What else could I be talking about today besides Mothers? But I have had more than my fair share of amazing Mothers in my life. My own Mom (of course), Grandmas, aunts, sisters, and Sister-in-laws: Here's to all of you!
My Mom and Dad playing around with us on Long Beach WA
Ward Christmas party 2014; it was 'whoville" themed so I couldn't resist the urge to wear a bow tie, cause "bow ties are cool"
My Mom staying up late with a naughty Tiegan. Bragging time! Whenever we are together, my Mom always volunteers to stay up late with my kids when I need it, takes them in the mornings so I can sleep in, and more often than not, if my kids are being fussy in the night, she is right there to do what she can to help. My Mom is awesome!
Who doesn't love this amazing woman known to me as Grandma, She is down right amazing!
My Mom has an adventurous spirit and joined us for the "ash kicker 5k" spring 2014
And I can't forget Daniel's Mom, Carmen. We love her sooo much! We never get to spend enough time with her and she has always, ALWAYS been so good to us!
Again, I love my Grandma sooooooo much! She is such an inspiration! I love you Grandma! Grandma gave me and Daniel the loan we needed to buy our first car. We were poorer than dirt and paying out thousands of dollars for our schooling, so she gave us the deal of the century and we were able to get a car that took us from WA to KS and then some! Thank you Grandma!
Aunt Hez, Aunt Danny and Grandma. Wow! Such beautiful women and I have been blessed enough to have these Pillars of faith be there throughout my childhood! Aunt Danny has always had something warm and home made ready for me to eat, whether it was after traipsing through the woods or traveling all day, she has always welcomed me in with a hug and a hot meal, I love you Aunt Danny! Aunt Heather always has something she is doing for others- ALWAYS. Cutting wood for someone so they can be warm for the winter, taking in someone else's kid so they can have a place to stay, or wrapping gifts for my Mom cause that's where my Dad has me send all of her gifts ;) Aunt Heather is a true testimony for me about serving others- I love you Aunt Hez!
Here are three Bowman women near and dear to my heart; Aunt Lula, Grandma Bowman, and Carmen. Daniel and I have always been welcomed in by these women, even at obscenely early hours, Thank you guys, I love you so much!
Aunt Hez building a bridge for Grandma. What you don't see in the picture is that nearly everyone else quit working already and where playing games.
Here's Aunt Tammy (lower left corner) another stalwart woman of faith that has always been there
Sister-in-law Kathleen (red shirt) Her attention to her children puts mine to shame; She is constantly giving something up for the sake of her children, I love you Kathleen!
here's another picture of Grandma Bowman with one of the sets of great grandchildren. Wilma has always kept her home open to us, We love spending time with her and never get enough of it, I love you Wilma!
More of my Mom and her adventurous spirit; Snowmobiling with my Dad- I love you Mom!
Carmen always makes grandkid time a priority. This is Carmen and Jada playing instruments at the kids science center in Topeka. Ok, more bragging: When Jada was a newborn, she was a beastly little thing with a horrendous scream for a cry. Carmen would take Jada and play a variety of instruments, entertaining her long enough for me to take a nice shower and maybe take a nap! Thank you Carmen- I love you!
Daniel, James, Jada, and Jessica; Jessica is so good about getting at Jada and Tiegan's level to play with them and she takes interest in what they're saying. Not to mention she can handle James and Daniel at their goofiest ;) I love you Jessica
Here's another of Aunt Tammy; My girls love to spend time at Aunt Tammy's playing with Emily and seeing the cows and chickens. This picture is from New Year's Day 2015. Daniel and Uncle Kelly share a birthday and this was the activity they decided they wanted to do. My ice skating skills are pathetic to while I was trying to keep my feet underneath me, Tammy took over teaching Jada how to ice skate (she did better than me) and that has definitely become a high-light in Jada's life-thanks Aunt Tammy, I love you!
Here's my Mom enjoying an aquarium with Jada, my kids love their Grandma to bits!
And my last picture of the evening is of my Sister, Chelsea making sure that my children don't kill themselves in the hot tub, while I sat high and dry on the deck, refusing to get in ;) Chelsea has always been so great with any kids but especially mine, they love their Aunt Chelsea B. I love you Chels!
There are so many more of you that I need to mention, but can't find the pictures of you right now (they are lost somewhere on my computer- I suspect Gabe is the one that hid them) But here's a quick shout out to you all and I promise I'll find those pics and give you the credit you deserve! Aunt Kass, I never get to see you enough! Remember the time I got to go to school with you? I loved it! I felt so grown-up as a 4th graded :) Aunt Colleen, you are such a pillar of faith and I doubt I've ever told you what an example are to me! Aunt Moneta, you are always so happy and have let Daniel and I pop in to see you when ever we are in AZ, which is not often enough. I'm always so impressed at the loving relationship you have with your daughters and daughter-in-laws! Aunt Julie, your tea parties are some of the highlights of my childhood! I am a first-hand witness of all the hard work you put into each and every one of those parties! Aunt Jill, my closest neighbor all of my childhood, you were also my YW leader and I treasure the one-on-one talks that we got to have, and the time you caught all of us younger girl cousin's skinny dipping in your pool, well thanks for handling that so well ;) hahaha good times! Aunt Merline, you are always busy doing something, like feeding the ENTIRE Lanier Family! But instead of choosing something easy like hot dogs, you made a family favorite- Navajo Tacos! I think everybody can agree those are way better than hot dogs! Lynnette Bowman- from the first time we met, you and I have always been able to get right into conversations about... what ever! You are so good about keeping us up to date on the going-ons in your family. Sabrina Bowman, thank you for housing Daniel and I on our very, very long road trips from KS to WA and visa-versa. And of course my sister Jaci- for 6+ years you have been my go to babysitter and my girls LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH!
And of course to all the cousins, and cousins, and MORE COUSINS! Wow there are so many of you! Your faith, your trials and your stories of motherhood keep me sane :) Thank you! I love you guys!
And to all my Friends out there! Keep sharing your stories, they too keep me sane :) You are all such examples to me, from those of you who home school to those of you work/ go to school while still playing the roll of 'mommy'- wow ladies! To those of you who take your kids hiking, biking, road tripping, to those of you who craft, and read, a (my personal favorite) nerd out with your kids, Thank you. all. I love you guys!
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