Marissa is 2

We have been hearing for weeks about how "My birfday coming". Marissa has been so excited for all the fun a birthday brings.

Birthday breakfast. Candles in her pancake! She loved it.

She couldn't wait to have her cake.

And then the presents with all the fun helpers. We had 10 of her cousins there last night. Yeah it was definitely a little crazy but they had fun.


Blowing out the candles!


And finding her in the kitchen all by herself with a cupcake in her face! I guess the birthday girl can get away with that!

We love Marissa so much. She is such a sparkle in our family. I love the way she talks and the amazing way she learns. It is such a blessing to be her mother. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Fall Leaves

This month started out pretty rough. Tanner and Josh got pretty sick with a horrible virus. Tanner missed a full week of school and Josh missed 4 days. It was NO FUN. I wanted to slip this picture in here because I think it is really sweet to see Dawson taking care of his sick brother by reading to him. I love those moments!

And then the leaves. We get so many leaves every year. I am just so glad we have lots of boys who are good helpers to get them back to the garden. But you have to have a little fun in them first!

Dawson diving in!



Daddy and his sweeties! Dancing and fighting over who Daddy's gonna dance with next!

Tanner lost another tooth! So funny because we were in the car and he was just pulling and twisting and finally pop! He was very excited that he did it all on his own! And both bottom teeth are already coming in. He's growing up so fast. Dawson also lost another tooth. Tooth fairy is a busy lady around here.

And finally Marissa waiting for Daddy to get home!

Halloween Fun

Marissa didn't mind so much putting her hand in the pumpkin. Not that she liked it but she did it. Josh just really can't do it. I kept telling him to man up but it didn't change anything. Tanner definitely is our pumpkin gutter. He doesn't mind at all. Dawson does well too.

Here's hammer head! Josh and JD kept thinking of funny saying all night about hammers and nails. Clever boys! And Josh received numerous compliments on his costume. A lady even had him come in her house to show her husband. JD really nailed it on the head! It was his idea and he made it! Good thing Josh is a good sport!

Our Zombie - didn't look much like a zombie at school because no face paint allowed. But we gooped it on for trick or treating. Scary!

Marissa really doesn't like when Tanner wears his costume. She is always saying "scare me, scare me". And Tanner wore it two days straight. He loved being a scary skeleton!

And here is our poodle skirt barbie/pluto! She was pluto at the rec center Friday night but the barbie Friday morning and Saturday. Silly girl. She definitely likes changing her outfits!

Here's the full affect sideways - I don't know why it won't automatically change - that's lame huh!

Here they are right before the trick or treating!

And the loot! They each got 200 pieces of candy except Marissa. They were out for a little over two hours. Crazy candy boys - and to tell you the truth it's JD who tells them they can't come home till they have over 200 pieces of candy. Funny daddy! We all know who wants to eat it all! Fun times!

It's been awhile - here's September!

These first few pictures pretty much sum up September for our family! SOCCER! Tanner's team went undefeated this season! Tanner was also like the hugest kid on any team we played! We know the parents of the other teams were asking "are you sure that kid is only 5?" Yeah like we would be having him play at this level if he wasn't. It did get a little embarrassing when he just kept scoring and scoring every game. But he really did get good at centering the ball so his teammates could score! Tanner is a great soccer player and we are really proud of him!

Dawson and Josh were on the same team this year. I love that. Not so many different games and practices to get to. Dawson rocked. He loved playing on the big fields this year. He did so well at forward and halfback. He scored several goals this year! It was really fun to watch.

Here they are together. They make a great team. One of the best memories was when Josh was playing goalie. Josh has an awesome drop kick. He kicked it way up to the center line and Dawson at forward took it and scored! It was sweet. Hanks to Hanks - and it's good!

Josh was on fire this year. I think his confidence was really strong on this team. He scored more this year than he has ever scored in all his years. He had a great time. Their team was really even so there was no "stand out" player, they were all good and played well together. And they went undefeated till the last game and then they still tied. It was an awesome season - so fun to watch.

And now - the Lost Tooth! Really lost! Here's the quick version. Tanner tackled Dawson on the trampoline and his tooth got quite loose. Well, then about a week later they were playing football in the backyard and yep the tooth got knocked out - lost in the grass! Tanner was quite upset about it but eventually was ok when we wrote the toothfairy a letter explaining the situation. Well this story isn't quite over. I walk in the door from Relief Socety General meeting and I'm met with a lot of crying - another football injury. Tanner is crying because now both his top teeth are loose from playing football with the brothers! Poor kid is going to lose all his teeth to football!

All in 15 minutes!

It all happened when there was less then 45 minutes to get us all to Tanner's first soccer game.
MARISSA!
Okay so here goes. I am at the sink doing the dishes (killing a little time till we have to go). Somehow the fridge was left open after someone put something away (JD). Next thing I hear is a kind of waterfall, turn around and the whole (FULL) orange juice pitcher is spilling all over in the fridge. OH I HATE WHEN THIS HAPPENS. Juice dripping everywhere, into the drawers onto the floor -EVERYWHERE! I start freaking out and JD starts cleaning up. We take apart the fridge, wash everything out, pull fridge out, mop under there and then push it back. Then I start mopping infront of the fridge, orange juice is so sticky! Anyway as I am doing this Miss Marissa is watching me (knowing full well that the floor is slippery) - I know she knows! And just like that she takes a step forward, feet slip out from under her, she goes down. But she doesn't just go down she takes the bucket of ammonia with her. GREAT! So now by baby is covered in poison. Off to the tub (about 20 minutes till we need to leave). Fast bath - just wash her off. Get her out - the usual running away naked time! But this time she runs to the kitchen to see Daddy at the screen door. Next thing I hear is JD laughing and saying "you have got to be kidding me!" Yep - the the naked girl pees all over the kitchen floor! We just all started laughing. What else could this girl do? So we got her clothes on and said "Don't move off this couch." We couldn't imagine any more damage but we wanted to be safe!
So there ends the saga of the Marissa accidents. We still got to the game on time and Tanner scored 10 goals. So now we can laugh but wow what a few minutes we had yesterday! We love that girl!

