Header Update

I updated our header with a more recent family photo! We had our family photos taken last fall by amazing photographer Victoria Baines Harris. I will post more from that shoot eventually.

The old header, with family photo circa Feb 2010 (the beach in Monterey, CA)

The new header, with updated family photo (seen above)

Where to Start

I have no clue where to even begin. I can’t believe I have been so bad at blogging our family stuff. I have no real excuses, but the fact that I have been blogging like a mad woman over at My Soul Delighteth probably has something to do with it.

That and the fact that I was teaching our co-op preschool every few weeks, coaching soccer, and teaching a toddler Mommy and Me piano class every Monday. Life got busy.

And I like to read. Reading = I don’t do anything else.

Lately I’ve been reading BYU Devotionals, Women’s Conference talks, General Conference, blog articles, etc and I get a little … consumed. I have been blogging a little bit about all the things I have been studying, but most of the thoughts are still either in my head or in my little composition notebook that I carry around. Writing out my thoughts has always helped me process them.

I have pretty much nothing to do tomorrow so I am going to make a goal to do some marathon blogging on the family blog. I was going to do that a while ago but I got distracted.

If you don’t follow the front page you should so you can get updates, since when I blog past events I usually back date them so they show up in the right order on the blog. I will post on the front page when I actually post the old post, and I’ll link to it so you don’t have to go find it.

Get ready for a Rowley Family Marathon! Woohoo!

Eclipse–not the Vampire kind

While Russ was gone (again) I took the kids down to Mom and Dad Rowley’s for Sunday dinner and to spend the night. We happened to be there on the day of the annular solar eclipse, so we tried to watch it. We tried the pinhole in a box method, which didn’t work very well because it was kind of cloudy. Or we didn’t do it right.

Brady went to drop off some forms at one of his youth leaders’ houses and when he got back he was so excited because he had seen the eclipse and knew how to view it!

We layered up four sets of polarized sunglasses and took turns looking at the sun. Even Joseline and Vincente got a turn. It was truly an amazing experience.

I tried to take a picture through the sunglasses but for some reason it didn’t work. Probably because I used my iPhone. Not exactly the best camera…

Other people were able to get some awesome shots, including my cousin Jacob. Here’s one of his that he posted on Facebook:

I wish I had snapped a photo of Joseline and Vince looking at the eclipse. I hope they remember that they were able to watch an eclipse!

Adding Pictures

So I got distracted while I was blogging the other day and instead of blogging current pictures I kind of went on an “add pictures to old blog posts” kick.

You see, when I first started blogging, I didn’t know you could add pictures to your blog. So I had to go back and add pictures.

You should go back and check them out. (seriously – there is a video of Vince learning to walk)

You’ll really like this post, too.

A Day for the Governor

This weekend was a big one for us! Friday night was the military ball, Saturday was Governor’s Day, Sunday was my first day teaching Relief Society in our new ward, and Monday is the E4-E5 promotion board!

The military ball will get it’s own post, and maybe I’ll post over on My Soul Delighteth about teaching Relief Society.

Saturday morning Russ had to be at formation at Camp Williams at 0700 (for those of you who don’t speak military, that’s 7:00 am – and we live about 20-30 min away from Camp Williams, depending on traffic). We had stayed at the ball until about 2300 (again, that’s 11:00pm) dancing to Article 15 (the UT National Guard’s band). So we didn’t get home until around midnight. I don’t even remember what time Russ got out of bed, but I don’t think he left until around 0630. I won’t ask him how fast he drove (he took his motorcycle) but he ended up getting there on time.

On time for some waiting. They had a formation at 0700 and then released every body until they had to form up again around 0930 for the parade. If you are unfamiliar with the Army (or the military in general) their motto is “Hurry up and wait.” You might think that it is “Army of one” or some such nonsense, but it really is “Hurry up and wait.” That’s what they always do. Form up and then wait for forever for nothing. Or something. But they have to wait. Wait wait wait wait. But you better be on time to wait.

I didn’t get to Camp Williams until about 1005, a few minutes after the parade started, but I think all we missed was a prayer and maybe the national anthem or something. We got there just as Governor Hubert was speaking. We had to park all the way in the farthest north corner of Camp Williams, but the army was cool and picked us up with a van and dropped us off right by the parade. On our way down to the parade grounds three C-130s did a fly over. They were pretty close to the ground, and the kids got a kick out of it (Joseline thought it was a little loud).

We got to the parade grounds and found a seat just about in time to watch the soldiers parade around.

