Mom and Sarahbear

Loving Caleb

2011-12-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

I'm especially loving little Caleb this week! Two fun experiences with other people with the name Caleb have given great hope for who this young man will one day grow up to be.

In Seminary, we were studying in the book of Numbers this week. And actually, President Kimball (such a sweet and tender prophet himself) tells the story so well...

"Give Me This Mountain", Ensign, November 1979
"I should like to refer to the great story of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land. In that story there is an account of one special man that moves and motivates and inspires me. His name was Caleb.

Shortly after Moses led Israel out of bondage from Egypt, he sent twelve men to search out the promised land and to bring back word about living conditions there. Caleb and Joshua were among the group. After spending forty days on their mission, the twelve men returned. They brought back figs and pomegranates and a cluster of grapes so large it took two men to carry it between them on a pole.

The majority of the search party gave a very discouraging report on the promised land and its inhabitants. Although they found a land that was beautiful and desirable and flowing with milk and honey, they also found that the cities were walled and formidable and that the people, the “sons of Anak,” looked like giants. The Israelite scouts said that they felt like grasshoppers in comparison. Caleb, however, saw things a little differently, with what the Lord called “another spirit,” and his account of the journey and their challenges was quite different. He said, “Let us go up at once, and possess [their land]; for we are well able to overcome it” (Num. 13:30).

Joshua and Caleb were men of great faith, and they joined in urging that the Israelites go immediately, to the promised land, saying:

“If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

“Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for … the Lord is with us: fear them not” (Num. 14:8–9).

But the faint-hearted Israelites, remembering the security of their Egyptian slavery and lacking faith in God, rejected Caleb and Joshua and sought even to stone them to death.

Because of their lack of faith, the children of Israel were required to spend the next forty years wandering about and eating the dust of the desert, when they might have feasted on milk and honey.

The Lord decreed that before Israel could enter the land of Canaan, all of the faithless generation who had been freed from bondage must pass away—all go into eternity—all except Joshua and Caleb. For their faith, they were promised that they and their children would live to inhabit the promised land.

Forty-five years after the twelve men returned from their exploration of the land of promise, when the new generation of Israel, under the leadership of Joshua, was completing its conquest of Canaan, Caleb spoke to Joshua:

“Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me … to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

“Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God.

“And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

“As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me [at least in the spirit of the gospel and its call and needs]: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, … both to go out, and to come in” (Josh. 14:7–8, 10–11).

From Caleb’s example we learn very important lessons. Just as Caleb had to struggle and remain true and faithful to gain his inheritance, so we must remember that, while the Lord has promised us a place in his kingdom, we must ever strive constantly and faithfully so as to be worthy to receive the reward.

Caleb concluded his moving declaration with a request and a challenge with which my heart finds full sympathy. The Anakims, the giants, were still inhabiting the promised land, and they had to be overcome. Said Caleb, now at 85 years, “Give me this mountain” (Josh. 14:12).

This is my feeling for the work at this moment. There are great challenges ahead of us, giant opportunities to be met. I welcome that exciting prospect and feel to say to the Lord, humbly, “Give me this mountain,” give me these challenges. "

So loved and appreciated President Kimball's humility, and am so grateful to have a better understanding of who Caleb was and what faith he had. So grateful that he was eventually allowed to enter the Promised Land, among the very few to have actually started AND finished the journey!

The second "Caleb" experience occured this past Fast and Testimony Meeting in our ward in Katy. Towards the end of the meeting, a young man named Caleb Gardner stood up...he is maybe 9 or 10. He mentioned how his sister had previously shared her testimony and how he sat there pondering to himself why she would want to do that so often. He came to the conclusion that somehow it must make her happy, so he thought that he would try it to see if it worked, so he approached the pulpit, relaying to us the thoughts that had gone through his mind. And then with tears in his eyes, and a suddenly remarkably quiet congregation listening, he expressed his love for family, the Savior, the gospel, and the joy that it all brought to him. It was the sweetest moment! Brought peace to my soul. The Church will be in good hands in the future with men like Caleb Gardner and Caleb Brewer...I just know it!

November 28, 2011 - Tender Mercies

2011-11-28T14:24:00.000-08:00

It's Monday, after a fantastic week with family and friends in Southern California. Talk about hard to get back into "it"...geez...it was 32 degrees this morning...in Houston!! What is that about?? I was so cold last night that I could not make myself get up and get another blanket! Rest assured, even though we are in Houston, the electric blanket is now on the bed. Back to the week...

Rich and I went to Southern California a couple of days before the rest of the troops were to arrive. We haven't really had a time there together since leaving in 1999 and it was super fun. Yes, we miss that area...fun places and dear friends! I sit here this afternoon and just have to smile and feel grateful for several experiences that we had. We all know about that scripture in 1 Nephi..."the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." And then Elder Bednar's remarks about that scripture, "I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord's timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them." Thursday afternoon we chose to visit the Newport Beach Temple...so beautiful and so amazing to have a temple so close by. After we checked in at the front desk, we were approached by a gentleman who would be serving in the temple that afternoon. He said that Rich looked familiar to him and when he responded with "Rich Bowerman", the gentleman asked us if we knew Evalyn Bowerman. Ummm...yea...she was my mother! The gentleman then very quietly reminded us of who he was...her Bishop...from more than 12 years ago...he who spent countless hours guiding her, encouraging her, and blessing her life as her eclesiastical leader. We had met him a couple of times while she was so sick, and at her funeral, but Rich had spoken with him numerous times on the phone. It was such a sweet moment for the three of us standing there, knowing that it was definitely not a coincidence that we would choose to walk through those doors at that particular moment when he, who was actually filling in for someone else that afternoon, was standing there. It made our time in the temple oh, so sweet. And as we were leaving, we randomly asked a question of a sister sitting quietly close to the front door...turned out to be the Bishop's wife...and we had a wonderful conversation about Evalyn and how we remembered her.

Rich and I drove around and took pictures of apartments we lived in and our first home. We had dinner with good friends a couple of different times. Saturday morning Jennifer and I went to a favorite boutique at the Disneyland Hotel, called CUW. Some people are so darn creative...way fun. There were 12 different cashier stations and I finally ended up at one. As the gal was putting my purchases in order, I told her that she looked familiar and she remarked that I did, too. I have been gone from SoCal since 1999 and never lived anywhere she had, but we kept digging. Turns out that she is a sister of a dear friend from Bellingham, Washington, and we had indeed spent a most amazing day together at the beach many years ago. Way funny...and fun!

Our kids all arrived in Carlsbad on Monday of last week. We were thrilled with our accomodations and location...close to Legoland, the beach, San Diego, Orange County, AND there was a great "big, warm, bubble bathtub" - that was according to Claire. She spent a lot of time in that "bathtub", running from the freezing cold water fountain, to the nice warm bubble bathtub! It was so nice just to spend a relaxing time together. We did manage to get back up to Orange one afternoon and met our friend, Katie, who took some family pics. Loved walking along the beach and loved spending a couple of afternoons at Legoland with Claire and Caleb, and loved our Thanksgiving meal! One afternoon a group went down to the Mormon Battalion Museum in San Diego and yep, they ran into one of our old neighbors from when we lived in Santa Maria...a dear friend to Chris. How cool is that?

Everyone headed out Saturday morning, some driving and some flying, but we all arrived at our various destinations safe and sound and all about the same time. That was funny! Rich and I had to catch a ride from the airport that we landed at to the airport where we had departed from and left our car at. We had the most interesting conversation with our driver. She was very talkative and interesting, and as it turned out both she and Rich had traveled to the same place in upstate New York. Rich has a remarkable way of working the Church into conversations, and as he spoke about Olean, New York, he mentioned how it was close to places significant in Church history. So she finally said, "OK, tell me what Mormons believe." Really? She didn't know anything about the church, which is a little unusual. She was honest in her desire to know more and to find a religion where she "fit". She appreciated the fact that we have no paid clergy. She seemed to think that a modern day prophet might be a good idea. She was open to the idea of the Book of Mormon and asked how she could get one. She said that she often prays, and that when she prays that she asks that she will transport only good people. We mentioned to her that it may not just be "chance" that we ended up in her car that night. She was happy to give us her address so that we could make sure a Book of Mormon is delivered by some missionaries. Sweet times...we came home shaking our heads at all the amazing "little" coincidences that happened during the week, knowing in our hearts that they were not at all coincidental. And then in the morning I went to pick up Lucy and Lizzy...who have not let me out of their site! Missed my little girlfriends!! On to the holidays...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year!!
P.S. I totally realize that my red shoes really "pop" here (we were just going for lots of color!), but I love them...thanks, Jennifer, for talking me into that purchase. Maybe I should have Katie tone them down a little, eh?

Amy's Birthday - A Good Day to Catch Up

2011-10-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

October 24, 2011

The thought went through my mind yesterday..."Oh my, if Amy was with us, she would be turning 30!" Feeling just a little old myself today. 30 years later there is still hardly a day that goes by that I don't think of my little Amy. Seems that as of late there have been so many difficult situations that friends/family/acquaintenances have had to deal with. I recognize that part of this simply arises from the fact that life is marching on (things happen the longer we live) and that my circle of friends has grown (thereby more experiences are shared) and that my children are no longer children and are therefore experiencing real life...at times it is fantastic and at times...not so much. I LOVED Elder Cook's address at the October conference...so good...
Here's just a little bit of it...
"Sometimes tragedies are very personal. A son or daughter dies early in life or falls victim to a devastating disease. A loving parent’s life is taken because of a thoughtless act or accident. Whenever tragedy occurs, we mourn and strive to bear one another’s burdens. We lament the things that will not be accomplished and the songs that will not be sung.

Among the most frequently asked questions of Church leaders are, Why does a just God allow bad things to happen, especially to good people? Why are those who are righteous and in the Lord’s service not immune from such tragedies?

While we do not know all the answers, we do know important principles that allow us to face tragedies with faith and confidence that there is a bright future planned for each of us. Some of the most important principles are:

First, we have a Father in Heaven, who knows and loves us personally and understands our suffering perfectly.

Second, His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and Redeemer, whose Atonement not only provides for salvation and exaltation but also will compensate for all the unfairness of life.

Third, the Father’s plan of happiness for His children includes not only a premortal and mortal life but also an eternal life as well, including a great and glorious reunion with those we have lost. All wrongs will be righted, and we will see with perfect clarity and faultless perspective and understanding.

From the limited perspective of those who do not have knowledge, understanding, or faith in the Father’s plan—who look at the world only through the lens of mortality with its wars, violence, disease, and evil—this life can seem depressing, chaotic, unfair, and meaningless. Church leaders have compared this perspective with someone walking into the middle of a three-act play.3 Those without knowledge of the Father’s plan do not understand what happened in the first act, or the premortal existence, and the purposes established there; nor do they understand the clarification and resolution that come in the third act, which is the glorious fulfillment of the Father’s plan. "

Love that part about "all wrongs will be made right"...I have faith that this is true. It is what makes burying my firstborn child bearable. I have faith that families are indeed forever.

Moving along to the "catching up" part...

We are settling into our little bungalow/empty nest experience quite nicely. I think on the 2nd or 3rd Sunday here I was extended a calling to teach Seminary. Is it wrong to say that I just had a feeling about this...? Anyways, it's all good and I am having a fantastic time with my 9 regular students. This is a picture from this morning, actually. It was "Nerd" day at school, and a bunch of them came appropriately dressed.
This is all of them. I tell them often how grateful I am that they get me up and going each day. I am so glad to have them come to my home...6:00 a.m. comes early. We are studying the Old Testament together this year. I am learning SO much...it is amazing.

Needless to say, Seminary preparation has overtaken my life! The second they leave in the morning I'm thinking about the next day's lesson, and think about and prepare throughout the whole day. Not sure how full-time teachers do it. But I truly do think the world of them. These are such GOOD kids...willing to learn, participate, and be great examples to their friends. I count this such a privilege to serve in this way.

Shortly after school started here (and thus, Seminary), Rich and I headed back to St. Louis/Edwardsville to meet Marshall upon his return from missionary service in Brazil.

Here we are anxiously awaiting...I think he was the last one off the plane. Everyone who came off the plane and saw us with the sign kept saying, "He's on his way!" At last he arrived...what a relief to have him back in my arms once again. 2 years = long time, but within an hour I felt as though I was asking myself, "Did he really leave?" Marshall is still definitely Marshall...LOVE that boy and am so grateful for the example of service that he has set. It will serve him well throughout the remainder of his life.

First stop...Bobby's!! Yummy, yummy, yummy!!

Next stop...meet with President Holt, who extended Marshall his release from missionary service. We so enjoyed our time in the O'Fallon Stake and serving with these great men. What amazing examples of goodness and service. Marshall and Sarah drove out to Utah together...brother/sister bonding experience. And I understand they had quite the time. How grateful I am for modern technology that led them on their way and kept us in constant contact with them! Marshall's siblings were so excited to have him back in Utah...all is well.

I came back home for a short time and then headed back out to Utah...got some family time in!

This is Perry Sessions with Marshall. Perry is Marshall's 1st cousin, once removed. Perry just returned from his mission to New Zealand...how cool is that?? Now back at BYU together!

A couple of years ago I had met Colette. Her son, Ben, and Marshall left for the same mission on the same day and we have kept in contact over the past 2 years. Well, we had to meet for breakfast now that the "mish" is over. Colette also has a daughter Sarah's age...too fun. Even though they were in the same mission, they saw very little of each other, but had lots of fun stories to tell and spoke in Portuguese quite a bit!

Loved getting a chance to visit with my sister, Trish, doing better all the time after all of her cancer treatments were finally completed. Speaking of sisters and backing up a little...about mid-July my oldest sister, Sharon in VA, had gone in for routine knee replacement surgery - something she has put off for too long, but finally gave in. Well, the following morning she had a stroke...probably as a result of a blood clot. Serious? Sharon is very much like a mother to me...she is 73 this year. The stroke seriously affected her ability to speak and remember lots of different things. Of all things to have to deal with, this would probably be right up there with the most difficult for Sharon. Talk about having to learn patience. Sharon just bought her first computer in May of this year! She had labored over that decision for such a long time. She LOVES family history and has realized what a great blessing the computer is - just for that purpose. She is AMAZING and to say that this has been frustrating would be a severe understatement. I was able to go spend a week with her before Marshall returned and we made remarkable progress. Over the last couple of months she has periods of great depression/frustration, but as of late she is doing much better. Each time I talk with her I can understand a little better what she is trying to say. People, time frames, dates, etc. are routinely mixed up still, but she's getting there. And if there is anyone that can get through this and come out better for the experience, it would be my oldest sister. She still has a great work to accomplish and I have no doubt whatsoever that the Lord is blessing her and that the special gift that we have, the Holy Ghost, will indeed "bring all things into remembrance" for her. Again, one of those situations where all you can do is ask, "OK, so what am I supposed to learn from this?" Then move forward with faith.

Of course, getting to go to Utah means getting to spend time with my two favorite people in the world...Caleb and Claire...gosh I miss them!! Here's Mr. Bubba...

...and here's Miss Claire. She's almost 3...can't believe it!!

Also, the trip out yonder had the purpose of getting Sarah situated in school up in Idaho. This pic is out of place, but Sarah came down a couple of weeks ago and the kids all were together to celebrate her 18th birthday...can't believe that either!!

While on the way up to Idaho, we picked up one of our favorite people in the world...Jenny! Jenny is very much like a grandma to Sarah and I adore her. So easy to talk to and such a blessing in my life! What would I have done if I hadn't had her shoulder to cry on as I drove away from Rexburg, leaving my baby behind???

Some things just work out, ya know? I could NOT have hand picked a better roommate for Sarah. Natalie is a music major, too, and from North Carolina, and so has had many of the same types of experiences as Sarah. They were BFFs within minutes! Can I just say...I LOVE BYU-Idaho! There is such an amazing spirit that exists on that campus...such goodness. She is one lucky girl to have this experience and I know that she is having the time of her life. It makes my sadness at her absence just a little easier to handle.

But since Rich and I are missing the kiddos so much, we had been talking about a new puppy. Actually, while at the airport waiting for Marshall to arrive, we saw a couple get off the plane with one of these dogs...and we fell in LOVE! We asked about their dog and learned that it was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel...little bit smaller than a Cocker Spaniel, but a fantastic companion dog and good on the airplane! So we started doing our research. At some point Rich threw out the idea of maybe getting two...which kind of shocked me. But then reality hit and we decided on one...but then we found a breeder, went to visit, and...he had two sisters!! So I say...how could you possibly choose??

Meet Lucy on the left, and Lizzy on the right. They were about 9 weeks old when we brought them home. They have been a BLAST! And we are SO glad we have both of them. They keep each other company! They are pretty crazy when they are at play with each other...they love to grab each other's ear or tail...but then...

...they are like this...

...or this. They are almost always touching each other somehow when they fall asleep. They are doing super at potty training. They have very distinct personalities, though. One is very stubborn, one loves her bath, one is very patient at waiting, and on and on. I told Rich this was probably our only chance at having twins, so here we are!

They are so good at night, too. The kids will remember for sure that it took Oreo several weeks before she wasn't crying at night. These two climb into their crate about 9 p.m. and sleep soundly until I get up at 5:00 a.m. Then they play for awhile and are back in their crate while the kids are here for Seminary. Then we are out and having fun the rest of the day. They are SO sweet and we hope they will continue to be so. They are supposed to be the kind of dog that pretty much just loves to be around people. They certainly are eye-catchers. I took them out one morning and I lost track of how many people took their picture. Passed on the breeders info also. Finished their quilts this last weekend...and they LOVE them! Speaking of quilting...I'm back in the swing of it. A gal that was in our ward in Edwardsville, her parents are in this ward in Katy, and Colleen is a quilter extraordinaire! We get together once a week...I'm actually getting projects done and it is amazing. Looking forward to a quilting retreat down in Galveston in a couple of weeks. Also, Lindsay comes on Wednesday for the Houston Quilt Market - I think it is among the biggest in the country...should be super fun!!

It is incredibly odd to not have children at home. It's like - wow, no marching band, no practices, no school performances, nowhere you "have" to be most of the time. It is odd, but also kinda nice, too! We're getting into this! We are very much involved in ward activities. We had a great service project last weekend at a home for adults with limited abilities...did a bike race and carnival. Was SO much fun. Rich and I are determined to go places and explore this area. Who knows how long we will be here. But anyways, a couple of weekends ago we headed over to the San Antonio area and stayed at a hotel on the "Riverwalk"...was WAY cool! The funnest part was the Segway tour that we did. Need to find those pictures!! What a trip those things are!! The "Riverwalk" is so pretty. The puppies are not-so-good on their leashes yet, so we didn't get to walk around too much with them, but we still had fun!

OK, so that only took a couple of hours. Life is good, life is hard sometimes, but definitely good. We are very blessed. If all y'all find yourself in the Houston area, give us a call!! Would love to get together. We are planning on being in California for Thanksgiving, and Utah for Christmas.
Oh, and the World Series is tied up at 2...go CARDS!! We found that you simply can NOT live in the St. Louis area and not be a baseball fan...wish we were there to be part of the baseball frenzy that I'm sure is going on...kind of interesting living in Texas and not rootin' for the home team...oh well. Hugs to all!!

July 4, 2011 - Happy Birthday America...from Katy, Texas!

2011-07-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here amidst boxes, boxes, and more boxes in our new Katy bungalow, thinking about how cool it was to be able to see the fireworks from one of the upstairs bedrooms at our home in Edwardsville. Before I mentally readjust to Katy, I need to reminisce just a little about Edwardsville. I've been thinking about all of the things/people/places that have been so dear to me over the past 6 1/2 years. This list is clearly not all-inclusive. We've had so many amazing experiences and our family has grown and changed and changed some more. We won't even go into that yet...except to say that Sarah is currently in Utah spending the rest of her summer with her siblings. Super proud of her for running a 5k today with Lindsay. Super glad that the kids were able to spend some time together on Sunday afternoon. She has missed them tons.

This picture was taken during the part of Youth Conference when we were at the St. Louis zoo! I'll mention more about that later...