A New School Year!

Here we are with all 3 Hanks boys in school! Happy Day! Today was Tanner's first day of kindergarten. He was so excited.

He is lucky to know so many kids from our ward in the two afternoon classes! And of the 3 girls that were in his preschool class - all 3 are in his kindergarten class! Fun!

Mommy getting a kiss as he is walking in! He had a wonderful time. And I got a big almost knock me over hug when he came out of class at the end of the day! Go Tanner!

Here we are with these older mature boys! Josh is in 5th grade and Dawson is in 3rd grade! That first day of school they were up at 6:45am and couldn't eat my special breakfast I made (too nervous and excited), and were just about to drive me nuts with their excitement. I couldn't wait to get them out the door! They are LOVING their teachers!

Just take a look at Dawson's face - that just says it all about the morning and how crazy excited they were! He looks like he's had a few too many doughnuts and caffiene. Funny!

And finally - Mr. Hanks! The hottest math teacher around! Starting his 10th year of teaching. He is such a stud. And I am going to brag about my good husband for a minute (I don't do that too often so I hope you can all handle it). So he is teaching Alegbra 2 Honors, Pre Calc, and Calculus. He teaches 3 classes on A days and has one prep. On B days he has no prep so he teaches 4 classes straight. Of all his classes the smallest has 35 students in it and the biggest has 37. Now there is a reason for that - he is the BEST! He really is a great teacher - one who cares and takes the time to do his best. I am so proud of him! He is making a difference in the world and doing something that he loves. We may not make a lot of money but we are happy and blessed. I love you JD! Thanks for working hard and allowing me to be able to stay home and take care of our family! The sacrifices are worth it!

Joshua's 10th Birthday!!!

My little boy is a decade! It's pretty hard to believe. He is growing up so fast and is such a joy to our family!

Josh is funny, kind, sensitive, athletic, peacemaker, musical, a great student, and just an all around awesome kid. I am so happy to have Josh in our family! He has been a pretty easy kid to raise and I am so thankful for him and the spirit he brings to our home!

We got to have a late night movie in the backyard with his friends for his party. It was fun. I think the kids had more fun playing a game of football with JD while they waited for it to get dark than anything - but it was great. Fun times!

Here he is in all his glory after bowling a strike on our last hurrah before school started! Go JOSH!

"Waiting for something good to happen!"

Tonight as we were talking about 3 good things that happened to each of us today, we started with Josh and he said "First, mom saved the day." I love when I hear that. So I will explain my heroics to you all! As I was leaving for my primary meeting this afternoon, I walked by Josh who was just pacing the front lawn. I said "what are you doing, waiting for the mail?" He sulkingly said "No I'm waiting for something good to happen." I just chuckled because we had just been in the house trying to get him to call a few friends to see if they could play. Well, I got to my meeting and said to his friend Miles (we were meeting at his house), "Miles are you bored", "Yes", "Can you play?", "Yes", "Can you go over to my house and play with Josh?", "Yes"!
I AM THE HERO MOM! This to all of you moms out there who are tired of being the bad guy. Just do what I did and you save the day! I love it! And to make things even better. Miles and Josh had a lemonade stand and made $4. Wow! What a great day, huh!

February 22, 2010!

Number 5 will be here around then! We are all very excited!

We love Bear Lake

So Bear Lake this year with the Farrells was a blast. We had so much fun on the beach. All my pictures are at the beach because my camera broke after. So we will only have memories in our heads of the fun rides on the four wheelers. Josh and Dawson even went solo on the 4 wheelers this year. Scary but they did great and were cautious. We had good food, good company, and lots of fun times to remember forever. This is really a fun time for our kids. On the first morning there - Dawson comes up to me and hugs me saying "Thanks mom for bringing us to Bear Lake - I love it here"!
The boys and their cousins! They love digging rivers in the sand.

Rissy on the jet ski before her fun ride with Daddy.

Marissa and Ian eating lunch!

My 90 year old Grandma not a second thought on the matter of whether or not she would go on a ride with her son!

My Grandma rocks. Can you really believe she is on here? I was shocked when she said she'd go. I thought I'd have to do a little coaxing but she is all for adventure. I hope I am too when I'm 90!

We also got a 9 month pregnant Krista on the jet skis for a ride. Way to go Tah!

Daddy and his little sweetie swimming in Bear Lake.

It's the Bear Lake sand monster! Yuck. But she loved it!

Fun in the sand!!

More of the sand monster!

This is on the second day at the beach. It started to get windy and rainy and Marissa and Fudge went and hid in the van! I loved this picture of them checking out the happenings from the back seat!