mail it to me

Hey ya'll, miss you like crazy! I know I will miss birthdays so make sure to tell them happy birthday from me.:) k so yes, Lana you can send me Talons, and Charlotte is going to be in S.L. so you can mail anything you need to to me. Good, great, ok. Congrats on your latest marathon, man I admire you guys! I will have sympathy for you too it's ok to have PMS ( poor me syndrome). :P love you hugs to everyone! -Lynnette-

Christmas upon us

I can't believe it's December...and not just because it was 80 degrees when we went to get our tree today...we were all in shorts and tanks, flip-flops. So it's going to be a struggle to get into the spirit this first year (though Stan reminded me it was that way in Hawaii as well). We pulled out all the X-mas decorations we can find and bought some new ones. We'll start hitting the tunes pretty hard (just short of making Stan and Jake crazy) and we'll try not to snigger as we sing "let it snow" and "the weather outside is frightful." We missed everyone over Thanksgiving; it just wasn't the same.

The kids are doing great and very excited for approaching birthdays. Josie is pumped to be entering the double digits. She's having a little party for a few friends and we're going to see "Enchanted"....very fun, right?

Stan and I did the Space Coast last week. It was hatefully hot; we were pitifully slow; I'm anticipating I will lose three toenails...most yet. But we finished, right? And it counts toward the 25...and that's all I'm going to say about it...though I will continue to sulk in private.

Is Charlotte going to be in SL for X-mas? If not, I'll ship Kole's...or Kyle's (whichever one we have) gift to Phoenix. Lynnette, I'm going to send Talon's to you, is that okay?

Anyway, just wanted to tell everyone how much we love and miss you all.

Frost Shock!!!!!!!!

Hello mi familia!!! I miss you all so much. Thanksgiving is upon us and I can't help but feel a little down. It can be hard being so far away. I'm very thankful for my family and friends in Utah. I'm also thankful for my family and friends here in Florida. Not to mention very thankful for my husband (he's had to put up with me. LOL). My good health is also something to be thankful for.
How is everyone doing these days? Things are going well here. I haven't had a lot of work from my court reporter and I really want to go to school soon so I can get another client. With all that in mind my dad and I had a talk and he suggested that I look for an online scoping and editing course and I found one that sounds awesome and has had some rave reviews! It will only cost me $2325, but you get a lot out of the course and they are really in depth with their modules. If I feel that I don't get enough from their editing course then I can take a proofreading course through another site that only costs $330. If you add that all up it is cheaper then one year of school at a college. Then I can become a partner in my mom's company and I can get some more clients. Not to mention expand the company. I've very excited to be able to have the opportunity to do this.
Jake is doing well. Just waiting on his raise now. We are very excited because his mother will be flying down for Christmas this year. We are still running and we are running a family fun run with everyone tomorrow morning. We are also going to run a 5k in December. It feels so great to get out and do something together.
The fam is doing well. Cody and Josie are loving their week off. Can you believe that they get the whole week off for Thanksgiving here? I think that is awesome. To celebrate Jake took Monday off of work and we went kayaking with the family. We saw three big gators! It was AWESOME!!! We also saw a LOT of turtles. We want to go camping there sometime soon.
Ma has been uber busy with her clients. Pa is doing well. They are both resting and getting ready for the Space Coast Marathon that they are running on Saturday. Then they have one at the end of December and one in January... Yeah, they are crazy! LOL.
Well, I'm off to play some more WOW before dinner. I love you all terribly and miss you like crazy!!! Give hugs and kisses to everyone.

Bethany

Cuppycake

Oh my gosh! Have you guys heard the song Cuppycake, if not you need to get on youtube.com and search for Cuppycake, click on the pic of the lil' girl it says"The original cuppycake video" I thought it was soooooo cute!
With Thanksgiving coming up I just want you to know how very thankful I am for a family like we have. A lot of people don't have a family as close as ours, and would die to! I love and miss you all!
Amanda:D

Where is everyone?

Hello? Is anyone there? O.K., this is not funny, I would like to hear from people. Well, Thankgiving is in a couple of days and without sounding too mushy I have to tell you what I am thankful for. I am so thankful for the family I have the bonds that are there and I know will always be. It's nice to know that anyone that I would have to call on would be there in a second with no questions asked. I love all of you very much! All right enough of the sappy stuff, I hope evryone has a good Thanksgiving! Love ya -Lynnette-

CHRISTMAS

Can you believe it, already, it's insanity! O.K. the christmas party will be friday Dec. 28th @ 7:oo. This year it will be at Jer's house, thank you Jer. As far as names go I drew for all the kids (15 dollars). Coty-Kyle Mikele-Brady
Josie-Talon Corbin-Kaysie
Aaron-Zach Kyle-Kelsea
Amanda-Taylor Kole-Conner
Taylor-Mikele
Kaysie-Amanda
Talon-Kole
As far as the adult gifts bring a smile and a hug! This will be fun I'm excited and sad at the same time, I miss you guys and it won't be the same that's for sure. Hugs and kisses to everyone! Love you -Lynnette-

