Your Chariot Awaits...

Logans favorite mode of transportation is the big Tonka Dump Truck! He loves this things and has the best time when his siblings oblige him by taking him on rides around the house.
He has tried a few times to climb in by himself, but usually ends up tipping it over on himself. As he climbs up the back the dump part raises and he face plants it into the bucket part. I know it shouldn't be that funny, but it is hilarious!! He just looks at it like what the heck just happened, and then tries again, just to get the same result.

Giggle boy!

Logan really is a joy in our home. He is a great little guy and always has a smile on his face. He just lights up when someone in the family comes in the house, he loves his sisters and brothers and gets VERY excited to see them.

The other night we went out to dinner and while waiting for our food the kids got him giggling and for once I had my camera with me to catch it on video. (YEA for me!!)

While the girls are out...

THE BOYS WILL PLAY!!

{Dallin and Abe Gibby}


"Hi my name is Chubby,..."
(~you all remember that from when you were a kid)

Dallin has been going CRAZY with the girls in school. or I should say that I am going crazy not having the girls to help entertain the boys. And Dallin just follows me everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE!!! So this week we invited Abe over to play and Dallin had a BLAST! This is probably his first real friend his age. He has always played nice with other kids that I have had over with their moms and of course he has absolutly played well with Coleton, but being that Coleton is 9yrs older than Dallin might have something to do with it ;)

Go'n on a Snake hunt...

Gunna find a Big one!!!

Dallin found Corey's leather-man and asked what he could do with it and somehow they demised that you could cut off a snakes head with it. So what does a 3yr old want to do with it.... cut off a snakes head! So being that we have already found two snakes at our house Corey took Dallin out to the backyard to look for snakes, (yes, he is just standing just out the back door in the picture here.) luckily (for mom) the only thing found was some lizards that were to fast for the boys.

First day of School 2010

MaCayela ~ 2nd grade

Ella ~ Kindergarten

This year we have both of the girls in school. And in this School district, Ella's kindergarten class is an all day class. She really is loving it, but doesn't like the fact that they have a "rest time" during class for 30mins. Other than that, the girls are adjusting and thriving their classes.

A little snack that I sent with the girls to their classes for the 1st day of school

Poor ME!!

So we have been here in Florida for 3 1/2 wks now and have been to or talked to our pediatrician 3 times already. And while I know it is the kids that are sick, I have decided that it is me that deserves your sympathy... the first three days we were here the kids all had sore throats, fevers, coughs or were pulling on their ears. We got them all better, enjoyed a week of fun and then BAM!!!! Dallin runs a fever for a day or so (which we thought was heat exhaustion) has a day of feeling good and then turns up with sores all in his throat, feet and hands. After figuring out that it is hand, foot and mouth we also figure it is very contagious... Skipping ahead 7 days and I have 3 kids in some stage of HFMD and one that is feeling left out. NO one is sleeping through the night and Corey is out of town this week, leaving me to take it all on on my own... Thus the POOR ME!!! I swear it is I that is needing medicated! :)

These pics are of Dallins hands and feet 3 days into the sores.

Lifes a Beach

One of the fun things that we have done in FL is take advantage of enjoying the Beach. We are about 15mins from the beach and loving it. I took the chance this week to take the little ones on Mon when my cousin said he had the day off and was looking for something to do with his little ones. Jason has lived here in FL for about 6yrs now and so I have only had the opportunity to see him and his kids once in the past years. So we really had some fun getting to know Bailey and Nate and playing on the sand.

Dallin, Nate, MaCayela, Logan, Bailey, Ella

kids say the funniest things...

Dallin is on one this week, Him and water are not mixing well... Tues. he emptied a GOOD portion (like 1/3 of the 5gals) of the water cooler on the kitchen floor; Wed. he filled up ALL the cooking pots with water and played in them 'til it was all over; Thurs. he throws a water bottle with no lid down the stairs. When asked why he just says "Because ...there was a moose on the TV" What the heck does that have to do with anything?!?

• Jared Hanks well, that is the natural defense against a moose. basic knowledge there. duh!

