UTAHHHHHHH!!!

Ohhhhhhh Utah. How we have missed thee! More than missing Utah though – we miss our PEOPLE!!! Nothing makes our hearts happier than seeing cousins! The kids get too big too fast especially when they are little. Ari & Reggie looked so different than the last time we saw them. So sad but SO HAPPY to end our missing streak! Our Utah trip was filled with all kinds of fun and food and family!

We went for a sweet dirty RZR ride with the whole crew! The view from the top of Willard Bay was absolutely stunning! Pictures do not do it justice. Then we drove down to Randolph for lunch and treats! Bailey rode with Papa and somehow fell ASLEEP on the bumpy dirty ride. No idea how that is even possible! On a scale of 1 to fun this ride was freaking awesome!!! Clean up time was pretty funny. Reggie was a good little helper drying the seats off :)

The girls helped grandma make peach crisp from the peaches we picked at Eckert’s before leaving Illinois!

The kids got a kick out of riding Andy’s little kid 4-wheeler. Bailey squealed like crazy the whole time!

Grandma treated us to a couple movies and poppypopcorn. Inside Out & Minions. Inside Out was such a unique and hilarious movie! Minions was a riot the first 15 minutes… then the adults took a nap LOL! The kids had a blast though!

Papa took the kiddos fishing. Well, if I am being honest it was NOT fishing, it was catching. A couple tiny stock ponds where you pay eleventybillion dollars for each one you catch. The kids were in heaven though. Ari was TERRIFIED of the fish though so Rich made sure to scare the crap out of her by chasing her with the fish of course. After we were done catching the girls flirted their way in to the fish cleaning building to watch the teenage kid clean the fishies. They were amazed. Even papa and Rich were amazed at how fast this kid fileted those suckers! My favorite picture was papa giving the kids the pre-catching lecture about how to not be a butt hole! Second favorite, Ari knocking Stef over to get away from Rich’s fish.

After catching we cooked those succulent elevntybilliondollar filets up at Stef’s and then met up with our other favorite Bowmans at the park! Mike, Sharon, Garrett, Quin, Chloe, Mack & baby Jovie!

Ohhhh how I miss Utah Sunsets!!!

What is a Utah trip without a little GSR? Not a very fun one!

We hit up a sweet indoor pool in Layton that had a slide and lazy river and outdoor splash pad. Just love watching all the crazy cousins play together! Bug and Rich took a little nap in the sunshine.

Next up? Shaved Ice and a sleepover of course!!!

Saying goodbye sucks but we softened the blow with some Aggie Ice Cream!!! Thank you for an amazing week Jacks! We love you to pieces!

Happy 4th!!!

We had a great 4th of July! We had a pancake breakfast at church and then the kiddos all decorated bikes and had a mini parade in the parking lot. The kids had so much fun! Later that day we headed out to Mascoutah to find a good spot for a sweet fireworks show! It was a perfect night!

A couple days after the 4th Braxton's baseball team had playoff games. His team had a rough season so we weren't expecting a win but they shocked the heck out of us and kicked the Yankee's butts! The Yanks were tied for first and we were one of the lowest teams. We served them their bums on a silver platter and Braxton was on cloud nine! Unfortunately the next game another #1 team beat us and the season was over. Braxton was devastated, to say the least. He LIVES for baseball and the thought of waiting nearly a whole year to play again absolutely crushed my poor boy. He had a great season and learned so much. We are so proud of you, B! Can't wait till spring!

I love hearing Kenzie scream her head off for Braxton in this video!
Click here to see Braxton at Bat

A couple more fun early July happenings... B lost another his first tooth! Poor kid was the only one in his class who had all his baby teeth still and most kids have lost two or three! He was SO excited! We also went peach and blackberry picking to bring Papa his favorite treat when we went to UTAH the next day! But that is a massive post for another day :)

JuneTASTIC!

June was pretty fantastic. Summer time extras, Baseball season, Father's Day, and my birthday!

The kids all picked something extra to do in June. Bailey finally started gymnastics! She has been begging for over a YEAR and things finally stabilized enough with the reno and move that we could sign her up! She is in HEAVEN! After a few weeks the teacher told us next month to sign her up for the 6 to 10 year old class because she can't learn anything new in the class she is in! Thank you Youtube! (She is a "gymnastics video" junky and has taught herself so many tricks with a little help from mom. She listens better to youtube than she does to me though of course!) McKenzie is taking swimming classes and is doing really well! She is a little fish! She loves it! And Braxton is eating, sleeping, and breathing baseball! I don;t know WHAT we are gong to do when the season ends!

