The After Math...

After all our Hanks family visitors were safely on their way home, me and the girls crashed! We spent the entire day snuggled up together on the couch, watching TV, and cat napping. At first I thought it was just from being tired after company, but it turned out that Lily was actually sick! She developed a really high fever the night after everyone was gone and spent the next WEEK crying on my lap, refusing to get off unless I had to go to the bathroom. It was a loooooong week!

Luckily, the fever eventually subsided and we were all back to normal right on time to celebrate EASTER! The girls got some pretty simple baskets with puzzles, art supplies, and some much needed underwear and socks! They also got beautiful new Easter dresses from their Grandma Hanks.

And since I finally had Lily out of my lap, I was able to make some fun Easter gifts for the ladies I visit teach :) Oh! and as a side note, I took the 30 day challenge in March and read the entire Book of Mormon between March 1st and March 31st. I finished on Easter morning and it was the most incredible experience I have ever had concerning the Book of Mormon! I Highly recommend it :)

The next weekend was General Conference and we were able to share some yummy breakfast crepes and waffles with our good friends, the Booths, before Saturday morning session commenced. We always have so much fun with the Booths. Combine that with great food, a spiritual message, and some impromptu kite flying, and it was the best morning ever!

The weekend after Conference turned out to be a busy one as well. I had some meetings at the church, after which we attended the baptism of two new members to our ward and then we got our family pictures taken by the ward young women to help them earn money for girls camp. It was a really fun day and we even got some pretty good pictures :)

Hanks in Town, Part 3: Zoo Trip and Goodbyes

On March 21st, we decided to brave the cold once again and pay a visit to Brookfield Zoo!

Thanks to our year pass that we got from Grandma for Christmas, we were all able to get in for FREE and park for free as well!!! (Which is a pretty big deal since it would have cost us a fortune otherwise!)

Once inside we didn't waste any time getting over to see the Dolphin show! It was so much fun seeing the show again and even more fun to see Lily and Brooklyn react to it. Lily was giggling the whole time and is now in LOVE with dolphins!

After the show Grandpa Hanks even took all the girls over to a little machine that made plastic dolphins right before their eyes. They all got to take home their dolphins and have treasured them ever since.

On our way over to see the baby giraffe, Brooklyn decided to channel her inner Kevin and scale some rocks. She was pretty proud of herself when she reached the top, but disappointed that mommy wouldn't let her climb up the very last boulder.

It was nice and warm inside the giraffe house and the little baby was as cute as ever! The giraffes  are always a zoo favorite when we bring people to visit.

The next day all our visitors packed up and said goodbye :( It was hard to see them go but we were so grateful for the chance to see them and to get to know our little niece Audrey better.

It was also neat to see the blossoming friendship between Lily and Audrey (who are only a few weeks apart in age). They both played so well together and we were grateful for the quiet moments when they would just sneak off to play iPhone games together :)

And it was pretty funny when Audrey and Lily bathed together. Unlike the first time they bathed together, there was a whole lot of mermaid action going on and a noticeable absence of eye-popping-shock!

When the Hanks Gang exited our home on Friday, they left bearing gifts to distract the little ones from crying too much. It worked on Brooklyn who was madly in love with the Hello Kitty sleep mask that Auntie Janna left with her, but poor little Lily just sat on the couch, holding her presents in tears. Its tough being three.

Anyway, we had soooo much fun with the Hanks family and are very grateful to live in a hub where we also get to have lots of surprise visitors who are on business! Thank you everyone for the sacrifices you made to get out here and for sharing such fun memories with our little Chicago family :) We love you all!

Hanks in Town, Part 2: Genealogy, Aquarium, Movie Night, and Uncle Brian

After our fun day downtown with the Hanks Crew, we took an entire Sunday to recover before heading out for some more fun!

Grandma and Grandpa Hanks got us started by taking Kevin out to a nearby cemetery for some Genealogy while Brooklyn was in preschool.

Later that day we packed up and headed back downtown to check out the Shedd Aquarium... after all, it was a FREE day!

All the displays were amazing and I personally really enjoyed myself.

The girls liked it a lot as well, although, I think their favorite part was a decorative canoe in one of the display areas that they could climb in and out of :)

The next day we took it pretty easy, but that night we set up a fort in the living room to watch Wreck it Ralph! We had lots of treats and popcorn and had a blast watching the girls' reactions to the movie.

Best part of the night? When the girls decided to play a game they made up called "Shake your Cave!"

Sorry the video is so long (and loud) but I had to share it...for posterity's sake!

The next morning Janna and Colleen took over my preschool (by request) to show me some fun new things I can try, especially during music time. We had soooo much fun that we actually forgot to take any pictures, but I assure you, it was EPIC!

Later that night Kevin's brother Brian also arrived on the scene and it wasn't long before the Hanks kids were out playing games at a nearby arcade! I love that they roll like that :)

After a night at the arcade, we tucked the kids in bed, listened to Brian practice a speech he was doing for a competition, and then went to sleep to prepare for another day of fun!

To be continued...

Hanks in Town, Part 1: Dad's Birthday and St. Paddy's Day Celebrations!

On March 15th, we were privileged to get a visit from a few of the Westward living Hanks family members!

We started out the party by literally throwing a party for Grandpa Hanks' Birthday! During which, Grandpa had lots of help opening his presents and even got to enjoy some yummy German Chocolate Cake!

