Tag You're It!!

Well, thanks to my friend, Julie, I have been tagged! That means I answer a few questions about myself, tag some more people, then they do it, and it goes on and on until all the Blogger world has been tagged! Clearly it will be a never ending circle. But I don't mind because I have been writing so much about the Bowen men, it won't hurt anybody to see a little more about me! What I have to write, and therefore, what those of you I tag will have to write, are 6 things that I value, 6 things I do not value, and then 6 people I want to tag. Here goes....
I value
1. The Gospel- so many times in my life I have said I don't know what I would do without it, and that is just as true today. Everyday I thank my Heavenly Father that he saw fit to allow me to have such truth in my life on Earth.
2. My husband- Brad is such a fantastic man and there is no one anywhere that would be a better match for me for Eternity.
3. My son Chasey- Talk about thanking Heavenly Father. Chasey is my little miracle, and it is the greatest blessing I have to be his mother.
4. My extended family- I have the greatest parents, siblings and in-laws anyone coud hope for. The love and support they show me and my family cannot be equaled.
5. My health- after everything I have personally gone through as far as health is concerned just in the past year, I am so grateful to be healthy, and that all my medical trials have taught me valuable lessons.
6. My friends- I am surrounded by a family of a different sort in the friends I have chosen. Thank you all for everything you do for me and my family.

I don't value
1. Junk food- because as fantastic as it can be, it has made me the fatso that I am. (You can all laugh at that, I am poking fun, not trying to belittle myself.)
2. Debt- I have too much of it, and I wish it would go away.
3. Long lines- my dad constantly points out to me that patience seems to be a lesson I am constantly learning in my life. When I have to wait in long lines, I revert back to the beginning of that lesson.
4. Snow- it is pretty to look at, but terrible to live with.
5. Non-Christmas-Season-time-of-year- It should be Christmas Season all year if you ask me.
6. Sleeplessness- Which is something I am dealing with a lot lately. For his sake and mine, I wish Chasey would sleep through the night every night!

I tag
1. Becki Jones
2. Karla Hayes
3. Wendy Dorton
4. Andrea Baugh
5. Lindsay Jenkins
6. Tambi Alderin

Love you all, and I sure enjoy reading all of your blogs!!

House project day!!

Well, last Saturday my two favorite superheroes were in town, Stumpgrinderman and Superplumber!! And they saved the day! For any of you who have ever seen our house, you probably noticed the gigantic stump on the west side of the yard from the tree the previous owners chopped down. They just didn't finish the job, and for the time that we've lived here, we've had that awful eye sore, sucking all the water out of the grass and growing mushrooms all around it. So, my brother-in-law, and my fabulous sister and their family came down, and Mike and Brad got to work grinding the stump (and a few other small ones) with a grinder that we rented and moving the chips and tilling an area for us to plant a garden in the spring. It only took a few hours and minor messyness to complete the job and we are finally stumpless!!!

Here is the before picture, when we first bought the house. You can see not only the stump, but also a whole bunch of the tree that Brad and other family members moved on one of our first weekends here.

And here is the after shot!! Stumpless at last, and let me tell you, we will not miss that thing one bit! Then after the stumps were gone, and the grinder was returned, Mikey came in to the house, and climbed into the crawl space to unclog our bathtub, which had been clogged and disgusting for about a month. He is so amazing to crawl under the house, not to mention he saved us the $465 the plumbing company had told us they would do it for!! Thanks Superplumber! While the boys were busy with such fun projects, Linds and I decided to take the kids to Target and Costco, where might I add, they were having the best sample day I have ever seen, and don't even tell me that you guys don't partly go to Costco for the samples!!!

Costco carts are so fantastic, here is Claire and Chasey in the front, and Emma and Dallin were in the back, so only Audrey had to walk. And we still had room to fit in all the food we were buying!

And here is all the kids together playing after we were done. What a productive, fun day we had. And a big thanks to Mike and Brad for working so hard.

Rise and Shout the Cougars are out!!!

Well, last Saturday, the 11th of October, another first was to be had for Mister Chasey Bowen. As a family, we attended Chasey's first BYU Cougar Football game at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo Utah!!! Tons of fun was had by all, however freezing cold it was!! But that was fun too. We all got bundled up, and took plenty of extra clothes and blankets. We even smuggled in a thermos of hot chocolate in the diaper bag!! It's amazing what you can get away with in there, because when you tell people checking you in it is a diaper bag, they don't even look in it! But we really did have a great time, and we look forward to many more football games as Chasey gets older. Someday we hope he is even playing in them!!

Here we are arriving in the parking lot. Chasey could sense something exciting was happening and he got excited too!!

Obviously the Chasey Man decided to "take a break from the action." He fell asleep about halfway through the second quarter, slept through halftime, and rejoined us awake fans halfway through the third.

An excellent time was had by all! Chasey had fun with mommy and daddy, and all the people around us commented on what a good baby he was, BYU won the game, and we didn't quite freeze our tails off!! It will be another tradition in the Bowen house. Go Cougars!!!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Chasey Bowen!!!

Well, the Bowen Family had a fun adventure this past Wednesday! We went to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point to check out all the fun Halloween/Fall activities they had to offer! We had a great time, and I think we will make it a yearly tradition. Feel free to comment on the cheesiness, I did tie dye the t-shirts for us! In this picture we are in from of the pig pen, waiting for the pig races to begin! You should have heard Chasey, he was squealing as loud as some of the pigs!!

In this one Daddy and Chasey are taking a ride on the cow train!!

Here we are on the hayride, this is what I was most looking forward to. Chasey was making so many funny faces and noises, he was entertaining everyone else on the ride with us!

In this one we are standing in front of the Haunted Creature. Only Daddy was brave enough to go through!

Finally we went through the corn maze. We had a fun time "getting lost." It was really a great day and we can't wait to go back next year!!!

Our little School Boy

Brad has what might be described as an on-again/off-again relationship with UVSC, now UVU. It has been a relationship that has lasted much longer then any love interest, with much triumph and heartache, going all the way back to 1994. But it is with great pleasure that Chasey and I announce with all our zest and zeal, daddy and UVU are on-again! And we couldn't be prouder!!

Brad has finally begun to realize what he wants to do when he grows up, and we think it is a great fit. He wants to go into Behavioral Science with an emphasis in Social Work, then get a Masters as well. That will hopefully turn into some kind of working with youth, whether as a counselor of some sort, a social worker, or even a guidance counselor in a school. This term Brad is taking two of his required classes for his major, as he already has his associates degree because all of his general education classes are done. In one class, Race and Minority Relations, he has taken one test so far, which he got a C+ on, yay daddy, and he has done an extensive project on his heritage that required a 4 page paper and a presentation in class, including a food from his ancestors homeland. We made Icelandic Pancakes, and they turned out very yummy. In the other class he has taken a test that he got a B on! Bigger yay!! Mostly, I think he is enjoying being back in the thick of it, and accomplishing something for all of our future. He also really enjoys the discussions in the class, both of his teachers already know his name!! Chasey and I are so proud! We are his biggest cheerleaders! RAH RAH DADDY!!