Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to tell all my Bowman family Merry Christmas. We don't get to see too much of each other, but I do think about you all.

Things have been so busy for me the last couple of years. I am going to finish work on my MA this week. Yay! Yay! Double Yay! I also started teaching at DSC which has been a huge learning experience for me.

The kids are growing like crazy. Cricket is doing competitive cheerleading. I will try to post when her competitions are just in case anyone wants to come watch.

Tilly has been busy with dance and winning awards at school. She just won reflections for our Council in theatre. I will see if I can post her movie on my blog.

Dewy is tall and crazy. He had to go to two preschools this semester because of my work schedule and he hated it. He is back down to one next sememster. He loves playing basketball, doing anything with Jon, and going to gym with Jack!

Ryan in the sky

Ryan in the Sky by Jennifer Gibb | Make Your Own Book

I am not Pam

My Name is Not Pam,

I did Not make Jam,

But I did Can.

Someday I will Make Jam,

Just like my Sister Pam.

I've been saving that up for a year Loyce!

love you all! Let's post to this blog!

Back from Australia

Wayne is back from Australia. He had a great time catching up with his four grandchildren and his three children. He also caught up with many wonderful friends, and his brother Graham. He brought me back a didgeridoo and a boomerang painted with Aboriginal art (pictures to follow). I have a lot of work before I can play it and make is sound like what the native people sound like. But I love it! I did miss Wayne, but I stayed so busy the time flew by.

Australia

I thought I just had to get this out of inactivity, and I really don't have anything much to post, so I'll just let you all know that on Wednesday Wayne will fly out to Australia to see his children and Grand children. He will, of course, catch up with his friends, and you can bet he'll be out every night. I can't imagine having four grand children I had never seen, so in my opinion it is long overdue. So we'll post more about his trip when he returns.

Daniel and Fiti

I just wanted to let everyone know when Daniel and Fiti's wedding reception is: Sat August 15th from 6:00 to 8:00. I set out invites to all my mom's siblings a couple of days ago but I don't have addresses for the majority of the cousins so this is your official invite. Email me at gibbcraft@yahoo.com if you want the address. Sorry for the e-vite but I didn't get the invites in time to collect that many addresses. If you do by chance make it, remember to bring your cash. I guess it is a cultural thing at Polynesian weddings to throw money at the bride and groom.

pics

hi, thought I would share some photos from a recent camping trip. Love. Cyndee

Hi everyone. Hope you all got my recent email about the reunion. The $30.00 per person is for the whole time; not per night. Love. Cyndee

Are you ready to Reunion????

Hi everyone! I just wanted to say I am so excited to see you all! WOOHOO! Be prepared to make fun of my fab sporting abilities! My kids are so exited they can barely stand it. I can't believe some of the baby cousins are in college, married, etc. It will be so fun! It has been too long for me. HUGS & see you next month! Tabitha

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to all of these fabulous woman! It'll be new to Trish this year, congratulations beforehand! I love these ladies! Thanks for all you do. I am so proud of each one of you.

Hi everyone,
Hooray!!! the winter is finally leaving. I know... Utah and Idaho still got a little snow today, but we are finally starting to get more nice days than bad weather!

Now it is getting time to get serious planning your trip to the reunion and we need to get a more final count. I know we all have conflicts and some may not be able to come. Those unable to come we will miss you. Those who come, we shall have a fantastic fun time!!! if you are not coming - I will be sending out instructions for sending us handprints of each of your family members for a quilt i am planning.

Reminders:
Date: July 22-25th; We have to leave Saturday by noon. :(
Location: Church camp in the mountains above Ogden (Near Huntsville)
Amenities: 2 lodges (open space), swimming pool, places to play sports, Shower/Bath house
Lodging: may sleep indoors (lodge-no beds), camp in your tent or RV, etc.
Plans: great food, great fun, great memories, baseball, etc.

If anyone has special requests for meals, a great recipe to suggest, activities, etc. - now's the time. We do plan on getting all the food prior to the event and then sharing costs so that no-one has to mess with hauling food except baby food item needs and special diet requirement needs.

