Grandma and Papa visit us

Grandma and Papa came to visit us at our new home in Utah. We had a fun filled week of tours of the Conference Center, Welfare Square, and The Humanitarian Center. We visited the Discovery Gateway museum and got to go out to lunch a lot. Grandma, the kids and I made strawberry freezer jam at the request of the kids, which grandma and papa brought good yummy strawberries all the way from Calif. We had lots of time just to play with grandma and get papa to do a few of the "honey dos" around the house that were on a list for Corey. It snowed the WHOLE time they were here, which is not grandmas favorite weather, but we still got to do lots and have fun.


Ella helping to make the strawberry jam

This is a few of the pieces of play furniture that I had as a kid. My dad made them for my sister and me. I have been asking for them for a few years and when mom and dad came they surprised me by bring them with them.

The kids enjoying reading time with grandma

Picking MaCayela up early from school one day to go to the museums

The bundles of clothes at the humanitarian center ready to be wrapped and shipped to where ever they are needed.

Dallin helping papa repair moms vacuum.

Ella playing in the barbie world with grandma

Dallin and his pleased smile after eating his chicken nuggets

The girls got to have a sleepover in grandma and papas room. They thought that was the best night of them all.

Just a random pic from the week that Ella took

My little AzureMinis

The girls did a week long dance camp at the high school this past week and then performed Friday night at the Copper Canyon High dance team performance. The girls had a blast and were so funny about the whole camp.



MaCayela and her friend from school Molly

Little Miss Ella

HaPPy BiRTHDaY my little man

Dallin is 2!! It was a pretty quiet birthday for him. We have only been in Utah for 10 days now and don't know anyone yet. We took him out to eat at Red Robins (his choice of course... ;) ) and then let him dive into the box that my parents sent out of presents from them and my sister and grandma lulu. Dallin is still at that age that the first thing he gets is just fine, and will play with it contently. We had to actually take away the present so that he would move on to the next one. Crazy kid... rip into them!!

For Dallin now it is all about the Thomas Trains. He loves his trains and we have found that it is on in the morning here, he now wakes up asking for mom, his chocolate milk and train toons.

a quick catch up...

Okay I know... no updates in how long! Well as if our life had not been crazy enough we thought that we would throw in a few more kinks.

Oct: finished off with a bang... Literally. Just days after Corey started his treatment, We (the kids and I) were in a car accident. We were hit on the front driver side by a car traveling about 50mph. We were blessed to be able to walk away from it, physically unscathed. Mentally... that is a whole other story. It was the straw that broke the camels back for me and took me a few days to pull myself back together. But as any mom would know, you just don't have time to have a breakdown and feel sorry for yourself. At least not with Halloween just a few days away. We had pumkins to carve and school parties to help with and the Trunk-or-treating and a party that night. The kids had so much fun as the went as the Wizard of Oz gang. MaCayela was our Dorthy, Ella went as the Wicked Witch (it took her up to the last day to decide between Glenda and the wicked witch, so we had costumes for both) and Dallin was the Scarecrow (for about 30 secs... he didn't like the hay stuff anywhere near him.)

Nov: Brought it's own set of fun. While in isolation Corey was offered a job with Wells Fargo Global Properties. Being that we had not been able to really talk (and we had a free trip that had to be used) Corey and I head off to Las Vegas for a long weekend to make some decisions adn figure out what was next for us. While in Vegas I did talk him into going to see Mama Mia and doing a little shopping. The kids really enjoyed being able to spend the weekend with Corey's mom and sister before they were to go home. We came home to talk with the kids about moving and going somewhere new. Ella my adventurous one thought that it was the best thing to ever come along... whereas MaCayela didn't think the thought was all that great. But we decided to make the move to Salt Lake City and have our dad home each night once again. (he has been working in San Franciso mon-fri since July) Corey worked out the details with the new company that he would start work on Dec. 29th. That gave him sometime to recover some from his treatment and finish things up at work.