One of my very favorite parts of the day was waking up and looking out the window and seeing this tree and listening to the birds sing. I remember growing up under a memosa tree and spending hours stripping off the little leaves and playing with the pink flowers. I have given this tree a LOT of TLC and it is finally turning into something. I will miss it!

My dear sweet friend, Karen Wall, shared several of her beautiful lilies with me a couple of years ago. Last year they were great...this year they have been fantastic. So glad I was there to see this...

...and this...

...and this....How I grew to love Karen and her dear, sweet husband Norman. I miss Norman and am so glad I was able to see him embrace the gospel.

One of the very best parts of living where we did is how close we were to Nauvoo. Love, love, love Nauvoo. There's no where like it! Sarah and I (along with Arena) made one more dash up the road to experience it just one more time. Spent the night in a log cabin, listening to thunder and lightening and remembering how similar it was to the night before Katie was married in Nauvoo. So grateful for the Prophet Joseph. I love this statue of Joseph and his brother, Hyrum.

How lucky I was to come in contact with lots of tennis friends. Wow, Edwardsville has the BEST indoor tennis courts at the YMCA. We were so lucky to be able to play all year. These ladies are amazing - providing equal amounts of competition and socializing and plain fun.

This is another fantastic group of tennis ladies. If I can find even just one group in Katy like I've had the pleasure of playing with in Edwardsville, I'll be one happy girl!!

Yep, I'll be lost without Carmen. Carmen cuts (and colors) my hair and provides lots of humor and a listening ear at no extra charge. The girls all love Carmen and will miss their visits whenever they came to town!

I've been so blessed to have such good friends while living here, and these are just a few of them! It is so very strange to find myself a tad bit older than most of them...how could that be? It seriously seems like just yesterday that I was the young, young mother, desperate for a friend. Girls need friends and after a certain point, age becomes irrelevent!

Debbie Coffey used to live around the corner from me in Huntington Beach, CA. Now she lives in St. Charles, MO, which was not too far from Edwardsville. We didn't get together nearly enough, but did have a chance for lunch a couple of weeks ago. Debbie amazes me in many, many ways! Melody came along also. Ummmmm....I can't even begin to say how much I'll miss Melody. I knew Melody and I would be good friends when we discovered that we had chosen the same china pattern decades ago. We've been through weddings, and fires, and walks, and talks, and serving, and grandbabies together...and that's just the beginning. Although we won't be together as much, I am sure that our paths will cross often - and I will look forward to those times!!

I have lots of little friends, too! I love all of the kids in the ward. Ashlyn and Payson were regulars at my house, as Heather was Sarah's flute teacher and brought them along. Small price to pay to have the teacher come to MY house. Didn't get a picture up of Sarah and Heather together, but I can not NOT write this without mentioning how grateful I am to Heather and her influence on Sarah - not just musically, but as an amazing example of all that is good and all that she has to look forward to. Heather always knew just the right thing to say and just the right way to say it. I will miss our musical afternoons!

And here are some more of my little friends - the Reeds. Their last Sunday was also the same day as mine, but they are headed north. These are some of the best kiddos and I will miss them tons. So glad the world is much smaller with the internet! Like I said, there were tons more...

I have never had a "Stake" calling before until I was called to work with the Stake Young Women, meaning I work with all of the 11 units in our Stake. These two ladies, Deor Jorgensen and Dana Waggoner, are a blast! We have had so much fun serving together and getting to work with the 12 - 18 year old girls. Keeps us young!! We had a blast last year at Girls' Camp and Youth Conference and monthly dances. A couple of weeks ago Deor and I drove out to Dana's farm - yep, a REAL farm - and spent the day seeing how life is on a true farm in Salem, Illinois! Way amazing. They have thousands of acres that they farm, AND she teaches 5th grade, AND her daughter just had twin baby boys, AND her husband is Bishop of the Centralia Ward. The woman is CRAZY busy. Deor has a daughter that lives here in Katy, Texas, SO we took a road trip down here together...way fun. Deor is so easy to talk with and the miles flew by. I will miss my association with them immensely...I learned so much!!

This is just one set of the many, many missionaries that have served in our area, but we really like these guys...Elder Dodge and Elder Jensen. Hoping they'll still be there when we go back in August. They so remind me of Marshall!

Miss Arena!! LOVE this girl. Arena has been such a sweet friend to Sarah. She is a year behind Sarah in school, but looks forward to catching up with her at BYU-I. She came into our Sacrament Meeting to see Sarah receive her Young Women Medallion - meant a lot to Sarah. Arena is representative of the amazing youth that I had the chance to spend my last weekend in Illinois with...

Here is the group after we finished our scavenger hunt at the St. Louis Zoo. I can't even begin to express how GOOD these kids are. Our Mutual theme this year is the 13th Article of Faith, which was printed on their t-shirts. Our conference theme was "We believe, we hope, we will endure" and they will! They gain strength from coming together and truly represent what is "virtuous, lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy" to me!!

Ah, 102 Friar's Lane...I will miss you! I have loved driving (and running and biking) through our beautiful neighborhood. I have loved mowing the grass and caring for the flowers, in spite of the poison ivy, bugs, bee stings, and weeds. In the end it really is just a house...what matters most are the sweet memories that took place within those walls. Three high school graduates, two wedding receptions, one missionary farewell, music lessons, the Hawks living with us, Beth living with us, lots of other short-term occupants, luncheons, showers, birthday parties, parties after school musicals, Christmases, grandbabies visiting, ice storms, snow storms, power outages, bike trails, wonderful neighbors, Oreo, visits from extended family, spontaneous times around the piano...I'm sure I'm forgetting a thing or two...

I am so grateful that I got to know the family that is moving in! Especially made me happy that Julie likes the red front door and has no plans to change it...

May 16th - Sweet Remembrances of my Mother!

2011-05-17T15:05:00.001-07:00

May 16th is my mother's birthday and it seems as though I just always like to do something that day that reminds me of her...I had a perfectly wonderful day yesterday. I especially enjoyed cutting some peonies and placing them in the "shoe" that reminds me of her.

And then I spent a good majority of the rest of the day sewing, because that definitely reminds me of her! I would show what it was I was working on, but it is a surprise for this beautiful girl for her graduation...just a little something - she probably knows, but I know she'll pretend it is a surprise. This is Sarah on her Prom day...so cute!!

"I Miss My Siblings"

2011-03-15T11:17:00.001-07:00

Amazing...the blog thing is working correctly today!

So, our lives are changing once again as we relocate to Houston..."we" as in Rich and I. Which seems so strange to me. Our first move sans children! How did that happen? Sarah will be attending BYU-I in the fall, Marshall will return from his mission and head to BYU-Provo, etc. etc. So Katie calls me the other day and rather subtly made the suggestion that instead of going to Houston with us in July that Sarah should just come out to Provo and spend the remainder of her summer there "with her sisters". I think my heart skipped at least 2 beats! Where did she get such an idea? I didn't mention it to Sarah...

...until our Home Teacher was visiting the other night and somehow it came up. And Sarah, bless her heart, said, "What? Of course I want to go out there as soon as I can! I miss my siblings!!" I'm sure she did not appreciate the look that I gave her...as in "NO WAY JOSE!!" The reality is, though, that as I've pondered on that comment over the last couple of days my heart has soared. I'm SO glad she misses her siblings and the deepest desire of her heart is to be with them. Sarah is experiencing so many different emotions right now and feels very torn between wanting to "get on with life", but realizing that she will be leaving a lot of very good and supportive friends behind here in Edwardsville in the process. "Let's just stay home for Spring Break this year so I can be with my friends." Which I totally understand. But in the end, I think she understands that "family" is where it is at. And so do I.
July 2009

Lovin' Me Some Strawberries!! February 2011

2011-03-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

I had the most wonderful few days with some dear friends in Southern California about a month ago, although it seems like "forever"! The weather was most amazing and provided the very-much-needed thaw I was looking forward to. We had pulled off the freeway to make a visit somewhere and what do you know - a strawberry stand! Very much to my liking! Yes, we had crepes the next night.

Jennifer and I did a fair amount of walking and visiting and meeting up with a lot of friends. One night we even headed over to Huntington Beach - my goodness that place looks way different than when we lived there...so different. However, sometimes you meet up with friends you haven't seen in forever and it's like you never left.
Chryssa Holdaway, Janet Edwards, and Lisa
We ventured down to San Diego for a fun getaway, and got Jonelle to come along with us. The weather couldn't have been more gorgeous! Had a dream walk along the beach Saturday morning and then had lunch at the Hotel Del Coronado and sat in the SUN!!
Sunday night another dear friend from long ago, Susan Dunn, came down from Northridge for a visit. Susan is the best!! She amazes me.
And then there's Betty! You wouldn't believe this woman!! Betty taught Lindsay and Katie baton twirling - they loved her. OK, so our lunch went over by a little and she said she had to hurry off...to TEACH BATON...at 70!! Couldn't believe it. She has filled her life with so much that is good and praiseworthy. I admire her more than I could ever express.

Let's just say, I had a blast! So much fun. Just what I needed to get me through the next several crazy months ahead! Thank you dear friends!!

Lots of Visiting with Cousins - Jan/Feb 2011

2011-03-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

I'm having quite a difficult time with this blog stuff tonight...pictures are just not cooperating, so I'm just going to have to go with it. I was able to go back out to Utah in January for what turned out to be a couple of weeks. Love being around the kiddos - the little ones AND the big ones. Lindsay was gone part of the time to her CHA conference in southern California. We were all quite jealous of her time on Venice Beach. Sarah came out on a Friday afternoon...Saturday morning she had her audition at BYU-Provo, which went relatively well. Saturday afternoon we did a little prom dress shopping and found "the perfect" dress for Sarah...yahoo! Saturday night was spent at Becky's house - we were up rather late making Valentine Day banners. I think we all are like our mom in that we never just make ONE of anything...it is always multiples. We had fun crafting and talking to early in the morning. Sarah and I left Sunday afternoon to go and visit with Chris and Holly for a bit, and then we headed over to visit with Jenny and David Hawks...our dear missionary friends. Had dinner and then hit the road to head up to Rexburg. We got to spend the night with Lindsay, Heather Porter's sister! We kept thinking we were hearing Heather! So fun. We also got to visit with Miranda Goree Conkle and her good husband for a few minutes. Monday morning we headed over to campus for Sarah's audition with the flute professor and it went amazingly well. Sarah's decision to attend BYU-I was pretty much made before we left town! We made our way back down to Provo Monday evening, only to find out that we wouldn't be leaving town on Tuesday as planned because of the bad, bad weather back in St. Louis. In fact, we didn't make it home until late Thursday.

So Wednesday, since we didn't leave, we were able to get together with Becky's family...way fun for the kids to be with their cousins. I LOVE the first picture above...2nd cousins! Baby Caleb Brewer and baby Matthew Ridge. (Katie and Nathan are cousins.) Caleb is about 2 1/2 months older than Matthew, but keep in mind that Matthew's parents are both 6 ft. tall, plus some! The second picture above is of Sterling and Nathan - Nathan is holding baby Matthew.
Katie, Jayne, Sarah, Ta, and Mandy...
Orson and Bryant in the back, Brooke, Poppy, Claire, and Isaac in the front...Claire loves kids!! Love, love, love being with family!!

Christmas 2010 - Our Last One in Edwardsville, IL

2011-03-13T19:34:00.001-07:00

We had a super fun Christmas last December - our last one in Edwardsville. Lots of great memories had by all. So fun to have everyone be able to come - and we had a great conversation with Marshall on Christmas Day. The joy in his voice was felt by all. These pictures are all way out of order, so I'll just label as we go along...

This first one is of Katie and Lindsay after they got to go have their hair done...Katie had hers chopped off and Lindsay came back much darker with bangs. They love visiting Carmen...fun way to start the new year... One of Joseph's presents was a stadium tour of Cardinal's Stadium...we went a couple of days after Christmas...here they are in the dug out!
Our beautiful home on Christmas Day! Also, this was Rich's first ever white Christmas. Made it just a little extra special. Claire loving the snow in quite the get-up!

One of Rich's favorite toys as a young child was Lincoln Logs. Guess what I found for him for Christmas...to share, of course, with his grandchildren!

A surprise visit from Santa on Christmas Eve. This was SO fun. Our dear home teacher, Dan McNeill, spends a good part of his Christmas Eve making visits to families with children, and he knew we'd have some extra company this Christmas Eve...made it super special for us. Everyone loved his visit, but Claire...

...but Claire did LOVE working in the play kitchen, next to her own Christmas tree!

We tried super hard to get a decent picture of Rich and I with the kiddos...and this is about as good as it got.

My creativity on Christmas Day...loved the snow!

Lindsay, Katie, and Holly all got the same Nike jackets...extra long arms with thumb holes.

Chris and Holly with Santa!!

Love this little guy!!

Grammy and Caleb!!

Grandpa and Caleb!!

Auntie Sarah with Claire! All in all - a very special holiday indeed!!

Thanksgiving 2010 - 30th Anniversary - in Chicago!

2011-03-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

Catching up here! How to back up and cover the last 5 months...
So last Thanksgiving we decided we didn't want to stay home (surprise, surprise). It was our 30th anniversary, too, so the 3 of us decided to head up to Chicago via the train for Thanksgiving. Way fun, bitter cold! These pictures are not particularly in order...
We went to the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday, the 26th. Sarah and I had done a little after-Thanksgiving shopping (no great bargains in Chicago!) and then we took the bus and headed to the museum. Way fun! Saw lots of fun exhibits and behind-the-scenes stuff. Happy 30th Anniversary to Rich and Lisa!!

There's a building on Michigan Avenue, can't remember the name (maybe the Post Office), that has pieces of buildings from all over the world. This piece is from the Great Pyramids in Eqypt. Way cool. Our hotel was right close by Michigan Avenue.

This picture is for Marshall, my Lego-man.

Sarah and I doing a little shopping along the Magnificent Mile...how fun!!

Oh yeah...can't go to Chicago and not experience pizza - Chicago style!! I think we were each able to barely eat 1 piece each, but it was sure good! All in all - a great and memorable weekend!!

Friends...

2010-12-05T12:34:00.000-08:00

Before the onslaught of December has become too crazy, I am going to do some catching up of sorts...obviously not in any particular order.

I have been so blessed throughout my life to cross paths with some incredibly remarkable and fun women. These pics only represent a small number of them. This past summer I had so much fun catching up with some friends from quite some time ago, plus getting to know some new friends quite a bit better.
OK, seriously, if you want to get to know someone really well, spend a week with them at Girls' Camp! This is a pic of Deor Jorgensen, me, and Dana Waggoner and we served the Young Women of our stake while camping during one of the hottest weeks of the year in Missouri. We had so much fun teaching and hiking and singing and spending time chatting with each other and with the girls...loved it! I have LOVED my new calling working with all of the other wards in our incredible O'Fallon Stake!!

One of the first people that we met upon our arrival in Bellingham , WA on a very, very dismal and rainy day was Dawn Hatch. After meeting Dawn, I knew that everything was going to be just fine. Dawn makes me smile - just love being around her!!

So, while at Girls' Camp and chatting with Deor we made a connection from our past - Carol Jean Bishop! Carol Jean and her husband were dear friends when Rich and I first started dating. Deor and her husband Neil met the Bishops when they were at the University of Utah doing graduate work...such a small world! Deor, Carol Jean, and I had a yummy lunch together!!

I'll have a "forever" connection with this amazing lady! Jenny Hawks and her husband served a mission in St. Louis and lived in our basement for a little over 6 months. I LOVE her!! I think she likes to shop as much as I do!!

This is SUPER funny - so no laughing! This picture is of my good high school friends. I married first and was obviously pregnant here - just can't remember if it was with Amy or Chris. Anyways, the four of us met up this summer for the first time in 25+ years...and

...we look just a tad different...older, but definitely wiser! (Lisa, Gail, Yasemin, and Alison)

Claire Was Here - Evidence Abounds!!

2010-10-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

My goodness...I can't believe how long it has been since I've updated my blog! I guess it just comes down to the fact that I've been having too much fun to actually sit down and document it all...but I must because I don't want to forget a second of it. Needless to say, it will take several posts.

I came home from Utah last night - and wow, it just seems a little too quiet! Claire & Company arrived on September 22nd and it has been non-stop since then. I'm walking around the house seeing various pieces of evidence that Claire was here. Also going through pictures -lots of proof!
Claire loved my bathtub...sometimes we had a bath twice a day. Amazing how much I could get done while she was occupied for a few minutes in the bathtub.

Some mornings when she woke up she was particularly happy to see Caleb - and occasionally she would pose for a picture with him...Claire loves to be outside. I have a hammock on the deck that she quite enjoyed playing and relaxing in. The weather was pretty much perfect for their visit, and therefore, Claire wanted to be out there most of the time. We tried to fence her in - rather unsuccessfully. She quickly learned how to move the chairs and put them back as they were so we wouldn't notice her escape. One morning I looked out a kitchen window only to see her headed into our neighbor's yard without a thought to look back. The girl is fast!

She loved, loved, loved playing the piano and loved, loved, loved entertaining us on the drums!

Claire loves powder! After every bath we have "powder time" and she puts it on rather generously. Well, one Sunday morning we couldn't find her as we were trying to walk out the door. We did, however, find a powder trail that lead to my closet where she was hiding. She had managed to get the bottle of powder and I guess she found it rather entertaining.

Claire loves to play with rocks - there's just something about rocks. She loves to pile them up, put them in her pockets, put them in a bucket, or line them up creatively.

This is pretty much how my living room looked for about 3 weeks. I have waited to be a grandma for a long time and have been stashing things away. It's way fun for me to bring it all out and I didn't mind one bit that she'd go in there and bang away on the pots and play with the dishes. She did, however, manage to get a spice jar off the kitchen counter (I think it was the tarragon) and dump it all over one morning.

We had the funniest experience the last night she was here...ok, so it was probably one of those moments that was much funnier had you been there in person. Claire was not about to eat her stew, even though she generally likes everything it was made with. We all tried everything we could think of. In desperation Katie tried to reason with her, showing her that the elephant was more than happy to eat the stew...didn't work...clearly didn't work!

Ummm...walked down the stairs. I thought FOR SURE I had put away every marker and pencil and pen I had. Wouldn't you know I missed a couple of them. And wouldn't you know that she'd feel the need to further decorate my pretty wallpaper! Oh Claire, Claire, Claire...

I'm not sure that I'm too anxious to remove her artwork - it's a sweet remembrance to me. I love her!!

August 21, 2010 - Diving Diva Claire!

2010-08-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

Cute Video of Baby Caleb!!

2010-08-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

He's Here, He's Here, Baby Caleb Has Arrived!

2010-08-19T15:28:00.001-07:00

I made it to Utah late Saturday night, August 14th - just in time for a fun get together at Jayne and Ta's home...so fun to see Mandy and her sweet family, Jayne and Ta and Poppy, AND my oldest sister Sharon and also my sister Becky, plus Lindsay and all the Brewers. Too fun!

Last week was way exciting for the Brewer family. Joseph's dad was able to be in attendance at his graduation from BYU...a significant milestone...yay, yay, and double yay to my fantastic son-in-law...so proud of him! I think he is so relieved and proud to be a graduate, but he is even more proud to be the father of a beautiful son...Caleb James Brewer...born Monday, August 16th. About 20 minutes before he was born all of us in the room started trying to guess what his weight would be. Joseph was right on the money...8 lb. 10 oz. Not bad for being a week early!
Katie's looking a little worn out in this pic, but she actually is feeling pretty darn good...compared to Claire's delivery, this one was a piece of cake. I'll spare you all the details and just say again what an incredibly wonderful experience it is to witness the birth of a child. Tears of relief and tears of joy just sprang to my eyes. I'm so proud of this little family!!

As previously mentioned, Joseph's dad was able to be here for his graduation and to meet baby Caleb. Earlier that day we went out and did some errands. Claire ADORES her Papa - particularly because he loves to give her rides on his shoulders! She was so cute putting her head down on top of his while we were going through the store.

Claire wasn't much for enjoying the hospital room, except for playing on the bed and with all of the buttons...we LOVE pushing buttons!