DANCE

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!push the big play button and then the small play button at the left bottom. HEHE

Highlights of Florida

Before looking and reading scroll down and start with the picture of Josie and the boys and then work your way to this picture. Thought i would shake things up a bit and make it like a game!!(not because i'm an idiot). This is a picture of all my children aren't they beautiful. Kole is hiding behind Kyle. Not that you can see any of them real well but you know what they look like!! STAN AND LANA AND FAMILY, thank you so much for the wonderful time my kids say they want to go back to florida NOT for disney but to go play at your house!! The food was great, but the company was WONDERFUL!! we love you guys and didn't realize how much we miss you. love you always, charlotte and family.

Just had to brag for a minute!! This is my Grandson Talon. We also found out that I will be having a grand-daughter in March!! PINK! My boys had so much fun with him. He is such a good natured boy.

This is a pond directly in front of their home (feet in front)! We were looking for 'gators.

This is the front porch of Stan and Lana's home!! The inside is beautiful. I wish everyone could have been there, if you get a chance go and stay the food is great too!! :)

We went to Florida at the first of October. We had fun but our favorite time of the whole trip was going to the beach with Stan and Lana and all the kids. We also went to their home the next evening for a BBQ! It was so much fun to see their home and where they live. We all had such a good time relaxing and seeing each other. We also went to a lake by their home (right by) and watched the fire works from Disneyland! Then with flashlights we went hunting for alligators, no luck (whew!) I don't know how to post that well because this was suppose to be the first picture and note!!

nevermind....

errrr.....apparently that wasn't the only thing I missed...can you believe I'm a proofreader? Pathetic...don't let my clients know....

btw, lynnette

What word on your MRI? Just scrolled down through and somehow missed that one...i'm freaking a little bit...everything okay?

post halloween...:(

Okay, we think Josie had a tough time on her first holiday here. First it made her miss everyone back home because the big holidays are approaching. Very emotional...bouncing between tears and anger. And then, because there are so many different cultures here, they don't dress up or have parties or anything at school and a lot of her friends in class don't even celebrate it. She's a bit thrown off, I think. And we only had two kids come for candy...although we only got five our last year there, so...

Very excited about the ability to post video! Looking forward to posting around the rest of the holidays. The cool thing about that game, our team was playing two men short (three, when one player had a mini anxiety attack and couldn't breathe!) and the other team played a full roster and had five subs. They scored twice in the first five minutes and we thought for sure our boys, Mas Fuego, were about to lose their first game. But they dug in, held them and ended up beating them by two! It was AWESOME, the sweetest win yet. We were sitting next to the Latino delegation and you should have HEARD them when they didn't call the foul on Cody! "REF! REF! REF! We have it on tape, REF!" I have nothing on the Columbians...and anyone who has heard me at a soccer game knows what I'm saying...right, Lynnette? I thought we were going to get our butts kicked in the parking lot, though...haha!

Only have one word for the hunters...ew. But I'm glad no one was kicked around in the underbrush....and you'll have some tasty meals. The hiking and camping and family togetherness holds much for appeal for me.

Miss you guys like crazy...been staying busy and feel the holidays creeping up. Guess I'll continue to ignore it while I can. So somebody tell me what's going on...whose names do the kids have? When are you having your party? Are you doing couple gifts? Do I need to figure out the name exchange? I will, you know...just let me know...

Cody Eats Grass

This is our favorite clip from Cody's last soccer game. He doesn't score a goal or make a miraculous save; that would be boring. He gets fouled hard and there is no call. I recommend replaying the part where he flies through the air and lands on his face. Enjoy!

Josie Playing Softball

 

wowweee!

Taylor that's awesome I can't believe you got it yourself! Nice goin'. Can I just say ewwww Kaysie! You are way more brave than I am holding the deer head, you rock! Jer, you are soooo right about the bonding with your family. We have so much fun camping. I'm glad you guys had fun and are back safe! It's good to hear from everyone! Love you guys!!!!
-Lynnette-

poop

Someone write something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The end of the hunt

what a fantastic time we had. Kaysie, Taylor, and Kathryn's girls hunted with us most of the time, it was a blast. We hiked WAYYYYY to much, i think i might have dropped a few pounds, but i can fix that. Yesterday Kathryn, Kaysie, Taylor, and I were doing a push through a bunch of cedars, the deer were holdin tight and you had to about step on them to kick them up. We all got a little seperated and Taylor and Kaysie hunted his buck alone. His first buck....im so proud...sniff... He shot the little gut about 20 feet away, kinda a point and shoot self defense move lol. right after he shot his i shot a 3x4. we will have some good meat. the memories we created this week are priceless, wish you all could have been there.

