's 9th birthday! He was begging to open a present before school, so of course we let him! He opened his gift from Aunt Carla, Uncle Vince, Katie and Sarah and found a great brown shirt and this cool outfit; a blue shirt and blue board shorts/swim trunks. Justin immediately changed his clothes so he could wear it to school!

Lookin' good!

Here are some pictures of Justin opening some of his goodies!

Jacob decided the best part was the balloon and he wanted it!

Justin opening an Aviator book package from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Bob.

His cool color changing shirt from Great Auntie Vaden and Great Uncle Arlen!

There were more pictures but they came out blurry! We had Grandpa Bob over for dinner and we had a meal completely picked out by Jus: Tri-Tip, Popcorn Shrimp, Salsa salad and home made potato chips! Mmmm!!!!

Jacob's First Birthday, Part II

2009-03-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

We had Jacob open some presents today as well; trying to keep him from getting overly stimulated! Today he opened a funny noise making hammer (from Great Auntie Debbie and Great Uncle Ronnie) and a telephone (from Aunt Carla, Uncle Vince and cousins Katie and Sarah) and I tried to get some video of him playing with both! John and I looked at both of these things ourselves for Jake! He loves them!

Jacob's First Birthday!

2009-03-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I took yesterday for Jacob's First Birthday! His party will be this Sunday, so I will take more pictures then! These are some pictures at home, of his trying new things and playing with some new presents! We are opening the rest today!

John made scrambled eggs so Jacob could try them for the first time!

Playing with the Jack-in-the-Box that Grandma Linda got for him.

John and I got this PlaySkool toy for him! He has their train that has the plastic balls, and this is another of their toys that has the same balls. It also has air, so the balls go in circles in the center there, and the plastic crocodile, tree and toys do things with the air! The crocodile's mouth opens and closes, there is a spot where a ball can "float"...I think we did good!

Yippee!!!

We bought Jacob a single piece of white cake with white frosting at the grocery store bakery. At his party this weekend he'll have chocolate for the first time...but we wanted to give him some on his actual birthday! Once he figured out how to eat it, he dug it!

Yummy!!!

It was getting late, past his bed time (it was after 8!!) and Jacob was covered heat to toe with cake! John jumped in the shower with him so we could "hose him off" before bed!

Here is Jacob, Grandma Linda and Jack in the Box!

Here are some videos of Jacob playing with his new "air" toy!

The Backyardigans!!!

2009-03-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

There is a cartoon that Jacob likes to watch, on Nickelodean, called "The Backyardigans". They are animals that play, sing, etc. in the backyard! It's kind of cute. Our last "Backyardigans" were coyotes...and I don't think I'd want to go out and lure them into the yard...... We had some Canadian Geese in the yard next door and John lured them over with some Rye bread. We had a lot of fun feeding them! I love having them in our yard!!!