Today is a Special Day

Because this is a very special boy!

And today he turns 2!


TWO BABY!

I am so in love with my little son. He truly is a ball of craziness. He loves to dance. He loves to make messes. It often seems like he loves to be grumpy... that must have been a stage.
Landon loves his Daddy. He will run giggling and screaming to the back door everytime he hears his Daddy pull up. Landon loves to go places. It doesn't matter where, he just loves to be going. Landon loves water, he is always asking for a drink of "coh-d wada". (not all these drinks end up in his body.) Landon is a wonderful brother, he loves Kameryn and Cooper so much.
Landon brings so much joy and excitement into our family. He loves the dishwasher, he also loves to "help" put away clothes. Landon likes to wrap his arms, one around each of my legs, and push me with all his might to the exact location he wants me to be. Landon loves to be noticed, especially by the women. He loves to talk on the phone to his "Gampa Hatch" (which, regardless of who you are, he'll call you Gampa Hatch) He loves shoes and coats (probably because he knows that means he's going somewhere) and he loves to make messes (oh wait, did I already type that one?)
I love Landon's passion. He is so excitable and happy (most of the time). He is such a cheeser. And boy is that kid ever a ham for the camera. In fact, see this picture below: it was the inspiration for the mii character we created for him. Come play wii at our house and check out our handsome little guy!

We love you Landon. So very much. We think you are loads of fun and are very grateful you are in our family.

Happy Birthday buddy!

Landon's Daddy is out of town today at meetings
and so we will be celebrating Landon's birthday (complete with the birthday fairy) tomorrow.
We are trying to pretend like his birthday is actually tomorrow.
So check back then for birthday boy pictures, presents, and shenanigans!

Just had to include these last pictures of this little boy because we think he is so handsome! (cousin Jandee took these - naturally) Sorry if they are blurry, I was too lazy to contact Jandee for the high res. versions.

check out that little boy's face! Perfection!

Grumpiest

We have a bad case of the grumpies here today. Kameryn, bless her heart, is being a "grump face" as we like to call it.

When I made a comment to Kameryn this morning about asking nicely for help instead of being mean about it she said to me (rather grumpily I might add)
"I can't stop being mean!"
"Oh you can't?" I responded
"No! I didn't get very much sleep!"

pity.
Apparently little girl needs more than 12 hours of sleep to chase the grump monster away. But, fortunately for us, at least now we know why she's grumpy and how to avoid the situation in the future (ha!... I'm just laughing because I really don't think that is a probable assumption.)

I'm not very pretty when I'm grumpy. But taking grumpy pics of Kami only seemed to make her grumpier (ironically, right?) So there was no chance to retake for a more flattering picture (ha! you read this blog right? You know how keen I am on posting flattering pictures of myself... hasn't stopped me before, doesn't stop me now.)

A Child's Prayer

Tonight as we were getting ready for bed Kameryn asked me the following question: "Mommy, does Heavenly Father really listen to every kids prayer? Even at lunch?"

Dear Kameryn,
I answered you tonight, but just in case there ever comes a time in your life (or my life) that you have that same question, I want you to know this:
Yes. Your Father in Heaven hears every child's prayer. Even at lunch time. No matter when you pray, your Heavenly Father will listen.
I haven't always been so sure. There was a time in my life (several if we are being truthful) where I wondered if my prayers at night made it above the covers. I never doubted my Father in Heaven's love, I just questioned my ability to talk to Him. A lot of times my prayers were so casual it would seem as if I didn't even care if He was listening or not. I wasn't really talking to Him anyway.
There will be times in your life where you will be so confused, so frustrated, so scared, or sad that you don't know where else to turn. It is then, that when you turn to your Father in Heaven, in heartfelt desperate pleading for an all powerful being who knows the answers before you ask the question to listen to you, that you will know of assuredy that He does hear you. He always hears you. He doesn't stop listening, we stop talking. You need to pray to your Father in Heaven fully believing that he not only hears but cares about each word. Because He does. I know He does. He will hear you and He will answer.
Kameryn, have faith in a Father in Heaven who loves you more than you could ever imagine. You are literally His child. Know that you can turn to Him any time of the day or night and He will listen. Know that He stands at the ready to answer your questions, calm your fears, and send peace to your troubled heart.
Talk to your Heavenly Father. Tell Him about your day. Tell Him about your hopes, your fears, your stress. Ask questions. Ask for guidance. Ask for strength, for power. He will surely hear you.

Love, Mommy

Scripture Power

As I sit here at the computer chair completely wasting time (when I should be doing dinner dishes - Bleh) I hear the following from the couch.

Kami: "Cooper, ready: And it came to pass."
Cooper: "and it came to pass"
Kami: "and I Laban"
Cooper: "and I Laban"

Apparently it is scripture power time and I am missing out.
Also, good to know that something is sinking in. (We've been scripture power buffs now since September. We haven't missed a day.)

