The Jacuzi tub-WOOHOO for mom! 

Kitchen (as seen from living room door) 

Master Bedroom 

A closer shot of the boys border. 

The boys room 

Gretchy's room (the princess suite) 

The Living Room (view from front entry) 

The Dining Room with chair rail & crown molding 

Parker and his pals, Kara, Kayla, and Chase. 

As a final hurrah before moving, our friends wanted to get togther for a fun day. So we had the ultimate day! The musuem of life and science in Durham with the most perfect August weather, 80 degrees sunny with a light breeze, 10 of our favorite friends, and yummy lunches made it unforgettable. We had a great time, and are already missing our friends and family. (and we have not even left for good) :) It will be hard for Knoxville to compete with all of you.

This bubble wand does not work, but they are tasty! 

Can we build it? Yes we can! Building their first dam! 

As a last HURRAH, the gang at the Museum of Life & Science. 

Which Diamond do you want for your ring?  

The NEW House in Knoxville! 2 Story w/ Full finished basement. Got to love all the stairs! 

IT WAS THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST GRADE
Dallin had a awesome first day of school.  His new teachers are great and very friendly.  He has 20 kids in his class.  He did not want us to walk him in to his class.  He is a 1st grader after all.  But Richard did anyways, soooooooooo He walked in and sat down at his desk, right beside a boy who "had a cool hawaiian shirt" like Dallin.  They are buddies now, since they have clothing choices in common I am sure there is a ton more, right?  Dallin is having a SUPER time, except for the homework, a new EVIL word in our house.  The first day of the first grade, and the first week went AWESOME!  "First grade is so cool Mom!"  direct quote from the man himself.

First Day of First Grade! What a stud! 

BOATING & TUBING @ KERR LAKE
Last weekend we went with some great friends, the Davis family, to Kerr Lake.  Miles' dad and mom bought a boat and camper for the kids and grandkids to use.  Which I think is a great idea, and recommend it to all grandparents.  Hehehe!  The big kids all went tubing, including Dallin, who stayed on the tube the whole time and was grinning from ear to ear.  We all had a blast on the lake.  Parker loved the boat, but he was too little for the tube, not to mention he is a big scaredy cat.  Gretchen was not so sure she liked the boat.  You know the little princess does not like to ride with the window  down, so a windy and bumpy boat ride is not her first choice for transportation.  We were having a blast until some mean dark scary clouds came up out of no where and it started to thunder and lightening.  Not the best place to be during a storm.  So we headed back, and started the picnic.  We had good times, good food, and great company!  You just got to love those Davis'!

Hiding from the thunder during the picnic 

Dallin tubing at the Kerr Lake 

Miles and Gretchy's boyfriend Brayden. She loves to hug and kiss him! 

Richard, an unsure Gretchy and Brennan  

WHEN THE WEATHER IS HOT & THE SUN IS SHINING.....
We head for the pool.  Lucky for me there are 4 family members who love the smell of chlorine and do not mind a few warm spots in the toddler pool.  (Dad hates the pool, probably because you can not use your cell phone or palm pilot in the pool :0) But the kids love it.  Dallin can swim across the pool underwater.  We are working on treading water.  Parker likes it, but only if he can stand in it.  But he will jump in off the side.  AND Gretchen will try to walk all the way down the steps or she walks right off the side.  No fear.  She is always sure she can stand.  Even if it is WAY over her head. 

We often have grammer and Aunt Dare (when she isn't torturing kids at the orthodontist!) hang out with us there, which makes it even more fun!  I know I am lucky to lounge at the pool.  In fact, Papa Wyrick often calls the gang "Lounge Lizards".  We have fun, it wears the kids out, and is exercise for them ( and the adults who run behind evil kenevil Gretchy). 

After all, the men work hard so we can play harder.  :0)

Gretchy the bronze beauty! 

My three little pool pals! 

How the Hopfer's spend their summer! 