I got spoiled big time on my birthday! We had Krispy Kremes for breakfast, went goofy golfing (the kids rode go karts for the first time too!), had sushi for lunch, then blizzards for dessert, my favorite pizza for dinner and Rich surprised me with a custom  order of some of the BEST cupcakes I have EVER had in my LIFE and they were NOT JILLY'S! (I know, I know, SHOCKING... SERIOUSLY!) A friend in our ward has a cake company and Rich had her make a chocolate on chocolate on chocolate cupcake that was simply incredible! AND she gave us a tupperware filled with the leftover icing! HEAVEN! I gained fifteen pounds and made a bunch of memories! Grateful for such an amazing and FUN family to share my 33rd with! Happy Birthday to ME!!!

In June we also discovered an INCREDIBLE and MASSIVE Playground and splash pad! We are just ticked because we have lived here a year and this place is 10 minutes from our house and we had no idea!

We bought tickets to our favorite place in STL - Busch Stadium for a Cards day game for $4 , yes FOUR DOLLARS! Bummer part was it was a rainy gross day AND Rich wasn't able to get off work like he thought he could. We decided to go anyway just me and the kiddos. I haven't ever gone by myself and I was a little nervous but we are hard core, people! How hard core? THREE RAIN DELAYS LAST PITCH CREW HARD CORE! During the 6th inning and the 3rd rain delay we left ur third row from the BACK of the stadium seats and went down to the first base line! Fans were dropping like the wicked witch in a rain storm so we took advantage. Braxton looked like his brain was going to EXPLODE he was so blown away! We even got to be 20 feet from the final catch of the game by Jason Heyward. One of the coolest games and most memorable we have been to yet! We were soaking wet and loved every minute! I was SO proud of the kids for not complaining and exceeding my hard core expectations! TRUE baseball fans! The only sucky part... Rich had to miss it! He was glad we got to go but man it would have been so much more fun with him there. Next time! Great thing is "next time" was later that month!...

Rich got FREE and AMAZING tickets from work for a kick butt date night at Busch in the all-you-can-eat suites! HECK YES! Even cooler, our suite was literally right next to the Cardinal's OWNER'S suite! We almost ran straight into John Mozeliak,the GM, leaving our suite. Rich was giddy like a little school girl! This pic was our view (unzoomed!) It was a date night for the record books! I love that my husband is so much fun to hang out with. He is funner than your husband, just sayin! HAHA

We finished the month off Bowman style... Sushi lunch at Drunken fish and a Dessert Treasure Hunt... on different days... maybe LOL
So Rich and I have been trying really hard to eat healthier but sometimes you need a treat. One Friday night Rich said, "I need dessert!" We now have nothing desserty in the house because I have literally zero self control so I can't buy any or I will eat it...ALL! Our solution? McDonalds sundaes? No! Buy cookie dough? Nope! Chocolate gas station run? Nuh uh! We drove 45 minutes to a new donut shop, "Strange Donuts", and partook of strangemazingness like gooey butter cake donuts, smores donuts, maple bacon donuts, and peach pie donuts! OH MAN! Did we stop there? NeighNEIGH! We drove to our favorite custard place, Ted Drewes, and had concretes and root beer floats. We PLANNED on going home after that (It WAS 10:00 PM after all) but a few blocks away was yet another donut shop with awesome reviews on Yelp and the "HOT" sign on. We couldn't possibly NOT stop! THE best chocolate based donuts I have EVER had! They were hot "brownie" donut holes. (Can you hear Homer Simpson drooling right now? oh wait, that is me, writing this post and dreaming of these little balls of gooey sweet chocolatiness! Folks, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. WE HAVE A PROBLEM! But MAN it was a fun night! Every time Rich says he needs something sweet now the kids politely remind us how many "memories" we made on our dessert treasure hunt and shockingly suggest we give it another go! Smart kids!

Long story short... JUNE WAS FANTASTIC!!!

More Matthew Time!

Matt came to visit us in the end of May! He was the first one to see the new house! I might have bought tickets for Amanda and I to go see Rascal Flatts and I might have bought an extra ticket to motivate him to come visit... maybe.