Can I just say how fantastic it is to meet a doctor that absolutely and thoroughly enjoys what he does??!! Dr. Holmes is so kind and soothing and patient...Katie is so lucky to be in such good hands! This is Dr. Holmes, proud papa Joseph, and baby Caleb!

Aunt Lindsay came over at the end of her work day just in time to be there for Caleb's birth! She's in love...again!

This is the most precious child! He actually looks pretty awake in this picture. That has been, so far, the biggest issue...getting him to wake up! He seems so mild, so content, so peaceful, and so clueless as to how much we are all in love with him!! Welcome sweet baby!!!

August 6, 2010 - An Historic Day Indeed!!

2010-08-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

It has been an historic day...at least in the world of Lisa Bowerman! What could possibly make this an historic day one may wonder? Well, I filled out my LAST set of school registration papers and went over to Edwardsville High School with Sarah to register her as a SENIOR! Yahoo! And I have to say this - Edwardsville High School has it down to a science. I've gone to lots of schools and lots of registration days...we were in and out of there in about 15 minutes! Smooth!! So, the first pic is Christopher's Kindergarten picture.
Such a cutie!

And the following pics are of my baby girl as a SENIOR! These pictures were taken by our dear friend Katharine while we were out in Utah in June. I think they turned out so well. She captured Sarah's personality to a tee!

I can't say it enough, and I know she's tired of hearing it, but I am SO glad I have one more year left with this girl! We are going to have a great SENIOR year together!

Happenings...lots and lots of happenings!!

2010-07-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2010

Happy Birthday to my country...I feel so blessed to be able to live in the "land of the free and the home of the brave"! Sarah and I saw a fantastic fireworks display last night--right here in Edwardsville!!

I can't believe that the last time I did a post was Mother's Day...crazy! The last two months have flown by. Lots of end-of-the-year activities for Sarah, trips, concerts, friends, parties, on and on...So I'm making an attempt to catch up just a bit. The entries are all mixed up, but basically most everything mentioned has happened since May.

The family was recently out in Utah for several reasons, which I'll get to later. While there, though, my sister Trish that lives in Orem let us know that she had breast cancer. That I was there and able to facilitate and take part in a certain doctor's visit, a super fun shopping trip, and a rather memorable sister dinner was...well, I'm learning more and more to not look at happenings as coincidences, but more and more as "tender mercies". We are currently waiting for the final diagnosis, but Trish has had a lumpectomy and some serious (long-awaited) reconstruction. Her future will include a rather aggressive chemo and radiation regimen, but so far things have gone well.
This is Trish and her good husband, Cliff, at Chris' wedding last November. I love her and know that with her very positive and determined outlook she'll get through this and come out on top!

Ah yes! Guess what I got Rich for Father's Day?? Tickets to Michael Buble! Wasn't that nice of me??!! So the concert was on June 25th...and let's just say...it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!! We haven't been to a concert for well over 30 years, so this was pretty darn fun. Fortunately we had some great seats and the folks in front of us didn't stand up very much, so we didn't need to, either. Such a great evening...he's an amazing performer with a fantastic voice!

Happy Birthday...and let's have a Tea Party while we're at it! Kirstin and Heather, here in Edwardsville, have fairly close birthdays, which are always fun to celebrate. As I was thinking about those that would like to help celebrate, I realized that almost all of them had little girls, so I decided to get another good friend, Melody, to help me and put this little event together.

Our little girl friends had such fun getting dressed up and playing with all the "girl" stuff that I've collected over the years.

Bella was particularly happy to find some clip-on earrings!

The group! Thanks ladies...so fun to put this together. You are all such great friends and moms to your wonderful daughters!

Last year my good friend Karen Wall, who has a yard that pretty much looks like the Garden of Eden, introduced me to the many varieties of lilies that exist. I had NO idea! She shared several with me last year and I've waited so patiently to watch them bloom this year. Here are some of them...so beautiful!

So Rich, Sarah and I headed out to Utah on June 13th. We took Sarah to BYU and dropped her off for BYU Summer Fest - a music camp - for the week. She had a fantastic time. I need to do an individual post just on Sarah and will talk more of her experience in that post. (I'm realizing that these pictures are SO out of order!) Anyways, after her week at BYU and Father's Day, Sarah and I remained in Utah for a couple more days while Rich headed home. We had so much fun with "you know who"! On one of our outings I had bought some M & M's, which surprisingly enough, Claire loves. But, of course, all things come to an end, and she had definitely had enough.

At which point, she gives you this look, "Are you serious?" At which point you show her the empty bag...

At which point she shows her disgust about the whole situation...no tears, but clearly distraught.

Claire is such a good sleeper...most of the time...or maybe she's a good sleeper when Mum-Mum is not in town. Katie and Joseph have moved her out the crib and for now her mattress is on the floor, and that works fine. But generally she doesn't fall asleep on the mattress.

She loves things piled on top, and always has something covering at least part of her face. So funny!

Claire also loves to play outside...as much as she can talk anyone into taking her out. She's such a social butterfly. Loves to play with any other kids that happen to wander by.

One of my sisters passed on several dresses to Claire. This one was hanging in the closet and I decided she should wear it for Father's Day. I thought she looked like a little angel!

When I brought her downstairs the girls were doing their best to stifle their laughter, which I simply did not understand. Finally they let me know that I was stuck in the 80's! This dress reminded them so much of what I tried (successfully!) to dress them in. I did my best to not show all day how my feelings were hurt. In my mind, some styles are "timeless", and this is one of them! Claire cooperated beautifully and didn't seem to mind one bit that she was a little behind the fashion times!

Claire with Auntie Lindsay!

Happy Father's Day to my daddy!!

The group on Father's Day...Holly is taking the pic and Joseph had gone to work...

Yummy Father's Day Dinner...thanks kids!!

Dinner at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake - night before Father's Day. I love this pic of Chris and Lindsay...let's just say that when I look at this picture I think to myself, "Wow, they've come a long ways!" I'm sure there are some out there that can understand my sentiment. Love these kids!

Rich and our daughter-in-law Holly! Such a good Mexican (Rich's fav!) restaurant...thanks all!!

Grandpa and Sweet Baby Claire!

One of the things about having lived lots of different places is that you meet lots of different friends along the way...and sometimes those paths really do cross again!

Such is the case with Kim Nitta. I knew Kim when Chris and Lindsay were little, before I had Katie. They moved, we moved, but we've stayed in touch over the years. Sure enough, two of her kids now live in the same ward in Provo as Lindsay! Too fun. Anyways, she happened to be in town for Father's Day and it was so fun to surprise her and spend some time visiting.

Lindsay and Heather knew each other well as little girls, and now again! Too fun!!

So, that week that Sarah was at BYU Rich and I decided to spend some time in different parts of southern Utah. We had a great time!

Over in the St. George area is an outdoor amphitheater called the Tuacahn. It is amazing. I stopped there a couple of times with the kids on our journies from southern California up to Salt Lake, but Rich had never been. So we went to see "Cats". It was super fun. Love that place!

Over on the other side of the state is Moab...the Jeep capital of the world! And we found out why. What a neat place...all these amazing sites that we'd never taken the time to see before.

Rich's sister, Rebecca, and her husband, Todd, came up from the Four Corners area and spent one day with us at Arches National Park...so cool!

Todd and I decided to brave the sun and heat and hike...

...and hike...

...the 3 mile round trip up to this amazing structure...Delicate Arch! So worth it! All in all we had a very fun and relaxing time together discovering this part of the country.

Several months ago a young lady came to our church building. She was 20 years old at the time and had crossed paths with some of our missionaries. I remember the first time I met her...I remember that she radiated a certain happiness and goodness. I remember thinking, "this is a special, special girl". Over the next several months she gained a testimony of the gospel and made the decision to be baptized, much to the dismay of her family and friends. While I understand that we Mormons are considered by many to be a tad different, I simply do not understand a family that would turn their backs on their daughter because of this. I know that her parents must be wonderful people...they have raised a wonderful daughter. I'm sure it is difficult to watch children make choices that are different than what they desire. But, if anything, she is better. Heavens, look at the good choices she is making every day. Regi has made the choice to go out to BYU Idaho, which we think will be such a great experience for her. In order for her save some money, she came to live with us for awhile.

Needless to say, Sarah and Regi quickly became best friends, and have spent many late nights chatting and laughing together. It has been such a good experience for Sarah, to see how Regi's testimony has grown over the last several months. To see her exhibit such faith until she has fully understood, and then to see the "lights go on" when she understands...amazing.

Red hair, lots of freckles = loads of fun!

A couple of weeks ago Regi's mother and sister came down to visit her...a huge step in the right direction! Their conversation led to Regi thinking that she should go home for a couple of months before she heads out to BYU. They have agreed to let her take the car to church meetings (huge!) and even have church friends come to the house (even huger!). She hopes, and we most certainly do also, that her influence will only bless her family in good ways. Regi left this last Wednesday and we miss her tons already!!

Well, that was pretty much not in any particular order...now on to July! Girls' Camp and Youth Conference are right around the corner...big events for both Rich and I. Marching Band is already in full swing with tons of other events filling up the summer! Can't hardly believe we're reaching Marshall's one year mark!!

Happy Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-09T15:37:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! I woke up several times last night...not sure if I slept at all after 1:30 a.m. actually. I just kept thinking about so many different things. For whatever reason, I was particularly thinking about my mom...and how much I miss her. How I still would love to talk with her and learn from her and cry on her shoulder and take care of her!
This is a picture taken probably not long before she was married in 1937. I remember her telling me that she had made the jacket that she was wearing out of stage curtains that were taken down out of a church building. She was pretty darn creative like that!

And here she is...with me!! I think this picture is flip flopped, and I think I'm wearing a crown that says Happy New Year...this is probably January 1961 and I am about 3 months old. I learned something while looking for this picture...there are not very many pictures of me with my mother. And that makes me a little sad. I, for one, do NOT like my picture taken, but I need to get over that. Maybe someone besides me will regret that some day. But that aside, I am so grateful for the dear sweet mother that blessed my life in so many ways.

I am SO blessed to be the mother to these five wonderful human beings!! Last night as I thought about my mom, I thought, too, about each one of these kids. Chris, married to his sweetheart Holly, going to school, getting an A in Trig (WOW!), and working away. Lindsay, working her creative heart out, continuing to further develop skills in graphic design, spending time getting physically fit, loving being an Aunt. Katie, supporting her good husband Joseph in his schooling and work, being a good little mom to Sweet Baby Claire, growing a new little Brewer, and continuing to learn new skills all along the way. Marshall, (we just talked with him and it was wonderful!) serving as a missionary in a far away country and loving the whole experience. Sarah, the newest Edwardsville High School drum major, finishing her junior year as strong as possible, and anticipating one very busy summer. Each one of them living their lives worthy to be found serving in the temple, serving in their respective congregations, keeping the commandments, reading their scriptures, continuing to learn, recognizing how blessed they are, and giving back. They are kind. They are so good. And I am so lucky!

Speaking of mothers...I just got back from spending some time with my 3 oldest sisters. Sharon is in the middle...she had 2 children before I was born. I was raised right along with her children. I was a couple of months old when Sally (far left) was married, and Mary (far right) was married when I was about 4. SO, these three sisters are very much like mothers to me...and I'm so glad we were able to get together. They are priceless to me!

And this just in...my peony bush is about to explode! It's supposed to rain a good part of this week and I hope it will be ok! Thanks Rich and Sarah and the rest of the kiddos for making this a special day...and now I'm off to play a game called Urban Myth...hmmmmm....

Party Hearty in the Bowerman's Flower Beds!

2010-04-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

Monday I worked and worked and worked in the yard. Things are starting to look super nice. Lots of the perennials I planted last year are back and looking beautiful. And then I went out yesterday to do some more bedding work and couldn't believe my eyes! More than half of what I have planted and coaxed along were gone, pulled up, nibbled on, discarded in the grass! I was really astounded. The more I looked around, the more damage I saw...a tad bit depressing. The nerve...
Some creature, I think it's the deer, like tulips...

And I think it's the deer that nibbled the tops off these hostas! Bunnies must have attacked the Johnny Jump-ups, Geraniums, and Columbine...they pulled them out and tossed them on the grass. Hey, but they left Johnny Jump-ups that are growing in the cracks of the driveway alone...how kind...

Geez, I wonder what I'll find this morning when I head out there. Alas, the weather has been perfect to work in the yard and I need to get on top of it all!!

Lately...

2010-04-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

My, oh my, sometimes time just starts to fly and it seems as though it is all I can do to keep up. I have had the chance recently to meet several different women who seem to be so busy, with full time jobs and busy callings and busy homes and schoolwork, etc. One thing I have learned over the years about myself is that I definitely accomplish more when the pressure is on, but personally, I am SO grateful for my life right now. I truly do acknowledge that a great deal of my freedom is due to the fact that I have a hubby who works very hard at his job. I have tons and tons of things to be doing and responsibilities to fulfill, but my days truly are mine for the most part. It has been a long time coming. My challenge is to priortize and move forward. I must admit that my days are often lonely...never thought I would say that. I think that at times it would be nice to go to an office and work together with others, but trade my independence? No way. I do what I can to help friends with children, which I love. I get to spend this next weekend caring for a sweet family in our ward and I can't wait. Ah, changes. It just happens.

Anyways, this post really is a catch up of sorts. I think blogging is an excellent way to record what has been happening...more for me than anyone else.

So, early March 22nd I headed out to Utah to spend some time with my kiddos out yonder. Doesn't seem right that they are so far away. This has got to be remedied some how. I rented a cute little "Fast Ford Focus" that we named "Fonda". Got me where I needed to go! So good to spend some time with Sweet Baby Claire (and her parents) and Lindsay-Loo and Chris and Holly...I think Claire and I finally connected this time. We have been trying to get her to call me "Grammy", but clearly "Mum Mum" was what was coming out. So for now that's fine with me. She is just a character! I loved getting up with her in the morning and learning how to eagerly greet the day. I loved her inquisitive ways. The girl can figure out anything! She's into everything! She especially loves sharing time in the bathroom. She stands on the toilet and watches everything, doing her fair share to make getting ready kind of difficult. The best way to get anything done quickly is to put Claire in the bath tub, which she loves, and keeps her somewhat confined. Claire loves to GO! She loves to be out and about. She loves her playground outside her door. She is a collector, especially of rocks. They're definitely her fav!

It was fun to tackle some projects with Katie. We pulled out her new sewing machine and got it humming. Made up a pattern for a table runner sort of thing and she did a great job for her first project. It seems so like yesterday that I was in Katie's shoes. I wanted to try new things, I wanted to move things around in my house all the time, I wanted to organize and often didn't know where to begin. We had a fun time getting some things in order. Often times it just takes a little something to spur you on. Katie is a great little homemaker and I am very impressed. She takes it very seriously...I love to see her in action. Lindsay's apartment also needed a little organizing/clean-up detail work. It was fun to work together on that with her. Lindsay and I also spent some time doing a little jogging...good stuff!!

So, here are recent pics of some "goings on"...
I brought a little doll stroller with me for Claire. Ummm...she LOVES to sit in it and be pushed around - the faster the better! She definitely does get the concept that it is for all of her animals and dollies, though, too.

One rather cool morning we ventured out to Thanksgiving Point to the petting farm. After Claire's initial encounter with a lamb that was chewing on her finger and a bit of a scream, she settled right down and figured it all out and we had so much fun. Loved all of the noises and actions of various farm animals.

These roosters were so loud. As funny as they are, I am really quite thankful that I do not wake up to that every morning...

Ummm, yea, we loved the pony ride!!

Back in December I mentioned that my niece Jayne and her husband Ta had been able to adopt a sweet baby from Samoa. We got to finally meet Poppy! She is THE most beautiful child. Poppy is as dark as Claire is fair. They had fun discovering each other. I hope they will be good friends over the years. Let's clap together!!

Sarah joined me in Utah for my 2nd week there. It was her Spring Break and I don't think she'd rather be anywhere else than with her siblings. Claire loves her Aunties!

But the true highlight of Sarah's week was a night out with Lindsay...and Michael Buble! Apparently this was quite the concert. So glad they got to go together. Bye, bye girls!!

The day after the concert we tried to have a "Girls" day...didn't totally work out as I had envisioned, but we did get out toes done! Mind you...I do believe that it was SNOWING outside! Yikes, the weather was just pitiful while I was there. BEFORE the pedicures we had the exciting opportunity to go to Katie's ultrasound. We all crammed in the little room to get a look at the newest little Brewer! So amazing to me. I had thought all along that another little girl was on her way, but I was so wrong. Joseph has an amazing smile, but as difficult as it is to imagine, I think his smile doubled in size when the tech announced, "Well, that would be exterior plumbing that we are seeing" and "Girls don't have those!" He was beside himself with excitement! Over the next several days I saw him standing at the refrigerator door where the ultrasound pics were posted. So fun...a dad and his boy!

That same day some dear friends came to visit. The Raymond family used to live in Edwardsville, but moved to Las Vegas last summer. How fun to see them again!! They are all much taller, and we realized how much we have missed them. Thank you so much for taking the effort to come visit us!

Claire's Yaya sent her the cutest Easter basket. As I mentioned, Claire is a collector. I knew that she'd get right into the Easter egg thing, so we put together a little hunt for her. Took two seconds to get that game down! And we had to do it several more times. So fun to watch.

Alas, all good times seem to come to an end. Claire had fallen asleep in the car this morning, but we needed to make one more Deseret Book stop. How fun to listen to General Conference play while shopping! Anyways, I ADORE this child.

Came home and sang our "Sunshine" song and went sweetly to sleep. I love her little bum up in the air, blankets all arranged in a pile, animal friends put just so, and then sleep! Her curls are multiplying! So fun to see. I never had one with so many curls so early!

A transformation that only can be described as "simply amazing" had taken place during the two weeks I was gone! I got home late Saturday night and so it hadn't hit me yet. I was looking out the window Sunday morning as I was waking up and realized I was seeing "GREEN"! WOW! It is amazing. I felt so humbled. I had complained to a California friend about a month previous how long and awful our winter had been and how she should really appreciate her weather in California. I realized that Sunday morning just how lucky I was to partake of this - this kind of transformation doesn't happen in California and to me it truly is miraculous! I must have looked out the window 1000 times, just to make sure I was seeing it right. Everything is growing and blooming and it's just glorious! I love "Johnny Jump-ups". They remind me so much of my mom. She got to the point where hand sewing was not an option, but she could make cards. And her favorite thing to do was take little pressed flowers and glue them on the front of a card. I used to press lots of these for her. So, the funny thing about this picture is that these "Johnny Jump-ups" are not growing in the planter area out front...they are growing in the drive way cracks! What's with that? I know there is some message/metaphor here, but the first person that drives over them will be in trouble!

One of our cherry trees...so full and pretty. My camera is not doing it justice!

And then there's this tree! The Primary children sing a song about a "Popcorn" tree. In fact, Claire is learning this song. This is the ultimate "Popcorn" tree! It is on the island as we leave our driveway. This display lasts only a couple of days, but it is so amazing! When the wind starts to blow, it almost looks as if it is snowing because there are so many little white petals. So, so, so pretty!

As far as what else is happening...I've started quilting once a week with a sweet friend. Last fall my oldest sister brought out two valences that my mother had made for her when she was a little girl and asked if I could think of something to do with them. They have six little dutch figures on them that my mom had appliqued and embroidered. Such detail...only my mom! Anyways, I have dismantled those valences and am in the process of piecing a quilt together...way fun! Pictures soon...

My hair is getting a little longer...actually almost long enough to put into a ponytail! Every time Sarah walks by me she whips off her pony tail holder and pulls my hair back...so funny. It's been over 20 years I suppose. Sure is an easy hair-do...

