Happy Halloween (a month late)
I have been so busy that I have neglected the blog....but it is
better late than never! Alexis was a vampire, Joe was a hippie and Hailey was a Gypsy.
Clint and I dressed up and scared kids and handed out candy! Clint is the Ghoul in the two top
pictures.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

We have been busy...

Although I haven't made many posts lately we have been busy. I just haven't had time to sit down at the computer.

Hailey, Joe and Alexis have kept us busy. 2 Weeks ago Hailey had a volleyball tournament in Cheyenne, Joe had a football game in Casper, Wy (2 1/2 hours away) and Alexis had a gymnastics meet in Douglas, WY (2 Hours Away). Joe is now starting in Wrestling and Hailey in Basketball. Alexis is still competing in gymnastics.

Wednesday is Hailey's 13th Birthday so that is an exciting upcoming event,

Hailey and Joe now both have braces. All has gone well with that. Joe is so cranky when he is
in pain and his teeth bothered him a few days and he was a BEAR! Thankfully he is used to them now.

Clint took the kids to Denver to visit Greg, Kyoko and kids.... they went to the pumpkin patch there and got us stocked up and ready to make Jack-o-lanterns. Unfortunately, I was home sick and didn't get to go. I had the worst cold ever. But...I am a great wife and shared with Clint and he was home from work for 2 days last week.

The kids have their costumes ready for Halloween and Clint and I are even dressing up to hand out candy. Actually, Clint is dressing up and going to sit outside and scare the older kids. I will hand out candy after I take Alexis out to trick or treat. Joe and Hailey will probably be out with their friends.

Speaking of Joe and Hailey....their first Jr. High dance is coming up soon. Joe is a wreck because he doesn't know how to dance. He begged me to show him how so the other night we spent about two hours dancing around the living room. He can pick up the beat but is as stiff as a board. Should be interesting!

Look for pics from Hailey's birthday coming up this week.

Jr. High Football

Here are some pictures of Joe in action in football. He is #68 for the Maroon team.
The McCormick Warriors! He made it to the varsity team for Jr. High 7th Grade.

Volleyball

I am so behind on updates....Volleyball season was over as of last weekend.
Here are some pics of Hailey at her last volleyball tournament with McCormick Jr. High
Her team won 2nd place!

Level 4-6 Gymnastics Meet

Today was Alexis' first gymnastics meet as a level 4 gymnast. She did a great job.
She was nervous this morning but had nothing to worry about. She placed 4th in her age division.

She competed on Uneven Bars, Vault, Floor and Balance Beam.
Click on the grid to get a closer view! Double click and it gets even bigger.

Fall Soccer Is In Full Swing

Hailey is busy with soccer. This year she is on the U14 Team - meaning she is playing with girls from 12 - 14 yrs. old.
Her team is undefeated so far. They are very good!

6 Years Ago Today

6 Years Ago Today...Was Clint & Mel's Wedding

Happy Anniversary!

First Day of School - Jr. High and 4th Grade

Today was the first day of school!!!! Hooray
Alexis is now in 4th Grade and Joe and Hailey are in Jr. High!!!
I cannot believe we have 2 children in Jr. High already. It is mind blowing.
Here are the pics I took of them this morning before I dropped them all off.
I look forward to hearing how the day was!

Happy Birthday Clint!

Yesterday Clint turned 42! Happy Birthday to a wondeful Husband and Father!

Happy Birthday Dorothy

Today is my Grandmother's birthday. I am cooking dinner for her tomorrow night to celebrate!

Oma's Summer Picnic

Today was Oma's annual summer picnic!
Click on the grid for a closer view

On Saturday, August 21, the Hanes family had it's annual picnic. It is a time when all relatives near and far get together.
For decades, Oma has held the picnic, up to a couple years ago, in her backyard. For the past several
years, it's been at my mother's house. This year it was held at the Botanical Gardens in Lions Park. The time
is always too short but it was great to see a cousin and her daughter from Europe, other cousins, aunts and uncles and the
4th generation of family. The bottom right picture is all of the 4th generation attributed to Oma either by blood or
by marriage. Thanks to Oma (center picture in blue) for all she's done!