• Melissa Andersen Bird I love him! haha!

• Coleton Jaffa dalin is the best! hahaha
• Libby Hopkins Clarke There used to be a TV show that fits perfectly - Kids Say The Funniest Things!

  
  
• Elise Jaffa i bet he misses cole!
  

  
  
• Rob Pearson Of course it makes sense. The moose has everything to do with it

I DON"T THINK SO!!!!

OH HECK NO.......... There is a snake on my back patio, right here where I go outside to BBQ, We are so not having BBQ tonight. We will be waiting for Corey to come home and rescue us! BTW... I HATE HATE HATE SNAKES! (I know we are not suppose to hate any living thing, as my kids are reminding me. We are going to have ...to reword that to any other person because I HATE SNAKES!!)

• Jeannie Dehmel ohhh I am so with you. How did it get in the patio isn't it enclosed?
• Rene Garcia Welcome to FLORIDA!!!!!!

  
  
• Shannan Watkins ugh. oh no i think the rule changes for snakes...i dislike them too!

  
  
• Rob Pearson any gators or very large bugs in the house yet

  
  
• Amy Christensen Just wait til ur gator arrives!!! :)

  
  
• Kim Nielsen Andrews Ah just pick em up and throw him on the grill and have him for dinner! j/k

  
  
• Leslie M Mirabal Good luck I Hate snakes too.

  
  
• Shannon Jaffa No snakes here in Utah - should move back home :)

  
  
• Annaleesa Hanks no joke Shannon!! And Kim, I am not going near it, it was a pygmy rattlesnake, and they are poisonous.

  
  
• Kim Nielsen Andrews I was kidding about the grilling thing. I wouldn't go near it either. My brother has killed so many rattlesnakes at his house. I agree with Shannon, thank goodness we don't have them out here! :)

  
  
• Tim Hopkins Welcome to the south, we have killed about 10 and i shot one cototnmouth in the horse pasture.

  
  
• Beth Moore Swann I've been told by my bro-in-law that snakes are EVERYWHERE in Florida.

  
  
• Catherine Meek Moss Awww shucks, I STILL MISS FLORIDA!!!!!!!!

  
  
• Melissa Andersen Bird AHHHHHH!!! Call for pizza... and get a BB Gun for the future...

Oh, and the stuff in the picture there is Snake Poop!! Seriously the snake stopped, lifted up its tail and pooped right on my patio!!!

Moving on...

We have moved on to greener places... (literally this place is green everywhere!) We have officially moved to Florida. And boy was it an adventure to get here. Corey moved here the first of June while we stayed in Utah to finish school and get packed. We (myself and the kids) were off to Calif. for a month to visit family and friends before heading across the country. While enjoying time with everyone it was sure a trial for our family to be separated for that long. We are LOVING be all together again and having fun with new things to do and places to go!

This trip also marked our first BIG airplane ride as a family (per say... the kids have all ridden an airplane as infants, but not at an age where they new what was going on.) So here is the count down of our travels:

10 - +hours of travel time (it was actually more like 16hours, but I can't think of enough things to go that high on our count down.)
9 - Total number of carry-on items between us.
8 - honestly... 8 different strangers that commented how well our kids were doing.
7 - Total number of us flying (if you count the dog we took with us)
6 - number of mins that Logan spent crying, Seriously that was it!!
5 - Checked items (Luckily they don't charge for the 3 car seats we had to take with us)
4 - kids that did FANTASTIC!!! (even though 3 of them are sick)
3 - different airports, planes and crews that did so well with the kids.
2 - seats in the stroller we took - SOOOOO glad that we took the double stroller as a gate checked item to make it through the airports, life saver!!
1 - Disastrous start to the day - first 10 mins of the first flight and Dallin threw up all over!

**Really wished I would've taken more pics, it was quite a sight to see us try and get through the airports with the huge stroller, the dog, and all the carry-ons that we had, but at the time my camera was the last thing on my mind**

All in all things really did go better than we expected and the kids did great. We are however excited to be here and now are taking our time to adjust. We love and miss all those that we have had to leave, but can't wait until you can come and visit!