more hunting

Well my dear familia Kelsea and I just got back from the deer hunt (cause school of course), the boys are still out having fun. Opening morning Ryan got a shot and hit a forked horn but not good enough. It ran, he followed a blood trail and came to an end with no deer. The next morning he tracked a 3 point and 4point but of course the 4 point was behind a tree so he shot and dropped the 3 point. Brady and Zach were with him and saw first hand the joys of gutting a deer. It was pretty big, we don't eat venison, but his grandparents love it. Ryan saved the liver (which is high in iron) for his Grandpa then took the deer unprocessed to their house. They like it to hang and just eat what they want. If you ask me I think it's all rather disgusting but it's a bonding moment for the men......boys.ha ha.
I got the results of my MRI, 3 ruptured discs, but saw a surgeon and he is confidant that my chiropractic care will help manage the pain and get me back on track. Good news!
I miss you all, all my love, -Lynnette-

hunting......

well today was opening day for the deer hunt and all we saw were does and a bull elk........ me and my dad hiked for like an hour and didnt see anything and as u all know we are not the hiking type but ill keep u all updated on if we get a deer or not love u all cya

hunting......

poop

Hey, just writing something for this week, it's not like I have any better to do! I am at Snow bird right now, and all my cousins think I am mad at them all, just cause they beat me at pool. I am only mad at Jacob {Jaxon for Jeremy}!!! He was being a brat, so I yelled at him, he better just be thankful I didn't throw a ball at his head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well I love and miss you all, gotta go!
LOVE YA!!!/amanda

Taylor

holy crap dude this is taylor u need to invite me to this thingy my email is sk8indogs@hotmail.com woo hoo. well im out huntin righjt now and imma get a huge freakin deer........ i hope! i miss all of you guys so freakin much..........oh ya and i started riding BMX woo hoo

Yo diggity!

Hello my wonderful family. Just wanted to drop a quick update about Jake and myself. We have just been chillin'. Jake has decided that next year, after we establish residency, he would like to try to go to school full-time. Just looking to decide what he would like to major in.
I've been working as hard as I can. I joined a fitness boot camp, only a month, and have been slimming down and toning up. It is pretty fun but it is spendy, and I don't think I'll go back after my month is up. The time that I have spent there so far has really given me a good idea of what I need to do to get the body that I want. Only five more classes to go and then I'm done.
Oh, I've experienced what it is like to be attacked by fire ants a couple weeks ago. We went to the soccer quarter finals for my dad's team and I walked right through a colony of them. I didn't realize until they had completely covered my foot! It was kind of an ow moment, but I was able to catch them and get the off before they worked their way up my leg...
It can be kind of lonely being so far away from you all and I miss you all so terribly. I can't wait for you to come and visit us. Well, that is about it for us. Love you all!

HI

Hey everybody how are you guys doing? My mom probably mentioned that we are going to deer hunt on Tuesday. We are lucky my dad got a tag this year and we really hope that we will get like a 5 point deer this year. My cousin also drew for his first year but didn't get drawn out for it. I was looking into hunter safety this year before we leave but oh well. Everything is going ok here. Also Stan and lana and all you guys I wanted to say I really miss you guys being here and teaching soccer even though I am not playing. Well I hope we all could get together soon. Love you all. Bye

Brady

one day

All I have to say is that I am soooo jealous! I wish we were there to have the fun with you guys, one of these days we will be the family in the ocean! Lana, the veclempt is hilarious, I feel the same way! Nothing new really going on here, I've had some back pain that I had a MRI scan done on Sat. Hopefully get the results on Mon. Brady thinks he wants to try bowling and Conner wants to look into gymnastics. Zach is looking forward to indoor BMX in Nov. Kelsea is just busy with work, school and fun teenage stuff. She just got done with powder puff football. Her team went to the finals but just missed the championship game :( Oh, well maybe next year. We are getting ready to leave for deer hunt this week, kids look forward to camping and Ryan could definately use the time off. We miss everyone terrible!! We love you guys!
-Lynnette-

Love you all!!!!!

Stan, your right tere is something wrong with this famly, we are like x-men, except it would be x-Banks!!! Tell Josie to get her lazy butt to the computer and type! I feel like we havn't talked in forever! Jeremy, Katherine is very pretty, and you better let me meet her sometime!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!


Amanda

'bout damn time

Hey all! I love reading about what everyone is up to, and the pictures are great!

Amanda, that's so cool you are debating in class and like it. All Banks' are natural debaters, it's just part of our genes (probably a mutant sort of thing or we like to disagree because there isn't much to say if you just agree, hehe). I miss you and your smart mouth!

Mike and Charlotee, had a wonderful time with you all last night. The fireworks over the lake were the most beautiful we have seen since we arrived here. I think it had everything to do with being with folks you love. I never will forget the fish jumping out of the ocean and head-butting the kids. Please visit again as soon as you have the airline miles!

Jeremy, three words....outa your league!

