Merry Christmas from Tilly

I got my new camera. Just in time for Christmas! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Tilly is at Gramma's and Granpa's

This is the email my mom sent me this morning:


Subject: Tilly is being a good girl!
Jean DeFord (XXXXXX@someinternet.com)


Attached is a visual of what your baby has been doing since daylight.....

Asks to go out.

Runs after animals.

Comes back in.

Merry Christmas From The Hankes

I lost my camera at the end of the summer. I am getting a new one thanks to State Farm. It won't be here until after Christmas. This will have to do as a family portrait. Carl forgot to put on his glasses and Tilly is at my mom and dad's house. That 's why she's not in the picture!

Happy Belated Birthday Evee BoBo!

The guy using his scary eye stare to will the dice to give him a lucky roll is my brother. He turned 24 on Pearl Harbor Day. That is December 7th in case you didn't know.

He came into this world early in the morning and FAST! The story goes that when my parents came into the hospital that very cold morning in San Antonio Texas the delivery ward was full. Evan wasn't stopping his entrance any and the nurses were literally pushing him back in because the doctor wasn't there. To this day he gets a red mark on his head when he's pissed. It's the birth story of a legend. No doubt my brother will be a legend some day.

Some of the best memories I have are of us fighting. Yes, I said they are some of the BEST memories. Our fighting was epic. Daily. Hourly. Minutely. But it mostly ended the same way. We were forced into our respective rooms to a sort of time out but because our parents didn't believe in closing doors we would call each other across the hall. It would go something like this.

Evan: "Mom is mean."

Me: "Go ask her if we can come out of our
rooms"

Evan: "No, You ask her."

Me: "I can't. She will be mad."

Evan: "That's why I can't"

Me: "Do you think she will care if I just go
into your room to play?"

Evan: "You wanna play cars or Legos?"

Me: "Doesn't matter to me as long as I can
be the mom who takes care of the sick ones"

At least that's how I chose to remember it.

Evan was a pretty scrawny kid. He didn't care to learn how to tie shoes, use the potty, or to bathe. He was too busy for that. There was a lot of bike riding, Lego building, fort playing, dirt digging, ball kicking, bug and rock collecting, back rubbing, video game playing in the early years. In Elementary School he announced that he was going to be a Lego builder when he grew up. I am sure that was a defining moment in his life.

In Middle School the girls were falling all over Evan. But like much of his life, he didn't care. He was too busy for that. At the time I of course didn't know why anyone would think my dorky annoying little brother would be cute! Now I know it's because he has a sweet and caring nature that is mixed perfectly with a little smart ass. He was the class clown that teachers loved.

In High School, Evan made sure to be his own person. He wasn't the little brother in his sister's shadow. (He may disagree) He doesn't know the amount of girls that would come and ask me if I was Evan's older sister. After I would reply yes I would be met with squeals and "Oh he's sooo cute". He did band for one year. Just like me. The year where there was a trip. Smart guy. After he quit band he joined the soccer team. He did very well until his knee went out. During High School he dated the best looking girls and treated them nicer than they should have been treated. He was more popular in high school and in college than I would ever be. Again it's that sweet caring nature mixed perfectly with a little smart ass.

In college, Evan came to SFA! Just like me. I was so excited! I didn't want to show it though because I knew that would turn him away. I prayed that he would stay even though SFA was supposed to be only temporary until he got into A&M for Engineering. (Remember he had Legos to build) He stayed. I had the pleasure of once again sharing two years at the same school as my brother when he changed his major to Accounting and decided to stay at SFA. Once again he made a name for himself! He joined a couple of fraternities. Made friends. Even had a few ODD jobs (wink wink). Ask him about his work with the Art Department! We didn't really even see each other as much as I would have liked but it was nice to know that family was around the corner. He did make it a point to come to Wednesday night worship at Wesley. Wesley thought we were weird for taking turns rubbing each others hands during worship. But in true Evan fashion, he didn't care.

Now Evee BoBo is all grown up at 24! He's done with school. Now working with a big ol accounting company and wears a tie most days. Which I find very funny seeing as how he never cared to learn how to tie his shoes and now he has to tie a tie everyday!

He's still my little brother and I love him.

He has a sweet, caring nature mixed perfectly with a little smart ass.

Happy Birthday Evee BoBo!