Asher Erik Ray Bowen

Momma and baby doing well

Today my son Michael and his beautiful wife Haley gave me my 13th grandchild. Asher was born at 4:55 Utah time, he weighs 7 lb 4oz and is 19 inches long.  Asher has two older brothers, Ezekiel 5 and Gabriel 3.  They all live in Provo Utah where Mike works in pest control and Haley is a stay at home mom.
Mike and Haley just visited us at Christmas, what a trooper
this little mama is to
make such a long trip so close to her due date.

I will be going to meet Asher in person in about a month, but until then I will have to be satisfied with internet pictures and Skype, we've already had some face time.  :-)

Kickin Up Our Heels

When I was growing up my parents had a small group of close friends that used to go out country western dancing on the weekends, we all had campers and would load up and go to a little dive bar in Yucca Valley called the "Longhorn Saloon".  They had a live country band on the weekends and catered to the local marines and good ole boys. It was somewhat of a family place and blast for us all, good clean fun where I learned how to dance from my Dad and Uncles and also some very important rules for life.

Erik and I recently reconnected with an old friend and co worker who just so happens to own a little place up in Apple Valley The Cadillac Ranch, we drove up and spent the night Partying like Rock Stars with Allison this weekend and it brought back so many fun memories for me.

It also made me think that I have been negligent in exposing my children to the world of fun dancing.  My parents drug me everywhere, I was an only child so it was a lot easier than packing up my brood of 7 or 8 but still.  They really did a good job of showing me very different sides of things. My Dad was a very well respected private contractor and we were invited to open houses and Christmas parties of the very affluent and then we would go yhee haw it up and rodeo BBQ's and back yard barn dances.
I think I could do a better job of well rounding the kids I have left at home.

Countdown

I can't believe that we have less than 90 days till Shawn leaves for bootcamp. WoW!! The last few months have just whizzed by and now the time is at hand.  I have been doing a lot of internet work lately to get an understanding of what is going to happen after we say good bye to him on April 4th.  There are a lot of really good sites put up by the Navy and  a great site for Navy Moms.  I am very grateful for these since I hate the unknown.
The next 88 days need to be dedicated to training, of all kinds.  Physically, mentally and memorizing.
I am so happy for him and grateful for this experience, I can hardly wait to meet the "sailor" they will transform him into.

Blessings Abound

Surprise! 

Just two days into 2012 and already more surprises and blessings than I deserve. Kim and Ed came over tonight with a hand painted birthday sign for us.
In a family our size it is hard to keep track of all of our little blessings special days and this is such an awesome idea.  Kim, being quite the artist did all of the art work to perfectly match our decor and I absolutely love it.
But the BIG surprise was the extra little tag with the ? name...... Yes they are expecting a baby!
What a great fun way to let us know.  I am just thrilled to pieces for them (and me)!  Baby Pairrett is due the end of August, it is going to be a busy year with Mike and Haley expecting Asher in January and Kelly and Nathan expecting Toby in March.  I am blessed!

The Road Ahead 2012

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:5
This is the verse that was our focus at church this morning, Amazing!
For the last two weeks I have been trying to think of a title for my blog for this year, I have my theme picked out but just couldn't quite put my finger on a title verse. But this is it!!
Everyday this year I want to remember, the Lord is good, his love endures ForEver and he is faithful to all generations.
This is not always easy to remember, when my life is not going so good,
He is still good, and in control of what is best for me.  When I am
alone and feeling lonely physically or emotionally His love is
there for me in his word and the people he has put in my life.
And when I am worried and concerned about my kids
and friends and family I can rest in that He is there for them too.
So as I sit here on the first day of 2012 thinking about the
road ahead of me this New Year I am deciding  to focus
on the positive, on my haves and not my have nots,
on my cans and not on my can nots, because the
Lord is Good.
And I am Grateful.

Life's Reset Button

My kids play video games. The games have a really neat little feature called a save and reset button.  It seems that each time you reach another level if you hit the save button then if you have to start over you can actually start from that point... Pretty Cool really.
I wish life had that feature.  We could just go back to the last saved place and have a do over.  I think I could really use a do over.  I wonder if I'm just at my mid life crisis point or I really have gone mad.  I just want to find the reset button.

The Party's Over

Our Princesses

Well the Party is almost over!  This has been such a crazy year starting with Kim's wedding in March, just one fun event after another! 

Kenny and Katherine at
8th grade graduation

Sweet Isaac
Wedding showers, then baby showers, birthdays, my grand daughters graduation and yesterday Kaitlyn's big graduation open house! 

Our Own Chef

Party fit for a Chef

Today for Father's day we will hang low key. No cooking because we have so many good left overs and no big event because Erik wants to have a day of rest.  Caleb wants to treat his Dad to a movie and the rest of us can tag along...       That will be fun.