Family Picture Teaser

While in California we had the chance to meet up with an old friend Gwen to do some family pictures. She was so awesome to have worked with us and the craziness of our family schedule. These are just the ones that she posted for us as a teaser.

Thanks so much Gwen!!
If any of you are looking for someone to do your photography check her out: www.gwenhawkinsphotography.com

UP UP and AWAY

For having two older sisters and being dressed in tutus and fairy costumes I figured Dallin would always be on the softer side. But I guess there really is a boy gene that they just gravitate towards anything with wheels or wings, because this boy LOVES airplanes and motorcycles (just like his daddy!!).
So needless to say when I was given the chance to take the kids up for a ride in a airplane I jumped at the chance. My only regret is that it was I that got to go and not Corey with them.


I owe my thanks and gratitude to Kevin for taking us up for a great morning fly!!

3 little words

Kaden Hanks: Its amazing the effects three words can have. I come back to the farm after a 16 hour day; i'm tired, dirty, dusty and sore.. But I'm greeted by a beautiful little girl smiling for me. "I'm your best friend right Kaden?" "Of course Ella." "Hey Kaden?" "Yeah Ella Gwen?" "I Love You." It's amazing the power of three little words when they come from a little girl who loves you for no other reason than to love you. :'D

This was a post on Facebook from our nephew while the kids were down visiting the farm. He truly is a remarkable young man.

kids say the funniest things...

Dallin has been asking to go to LuLu's house for a while now and I kind've been pushing it away. Today...

Dallin: We go to gmas house today?
me: Which grandmas?
Dallin: We go to gma lulu's?
Me: Honey that is a long way away... all the way to california.
Dallin: OOHH... you just drive faster than we get there.
Me: If I drive that fast the policeman will come and get me.
Dallin: just go fast like the airplane in the sky and poiceman not go in the sky and then we get to lulu's!!

If it was only that easy... when will our world be like the jetsens?

Where is my head?

WHAT THE HECK!!!! Once again I forgot Ella had school today... I just realized this as she has 10mins left of class.

• Donald Belair Could u b a blonde love uncle donald

  
  
• Krysta Martinez Oops :)

  
  
• Tim Hopkins way to go cousin

  
  
• Cheryl Olsen Terry Could it be all the running around you do with Donna, hahahaha you guys have way to much fun, I am so jealous I can't get out during the day. Oh well!!!!

  
  
• Jeannie Dehmel Need to teach Ella the days of the week and which days she goes. That makes what twice in two weeks? Not good. See you guys in a week. Looking forward to my hugs and kisses from the kids. Love ya guys.

  
  
• Angela Hanks THAT'S IT! I'm going to have to take confiscate Ella.

  
  
• Melissa Andersen Bird hahahahahaha! I love you! ~

This really wouldn't be so bad or so funny if I hadn't done it like 3 or 4 times lately... once being last week.

Urget Care again...

another kid, another accident, another evening in the urgent care.... the life of a mom! :)

• Shamara Garcia yep! The Garcia's have managed to say out of the ER for a while. But who knows how long that will last with Rose and RJ in this house!! lol

  
  
• Shannan Watkins is your kiddo ok??

  
  
• Cheryl Olsen Terry What happened Annaleesa!

  
  
• Carrie Hanks I never heard from you, I figured u didnt want us to come up. Hope all is okay!

  
  
• Kim Nielsen Andrews Uh oh, what happened now? Who got it this time????

  
  
• Terra L Ruoti Luft Hope everyone is ok! You have the worst luck... we've never been to the urgent care for an accident. (Knock on wood!)

  
  
• Clint Luft Wait till he starts riding motorcycles...

  
  
• Annaleesa Hanks It was MaCayela this time, she fell off a scooter while playing at her friends and the dr. thinks that the nose is broken, but we have to wait for the swelling to go down and go see an ENT this week.

  
  

Potty Training Pay UP!