Love you all and miss you terribly,
Stan

Oh, I'm feeling "veclempht," talk amongst yourselves

I don't even know where to begin! We just spent the best day at the beach with Mike and Charlotte and the whole fam-damily. We literally floated in the water for more than 4 hours, I believe, at the beach in Clearwater (hopefully, Charlotte will post some of the pics she took...even if I forgot to suck in my gut...did I really just say I hoped she would post some?). There were pelicans all over the place, diving for fish, the water was warm, the fish were fresh (and I mean in the flirting way, brushing up against EVERYBODY...it was awesome, even though we all continued to squeal like little girlies every time it happened) and not crowded at all. Had to shuffle our feet as there were stingrays about...thus the dangerous marine warning flag. Stan and Mike spotted one, which we promptly scared away running over like fools to try for a peek ourselves. And they're coming over for a bbq tonight and the kids are SO happy to see family, I can't even tell you.

And then I get on and see all these other Banks family pictures and I'm BUSTING! I'm so grateful to be part of this family and to see everyone so happy is all I could ever wish for...even though I wish I was there and part of every minute. Amie 2, you look great on the wakeboard. I love that thing! Amazing shot of the bull, Aaron! Ack! I love when all four are off the ground. Bet it makes for a jarring landing, though. And, Amanda, I can totally see you debating. You Banks are born for it...quick to think...relentless...you'll be great.

Finally had our first cold front come through. It was a chilly 65 degrees this morning. Not sure how we'll be able to take it, but I'm sure we can get used to just about anything (haha!). May need to hold on to the parka.

And, Jeremy, she looks lovely, and how nice to hear you gushing! You are gushing, you realize, right? Mmm, mmm, mmm....it's good to hear, Jer. We'll make room...you name the days....

Love you guys like crazy...

Lana

HAHA she's a cowgirl

Hey all! Jake no more damn spider pics they make me pee a little. everybody check out these pics. the kids and i went to Hanksville to spend time with my new cowgirl friend (lol) and her daughters. Her name is Kathryn she has four children (15yr) Kaylee, (13yr) Colten, (11yr) Jaycee, and (9yr) Terralyn. they are all so wonderful. i dont know Colten yet he lives with his dad. Taylor and Kaysie get along so well with the girls its awesome. here are some pics of Goblin valley and the girls. one of Taylor being an idiot, and i gotta show off Kathryn:). She shoots, hunts, rides, ropes, camps, smiles, laughs, and i could go on and on. We want to all make it to Disney World next year so make some room lol. i miss all of you, i have told Kathryn so much about each of you.

talk to you all soon

Jer

Powell and stuff--from Stewart's Gang

Here are some pictures from an annual Lake Powell trip--with a rockin' new boat. We all kicked butt, (okay, for us) at wakeboarding, even our new member Amy was awesome, she fits right in!! Aaron was working on his 360, so close many times, and Amanda is a little hot-dogger going in and out of the wake like a pro. Stewart and Nicholas are flyin' as high as they can without breaking anything, and i'm just happy to be out there, and getting better every year. Stan--the slalom ski still gets plenty of use, I love the speed, and Aaron did it this year cause he couldn't let his momma show him up, he loved the speed too. The "jurassic park" waterfalls were coming off the cliffs when we were coming back in a storm, it was awesome. I was glad we weren't staying on a beach under them though. We did the annual cliff jumping, and Amanda has no fear, I wonder where she gets that. The picture of the kids rowing is a HUGE log they moved into the water and had to get the timing perfect for all to be on, and that only lasted a few minutes before someone was dumped, it was halarious!! Stewart found the dragon and we couldn't get him to share until Aaron and Amanda used it to play "bullriding lake powell style".
The rodeo picture is Aaron in Panguitch on a bull named Whitey. Lots of people got hurt here, so we were happy with a decent ride and no injuries. Hope everyone is doing well, and we love you all!!!

powell and stuff

Guess what, Stan!!! {From Amanda}

Hey, everyone! I miss you guys soooooooo much, but it sounds like your doing good. I have to tell Stan that in school we are doing debates, and I love it!!!!!! I now want to be on the debate team in high school.
Everthing else in school is kinda boring, my teacher is from South Africa, so I have learned that "totsins," means good-bye, and "Ek Hoa van pesang," means I like bananas!!
I want you guys to know how much I love, and miss you. Have a freakin' good time and show the people there what Banks really means!!!!!!!!!!

More nature.

Neat frogs come out after rainstorms.

Scary spiders hang out on the front porch.

Hey, hey!

Okay, I told Jake he had to post the creepy spider picture now (it was so wild). Amie, how awesome to hear from you. You sound as sassy as ever and that's just lovely...I miss you even more. Lynnette, let's draw names for the kids. We'll ship gifts, and we'll ship couples gifts for the party. Just let us know when you're having it.

It's the end of lovebug season here. It was FANTASTIC! Mating bugs everywhere, landing in your hair and on your legs, covering your patio and windows, totally harmless to humans but will eat the paint off your car if you don't wash it off quickly. Very nice. But the weather is cooling a wee bit when the sun goes down and gives us a taste of the nice winter to come. Heard it snow there. Hmm, ick...