This last weekend was the high school prom and the weekend before that was a prom for all church youth, age 16-18 for four stakes in the St. Louis area. The theme was "In the Garden". That was easy to work with. We had about 160 youth and it was wonderful to see them all dressed so modestly and appropriately. I was able to pull together a lot of the decorations, thanks to my sisters and a trip to Salt Lake and lots of flowers from Katie's wedding - used once again! I'll get some pics of Sarah up soon...she was gorgeous! Rich and I get to work together in our callings right now. We are busy into planning all of the summer activities for the youth, which will be many, but the biggest is a Youth Conference in July. Lots of planning for that one - but it's all good!!

For the Love of Books!!

2010-03-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Monday morning, March 22nd, I headed to Utah! I have had so much fun visiting/playing/chasing/rocking/kissing/bathing/knocking on the wall/reading to Sweet Baby Claire! Need to explain the "knocking on the wall" part. Her crib is right up against the shared wall with the extra bedroom, where I sleep. In the morning she likes to lay in bed for awhile and kick the wall and play with her crib friends. We started carrying on a little conversation this morning, tapping back and forth on the wall before I finally went in to retrieve her...so much fun.

Claire loves books, which pleases Grammy so much. We finally got a bin to keep a good majority of them in, knowing perfectly well that it had to be sturdy enough for her to climb in/throw/stand on, etc. Sure enough, she emptied all of the books, climbed in, and then pulled all of the books in on top of her.

Ah, books! Can't learn to love them soon enough!

I Love...

2010-02-28T20:09:00.000-08:00

February 28th, 2010

It's the 28th, and it's late, and it's been a long, long day. I have new respect for those that "blog" on a regular basis! What I was going to write about just doesn't seem to want to come together tonight, so I better save it for another time. In the meantime just let me say...thanks for reading. But in reality the reason I was writing was rather selfish on my part...giving me something to focus on other than a dreary February. I think it helped a little. I am VERY excited for spring to get here asap!

I still have a lot of "loves" I could share and still have plenty to learn about love. That which I am grateful for would fill more than a 1000 blog entries. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoso believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Mostly, I'm thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, the Savior Jesus Christ. Hugs, Lisa

I Am Grateful for Tender Mercies!

2010-02-27T19:19:00.001-08:00

February 27th, 2010

Our organization for the children in our church is called Primary. It is such a blessing to be called to serve with the young children. One of my favorite Primary songs is entitled, "I Feel My Savior's Love". A thought has gone through my mind several times in the last few days as I've thought about doing my blog posting for the day...what should I focus on...what do I love today...and the thought has been this, "I feel my Savior's love in all the world around me..." One of the ways that I feel like I can more fully understand His love for me is to recognize more often the tender mercies that occur each and every day. "Tender mercies" are just that..."tender". Sometimes they are very obvious, and sometimes you have to look a little closer to recognize that what at first may be somewhat common place is, indeed, a tender mercy.

Nephi tells us in the Book of Mormon, "...that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith..." Elder Bednar testifies that, "the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord's timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them." I LOVE that thought!

Like I said earlier, some tender mercies are obvious. Some you have to look a little more intensely for. And some you don't recognize until some time has gone by. There's a sweet one I wanted to share. Katie was in college and taking a calligraphy class. She needed to do a project and needed a poem, so she called me...surprise, surprise...Mom has nothing better to do...right? I remember when she called...I remember that I was very busy and wanted to point her in a direction and have her do her own searching. But I also remembered that I had recently bought a poetry book for a class and as I had thumbed through it earlier I had come across one of the very few poems that I had memorized way back when. And I said, "Katie, I think I know the perfect poem..." and went and retrieved this one. (Daffodils, the other poem I had memorized, was too long!)

TREES

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

It had the perfect number of lines/stanzas, etc. So she went right to work on her piece of calligraphy and I thought no more about it...just that I had once again done my job as mom and felt good that I had been able to help when needed. So often I think that's how us moms think about it...no big deal, no one notices, just what we do, day in-day out. It's not that we're necessarily looking for recognition, but sometimes it helps.

Several months later Rich and I were celebrating our anniversary and found ourselves in the little town of Durango, Colorado. As I'm prone to do in cute little old-looking towns, I find the antique stores and encourage Rich along. So we walked into this little antique shop and sitting right there on a shelf, in an old gold leaf frame, was the above poem. At first I looked at it and smiled because I thought the frame was cute and the paper was cute...and then I saw the poem and it dawned on me what I was seeing. And I smiled some more, wondering just for a second about the thousands of poems in the world and the coincidence of finding just this one, this day, in this antique shop. I bought it as a gift for Katie...and as I reminder for me. It was just something very simple, but at the same time I knew that it definitely was not a coincidence. Just a tender reminder of His love for me. For which I am grateful.

I Love to Shop and Use Coupons!

2010-02-26T17:53:00.001-08:00

February 26th, 2010

I Love, Love, Love to shop...and spend my husband's hard earned money...just kidding! He has such trust in my abilities to handle a huge chunk of our finances, and I certainly appreciate that. I'm sure that at times he thinks I'm over the top, continually asking him if used a coupon on a purchase. He dislikes shopping just about as much as I love shopping. That's ok...it's pretty much a girl-thing! I especially love getting a super, duper deal. Some days, like today, I hit a particularly good sale.

Wasn't necessarily planning on it, but just had a "feeling" that I should head over to Macy's today, since I was out that way. Totally worth it. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, and if that's the case, then I'm super strict with my personal rules. It has to already be marked down once or twice, there has to be an additional percentage off (preferably 50% more), and I have to have an additional coupon with at least another 20% off. Bingo, all three rules were in place today! I started out by getting a $70 pair of shoes for $18. And then I wandered through the women's department and picked up a few things, and then headed over to the children's department, and oh my, bargains were just sitting there to be had! All in all I left spending just over $100, with the full price (which, in reality, nobody pays) being about $750! I've got a ton of baby gifts stocked up, which I need for the near future. Thanks for making my day Macy's!

I've just about figured out that there are coupons/discounts for just about everything. Sometimes they are harder to find, but the internet sure makes this handy. Also, P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E is key when looking for bargains. And sure, sometimes if you wait too long then the item you're hoping to buy will be gone. This is definitely the case at Costco...if you see something at Costco that you really think you'd like to have, and even if it's something you've seen more than once, chances are if you don't buy it when you see it, then when you go back to get it, it will be gone. Does that make sense? I know whereof I speak...it's happened to me way too many times. Bargain hunting and coupons...part of my every day life...and I love it!

I Love My In-Law Kiddos!

2010-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

February 25th, 2010

There are tons of momentous milestones that come along while raising children. They are born, they go to school, they join a team, they spend their first night away from home, they drive, they go away to college...and somewhere along the line, they choose to get married. And who they choose to marry is definitely their own choice, as it was mine, as it should be. But still...as a parent, that part of the deal is pretty hard to swallow. There just isn't anything to prepare a mom for the day when a child says they are ready to give their heart to someone else...it's pretty drastic. Very, very fortunately for me, Chris and Katie have chosen partners that seem to fit into our family perfectly. As hard as it is for me to admit, I could not have done a better job. It has been so fun to watch them begin their new families.
This is Holly! This pic is actually from the first weekend when we met Holly last spring. To say that we were impressssssssed would be such an understatement. We adore this girl and are so happy that she crossed paths with Chris, even if it was in cyberspace at first!

Holly is an RN and is currently finishing up just a tad more schooling...so proud of that. She does hospice work...definitely an area of nursing that requires a special amount of love. She is just what Chris needs to push him through school. Geez, it's actually quite amazing to see how Chris is doing with an encouraging companion at his side. Great motivation.

Yep, Chris is a pretty happy man! They were married last November in the Bountiful Temple. Love it, love it! I look forward to getting to know and spend more time with my darling daughter-in-law.

Katie started talking about this guy named "Joe" She'd say things like, "I got mad at my roommate, so I talked to Joe about it...I needed to go to Wal-Mart, so I got Joe to take me...I had a terrible date, so I talked to Joe about it..." and this went on for awhile. And then it changed to, "So, Joe and I went on a date...so, I'm kinda liking Joe...so, when are you coming out here so that you can meet Joe?"

Needless to say, he became the love of her life. They are a great match. It's interesting to me that they are both the middle child in a family of five. I'm thinking that makes for a pretty easy-going marriage...both the "peacemaker" types.

Joseph makes me laugh! He has THE best smile. And he treats my daughter like the special woman that she is. They both have grand ambitions and dreams and I have no doubt that over time, with each other's support, they will achieve those dreams. Joseph is getting pretty close to finishing his degree at BYU and will go on to a Physical Therapy school...so proud of him. I'm very glad that I'll have a family member who can help me with all my aches and pains that inevitably come with the aging process. Oh, and with Holly being a nurse, I'm set!

I knew when Katie and Joseph got married that children would not be too far off down the road...and that was just fine with this Grammy-in-waiting! Joseph is a wonderful dad. I know that much of Claire's personality comes from her dad! She just makes me laugh and smile and from all accounts, is quite the little dare-devil that her daddy was. Surprise, surprise.

And so the reason I'm writing about my daughter-law and son-in-law is to let them know how much I love them and how neat I think they are...AND it just happens to be Joseph's birthday! Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Joseph, Happy Birthday to you! Looking forward to being out there again soon. Hugs to you both!!

I Love Having a Living Prophet!

2010-02-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

February 24th, 2010

My focus today is on prophets and apostles. I love the scriptures and reading what the prophets of old have taught and finding applications for our day. But, I am SO grateful for living prophets and apostles, that speak to us and teach us even more of what we need to know today. In our house General Conference, which occurs twice a year, is the best! We love the spiritual boost that comes from listening to those called of God to bless our lives. Our prophet today is President Thomas S. Monson. He is amazing. He has two counselors, President Henry Eyring, and President Dieter Uchtdorf. I love listening and learning from all three of them.
President Uchtdorf's life has always amazed me. He was born in Czechoslovakia in 1940. His early life was spent seeing the devastation of war brought about by World Ward II. He was the youngest in his family. His father had to serve in the German Army and left when young Dieter was four years old. His mother took her young family to Zwickau, Germany where his father rejoined them. Their lives were always in danger because of his father's political positions, and so they left Zwickau, once again with nothing, and made their way to Frankfurt. President Uchtdorf writes, "We were refugees with an uncertain future....I played in bombed-out houses and grew up with the ever-present consequences of a lost war and the awareness that my own country had inflicted terrible pain on many nations during the horrific World War II. After the war, my grandmother was standing in line for food when an elderly single sister with no family of her own invited her to sacrament meeting. My grandmother and my parents accepted the invitation. They went to church, felt the Spirit, were uplifted by the kindness of the members, and were edified by the hymns of the Restoration. How grateful I am for a spiritually sensitive grandmother, teachable parents, and a wise, white-haired, elderly single sister who had the sweet boldness to reach out and follow the Savior's example."

Young Dieter was always amazed by airplanes and has told many stories over the years about his passion for flying. He became a Captain for Lufthansa Airlines when he was a very young 29. 10 years later he became Chief Pilot and Head of Cockpit Crews, and then 2 years later he was Senior Vice President of Flight Operations for Lufthansa.

Something else that I love are the church magazines. Last June a message from President Uchtdorf was published in the Ensign magazine. I remember it well. And wanted to share parts of it. "One of the things I loved most about flying was departing from a dark and rainy airport, climbing through thick and threatening winter clouds, and then suddenly breaking through the dark mist and steeply gaining altitude into the bright sunshine and endless blue sky...
"...I think back on my days as a pilot and those times when thick clouds and threatening thunderstorms made all appear dark and gloomy. In spite of how bleak things looked from my earthly vantage point, I knew that above the clouds the sun beamed brightly like a dazzling jewel in an ocean of blue skies. I did not have faith that such was the case-I knew it. I knew it because I had experienced it for myself. I did not need to rely on other people's theories or beliefs. I knew. In the same way that aerodynamic lift can transport us above the outer storms of the world, I know that the principles of spiritual lift can take us above the inner storms of life. And I know something else. Although it was a breathtaking experience to break through the clouds and fly to the bright blue horizon, that is nothing compared to the wonders of what we all can experience as we lift up our hearts in humble and earnest prayer. Prayer helps us transcend the stormy times. It gives us a glimpse of that blue sky that we cannot see from our earthly vantage point, and it reveals to us another vista-a glorious spiritual horizon filled with hope and the assurance of the bright blessings the Lord has promised to those who love and follow Him."

I LOVE that message. February is a particularly difficult month for me...it's just kind of super, duper depressing. It's cold and gray and dreary and the trees are sticks! But I know what's around the corner...spring...and everything comes back to LIFE! I, too, know that prayer is a powerful instrument given to us to bless our lives and help us through dreary, difficult times...and even as an instrument of thanksgiving when things are going particularly well. I feel so grateful for that knowledge! And thank goodness, March is just around the corner!!

(P.S. Thanks to Bethers for the picture!)

I Love Sweet Baby Claire!

2010-02-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

February 23rd, 2010

OK, so we all knew this one was coming! I Love, Love, Love this little human being! I remember how I dreamed of having children one day...I was so excited to be a mommy! I'm quite sure that my desire to be a grandmother way exceeded my original dreams of motherhood. I've been waiting for November 3rd, 2009 and Claire Elizabeth Brewer's arrival for a very long time!
It was such a thrill to be with Katie and Joseph when we saw the first ultrasound and the tech said, "It's a girl!" Looking back at the situation, I so appreciate their willingness to let me enjoy what should probably have been a special moment between just the two of them. It was just all so amazing to me!

And then the arrival of this perfect little 9 lb. package of sweetness...more wonderful than there are words to express! Katie had to work her heart out to get Claire into this world and she had the unending support of a good husband at her side. So proud of both of them!I was super fortunate to see Claire a LOT her first year...and I know that! I remember when my kiddos were little and they were under two and they rode on the airplane free...good times! The pic above was taken at a niece's wedding when Claire was about 6 months old. I saved some of my kiddos clothes, and this sweet little dress had been Katie's. I have a particular fondness for smocking on little dresses - this was one of my favorite dresses that my sister Becky gave me (Katie).

I think that this one was when the kids surprised Rich for Father's Day last year. I found Miss Cabbage Patch at the Goodwill store, cleaned her up, washed her hair, and re-worked some of Sarah's doll clothes. I can't resist taking pictures of babies when they're sleeping...too sweet!

Claire has such a funny, funny personality. So outgoing and inquisitive and daring and determined and...I could go on and on!!

This was taken pretty close to her first birthday.

And so was this one! I found this little antique chair while I was in Pennsylvania with my sister in September. Thought it would be perfect for Claire's first birthday! These little jammies reminded me of the silky nightgowns and robes my girls loved when they were little.

Yep, Miss Personality Plus...her "fishy lips" look!

Katie and Claire came for a visit in January...yahoo! One day we headed to the mall to check out the merry-go-round. Katie wasn't sure Claire would like it. She LOVED it! There's not too much that she's afraid of.

Earlier we had run into Children's Place, just looking around for bargains. This outfit was not a bargain and so we left it behind, but it sure was fun and super cute. She's such a ham! And I love her more than life itself. I can hardly stand it that she lives so far away. How did my mom stand it to have all of her grandkids so far away in so many different places. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it in the future. I do know that I'm so excited to welcome Baby Brewer #2 in August. Yahoo!!

I Love Water!

2010-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

February 22nd, 2010

Several years ago Sarah and I participated in a Mother/Daughter Book Club. It was lots and lots of fun. One of the books we read together was Number The Stars, a book about the Holocaust. As part of our review one of the moms was able to arrange for a special visitor to come and visit with the girls. Her name is Noemi Ban and she was a Holocaust survivor. I believe at this time in her life she must have been close to her mid-70s. She spent well over and hour visiting with us and it was an experience I will never forget. To this day every time I'm particularly thirsty and guzzle down a bunch of water, I think of Noemi.
Noemi explained how there was no running water at Auschwitz. At times they washed their faces with coffee. When water did become available it was emptied into a small basin-more like a cement pond. They were given a small cup and told to go get a drink. Hundreds of thirsty people would push and shove their way to the basin in hopes of a cup of water. And while this was going on, the guards stood by ridiculing them for the way in which they acted, saying that they were worse than animals-making them feel as though they weren't even human beings. Noemi has written a short book (Sharing is Healing) about her experience. She explains, "An interesting thing happens to me since I became free. It happens when I talk or write about not having water. I get thirsty. I'm thirsty right now! This makes me want a drink of cold water in a hurry. To this day, the best drink in the whole world is a drink of clean, cool water. Next time you are thirsty think of me. And think of how lucky we are." Noemi, I totally agree and I think of you often!

It is amazing to me how so many survivors came through that experience and have such an optimistic outlook on life. Noemi was one of these. She talked about how happy she was to be alive and what a great gift it is. I know that I left her presence feeling entirely different about the small blessings we enjoy in life, that we take for granted. Things like a clean, refreshing glass of water. Go get yourself a drink right now and think of Noemi!!

Not to focus on such a terrible aspect of history, but our family very much enjoyed visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. It is an amazing experience. On one of the walls outside is this quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower. "The things I saw beggar description...the visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty, and bestiality were so overpowering...I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there developed a tendency to charge these allegations to propaganda." I'm not sure why that quote had such a profound effect on me. Maybe it is because of the experience I had listening to Noemi and hearing of those that believe the Holocaust never happened. How could they possibly believe that way? I've gotten a little bit off the subject I suppose...again, I think of Noemi often, actually several times a day!

I Love Relief Society!

2010-02-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

February 21st, 2010

Today was a kind of sad day for me. I shall explain the best I can. Our women's organization in the LDS church is called Relief Society. Every ward has a Relief Society...there are roughly 3 million + members of Relief Society throughout the world. It is among the largest of women's organizations. For the past three years I have been serving as the Relief Society President in the Edwardsville Ward. There are 100+ women that I have had responsibility for in one way or another. And it has been such a privilege that I am so grateful for. Today I was released from this calling and given another, which I am sure I will enjoy and learn to love just as much, but in the meantime...well, for today, I'm a little sad.
As you can see from the emblem, the motto of Relief Society is "Charity Never Faileth". I have learned so much from watching the women in our ward. They are SO charitable! So willing to help, so willing to lend a hand, so willing to take in a dinner, make a phone call, visit a friend, drive someone to the hospital, comfort one another, celebrate and mourn together, to participate in myriads of humanitarian projects, to just enjoy each other's company, to increase our talents, and to strengthen our faith together. It has been amazing to watch and take part in.

I remember as a child watching my mom participate in various Relief Society meetings. I watched her develop strong bonds of sisterhood that lasted her entire life. I watched her develop amazing talents. She had moved far, far away from her home in Salt Lake City, and the women at church literally became her sisters! When I was a young married mom-to-be, Rich and I moved to California. I knew no one and I was scared to death! I remember so well how I was welcomed and loved and cared for in the absence of family. I remember how I had visiting teachers, ladies that came to visit me monthly or more, who watched over me and gave me spiritual messages. They were not particularly friends that I would have naturally gravitated to, but I learned to love and appreciate them so much. When my sweet Amy was born and I had no family nearby, my visiting teacher showed up and pretended she was my literal "sister" in order to get in, see me, and comfort me. I'll never forget that! She is a dear friend to this day.

In our church we all have the opportunity to serve in various callings. Sometimes we work with the youth, sometimes we work with the children, sometimes we work on other activities, but once we're 18, women are members of the Relief Society...and it is such a blessing. What wisdom the Prophet Joseph had when he organized the women in 1842! Women have such a natural inclination to meet together, to learn from one another, to bless and lift each other. How wonderful is it that no matter where I go in the whole entire world that I will be able to walk into a Relief Society meeting and know that I am loved and valued and needed and that there are sisters waiting to bless my life. It truly is an amazing thought! I LOVE Relief Society and treasure my membership therein!!

I Love Good Health!

2010-02-20T17:17:00.000-08:00

February 20th, 2010

When I woke up this morning, I immediately knew what I was going to write about today...how much I love feeling good and how grateful I am for good health! Because I sure felt lousy this morning! And one can sure appreciate something when it isn't happening!

I've watched various family members and friends struggle with all sorts of ailments over the years...some things that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies. (Not that I have any!) My lack of faith at times makes me wonder what will one day be given to me to deal with...something I try to put out of my mind as much as possible, but something which is a huge motivator at the same time. I plan on staying as healthy as possible, and as I approach the big 5-0 I truly hope that I have lots and lots of time to go still. Yep, lovin' good health and so glad I'm feeling a bit better tonight!