January 20th:
We are so proud of Dallin!!! he is an awesome little guy...mom is only halfheartedly potty training and the little guy is picking up on it. I told him when he completely fills his chart with stickers he can get a new toy motorcycle, he then told me he wants a ride on a big one... going to have to hit up the neighbor to help with the pay off!! :)

• Ashley Nicolls Burton youre lucky. maddox wont have much to do with it. unless its bedtime, and then all of a sudden he wants to sit on the potty for an hour. good luck!

  
  
• Clint Luft I recommend that you have your son steer clear of motorcycles! Nothing good will come of it...They are very very dangerous. Motorcycle are a "BAD" thing...

  
  
• Terra L Ruoti Luft But when you're ready for the little guy's reward... you know where to find Clint and HIS motorcycles! LOL

  
  
• Kristin Moffitt Whatcott Come train Drew.....he has less than zero interest in the toilet. :(

  
  
• Clint Luft Terra, I think she is hinting towards the Jaffa's on that one they have more motorcycles then the whole neighborhood combined.

Febuary 6th:
Pay up time... Rob Jaffa our neighbor and friend helped us out with this one!

Cheryl Olsen Terry, Karyn Dehmel Sapp and Shamara Garcia like this.

• Jeannie Dehmel Did he have sooooo much fun?

  
  
• Coleton Jaffa that was so much fun!!!
  

  
  
• Cheryl Olsen Terry That is si cute, Rob, "you the man".

Melissa Andersen Bird and Shamara Garcia like this.

• Jeannie Dehmel He looks so happy and cute.

  
  
• Karyn Dehmel Sapp Dang that's one happy and cute kid, plus Dallin's cute too! J/K!!! Love you guys. I really do love this picture.

Dallins BOOBOO

Dallin has his first major booboo; Fractured his wrist today while playing today.

• Karyn Dehmel Sapp Awww, poor Dallin. Make sure you sign his cast from all of us and give him a kiss.

  
  
• Jeannie Dehmel Give him hugs from grandma...

  
  
• Coleton Jaffa says wow.

  
  
• Shannon Jaffa oh no! How did this happen?
  

  
  
• Judyth Dehmel Larrabee The Hillfolks hope he feels better soon--probably hurts you more than him!!!

  
  
• Clint Luft Wait till he starts riding motorcycles...

  
  
• Libby Hopkins Clarke Grandma told me Dallin had a booboo. Hope he is dealing well with it. At least it looks like he can still grip the slotcar controller.

Can't believe how inhibiting such a small cast on a little boy can be on a mom's life!!

• Shannan Watkins we went thru that too, it is difficult. hope he feels better soon!

  
  
• Kristi Nomellini What happened? Hope all is o.k.!

  
  
• Kim Nielsen Andrews Especially when they're potty training!! Sorry about that! :(

  
  
• Julie Pratt Marinelli Cole broke his arm last year, and I thought it was going to be hporrible with the baths and everythign, but surprisingly enough he adapted very quickly, it took me a bit longer. We were lucky and got a fiberglass cast, which is completely waterproof, so baths were just the same. Good luck.

  
  
• Sharae Cleverly DeMartini My son Blake has broken his arm 3 times in his life (he is 10). We have discovered that you can get a waterproof cast and it is totally awesome! Baths, swimming no problem.

  
  
• Laura Merrill Mercer Oh, I'm so sorry!!

  
  
• Coleton Jaffa oh man i know how that feels i hope he is okay can i sighn his cast? how did he do that?

  
  
• Melissa Andersen Bird WHAT happened, so I know to watch Landon so he does not do it!!

  
  
• Michele Hanks im sorry cast suck

  
  
• Catherine Meek Moss Poor little guy!!!Hope he bounces back quick! How long is he stuck in it?

Ella is listening in primary

First and foremost... Aunt Marleen, we love you and Uncle LaMont so much. The kids only know Uncle Mont and Aunt Marleen from a few family reunions but have heard TONS of bedtime stories from their dad of him growing up and having fun fishing and camping with Mont and Marleen. This past December Uncle Mont passed away during the prime of his life, and the girls attended the services with their dad.