Before the weekend show we had lots of fun playing! We went to a fun park and goofy golfed with the kids, hit the batting cages, and rode the bumper boats. Matt took boat pictures instead of riding so he wouldn't get wet... wussy!

We also spent the day at the Botanical Garden. Matt had never been and it is one of our favorite summer places! We accidentally ended up at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard on the way home too : )

Awful Pic but the only one I got of me and baby brother!

The week flew by and before we knew it, it was show time! Amanda and the kids drove in and Rich took one for the Flatts lovers team and babysat so we could party! One of the funnest concerts I have been to even though it POURED and we were soaking wet thanks to my cheap lawn seats. If I would have bought good seats in the amphitheater it wouldn't have rained - just the way life goes LOL, We, of course, stayed till the bitter end and had an amazing time just us three! I got zero good pics but tons of memories!!! We are all trying to get lots of those saved up since Matt will be serving a mission for two years before we know it! 

Love you little brother! Thanks for coming to hang with us! Can't wait till next time!

Almost SUMMER!

SCHOOOOOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER (almost)! (In my best Alice Cooper voice)

I have realized that with each change of the season that the new season coming is my favorite season. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall... I love them ALL and all of the fun that they bring for our little family! They all seem to come around just when I am bored of the previous season. Thanks midwest weather & mother nature! You are the BEST! So now that it is May, SUMMER is my new favorite season!

We started May off with some fun "school is almost out" activities. Bailey had a program at her school, the big kids had field day, and our school district put on a huge parade that ended at a carnival! The kids didn't have to go to school that day - they just had to go ride rides till they puke. SCORE! Kenz walked in the parade and played her recorder the whole way with the rest of the third graders. Then we partied hard at the carnival. Well we partied as long as my back could handle, that is. We got in a car accident a couple days before and I was hurting pretty bad. Some moron driving a big truck and pulling a trailer rear ended us at a stop light and off course he didn't have insurance. Awesome! We were all okay thank goodness!We still had a great time at the carnival though. I bribed the kids to leave with Happy Meals and Sundaes when I had had enough. Food bribery pretty much always works on my kids...and Rich... and me too actually... shocker!

I did not get to go to field day but Braxton's buddy's mom sent me some great pics!

Last day of school finally came and then baseball season started for Braxton and oh my heck was this kid ever in heaven! It is in his blood and constantly in his brain! We would go take BP at the park by our house and Bailey would hide behind Rich so she wouldn't get clobbered by a line drive. He hits HARD! Yay for summer knocking on our door!

More April Fun...

Just a few fun pics... Papa Bowman made the kids their own money, kids climbing trees (and dad), 80's day at school, a too cute bug n dad pic, and Braxton's new ball glove. 

Easter Bliss!!!

It's that time of year again! Eggs, Baskets, Candy, New Church Clothes... and trying to remind our kids that those things are not why we really celebrate Easter. Those things sure are fun though...

Our ward (church congregation) had a pancake breakfast and Easter Egg hunt for the kiddos. They had a blast! Then the kids got spoiled by Mr. Bunny as usual. Kenz got a bunch of fancy duct tape and a Digi Bird that sings with her. Bailey got a Playdoh Sweet Shop set. All B cared about was more Reese's White Chocolate Eggs than he could fathom! After crepes for breakfast (of course!) we watched General Conference for our church. Pretty cool that it fell on Easter Sunday! Hearing Prophets and Apostles speak about our Savior and share their special witness of Him made the day much more special and focused on what is most important.

Taking pictures of these turkeys can drive me up a wall when I want a plain ol cute, happy, loving, obedient, perfect child picture (said picture, by the way, is like finding a flipping UNICORN!) Their antics in the moment make me want to chuck my phone/camera on the ground and stomp away. Looking at the pics later just makes me die laughing...
B: "Mom I CAN'T SMILE! IT IS TOOOOO SUNNYYYYYY!"
Well Bailey had no problem in the exact same sun 2 minutes later... she had all kinds of poses including the puppy dog face that Dad falls for daily and Mom is REAL good at ignoring or making the face back and then shouting "NO!" at whatever request required the deployment of the puppy dog face in the first place.
And I only got one good pic out of Kenz because she was pouting about being held hostage to take pictures before church.

All joking aside, these three make me even more grateful for Easter and for the resurrection of our Savior. Because of Him we too can be resurrected and live with our eternal family after this life.