November also brought a birthday for Ella. She is now 4 yrs old and had fun celebrating by going bowling with her friends and having a great time with family. On her birthday the girls even got to shot a segment for a local TV show that will air sometime in April. I got to enjoy a night out with friends as we went to the opening of Twilight. (i sure felt like a youth all over again.) We then went on to live out the month with trying to make plans for the holidays and the next step for us. We had a lovely thanksgiving with family and friends and even weather black friday (not until 10am though).

Dec: At the beginning of each Dec. I usually look forward to the decorating of the tree and holiday spirit along with MaCayelas Birthday. Well, this year we didn't get much of any of that... We decided not to decorate for Christmas as we were moving out on the 27th, it just seemed like more work to put up decorations as I was trying to pack up the house. We did do some fun for MaCayela's Birthday as we went out for movies and dinner with her and some of her friends. The month really was all about the packing and figuring out how and what we were going to do. We enjoyed a lovely Christmas at my parent house with my sister and her family. And then it was back to the grind... The moving company truck came and we packed up on the 27th and then Corey was off later that day to Utah. While the kids and I were off to my sisters.

Jan: We (the kids and I) spent the month of Jan at my sisters house. The kids loved having the cousins around and it was great to spend time with them. My dad and I (mostly my dad) worked the first part of the month fixing and repairing little things at the house and getting it ready to rent. We put it up for rent midway through the month and within a week it was rented out. Now all we needed was somewhere for us to go. We got a chance to go to see Corey over the MLK holiday weekend with LaShay and her kids and Me and my kids all for the fun drive. We spent time looking and scouting out areas and houses, but came home empty handed. MaCayela was savoring the enjoyment of trying to fit in as many play dates as possible before we left. And I spent the month loving the little extra time that I had left with my YW. We closed out the month with a family wedding that was great fun and company. The kids loved hanging out with cousins that they hadn't seen in forever.

Feb: Well this brought BIG changes for us. Corey found a house for us the first week of Feb. and made the arrangements to get the moving truck delivered and stuff moved in. With a house now secured and only days before we were to leave, Bishop Reynders thought that it was time that I got released from YW. That was a hard Sunday for me and really started the week of emotions. I love my YW women as if they were my own. They are beautiful girls with great personalities and a bright future ahead of them. Our family then spent our Valentines day driving to Utah to start our new adventure. I've got to say that Corey picked out a great house! I can't imagine that I would have pick any different. We are learning now to adjust to the weather being colder and snow on the ground. We have a great ward that we are looking forward to getting to know.

First day at a new school

MaCayela got to start her new school on Wed. and then had a field trip on Thurs. Her new teacher is Mrs. Nelson, she is a very energetic, animated, fun loving teacher. She really enjoys what she does, and makes the kids fit right in. We really couldn't have asked for a better teacher when having to switch mid year.



First day at a new school.

getting on the bus for her field trip

Another at home haircut

So MaCayela decided to try her hand at cutting hair, AGAIN!!! This time it was her own hair and she was at a friends house with 2 other little girls. The other girls went first I am told and cut about an inch or two off long hair and maybe only a 1/2 an inch around when holding it. What does MaCayela decide to do... Cut the front of hers about 3 inches from her part and about 2 inches into her hair all the way up to her eyebrow. She had cut a whole hand full off.

I had got the call while at home from Melanie that she had just found the girls with scissors and hair on the ground. Needless to say that since this had happened last year with mac cutting Ellas hair, I was FURIOUS!! I cut her play date short and went and got her and took her strait to Jill's salon to have it fixed to something we can deal with.

She does still look cute, but wow how it takes time to do her hair now. We actually have to do something with her bangs and straiten them, they have just enough curl in the area to make them a pain. And of course I didn't take a picture until after it was all done.

Mom's have no time

I saw this article, Mom's have no time, on another blog and thought it to be true. I have been on both sides of this... I remember wondering what why a stay at home mom never had anytime while I worked 8hrs a day and could still find time. But now being that stay at home mom, I totally know why I have no time, and get frustrated when people are like what do you do all day. I thought that some of you might really enjoy this.

My little glowing man!

