family as the new year begins

welcome to the 8th annual Shoopman Holiday Letter
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We pray this letter finds you well and that this year has been good to you all. We are blessed to have a roof over our head (a totally new one at that). With the many challenges faced, by Gods grace only we have made it through.
Well this year we have graduated to all teenagers in the home-one gaining adult status in December. Tim graduated from his HVAC program this spring unfortunately there are no jobs anywhere locally for his training. He is currently working security at the college, while he continues to look for work in his field. Tim was elected as a church board member so now he has an added responsibility. Cassie remains working at the Hospice Care Center but there is rumor that it may close. She is looking for another office manager job. Lexie is now 18, driving, and in her senior year of high school. She is planning to go to college beginning this summer. She changed her plan of study to radiology -- the thought of 8 years of vet school seemed too much. Carson is a junior in school, looking forward to his senior year so he can get out and do whatever he is planning on doing. He got his braces off, now if he would just keep his retainer in. Tyler turned 13 and started 7th grade in the new charter school—we had to stay in line 3 days (and nights) to get him a spot, but from what I see it was well worth it. He was going for his brown belt in karate, but was unable to test this month because of a broken collarbone hopefully in March he will obtain that goal. Ty will continue to dance with the junior dance team , and this year he signed up for the Naval Sea Cadet program(this summer he will go to boot camp for 2 weeks- I don’t know how I’m going to like that with no contact and him being out of state ). Nothing new exciting going on with me. I remain busy with kids, job, church and volunteering. It took a while to get my shoulder back to normal after surgery last year. I didn’t go back to work until February. I currently do work with a trainer during the week to keep strengthening and building the muscles. Looks like early in the year I will be having my knee scoped. It sucks getting old!
With everything going on we did not do too much this year. The house got a new roof (the boys took off 3 layers before we could lay the new). Tim and I went to Las Vegas for our anniversary. We saw the Blue Man Group, they were good. We met the family in Southern California in September to celebrate my Grandmas 95th birthday—I pray I look and do as well as she does if I make it that long! We don’t know what this year has to hold yet , so we will just wait and see.
May God bless and keep you and your family,
Tim, Tracy and family

Las Vegas Anniversary

We try every year to get away for the weekend, by ourselves, to celebrate our anniversary. This year we chose to go to Vegas. While there we had dinner at Bennihanas an saw the Blue Men Group. It was cool I had been wanting to see them for a while. But wouldnt you believe that the weather was not good for laying by the pool. Never got to use my new suit.

Christmas Photo

It came down to my husband working a street corner, at least we got to sit on his lap and tell him what we wanted for Christmas

California

WE DROVE TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO HAVE EASTER WITH FAMILY. HAD A FUN DAY AT LEGO LAND BESIDES GETTING RAINED ON THAN WENT TO SEALIFE AQUARIUM. NEXT DAY PLAYED AT THE BEACH WHEN SOME TO REMAIN UNNAMED DIDNT SEE A REASON TO WEAR A SWIM SUIT. I WAS A QUICK TRIP 1500 MILES IN 4 DAYS BUT ALL HAD A GOOD TIME.

IM DONE

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old again. I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.
I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day. I want to return to a time when life was simple, when all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.
I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.
So . . . here's my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.

New Year

Oh last year had so many up and downs but we all survived. We all learned to use a lathe. My youngest got a new kitten. My husband got his lab assistant certificate but cant find a job. My oldest son spent 2 days in ICU and 3 more days in the hospital, but is fine now. Holidays were quiet, but the time together nice.


For the new year I think we will take it one day at a time, not worry about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow, we will be happy in all God has given us, try not to change things out of our control, correct things we can, improve our minds by learning something new, be courteous of others, do things positive to improve our health, take responsibility for our own actions and do what is right. Pray God just gives us what we need to get through

Happy New Year to all

Proclamation

By Abe Lincon
It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon: and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy scriptures and prove by all history, that those nations are blessed whose god is the Lord.

We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we hve grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and stregthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that has made us. March 1863

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should besolemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States , an also those who are at sea and those who are sojourninhg in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. October 1863

Project Car--Hot August Nights Here We Come

Back in the 80's I had a 1966 Mustang coupe-- white with original red pony seats. It was so sweet until my step dad rolled it. Since then I had been looking for another one.

This one just about fell in our lap. We have a 14 year old who needs to learn how to work on a car what a better project could he have.

At this time we can drive it around town-- it does need muffler work. Lexie has driven it and is totally not impressed. Carson thinks this is the icing on the cake. Me I remember why now they are called muscle cars-- no power steering.

Carson has the insides almost totally torn out, once we get new seats (right now you need a milk crate behind one of them to see over the dash) we will start detailing the inside, later add some paint and more power and sweet have an awsome muscle car to drive around.

learning something new

Husband and I learned to use a lathe for wood working

Walleys

We spent a week out in Genoa at Walleys Hot Springs- a day into it and the kids were bored, they had a tv, Wii, cell phones and Ipods along with board games and cards but no computer so they were bored. So we went hiking up along Tahoe Ridge

swimming at Lake Tahoe

and went into Reno to see some of the Hot August Night cars

Next year I think we will leave the kids home-- I dont remember acting like that when I was a kid on vacation