As one of Dallin's last Hurrah in Kindergarten he participated in a talent show. There was a wide variety of talents in his class, including video's of flips on a trampoline. However, Dallin LOVES to take pictures, so he decided to show them off. It was really cute, and he did a super job presenting them. This was one of his teacher's favorites. Little Gretchy and Grammer's flowers.

Dallin the photographer! 

Happy Fathers Day Brunch 

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DALLIN....
As of June 29th Dallin is now a FIRST GRADER. He finished Kindergarten at Heritage Elementary with Mrs. Richardson, a strict rule follewing 25 year old, and Mrs. Fox, the assistant, who was like his school mama. He loved his teachers, so did I. And he came away with more confidence and an interesting set of new friends. You have got to love wild 6 year old boys, with a few giggly girls. However, he has blown right past the end of a school year to focus on the new one. He is so excited to start 1st grade. He definately thinks that he is hot stuff. Infact, the favorite phrase he attaches to everything is, "Now that I am a first grader, I can do ________ by myself." Hey, if he thinks he is old enough to be responsible for his own shower, own harder chores, being independent, who am I to stop him. He will be starting FIRST GRADE at Jones Dairy Year Round Elementary on July 12th. (Thanks to Wake County and their growth management we were in the big redistricting shuffle. We lost!) We find out who is teacher is 3 days before school starts. No sweat, I am sure we will like him or her. We are the OPTOMISTIC HOPFER FAMILY. HAHAHAHA! Now that is FUNNY!:)Send Dallin your best wishes. Keep him in your prayers. He gets a little nervousthe first day.

So I am less than adequate at keeping our postings current. Here is what I have been doing...I have just recently spent a less than GLORIUS week at girls camp in Morrow Mountain. (Which should never be called a mountain, it is still 95 degrees at the top of it.) After heavy downpours for thirty minutes, occuring every three hours, our campsite was less than desirable. After all, what is the point of a clothesline to dry your things out if the next storm is sneaking up on you as you hang them. IMAGINE if you will, you would be chatting under the tick infested pine trees, trying not to perspire too much, (there are only 6 showers for 100 people), chatting with an GREAT group of YW (that is the truth), sippping on warm well water (YUCK!), admiring the sunny CLOUDLESS skies when it begins to sprinkle. No problem. It is like a water mister right? Wrong, before your fanny can leave your chair to zip your tent windows, it starts to POUR buckets on you. Sounds like fun, right? The Young Women were awesome, they were a delight. But here is what I took from our camping experience: Tents leak somewhere no matter what you do, food cooked for 100+ can only be so good, wearing wet tennis shoes is NEVER fun, there are more than mosquitos that will bite you in the woods, and for a church as wealthy as they say ours is they love to torture the youth.

We went camping in the Shenandoah Valley at the Big Meadow Campground with Dale, Shalene, and Baby Rebekah. We had a blast and it was the first time our kids had been camping. After packing a separate tent for the boys, we all stayed in one tent the first night which led to quite the adventure. Parker was suffering from serious sunburn from a pool incident earlier in the week. He refused to wear clother, use a blanket, or lay on his back. The second night went much smoother, after ALL the boys slept in the little tent, while the girls stayed in the large tent on the air mattress. You know the princess and queen need their beauty sleep.. All in all we had a lot of fun with dale and shalene and rebekah. We hiked, ate smores, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We definately have found a new activity for the family. Now we just need Papa and Grammer and Dare and Ryan for the real fun.

Parker sneeking up on the deer. I think he hears you...

Hopfer Family at the Shenandoah Valley water fall

Well, everyone keeps bragging about how easy it is to post pictures. Okay I tried it tonight. After hog tying my children to their beds, I had a spare minute. I do not know what I am doing on here. I have no idea if the picture will load or not. If it does, it is our cute family in the Shenandoah Valley, at the waterfall. Bet you wish you could see it!:) HA HA HA HA!