I Love My Siblings!

2010-02-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

February 19th, 2010

I have an amazing family...the one that I was born into in September of 1960! I am the baby of the Ralph and Betty Huber family. I was raised in College Park, Maryland. My oldest sister (3rd from the left) Sharon, was married with two children by the time this picture was taken. Sally (on the left) was also married. Mary and Becky were probably away at school by this time. I have some memories of my sister Trish being at home...till I was about 8. And, of course, there's my brother Lowell, who I remember being with quite a bit growing up. While my older sisters may not have been living at home while I was in my youth, their impact on my life is unmistakeable. I adored them. And often they would come home just when I needed it the very most. My sister Sharon stayed in Maryland and was very much like my second mother. I spent a lot of time in her home, always went to girls' camp in the summer with her, and grew up with her kids.
This picture is dated 1962. Doesn't my brother just have such a mischievious look on his face??!! He certainly fit that bill.

In 1985 my parents took all the siblings and spouses to Hawaii for two weeks - no children. It was the first time that we had all been together for any significant length of time. I love this picture of Mom and Dad in their respective wheelchairs. We had so much fun, in spite of those wheelchairs! I think it was very much a highlight of their lives.

The times that we have actually all been under the same roof have been very few and far between. That's just what happens when the family is spread across the country and have very busy families of their own. At the point when this picture was taken we were spread out from Virginia to Michigan to Arizona to California and to Utah. The last time we were all together was at my dad's funeral almost 11 years ago, which is kind of sad. Our families have all grown and changed so much. I feel like it is my calling in life, as the baby, to keep everyone connected. Sometimes I feel like I do a pretty good job, and at other times I feel like I'm failing miserably.

We do make efforts to try and reconnect at least yearly because we have such a good time. Our tastes are so similar...yep, we were all shopping at the same store, but didn't realize we had the same shirts until we got to the cash register. We love to relax, shop, eat, relax, visit, antique, relax, swim and visit some more.

They make me laugh! They help me to understand my kids are totally normal, that we all have family issues to deal with. We disagree on plenty of issues, but agree on more. We are getting older! They are each moving much slower...I'm trying to convince myself that I'm not too slow yet. They just all better stick around much longer, because I still have a lot to learn from them.

Yep, I love my siblings...even this bearded, pony-tailed one. He has chosen to not have so much to do with his family at the present time, which is very sad. I do my best to contact him several times a year, but am usually not successful. He's missing out.

One of my goals last year was to go visit my sister Mary in Michigan. Pulled it off! Sharon and I coordinated our schedules and showed up on her doorstep for her birthday. It was super fun, and after her initial shock, I think Mary was very happy about our visit. She loves bunnies!!

Like I previously mentioned, Sharon is more like a dear 2nd mother to me. I still can't believe that she'll be 72 this year. She's such a trooper...I don't know how she gets done what she does. She has so many amazing talents, such an eye for detail. I love being able to spend time with her. Last fall Lindsay and I visited for a week or so...this pic is taken on Monticello grounds...it was so gorgeous!

And here's the most recent picture of a majority of us...taken at Chris' wedding. I am always so grateful that they make such efforts to be there for me, and be there for my kids when I'm not. I miss my mom and dad, but the "missing them" is often a little bit lessened when we are together as siblings. I look forward to seeing what "get-togethers" we can put together this year! I love each one of them tons!

I Love My Boys!

2010-02-18T07:13:00.000-08:00

February 18th, 2010

I Love My Boys! They have brought an entirely different perspective to my life. Chris was so much fun as a baby...and so good! He was such a boy...loved the trucks, loved to be outdoors. I'll never forget the huge sandbox that we built for him...and the tire swing...and the dogs we had. Marshall is way different than Chris. We had to basically "force" Marshall to try some sports, but he couldn't get enough books. He had an amazing attention span right from the beginning. When I needed an hour to get something done, I could put Marshall down in front of Peter Pan and he wouldn't move an inch...at 9 months old! Later on, entirely on his own, he took up wrestling, which for him was a huge step forward for his confidence and desire to stay physically fit.
Even with their different approaches to life, they have been very good friends. I think they just have this "brotherly" understanding of each other. I loved this picture! I tried to dress my girls alike quite often, but with boys it's a little bit more difficult. But I loved these shirts. Probably a little too big on Marshall, but oh well.

This is a funny picture, especially because baseball season was a miserable experience for Marshall. You wouldn't believe how we cheered for him the day he finally got a hit and got on base...simply amazing. Chris did well in sports, but it certainly wasn't his passion. He is Mr. Computer! And salesman extraordinaire. I am especially happy that both of them have continued to progress in their music skills. Marshall loves his sax and Chris loves the piano.

Love this pic of the boys! So good-looking! Chris has always had crazy straight hair, a funny spot in the front that is always out of control. But otherwise he looks so much like his dad. Marshall, on the other hand, has his dad's hair...pretty darn curly!

Chris worked very hard to prepare himself for a mission. He worked two jobs for quite some time to set aside his portion of the needed funds. He served in the Tennesse Knoxville mission. Chris also earned his Eagle Scout award...his project involved providing a computer system with voice recognition to an assisted living facility. It was an amazing experience for him. Chris started at ITT Tech almost a year ago and I am so proud of how well he is doing. Of course, having Holly at his side encouraging him along, is a huge motivator.

Marshall worked pretty hard at the MTC in Provo for just about his entire freshman year. It would have been pretty sweet to actually go back as a missionary, but instead Marshall headed straight to Brazil for his missionary training experience. Goodness, he's almost been gone 6 months already...hopefully it keeps going as fast as it already has. Marshall's Eagle Scout project involved providing emergency bags for a women's shelter nearby. Another great experience.

I love these guys. They are SO different and yet SO similar. They have such great potential. They love the Savior and were so ready and willing to serve when their calls came. They just make me smile!

I Love My Girls!

2010-02-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

February 17th, 2010

I love my girls...what else can I say?? When I was growing up I don't remember any overly grand ambitions, like wanting to be a doctor or scientist. I could see myself in an elementary school classroom. I loved my music, but knew that I would never be a performer. I knew I wanted to go to school and learn all I could, but more than anything I wanted to be Mom...and I wanted to have daughters that I could dress up and put curls and bows in their hair.
Our first pregnancy brought joy and sorrow. Amy Elizabeth was born on October 24th and we
buried her a couple of days later. How grateful I am for the knowledge and peace that the gospel brings, and I know without any doubt that Amy is part of our family...families are indeed forever. Our first son Chris came after Amy. I was just thrilled to have A baby! But in my heart of hearts I continued to wish for another daughter. And I got three! How lucky I am...and I know it! I can't even remember when this picture above was taken, but Sarah's hair doesn't look like it had been cut yet...she had one little curl that I hung on to forever. We must have been in Washington.

This is a much more recent picture...and Claire is one of the girls! (I'm also blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law, but that comes later!) They are each so different and amazing in their own way. Lindsay is amazingly creative, Katie is my peace-maker and such a good mother, and Sarah is a confident and talented musician. They all love to learn and are wonderful students. And they have so many more incredible attributes. But this scripture defines my feelings best..."I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth...3 John 1:4" That they each have their own testimonies of the Savior and live their lives in accordance with that knowledge is such a blessing to this mother. I'm so glad that they are good friends - so much fun to be with. Love you girls!!

Live in Mid-West...Gotta Love Custard!

2010-02-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

February 16th, 2010

I currently live in the area of the country that is referred to as the "mid-west". If you live in the "mid-west" and like something akin to ice cream, you learn to like custard and concretes! Yep, kind of different...but YUMMY! Custard is nice and smooth and creamy and concretes are kind of like super thick shakes...but better. So, in our area we have choices! Annie's is a favorite if we want to go on a bike ride and end up with dessert on the way...cute, little joint that sits on a cute, little corner in cute, little Edwardsville...
And then there's the favorite of most of the Bowerman Family...Bobby's. Bobby's is worth the drive, I guess, and the place is so unbelievably busy from the end of February until some time in November I think. My personal favorite at Bobby's are actually their chocolate covered strawberries.

Last year for Father's Day our family pulled off a little surprise for Rich and most of the Utah group showed up as a surprise...at Bobby's no less! Pretty sweet!

And I know I'm weird, but actually I believe I'm just easy to please. I'm happy with a Culvers custard, which is available all year long...thank goodness! Culvers is a mid-west chain of stores, so you might just be familiar with Culvers.

And my favorite, just in case anyone is wondering, is NOT what is pictured, although that's pretty darn good. I'm a chocolate/marshmallow gal 95% of the time. We used to have some friends that worked at Culvers and I really miss them being there. I could always say, "...and go heavy on the marshmallow creme...ok Alec??!!" And he would do just that!

I Love Noah's Ark!

2010-02-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

February 15th, 2010

I love lots and lots of different scripture stories...maybe I'll talk about that a little more on another day. But, in particular today, I wanted to mention Noah and his ark. It's a story that has always made me marvel. How amazing is it that Noah, with all the ridicule, persisted and did what he was told to do. How wicked the world truly must have been. How did all of those animals get along and how did for sure have enough food for everyone? So many issues to think about and logistically prepare for. Noah must have been quite a man and certainly had a good woman at his side. It was fun for me as Marshall seemed to take an interest in all things Noah's Ark and it became his theme, particularly in his bedroom. Hopefully some little grandchild of mine will like Noah's Ark as much as Marshall did, because I sure have a lot of "things" to decorate with!
I really had to smile when I came across this: "Everything I Need to Know About Life I Learned From Noah's Ark"
Here you go...
One: Don't miss the boat.
Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three: Plan ahead...it wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six: Build your future on high ground.
Seven: For safety sake, travel in pairs.
Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

I Love Valentine's Day AND Beautiful Music!

2010-02-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

February 14th, 2010

Valentine's Day is here! I love Valentine's Day. I remember so well what the day was like when I was in Elementary School. Decorating your box which acted like a mailbox for your valentines was SUCH a big deal. I spent hours decorating mine...way back when. I also love old-fashioned kinds of things...like this greeting...
So glad that Rich is MY valentine!!

So last night Rich and I went on a REAL date...not just to dinner, but to dinner AND the symphony! There is music...and then there is REAL music - beautiful - take your breath away - amazing - how does she do that - absolutely stunning - inspiring music! We experienced the latter kind last night. I'm so grateful for the ability we have to have recordings and CDs, etc. They are wonderful. But to be there is something entirely different. To see energy and emotion, even from very far away, is just...can't think of the right words...

The first selection was the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture by Tchaikovsky. Way cool. And then this amazing violinist came out. Her name is Viviane Hagner...I didn't take this picture, but this is the dress she was wearing...

She was the featured soloist for Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64. It is a familiar piece...I'd hum the tune if I could! It went for 26 minutes. She had not one piece of music in front of her. It is an incredibly complicated piece. What amazing, God given talent! I can't even begin to fathom how many hours she has put into developing and mastering her talent. How many times has she listened to this piece of music...100, maybe 1000 times...to be able to play it at such a high level of mastery? When you experience that 26 minutes and then it ends, you just kind of sit there in reverent silence before the audience erupts in applause. And then I felt like saying, "Oh, just play that part one more time...please, oh please, oh please!" I thought to myself, "Her arms, her fingers...they must just ache!" They were moving so fast!

I came away feeling immense gratitude for having had that experience, and perhaps a little more determined to work on the talents that I have been given. Clearly there are not many Viviane Hagner's in the world, and there are relatively few Olympic athletes. I guess one could find their own abilities a little depressing when measured against such a high standard, but I certainly don't think that is at all what our Heavenly Father intends to have happen. There are so many, many ways in which to excel...from being a good friend, to knowing just the right thing to say, to mastering an instrument, to being an excellent employee, to being organized, to being well-read, to being an excellent gardener, and on and on. How boring would life be if we all excelled in the same area, at the same thing? I, for one, am glad that is not the case. My life has been so enriched by others who, in more ways than I could ever enumerate, have blessed my life with their talents.

I Love the Olympics!

2010-02-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

February 13th, 2010

I LOVE the Olympics!
I can remember from being way little looking forward to being able to watch the Olympics. I am quite sure that my favorite winter sport to watch is ice skating. To be able to express your feelings on the ice with music must just be a thrill for the performer. To be able to get your body to do such amazing jumps and twists and turns...all I can think to say is "Wow!"

I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics last night. They were amazing. We were living in Bellingham, WA at the time that Vancouver was announced as the venue for 2010. Ah, we were so close had we stayed. I saw pictures of places that we were familiar with...such a beautiful, beautiful corner of this amazing planet. I pulled out my "Whistler" sweatshirt today...I'll have to wear it a whole bunch these next couple of weeks. I am so looking forward to watching all of the stories of hard work, competition, and ultimate joy unfold. Of course, my heart is sad because of the loss of the athlete yesterday. So sad. Hopefully it will inspire the small nation he was from, and actually all of the athletes, to do their very best.

Canada should be very proud of the production put on last night, but I'm here to say, "Go Team USA!"

I Love to Run!

2010-02-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

February 12th, 2010

I came home this morning and I thought, "I need to get out and go for a run!" So I did, and it sure felt good. It's maybe 30 degrees outside right now, so I bundled up and hit the trail. I'm not sure what it is about running that makes it so appealing...I think it mostly has to do with how you feel afterwards. Unfortunately I am definitely not as young as I used to be and my knees make doing any long distance running out of the picture. However, a good 5 to 7 mile jog does wonders for the mind. I'm thinking the whole time and making mental lists of things I need to take care of when I get back home.

Today was my first experience running in the snow! Most of the trails I go on still had about 2 inches covering parts of the them. That was super fun and super soft...I felt like a little kiddo! However, on my ipod the Beach Boys were playing! Yikes, running in the snow and dreaming about being on the beach...I just kept thinking, "Something is definitely wrong with this picture!" I could definitely use a little beach time right about now!

I Love Tennis!

2010-02-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

February 11th, 2010

I love, love, love tennis. I love to watch...all levels. Even when I'm playing on one court I find myself losing my concentration because of a point that is going on on another court. So, yep, I love to watch in person and especially on DirectTV (Channel 217!) during the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. I don't claim the tv too much, but those weeks I get an overdose of watching tennis.

But it's most fun to actually play. For whatever reason, it is a major stress reliever for me. When I hit that ball just right, it feels so good. And for the most part it is a pretty good work out for me. Have to admit, though, that the best part of tennis is the social aspect. All the ladies that I play with are so much fun! Plenty of us have plenty in common and generally we are all pretty chatty. Is it possible to play some serious tennis, though, and have fun laughing our way through a match at the same time? Absolutely! I do it at least three times a week!

St. Louis has a professional tennis team that plays for about 6 weeks in the summer. Just read today that Lindsay Davenport is going to be part of the St. Louis Aces! Hey, that's fun information. Lindsay has always been a favorite player of mine to watch on the women's side. Who do I like to watch on the men's side...well, that has to be Roger. He's just SO good. I hope he has a great year. I thought at the end of the Australian how cool it would be to have Roger play Serena. Hmmmm...wonder if that would ever happen.

Anyways, tennis certainly helps to keep my spirits up during the dreary winter months here in Edwardsville. We are super blessed with a wonderful YMCA facility that has 5 beautiful indoor courts. I especially love the new paint job. The courts are blue and the surrounding area is now tan. We pretend we are at the ocean and on the sand...anything helps!

I Love Walgreens!

2010-02-10T18:55:00.001-08:00

February 10th, 2010

OK, this is kind of a weird one to say that I love, but I thought about it as I quickly ran in today...I LOVE
Why? you ask...well, I'll give just a couple of reasons. I have used coupons throughout our entire married life. It is just the way I am wired. If I can get something for less, I will play the game. It becomes a challenge to figure out how each particular store works their coupon policies. I like Walgreens. They'll take Manufacturer's coupons, Walgreens coupons, and Register Receipts...all in one. Just have to decide whether their sale price really is a good price to begin with. Obviously it is not a grocery store and their selection isn't always the greatest...but there's usually another one not too far away...and...

Reason #2 I LOVE Walgreens...they are all laid out the same! Love it. Having moved around the country just a little bit I have had lots of experiences with stores. It's one of the most frustrating things about moving - figuring out how to find things in yet another new store. But, go into just about any Walgreens, just about anywhere in the country, and the photo department is to the left, pharmacy towards the back left, baby aisle is about the third aisle from the right, but towards the back. Makes life so much easier!

And for the most part the clerks are happy to help. And to have someone be happy for you while you save money at their store...it's just really nice!

I Love Keeping in Touch!

2010-02-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

February 9th, 2010

I've spent just about the WHOLE day keeping in touch. In other words...I'm finally sending out my Christmas cards...which are now almost Valentines! It's not quite as bad as it seems. I was actually waiting for a snow day, which we had today. My card said on it, "Let It Snow", and the letterhead was a snowman, so it only seemed appropriate to wait for the appropriate day to finally mail them out. Besides, I've been just a little busy!

But I really DO love staying in touch, and especially enjoy how easy it is to do that these days. I LOVE the internet and all the possibilities of connection that it provides. I have finally figured out the texting thing and for the most part I think it's great. It's one of those things that can seriously be misused, along with the internet. That will always be a challenge for all of us. I well remember those days early in our marriage when I had to carefully measure out when I would call home. While I was in Hawaii for a semester of school I made one collect phone call home...on my birthday. I was lucky to get a letter every other week or so. Amazing to think how much things have changed. And I, for one, am very happy about that change!

I Love Chocolate!

2010-02-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

February 8th, 2010

Surprise, surprise. I really do love chocolate - probably not as much as my friend, Dawn, in Bellingham does, but I sure think it is pretty darn good and I'm right up there in thinking it should be one of the main food groups! I'm more of a milk chocolate gal, rather than dark chocolate, but I'll certainly eat the dark chocolate variety. It's kind of a standing joke at our house that I pretty much have some chocolate hidden somewhere in the house. When you need chocolate, you NEED chocolate right then!

We have a Relief Society Chocolate Recipe night this week and so I've been looking at a few recipes in order to try something new. My goodness, there are tons and tons of internet recipe sites! Seriously could get lost and spend the whole day looking at recipes if one so desired! I found the following one at the Taste of Home recipe site and tried it tonight for Family Night...pretty good and very easy.

Lava Chocolate Cake
4 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup butter, cubed
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
6 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Grease the bottom and sides of four 6-oz. ramekins; sprinkle each with 1 tsp. sugar. Place ramekins on a baking sheet; set aside.
In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Stir in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt; spoon batter into prepared ramekins.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees and cake sides are set and centers are soft. (When I initially looked at 12 minutes they didn't look done enough and I left them in a little longer...should have taken them out then...but I guess it really comes down to how much of a gooey center that you like!)
Remove ramekins to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully run a small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert warm cakes onto serving plates. Lift ramekins off cakes. Serve warm with whipped cream (or ice cream!) or sprinkle with additional confectioners' sugar if desire.
Yield - 4 servings.

Love My Dishwasher!!

2010-02-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

February 7th, 2010

We all have heroes. One of my heroes (and I'm not sure if it's a man or a woman) is the person that invented the dishwasher...tend to think it may have been a lady! I think in the next life I will track him/her down and thank them personally.

We've had one of those crazy/busy weekends and no one has taken the time to do the dishes and they were piling up. I haven't named my dishwasher yet, but as I was doing the dishes this evening I thought of the name "Betty"..."Betty Bosch"...what do you think? My mother's nickname was Betty. And I have a Bosch...and I. LOVE. IT. I think there is a disposal of sorts in there and some magical scrubbing element that comes out during the cycle. I can put stuff in there that has sat for days and it comes out clean. And the machine is super quiet, too...quietly goes about doing its business. One of those "behind the scenes" types. I'm sold forevermore! We are so lucky to live in this day and age, with such modern appliances and conveniences. I, for one, am convinced that I would never have made it had I been asked to be a pioneer and cross the plains. Quite sure of it.

