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!

Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween Eric decorated the house around a carnival theme.  Halloween was on Sunday so we got to celebrate both Saturday and Sunday!  We celebrated on Saturday for those who have their Sabbath on Sunday, and on Sunday for those who worship on Saturday or otherwise.  Unfortunately we didn’t get many pictures, because I was up at the regional cross country meet with Tanner and the Union High School Cross Country team, and Eric was too BUSY with his plans to stop and take pictures.   I am glad McKenna had the chance to go trick or treating at Gpa Tippett’s work on Friday or we wouldn’t even have this picture.  

McKenna and Sage as Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum

Eric had lots of help to pull off his carnival.  Luckily, Lani (Eric’s Mom) was around to help him and get McKenna in her costume to go trick or treating with her friends.  Eric also got Austin and a group of his friends to help out, with the promise of pizza and a party following the main rush of trick-or-treaters.  The house was decorated as a fun house.  There was eerie carnival music playing and flashing lights all over the place.  Each of our garage bays had a “trick” (carnival game) the kids had to play before they got their “treat.”  We also had a big popcorn machine set up that Lani manned to provide everyone with popcorn as they came by.  According to Eric this was a low-key year.  Because of the multiple days of celebrating, he needed the ability to shut things down and open them up the next day without a lot of work in between.  There was so much more he wanted to do.  He has already begun planning next year.  A little sneak peak:  Thriller.  I’ll let you imagine what he is going to do with that, but here is a hint: it does involve a dance group.  He is already taking volunteers.  If you are interested, contact him directly.

The First Day of School

I think this is the first year I didn't cry sending my kids back to school.  I am not sure why:  Maybe it was due to the wild and crazy summer schedule.  It never felt like I really had them home.  Or, maybe it was because for the first week of school I was in one school or another helping with the back to school festivities:  handing out choir, PE and cross country uniforms, scheduling and coordinating art discovery, meeting with the various parent groups at each school, etc.  Most likely it was the realization I had when I took these pictures (all of my little ones now filling the doorway rather than being dwarfed by it) that in the near future I would be sending them out the door to college and on missions - that thought made a single day at school seem not so bad.

Tanner - Junior

Austin - Freshman

Watch out Union - Here we come!

Carson - First Year @ Pacific Middle School

McKenna - 4th Grade
The first year without an older brother to take care of her at school.

Me and My friends on the first day of school:  Lunch @ Panera Bakery.
They didn't even give me a bad time about my sign!

Summer Has Come and Gone

Sadly, summer is over.  Though I question whether it was really ever here at all.  The weather was not very nice and our activities, though many, were geared more to individuals than the family.  It was BUSY, BUSY, BUSY.  Here is a short recap:

During the week of Dance festival, I didn’t want McKenna and Carson lacking for something to do, so they participated in Union High School’s Soccer Skills Clinic.  They had a good time participating with their buddies, and we are seeing the benefits on the soccer field this fall.

Immediately following Dance Festival, Eric was in the throes of planning and carrying out scout camp for all the 12 and 13 year old boys in our ward.  You would be hard pressed to find a better run scout camp with as many fun activities, a service project and interesting merit badges as Eric’s offered.  I guess that is why he keeps getting the job year after year.  This was Carson’s first year at Boy Scout camp, and Austin was invited to go along as a junior leader.  It was almost a family affair.

Scout Camp on Mount Hood

Carson building his shelter for the Wilderness Survival Merit Badge

Cozy and ready for a long night - Mason, Carson, Luke and Drake

Austin giving Carson some guidance on his shelter.

Carson on the Alpine Slides

Carson playing at Ski Bowl.
(Eric holds the record of a triple flip.) 

The week after Scout Camp, Tanner and Austin packed up to head off on their individual high adventure trips.  My boys claim to have conquered several feats of skill that required much courage, but I have yet to see any proof.  I hear there are some great pictures floating around out there somewhere, but have been unsuccessful in tracking them down.

Tanner says he: made his own fly rod and learned to fly fish.  He boasts he jumped off a 47 foot waterfall, caught a chipmunk, learned to wake board and wake surf, and enjoyed spending quality time with his friends.

Austin says he was the first of his group to summit Mount Constitution on his 50 mile bike trek in the Puget Sound area.  He even claims to have beat his brother’s climb time from two years ago (though Tanner thinks this is debatable).  Austin’s week, in addition to the bike trek, also included a Sea Kayaking adventure.  For two days he paddled around the different islands of the sound, saw a bunch of seals and about broke his kayak apart on the rocks. 

Upon the heels of these scouting activities McKenna participated in Cheer Camp.  I love seeing McKenna do “girl” things.  It is tough in a family full of boys.  She wants to do the things her brothers do so she can be included in their conversations and activities.  I am glad she will try some new things.  I am working on the brothers to show more acceptance and support for their sister.

Before the summer was over Eric had to fit in one more Boy Scout activity.  Eric and Carson went backpacking along Eagle Creek with other boys in the Deacon’s quorum.  It is a beautiful hike, but tough (especially when the backpack is as big as you are).

Scoutmaster and Son

Carson's the little one with the yellow rope hanging off his pack.

It does a mother good to see the hand rail when she looks at pictures from this hike.

We look forward every year to our time with the Jackson, Kartchner and McKague family.  Usually we go to Anderson Island, but this year we went to the Heywood Hideaway instead.  It was so relaxing, and we actually spent a lot of time just playing games and visiting – something that doesn’t happen too much when we are camping.  We were especially grateful we got to have Emily along with us this year.  We love having her be part of our family.  We missed the Kartchners this year!

Good Food

Manic Games

Great Friends

Nice Weather

Time As A Family

With all these activities, summer sped by.  We tried to make a little time for our usual summer past-times:  Horseshoe Lake, Cottonwood Beach (Clark Park), Family Film Festival, sleeping on the trampoline, a family badminton tournament and some hiking.

One hiking spot that was on our Summer TO DO List was Oneanta Falls.  This hike takes a little forethought and preparation as most of the hike is climbing over log jams and trekking through water.  We couldn’t let summer end without getting this hike in or we would have all felt robbed.  

Keri and McKenna at the top of the log jam blocking the entrance to the gorge.

McKenna and Mom climbing the log and rock wall.

Tanner, Austin and Keri about midway through the hike log jam behind, waterfall ahead.

Who says chivalry is dead?

Oneanta Gorge Waterall and Pool

BRRRR!  Who is swimming under the waterfall?

I won’t list all the things we wanted to do, but couldn’t fit in although my kids did say that it didn’t feel like summer because we didn’t go to Malad to see G&G Bowen.  I guess we can’t let that happen again.