Stan starts the county tournament on Wednesday...wish him luck...and he's this very minute growling in the kitchen for food. Will write again soon...

Lana

Florida Pictures

Hey I just thought I'd show everyone a little bit of what it's like down here.




Birds in the backyard.


Beach on the weekends.


This is a sunset from the front yard.

That was from Amie--not Stewart!!

Just realized that it shows sbanks--the novel was from Amie in case it wasn't obvious, not Stewart!!! I'll have to get my own sign on at work, that's where I spend most of my computer time. Love you all!!

Guess i'll join in....

Well, it looks like you're only a "true" Banks if you blog!!! So, if you haven't --Stan--you better get busy!!!Just kidding-maybe I missed something from you, but Bethany and Lana you're awesome to get this going. We tried in my family, and it kind of flopped--I think, maybe it's still going-see I don't even know. Well, Stewart has kept our family up to date with about all that's going on except our house is kind of different with a couple of kids gone and moving on with their life in the big city (Ogden), ha! It's been hard letting them go and not know what and where they are all the time. Mind you, it's good too, but the "mom" in me has to have limits of when I can call and how much I can worry, and I try to stick to them.

It's fun to read about all everyone is doing, and maybe we'll keep up on everyone's life better now, even the one's that are still right here. Stan and Lana, you're crazy!! All that running, i'll save a bed at the hospital for both of you for your knee replacements!! People aren't made to run 26 miles at one time, even the pioneers had wagons and just walked slowly!!Just kidding that's cool, and Bethany and Jake good job on starting the running--I have been an exercise slacker using the wedding as an excuse--now it's over what will I do??

That's how our life feels, is it is getting back to normal with just Aaron and Amanda to deal with day to day, and work. They are doing great in school, and it's great to have no one in middle school, only two schools to deal with this year. Aaron is liking high school, and realized the other day that he has only 3 years more and he'll be doing real life like Nicholas--I think it freaked him out a little, and me too!! Amanda has only this year in elementary and then we start the "teenage" thing with her, and I don't know how to do girl stuff--she's different than I ever was. I guess we'll figure it out. We miss having Josie to call to play, but it sounds like her and Cody are settling in well. We're kind of jealous of your new adventure, but we're too chicken!!!

Well, we talked about Thanksgiving the other day with Jeremy, and I guess it will be us and his little family for the Banks side--that's sad, but you better have that tablecloth out to read, and we'll sit down and put messages on this instead!! Well now that i've written a novel, and probably a silly one at that, everyone stay well and keep messaging--it's cool!!!

christmas

I know it is very early to talk about christmas but any ideas as far as gifts go? wasn't sure what we were doing who is coming to town.......besides santa ha ha ha. We were just trying to start shopping so if anyone has thoughts as far as that let us know. Short and sweet this time since I was on last anyway. thanks -Lynnette-

This is Great

This is so much fun! I know more than I ever did when everyone lived close. That's sad but true. Nicholas it's great to hear that things are well with you and your new bride(I know you've been married for awhile but she will be a new bride for the first year). You guys just sound crazy busy! I agree with everything that has been said about being part of this family and the get togethers! All my kids look forward to anything with the banks family. Lana don't get too excited yet about us running we are far from it, but we are in the beginnings I'm thinking that we would like to do top of the mountain next year (hopefully). So anyway as far as Zach goes he is always qualifying to the main but it is definitely a challenge. Because he moved to intermediate which he got first once and second once but then had a birthday which put him into another class which was a rude awakening! He had a clinic with the guy that holds the record for most wins and is in the hall of fame but I forget his name(that's not good). But he learned alot and has already improved by two seconds! That's alot in bmx!!! Kelsea still does her thing with work and school.....she LOVES high school she's having alot of fun. Not a whole lot more to tell you but I'm sure something will come up. Love ya'll!!!!!
-Lynnette-

Man, I love this family!

Hurray for Charlotte for not waiting for me to call her! It's like she sensed it could be F-O-R-E-V-E-R! We would have seen you here before it ever happened...and we BETTER freaking see you here...because we can find you, you know...maybe...plus we want to go to Clearwater with you....

And go, go, go, Lynnette and Brady...and I'm sure I have all sorts of misinformation I can share...gladly (haha!). Have you picked one to start with? We just did a 16-mile long run on Sunday, and we were SOAKING wet, i'm not kidding. This humidity is crazy. But I'm so excited for you; it's always great to have someone with whom to share your pain. How has Zach been doing with his racing thing? How's the "training" with Ryan going? I think that's a great idea for you.

Nicholas, how great to hear from you. I couldn't be more pleased for you both! What an adventure ahead and grats on the grants; it's a great way to get some help. You made me all weepy with the family stuff...thanks for that...and how fortunate for the little old people to have someone like you around...though, don't lie, sometimes things can be a little gross there, right? I'm sure you have some stories I KNOW I don't want to hear (haha) so just keep up the inspirational ones...love you two like crazy...love this whole Banks family like crazy. I'm more blessed than most in that I was lucky into to stumble into it!