So, let me know. I am so excited, The countdown is on! Only 73 more days. Love, Cyndee

PrisonBreak

See this guy... just broke out of prison... kidding. Wayne got the three seasons of Prison Break from Jim and Elaine. You absolutely made his day! Too much, but thanks so much!

Christmas 08

Just had to show you this beautiful doily that Elaine tatted for me. I absolutely love the intricate details and am blown away by your generosity. Thank you so much! Hope you know how much we love this Bowman family!

Dear family,
As you know Loyce, Pam, and I have been working on the reunion. There are a few changes. The date has been changed to July 22-25th. This was due to our desire to find a location more cost effective. We now have reservations confirmed at this church camp. (See link below). Pam and Loyce drove up a few weeks ago to check it out and take pictures. I think it will be a good place to meet. Our reservation dates are July 22 through July 25. I think we have to be out by noon or something like that. Loyce took pictures (attached) it is fall and it was raining a little. Valley View is actually a Layton Stake owned camp. There are no beds provided but there is the A-frame that will hold twenty-five to thirty people and some can sleep in the lodge. The tent sites are right around the cabin and lodge. It has a swimming pool, horse shoe pit, sand volleyball pit, baseball backstop and diamond. It has a nicely kept lawn around the swimming pool and lodge. There are good roads and well marked paths. There are bathrooms in the lodge but no showers. The showers and bathrooms are by the swimming pool and there is a bathroom with showers several yards from the lodge. It is about four or five miles from Pineview Reservoir. If anyone wants to bring their boat, that would be great too.
http://bigo.byu.edu:8085/MRP-UTNO/Camps.jsp?menuSelect=about&campSelect=21

I thought we could set up some space for mom and dad in the lodge since there is a bathroom there. The rest us of can either pitch tents or set up space in the lodge or A-Frame as space allows. I think we are going to bring our trailer and whoever else has a camper/trailer/RV, etc, there is a space for parking these.
Thanks so much to Loyce and Pam for finding this place!!

We have discussed many options, but think that our best plan is to buy all the food etc and have have everyone split the costs. That way we won't have to all bring different groceries and can buy in bulk, since we are going to have a large group. I am so excited to see everyone! :) We will get everyone more details soon. I hope the date change does not effect anyone negatively! Let me know any specific ideas you may have that you want to do. Again, please forward on to those whom I don't have email and send me please. (Katie and Daniel, Melissa and Chuck, Jed, Johnny, etc.) Love you all, Cyndee

Christmas Survey!!!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, bags are just lazy and not as fun to open.
2. Real tree or Artificial? There’s nothing like the smell of a REAL tree.
3. When do you put up your Christmas Tree? Ooh, that’s a tough one, I think that right after Thanksgiving I’ll want to decorate for Christmas but I’ll have to wait a little bit longer to put up the tree because I wouldn’t want it to be dead by the time Christmas actually got here.
4. When do you take the tree down? New Year's
5. Do you like eggnog? I love it, I just treated myself to some this last week after I finished a bunch of paper and a few exams.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? There are a few that stick out to me: my first BMX, my sega genesis, my letterman’s jacket, my longboard skateboard (that was really good, so good that it got stolen).
7. Hardest person to buy for? I don’t know, I would imagine that I’m pretty hard to shop for because I never know what I want. But when I do know I am pretty specific and therefore easy to shop for, so I don’t know.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My future wife, I’ll just get her things for the kitchen and more cleaning supplies, she’s gonna love it, maybe that’s why I’m not married yet.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope, maybe someday.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, but I haven’t done that since my mission.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Reflective ankle straps that ensured that my slacks wouldn’t get caught in the chain of my bike, that was a pretty good one. “Gee, thanks. What is it?”
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Christmas Eve is on the 23rd right? So that means either the 22nd or 23rd I’m there.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nobody’s ever given me a twelve pack or a bunch of 2-liter sodas for Christmas, if so I would have put that under worst gift ever.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Egg nog, and yes I know that it says “eat”, that’s the best part, the thicker the better, you have to chew that egg nog.
16. Lights on the tree? I like the classic look of white lights on the tree but there’s a special place in my heart for the color flashing lights we had on our tree growing up.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Angels We Have Heard on High
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen (he must have been a football player). But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer….
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I think I’ll go for a star.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Pajamas on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Commercialization.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don’t really know what this question means, I would have to say Christmas would be the theme I’ll be shooting for…
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Fresh rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh rolls, ham, fresh hot rolls, stuffing, left over rolls heated up in the microwave, green bean casserole, and let’s see, what else….rolls, hot rolls, fresh hot rolls would be nice.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Flash drive, shoes, a pony, fresh hot roll recipe, burt’s bees wax, ipod…
26. Who is most likely to respond to this? I’m probably the last one.
27. Who is least likely to respond to this? Me but I showed you.

