All I gotta say is “Phew!” People weren’t lying when they told me that it only gets harder once your kid learns to walk! Harper has been walking since she was ten months old, but its amazing how fast she’s learned to sprint, dive, climb, reach, throw, push and pull! I take back any judgment I may have had for parents that tether their children in public. The most difficult adjustment to make has been attending Wade’s basketball games. Despite all my efforts to keep her in a confined area of the stands (snacks, books, toys), all she wants to do is run out o
nto the court. Because of this tantrums are always inevitable at the games, but luckily we’ve only had to leave one early. Life as a parent has certainly become much more difficult, but its totally worth it. Harper is such a joy and blessing in my life.
Her vocabulary is exploding, which gives so much insight into how much and how fast they learn! She eagerly points things out and talks about what we’ve read about in her books. Her favorite thing now is to yell “bus”, “tuck”, or “tar” anytime we see another vehicle. And of course she doesn’t stop repeating the word until I say, “Yes Harper, a bus. Good job!” She’s got nearly every animal noise down to a T. Unfortunately getting her to try to say the actual name of the animal has been unsuccessful….I only get snorts, hoots, barks and the like.
Her current favorite things are Elmo, Rocky (WIU mascot), Ernie & Bert, Goldy, playing outside for hours on end, laying on her back and swimming in the tub, animals, her boyfriend Brady, and her new winter hat from Grandma Betty and Grandpa Larry.
New updates from the rest of the Hokenson family? Wade’s season will likely be over next weekend, the first week of March. Its been a very tough February for us as he’s been on quite a few long five day roadtrips in addition to several long recruiting trips on weeks when the team is at home. I’ve struggled to maintain a joyful attitude through an entire roadtrip, but its helped me to realize how mighty God is. God opened my eyes to how I’ve been trying to shoulder the load of my attitude on my own. I’m so thankful that he has the power to work through me. Despite the busy month for Wade, we managed to go out on a very romantic Valentines Day date to a local restaurant. We’ve even gone with Wade recruiting in Minnesota and Chicago. His team will play in the conference tournament next weekend in Sioux Falls. They will likely finish 6th or 7th in the conference, which is a notch above what was projected at the start of the season.
I continue to watch Sophie during the week while school at WIU is in session. We sometimes have Brady over during the week while his mom works toward her doctorate degree! Brady is ten months older than Harper and Sophie, and very fun to have in the house. The girls adore him. We don’t have anything planned for the upcoming months yet, but I am hoping to get involved in forming adult volleyball leagues in Macomb. There is very little involvement in volleyball in this community and I would love to create a competitive activity for adult women, and even young kids. I also hope some type of vacation opportunity will arise for Wade and I (without the rug-rat, or Wade’s crackberry) during the off season.
As always I want you all to know how much we miss you and look forward to the next time we can visit. Add us to your contact list if you Skype with a webcam (gopher2030)! We utilize that much more now. Please call us or email us sometime to catch up! Love you all! 