Corey has been faithful to the first phase of treatment and has now moved on to part 2. I took him to the hospital this morning to meet with the radiologist and receive his radiation. The meeting went well and we really liked the dr. she was great at explaining everything to us, and filling in the holes that some of the other drs. hadn't really gone over with us. When it was time for his radiation pill they excused me and had the pill brought in. Corey said it was kinda strange, they brought the pills in a lead "pig" (canister) that is about 1" or more thick all the way around. Corey said it was super heavy to just be carrying two pills. they then used this special tongs to grab the pills and put them in a little cup. They then push the cup toward Corey and all (there was 2 people in the room with him) get up and walk to the other side of the room. Corey was kinda funny when he was telling me about this all. He was saying to them "you want me to put this stuff in my body and you won't even stand around me with it here."

So I know have a radioactive husband that no one can be around. We keep telling the kids that when you are radioactive you glow in the dark and they really want to see if Corey is glowing. He is staying in our RV trailer that is parked at my parents house for the next 10 days. In about 4 days we (adults) can be about 10 feet from him, hopefully we can at least go sit on the patio and chitchat. As for now we have hooked up web cams for the kids to be able to see and talk to their dad.

Just call me Alice

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

You are intelligent, outgoing & stylish. A true girly girl, you love shopping & makeovers. You try to make yourself and others happy. Although you are a generous friend, you can be coy, tricky & very persuasive in order to get your way. Caring for others is your major duty, and you do it without complaining. You have real grace with everything you do, and people fall for you easily. You make a great caretaker and friend to those you feel the need to. You are known to zone out occasionally during conversations, but your friends forgive you because you are understanding, supportive & know how to throw one heck of a party!

I actualy did two of these silly things and came up with the same results, so I guess it must be true right!

Friends you CAN'T live without

I know that each of us have friends that we just wouldn't make it without. I have been very fortunate to have friends like these for all times in my life. Each friend serves a different purpose in our lives at different times. I am so thankful for them and all that they do. Sometime it is as simple as making you pumpkin chocolate chip cookies after a hard week that makes them a great friend. It's also that person that always takes your calls from 2 time zones away to give you that feeling that they care and understand. Or the other one that tells you how it is, honestly and gives you the kick you need to get going. Sometimes it's the friend you just hang out with for the girls night out that makes you laugh and forget the stresses for an hour. Some are family members or in-laws that know and understand just what you are going through. Some are friends we talk to everyday and others go months between contact, we see some on a regular basis, where as others we see every couple of years. But they are each our friend, and any way it works each friendship serves different purposes and fulfill different relationships and I just wouldn't know how or want to live life without them. I just want to say that I am thankful for these people in my life both past friends and current friends that have been there when I needed them. So if you feel that feeling of friendship right now this goes out to each of you, THANK YOU MY FRIEND.

Sometimes it just isn't fair!

...And you just don't have to be okay with it all. This past month has had it's share of downs. We have felt the weight and tried to bare it, especially since we had our own little light and strength, a new baby was coming. We could do anything and make it through anything. But that all changed this week. We chalk up another loss (which bring it to 6 for us) and are now feeling cheated and deflated. So I headed out of town with Corey for the week to give me sometime. (THANK HEAVENS for grandma Shirley and aunt Hayley that came on Sun. to help out here.)

On top of this Corey is starting the first phase of his radiation treatment. it entails him going off all of his meds and sticking to a strict iodine free diet. (again THANK HEAVENS for Shirley and Hayley) Corey's mom and sister have started preparing food that he can have and helping with all of that.

I was asked by someone if I blamed God for what happened. I can honestly say that I don't blame him nor am I mad at Him for what has and is happening. I know that we each have our own trials and test to endure and overcome and learn from. But I will say I really don't like His plan for us right now. It is hard and I wish there was some other way for us to be tested and taught than this. I hope that there will come a time that I might better understand why this is the trial I have been given (again! Six times,...you think I would've learned what I needed by now from this trial.) I will say that I am extremely blessed to have the wonderful husband and three beautiful children that I do. Corey is such a strength in our family and the kids are really are great kids!