Starting to cool down...a little...the thunderstorms have been amazing. The tornadoes from the one last week missed us by 30 miles. Things could get pretty wild and we've started talking maybe we should pay more attention. There's only two places to hide without windows or exterior walls: the pantry and the 1/2 bath! Told bethany and jake they'll have to hide in the bath...but we'll probably all pile in together if it gets to that; don't know if we'll want to be separated at a time like that...also don't know if we all want to be standing for however long...either way, we need to make plans...maybe run a drill or something...except our Josie girl may get all freaky and obsess if we do that....hmmm....may have to wing it.

And as I'm apparently just blabbing to hear myself blab, I'll quit while I'm almost ahead. Can't wait to read the future blogs! I love you all and miss you like crazy....

Lana

Guess we'll start too

howdie yall,
Dad finally showed me the blog and I couldn't wait to get a sec to write, and read all the posts. Now that I'm up to date I guess its time to start writin. Me and Amy are doing well, both workin hard and schooling too. I'm lovin' my job, the old people are so cute. Its sad how lonely they get but totally rewarding when I just get a few minutes to sit and talk with them, they are so greatful. Amy likes her jobs, shes back with Things Remembered as well as Hollywood. The schedualing for her has been bit of a pain but its starting to fall together. Anyway, the grants came back and both of us have our whole first year of college paid for, excluding books, oh well. Anyway its great to be able to at least read whats going on, I miss the old Banks Parties, I think all of us kids could never wait when one was coming Its sad to see them go, hopefully not for long. Well I gotta go get the laundry going, Amy's at work so I'll try to stay up to date and keep postin'.
Love ya all so much!
Nicholas & Amy

P.S. I think it was Lana that said its sad we take family for granted when they are so close, I get emotional even just reading the posts and realizing the great family, as well as good friends, we are as Banks. I could ask for no more and will never feel lost as long as I have such a loving, gracious family that would do anything for eachother.
Thank you all, love you much,
Nicholas

Readings

Hey all,
Thanks Bethany for setting this up! It was fun to read the blogs and catch up! I actually heard about Aaron's bull ride from my best friend Julie (in Utah) her husband was judging at the rodeo. And we were so excited for him. Jeremy your trip sounded crazy!! And Bethany i don't think i could water ski in Florida's lakes just knowing there are alligators in them, CRAZY! I am excited to here your family is settling in well and enjoying Florida. We will give you a call before we head down in Oct.. O.K. so how many marathons do you have to run between now and then because that makes me tired just reading it, in fact i had to take a brake and get myself a snack!
Thanks and hello to everyone, charlotte

FInally

Hey I was finally able to get this to work! It is so much fun finding out what everyone is doing. We are all doing well nothing exciting yet. I am still trying to adjust to being home, Ryan is trying to teach me more to help him and keep me busy (we'll see how that works out). So cody and soccer awesome! He was incredible to watch before I bet it's amazing now. Josie, I can totally picture her as a dancer you will have to send pics of her playing softball I bet that's fun. I'm glad to hear everyone is doing well, that water stuff is scary, i'd be too chicken to get in! This is great thanks Bethany for getting it together!!!!!
Aaron way to go!!! I didn't know you stayed on the whole time, we are excited to see you ride. Jer, where did you go with the horses? It sounds painful!
Lana I think you guys are inspiring to run marathons at all let alone as many as you have!! Brady really wants to run one and I said I would train with him so we are starting to get our cardio up at the gym and soon will be running ok more like jogging but it's a start. I'm sure I will have alot of ?'s for you so be prepared.
Cool I'm glad I was able to get on and will be on alot I'm sure! I love and miss you guys!!!! -Lynnette-

Woot, Jeremy!

Now we have to get Stan on it! Yeah, we definitely aren't 20 anymore, right? And thank god for it! It does make the recovery more difficult, though. All is well in the South. The temp got down to 87 today and felt fabulous. They have the best thunderstorms EVER here. Sometimes I feel they should scare me more...but they don't (a case of ignorance is bliss, I think). Now we're getting rolling, Banks fam! My goal is to call Charlotte this week and get her e-mail. I know she gave it to me at the wedding and can't, for the life of me, find it (boo!). If any of you know it, please post it so we can get an invite to her...

Lana

hey all

this is pretty cool!! just got back from pushin cows of the Henry Mnts. the weather was perfect. we rode for two days about seven hours each day(ouch). we learned that we are only boys cuz cowboys would have cows.......we only found a third of the herd. i cought somthin the night we got up there and fevered all weekend. To add to that i was ridin a green horse that spooked once when i went to get on him and ended up testing the compaction of the ground with my face, it passed. just another mornin i remember i aint twenty. one thing we did that the ol' cowboys never have been able to do was bring a bull off the mountain alone, take that hoss.
be good
Jer

Darn it!

