A morning on the ice

At the ice rink, and Allyson is ready to go skating!

She's improving...

And then Kaleb decided he wanted to give it a go out on the ice. Homeschoolers pay only $6, which covers whoever wants to skate in the whole family. So, Kaleb put on his size 11 skates and went out! He never fell once because he had two nice girls holding has hands. :)

Mera's new bed

Some friends from church gave us this toddler bed.

Mera seems to like it:-)

The boys :)

Sunday night, I was playing w/the boy's hair. Then I saw them stand together and had to get a picture.

Allyson asked me to let everyone know she has a new post on her blog Cookie Crumbs and for y'all to please go look at it!

you think I need more curl in my hair?

I will go ahead and try anyway .

Grills, cotton candy, and fireworks

Steve and Kevin grilling who knows how many hamburgers! Steve get'n-er-done in the middle picture! :)

Travis kept swinging his cotton candy around and saying, "Happy Birthday!"

Kaleb was captivated by the fireworks...

This all took place last night at Pastor and Dianne Brown's house after the beginning service of the 2009 Our Time Youth Conference. Allyson and I had the privilege of hearing the preaching...and it was GREAT!

Ruth's Chris style filet minion

This is a real simple recipe for a filet and it almost taste like Ruth's Chris steakhouse, only better:-)

   :First you need some choice cuts of meat, just be sure to not have a lot of fat in the meat, just a little will do. 

   :Then you need bacon. I like apple smoked or maple bacon.

   :Tooth pics to hold the bacon on.

   : I have some special salt, but a medium ground sea salt will work good.

   : Real Butter

   :Ok now you can prep the meat.  Take the salt and sprinkle all over the meat,then take a piece  of bacon and rap around the side of the meat(you may need two pieces depending on size of bacon or filet)use tooth pics to hold on.

  :Now put a hot skillet with a chunk of butter melted in it (pan needs to be hot to seer the meet to hold in juices,but not burn)

  :Now cook to your desired taste; medium, medium well, rare,or medium rare. This could take some practice, so a meat thermometer could help here.

  : Serve with veggies or what ever you would like with your tasty filet.

  : I almost forgot,slice a piece of butter and put on top of filet to melt when done before serving.

  Hope you all enjoy one.

  

Good thing, bad thing (DONT PANIC)

This is the bad thing. Meradeth got a hold of my red nail polish and this is what I found. I was so angry and upset, I couldn't keep the camera still. It took so long to clean this up and her legs are still stained.
It was our anniversary so we went out to eat, took a walk on the beach, then went to the hot tubs. Very nice evening.

Our Family

We were going to take a family picture after church when we were all dressed up, but we decided that, at the beach in our lounge ware, was more fitting for us.

Our week w/Bestefar

Kristin, Katie, I and the kids all flew in to visit w/Bestefar and Mormor and try to help out our dear sweet wonderful Mama as much as we could. I hope we did. We hated to go and say those awful goodbyes. All of us are back home now...except for Mama who is still in Hendersonville faithfully taking care of her parents.
40 more pictures of our week on www.hannafam.shutterfly.com.

Hendersonville, North Carolina

Having a delicious breakfast prepared by Aunt Katie...who is an excellent babysitter! ;)

Travis is ready to play...

Aunt Kristin getting some cuddle time...

Allyson playing in the creek behind Bestefar and Mormor's condo...

Enjoying the warm sunshine and soft green grass...



(Be sure to check out the new videos on The Hanna's video site...the link is located on the left side of the blog.)

The Beginning

Here we are outside the Charlotte airport on Saturday the 11th...waiting for my dear sisters to pick us up! We won't get into that long story, will we Katie and Kristin?! LOL! :) My Bestefar(Norwegian for grandfather), became very ill and was taken to hospice...he is now doing much better and will probably leave in a couple of days. We all have stayed extremely busy so far...I will try to post more pictures later. I am SO enjoying being in my beloved south land!

Hello everyone! I just put the pictures on shutterfly for Kristin. I guess she didn't get time today so I did it.

Hope you all enjoy the pics as much we enjoyed the time we had to spend with Granmama and Grandaddy.

Happy Belated Birthday!

Sweet Candace....
You are always so thoughtful and wonderful to all of us on our birthdays with your beautiful, creative posts, that I think it would be awful if we didn't put something up for you. You are such a wonderful sister, daughter, mother and wife, and I know everyone will want to write something for you to look back on as a reminder of just how special and precious we all think you are.

California Trip

I thought I would put this one up so everyone will be encouraged to go look at the rest of the pictures I am posting TOMORROW. I was going to post them today, but I have more work than I thought before I go to work. I am posting them tomorrow morning (Thurs).

A jolly goodtime!

We had fun taking pictures of us around the country club near Katie's condo. There are 15 more Florida vacation photos on http://www.hannafam.shutterfly.com/. Also, Allyson will be posting some pictures soon on cookiecrumbs of her daily activities at home after being on vacation.

Happy birthday to Kevin Hanna

Birthdays are such great ways to show someone how much they are really cared for. I hope your family makes you feel as special as you are, Kevin. Any man who provides for his family physically and spiritually is a wonderful and rare gift.

The BEACH!

My toes digging into the soft warm sand, listening to the ocean, watching Allyson frolicking in the sun. Oh yeah...I'm enjoying my vacation! :)

All aboard...?

Wanna buy a cruise ship? These two rather large boats are docked here in Jacksonville...AND they're for sell! ...10 million greenbacks and one of these fine vessels could be yours. :)

Friday Florida Fun!

Tall guy on stilts making balloon animals for the kids at the fair...

There was a big livestock show at the fair. And the pigs, cows, and chickens reminded us SO much of our beloved Iowa that we had to get some pictures of them! :)

At least 200 different breeds of chickens...

Allyson and Mama cooling off and sharing an ice cream cone...

Allyson taking Gracie for a walk...

(Beach photos coming tomorrow!)

First half of our vacation

Since Monday, the day we arrived, it's been warm but rainy. So, we have filled our days w/indoor activities. Rollerskating, games, pedicure, playing dress-up, and going to the IMAX. Now today, it's warm and sunny...typical weather for the Sunshine State! :) So, we're going to the fair today and the beach tomorrow! I thank the Lord for giving me such a wonderful sister and marvelous friend!

Surprise...surprise!

Monday afternoon, we left Iowa and arrived in Jaxsonville, Florida in the evening. Aunt Katie so graciously bought Allyson and I plane tickets to visit her for a full fun-filled week! It is my birthday present! So, we head back home to Iowa this Monday afternoon. This is a video of us saying "Hi" to everyone! We love you all!

Live...from Jaxsonville, FL

Aunt Katie and Allyson went on a shopping spree...