Happy Anniversary My Love

My anniversary was about as special as my birthday was this year due to the fact that Corey is out of town, again. I did get a beautiful necklace from this cute designer that I found online from a friend. (http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/)

Thanks to a dear friend I did get to go out to a movie and ice cream for my anniv. Thanks for the fun LaShay, what would anniversaries be without loving friends!! hehe ;)

As for my honey, I love you and am so thankful for you and all that you do for our family. I love you even more now than I did as we go married. I am blessed each day for you in my life.

Happy Birthday to MEEE!!

YEAH!! YEAH!! it's my birthday!

I didn't really do anything exciting this year for my birthday. Corey was out of town, but I did get to go to Beehive Conference on my birthday and get dinner today. I love as we get older just the chance to spend the birthdays with kids and experience it with their enthusiasm. I did have some dear friends that left me notes, treats, and warm wishes. I appreciate it all and thanks for the fun. One special thought was left me on a friends blog and it touched me dearly so I thought that I would link to it here.

Ward Campout

We went with my parents once again to their ward campout at pine flat lake. We love that it is a quick and easy weekend and the kids love to camp any chance we get. They also love that there are lots of new people to play with.

I Am A CHILD OF GOD

The kids had their annual Primary program in Sacrament meeting today. The kids have been practicing for weeks and did a FANTASTIC job. There is such a sweet spririt to listening to the kids testify of who they are, children of God. They each had a part and then MaCayela along with some other kids said I'm a Child of God in different languages. MaC said it in Sign Language.

I am so thankful for the primary leaders, teachers and program in our ward. They are so great with the kids and are always teaching them the gospel in terms and ways that the kids learn and understand. I am very grateful for all that they do to help us parents in the raising of our kids in the gospel.

Balloons everywhere

One of our favorite fall activities is Clovis Fest. I like it because it is usually the weekend before or on my birthday, and that means it is almost my birthday. But the real reason that we love Clovis fest is for the hot air balloons. Each year we get the kids up early and head out around 6:30 to see all the balloons take off. This year there was about 18 that took off. (Last year it was to windy and none of them took off.) We each pick our favorite and then watch to see how far we can see them for. Then it is off to get Cinnamon rolls and to the craft fair.

All lined up and ready for take off

The Girls favorite Balloon (of course the one with pink)

Run MaCayela Run

It's time for the elementary school Jog-a-thon. This was of course MaCayela's first year for it, and she went all excited for it. She had called her grandma & grandpa on both sides and then asked her dad to sponsor her.



MaCayela's Class lining at the start (MaC & Hannah Dewitt are in the blue shirts in the middle)

Run Girlfriend!!!

So this is Me, Ella and Melanie (the group towards the rt/cntr in the pink hat) decided to run with the girls, for a lap. (Those are the girls in the blue shirts in front of us.) They didn't even have the decency to slow down for us old ladies!!

Hannah and MaCayela at the finish line (10LAPS!!!!)

Soccer for MaCayela?

This week at school they have had sign ups for soccer. I thought that MaC would like to play soccer this year since we are not doing gymnastics, this is the response that I got.

Me: Hey MaC they have Soccer sign ups, would you like to play this year? It might be lots of fun.

MaC: NO, all they do is run all over THE WHOLE time. That is a lot of exercise and doesn't sound like fun to me.

Surprise!!!

Yesterday after church Karyn and Wyatt invited us over for dinner and a nice evening out of the house. While at their house we had left all phones in the car and didn't get any of the calls that had come between 12noon and 8:30 when we left Karyn's. So when we came home there were multiple missed calls on our home and cell phones from Corey's parents and his brother. Finally we had a message from his brother on the answering machine. This is what we heard...

Hey there Hanks, it's the other Hanks. Hope all is going well for you guys. Just trying to catch up with you. Oh yea Brother just wanted to let you know that Mom and the gang is headed your way and should be there soon. Hope you had a good day.

We listen to this and then decided to try and call his mom. We called her on the cell phone to find that she just came off Tahachapi and is almost to Bakersfield. Corey's mom, dad and two of his sisters had gotten in the car in the morning and came to see how he was doing.