Now, a military parade is not like a Fourth of July parade or a Homecoming parade. Basically the soldiers form up with their companies and in their units, and in their battalions, and they march past the Governor and salute him so he can “inspect” them. I’m sure he doesn’t really do much inspecting. He probably just smiles and looks pretty for the cameras. Mostly a military parade is just for show – but it is a cool show, and a powerful representation of our military. There were so many troops there. It was the entire Utah National Guard – Army and Air Guard. It was crazy. The Guard also had three Black Hawks fly over during part of the parade (just before the Air Guard marched by, I believe). The kids loved that, too.

I didn’t get a good picture of Russ because I was too busy trying to point him out to Vincente. By the time I remembered that I need to take pictures, I had to take them of the back of his head.

Russ was the third from the front on the second row.
You can see his beret where the arrow is pointing.

The band was great, and the soldiers looked fabulous.

After the “parade” they had a fair type thing where all the units and battalions sold food and the Guard put up a zip line and a bounce house. They also had a lot of booths advertising all of the services the military has for families. I signed up for the FRG for our unit, talked to some Military OneSource folks, and got information on the local Family Assistance Center. We also signed up for the Enlisted Association of the National Guard. Apparently they are the people who lobby our politicians to keep the benefits for the Guard soldiers.

They also had an Apache helicopter and a Black Hawk medic helicopter the kids could get around, touch, and (for the Black Hawk) get in. The Apache folks were a little more touchy about the kids getting in the cockpits – but I think that’s because Apaches have guns, and the Black Hawk didn’t. The pilots were all really nice and talked to us about their helicopters.

Vincente loved being the helicopters and decided that he is going to join the army and fly helicopters when he gets “big like Papai.” Cute kid. I told Russ that I secretly hope that Vincente will join the National Guard when he is old enough. No matter what else he chooses to do for a career, I would absolutely love for him to be a citizen-soldier!

The last thing we did was head over to the 19th Special Forces Group’s tent where Vince tried his hand at a paintball gun. He was actually doing pretty well. He was aiming. Russ said Vince couldn’t figure out just how to use the scoping bars (or whatever Russ called them) because he was consistently hitting the wrong spot so he probably had the target through part of the scope and not the whole thing. Anyway, after hitting a few targets and some unsuccessful attempts at shooting the rest he told Russ he was done, so Russ finished out – left handed. And of course took each one out in one shot.

Joseline mostly sat in her stroller and enjoyed a cookie. She tried the bouncy obstacle course but ended up getting stuck. She liked the helicopter, but I think what she liked most of all was being with Papai. She’s super attached to that guy.

Spaghetti and Music in the Mountains

Earlier in the summer when my mom was in town for a few weeks, my sister, my mom and I had a girls’ day out in Park City. We went shopping at the Tanger outlet mall there, and then in the evening went to see Time for Three (a two violins/double bass trio) perform the Bach Double Concerto (well, the two violinists performed the double concerto – I’m not sure if the bassist played in the chamber orchestra or if he just sat back stage for that part of the concert). The second half of the concert was the three of them playing all sorts of good stuff, and interacting with the audience. They were amazing. If you ever have a chance to see them live, do it. Think Jon Schimdt and Steven Sharp Nelson, but three of them, and with violins and bass instead of piano and cello.

Anyway, I didn’t take any pictures of us at the concert, but it was fabulous, and I thought I would share this music video with you. Hope you like it.

Back to the story. So my mom, my sister and I spent that whole day shopping. I found this awesome shirt that I really wanted at the Dress Barn, but they didn’t have it in my size. Let me tell you how awesome Dress Barn is. They called up the nearest store that had it in my size (in North Carolina – what!?) and after I gave them a 25% “down payment” they shipped it to the Park City store for freeeee! All I did was pay them 25% when they shipped, and the other 75% when I picked it up. Talk about customer service!

Well, since I had to go back to Park City to pick up the shirt, we decided to take a little bit of a family trip. We didn’t do much other than go to the Dress Barn and then walk up and down historic main street, but it was fun anyway.

We ate at Main Street Pizza & Noodle company. It was delicious and I hope we get to go again some day. We ate right out on the sidewalk. They had crayons and coloring for the kids, and even though they made their macaroni and cheese out of those multi-colored noodles (you know, the green and orange spiral ones you use for pasta salad?) we still had a good time (strange colored noodles = no children eating food, just sayin). We’re also pleased to inform you that Joseline was not harmed by the big bear, and even thought it might be kind of cuddly.

And then the kids fell asleep on the way home. Can’t beat that.

Good Men and a Great Country

 

I wanted to write something about Independence Day this year, but I couldn’t really think of anything eloquent, so I’m including a picture of the kids so that this post isn’t a complete waste.

