Happy Love Week!

We went up to Idaho on Saturday to visit Bryan's dad's dad, Great-Grandpa Clair Hanks who is in poor health. He is 85 and has Parkinson's Disease. He is now in a nursing home facility and getting good care. We are glad that our kids get to know some of their great-grandparents. Between Bryan and I we have 3 left, all of whom we have seen in the last 2 months. :)

Other Hanks' happenings, we got to have Grandpa Kevin (Bryan's dad) with us this weekend. We all played Settlers game and Bryan won (of course) but I did come in a close second place!

We hope everyone has a nice love week! We are celebrating Valentines on Saturday night and think we are genius because we will not have a long wait for dinner and Bryan will get the cheap deals on flowers!

Turbo Bryan!

Yes this picture is of Bryan climbing up a frozen waterfall! Isn't he awesome?! He went up with my uncle Bill and another friend. They were very safe and got to have a cool experience! This is what rock climbers find to do in the winter months.
Bryan is playing basketball with a church group and the season is in full swing. The first game the girls went to watch, they sat on the sidelines and cheered for 20 minutes straight. Go Dad Go! Here is a picture after basketball tonight- dad and Emily doing some stretching. Bryan is also training for the SLC 1/2 marathon with me. 2008 is starting off as a year for getting into shape!
Bryan is also doing some innovative things at work by hiring his brother Cameron and another guy to be technical writers for him. It is working out good for all parties involved and is a cool change for Bryan.
There is a lot more I could say to brag about the man I love, but for now I will conclude.

Bedtime Stuff

Here is a glimpse into our night time routine. Bath time is only occasionally as fun as this picture depicts. More often there is a good amount of fun and splashing, accompanied by a few outbursts of crying.
After bath and pjs, we have story time. Here is Bryan reading Dr. Suess's "Oh, the Thinks you can Think". Our family's favorite page goes like this, "And you don't have to stop, you can think about schlopp. Schlopp, schlopp, beautiful schlopp. Beautiful schlopp with a cherry on top." So when our kids ask, "Pretty please with a cherry on the schlopp?" you can smile and know where they get it from. In this picture you can see Ashley's sad chapped face from winter combined with her having a binky at night.
You can also see Ashley's new favorite friend- Orangey bear. This last week I asked her what her bear's name was. She was quiet for a while and then said "ee-i-ee-i-o". Orangey bear has a small symbol of a McDonald's happy meal on it. Emily decided long ago that McDonalds restaurant is called "Old MacDonalds". Ashley picked that up and decided that since the bear had the arches (which I never pointed out to her), it went with the Old MacDonald song. I am blown away by how much kids understand what is going on and she is ONLY 1!

Best Friends

Since getting Polly Pockets for Christmas, my girls have loved playing together. They love to dress and redress the dolls and drive them to the temple (a little yellow chair). Half the time they are the best of friends and it is so fun to watch! The other time they are grabbing, crying, pushing, etc. Sisters!
Thanks to my cousin Tiffany for taking this amazing picture and for babysitting that day!

Friday Fun Night

For 2008 we started a new Hanks tradition- Friday family fun night. On the 11th we watched "Brother Bear." We thought it was a kid movie that adults could be entertained by too. And what do we get? The kids definitely understood what was going on- man kills bear and bear kills man, this equates to 'bears are scary.' Emily is a very sensitive soul. For a cartoon it had some deep concepts. (FYI-the moose commentary on the movie is hysterical!).

Friday the 18th we watched Tarzan. Emily and I had to have a few discussions this week about how a tiger hurt Tarzan's real mom and dad and how Tarzan got to have a new monkey mommy. And Ashley has been saying 'tiger get Tarzan's mommy' all week at random times as we are driving around. I think we will take a break from family movies for a while.

Tonight we went bowling. It was a great time for everyone. Bryan bowled 140-near his best ever. And how often do we bowl? I think we went only once in 2007 and he at the top of his game? Bryan is a stud. On the other hand, I was pathetic! Frame one-1 point, frame two-1, frame three-5, and then-- frame 9 I got a spare and then frame 10- 3 STRIKES IN A ROW! Seriously what are the odds?!? My total 85. The kids loved the shoes and the ball-ramp and had a blast. Then we went to the arcade and played 'driver' games. Then we turned in our arcade tickets for sticky hand toys. We thought bowling was fun? The sticky hands had Emily laughing for 20 minutes straight. Poor Ashley was so paranoid they were going to get her- it was hilarious! Ashley's comment, "Sticky hand poke me in the eye. I gonna rip it." The girl can definitely express her opinion about something.

Happy 30th Bryan!!!!

On Sunday January 13th we celebrated (and mourned) that Bryan turned 30. He and I went out on Saturday to dinner and a movie and on Sunday we had a family party. His younger brother Spencer also has the same birthday so we had a double party here. A total of 56 candles blown out made quite a bit of smoke that we had to open the door so the smoke alarm wouldn't go off.
Thanks to everyone who wished Bryan a happy day. He got to sleep in, had 3 yummy meals and didn't have to help any kids with going to the bathroom or do any dishes. (really, what else do you need?)

New Years

New Years Eve was a fun night. We spent it at the Fosters- games, karaoke contest, lots of food and chatting. Bryan took the girls home at 9pm and let me stay up with my family. What a hubby! This picture is my aunt Amy and Ashley singing "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." My mom, Garrett and I went to Temple Square just before midnight and had a nice time there too.
One of our 2008 goals is to run the 1/2 marathon in SLC on April 19th. I now will have a whole crew joining with me on this race: Bryan, my mom, my sister Carlie, my brother Garrett, and my running partner Abbi. My uncle Bill is going to do the full marathon race too so it's going to be a great day full of winners.
Another happy event for 2008 is Carlie getting married! She and Kade Rapier got engaged the end of December and will be married on May 31st. She will be married in the Mesa temple and will stay in the Phoenix/Tucson area while they both finish up school. Wes and Kristin picked a day for their wedding- July 19th in San Diego. Wes is working in Phoenix at Vanguard so they will probably be in the Phoenix area too. We are thrilled to have so many happy events in one year!