November News of Note

GIRLS GETAWAY:  I look forward every year to getting together with the girls in my family for our Girl's Weekend.  My sisters and cousins on the Bowen side take a weekend in November and gather as friends.  It is a great time for us to reunite, talk, cry, laugh and be silly.  We share our experiences from the past year, talk about our families and solve all the problems in the world in one weekend.  I sure love these gals!

The Bowen Girls Weekend Getaway
Heywood Hideaway, November 2010

TANNER's 1st SHAVE:  I will let the pictures tell the story...

Thanksgiving – My Favorite Time of Year

I love Thanksgiving!  I love the excuse to reflect upon my many blessings.   This opportunity puts my heart and mind in the right place to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas.  Each year the stores crowd out this important holiday more and more.  Christmas is becoming more and more commercialized and Thanksgiving is skipped right over.  No wonder many in our world have lost sight of what is truly important.

The kids always tease me because I will not listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving (the one exception being the wonderful music of Handel’s Messiah).  Even the music of the season is becoming more about self than the Savior. 

We have a "Count Your Blessings" jar that we set out all month long.  Anyone who comes in our home can write down what they are thankful for and drop it in the jar.  By the end of the month the jar is overflowing. We read all the slips for Family Home Evening at the end of the month.  By the time we are done reading them all, our minds are filled with even more we could have included.  We are so blessed.

A Wild and Crazy Bunch - Thanksgiving, November 2010

Dan and Sandy Tippetts carving the turkey and preparing the gravy.

I love having the family gather together; they are always at the top of my blessings list.  This year everyone was invited to our home to enjoy good company, good food and fun.

Yes, crockpots made it to the top of my Thanksgiving list this year too.  It made for a relaxing Thanksgiving day.  Everyone came with their food assignment all ready to go.  We were able to put them in crock pots to finish heating while we enjoyed each other's company and the turkey finished cooking.  The house smelled divine!  I didn't get a picture of all the pies on the deep freeze in the garage or the celery sticks with cheese whiz both in honor of Grandma Bowen.

Austin and His Thanksgiving Feast

We enjoyed being together.  We had the best stuffing in the entire world (thanks, Shalyce).  The mashed potoates were to die for (even though Eric had his doubts when I was making them).  Tasha never lets us down with her homemade rolls!  Lani brought a great cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes for her favorite son. Sandy’s turkey was very moist and perfectly seasoned and no one makes gravy better. Grandma Hirons sat back and enjoyed watching us do the work she has done for years. 

Eric, Mira and Reese taking a break for a short story.

Following dinner we gathered around for some rousing games.  A few favorites were Guesstures  (Sandy never can seem to grab the card before it falls and it is so funny seeing her get so worked up over it) and the Sign Game (We won’t tell you what Coby’s sign was, but I am sure anyone involved in the game will never forget it). Of course we had to play a little Guitar Hero too.

The Sign Game

Tanner and Carson Rock the House!
Groupies:  Sage and McKenna

I always hate to put my Thanksgiving decorations away.  I hope my family will keep the feelings of gratitude in their hearts all year long.  I know I enter the Christmas season ready to enjoy the gifts the Savior brought to the world with his birth because I have taken the time to reflect on all He has given me.  Throughout the year when things get a little tough all I have to do is count my blessings and everything falls back into the proper perspective.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tanner Goes to State!

This was a great cross country (XC) season for Tanner.  He ran like the wind and toppled several personal records (PRs).  After last season, where he was nursing several injuries, this was a refreshing change.

The Starting Line

Coming into the finish line strong.

The Union High School Men’s Varsity Cross Country Team placed 4^th at the Nike Pre-Nationals meet and 2^nd at the Gresham XC Classic.  They were also undefeated League and District Champions.  Qualified to compete as a team in the regional meet and missed going to state by 2 points.  To top it off they received the WIAA Distinguished Scholastic Award. 

 Greater Saint Helen's League District Meet 

Union HS Varsity Men's Team

Union HS Varsity Men's XC Leaders
L to R:  Tanner, Roman, Zach, & Kyle

Tanner’s teammate, Roman Kirkov, was named the Greater St. Helen’s League 4A Runner of the Year.  We are glad Tanner has a good running mate to push him and make him stretch.

Nike Pre-Nationals -  5k time of 16:53 - 12th place out of 167 runners

Besides these amazing team accomplishments Tanner also received the following recognitions:

• ·         Voted team captain for Varsity Men’s XC
• ·         Earned his 3^rd varsity letter in XC (leading the varsity team as second runner for the third year in a row)
• ·         Distinguished Scholar Athlete Award (for maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher)
• ·         Made the Varsity All League Team (the dream team of the league put together by all the league XC coaches) Ranked #5 runner in the league.
• ·         Qualified for and ran at Regional’s placing 36 out of 127 runners
• ·         Qualified for and ran at State placing 105 out of 150 runners
• ·         Personal Record 5,000 meters at 16 minutes 38.4 seconds
• ·         Personal Record for the mile at 4 minutes and 51 seconds

The taste of victory!

Way to go, Tanner!

Soccer Season Ends

So I have to admit that with each passing soccer season, I find I take fewer and fewer pictures.  It is not because I am not excited about the game, but the bigger the player, the bigger the field, the faster they run, the harder it is to snap a good shot.  This year was a good season for all three soccer players.  All of them played in Division 1 and their teams were a force to be contended with.

Austin enjoyed playing with his own age group this year on the the team, "Thunder".  I think he has enjoyed seeing how his skill level compares with kids his own age and size.  He has his sights set on making the Union High School Men's team in the spring.

Carson playing Mid-fielder for the VUSA Timbers - Fall 2010

Carson is an animal on the field, and anyone who judges him by his size quickly finds out they are sorely mistaken.  He is fast and calculating.  He has a strong foot and good aim. This year he continued to play for the "Timbers."  He has been playing with most of these boys for many years now and has developed some really good friendships.

McKenna defending her goalie for the VUSA Crushers - Fall 2010

McKenna might be the fiercest player of all three.  It probably has something to do with 3 older brothers.  Watch out!  She enjoys playing for the "Crushers," formerly known as the "Heartbreakers."  They are just starting to get the feel for the bigger field and the strategy of the game.  Each season she loves to play even more!

We are so grateful for good coaches, outstanding teammates and of course, carpools!