I love the 3's: Part Deux

Just finishing the addons of the 3's:

3 cars I've owned: Mercury Topaz, Pontiac Grand Am, Dodge Durango

3 of my happiest moments: Givens: wedding and births, watching my children's accomplishments, Elizabeth emailing me

3 of my most embarrassing moments: Yet another dress in pantyhose story---stake seminary meeting, walked right past the guy I liked, and he said, " I bet you feel this small right now" ugh!, Breaking a lamp on our honeymoon and having to admit it upon checkout, the first time I went skiing, a 4 yr old skiied past me while I was on the ground, and asked if I needed help.

3 things I want to do before I die: Finish our scrapbooks! Watch my children make righteous choices, and worry less.

3 jobs I wanted to have when I was younger: doctor, psychologist, Walmart cashier--go figure.

3 sports I like to watch on TV: hmmm, none

3 sports I like to attend: Volleyball--indoors!, Football for comradery not the sport, Baseball

3 random facts: I don't swim. I do plan and organize. I wish I could play the piano. (I've tried, but sometimes it's just not in the cards.)

Facing my fears

I did it! I bought plane tickets. It only took 3 hours to purchase them--warning: rant coming!

A certain travel site charged my credit card but didn't send the reservation through. So after being on the phone 5 times to thickly accented individuals who were obviously reading from a script, (please spell your name---April: A as in annoyed, p as in peeved, r as in rude, i as in imbecile, l as in look, you took my money and didn't give me my reservation!),

I finally got it straightened out. Then we tried to rebook, this time directly through the airline. Once again, a problem, this time my credit card blocked the charge. Only 1 phone call later, and that was straightened out. To someone who is afraid of flying this may seem like a bit of a bad omen. :) i.e. ME! I haven't flown for nearly 15 years. We're going back to Missouri for a week at the end of September. I'm so excited to see everyone and meet Baby Jack, and to show the kids where I grew up. We were going to go back at Christmastime, but has anyone seen how much they jack the prices up for a holiday? We're saving $900 by going now. And this way I only have 3 more weeks to worry about flying. The weather should be great, so we are already planning a float trip down a river. We also already have a scheduled appointment at the Nauvoo Temple which we're very excited about. Chelsie is looking forward to having a "nail" ring made at the local blacksmith. It will be a great trip, and hopefully I will have lots of pics to share, for it will be a busy and fun filled week.

On another note, yesterday we made the trek to Sherman Oaks, for we discovered they have a Yogurtland!!! It was yummy!

"3's" about me

Samantha sent me an email requesting these answers so I thought I would just post it, and tag anyone who reads it:

My answers:
Three jobs I have had: 1. Softball scorekeeper 2. Hospital orderly 3. Opthalmologist visual field tech
Three places I have lived: Poplar Bluff, Missouri; Provo, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada
Three shows that I watch: The Office, Lost, Army Wives
Three places I have been: (Hmmm this is hard, because I don't like to travel) Washington DC, Tijuana, Mexico; Nauvoo, IL
Three people who email me often: Daleen, Heather, Allison
Three of my favorite foods: Mexican, Chinese, BBQ
Three places I'd rather be right now: the beach, camping, Palm Springs
Three friends I think will respond: Daleen, Heather, Allison
Three things I am looking forward to this year: Our trip to Missouri to meet baby Jack, cooler weather, The "Twilight" movie


I learned a bit more about Samantha thru this, and I hope this fills the pass it along requirement. :) Maybe she will post her answers as well so you can learn also. ;) Feel free to add more fun facts of 3's if you wish in your post. I'll be watching to see who responds! Thanks!

Makin' Waves

Tonight we joined the Mower's out on the lake. Of course, we had a fabulous time. Thank you!

Here's everyone jumping in for a dip in the lake.

Here's the lifeguard telling us that swimming is not allowed.

Riding the wake.

Wakesurfing. He's looking like a California boy.

Jordan catching some air.

3 hours and 10 minutes well spent. ;)

We went out to dinner on Saturday night with the Hoskins for a quiet celebration of Scott and Leonard's birthdays--they are just over a week apart. It is rare that the camera finds both Scott and I in a shot so I thought I would post this one. We ate at New Moon, and of course the food was delicious! We played a game of Power Grid afterwards. It was a nice evening.

We are settling into the routine of being back in school. Chelsie is having a few problems with hives, she's had to come home early 2 of the 4 days...sigh...we're working on a plan to keep her out of the heat at recess. She just wants to run around with her friends, what 6 year old wouldn't? Fortunately, the school is quite understanding, and it looks like the library, the computer, and board games are in her future for recess until the temperatures drop a bit. Sweet Aliza is accompanying Chelsie today, so she won't be alone.