And since I'm posting about scripture power, and this is journaling, (you can stop reading now if you aren't interested. The following is not set out to entertain.) here is our original scripture power coloring chart and our current scripture power sticker charts: If I'm being completely honest, I think I loved our original chart more. Originally we started with small insentives to read each night (we read 5 verses a night, btw, one verse per person.) and a large insentive to make it all the way to the end (family movie night - we bought the movie Up.) It didn't take long to figure out that the kids much prefered coloring in boxes to any insentive. It was always fun to watch Landon get so excited to help color in the box. (All three of them got to color in a small portion of the box each night) Now we do stickers, and each child has their own chart and their own stickers they got to pick out. However we aren't as diligent at placing stickers. We never forget to read, but we rarely remember to sticker. Anyway, fun times.
Oh yes, and lest I forget, the small insentives in the beginning were 1. an icecream cone 2. a dollar store toy 3. a picnic in the park (which ended up being a trip to lava with Grandma and Grandpa Bowen, Aunt Mandi, Aunt Mindi, and Uncle Kadon) and 4. A trip to McDonalds. We let the kids pick what they wanted the "prizes" to be. Only, since the majority of the weeks took place during harvest, we had to combine/rethink a couple.

I've debated over posting this for a long time. I didn't want it to come across as bragging. You know: "we read our scriptures every night, so we are real cool." Because it's not like that. I finally just figured not to worry about it. Scripture Power is an important factor in our lives. It was something Brandon and I talked about as being very important for our home and family. And it has been. We knew we needed the blessings that come from reading the scriptures as a family every day. (even if it only is 5 verses a night, and a lot of times it feels as if no one is really paying attention well enough to learn something) We are very grateful we started "Scripture Power" and hope it is something our family remembers and has gained strength from.
I have fond memories of waking up early to read scriptures as a family: my older sister and brothers buried in a pile of blankets they hauled up from their bedrooms. Grumbling about being tired. (some of my sibling weren't big morning people) Fond memories. Very fond memories. I am very grateful for scripture power in my childhood, and I hope, by continuing it in my family, my children can one day benefit from the strength and blessings that family scripture power brings.

And do you want to hear something awesome?! Last Sunday we started 2 Nephi! Woot! Woot! (only took us 3 1/2 months. At this rate we might finish the Book of Mormon by 2012.)

The Bowen Family Christmas Crossword 2009

Okay, so I'm only a little bit behind... curses. Here is a copy of our Christmas card we sent out this year (more for my records than yours) and a cheat sheet at long last for those of you who don't know us well enough to get all the answers right on your own. (Shame on you. Totally kidding)(Click to enlarge)

Cheat Sheet (answers 2009):

1. messes
2. birthday
3. family (surprisingly an oft missed question: all though "ladies" does fit and is an accurate description of Landon Bowen, it is the incorrect answer for this question)
4. rafting
5. stratus
6. television (see here)
   
7. pirate (see here, and here, yep here too, oh and one more)
   
8. handsome
9. mother (see these: 1 2 3)
   
10. walk (see here)
    
11. imagination
12. preschool
13. Merry Christmas
14. McDonalds
15. blog
16. kindergarten (see here)
    
17. potty trained (see here)
    
18. Junior Miss
19. grown up (remarkably another "difficult" question. We received several phone calls about this one. But, once you all heard me read the clue out loud to you you suddenly got it. It must be my magical voice.)
20. pet shop
    

Christmas Eve Day Sledding: A Bonanza of Fun Holiday Frivolities

I thought maybe if I wrote a really long title I could get away with a lack of commentary in the pictures.

So here is what happened: Our good friends the Crumps called us and invited us out for sledding Christmas Eve day.

So much fun!

Cooper was crazy. And it was all in all a very enjoyable and nostalgic way to spend a couple hours on Christmas Eve.













Here Brandon and I were going to do a romantic holiday sledding run just the two of us. Cooper decided to push and never let go. He hung onto his dad's shoulders and rode down the entire way dragging his feet behind us. Needless to say, we didn't go very fast but it was still fun.

Cooper's ears just crack me up! Love this kid!

Don't Eat Pete

Alright, I'm pretty sure I left my camera down at my mom's in Utah, so I apologize for the lack of Christmas pictures. Hopefully we find my camera, wherever it ended up, and I'll post about that soon.

In the meantime, I meant to post this awhile back but didn't get the chance so sorry it is quite a bit late.

This year I designed a "don't eat pete" game board for our friends for Christmas and I just wanted to post it so those friends and family who don't live nearby could download it and have their very own.

Just click on the picture, save it to your computer and then print it out. We printed ours on cardstock and then laminated them. If you need me to I can e-mail the PDF to you as well.

Dear friends, thanks for putting up with all our craziness. We know you don't have to and that's what makes us all the more grateful that you choose to be our friends.