While traveling some this month we had lots of time in the car to talk. We talked about all that was going on, and some of the things that we wanted to do this summer as it warms up. This was Ella's conversation with me...

Ella: when it gets warmer I want to go camping and fishing more.
me: okay sweetie, that sounds like fun honey.
Ella: Can we go fishing with Aunt mar and uncle mont, like when daddy use to.
Me: Honey, that sounds like fun and I can see if aunt mar wants to go, but remember Uncle mont passed away and you went to the funeral with daddy.
Ella: I know mom, but it has been 3 days now and he already went to heaven to see Heavenly Father, so shouldn't he be alive again so we can go fishing.

I had to smile to myself and think how thankful I am for sweet Ella and the primary teachers that she has had. Sometimes they might not get it all correct, but I know that she is listening and learning the gospel.

Living Planet Aquarium

MaCayela, Faith, Dallin, Ella, Elise, and Coleton

The other parents all thought I was nuts, but I enjoyed the living planet aquarium with 7 kids this morning.

MaCayela, Faith, Elise, Ella, Dallin, & Coleton

Ella had a field trip to the aquarium for school and I figured the more kids the easier... it actually was! I took the Jaffa kids with us and they all paired up in the buddy system, which helped me only have to be hands on with the baby. The kids all did fantastically and we really had a good time.


Jacob Gonzalez and Ella during the lesson

NEMO... We found NEMO!

Coleton Jaffa and Dallin touching the sting rays

Faith Jaffa and MaCayela

"Look what I got mama..."

Dallin says as he is coming up to show me something... I just kinda nod and say "oh yea, that is fun" without really looking.

**BIG (HUGE) MISTAKE!!!**

As I rethink in my head that I didn't really recognize what he had in his hand I finally look back over my shoulder to check out what it is that he really has..... AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

To give you an idea, I have one kid that does not always flush the toilet and Dallin that play and puts things in the toilet.... He now also takes things out of the toilet!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Party time with the Grandmas

Over the past week and a half the kids have had there Grandmas staying here with them, and they have somehow managed to talk all of them into a sleepover. Grandma Jeannie and Great Grandma Lulu were here for a few days visiting before education week. Then Grandma Shirley came for a week while I was gone at education week. (unfortunately I took my camera with me and didn't get any pics of the kids with grandma Shirley. Or maybe she was the lucky one, cause I got them of the others)


Great Grandma LuLu and Ella

MaCayela with Grandma Jeannie

Great Grandma LuLu and Ella having a Tea Party with Mickey and Minnie.

No More Training Wheels

MaCayela has finally let Corey take the training wheels off her bike. She has been fighting us on it for over a year now and finally gave in. It only took her a matter of mins to figure it out and has done great with it.

First time Fishing...

On the last day of the Chappell reunion we decided to take the kids fishing up at the lake with Uncle Kerry and Michele. I was really looking forward to it until we got in the truck and started driving... the lake was only up the road maybe 10mins, but it was a winedy 10 mins, and then turned in to a 10-15 min windey, bumpy, dirt road. Which would normally be great fun in the truck, but this poor pregnant mama had not been feeling well all night, and then to add the drive... I spent the first part of the fishing trip just sitting on a rock not moving at all. But that didn't get to last long, before the boys had even got all the kids set up and poles casted MaCayela had caught a fish and was jumping around. (which meant mom had to get up and get on with the camera... That I did remember to bring. YEA for mom!)

MaCayela with Uncle Kerry with the first catch of the morning... She would not touch that thing for NOTHING!!!

Ella was so excited to catch her first fish and had no problem holding it.

Dallin went and picked up one of the poles that were just leaning against a rock and then started to struggle as he reeled it in... None of us knowing he had a fish on the other end that he was playing with.

Dallin and Daddy with the fish he reeled in.

MaCayela and Uncle Kerry waiting for the next fish to bite. Michelle on the side there.

Dallin's favorite part of fishing was just reeling in the line that we would cast out.