TAG! You are it!

Thought this one would be fun for my posterity!Here are the rules:Write 7 random things about yourself.Tag 7 people at the end of your post.Pass on the tag.Here it goes...

1. Hmmm...seven random things about myself. I secretly want to be a break dancer. Probably won't ever happen. But seriously I love to dance and be danced with. I wish I was good at it. You'll catch me dancing throughout my days. When I unload the dishwasher, I often have random outbursts of dancing, even though I don't have much rhythm. People who witness me on a regular basis can testify to that. Yes I'm the person you'll catch swaying to the music all alone in my car:)

2. I LOVE Utah! Surprised? I used to not. But I'm feeling SOO much better this year with the seasons changing now that I'm being treated for hypothyroidism. I think it's the perfect place to live, and an even better place to raise a family (not there yet :) I'm all about the outdoors. You'll never find me at a happier frame of mind than when I'm playing outside. I get gorgeous mountains to look at everyday. I go hiking when I can. Snowshoeing, Sledding, Four wheeling and snowmobiling (with the right equipment.) Snowboarding in Utah is an amazing experience. I have lakes all over the place to play in, and go boating in :) 4 gorgeous seasons. Don't think I could live in a place that didn't have fall. I think the leaves changing in the canyons are the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed. I have great neighbors. But most of all, I think Utah has great people. I've always been able to find fun friends who support a similar belief.

3. I love flossing. Love it. I normally carry a pack with me in my purse to floss when those sudden urges happen..but I'm out :( I should probably buy a new one. Donations for this cause are accepted. Send money or floss to my parents address!
(yes that is a piece of floss hanging from my mouth)


4. I really love to create things. From drawing (mostly the human face), molding clay, playing the piano, to woodwork. I love the creation of things. I like to make my own music. I'm not the best note reader, but I can mimic any tunes on the piano with some practice. Most of all I like to make up random songs. I've built shelves, a night stand, picture and mirror frames. I love the feeling of creating something from scratch :)
5. I'm a love finatic. Hopeless romantic. Every summer since I was about 12 years old I would start writing a few of my own romantic novels. I love reading about love, I love seeing love, I love writing about love, I love the thought of love, but I seem to refuse to fall in love! I'm such a Bowman. To independent. Yes it's true I'm going to wait till my prince has guts enough to stand up for himself and make me fall in love with him :) (Sorry it's not the fella in the picture..just my image of what love should be...fun and friendship..it gets you through the hard times)


6. I'm a soccer/yoga/workout fanatic! I love the feeling of being fit and eating healthy. I don't care much about being skinny, I just love wanting to do physically hard things, (like running trails while hiking) and being able to because I work hard at staying in the best shape my body will allow. I can do anything when I put my mind to it. Soccer is so much funner when you can run and not feel like you wanna die from being out of breath. I love feeling flexible and making my body twist in cool ways without feeling pain. I hope to get certified eventually to teach yoga. And I'm working towards a marathon.



7. I love LOVE LOVE LOVE Family, and friends. I feel proud to say I can look back on my life and not pick out one single enemy or person I just don't like. I've made it a HUGELY Important factor in my life never to be judgemental or hold grudges. Towards myself and others. I credit my heavenly father for blessing me with the ability to see people for who they really are. When I lose the spirit in my life, I lose this ability. I'm grateful for the gospel, and the principles it teaches, especially towards the family. My family are some of my greatest friends. I don't think I could have made it through this world or become the person I am without my immediate and extended family in my life. I never miss a family event if at all possible. When I'm near family, I laugh a little harder, and smile a little more. For me, there is no greater feeling in this world than the feeling you get while being near family.