I Love Listening to the Flute!

2010-02-06T17:57:00.001-08:00

February 6th, 2010

I love the piano...no doubt about that. But right up there next to beautiful piano playing is beautiful flute playing. I always wanted to learn how to play the flute and tried my hand at it just a bit. Oh happy day when Sarah chose the flute to learn how to play in 5th grade.
She has stuck with it over the years. I LOVE to hear her play...it does my heart good. I grew up in a home where good music was very much appreciated. I practiced for hours and for the most part enjoyed it quite a bit. However, the one thing that really bugged me (and I'm not sure why that was except for maybe just a little teenage rebellion) is when my mother would say, "Oh, that was so wonderful...please play it one more time!" For whatever reason, I would rarely comply. I would apologize today if I could for that severe lack of gratitude on my part. I now know of the joy that must have brought my parents, not to mention the funds spent on my behalf. Sarah, fortunately, is a little better at complying with requests than I am. It became time recently to upgrade Sarah's flute, and after trying several this is the one she settled on...open holes, gold lip plate, added foot, etc. Oh, and it sounds wonderful, too! Many, many thanks to Heather for sticking with Sarah, in spite of her lack of practice at times...she's a wonderful friend, role model and teacher...and this is one grateful mom!!

I Love to Sew!

2010-02-05T13:46:00.001-08:00

February 5th, 2010

My earliest childhood memories involve being at my mother's side while she worked away on her sewing machine. My mother was one amazingly creative woman! Heavens, she had five little girls right in a row! She could easily see a dress in the store, sketch it out and go home and create it. As grand-daughters started to come along I clearly remember multiple dresses, often made from the same pattern. At some point in time she must have found a killer deal on gingham. I remember a bodice of gingham and a skirt of gingham squares. At that point in time dressier dresses were to the floor. At least these were. Those dresses were passed around for quite some time. I think that even Lindsay wore one of them. And then there were also gingham quilts that seemed to go on and on.
And as a result, mostly from my mother's influence, I LOVE to sew! I loved my "Home Ec" classes in junior high and high school. My graduation present from high school was a Bernina sewing machine...thought I had gone to heaven!! Lindsay has since inherited that wonderful machine and I have a Bernina that does embroidery. I remember walking into the sewing lab at BYU and seeing a whole room full of Berninas...I was so amazed! I had some talented teachers while at BYU...loved my sewing classes and flat pattern design classes.

For now, my love of sewing translates to quilting. I melt when I go into certain quilt shops. I drool...my heart races...my creative juices really start flowing. There just simply is not enough time in the day to do all the sewing I want to do. Every day (almost) for the past two weeks I have had a mental appointment with my sewing machine, but every day my best made plans have been rearranged for a zillion reasons. But not last night...Rich had a meeting and Sarah had a practice and I ignored several things I need to get to and went to town on this darling little dress for Sweet Baby Claire! Do you even know how long it has been since I've sewn a dress for a little girl??!! Way, way too long. And last night I kept thinking about my mother...I kept thinking I should be cutting out several of these at the same time, and that once I made this pattern the first time, it would be so easy the second time! As it is I really only did have material for just one, maybe two. I found this combination of prints at my currently favorite quilt shop in Utah, called Material Girls. I really need to prioritize my list of projects waiting in the wings, but I'm inspired now!

Lovin' My Hubby!!

2010-02-04T06:40:00.000-08:00

February 4th, 2010

I am a lucky lady...and I KNOW it! Rich and I are approaching our 30 year anniversary this year! Yikes, that seems like a long time, and yet it seems like just yesterday that I saw him for the first time. I clearly remember telling a roommate that I needed to find out more about him...I was very impressed. He was a natural leader and teacher. I loved, and still do, listening to him teach. Teaching seems to come so easily to him, and yet I know the hours that he spends reading, pondering, and praying for further understanding and insight.
30 years has taken us up and down the California coast, to the beautiful state of Washington, and then to the mid-west where we currently are residing in Illinois. He started his career with Unocal in 1981 after graduating from BYU. And has weathered being bought and sold and merged and is currently employed by ConocoPhillips. To say that he has put his heart into his employment is a severe understatement. I know that I have a slightly jaded perspective; however, I have watched him easily put in 60+ hours a week for more years than I care to remember. His current assignment has brought significant challenges beyond anything experienced previously. "Relief" and "Accomplishment" will have entirely different meanings when his current project is completed. But I sure am proud of him! Rich is SUCH a mechanical engineer. You have to know that just about any time he talks about work that such explanation comes with a diagram of sorts, usually on a napkin. It really is fun to drive past his site and see everything that is happening, especially the big, blue, humungous (?) crane.

Far more important than being an employee is the father that he has been to his children. They have their own way of expressing their gratitude to him and I enjoy watching the various ways they find to do so. Rich was raised pretty much without a father, but with an angel mother. Our children are very lucky. They have the benefit of having a pioneer heritage from my side of the family. From Rich they get the perspective that comes with realizing the difference that the gospel can bring into a family's life, as Rich joined the LDS Church while attending Vanderbilt University. As for me, I will be eternally grateful the he had lived his life in a way such that he was able to recognize the Spirit testifying to him of the truthfulness of the gospel when it was presented to him. We have been blessed with children that have developed strong testimonies of the gospel and I credit much of their understanding to the example of their father.

I love this man! And I'm proud to be by his side. I appreciate his willingness to see past my shortcomings and always wanting me to achieve whatever my heart desires. I look forward to seeing the many opportunities that will come our way in the next several years. International work, building a home, serving a mission, grandparenthood...endless list...we'll see!!

I LOVE Flowers, Especially Tulips!

2010-02-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

February 3rd, 2010

I love flowers! I go back and forth between whether I prefer "plants" or cut flowers in an arrangement. "Plants" obviously last much longer and can often be planted outside to be enjoyed again and again, but an arrangement is SO pretty. I was getting a tad bit desperate for something pretty to look at last week and bought these pretty yellow tulips...brightened my day!
We lived for three wonderful years in the beautiful northwest, about an hour and a half north of Seattle, in a town called Bellingham. We came to LOVE Bellingham for more reasons than I could ever list! The county right below Whatcom County is Skagit County, well known for their Annual Tulip Festival. Can you even imagine rows and rows of tulips as far as you could possibly see? It was something we did every year...just drove around visiting all of the beautiful fields in the area. (And occasionally order some tulips for the following year!)

Many thanks to Lindsay for finding this pic! I am SO looking forward to Spring this year. One of my dear friends shared a lot of different flowers last year, mostly lilies. I'm so excited to see them all come to life this year. I love being outside working in the yard, cutting the grass and working in the flower beds. It's been very interesting to see what grows in different parts of the country. Here in the mid-west, as difficult as humidity is to live with, it has an amazing effect on flowers! For instance, in California vincas grow all year long, but in Illinois they expand! One small plant just explodes into a bush. It's really neat! Anyways, I LOVE the miracle that is a flower!

I Love Tuesdays!

2010-02-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

February 2nd, 2010

Today is Tuesday and I LOVE Tuesdays because we *usually* receive our weekly e-mail from Marshall, my missionary son serving in the Porto Alegre North Brazil Mission. Marshall left last August and will be in Brazil for two years! I miss him tons, but at the same time I know that he is where he is supposed to be. He is growing so much as he shares the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is getting a grasp on the Portuguese language. So thrilled for him.
LOVE this pic of Marshall...he looks pretty happy to me.
Marshall made some *chocolate chip* cookies for a family in their branch. Apparently it was kind of difficult to find chocolate chips...he looks pretty happy with the outcome!
Yep, my son the baker! Too funny!!
Yep, he must be pretty thirsty and hot to eat watermelon this way. I don't remember that Marshall particularly cared for watermelon like his mother does. I sure do appreciate the families in Brazil that take such good care of my missionary!
This was a great picture from last week. A bunch of missionaries attended the Brazil Porto Alegre Temple. So glad that he has this opportunity while serving. These look like such great young men from all over the world, coming together for one unique purpose, and kind of looking like they're having a fun time, too!

28 Days of Love

2010-01-31T15:58:00.000-08:00

February 1, 2010

I decided in the dreariness of last week that I needed to have something to focus on in the coming month. Ah, February...we made it through January! And what is February but a chance to focus on LOVE! I started making a list of things that I love, people I love, activities that I love, along with what I am particularly grateful for, and therefore love! And decided to share them on this blog.

This will not be in any particular order. However, at the top of my list is the Savior, Jesus Christ. My feelings for the Savior definitely fall into the category of gratitude - although gratitude seems to be a little weak. Maybe there are not words for how grateful I am to Him...for His life, for His sacrifice for me! Today I share a YouTube video with Elder Neal A. Maxwell speaking about the Savior.

Geez, it is Downright Cold and Depressing Here in January!

2010-01-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

January...how is one supposed to get through January without being depressed?? It has been pretty darn cold, one blast of snow that brought a couple of snow days, but the reality is is that it is just not a very pretty time of year! I'm anxious to get on to some projects that I've been saving for this particular time...need to do something to lift my spirits.
Here's proof that it was cold...this was 2 Sundays ago...Bluebell was taking me to church, bless her heart, and here's how cold it really was. Never seen her say this before! And mind you, zero in IL is much colder than zero in parts west.

So when it's depressing, what's a girl to do but spend money! Just kidding. We've been in the market looking for a new flute for Sarah...was definitely time to upgrade. Unfortunately there aren't too many music stores that carry higher end flutes to try out, so we ordered three in the mail to try side by side. The third one is a Gemeinhardt. The verdict is still out a week later, although she's narrowing it down pretty fast. Hearing her play definitely lifts my spirits!

Well, the BEST thing to do when it's depressing outside is order in pure entertainment...so that's what we did!! Katie and Claire came to town on the 12th to visit for a week. And pure entertainment is just what we got! Claire is a hoot and a half!! She has the funniest, silliest, goofy and happy personality. Love, love, love this little girl!! Seeing as she is not here too often and I didn't want to have to tell her "no" over and over, we put up two gates in the kitchen, locked the cabinets we could, removed things that she would break from other cabinets, and let her have at it. It will take me several days, maybe weeks, to put things back the way they were, but it all needed reorganizing anyways. She had great fun rearranging everything. It's always amazing to me how she thinks the toys are just ok, but anything in the kitchen is way more fun! And the heavier and bigger it is...she'll definitely go for that! I do have a little table with two kids chairs that she enjoyed sitting at and telling us stories. Too funny...jibber, jibber, jibber, then "ummmm", then right back to the jibbering. She has a definite agenda about everything. But she adapted to new sleeping quarters and play areas just fine. Loved, loved, loved the piano and the fish tank...under close supervision!

This baby was in the crib and Claire attached herself right away. It was just amazing how she hugged and kissed and carried this baby around. She often held her while watching Sesame Street. This is all, of course, very good to know...hopefully she'll continue to have great feelings towards babies because there's going to be a NEW BABY in her house in August! Yay. It's finally official and I can speak about it. Grandbaby #2 is on it's way. Check out Katie's blog for more details. We are way excited!

We didn't go on too many outings this time, except one day we went down to the mall to check out a few sales. We were in Children's Place and came across this cute rain outfit. We didn't buy it, but it was sure fun to try things on!

There is a merry-go-round at the mall and Claire and I had it all to ourselves! Katie wasn't sure she'd like it very much. Ummmm, she LOVED it!

OK, so none of my kiddos had curls. Sarah had one, but nothing even close to this. This does my heart good, too! I love giving Claire her bath, simply because she makes it so fun. Then we do "lotion time", which I think she really enjoys, too. Oh, the baby lotions smell so good. And her hair is always so cute and curly after her bath when it first dries. Too fun.

So they left yesterday and it's still rather dreary outside. Not good. I need to go into "project mode" super fast to get through this! I'll have to figure out how to post pictures of what I'm thinking of doing. Going to be super cute! Here's to hoping you're handling January okay in your neck of the woods!

Welcome to Baby Poppy!!

2010-01-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

What a journey! I finally was able to talk to my sister Becky in Salt Lake yesterday. She had been in Samoa with a good part of her family for the Christmas holidays...and check out this present! Can you believe the beauty of this child? Becky's daughter Jayne is married to THE neatest Samoan! They've been married several years, but as yet have not been able to have children-until earlier this year when they found out that baby Poppy was coming to join their family. I sure make that sound easy, but as with any adoption it was anything but easy. Nonetheless, after many prayers everything came together. Jayne and Ta went to Samoa before Christmas to pick up Poppy, headed to New Zealand (for whatever reason) and then came back to Samoa to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family.
Obviously, Poppy is not her real name...one of these days I'll get her real name in writing. But Poppy definitely fits...her smile and apparently her personality. Too fun, though, because my sister has two other grand-daughters whose names are Lily and Tulip!

The Pauga's family first swim together...ah, that water in Samoa looks so inviting!!

Stephanie, Jayne with baby Poppy, and April...Steph and April are Jayne's sisters!

Poppy was able to be sealed to her parents in the Samoa Temple before coming home...what a great day! Families really are forever!!

Do they look just a little bit happy??!!!!! Apparently Poppy was an absolute angel on that very long trip home. I'm so excited that Poppy has come into the Pauga family. I can't imagine a more loving set of parents than Jayne and Ta. What a bright and happy future is ahead for this very blessed child and her family.

Happy Birthday Rich and Merry Christmas from Orlando!!

2010-01-01T19:52:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Rich on December 16th...and Happy Birthday to Holly on the 19th! Yay, another December birthday. I always feel like December birthdays get the short end of the stick. Rich is holding his favorite present...a real live hand-written letter from Marshall in Brazil. I am so grateful we're able to do the e-mail thing with our missionary, but getting a hand-written letter is still pretty fun!
Right after Marshall left back in August we quickly realized that we would only have Sarah and maybe Lindsay come home for Christmas this year. Not very much to my liking, but I certainly understand the circumstances and will patiently wait until next year..oops, this year! In the meantime, since it just didn't feel right being at home without most of the kids, we decided to do Christmas a little different this year...we headed to Orlando, in hopes of a chance to thaw out and get some sun. Well, we thawed out, but it wasn't nearly as warm as we hoped. Still, such a nice change of pace for the week. Orlando is actually a great place with tons and tons of things to do...we have barely scratched the surface after our first two visits. We were thinking that Christmas week wouldn't be all that busy...so wrong! It was super, super crowded and the traffic was crazy. DisneyWorld was said to have been sold out most days by 10:00 a.m. Yikes...

Not our traditional ham, potatoes, creamed corn, jello salad, and rolls for Christmas Eve dinner...we went to the Melting Pot instead. We decided for a New Year's Resolution to go once a month and try each of the dessert fondues...what do you think?

Downtown Disney...Lindsay and Sarah trying to re-create art forms!

Merry Christmas Lindsay and Sarah...some little elves even brought stockings to our room!

One night we had tickets to see this show and LOVED it! So how do you describe Blue Man Group to someone who doesn't know what it's about...comedy, few words, interesting music but not really music, lots of paper, lots of drumming, highly entertaining. That about sums it up!

Rich has always loved Ripley's Believe It or Not! Decided to stop in and it was fun!

Sarah's hand reading produced "You need a Friend"!

And Lindsay on the Throne of Love is "Hot Stuff"!

We drove by the Sling Shot numerous times and each time the girls said they really wanted to do it and we said, "Yea, right..." But they were serious! Where did we get these daredevils from??

Ready to launch...

Up, up, and away...390 feet in the air!

Looking straight down...

And they survived!!

All in all we had a great time, although we missed everyone else! We had a fantastic Christmas Day phone call with Marshall in Brazil...he was able to talk with everyone...in Orlando, in North Carolina, and in Utah. Marshall told us all about his routine, how he does his laundry, the area where he lives, how the language is coming...all in all he's doing just fantastic! We loved sitting in the jacuzzi, watching The Sound of Music while eating Capn' Crunch, seeing Shamu, shopping, trying new restaurants, trying new make-up, playing games, reading, computering, and doing something totally out of the ordinary for our Christmas vacation. Oh, and definitely doing Word Search puzzles in the airport on the way home!!

And now I declare my blog caught up...that only took over 12 hours and I'm sure I've forgotten something!! Sarah, it's your turn!!!!

Finishing Up Our November Trip

2010-01-01T19:27:00.001-08:00

We had a fun Thanksgiving week visit in Utah after the wedding, filled with lots of visiting. Rich and I got away for a couple of days for our 29th anniversary (wow!) and headed up to Midway...lots of fun.

In order to have plenty of room for Thanksgiving dinner the girls and I decided to hike up to the "Y"...a pretty darn ambitious hike. This was the first time for Sarah and Lindsay. Katie, as you may remember, hiked the "Y" on the day that Claire was due. It did not, however, put her into labor. Was a little bit easier this time.

Claire loves to climb in, on, over, under, and through anything and everything! The rascal has been up and walking before she was 8 months old...there's no stopping her now. However, we did do our best (and it was a constant battle!) to keep her off the top of the kitchen table. In the meantime she was content to...

climb on the chair seat as it was still tucked under the table! Silly girl!!

Made a little trip up to the BYU campus one day...Sarah and I wandered over to the Harris Fine Art Building...she hopes to one day be spending a lot of time in and around this office! Lots and lots of work to do to get there!

Good job Sarah-bear!!

It's a Wedding!!

2010-01-01T18:48:00.001-08:00

Chris met Miss Holly Beecher early in 2009 (wow, it's really 2010 now!). The rest of the family first met Holly in May and immediately we were hoping that Chris would do everything right! Holly is wonderful...I don't know how else to say it. She is a perfect fit for Chris. She is a very accomplished, energetic, and a super fun gal and the more we're around her, the more I love her. I guess I love her most because of the vision she has for Chris...she truly sees his potential and I have no doubt that he wants to be all he can be because of his love for her.

I was in Utah early enough to participate in a shower that some of each family were able to attend. Yummy Saturday morning brunch.
I love fun parties!!

And fun gifts!!

And fun best friends!!

The group that was at the shower...including two of my sisters and three of my nieces.

Chris and Holly at their special dinner the night before the wedding. Wedding day...Sarah, Lindsay, Rachel (their cousin), and Katie...such cute girls!

Miss Claire found some snow!

My beautiful daughter-in-law Holly Beecher Bowerman!!

Holly went several weeks before the wedding to have these portraits done at the place where the reception was to be held. It was the most perfect day and setting...can you believe the beautiful leaves??!!

I particularly loved her bouquet...beautiful fall colors.

Holly is just like me in that she doesn't like her picture taken all that much, but she sure does have a beautiful smile. Chris is SO lucky!!

Chris LOVES kids and they love him...he's going to make a great dad some day. Here he is with Claire!

My better half!!

Chris and some of his favorite girls!!

Their photographer was wonderful! I love the black and white, with some color thrown in!

Chris and Holly were married in the Bountiful Temple, which is way, way up on a hill overlooking the valley. It was a beautiful day, but up there it was a bit chilly and windy. I'm so happy they got so many nice pictures. Chris has always been Mr. Photogenic! They make the cutest couple...I'm so happy for them. There just aren't words to describe the joy one feels as a parent when they see pure joy in their children's eyes. Holly, welcome to the Bowerman Family!!

Time with Claire

2010-01-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

I absolutely LOVE spending time with this little being...how did I get so lucky to have such a perfect grandchild?? It is so hard to be away from her...did my mom feel this way about each of her 33 (?...lost track of the #) grandchildren? How did she stand it?
This was while we were waiting at the photo studio for our turn.

Aunt Laura sent this super fun little magnetic/song/matching toy for her birthday.

Happy Birthday little princess Claire!!

Claire (and Grammy) love bath time!!

I found one of these fun skirts at a boutique I went to...wasn't sure if she'd like it. Ha, she loves wearing it and immediately got into the twirl/dance routine!

Yep, the box for the toys is actually meant for Claire to play in!

I took her out one morning to find a dress to wear for Chris' wedding. We ended up in the Gap dressing room. Claire loves giving Claire kisses!

Such a cutie!