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY JOE

Joe turned 12 on August 19th 2010
He is getting so big on us ~ It is hard to believe he is already 12!!

HAPPY 9th Birthday Alexis

Alexis turned 9 on August 15th
All she wanted for her birthday was a cell phone.....She was lucky enough to get one.
As you can see by the middle left pic. she was jumping for joy!

Her Birthday party was the day before at the Animal Shelter. She asked for food
donations for the animals from her friends instead of gifts and we did 2 hours
of community service to give back! Is was a wonderful party.

School House Float

Frontier Days Parade ~ School House Float


Hailey and Alexis rode in the Frontier Days Parade on the School House Float again this year.
Joe decided he didn't want to do it anymore so he sat and watched the parade with Clint and I.
The girls looked great as always!

Camping Trip

Camping Trip - July 2010

During our break from baseball games we took a camping trip
to Pelton Creek in the Medicine Bow National Park. We stayed 3 days and
2 nights and enjoyed time away from our normal daily grind. We all came home
with dozens of mosquito bites (except for Joe). Clint and the kids carved boats
and had a race on our last day. We had a blast!

Congratulations Joe!

Joe tried out a few weeks ago for the 12 Year Old Cheyenne Raptors Competitive Baseball Team.
He made it!

We are looking forward to another great baseball season.

Columbine Memorial

Over the 4th of July weekend, Joe had his last baseball tournament of the season in Lakewood, CO
It is a suburb of Denver ~ The fields were right next door to Columbine High School. As you know, Columbine
was the school where 14 students and 1 teacher was killed by two disturbed teens in April 1999.

The bottom center picture is of the school from the fields - the other pictures are from
the memorial. It was so beautiful - the pictures don't really do the memorial the justice it deserves. It was so emotional
and I shed many tears for the kids, their families and friends. If you are ever in that area
I strongly recommend visiting the memorial and paying your respects. That tragedy was something that changed
history in schools forever.

Twilight Midnight Premier

Because Hailey and Alexis are Twilight FANS to the MAX ~ I took them (and Joe)
to the midnight premier of Eclipse last week. Hailey made them both t-shirts and I painted
their faces so they could show their Twilight spirit! Joe said he only wanted to go to find
a girlfriend :-) But, he read the books too and I am pretty sure he wanted to see the movie
even if he didn't want to admit it.

Joe's in Washington D.C.

If you have been following the blog you will remember that Joe has been working on a history day project since October of last year. He went to the District competition in Cheyenne, moved on the the State Competition in Laramie Wyoming and took 2nd place there which earned him a trip to Washington D.C. to compete against 6-9th graders from the entire U.S.

Today was the competition and he was thrilled - He thought he did a great job. We are so proud of him. He will be there the entire week sight seeing. This evening they went on an evening monument tour. I am sure it was AMAZING.

I look forward to seeing all of his pictures and hearing his experiences while he was away.
Wish him luck!

School's Out For Summer

Can you believe it - another school year has passed.
We now have 2 kids going into Jr. High! Clint and I are still sobbing over that one!
Joe and Hailey are now big 7th Graders. They will attend the same Jr. High School. They are
looking forward to that.

Alexis is now a big 4th grader and will be in Jessup by herself now as big brother will no longer
to be there to watch her. Not sure if that is good or bad.....

Hailey's End of the Year Talent Show

During the last week of school Hailey's Elementary School, Hobbs, has a talent show
for the kids to participate in. The kids have to try out and then if they make it they perform
for the school and then for parents. Hailey and her friend Sara did a song from the movie Wicked.
They did a great job. As you can see ~ Hailey was the wicked witch!