Thought I was going to sound so cool, thinking I knew how long they stayed on. Now you get my reference to pretending I know what I'm talking about, right? Ah well, I was never fooling anyone anyway! Drop a line and let us know how the rodeos go this weekend. And tell your wife she better freaking take care of herself...don't make me come back there and whip you, girl! That stuff sucks and it's not right you have to deal with it...we'll write again soon. Josie wants to write and Stan actually said something about it...I think it may actually happen...someday....

Yo diggity!

Hey all,

Tell Aaron that Jake and I think that it is awesome that he covered! Woot! Not a whole lot going on with Jake and I. We are still running and slowly starting to run more. I've been doing yoga as well. I've had a little more work and am very happy for it. There is quite the storm going on outside. Lots of thunder! Yay.
Oh, Jake and I joined a book club with mom and dad.
Jake is doing well at work and enjoying it as much as any other job. He has decided that he wants to get a master's degree in digital art, and is excited to start school as soon as we establish residency.
I'm glad that things are going well for everyone. Tell them all that I say hi and that I love them and miss them a lot.

8 Seconds

Lana, Its eight seconds I wont tell Aaron you said seven. Covering a bull does mean the eight seconds. We are going to cedar city rodeo Friday and delta on saturday. It sounds like you all are having a good time. Im glad. sounds like lots of friends are being made. (awsome) How are Bethany and Jake doing? Amanda just went back on track and has a new teacher from South Africa (pretty dang cool) there are only 20 kids in her class. It was her first day today and she loves it. Amy got a temp job at hollywood video. They just put in for some fed grants to get some help. They are doing great. Amie had some flare ups the last three weeks, but is doing much better I think. I do miss you all. We miss you all. I will try and keep putting my ramblings on the blog. I will try and get the kids and Amie to put some on too. Love you guys
Stewart

Woohoo! Aaron covered...

Okay, now you have to tell me what that means (ha ha!)...seriously. Does that mean he stayed on for the 7? If so, that's FABULOUS! Well, actually, it's fabulous he can get on those hulking beasts at all. I still don't know how you guys handle the cardiac...though it must make you so proud.

Cody is practicing hard with his soccer club. One of the coaches (yeah, there's like 3) actually played pro soccer and coached division 1 college soccer (at least I assume it's college; Stan just says division 1 so I'm pretending I know what he's talking about). He's making friends on the team, which is one of the perks of organized sports is, right? He's doing well at school...but working his butt off between school and practices.

Josie just started dance and, since we haven't been able to find a club soccer team for her yet, she's going to try softball with her friend, Megan. She did pretty well at the "skills evaluation" fielding the ball and batting, having never done it before. Watching her catch (er, not) the pop flies was very funny. Had not a clue what to do...kind of like her mom.

Bethany and I are keeping busy with work...kind of. Busy enough to suffice, I suppose, for now. Though it's nice to be able to play when we want. When we were out looking for some books, we drove by this lake and saw a 6-8 foot alligator just floating on the surface. It was pretty cool...but made us realize how small the one in our pond is...made us kind of grateful for his size, too! Of course, the tiniest thing is the scariest thing in the water around here. There's this amoeba that lives at the bottom of shallow, warm freshwater lakes, and when it gets kicked up by boats and kids wipe out and get water (with amoebas) get up their noses, they get in the brain and they cause this amoeba encephalitis...3 adolescent boys have died this summer from it, and there wasn't a thing they could do to save them. Ack!

So did Stan and I tell you we made this goal for 25 marathons by 50? Yeah, and since I have less time (though I'm two races ahead), we're going to get a jump on it by doing 3 in about 8 weeks! Should be very....hard! But we'll just plan on finishing...no personal records here until we adjust to training in the humidity.

I remember you saying that Nick was working...where did Amy find a job? She's in school, too, right? Also, what's that Amanda girl up to? Josie and I were playing catch just tonight with the softball that she had people sign, and there was a sweet note from Amanda to her and I teared up immediately.

We love you guys and miss you like crazy. It's so stupid how we take family for granted just because they are so close. Let us know how the fall Powell trip goes. When it was hot, hot, hot here, I was so jealous of you guys! Keep writing, Stewart. It truly makes my day!

Herriman Rodeo

Aaron road Last night in the Herriman Rodeo and covered a bull named F9. It was the first High School rodeo he has covered in. Yea

Homework Rocks!!!! (NOT)

I'm glad Jose got a teacher. Now she can get busy. I'm glad everyone is staying busy, That's a good sign. I think it would be great to have Vance's aboard . You guys are going to be regular Floridians that's great I think? We are suppose to have a huge weather change this week after tying a record high on labor day of 96. Its suppose to really cool off. We just went to the Vernal rodeo (not so good) we will leave it at that. Aaron has promised to spend allot more time practicing, since we bought a mighty Bucky machine. We are all staying busy as well. Seems like you never have enough time. Nick and Amy both have jobs know and have put in for some grants. We are planning another Trip to Powell the end of Sept. if everything goes right. Its good to hear from everyone. Love you all.
Stewart and family

Hurray! So glad you wrote, Stewart!

