2018 quotes

Jacob
"Thum"
- them. not sure why, but this word drives Jared nuts!

Torin
"Aragog"
- Spider. Live ones, decorations, drawings. Every spider is Aragog.

Getting the house ready to put on the market

It is a bittersweet time as Christmas decorations came down early this year as we begin the process of getting the house ready to put on the market.

Perhaps even more bittersweet was the all-too-symbolic mending of the fence that had been open with the Bowles yard for years. It was truly sad to put up the vinyl slats that had been laying to the side of the hole in the fence, knowing that it meant that we would soon be moving across the country.

After a lot of work and cleaning, the house looked great - all ready for pictures and showings.

There are so many memories in each of these rooms.

We are proud of the home that we built and the years that we spent in Oregon.

 

A break from work

Christmas break is nice time to take some time as a family to do a few different things. We decided to take the kids climbing at the Circuit in Tigard. The kids did great! They were challenged and tried a lot of different routes.

When you really don't want to join the pajamas picture

 

Ugly Sweater Party

It feels a little bit weird that this will be our last ugly sweater party in Oregon - we have held these every year, so this is our 9th!

Pre-party - Jared and Dani held a "who wore it best" contest - Dani definitely won (but Jared got the laughs)

Lisa and Tom Jensen

Eric and Tamara Battles

Ryker and Brooke Smith

Carson and Paige Johanson

Jim and Mel Schaffer

Steve and Lori Mineer

Rob and Lorena Candrian

Ryan and 

Chris and Karen McIlmoil

Ryan and Jessica Smith

The whole group

We have had a lot of fun years of Ugly Sweater Parties with this group. It has always been fun. Highlights are Tamara's love of Bunko, Eric's love of the cranberry dip, Carson's yearly stache - and a wonderful set of friendships!

YM Campout on the Oregon coast

The YM had a campout at the Oregon Coast at Camp Meriwether. Jacob and Jared rode up with Scott and Geddy. We took a very random route - I don't know that we would even be able to find it on the map if we tried - and Jacob got carsick and threw up outside the car halfway there.

 

Scott told him that because he lost his lunch, he could eat double dinner. Jacob took that to heart and ate multiple hot dogs, Takis, loads of candy and other junk. And was up in the middle of the night throwing up again!

Nausea aside - it really was an awesome trip. As always, the views are spectacular

We played games on the beach, playing some baseball.

We found a very colorful mushroom. And happily left it there - it looks very poisonous!

Jared found time for a little run around the camp. There are great memories of the Precoa managers meeting that was held here.

The accomodations at Camp Meriwether are pretty awesome with the triple stacked bunk beds.

We did some rifle shooting as well. We really love this camp!

 

2018 - a year in the temple

Early in the year, with a lot of big decisions on our minds, we decided we should spend more time in the temple. We decided to make it to the temple weekly.

July 2

Oct 26

Nov 2

We tried to go individually, together, and whenever and wherever we could make it.

Throughout the year, we found comfort, peace, and inspiration in the temple and because we were attending the temple. What a blessing it is in our lives to live close to the temple of our Savior.

School and fall happenings

Torin loves going to preschool!

Lap day with our second graders. They did so well, running more laps than we thought they would be able to.

The trees on McCleod get super red in the fall time. Dani and Jared love to take walks

Jacob started playing the french horn, and he is learning it very well

Jacob loves his new suit!

Torin was pretty excited about this hair cut and 'do!

 

Looking like a scarecrow

Liam starts doing some family history, learning how to look in FamilySearch.