I am proud to be an American, and I am proud to be an Army wife.

People say that our country doesn’t have any business fighting in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries. I do agree with those who say there are things we need to fix inside our own country first, but really, our problems, serious as they may be, are not even close to the problems people face in other countries.

Some people are losing faith in the “American Dream” but I think what we have really lost is work ethic, determination, and personal accountability. As a people, we have forgotten what is important, we have forgotten how to get what is important, and we have forgotten that the best part of having something is sharing it.

I hope this year, on this Independence Day, we can re-evaluate our “American Dream” and what we  are doing, not only to achieve our dream, but to share it with others – all around the world.

And I also hope that we will continue to fight to protect our freedoms that we enjoy in this country, particularly religious freedom.

I feel so blessed to live in this, the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

Little Biker Dude

 
Vincente is getting to be quite the little bike rider. I feel bad that he’s only now discovering the joys of biking. I haven’t had a bike since we were married, and we only bought Vincente a real bike for his 3rd birthday, and we only now live in a neighborhood where we can ride all the time (the streets are relatively flat, so great for learning).

He really likes it, and I like being out with him. Russ bought me a bike for Christmas, and I just recently bought a little baby seat that mounts on the front. We’ve been meaning to take our bikes down to the river trail, but we need to get a bike rack for the car first.

A Garden Party

Our Relief Society had a garden party on Tuesday evening, and I bought this hat to wear. And I rode my bike. It was awesome. I love my hat, and I love my bike.

Wednesday was probably the worst day ever. My iPhone’s home button died, and if you know anything about iPhones, you know that the home button is the most significant button on the entire phone. So I got that fixed, but lost the sim card tray, so I had to go back out and buy one. I didn’t get anything done because of the stupid phone (because then I had to set it up, restore, etc etc etc).

It’s back to normal now, though, so hopefully I will be, too!

What on earth are you doing?

Vince was watching PBS kids shows online while I was downstairs folding laundry... I came upstairs to find this. I guess it was more comfortable? And what’s up with the no clothes getup? I swear the child loves to be naked (except for the fact that he doesn’t want me and Joseline to actually see him naked... hence the underwear...)

Monday Musings... on Saturday

It’s been a while! I have been meaning to post a few things on the blog – what we’ve been up to lately – but the being “up to” has taken up all our time, which leaves not much for blogging!

Today I have a training class for getting our foster care license. My awesome sister Christy and her husband are coming over to hang out with the kids while I’m gone, since Russ is at some more job training for about two weeks. Hopefully I will be more on the ball this next week (not to mention not having a husband, so I’ll probably have a lot of time to spare...) so I’ll post Christmas pictures and get more regular again.

My goal this year is also to print the last 3 years of blogging into blog books. I will probably print one for each year. When I started posting pictures, that was the idea – that I would print the blog to make a journal/scrapbook... mostly because while I used to LOVE scrapbooking, being a mom has kind of taken up most of my time. I may even add in entries from some of my other blogs – combine them into one big book.

My other goal is to get all of our family videos (all the clips I took over the past several years) organized and edited and put on to DVDs so we can have easily-watchable family videos.

It’s going to be a year of personal history for me. Personal and family history. Preserving today’s memories and experiences for our kids.

Above are the gingerbread houses we made with some friends before Christmas. I will be posting about that over on Child’s Play. I will also be posting a tutorial for Borax snowflakes over there.

Feel free to check out my scripture study blog for my thoughts on October 2010 General Conference – my topic of study right now. Also, here is an interesting blog post (from someone else’s blog) about President Packer’s talk from General Conference.

Other than that, we’re just hanging out. I’ve got lots of Christmas pictures to post, and thoughts about that – and I need to post our Christmas traditions somewhere for next year (along with my thoughts about how to make next year a little more... smooth sailing, and help us remember the reason for the season).

And, to end on a happy note – a picture of Joseline (taken by Vince)

Wednesday Wanderings – Gardner Village, Witch Invasion

A few weeks ago we went down to Gardner Village with my friend Lori and her adorable girls. Russ wasn’t working, so he came along. Mostly we walked around window shopping and seeing how many of the fun witch displays we could see. There were a lot of really cute ones – witches flying from one building to another, witches dancing, a “firefighter” witch spraying water into the pond (I couldn’t get a good picture of Vincente with the witch... all of them made her look like she was peeing into the pond. Sorry. It really is a fire hose...), a “fishing” witch (who was actually throwing dynamite into the pod...), some witches playing baseball, and some witches brewing potions, to name a few.