Well ladies, we had our first Tuesday of scrapbooking yesterday. There were 4 of us, we were able to scrap, chat, and eat! It was a treat! Thanks for the yummy cookies Jamie. I'll leave you with a layout that I finished.

Is the tooth fairy broke yet?

Chelsie lost another tooth this afternoon. I didn't realize how loose this one was until she was showing off today. She knew exactly what I was up to this time, when I asked to wiggle it. She said, "No, let me pull it"...and that she did....even though she wasn't even really trying...she was only trying to appease me and show me it was in no way actually ready to come out. It was so surprising to her that it came out, that it flew out of her hand and we had to really search the white carpet to find it. So I guess the tooth fairy will be making another stop at the Bowen house tonight!

Here comes the weekend

Hmmm, first on the agenda.....sleeping in. We're still trying to catch up from all the traveling we've done recently. It will be nice to have a low key weekend.


The first 2 days of school went relatively well. Both Wes and Kelly had to make a change to their schedules which are hopefully now all resolved. Wes is now in WRTV all days. He hosted sports today, click here to watch.http://westranchtv.com/2008/08/15/west-ranch-tv-august-15-2008/ His part starts at 8:13. Just a bunch of tryout announcements, but he's looking more comfortable in front of the camera. Kelly is now in a ceramics art class for her elective. I'm sure she will have alot of fun with that. Chelsie had a splendid first day but today ended a bit early due to hives. Darn recess!! She got a bit overheated running around with friends...how could she resist? Benadryl and a cool shower later and she's back to normal. I'm settling into this new routine of 6 hours of uninterrupted time. Tuesday is being dubbed scrapbooking day--anyone who's interested give me a call. I was looking through old pictures today and thought I'd leave you with a picture of the kids taken in 2004. My how time flies.

School Days

Today is the first day of school for the kids. Wes drove himself--yea!!! Scott took Kelly and I took Chelsie, she's a big 1st grader now and gets to stay all day. Whatever will I do all day? Here are pics of the kids right before they left this morning.

Warning: Long Post! Fun filled weekend!

We had a great time camping at Morro Bay. On the way there, we stopped at famous Andersen's for Split Pea Soup, which quite surprisingly to all of us, was quite good.

We arrived at our campsite around 3:30 and got all set up. The only thing between our campground and the bay was a golf course. The men really hated that! We watched the sunset over the bay and also saw several jellyfish up close washed up on the beach.

Saturday morning, Scott, Wes, Mark, Spencer, Leonard, Jordon, Nathan, and Vince set out for a round of golf. I'm not sure about the other boys, but my boy looked like he was having more fun driving the cart than hitting the ball. Matter of fact it looked like he was speed golfing, so he would have more time to drive. All in all, I think they had a good time.

We took a trolley downtown to Morro Rock Saturday afternoon.

Here's a fun shot of the boys running back to catch the trolley after they had mistakenly decided that they could walk back to town before the trolley came. Run, jump Taylor, you can make it!

We watched otters in the bay, squirrels on the rocks, and starfish and crabs just off the rocks. We ventured over to the Farmer's Market for fresh fruit, tamales, and hummus. It was a very fun day.

Sunday we took kayaks out into the bay where sea lions and pelicans came right up to us.

At one spot we were in such shallow water it looked as if we were walking on water far from the shore.

Kayaking was my favorite activity this trip....who knew??? After lunch, we headed to San Simean to see the elephant seals, they were huge and lazy!

We went to Moonstone beach where we climbed on rocks, collected pebbles, and played the Banry's spandex game--too funny!

We saw Hearst Castle from the road and stopped at Linn's Bakery for Ollalaberry Pie (blackberry/raspberry hybrid). It was tasty!

We made dutch oven chicken and rice for dinner--our first dutch oven dinner attempt, (I think it turned out pretty good.) and triple berry dump cake for dessert. This morning we ate breakfast at Apple Farms, and headed out to find a shell beach on the way home. Oceano Dunes/Pismo Beach fit the bill, and looks like it might be a future camping ground for us all.
It was a wonderful vacation with wonderful friends. I believe there were 11 families that went...we grow a little each year. Thanks for a great time everyone! Already looking forward to next year!

I will try to post a slideshow tomorrow with lots more pics.

P.S. Happy Birthday Scott! We love you.