Baby Bowen is 2! Not so baby anymore...

Our ham of a two year old...this is one of my favorite recent photos...

Bowen has blessed our lives with his beautiful, happy and bright personality. At 2 his favorite things are stuffed animals (anything that is soft and cuddly, he loves to cuddle) trains and cars. He is pretty content to sit by himself and play. He loves reading books and can sit for a loooong time and look at books. His favorite book is Frank, the Monster that Wanted to Dance. We checked it out from the library and he reads it every day and screams when we have to return it, then the next time we check it out again! He is quite sassy and babbles all the time but doesn't have many sensible words. Our favorites that he says are plane, car, Tinsy (Kynzee) and Wook (Luke). His smile is still my favorite and his giggles are contagious!

He started his day with birthday pancakes ofcourse... 

After lunch we opened Mom and Dad's presents...

MaKynzee guarded them quite nicely. Do you love my wrapping job?

Bowen plays with MaKynzee's princess shopping cart ALL the time...so we got him his own little wagon!

We got him a new soft and cuddly animal...the first elephant in our zoo!

Then we re-gifted the car garage that Lukas grew out of...He would not stop playing!

After dinner we opened cards and more presents...

 If only he knew how exciting 5 dollars really is...

Then we had cake...most of you know about me and my cakes and how I love to make my kids birthday cakes, well this year I found this cool cake on pinterest...

You split up the cake batter and add food coloring...

 You pour them in one by one and bake!

I did a swirly fun colorful top and added a hint of Halloween with the candy corn...

I think he liked it..especially the colored worms around the edges..yummy! mmmmmm he says!

 We didn't realize we didn't do a candle last year until we lit the candle and he nearly jumped out of his chair...poor kid was scared to death so mommy blew out the candle for him... 

 And this is the inside of the cake. It was pretty cool and I think Bowen liked all the colors! 

We had a wonderful day celebrating Bowen and his two years. He adds so much joy and brought so much happiness when we needed it most. 

You are a treasure and we love you so much. Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Pumpkin Carving 2012!!!

This is by far one of my most favorite traditions because we get to see the personalities of the kiddos and just have some good 'ol family time! I love it!

All our beautiful babies gettin' orange and dirty!!

Lukas has the hardest time getting in and slimy! Daddy gave him a hand!

MaKynzee loves this! She gets to make a mess and mom is ok with it! I realized too late she was in a white shirt! Darn!

This was Bowen's first experience and he loved it!

All done...Bowen/Mom/Dad's is on the left, MaKynzee's is middle and Lukas on the right.

Lukas was determines to have the scariest and nothing went his way as he was carving but when we lite them up he was so proud cause it looks like the pumpkin got its eye shot out or something!

We had so much fun it was just one of those moments where I sit back and think about how lucky I am to have my family! I think we all like each other...right now that is...we had fun, laughed and played and that makes the mess so worth it!!

Family Pictures!! I LOVE THEM!!!

So last weekend we had Spencer's friend from work Dennis take our family pictures at the Hereford Ranch here in Cheyenne, unbeknownst to us the owner is in our ward! I don't know what was worse... me being bossy and taking over the poses or not being able to review the pics immediately and decide if we needed retakes...

Needless to say they turned out AMAZING....

The Kiddos

Being Silly...

Daddy and Mommy: LOVE this one! 

Too cute! 

Our Favorite!!

 Dennis you are amazing! Thank you for putting up with us!

Uncle Garrett Gets Hitched in May and Celebrates in SEPT!

So back in April when Garrett graduated from basic I got to take some engagement photos of the happy couple...this is everyone's favorite. oooolala

So my baby brother got married May 26 (his bride is so smart the day before his bday how can he forget it) down in Louisiana close to where he was stationed. They kinda but not really eloped because of some Air Force rules about Garrett's next assignment and his ability to take his new wife for free...glad they did it cause now they are in OKINAWA, JAPAN!!!

Trying to get a Bowen cousin picture during wedding pictures but all you get is BOWEN hahaha 

MaKynzee was totally enthralled with the "Princess Bride" 

"She's so pretty mama, I'm gonna be pretty too."

"You are sweety, you are!" 

Uncle Garrett is by far the favorite! Especially with his buff muscles he can throw ANY of the cousins in the air! 

The Bowen Clan is now complete! We really didn't take a big family photo because well not to brag but I was the only one with my husband. My sisters have a fire fighter and NAVY man to deal with, gee working is so overrated! 

And how we really are...Tara so innocent and sweet! Welcome! 

Just before we dropped him...baby brother you're so BIG!!

The girlies at the reception, too cute! 

Cutting the Cake 

Bear and me...oh WOW how grown up we are! 

The bride and groom did a super hero like theme...they had matching shoes to die for!! 

Garter hunting...oooolala

The PRIZE ie garter in appropriate super hero colors!! 

Garrett had each of his groomsmen a character...due to Spencer's running history he got to be Flash. The whole thing was just awesome! 

And then they ran off 2 weeks later for Garrett to serve his first deployment in Okinawa, JAPAN! I still can't believe they are half way around the world but so happy that they get to be together! Can't wait till next summer, they are coming home and getting sealed in THEIR temple...Bountiful! Best of Wishes...be good to each other and continue to grow towards your goal of temple marriage! Alright now I am crying...what I really want to say is DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID like DIE until your sealed OK! Just a loving protective sister here!

First Day of School

Back to School Night:

So much to our dismay the kiddos did not get into the school right over the fence but one a little ways down the road at Lebhart. Spencer and I decided not to make too much of a fuss because we hope to move and buy a house soon so who knows if we will still be in the boundaries for the school over the fence anyway?

So Back to School we went...

We went to MaKynzee's class first and she was super excited. She kept talking about her stuff and that she was "big" now. I was really surprised she wasn't scared at all...not a hint of nervousness.

MaKynzee with her teacher Mrs Wehde (sounds like Wheaty)

She had bells palsy and the left side of her face is paralyzed so does not like to smile (she told me as I took the picture. I don't think she wanted me to be upset she wasn't smiling and happily holding my child in the pic.) She is very thoughtful and nice. We are excited.

Next we moved to Lukas class. He was sooo nervous and shaking like a leaf but that didn't stop him from jabbering like a jaybird! The poor teacher had to move across the room to get Lukas to stop talking to her and you know all he talked about...TURTLES! LOL. His favorite thing he says of the new school is he has a "real" desk. The ones where you put your supplies underneath. He is sooo ready for school.

His new teacher Mrs. Kisolving (still working on how to pronounce). She told Lukas to call her Mrs. K. He liked that much better!

 MaKynzee got a balloon in her class and Spencer could not stop laughing because we always talk about the wind and look...the dang helium filled balloon is lower than her head and straight out. We were laughing so hard. Hehehe

The First Day arrived!!

Bowen was feeling pretty left out so I tried to get a pic and look at that face!!!

The kids favorite of all favorite things about the new school is they get to ride the BUS! Now my mom always took me to school on the first day but I was worried MaKynzee would have a melt down and this would be easier on the both of us because she would be so excited about the bus... I hope it worked!

Bye-Bye Babies! So grown up and cute. I am so scared what is out there for you but so excited too. 

Good Luck. Remember what we taught you!