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The Banthofers

Kohen James : Born on January 2, 2021

Our Most Recent Adventures

Banthofer 2020 xmas

This year, Christmas was a little different. We still got to spend time with family, but a key video setup was a name of the game. Instead of hastily driving from place to place we found ourselves bouncing from one video meet to the next!

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The babymoon

One last rodeo where it’s just the two of us for a while. We had a blast driving the 4 corner states from Denver to Santa Fe, The Grand Canyon, Moab and Glenwood Springs. We of course stopped to take video along the way!

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ak & sb in the aspens

We had a great time hanging out in Granby this fall with friends before it was engulfed in flames by the many wildfires of 2020. You also can’t beat good timing when the Aspens are prepping for winter. Here are some of the fun shots.

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The Beginning

A Mom & Dad Memoir

The Baby Recipe

Start with a Wisconsin base, add in a little bit of Chicago, a dash of Seattle, some Denver nuggets, oh! and top it off with a sprinkle of Disney World. These places, and all the people we’ve met along the way, have created what we think is the best family to bring this new little human into. We’re taking it back to the beginning here, so keep reading…only if you want. And here’s a tune to set the mood (our first high school homecoming theme song).

Who's passing on their genes? (We definitely hope it's Shaun's darker skin)

“Learn as much as you can while you are young, since life becomes too busy later.”

— Unknown

The high school years

We learned how to have fun while still being well-behaved

We learned that being kind to people will get you much further than being popular

We learned teamwork (cheesy, we know) with the help of Ms. Shafer

We learned that practicing lifts on the track doesn’t always mean you’re ready for the ice

…we just learned that we had this prom picture together…thanks Lrae!

…and meeting again as professionals

(Shameless shoutout to Cloudbakers turning 10 years old this year! See some company memories.)

All The Things

We can’t wait to share

We’ll start with the top 5

Acoustic Guitar: First thing we knew we were going to hang in your room so dad can come in and play on a moments notice
Checkbook: (not right away) This was how mom learned to handle finances so strictly, ‘twas introduced at Disney World...199X by Grandpa Kelly
American Girl…everything: Whether you’re a boy or girl, who doesn’t like to play grown-up life? Grandma Dana has an entire closet full of everything needed to build an entire make-believe home...except the the actual house. Since that playhouse won’t make it out of Elkhorn, mom & dad have already been scoping out cool tree house plans to build someday.
Crib: Speaking of building, with some research from Grandma Ruth, Grandpa Jim (Banta) is creating one of the coziest places you’ll ever have. A crib made from pure love, craftsmanship, and pieces from your great, great grandpa Ken’s cradle.
Holidays: First of all, the Bantas share a lot of birthdays with each other. We’ve got Carly & Kasey and Kyle & Graysen, but then we have Ruth on Halloween, dad is pretty close to Valentines Day, and mom is pretty close to Christmas. Whether you decide to share a birthday with mom or take over the New Years celebration, we’ve got a never-ending season of joy!
Lots of love: Ya won’t be able to get enough of it!

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The pandemic has made everything about this journey so different from what it seems like it would have been a year (or more) ago. In some ways, it’s amazing: no Happy Hour FOMO for Ashley and more time at home to get extra ready for this little “theyby” (at least before the birth). On the other hand, it’s been sad not to be able to tell people in the way we would have wanted: face-to-face. We’re still in the announcement phase and hoping we’ll get to everyone by the end of the year. If not, SURPRISE! Here is some of our favorite how-we-told collateral.

Wheel of Fortune game for the Bantas

Dapper Day Idea Deck for Ashley's Dad

A new job description for Cloudbakers HR

Backstory: There’s one other person that already calls Ashley and Shaun ‘mom’ & ‘dad’. So we made him a shirt. And then he helped us tell some others.

Oh baby, and have we felt the love! No matter how one announcement or another has gone down it’s made each day just so exciting and memorable. We’ve kept track of some of the digital remarks in Ashley’s bullet journal, but there are so many more phone calls and well wishes that have been sent our way. Thank you for all the support!