It's so great to hear from you, Stewart! And you better send some Powell/rodeo pics. We're letting Cody put our copy of Aaron's poster on his wall. His friends are a little in awe that his cousin is a real bullrider. Quite honestly...so am I! Anyway, I have a bunch of e-mails for the Vances...any thoughts to whether we should invite to the blog?

Getting more used to the bugs...slowly...and the humidity...more quickly. You freeze your butt off in AC, I'm not kidding. Josie started taking a jacket to wear on the bus!

Josie finally got a teacher (yippee!) and now she has homework (she's says boo, I say yippee!). She starts dance next week.

Stan is busy and stressed...had to cut our boy from the soccer team, can you believe it? (ha, ha...well, he left it up to Cody who was honest with himself and his dad that he needed to work more and improve to have a chance next year and has joined the Inter-United club team. Stan swears he's not coaching again...see to believe.) Anyway, he still will practice with them because, well, Stan's his ride home. Maybe he could be their water boy....hmmm....

Bethany keeps you posted on what goes on with her and Jake so I won't even bother. We just picked up our resident passes for Universal/Islands of Adventure. Can't wait for family to come so we can show it off. Starting to feel like bona fide residents, anyway, with our FL driver's licenses and FL plates.

Love you and miss you all! Write again soon....

Lana

Hooray

Hello my family!

It is nice to see Stewart on here. Now all we have to do is wait! First I want to tell you all how much I miss you. Can't wait to see you all. :-) Things are going well here. Every once and awhile I'll have a hard time, because I don't really have an outlet for making friends right now. I can get pretty bummed and lonely, but it hasn't been bad since my client sent me work yesterday and says that she has more on the way. Can't begin to tell you how bored I was getting. In the weeks when I had no work I was able to complete the Harry Potter books. The 7th was amazing. I'm now reading Pride and Prejudice.

Jake and I have been running the past few weeks. Although some weeks he would be so tired because of work that he wouldn't want to get up and run, and on those weeks we would only get one run in. This week, however, we have been very good. Three days of two mile runs, so 6 miles so far this week. We have a plan to walk for 2 minutes and then jog for 2, repeat. Next week we'll increase to either w-1, j-3 or if I'm struggling we will w-2, j-3. Today was the first time this week that I didn't struggle, and I can't begin to tell you how happy that makes me.
Jake is loving work. Dad has been so busy with classes and soccer. He and Cody don't get home until around 6, and if Cody goes to the club (soccer) practice then he doesn't get home until close to 8. He loves it so much though, and loves learning new things. Mom and I set up our website for our scoping and all that is left to do is the about us page and find a site to list on so that we may gain another client. I'm really excited for that because I need another client to keep my busy if Rossann has time when she can't work. So please keep your fingers crossed for us.
I love you all and miss you very much.

just fine

Sounds like you guys are doing just fine. Thats great to here. Thanks for setting this up. What a great way to stay in touch. Oh ya Cody you dont need friends. I never had any and look how I turned out (ha) Youll make plenty of friends Im sure. We will get some powell pics and rodeo pics developed (still haven't got my nikon digital yet) and load them on. We want to see some Florida pics. Nicholas and Amy are doing well. Nicholas is working at an old folks home and started school today, Amy started school and is still looking. They have a nice apartment on campus. See ya soon.
Stewart

Let's get this ball rolling!

Okay, I know I have e-mail addresses for Charlotte and stuff; just have to find it amongst all the UNPACKED crap that we have nowhere for...man, I miss my closets. *Sigh* Cody and Josie are finally in school (praise Jesus); though Josie still doesn't have a teacher (which is a bit worrisome, but I'd rather she had none than one that can't pass the background check), it's a pleasure for her to finally have some outside friends.

Cody is trying out for the soccer team, which they pretty much forced Stan to coach against his will, and working out with a local club team. He's having a great time, but he's feeling like a very small fish in a very big pond. He told his dad, "I can sit at a full table at lunch and it's like I'm not even there. I'm nobody." He'll make more friends (he has a few)...he's just so impatient.

Bethany and I are working on expanding the business. Her reporter has not been busy, and she's a little freaked. But I'm certain that soon we will wish for slower days. Jake has put together a web site for us, and we will soon be advertising to pick up a couple more clients. It's pretty cool. I feel so grown up.

Anyway, we're hoping someday some other Banks family member may read this stuff...hopefully before we're back in Salt Lake to visit. We will give y'all so much crap, I kid you not (haha!) Love you all and miss you terribly...

Lana

For the family

We needed to get this set up for the banks family. So I took it upon myself, because I was sitting around while everyone else was working, to make this for us all to share. I love you all and welcome to the Banks Family Blog!