We finally talked Mac into holding one of the fish telling her it was just wet, not slimy and gross. Well if you click on the picture you can see that there is slim just hanging from the fish. Needless to say, she didn't believe Kerry or I about fish anymore.

I also caught myself a fish, but between the pregnancy and the smell and texture, I was not happy about having to touch it myself this time. (usually doesn't bother me) But how do you tell your kids that you just made hold there own fish that you aren't touching yours.

Ella just looked so cute there with her pole and waiting.

"You should see the one that got away... It was this big mom"

Ella, MaC and Dallin with just some of the fist that we caught. We let A LOT of them go.

Next Blog...

Have you ever clicked on the button at the top of the page that says "next blog"? I decided to see what was the next blog, so I clicked it and got to a really cute blog on making things with simple directions... http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/ I might just have to try this again sometime.

I'M MOVING OUT!

Ella has decided that she is moving out. She said that she would just like to try someone else house for a while. I'm sure the fact that her mom has had a short temper lately and she has got a good portion of it. Along with MaCayela going to school all day makes her sad to be home without a friend and mom is to tired to play much has nothing to do with it. But on the way home yesterday she informed Corey that she is moving out and going to live at the Hubers house. So when we got home she called Donna to ask if she could come live there and then proceeded to question Donna on if she will play with her and if she yells when the kids do something bad. (the whole thing had me in the giggles.) She then handed me the phone and said that I could talk to Donna while she packed and by the way, she needed a suitcase. I told her she could pack her overnight bag and then she was off to empty as much of her dresser as would fit in her bag. Well we let her know that the Hubers were busy that night and she would have to wait to go so she agreed to stay but only for a couple days, but that then runs into the time that grandmas are here, so she decided that she could wait until after grandmas were gone, but then she is moving. When I woke up this morning I noticed that Corey had shaved his goatee off and I made a comment about him shaving and he proceeded to tell me how last night during daddy time him and Ella made a deal that if he would shave (she doesn't like his whiskers, cause they hurt when she kisses him) she wouldn't move out. So this morning she begrudgingly unpacked her bag and said that she would stay.

Oh what a 4yr old comes up with and the joy and excitement that she brings to our family.

Happy Birthday

To a Wonderful Man in our life....

GRANDPA AL!

grandpapa your a handyman
if you can't fix it no one can
and even though your turning 89
it won't stop you from doing plenty
you help out even though we say you shouldn't
you do things that we know we couldn't
if I were you I would be proud
for raising a weird and wonderful crowd
for loving your kids and then theirs too
for helping people as we would help you
and we hope you have a great day
and that this time is happy in every way
happy birthday to you and we hope you have fun
everyone thinks your brilliant and we love you a ton
so gather round and lets all shout
because we are so privileged to have a man like grandpapa AL about

Hangin with the other Hanks

We have really enjoyed being able to live close enough to Corey's brother and family to get together more often. The girls even got to go down to Salem and spend the night with there cousins one day. But more often lately we get to go out with them on their boat this summer. This past weekend we went down to the Hanks reunion and thought instead of driving all the way home we would just stay with Darcy and his Family and have a fun filled day at the lake or carnival in Spanish Fork with them. Well the Carnival was dieing down so we voted for the lake (which was iffy its self, it was looking like rain that day.) I don't always get pictures, but this last time Corey tried wake surfing so I thought that I would get some pics and videos of that.

Corey's First attempt at Wake Surfing

Ella and Mac learning to trust in their life jackets

My cute niece, Talia, she was trying to decide if she would jump in or not

Dallin deciding that it was nap time right then and there.

My legs after the boat ride. You would think that at my age I would remember to sunscreen myself. It took almost 3 days for me to be able to wear anything over them or even straiten and bend them without pain.

Hanks Family Hoopla

This is the first summer that we have been around for family reunions on the Hanks side, so we have been bombarded with them. We headed down to Fairview canyon for the first of the reunions. We only made it to dinner on Friday night, but had fun going down to say Hi... We didn't get to stay long and didn't get my camera out, but Allysa got some cute pics of Dallin with Grandpa Walt.