I re-tag Bo, Leisa, Loyce, KALLI, BECKY, Cyndee, and Ryanne. Get your butts in gear and post! If I can find time so can you.

Halloween - Oh What a Fright!

Good to smile through it all!

Oh My! Where are the feathers and great horns!

The Pirate Gabe & His Dead Lively Lookin' Cheerleader Friend!

The Dead Cheerleader!

The Bobacious Nerd!

It takes all kinds to create a frightful Halloween. We have all kinds at our house!

52 Candles! WOW

A "HAPPY" BIRTHDAY GIRL!
It takes many hands to build an indoor inferno!

It looks darn good! Strawberry Shortcake was the birthday girls choice of the day! She is lookin' great at fifty-two don't you think?

Another tag...

Thought this one would be fun for my posterity!Here are the rules:Write 7 random things about yourself.Tag 7 people at the end of your post.Pass on the tag.Here it goes...

1. I love love love my children! I too wanted 10 Jillra, and it broke my heart when my I saw that my life was not going to allow me to have that. Still, I feel the most self worth as a Mom (yes, even though I have made lots of mistakes). Nothing has brought me the joy that I felt raising my children.

2. I love love love my grandchildren! I know everyone knew that was coming. There is nothing like the babies of those children that are yours, only now grown up (and just how did that happen so fast?). I just don't see them often enough, but there is no one I would trust more to take care of them than my own children.

3. I love to be active, I ride my stationary bike ten miles a day, and would do more if I had the time. I also love yoga, but I like to do yoga with Loyce and Bobbi best, not by myself. I love to play volleyball, soccer, baseball, and swim. Some of these things knock everything out of me now, but I still love them. I don't like to watch sports on TV though, I like to play them.

4. I love to create things, flower gardens, quilts, yummy food, and crafts. I like to be able to finish them quickly, so if it takes too long or I can't do it well, I lose interest quickly. There are still tons of things I would like to try, like carving, woodworking, and welding... weird, huh?

5. I love teaching first grade. I love seeing light bulbs turn on while I teach. I love teaching in a school where my students need the stability of a safe environment. I love to make my students feel special, and successful. I hate report cards!

6. I love the Gospel, I have always felt the love of my Savior in my life, even when I did and maybe especially when I made mistakes in my life. The number one thing I 'hope' for in my life is that my family can be together forever in the hereafter.

7. I am a bit of a perfectionist, without having the talent to be perfect. S0 I am constantly frustrated. I am constantly trying to find what it is that I can do, that may be I can do differently and amazingly well. Maybe in the next life... ha!

I tag Bo, Leisa, Loyce, Bobbi, Cyndee, Hydee, and Ryanne

Bobbi Turns 21

What does a good girl do when she turns twenty one? She drinks ice water in her backyard at her birthday barbecue, blows out candles that the wind already blew out and eats a bit of peanut butter bar while everyone else eats a BIG bar with ice cream. THATS Bobbi!

Happy 7th Birthday Jamie!

The poster is for her "All About Me" day at school! We love our Jamie!
Jamie said it was a great, great, great, great birthday! I guess that means she liked it. She took some friends with her to a movie "Kung Fu Panda" on Saturday. Sunday she had a dinner with family and special friends. Aunt Pam's Texas Sheet cake was the Amazing Cake of the party!

Happy Birthday Bill Cook!

By Car, By Bus, By Plane - NO BY TRAIN!

Bobbi, Rebecca, Nancy, Pam and Jamie smile as they wait for the train in Layton to take them to Salt Lake City's Gateway Mall!

Pam, Loyce and Nancy smile because they just ate dinner at Applebees at the Gateway Mall!
A nice eventful day on a train, on a trax, at a mall, on a walk through the ghetto, in a race for the parked silent train is something to smile about! Nancy and Jamie share a laugh on the return trip to Layton. It was great to spend time with Nancy and Rebecca!