Katie and Joseph have done a super job of getting Claire to fall asleep on her own. It is a very simple routine of blankets just in the right place and certain toys to hold in just the right place and then "night, night Claire" and walk out. Wow, that never worked for me with 5 kids. It's always sweet to go back in and peek on her. Everything kind of ends up in a pile with her on top.

Happy First Birthday to Sweet Baby Claire!!

2010-01-01T17:29:00.000-08:00

November 3rd found me headed for Utah...again! It just happened to be Claire's birthday...hmmmm, did I plan it that way?? Regardless, it was off to get Claire's picture taken. We took a chance and didn't make an appointment and didn't realize how long we would wait. Claire did her best to hang in there and we got some super shots of her...the personality of this little angel comes through big time...and she's got quite the personality!
I think that Claire mostly looks like her handsome daddy...except for when she pulls off this smile with the wrinkled up nose and squinty eyes...that's ALL Katie!!

One of her favorite poses for some reason...hands behind the head.

Ya Ya (Joseph's mom) sent Claire this cute little giraffe for her birthday...she loves it!

While antiquing in PA back in October I found this cute little rocker hiding up in a corner, high on a shelf! Perfect for sweet baby Claire's birthday! Also, these jammies reminded me so much of the nightgowns and robes I used to buy the girls for Christmas each year. Ya Ya made the darling quilt.

Cutest little angel ever!!

Love it!!

The very inquisitive look!

At this point in time, Claire was trying to figure out how to jump.

Something about babies and their feet...can't get enough of those chubby little feet!!

"Grammy, where are you??"

Yep, the shifty eyes look..."Just try and guess what I'm going to get into next!"

I have this one in a large frame in black and white and stare at it almost all day...miss her so much!

At the very end of the session, the photographer had her change back into the original outfit, but by that time she was pretty much DONE! However, we did get one cute shot of Katie with Claire. Katie is always so photogenic!

Moving Right Along Through October!!

2010-01-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

I got back from my trip to Virginia to head into a very busy October. I got home and immediately took Sarah over to visit Carmen, our favorite hairdresser, to get her hair done for Homecoming! I can't believe my baby is 16! How could that possibly have happened so quickly?? Sarah has this gorgeous, long, slightly curly hair that I'm very jealous of!! Actually, all of my girls have hair that I love...it's all from their dad!!

What a pretty girl!! She went out to dinner and to the dance with a great group of friends, but I still think that overall she enjoys the church dances quite a bit more than the school ones...right Sarah?

And then the next day was her birthday. We found a great song...Neil Diamond's "Happy Birthday Sweet 16!" It's the best. We played it and danced to it all day long!

I can't remember if I mentioned our missionaries in a previous blog. I can call them "our missionaries" because they lived in our basement...makes them "ours"! We knew from the moment that we met Elder and Sister Hawks back in March that we had made a connection that would last forever. We watched them for almost 7 months work, work, work with members of our ward. It was amazing! We watched them sacrifice time away from their sweet family...missing babies being born, baptisms, and even a daughter's wedding...all to serve a mission. What an example!! Jenny is famous for her bread and cinnamon rolls...man, I sure miss getting a couple of warm loaves on my kitchen counter weekly. Elder Hawks is famous for doing hard labor of every sort. We took turns for most of the summer mowing the lawn...such a help to me!! They rejoiced with us at Marshall's mission call and all of our family events since March. And most important, they adored Sarah and treated her as if she was their own grand-daughter, which for a girl who has spent most of her life without grandparents, is something kind of special. Jenny bought Sarah a sweet necklace for her birthday that she'll always treasure.

Heather is also a huge part of Sarah's life...flute teacher and Young Women leader extraordinaire...love this gal!! Heather bought Sarah a bunch of socks for her birthday...perfect!

Our last Sunday dinner together with the Hawks...I can't even begin to say how much I miss these two wonderful people!!

One more time up those stairs and on their way!

Their car was filled to the brim. Elder Hawks was so incredibly patient as Jenny kept finding one more thing that had to go in. I lost track of how many boxes they ended up having to mail home.

October is big time Marching Band season. Sarah's team had a great season!!

One of Sarah's birthday presents was a trip to see "Phantom of the Opera" at the Fox Theater in downtown St. Louis with her good friend Hilary...too fun!! Hilary makes any outing super fun.

My good friend from California, Jennifer, was finally able to come visit me for a few days...we always have so much fun together. She has never been to the church history sites in this area, so we made the rounds. Our first stop was up in Carthage. It's super sweet watching someone see and feel the spirit of these sites for the first time. She loved everything!

Then on to Nauvoo. The weather was a bit cool and rainy, but the leaves were SO pretty. I love the Nauvoo Temple and never tire of visiting.

Ah, so pretty! We spent the night at the Willard Richards Inn and had the whole place to ourselves...very fun.

Then over to Independence and Liberty Jail, where the prophet Joseph spent that awful winter. I love this scripture from that time period. "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."

And then while in the Kansas City area we went to Time Out For Women...yay! Way fun!! It was a lot to do in such a short time and now she knows she has to bring her family back. Love spending time and catching up with good friends!

September Trip with Lindsay-Loo!!

2010-01-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

Lindsay and I had a great trip in late September/early October to the East Coast. We met in St. Louis and then flew together to Baltimore where my oldest sister Sharon picked us up...and then we headed to antique country in Pennsylvania! This was Lindsay's first real "let's go antiquing" experience. I think she couldn't believe that it could actually go on for 5 days! Sharon knows everything "antique" and I always feel confident in her opinion of whether something is a good buy or not.
Add my niece Pammy into the antiquing adventure and it becomes a real "trip"!!

Pammy is all about pink, leopard anything, Harley Davidson, and bling!! She's my niece that is 2 years older than I am.

How fun is it to have a birthday while you're antiquing!! Which is what I did. These girls snuck around to find a fun little something they new I'd love. This little chest is actually two drawer sides from an antique sewing machine put together...perfect for lots of little things! My sister Sharon, me, Pammy, Karen (my nephew Scott's wife), and Darlene (my nephew Preston's wife). So much fun to spend time with all these gals.

Couldn't pass this up! Yep, I know that I have one kind of similar to this, but this one is actually quite a bit bigger, has a lot more storage space, was pretty darn cheap, and is in perfect refinished condition. It's currently in storage at my sister's house...can't wait to go retrieve it at some point! Who will the one I currently have go to??

Ahhhh...live and learn. Whenever you go back and look at something several times and even take a picture of it...sure sign that you should have bought it!! This looks SO much like Claire to me and I really wish I would have bought it, in spite of the price. I'm hoping someone else didn't fall in love with it in the intervening 8 months and that it will still be at the Covered Wagon when Sharon goes back in April. One can hope.......

We were in one antique mall and this cute little lady was walking around pushing an umbrella stroller with all of her finds in the seat...I commented to her about what a good idea that was and she said something fun in return. As we were leaving, they were also. A young man opened the door for her, and her daughter (on the right) said, "Gee mom, when you're 105 people are so nice to open the door for you!" I overheard that and couldn't believe it...seriously, she's 105 years old and still antiquing strong. We decided to name her "The Antique Antiquer"!

My very handsome nephew Scott Carter...loved Scott and Karen's home!

Also got to stop and see Chrissie. She is Sharon's oldest grand-daughter (one of Pammy's daughters) and this past summer sweet baby Vayda joined their family of two little boys. Little Vayda is darling. There was quite a bit of concern about her kidneys...one of them isn't functioning, but she is very strong. A decision is coming in the future as to whether surgery will need to take place, but for now she's healthy as can be! I can't believe my oldest sister has as many great-grandchildren as she does...crazy!!

Once we were done antiquing in Pennsylvania we headed back down to Virginia to spend some time at Sharon's house. Stratford Hall, where George Washington was born, is a couple of miles up the road. I love all of the history in the area.

One day we also headed to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home...loved it and it was a perfect day! Again, I love the history and spending time with Lindsay and Sharon!

The area around Monticello is absolutely beautiful!

Lindsay and Thomas!

Another day we headed up to Maryland to visit the Washington DC Temple. I have such wonderful memories of when this temple was built and how we were able to take people through on tours before the dedication. Lindsay really enjoyed being there.

The way cool thing about Facebook is being able to hook up with old friends! From 7th to 10th grade I attended a private school in Maryland. One gal stood by me through thick and thin...Laura! Earlier this summer she found me on Facebook and we were able to figure out a time to meet while I was back there visiting. What a great friend she was and is!!

I did NOT make the same mistake twice! When I saw this window I stopped breathing for a minute (OK, a few seconds)! This picture simply does not do it justice. It's dark outside while Sharon is holding it up, but with light coming through it, oh, the colors are just so beautiful...all these jewel tones and colors. Sharon wouldn't let me bring it home on the plane...oh well. So it is waiting for me in Virginia also. I can't wait to get it cleaned up and hung in the perfect place. All in all it was a fantastic trip. My oldest sister is very much like my mother to me. She was always there as I was growing up and I spent a lot of time at her home, with her kids...sweet memories. One night Pammy and Lindsay and I spent a couple of hours looking at my dad's slides...Pammy has this cackle of a laugh that is just her. I can hear it in my mind so clearly.

September!

2010-01-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

Love the fall season...maybe it's because my birthday is in September. Whatever...this September was sure a busy one and here's a few highlights!

This picture is not quite in the right place, but oh well. When I got out to Utah Katie, Claire, and I did a little shopping up in Park City. Claire loves mirrors! I love this picture of her.

"Deer in the headlights" look by me! We LOVED Mary Poppins...it was amazing!!

Not quite sure when it was, but at some point I watched the Davis kiddos for a weekend. They are so much fun and I love each one of them! Kim and I are trading "services" kind of...she's Sarah's physical trainer and I give the older three girls piano lessons. Working pretty good! I headed out to Utah for a quick trip to help Lindsay at a wedding show she was doing at Thanksgiving Point...she's doing wedding announcements on the side. I crammed a lot of visiting in in just a few days. I was able to meet Holly's family - Chris' new in-laws. While in Bountiful for that visit I stopped over to see my Uncle Paul, my dad's last surviving brother. He was doing amazing. Two of his daughters, Christine and Pinkie (my cousins), live close by and it was great to visit with them. My Uncle Paul will be 95 (?) I think this month...wow! He served in World War II and this is a little information about his service!

Paul O. Huber joined the Army in January, 1941 and was assigned to the Field Artillery, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

On November 8, 1942, Huber and his men landed at Algiers, North Africa and captured an airfield. They fought with only small arms because the wrong ammo had been shipped and didn’t fit into the breaches of their cannons.

On July 10, 1943, Huber’s unit took part in the invasion of Sicily. During the brutal, six-week battle, Huber single-handedly manned a mountaintop observation post. Disregarding enemy shells raining down around him, he directed U.S. artillery on Nazi positions. For his gallantry, he was awarded the Silver Star.

On D-Day, June 6, 1944 Huber landed in the second wave of invaders on Utah Beach. Acting as the 9th Division’s liaison to allied paratroop forces, he forced his way inland to the French town of St. Mere Eglise and again was exposed to enemy tanks and artillery. For his actions he was awarded the Bronze Star.

At the city of Cherbourg, Huber helped accept the surrender of a German General and Admiral and the 4,000 enemy troops manning the garrison. Shortly after, he was given a battlefield promotion to Major.

Huber and his unit went on to fight in both the Huertgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. During March, 1945 his unit was one of the first to cross the Rhine River into Germany, utilizing the famed Remagen Bridge. He remembers watching the damaged bridge collapse, stranding U.S. forces in German territory. The University of Utah honored him on Veteran's Day this year, November 11th (also my dad's birthday!).

Pretty cool, huh??

Cousins Jayne and Lindsay. Fun stuff...Jayne and her husband, Ta, are adopting a little girl from Samoa. Paper work is all finally coming together and they are headed there during the Christmas break to pick up baby Poppy! Can't wait to meet her!

Love my sister Becky!! She always puts on a great meal when we come to town!!

That trip was just the beginning of a very crazy 4 months!!

My Missionary Named Marshall!!

2010-01-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

Marshall has been called to serve in the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission. He left on August 26th to serve in Brazil for two years. Marshall has been preparing for his mission pretty much his entire life and he was so excited. We had all tried to guess where he might go...we kept thinking it might be somewhere that he'd be able to use his 4 years of high school french. However, he was needed in Brazil, is learning Portuguese and loving it!

Rich has given Marshall his haircuts for most of his life...one more! To say that Marshall loved his cell phone and computer contact (namely Facebook) would be a huge, huge understatement! We had an appointment for Marshall to be set apart as a full-time missionary with President Holt Monday evening. Early that afternoon he handed me his phone and told me he'd turned it off and was ready to move forward and leave that all behind. In my mind I had expected for him to hang on to it to the very last second, but I was so pleased. It was an amazing transformation - those last 24 hours. We could literally sense the new mantel that had been placed on his shoulders. President Holt gave him an incredible blessing. The three of us left his home filled with great anticipation for what the next two years would bring.

After leaving President Holt's home we headed over to Lottawatta Creek for one more super yummy meal! Love this pic of Rich and Marshall!

August 26th...early in the morning. Sarah was on her way out the door for Seminary. One last hug and a bucket of tears for her big brother! These two have been great friends the last several years.

Marshall's flight left around noon, all as planned. He headed for Dallas where he met up with a couple dozen other missionaries also headed to Brazil. Rich and I headed for Cheesecake Factory and drowned our sorrow in a piece of Red Velvet Cheesecake...oh, so, so, so yummy!

Those first few days that your missionary is gone are filled with tons of anxiety! We finally heard he was there and all was well by the weekend. He looks so happy here!

Marshall and one of his first instructors. His first stop was in Sao Paulo at the CTM where he worked on learning the language and missionary lessons for approximately 8 weeks.

He left Sao Paulo for Porto Alegre in mid-October. This is a pic of President and Sister Pavan, his Mission President and wife. I don't even know these people, but have such appreciation for the service they are so freely giving. I know they will bless my son's life in ways that I could never even dream of.

This is a fairly recent picture of Marshall at the Porto Alegre Temple. I'm so glad that there is a temple in his mission and that he will be able to get there occasionally.

The first weekend in December and Marshall had his first baptism...so exciting to see people's lives change for the better!!

Marshall's first companion was named Elder J. Souza ("Souza" is a very common name and so they add an initial) on the left...he's recently finished his mission and gone home to Rio, and his second companion is Elder Quieroz from Salvador. Love the fact that they are always with a companion!

I am attempting to keep a much more detailed account of Marshall's mission experiences in a blog dedicated totally to the mission...check it out at www.elderbowerman.blogspot.com. I LOVE having a missionary. I am amazed...I don't think I could do what he's doing. We had a great conversation with him on Christmas Day. He sounded so happy. He talked a lot about his routine, how he does his laundry, the members, the area, etc. Moms live for these phone calls and I'm already mentally calculating how long away Mother's Day is when I get to hear his voice again.

Where, Oh Where, Did My Summer Go?

2009-08-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

My goodness...here it is, the late evening of August 17th! I've been doing this "mom" thing for some time now, and so it has always seemed as though when summer is over for the kids, it's over for me, too! Sarah begins her junior year at Edwardsville High School tomorrow. She's just a tad bit excited. Sarah is very involved in marching band and they just completed their two week band camp last Friday. Her first year she played the flute, last year she was playing a xylophone thing, and this year...

she has a brand new synthesizer keyboard at her fingertips! She's pretty darn excited about the whole thing. Their performance this year is entitled "Essence". There are several classical sounding sections, and then towards the end it gets a tad bit more jazzy. To say she was having a good time would very much be an understatement!

These pictures are very not in order of the last month, but oh well! It was a blast to have all of the kids come home on August 5th to spend some time together before Marshall leaves on his mission. This was actually the LAST picture they took together, late Sunday night...one more group hug! Most of the pics are from that weekend.

Sweet Baby Claire has arrived at the stage where she is pure entertainment! She started walking before she was 8 months old! It's so funny to see this little person cruising around like she owns the world.

I have been stockpiling toys for my future grandkids for quite some time. I was pretty excited to pull them out, unpackage them, find the perfect basket for them and watch Claire be amazed at what Grandma had found! Well, was I put in my place. She immediately went for a box of oranges that was sitting on the floor in the kitchen...threw and rolled them all over the place! And then she found the broom and entertained herself off and on with it for quite some time. She also found a bottom drawer in the kitchen filled with measuring cups and wouldn't leave it alone until one was broken...oh well. I do remember always having a kid drawer in my kitchen...guess I'll have to figure that one out. Not the last bit intimidated by the size of the thing!

This picture was taken after church on Sunday. Marshall and Rich both spoke in Sacrament Meeting since all the kids were there. Marshall, Chris, Dustan and Mike Barnard also sang...delightful! Chris' girlfriend, Holly Beecher, also joined us for the weekend. Yep, my hair looks pretty funny because I'm trying to grow it out one-more-time (for Rich!). I feel like a teenager with braces and cute little clips in my hair! (We missed Joseph...he needed to visit North Carolina with Claire the following week...she's had her share of airplane rides lately!)

Saturday mornings Rich and I have been hitting the bike trails in and around Edwardsville...totally fun! Katie, Claire, and Lindsay joined us for the ride and we had a blast!
Especially Claire!
So much so that she crashed...sound asleep!
This picture was taken late at night, after the Open House for Tyler and Miranda Conkle which was at our home on the evening of August 7th. I couldn't have done it without all of their help! We were all pretty worn out by the end of the night. Love these kiddos and it pleases me to no end that they are all pretty good friends and enjoy each other's company!
Thought that this was a super cute picture of Katie with the bride, Miranda. They were sweet high school friends. I was so glad to have had the privilege to be part of Miranda's special day!
Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Conkle! Sweet!

Another group shot...outside! Funny thing...I found these darling shoes for Claire. They were a little too big, but we put some extra socks on her and it seemed to work out. I had no idea when I bought them that they had this incredible little feature...they squeak when she walks! She figured that one out fast and it was rather hysterical.

The girl loves pickles!

Claire looks very much like her daddy, but she definitely has a "Katie grin", wrinkled nose and all!

Oh, I love this little face! Way too cute!

So, back in July my oldest sister, Sharon, came to visit me from Virginia. She's also known as my second mother because she has two kids older than I am and I spent quite a bit of my youth under her direction. She means the world to me! We weren't able to have our "sister get together" this year, but I managed to twist Sharon's arm enough to come to see me for a visit. We had a very, very busy week together. One of the things we did was to go over to Independence and visit Liberty Jail where the Prophet Joseph and several others were imprisoned for many months one very, very cold winter. It is heart-wrenching to think about the conditions they endured and the lessons they learned...a great spiritual experience.

OK, so these are way out of order...I'll figure this out yet. But anyway, before my sister arrived Rich and I took off for the weekend and headed over to the Kirtland, Ohio area - another site rich with church history. Here we are in front of the Newel K. Whitney store. I don't think there are words to put to the feelings we experienced as we spent time in this particular building and learned of all that took place there.

OK, so what are the chances? We got to Kirtland and went to the place where we waited for the tour to start. Shortly thereafter in walks Terra Reed and her sweet family! Terra and I work together in Relief Society at church. She had been visiting her family in Ohio for several weeks and they decided to spend some time in Kirtland that same particular Sunday afternoon, at the same time...amazing! So, in the short space of 3 weeks I had been to Nauvoo, Kirtland, Independence, and back to Nauvoo...way cool! (And so had Bluebelle!)
OK, my sister Sharon is phenomenal when it comes to refinishing furniture. She's been at it for decades. She and her husband own a little antique store in Virginia called Elderly Treasures. So, it seems this way anyway, whenever Sharon comes to town I have a little project for her to help me with. Her expertise is invaluable! This time it was this cute little 6 drawer spool chest that I found last summer. I was pretty thrilled with how it turned out...and I think I have this process down...

...which is a good thing, because I have several projects to work on! While Sharon and I traveled I-70 between St. Louis and Independence, we stopped at almost all of the antique malls along the way. Artichoke Annie's, mile marker #137, was by far the best. We found it last, unfortunately, and spent almost 4 hours there...and only because it closed! Good thing, though, is that it's only 1 1/2 hours from my front door! So here's several before pictures...and probably I'll have the finished pictures up about this time next year if I'm lucky! Cute little, fold-up victorian rocker. Need to find some perfect material to re-upholster it also.