I felt horrible for how the house looked... I had just spent 3 days at the hospital with Corey and the others trying to take care of him and the kids. SO needless to say our house was trashed, but good thing it was just family, they have to love you even if your house is messy. The kids loved to have the surprise of having everyone visit. Ella especially loved that Grandpa Walt came. She loves her grandpa and always wants to be right with him.

Grandpa Walt and his lil buddy Ella

Aunt Angie and Mac

Test results are in

Corey's biopsy results came back yesterday. The Cancer showed positive in 4 of the 5 lympth nodes tested. The official diagnosis of it is...Stage III papillary/follicular Cancer of the Thyroid. The treatment route for him is to have a total removal of the thyroid, (did that already) and then to follow up with a radioactive iodine treatment. Which in tales a 2wk specialized restricted diet and then 10 days of isolation. Three to six months later they will test the lympth nodes again and decide if we have to repeat the treatment or if he is good for another six months. We have found a lot of our questions answered at the following sites: www.thyca.org or www.cancer.gov.

This all has certainly caught us off guard. I'm sorry that it is pretty much just fact and no feeling, but the feelings are still a little raw and personal.

Some day my kids will kill me for this...

This is what my niece, Katy, and my two girls do to poor little Dallin. The best part of the whole experience was when Corey walked into the room to see his one and only son dressed up as Tinkerbell. I'm sure you can imagine his response.

I know Dallin will not be happy someday when he looks back over his childhood and sees these pictures, but they made me laugh really hard. Even worse is the thought that I had when I saw them on my camera (yes I saw him that day, but I didn't know that my niece took pictures) My first thought was that someday I could show his wife to be what he did as a kid. As a young man these have to be as embarrassing as the naked baby pictures to him.

Even worse is the fact that MaC fell asleep on the job...

HEHEHE!!! We had a really long day and had gotten to bed late that night. Corey had already fell asleep while I was getting ready and so I went to check on the kids one last time. On my way to the girls room I noticed that the light was on in the bathroom, without thinking I just hit the switch and headed to check the girls. Well Mac was not in bed and no where to be found. I then checked back in the bathroom and this is what I found. I felt so bad for her, I had turned the light out on her and didn't even notice that she was in there. But it made me laugh so hard that I of course had to run and wake up Corey so he could see and then go get my camera. So I hope as she grows up she will forgive me for this, but this truly was a funny I didn't want to forget.

The 6 letter "C" word

Corey's surgery was yesterday morning. After a long wait, which it was nice to have a dear friend that brought choc., gossip magazines and spent the morning waiting with me. What more could a girl in my position ask for.


After surgery the Dr. came out to talk to me and let me know how it went. Once they had got to his thyroid and lump they decided to take out the whole thyroid due to the fact that they found that the lump was Cancer. (That nasty 6 letter word that nobody wants to hear.) They have removed the lump and all of his thyroid and then biopsied the lympth nodes in his upper lung, chest and neck area. We are now waiting to hear the test results from those to see if it has spread. That will help determine the next step of treatment.

Under the knife

Corey goes under the knife tomorrow to have a partial thyroidectomy. He found a lump in his throat a while ago and has had it looked at. The ENT (Ears, Nose, Throat) specialist said the lump and part of his thyroid needs to come out. He got told this while I was a way at education week and got the surgery scheduled for the earliest possible date. Hoping all goes well and he comes out better.

First Day of School

MaCayela was so excited about the first day of kindergarten. She is absolutely loving the "big girl" feeling of being at school everyday and seeing some of her friends.

This week Ella also started school. She is only going tues/thurs but loves that she is like MaCayela and goes to school. She has the same teachers that Mac had last year in preschool and so it made the transition very easy.






Now mom is home with just little 'ol Dallin and we have a grand time running around and playing "boy" games.

CA to UT and UT to CA

This past week I went to Utah to met up with a friend for Education week, I decided to go a couple of days early to spend them with Carrie (my sis-in-law) and her family. Although Carrie and I talk often, I very rarely get to see her and the kids (and her husband, Corey's brother Darcy) so I thought that I better take the opportunity. Carrie, the girls and I had a blast shopping around SLC on sat for the afternoon and evening after landing. We then spent a nice Sunday at church and then a lunch/dinner at some friends of theirs. It was great to see family that you just don't see that often.