After cake, the girls got busy readying everyone for St. Patrick's Day. They started by painting EVERY ONE'S toe nails and fingernails GREEN! Even if it was against their will :)

Next came the temporary tattoos!

And Grandma even brought some green necklaces for everyone to wear. We tried to get a normal picture, but... alas!

Then right before bed, the girls planted green M&M seeds to see if leprechaun magic would change them into anything special by the morning.

Morning brought great excitement as the girls rushed down from their bedrooms to find...

LEPRECHAUN FOOTPRINTS!

And the leprechauns had used their magic to turn the M&M seeds into flower lollipops! Hooray!

The leprechauns even left some magic white dust that turned into green pudding when milk was added :) Needless to say, we were very grateful that Aunt Janna and Grandma knew so much about preparing for St. Patrick's Day so that we were able to see all that magic at work!

 

After we'd all calmed down from the magical excitement, we bundled up (because it was the coldest day I have ever experienced out here) and went downtown to see if the leprechauns had visited the river with their magic. It was a long cold walk, but luckily there were many hands to help keep the kids moving. Uncle Eric (who had also stopped by to visit for a few days while on business) even  carried Brooklyn on his shoulders much of the way...

But fighting against blasts of cold air and working out our shoulders was totally worth it! That river was GREEN and I'm so glad after 4 years of living here that we finally got to see it!

Happy (very late) St. Patrick's day to all!

To be continued...

February Randomness

February was a very busy, very crazy month for us! 

We started out the month with a big scare from Kevin. He was experiencing a LOT of chest pain for a few days and when it got so bad he could hardly breathe, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. After many tests and some very funny looks (as doctors tried to figure out how someone as healthy as Kevin could be having heart problems) we learned that Kevin had an infection in his lung sack called Pleurisy. They sent him home with a BIG bill and instructions to stop working out for a few days and take some Ibuprofen. It was a little frustrating that they couldn't do anything else for him, but he managed.

The funniest part of the whole experience was that Kevin is SO healthy and has such a healthy heart, that he kept setting off the heart monitor alarm because his resting heart rate is so low. They actually had to send someone in to recalibrate the machine so it would stop beeping! And every nurse and doctor that walked in the room and looked at Kevin's vitals immediately asked him if he works out! It was pretty awesome!

A more fun thing that happened in February was that Brooklyn learned how to read! With the help of some phonics books that Grandma sent out and some fun new apps on the iPod, she picked it up in no time and now enjoys reading stories to US at bedtime instead of us reading to her :)

And remember our pet rats? Yeah, they've taken over our home! I have woken up many times to find two little girls and a rat sharing my pillow and have even turned around in the shower to find a little rat bathing around my ankles! Sometimes Kevin even lets them pretend to be Ratatouille and cook with him :) And the girls...well they have napped with the rats, taken them on walks, spent hours climbing trees and watching TV with them, dressed the rats in Barbie clothes, and shared many unwanted meals with the little creatures. Needless to say, they are quickly becoming a part of our family and the day they step into little rat heaven will be a difficult day indeed!

Ummm... and this picture is just random!

February 12th was Lily's birthday and she received an animal towel just like Brooklyn did on her birthday. Post-bath time has now turned into an amazing animal adventure, every time!

For Valentines day we fed our ward missionaries who had no where to go on the day of love :) The next day Kevin and I were able to get a babysitter and go out for dinner at Carrabba's! It was so nice to have  a little adult conversation FREE from long stories about ponies and butterflies taking over the world and painting rainbows on every building.

February also welcomed into our family 2 new nieces! One from Kevin's side of the family, and one from mine! We are so excited for the new additions and hope that it won't be long before we can see them face to face!

Our local grocery store had a stellar deal this February where if you bought a chest freezer from them, they would give you the price of the freezer in FREE food! We needed the freezer anyway so we jumped on the deal and are now up to our ears in frozen pizza and microwavable taquitos! Woohoo!

February also marked the start of a new tradition...MOVIE NIGHT! Every weekend, Kevin picks one night where we build up forts and fun little beds and watch movies with the girls whilst eating popcorn and other unhealthy goodies :) Best. Idea. EVER!

Brooklyn has recently shown an incredible desire to serve. A few days after Lily's birthday I was trying to do laundry but did not have enough time to fold it after it came out of the dryer. Several hours into the day I finally went up to get it done and found Brooklyn, happily singing to herself while she worked hard to fold all our clothes and put them away :) I sure love that girl!

Many of you know that Kevin bikes to and from work every day. Most of the winter last year and this year was so mild that biking was totally possible. But toward the end of February the snow finally started to come down and Kevin could no longer bike to work. Solution? He left 30 minutes earlier and WALKED instead...in the freezing snow! It will come as no surprise to those who know Kevin well that, he LOVED it, and even found some interesting things on his journey, including a squirrel who was running around with his tail ripped off. YIKES!

The snow also meant the Brooklyn and daddy were finally able to build a snow man in our front yard for all the world to see. I don't think Brooklyn is ever happier than when she gets to build snowmen. Incidentally, she rarely cries so hard as she does when said snowmen begin to melt!

Last but not least, with all the stress of birthday parties, preschool, and just raising children, Kevin decided to start giving me more frequent breaks by taking the girls out on daddy daughter dates. I relished in the hours of silence that followed, and Kevin and the girls had a BLAST spending quality time together and eating delicious cheeseburgers at good ol' McDonald's!