Happy 4th of July!

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

WE LOVE AMERICA!

Treygun Treygun Treygun...

~We are having some bad luck in the Bowen household. No one can say it quite like Adam... I am using a section from his journal to share the happenings this week.~


Due to some questionable choices Treygun was assigned full time doggy duty, yesterday while taking Sophie out he had an unexpected meeting with the driveway. Trey knows how imperative it is to not let the 60 pound 99% muscle dog get away and so with both hand taut around the leash Treygun was performing nobly his duty. In the driveway there are poles holding up the car ports and on this particular occasion Treygun and Sophie where not on the same path and decided to take different sides of the pole to get to where they were going. Unfortunately, though Treygun is approaching the 60 pound mark, he is not quite 99% muscle. Trey fought the dog and the dog won. With both hands grasping the leash with all his might Treygun’s hands were not available to brace him at all during the fall.

The result; a FAT lip, cuts both inside and out of his mouth, and cuts up and down the sides of his front teeth, all contributing to the utmost fear of his mother that he would lose one of his front teeth. Treygun has already gone through the “all thi vant fur thristmas…” phase and so his front chiclets are the permanent variety and not so easily replaced as visiting Tijuana. Lucky for us there are some fine individuals in the family who specialize in chiclets (not their official title) and the frantic call was thankfully returned by “Dr. Matt” who assured us since the tooth was not broken or cracked all should be well. They went in today and had xrays to make sure... The roots and nerves looked good. The tooth is a bit loose, we will wait and see if it survives. Trey gets no solid foods for a week.




Side Note... As Treygun came in the house, he dramatically fell to the floor bloody face and all, sprinkling the carpet red… proving again why they did all the sacrifices and the sprinkling of blood at alters outside the house or on the door posts at the closest... this morning he was eating breakfast in the front room (which is forbidden mind you) and spilled his milk. Thinking he could easily cover his tracks by cleaning it up he went to work, including moving the couch to get every drop. In the attempt to move the couch (remember not quite 99% muscle) he needed some leverage and pushed against a curio cabinet made of glass, his foot some how some way came out of it (after going into it) unscathed.

I know without a doubt I have had legions of guardian angels and my Mom has legions of “Oh Phew” moments with just as many “Damn it” look at the ________“fill in the blank” (i.e. the floor, the cabinet, the wall, the car, etc... etc... etc...) moments following. Apparently so does Treygun and so will Heather…

Side Note #2... Notice his determination... He would not let the dog go regardless, (including his flail to the floor)... and in covering his tracks to clean up the milk... just got to build on that.

Side Note #3... Obviously working on looking at the positives...

OK, it is official...

I don't consider myself to be very clumsy, but when you are focusing on a crazy 2 year old while trying to walk on grass, could it really be your fault? I mean who expects divots to be in the grass?? Not my proudest moment...

After hitting the hole in the ground and falling on my face, it was a given my foot was hurt. It swelled up immediately. Of course, I did stand on it most of the baseball game and chased Emmy to the park, therefore failing to elevate or ice until after Trey's game. By the time we got home... IT HURT!

I iced and elevated, stayed down the next day and tried to take it easy. A week later it looked like this


The swelling has now gone down, I have an actual ankle again! But now it hurts worse. I gave in and got an X-ray last night.

I did sprain my ankle, I also broke it. I have a large crack through the bottom of my Fibula and a small one on the 4th Metatarsal (next to my pinky).


I have to wear an air-cast and shouldn't do anything strenuous for 4 to 6 weeks. SERIOUSLY!?!

Memorial Weekend

We are always excited when the Ross cousins come to town. We have missed living close. This weekend we spent some time at a few different parks, had dinner at the Burt's and just enjoyed being all together!


The boy's discovered the caterpillars at one park. They were quite entertained for a long while! Eeewww!!





We did focus a little bit on the reason for the holiday. We are so grateful for the many family members who have served in the Armed Forces and those who have passed on ahead of us. We miss them dearly but were so blessed to have them in our lives.

Blue Jazz

Trey was the only one who wanted to play soccer this year. With only one, it was less stress on Saturday mornings.


Although it is odd to play soccer in May, in Utah! Some days were snowy, some rainy and some were perfect. Trey did AWESOME!

He is so funny! They play 5 at a time... 3 forwards and 2 guarding the goal. A kid from the other team got the ball and was heading for the goal... Trey was a forward and took off after him... He saw 2 of his teammates in back weren't paying attention and Trey started yelling, while running "Hello! Guys? We are playing a game here!!" Everyone on the sidelines were in tears laughing!!


He did score the last goal to win the game. YEA for TREY!!

9 is Divine!

Landry Wendell's Favorites at 9 years old!

Color: Light green
Food: potatoes and gravy
Treat: Suckers
Book: Magic Tree House series
Song: Eye of the tiger
Movie: Earth
Game: “Who Knew”
Quote: “Whatever!”
Nicknames: Dree, Dree-money, Booga
Things to do outside: climb trees, play war, make huts,
break open rocks, play tag with Dad, ride bike
Things to do inside: play Wii or online games,
watch TV, read, puzzles, Legos
When I grow up I want to be a: Air Force Pilot,
Zookeeper, Artist, Builder and a Dad


It is hard to believe that my Landry is 9 years old. It is crazy how fast time has gone. Landry has taught me so much! I am continually amazed by the things he understands and the comments he makes. I don't always give him the credit he deserves... but I will always be grateful for the patience he shows me. Landry makes me smile every day... he always has a story to share, a hug to give and is the coolest big brother Trey and Emmy could ever have!! Landry is one of the greatest blessings I have received. I am so proud of him. I am the luckiest mom EVER!


We love you Landry Wendell!! Happy Birthday!!

Root Beer Cookies

I don't normally post many recipes, but this one was too yummy not to! I found the recipe here. SO GOOD! And to all my Kiwi friends.. I can now take orders for Root Beer extract. I have a package heading out soon, so let me know.

Posting this cookie recipe also gives me the excuse to write about my Bosch Mixer. While making these cookies my mixer started making funny noises. Mind you the mixer was Gma's and is at least 40 years old... but I am WAY sad!!

I mentioned it to a friend last night and their response was what I expect most would say "..so you will have to get a replacement. 40 years is a good run" A replacement? Really? I made cookies with my Gma using this mixer. I remember watching her make many different recipes in her mixer.

I don't want a replacement. I don't want latest and greatest. I love my Vintage (yes, I tried finding it online and found one looking similar, but newer, with the title of Vintage - UGH!) Bosch Mixer and I would rather fix it then replace it.

I tend to get a little too attached to things. It will surprise no one when I say I am not ready to give it up!