Darcy (Corey's Brother)

Carrie (I took the pic on the sly, she didn't want me to take one of her)

Jensen and Easton

Presley


Talia

Carrie was also kind enough this week to shuttle me around and rescue us in the dorms when we froze the first night. It sure was great to see her and the family.

While I was in Utah visiting, Corey's mom and sisters came to stay with the kids. It was the kids last week of summer and they loved every minute of it with grandma and their aunts. From what I can gather they played and snacked and colored and read books and played and snacked and colored and read books. (my kids favorite things to do)

Education Week

WOW what a week!! Kristin and I try to get together every other summer or so, just us girls... no husbands, no kids, no worries. This year we met in UT for education week. It was like we were young kids again attending EFY, staying in the dorms, staying up WAAAAYYY to late, nonstop chatting and just plan having a good time.

The classes we attended were fantastic. We got to attend classes that ranged from scripture studies, parenting, relationships and communications, a happier and healthier you, house cleaning and food storage, down to youth dating. (the youth classes that I attended were subjects that I had a fireside coming up on and were a great source. If you ever get the chance to hear John L Hilton III speak I would go and encourage all youth to go, He was GREAT!!) No matter what class you were in they all started with a prayer and tied into the gospel. Some of the classes were good reminders of what you should be doing, while others really gave insights that made me think and learn. Now I just got to figure out how to apply all that was learned in a real life setting. (Corey teases me that they'll give me a couple of weeks and then it will be back to normal. At least that is how it was with his mom when they were young... all the new ideas and techniques only lasted a short while.)

The trip home was definitely interesting. Kris and I were to fly to Phoenix together and then go our ways. Well after fully boarding the planing and sitting for almost an hour, they decided to cancel the flight due to the fire extinguisher not being full. So we disemboarded the plan and started making new arrangements for our flight home (along with the other 130 passengers). I actually ended up with a direct flight that left just an hour later and actually got me home 8 mins before I was suppose to be. Kris didn't fare so well, it took her a few more hours and a late night arrival.

Kris and I realized at the airport as we are parting ways to find a new way home that not once had we taken a picture of us together. So this is the one and only pic from that week with us.

Hooray for school breaks!

It gives us time to squeeze in some fun with LaShay and the girls. LaShay just finished a grueling 10wk semester in the nursing program and only has 2wks before she starts again. So, What does that mean.... TIME TO PARTY!!! We have loved all the time that we have been able to spend with them. We feel a little out of touch when she is in school and love being able to see them almost every day.

Campout Hanks Style

We were suppose to be at Pismo this weekend with my family and the Lenzingers, but couldn't make it. So we thought that due to that fact that we were unable to go to the beach and we will miss our Ward Family Camp next weekend, but due to Corey working out of town and Me flying out early on sat. We thought that we would do a camp out anyways. We had fun cooking over the bbq our smores and then sleeping out under the stars with the kids. The girls loved it and had a blast sleeping outside.

MaCayela's First Loose Tooth

Corey and MaC have been watching You Tube videos all day trying to decide how to pull MaC's first tooth. Here is what they came up with.

WiCKeD!!

YEA!!!! We finally made it to Los Angeles to see Wicked. We spent the weekend with Jared and Diana Lenzinger for some fun with no kids. We thoroughly enjoyed the show and company. It really is nice to have some friends that are lots of fun and you can enjoy time away with. And as for the show... I would tell you all that if you even thought of going you should just GO!!! it was fantastic.

We then spent Saturday morning taking in a session at the LA temple. We also enjoyed lunch at some restaurant that I can't remember the name of, but Jared was so excited and talked about it ALL the way there on Friday and then again on Saturday. So of course we appeased him... (that and he was driving so what other choice did we have) and had a great time. Speaking of driving WOOOOWW! Jared sure is the person you want driving in an area like LA when you have lots of "DA's" around, just be sure that it is his car and not yours he is driving. hehe ;-)