Joe's Last Elementary School Performance

Joe's last elementary school performance. As you all know, this wast the last year for Joe in Elementary school.
On the last performance the 6th graders made up their own "show". It was called "A day in the life of a 6th grader".
It was really cute. It told the story from waking up in the morning to after school cell phone texting!!!
Joe was dressed as a Pharaoh because during their study of Egypt they had an Egyptian market and they drew names
out of a hat and Joe got the be the prized role of the Pharaoh!

The 2nd picture is of him and his teacher. The teachers gave each child a certificate at the end
of the program - they were all in fun and they picked a person or thing that reminded them of the child.
They picked the "George Clooney award" for Joe! Because he is suave and debonair - and all of the girls LOVE him!

The last picture is one of him in action dancing for the performance.

Tornado in Cheyenne in May 2010

I am behind on posting ~ here are some pics. of the tornado that was just south of Cheyenne in May 2010.
These were close to the end of it - it was AMAZING!

Alexis Made Team 4 in Gymnastics

Last night Alexis was promoted to Team 4 in Gymnastics. She has been working so hard the past 3 - 4 months preparing. The coaches announced who made the team last night and she was one of them! She was thrilled. (We were too).

She did 100 push ups in 3 minutes about 2 weeks ago. This is AMAZING for an 8 year old!

The competition season starts in Sept. of this year so now she will continue to practice 4 times a week and to work on routines and her skills. We are proud of her!

Good Luck Alexis

Tonight is the last team 4 practice for Alexis before the revealing of the new Team 4 athletes.

She has been working so hard and wants to make the team ~ we find out tomorrow night at 8pm if she is accepted on the team or not. Gymnastics is such a hard sport and it requires so much work. For her only being 8 years old she has been very dedicated and has made vast improvements. We are keeping our fingers crossed and could use your good thoughts and prayers.

Good Luck Alexis!

CONGRATULATIONS JOE!

Joe made it to the State History Day competition with his "Tanks" website by placing 2nd in the District competition about month ago. The State competition was on Monday. I took the day off of work and headed to Laramie, WY to see him in action. Can you believe this....He was the first person to present his topic with the Judges at 8:30a. So, I was not there when he went in. But, he called afterwards and said the thought he did a great job. (We had not doubt that he did very well)

They awarded the top 2 places in each category at 4pm. The top two get an expense paid trip to Washington D.C. for the National History Day Contest. Joe received 2nd place! Yes, you read it right....he is going to Washington D.C.

We are so proud of him. It has been a LOT of work. This is a project that has been in the making since Oct. But, it is paying off.

Hailey's 6th Grade Performance

Last week was Hailey's 6th grade music performance.

This year
they did the "Music Man" play. She did a great job singing and dancing.
She is a natural! We were so proud of her. Joe and Celina took a picture
with her afterwards (bottom left hand corner pic.)

Rockies Baseball Game

A few weeks ago Joe had a baseball tournament in Denver.
The boys didn't win enough games to move into the bracket on Sunday so we were able to
catch a Colorado Rockies Baseball game. Joe was in hog heaven.

Unfortunately,
he had hurt his neck wrestling with his buddies the night before in the hotel pool...
but he was able to sit through a game. (Imagine That!) The girls had a great time
and Alexis' new crush is on Troy Tulowitski (the Short Stop for the Rockies - she even
put his picture on her bedroom door)

Spring Soccer 2010

Our first spring soccer games started 2 Saturdays ago. It was so
cold out but the girls hung in there and played a very good game.
(Hailey is in the dark shirt and Alexis is in the green.)

(I had to work that morning so thankfully Clint had the camera
and was able to get these great "action" shots!)

Spring Break Trip to the Denver Zoo

We had great weather during the kids' spring break time. We took
Joe, Alexis and Celina (my Goddaughter) to the Zoo one day. We had
such a great time. All of the animals were out and about. We
saw so many cool animals!!! (Spring break was a month ago - I am way behind on postings)

Here are some pictures of Joe from his first game last weekend.
They played 3 games and he played catcher 2 out of the 3. He was awesome
at bat and pitched a little bit in the 3rd game.
(Click on the collage for a closer view)