 

 

I wish I had snapped a picture of each display, but I was too busy making sure my kids didn’t break stuff. The displays were fun to see, but it was kind of crowded. I think we went during prime “playgroup” time. We didn’t actually do anything other than walk around and look at stuff (which the kids enjoyed). But there is a restaurant (or two?) a petting zoo, a hayride to a haunted house in the evenings, and a candy shop.

The shops are all old houses, and the shops themselves are pretty unique. There are a few quilting stores, several home decor stores, and a few clothing shops. There was also a little baby boutique that had some of the cutest hand-knitted hats I have ever seen. If they had fit Joseline, we may have just bought one for her.

I can’t tell you how much anything costs, since we didn’t actually do anything that cost money, but things in the shops were generally higher end, or hand made, and had accompanying prices.

Ratings:

Value – I can’t tell you how much anything costs, since we didn’t actually do anything that cost money, but things in the shops were generally higher end, or hand made, and had accompanying prices. The hayride was pricey, but probably fun (can’t say since I didn’t go) and the petting zoo (from what I could see) wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Maybe if you could find 2-for-1 coupons for the petting zoo or hayride that might make things better for us cheapskates. Although, just walking around looking at the witches was pretty entertaining – and that part was free! (but you have to go during the Halloween season to catch the witches, FYI)

  Location – pretty good – close to us (literally right down the street – mabye a 5 minutes drive down 7800 S in West Jordan). Kind of a pain to get to from I-15 if you’re coming from Utah Valley, since there isn’t an exit at 7800 S, so you probably have to get off down at 9000 S or something.

 Fun Factor – It was fun for the little kids – they always love walking around and goofing off. It wasn’t quite as entertaining for me and Russ, but I’m sure that we would have had fun on the hayride and haunted house. If we were going to spend some money, we probably would have found a sitter and gone on the hayride for a date. Kissing the witch was a definite + for Russ. Heh.

Favorites Part II – The Best Moments

From my previous post:

“In looking through 500+ photos I’ve taken this summer, I realize that I have two different kinds of ‘favorite photos’ – the first is my best photography. You know those pictures – the ones with good composition, good lighting, creativity – ones you might show off in a competition of some sort.

“Now, I’m not saying my photography is great– I’m working on it, it’s mostly a mild hobby. However, I do think I’ve taken some pretty good shots.

“My other kind of ‘favorite photos’ are the ones capturing a fantastic moment – no matter the composition, lighting, etc. They are the ones that make me smile because I remember what my kids were saying and doing at the very moment. I remember the way it made me feel, and I am grateful that I have immortalized that moment in picture.”

These, my friends, are the photos (and videos) of the second kind.

Inside the Tree on Kingfisher trail at Pinnacle Mt. State Park

The V&J Band (the Vince and Joss Band) Piano lessons with Grandma PamJoseline reading on a big floor pillow












At the playground – on the “castle”

  With Grandma’s plumeriasDancing with cousin Karyn – their favorite thing to do (in the background, “Enchanted” is playing... I think that’s where they get the dancing from)

The kids wanted some “dancing music” so I put on some CD of “romantic songs” – Vincent and Karyn dancing, and Joseline ... singing?

 

 

 

  Joseline dumped out the dog’s water dish, and this is what the kids decided to do with the waterYay slides!  This is me finally figuring out how to use the continuous shot mode on my camera – which probably contributed a lot to those 500+ pictures...Vincente cooking his lizard. Yum.

The kids filthy after playing at a park that had used tire stuff... it was probably actual used tires chopped up – dirt and everything. At least they had fun!  

Vincente’s favorite item in the dress up chest was the butterfly wings. This is the song that goes with the wings. more Vince cooking (this time it’s actual food, not a lizard)

Joseline after eating chocolate in the car on the drive out to Arizona The kids waving and still trying to hold on Joseline – not too happy to be riding on this sawhorse The kids playing with their beanie babies together in the back. Joseline wants to be doing whatever Vincente is doing. When he doesn’t mind, it’s absolutely darling.  There’s no school like the old school – even the puppies wanted a ride! I wish I’d snapped a picture of that! Then all they wanted to do was hid in the cool shade underneath (and get filthy). Dumb dogs. Cool dude – except that they are pink sunglasses and a Disney Princess scooter... but hey, he does look pretty suave in spite of the pink, don’t you think?

Vince pulling Joseline in the laundry basket. What I love the most is their hats. and the fact that Vince is actually doing something cool for Joseline (and that she is wearing brown Mary Janes with her pajamas – more on that later)

Playing hide-and-seek at the “Arizona house”