This dresser is in great condition with all the original hardware...got it for a steal and can't wait to see how it turns out! Not sure which one of my kiddos will end up with this one.

This mirror will look super cute above the dresser! I thought I had one more picture...guess not...one more item is a cute trunk. I'll definitely post before and after on that one.

So, all in all, it was a great summer and I'm headed into a very busy 3 months...yikes! We have been so lucky to have had a relatively mild summer, as far as the weather goes. Hope yours was fantastic, too! Marshall leaves in one week. Lots of packing still left to do...wish me luck!

Sarah's Quilt Plus a Few More Names!!

2009-07-02T21:10:00.001-07:00

Yahoo! We finished Sarah's birthday quilt (from last October!)! I'm very pleased with how it turned out if I may so myself! The colors are super fun. The blue matches her bedroom walls and so her room is turning out very nice and fun. Feels so good to actually COMPLETE something finally! We left it with a lady in Ogden to do the quilting on top. She did a fantastic job...kinda swirly, which matches the material perfectly. So what should my next project be? Hmmmm, that is the question? So I was pretty sad to hear about the passing of Farah Fawcett. Yep, I admit it...I was pretty much a real fan of Charlie's Angels, although I never had a poster in my room or anything! Watched that TV show pretty faithfully. I tried in vain to get my hair to look like hers, which never happened! Not sure about things Farah was involved in later in her life, but she was a good "angel"! I was thinking about her declining health the other night and...

I was also thinking about the fact that I hadn't named my new kitchen faucet and then it dawned on me, "Call her Farah, the faucet!" There you go! So my lovely, incredibly difficult to find, brass kitchen fixture is named Farah...works for me.

Oh, and by the way, good luck if you ever need to find one of these things. Not much left in the way of kitchen fixtures in brass, not in this day and age. I could have done something different, but that would have required changing out a lot of hinges, knobs, and that would be just the beginning...

I don't think that I have mentioned Mr. Mason, my 1929 Mason Hamlin Grand Piano. He has been part of our family for about 5 years now. I was very fortunate to locate him in northern California and have some keyboard work done on him before he came home to us. It was a great experience to see that all done in a shop in Oakland, CA. I LOVE this piano. It has a deep, wonderful sound. Last week we had a missionary from the St. Louis mission come to our home. His name is Elder Bratt and he is a student of David Glen Hatch, one incredibly talented pianist. Well, Elder Bratt played Mr. Mason like he's never been played before. He played "How Great Thou Art", a wonderful classical piece, and his own arrangement of "I Need Thee Every Hour". I was in tears, it was so amazingly beautiful. Owning a grand piano is truly one of my dreams come true. My grandfather Beesley owned Beesley Music Company in Salt Lake City and he was also a concert piano tuner. The only pianos that he sold in his store were Mason Hamlins. They were built in Boston, MA and were the main competitor to the Steinway piano built in Germany during the 10's and 20's. Anyways, it was pretty fun to find one...I feel like my Grandpa Beesley, who I never met, would be pleased.

One more new name...Sarah inherited "Ghosty", my bike from last year, and I got a nice new golden-looking one. (Did I mention how much I love Costco??!!) We decided tonight to name her "Goldilocks". Like it? We are a definite biking family now. We'll be sure and let you know what Rich names his big boy size tricycle he bought. He loves it!

Big question this weekend...who will win Winbledon??? Serena or Venus?? I think I'm leaning a little toward Venus, but whatever, it's going to be good and I'm going to be watching!!

Father's Day - Part One

2009-06-27T21:05:00.001-07:00

So I had one of my crazy ideas awhile back. Wouldn't it be fun if I could get the kids all home and surprise Rich for Father's Day. I really didn't say much on Mother's Day this year, but it just didn't feel right not having them all around, almost worse than Christmas. But trying to get 5 of them to coordinate a few days off of their various jobs was just a tad difficult. Even MORE difficult was keeping them quiet about the whole operation. My goodness, they blew it numerous times and I seemed to have to keep telling "little white lies" to cover for them. I so wanted it to be a surprise. I have since repented and been forgiven...just so you know.
On Thursday evening Rich went out to make a visit with one of the missionaries living with us. When he left, Jenny and I headed to the airport to meet the kids. You will notice that Chris is not in the picture. That is not a mistake. He lost his driver's license and therefore wouldn't have gotten through security. He didn't track down a birth certificate in time to get a replacement license. We all felt bad and he felt the worst, I'm sure. Some of us have to learn the hard way. Anyways, this week had been so, so hot in Edwardsville. Well above 90 and super humid. Jenny called her husband and said for them to come to Bobby's Custard for a treat, thinking they'd just be meeting Jenny and I. We were all there before the boys arrived. We all ran up to the jeep and I popped Claire's head through the window for Rich to see. He was VERY surprised. Too fun. Rich loves being around the kids and what better day for such to happen than on Father's Day!

Nauvoo is one of our favorite places to visit. It's about 3 and 1/2 hours up the road from us. The early members of the church lived and built the city of Nauvoo for about 7 years before leaving on their big trek to the Salt Lake Valley. We love being there, especially since the temple has been rebuilt and especially since that is where Katie and Joseph were married. We were able to make connections with a former Bishop that we had in Bellingham. He and his wife (Leo and Pam Liddle) are serving as temple missionaries and they were able to be with us during our temple visit this time. It feels like you are almost in heaven when you're in such a sacred place surrounded by family and dear friends. Doesn't get much better than that! I live for days like this. We had a nice dinner with the Liddles that evening.

Guess what we discovered...Claire LOVES pickles. She seems to go for the sour stuff...pickles and lemons! Yikes. Too funny.

Walking down Main Street in Nauvoo. Yes, you are seeing Katie on Joseph's shoulders, headed for the Nauvoo Fudge Store.

My sweetheart! I'm so glad Rich was surprised, or at least acted like he was. He was such a good sport about it all. I get super nervous when I don't know what's going on. Rich is SO busy at work right now. I wasn't sure if it would even work for him to take a day off, but he had anticipated spending the day with just Sarah. Bonus...he got all of us! The boys did some heavy duty yard work for several hours on both Friday and Saturday. Trees down, weeds killed, mulch spread, and on and on. Sarah and Marshall also agreed to give their dad the gift of a clean garage for Father's Day. Bless their hearts, they picked the hottest two days to go to work on it, but they did a super job and it was so appreciated.

Father's Day - Part 2

2009-06-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

One of the things that Sarah and I found at the Galleria in Houston was this darling watermelon outfit for Claire, complete with glasses.
I kind of like watermelon...understatement! And I dearly love watching this little gal when she is sleeping, especially. We were able to time her naps just right as we went back and forth to Nauvoo. She's a good sport about being in her car seat.

As we were weighing the luggage before heading to the airport, Claire headed over to the scale and climbed on. She has to figure everything out! I just laugh when I look at this picture and try to think of the right caption, but I can't decide. She looks guilty..."Who me?", she looks like she's thinking, "I can't possibly weigh that much!", she looks like maybe her diaper weighs too much.

Father's Day...we didn't necessarily plan it, but the girls managed to coordinate their outfits. Lots of blue and white!

Happy, happy Father's Day Rich. It was a great memorable weekend...many sweet memories! We both agree...it's pretty much all about family. So fun to see him enjoy sweet baby Claire!

Keep On Catching Up!!

2009-06-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Love this picture of sweet baby Claire. When we went out to be with the kids in May, I took along some of Katie's clothes that I had saved from when she was a little one. This little dress was a perfect fit! My sister Becky gave this to Katie and I think I put it on her when she was very tiny and had her wear it a long time...it was definitely one of my favorites. Anything with smocking on it melts my heart.
And Claire melts my heart...big time!

Yep, you're seeing braces on Lisa. Not too terribly ugly, huh?? I'm hoping that by taking a little dental action now, it will save some major work later on. And maybe the teeth will even straighten out a little. What's two years??

So Lindsay has this incredibly darling picture of Claire right next to a picture of a Cabbage Patch doll. Claire could have been a model! It's too funny! Well, Sarah and I ventured into the Goodwill store not too long ago and look what I found! $4.00! Yahoo! This Cabbage Patch was born in 1986...yep, older than Katie! We brought her home and washed her up really well. We pulled out some of our old doll clothes and I even did a little embroidery. She's not too crazy fond of her yet, but does enjoy playing with her yarn hair.

After Sarah finished her last day of school the three of us caught a plane to Houston. Rich had this crazy idea for a road trip, escorting a picture home that was in his Houston office. So we'd fly to Houston and drive home, picture in tow. Sarah and I had a great day shopping at the Houston Galleria, which is just huge. We did find some great bargains. We also met up for part of the day with our friend Beth, who lives and teaches in Houston. Lots of fun. Beth showed us where this "Wall of Water" is close to the Galleria. It was super neat.

I think something like 11,000 gallons of water a minute "fall" down this wall. The next day we left Houston around 6:30 a.m. and headed for home. We arrived home around midnight. What on earth were we thinking? We are much too old to try and make drives like that in one day!

Seriously So, So Behind!

2009-06-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure what has happened to the months of May and June...they seem to have disappeared in a rather rapid fashion! The passage of time has not dimmed the fact that I still find myself checking Oreo's chair to see if she is ok. And every time the doorbell rings I can hear her barking, clearly! And then we saw her twin at the pet store today...she had just finished being groomed and looked so much like Oreo. We miss her to say the least.

On May 21st Rich, Sarah, and I headed to Utah for a very, very busy weekend. We woke up early on the 22nd ready to do some serious shopping. Provo is the best place to buy everything a future missionary will need. Rich and Marshall lined up some suits and shoes and a few other necessities. Later that afternoon we were able to accompany Marshall as he went to the Provo Temple. What a wonderful experience to be in such a sacred place surrounded by family.

Love this boy! It was a beautiful evening as we were leaving.

The next day we traveled down to Manti to witness the wedding of our niece Emily to her sweetheart Dave. Manti, Utah is about an hour and half from Provo and there is the most amazing temple there that was built in the late 1800's. The antique furnishings are just a site to behold! I look at the above picture and try to imagine how happy Evalyn, Rich's mom, would feel at this sight. I am quite sure that it would thrill her. Her posterity continues to grow!

This is a picture of a set of first cousins, Nick and Lindsay, and second cousins, Riley Taylor and Claire Brewer...how fun is that??!!

Some more cute, cute first cousins...Katie Brewer and Rachel Nielson. Katie and Rachel are about 3 months apart in age and have enjoyed lots of fun times over the years.

Oh, and this is kind of fun...Chris brought along a new friend for us to meet and we all LOVE her. So happy that Holly and Chris' paths have crossed. She seemed to fit right into the Bowerman mix of crazy and fun personalities. Looking forward to getting to know Holly better!

Ode to Oreo

2009-05-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

I have put off doing this post for awhile, just because it makes me a bit sad - actually very sad! The time finally came when it became apparent that Oreo's quality of life had deteriorated to a point where she was miserable. It was time to let her go. I felt like I had been holding on to her for a bit longer than I should have. She has been my little companion for 13 1/2 years. I'm not quite sure what my response will be when I'm asked who I've been talking to when it doesn't appear that there is anyone around. I've always been able to say that I was talking to the dog! We had some awesome conversations! If only we could all be so understanding, so non-judgmental, and so forgiving as our doggies!

We were able to pick Oreo out in November of 1995. Sarah was just barely 2 and I would take her over to the house where the puppies were every week so that we could take a picture of how she was growing. I was quite sure that Sarah wouldn't let the other kids know what was going on. Rich and I were able to bring Oreo home on Christmas Eve...a long, long night. She was so sad to have left her family. She finally ended up in a hamper, in the car, in the garage so she wouldn't wake up the kids. In the morning the kids had to go on a scavenger hunt and eventually found her in the fireplace in the family room...way too fun! They spent the rest of their Christmas vacation that year sleeping on a mattress in the kitchen with her until she was okay on her own.
Oreo was a perfect fit for our family. She lived in five different houses and several different kennels over the years. Three airplane flights just about did her in...definitely NOT her favorite thing. This picture was taken in February of 1997. It was interesting to watch her black hair eventually turn very gray. We originally called her Noelle because of her Christmas arrival, but then someone said she looked like an "Oreo" cookie, and that was it! So she was officially Oreo Noelle on her AKC certificate.

One of her VERY favorite activities...riding in the car! "Oreo, let's go!" and she'd come running! Whenever she would be with me to pick someone up and she would spot them coming, her tail would start going in circles, not just back and forth. Always made me laugh. Oreo was incredibly territorial. As long as she was in HER house, HER yard, and HER car she was queen and let you know it! In a couple of our homes she loved sitting on the back of a couch or chair and being a true watch dog. However, when we would be out on a walk she didn't make a noise. Not a social butterfly!

She had several different groomers over the years and was always well-behaved. Her favorite was Kim in Bellingham. They became great friends, especially considering that Oreo spent four months in Kim's kennel while we were building a home in Washington.

I laughed when I found this picture in the newspaper. I'm not sure Oreo could ever see it or paid attention to it. I wish I still had it. This little ball of fur worked her way into my heart, followed me around the house, and spent hours at my side. One thing that always made me smile was how she would come sit by the piano when I would play. I can hardly stand walking by the chair that she slept in for the last several years. I keep glancing at it to check on her! It just feels like something is missing. All of us will miss her extreme level of happiness when we would come home after being away, especially if we had been gone for awhile. Today after returning from Utah was kind of difficult...no greeting from Oreo! Yikes. We miss her kisses, sneezes, and waves. Thank you, Oreo, for the joy you brought to our family. We will miss you!

Some of the Reasons I Love Edwardsville!

2009-05-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

Ah, I LOVE this time of year! It seems like the cold winter season went on and on this year, but alas, spring has arrived! In our front yard we have two of these awesome trees, called Pin Oaks. These trees hang onto their leaves for what seems like the longest time.
This picture was taken on March 17th.

This picture was taken on April 20th, just over 4 weeks later. The dead leaves are just about gone!

This one was taken this morning...8 weeks after March 17th. Isn't that amazing - the transformation! I love watching this!

I think the flora and fauna in our area loved the abundance of rain we have had this year! The dogwoods were incredible. This one is not far from our house, it is shaped so nicely. I kept forgetting to snap a picture as I drove by...this is just about at the end of it's blooming. So pretty!

Right up there with my favorite flower (gardenias!) are lilacs. The scent is amazing! Yummmm!

I am so grateful for the abundance of beauties that exist all around us. How lucky we are!

Marshall...a Tribute to My Soon-to-be Missionary!

2009-04-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Years ago, when Marshall was in Kindergarten, he went on a field trip over to a local community college close to his elementary school. If I remember correctly, the purpose of the field trip was to open the student's eyes to the endless possibilities of what they could be/do when they grew up. They all came home with various signs hung around their necks explaining their choices. This was Marshall's! Marshall has grown up knowing that his future aspirations included serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints one day. Last night, after MUCH anticipation, he opened his call, which had finally come in the mail that day. Marshall will be serving in the Brazil Porto Alegre North Mission. He could have gone anywhere in the world! There is a very large Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT (which is where Marshall has been washing dishes for the last 6 months!) and that is where most missionaries go before they leave for their assignments. However, there are some Missionary Training Centers located throughout the world, and there happens to be one in Brazil, soooo...he'll leave straight from home to Brazil. YIKES! He reports on August 26th. We have a lot to do in four months!
Marshall has had some great examples along the way. He grew up hearing wonderful stories of his father's mission to Paris, France. Rich served for two years from 1976-1978. Marshall's older brother, Chris, served in Knoxville, Tennessee from 2002-2004. Marshall's brother-in-law, Joseph, served in Samoa. I have always loved this picture of Chris and Marshall. They didn't have too many matching pieces of clothing like the girls did, but I loved these shirts!

Marshall has a cousin-once-removed (that would be his cousin's son) named Perry Sessions. Perry recently received his mission call to New Zealand. Marshall and Perry's paths have crossed occasionally over the years. They've both been at BYU for their freshman year. Can't remember how long ago this was! But we're sure excited for Perry also. He leaves July 2nd.

A couple of years ago we were at the church museum in Independence, MO. There was a display showing all of the languages that the Book of Mormon has been printed in. Have you ever heard of a language called "Marshallese"? We thought that was great. I've often wondered where in the world they speak "Marshallese".

Thanks to Chris, Rich, Sarah, and I were able to see Marshall open his call, via a web cam. It was pretty chaotic, but definitely memorable. Here's a fine picture of the group right afterwards. Apparently there was some discussion as to whether my "known-to-be-very-emotional son" would possibly shed tears when he finally read the letter, but no, he was ALL smiles and very thrilled. We had all tried to guess where it was that he would go, but we were all pretty off the mark. Oh well, the possibilities were endless!

I am so thrilled with Marshall's desire to serve. What a commitment from these 19-year-old young men to put their life on hold for two years, pay their own way, go anywhere in the world they're asked to go, and preach the gospel they love with all of their hearts. I'm so pleased. I have no doubt that he will be blessed immensely throughout the remainder of his life for the service he will render to the wonderful people of Brazil. I love you Marshall!

Utah Trip, April 2009, Part 1

2009-04-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

Last week Sarah and I made a "not-so-much-of-a-surprise" trip to Utah for Sarah's Spring Break. We arrived on Marshall's 19th birthday and tried to surprise him, but we had apparently slipped up one too many times and he kind of had it figured out...oh well! Here's the group at Tucano's in the Riverbottoms area in Provo celebrating Marshall's birthday...love that place! Only wish Rich had been able to be with us...we appreciate his hard work more than ever!
I look at this group and have to admit I get a little teary-eyed! They all make me so happy. I am SO pleased with all that is going on in their lives. Chris is doing his best to be a successful student at ITT Tech, plus work full-time. I am amazed at Lindsay's creativity...I shouldn't be...she puts out some really cute designs at her job at Pebbles! Katie and Joseph are both working and going to school now, making hard decisions and raising the cutest grandbaby in the world. Marshall is finishing up his freshman year at the "Y" and his mission papers are in...we'll be posting about that pretty soon! Can't wait to see where he gets to spend the next 2 years! Sarah misses being around her siblings a lot, but somebody has to keep her parents company, and she fills that role quite nicely. She's an excellent student and musician. They all have wonderful, growing testimonies of the gospel, they keep the commandments, they serve in their wards, they love the scriptures, and they are worthy to be in the temple. What more could I ask for from my kids? Thanks a million...you're the best!

OK, so this isn't the greatest picture of Lindsay Lu, but it captures how I see Claire really well. Miss Smiley! There's just a tint of redness to Claire's hair...maybe strawberry-blond. Lindsay continues to be Katie's greatest asset in raising Claire...so glad she's there close by to be such a great support.

Claire Bear loves, loves, loves the lemons!

Showing off my cute Easter dress and bow!

Happy Easter from the Brewer Family...all so perfectly coordinated! OK, so this wasn't really planned, it just happened. Too fun!

Trip to Utah, April 2009, Part 2

2009-04-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

So one night while in Utah we were able to go up to Salt Lake to Jayne and Ta's home. They are the proud parents of seven new Havanese puppies. Go to Jayne's blog at www.paugapuppies.blogspot.com for some really, really cute pictures. They are darling and have the cutest personalities. Sarah is holding the chocolate brown one that Stephanie is apparently claiming. I think his new name is going to be "Nacho".

These puppies were so good with all the kiddos running around. It was amazing. So were the momma and poppa. Claire loved all the kisses and loves! I, of course, fell in love with them, but was firmly warned not to bring one home...oh well.

Claire LOVES to be in her jumper. She is not one to sit still. She gets this thing moving! She mostly likes to be held standing upright! Katie did report today that she was sitting up on her own.

Claire's nursery is done with the Eric Carle Hungry Caterpillar prints. I found this "beautiful butterfly" at Kohl's one day. She loved it. It has this crinkly stuff in that makes a sound she loves. Just want to squeeze that cute little face. She definitely looks like her daddy to me.