Fun Times With Grandma and Darlene

A few weeks ago, we had an amazing visit with Ruth and Darlene. They took time away from their reunion in Mesquite to be with us. We are so lucky! Brad and Chris slaved away (as seen in their photo) in the kitchen making legendary fondue - a delicious cheese fondue, hollandaise sauce, chocolate and butterscotch fondue as well. We were in fondue heaven. Then we got to listen to a concert - a little piano, violin, jazz combo and improv and singing. The best part was games and talking together. We are so grateful to Grandma for her faith, courage and example. Our prayers are with her this week as she recovers from her first round of Chemo.

Our adorable Gabriella!

Here's our adorable Goo. Yes, we call her our little Goo. Don't ask us where that came from - starts with G, like Gabriella? Anyway, we are unashamedly in love with her - all 7 of us! The fights over who gets to hold her have only decreased when she is poopy or really fussy. She is learning to push herself up and wants to get a hold of everything she can, especially if it is not a toy. We call her the Grabby Gabby. We are truly creative with our names :) She is just starting to eat food and loves to brush her teeth!

Our beautiful Gabriella!

House Updates

Things are coming along well with the house. Here are Emma, Benny and Gabby in front of the door leading out to the back porch. Gabby loves to help, too!

We've had a chance to do some of our own work on the house. Here are Chris and Brad installing the side door (with Kent and Greg's help). They were so much heavier than any of us imagined.

Here is a picture of Dan and Ben opening one of the crates from China with one of our wrought iron doors. Ben LOVES working with his Dad and brothers at the house.

Beach Pics

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Beach in North Carolina:

China Ball

Here's a picture of some of the corporate basketball. They took about 200 pictures of this particular game. If anyone's interested, we have 199 others.

To China and Back

These are pictures of Kent's recent business trip to China. He and his partner, Greg, spent about 8 days touring factories in Guongzhou and Shanghai (top left picture is at the factory where they made our wrought iron doors). They were able to find time to play a little bit of b-ball with 2 factory owners and some of their best players. The Chinese people they met were very interested in discussing the NBA and anxious to get some game time.

"Getting stronger"

The Bowler Family and their friends did their own personal 5K. It was their first annual 5K their main sponsor was Bowlers Inc. They did a custom course made by Amy Bowler and Dan Bowler (both runners of the 5K). They have been training every morning at 6:00 (some of the time) for two months. They are definitely "getting stronger".

Christopher Bowler-23 min. 39 sec.

Benjamin Bowler (on the bike)-31 min. 06 sec.

Daniel Bowler-31 min. 09 sec.

Steve Doughty-33 min. 16 sec.

Bradley Bowler-35 min. 06 sec.

Amy Bowler-35 min. 06 sec.

Emma Bowler-36 min. 55 sec.

Bonnie Doughty-36 min. 55 sec.

The Fastest Player

Ben completed his first TBall season this week. He loved every minute of it. He was awarded the gold-plated trophy for the fastest player and he truly was. He would race from the outfield to the lineup so that he could be first and then race to first base so that he could play that position - the only place where you get to actually touch the ball. He is already asking when he gets to play "real baseball".

Chris' First Date!

On May 17th Chris Bowler had his first date, and it was a Prom, too! He picked up his date (she actually thought we were going on a hike, so she wasn't dressed! It only took a 1/2 hour for her to get all the way ready :) in the "Great White Limousine Service". They picked up the rest of their group, there were 5 couples in the group. We were chauffeured by "Joe" (Kent). They went out to dinner. OK, well it was our friends house and we all brought part of the meal, but it was nice! Then we played some games and then we took off for the dance. The dance was great, and we took a group photo with a "professional". Chris' date (Ashley) had a really awesomely huge, purple dress. The only setback was that Chris kept stepping on it:) They danced for a while and they decided they wanted to go to Ashley's house to watch a movie. Her parents made them all Ice Cream sundaes and then Joe took everyone home. It was a great first date for Chris, he quite enjoyed himself.

Chris in San Fran?

In March of 2008 the Zion Youth Symphony Orchestra visited San Francisco as a part of a musical tour. Chris Bowler plays the French Horn in this particuluar orchestra. The Orchestra was priveledged to play in front of three Elementary School Audiences, as well as recieving a Master Class Instruction from members of the San Francisco Opera. And while the wind was blowing quite quickly they even got to perform on Pier 39. Chris was heard to have said: "The Food was Expensive, we didn't get much sleep, our legs got tired walking down Lombard Street, but it was a good tour!" For three days the orchestra braved San Francisco. Walking the piers, touring the Golden Gate Bridge, exploring the Exploratorium, waiting in line for 1/2 an hour for a trolley, getting Chinese food delivered to your hotel room at 11 PM! It was an amazing tour!

The world must be peopled!

Lately, famous actors Chris, Brad, and Dan have acted in the play Much Ado About Nothing. Chris as Leonato Brad as Don pedro (sometimes known as "Don P.") and last but not least Dan as Benadick!

If you have not fully experienced the full joy of this play then I suggest reading the book or watching the movie.

El Necky!

Our new house is officially underway. IN fact all the walls are up, foundation is in, we have a roof, and we even have half of an HVAC. It is fun watching the house go up so quickly. We love going over to th house to hang out. We have an amazing view. We back up to BLM property (so we can do whatever we want on it) which has a river which is quite close.

Why El Necky you ask? Because (of course) it is necky.

Our new baby sister, Gabriella Ruth Bowler!

On January 30th, 2008 Gabriella was born, at 7 pounds 11 ounces. She is so cute! She just brings that special peace to our home that nothing else really can. Whenever Brad gets stressed he simply puts his hand on Gabby's head, and he is automatically relieved of stress.

She is smiling more and more often. Whenever she smiles everyone else just can't help being happy. Although the same can be said for when she cries.

She is hungry exactly every 2 hours. If she gets fed at five in the afternoon she will start crying exactly at seven.