An end to the beginning

Lance with other 1st quarter buddies sporting "handlebars" for finals week. I don't have the slightest idea where they came up with it (LANCE). Sorry to the other wives who had to put up with it. And I really wish Lance had kept his hat on! :)

Time for the HAPPY DANCE!!! Congrats to Lance who finished his 1st quarter of chiro school, only 12 more to go!! It's been a tough quarter, and these last few weeks were even worse. Lance was doing very little other than eating, and studying (and helping with Gracie in all of the craziness), and maybe fitting in a little sleep. I'm so proud of you!

tons o fog

First of all whoever told it it never snows where we live in Portland LIED! I know it's supposed to rain a lot but JEEZ!! It's been raining since last Friday! With the exception of it SNOWING all day Saturday! Today was weird, a great dense fog. We get a lot of fog from the gorge, but every once in a while it's a doozy! I took these on my way to the gym, probably not the safest thing to do but I was being careful. :)

This is the view (from our bedroom) of the field behind us and a street light and many cars we can't see!

Holiday Gala

Saturday night we got to go on a date!! WAAA HOO!! It seems like the dating days are becoming a thing of the past with our recent school schedule. The school hosted a Holiday Gala (by the way no one could decide of you say it GAH-LUH, or GAY-LUH, but dictionary.com says it's either) and we were lucky enough to find a babysitter (Thanks Tiff!). It was a formal affair, held in a ballroom in downtown Portland, including dinner and dancing. We had a great time with our good buddies here!

Linds and Adam (so sorry I must have deleted the better pic!)

Parker and Carly

Tiana and Ammon

The Youngs and the Johnstons (sniff, sniff, they're both leaving us this month!)

Thank goodness for black (it masked the prego belly that decided to pop the week before!)

**Edit: Thanks to Chad and Tiff for taking care of Gracie and then writing about it on your blog! you can see the posting here. You are too nice!

'Cause it's Ladies Night

Thanks to all the Ladies who attended Girls Night (it was my turn to host)! And for all of our fam who has been begging for pics of our apartment, you can thank Chrystal for appeasing you. I hope everyone enjoyed the scum, ornament exchange, and homemade cinnamon rolls!

Most of the girls (some had to leave early or couldn't make it) Can you believe I had this many people in our tiny apartment??

Back to Business

I have to say, it's good to be back "home". I wasn't sure if Portland felt like home, but when I was greeted by my fabulous hubby AT THE AIRPORT (he was supposed to be in class), AND WITH FLOWERS, I was quickly reminded this is our home. I was very surprised to feel happy at getting back to routine life. I was laughing while I was running at the gym! Thanks to Lance I came home to a sparkling clean home with freshly cleaned toilets (growing up with 3 brothers, I made Lance agree this was his "job" BEFORE I agreed to marry him). I love you, love you, love you! With all of the busyness at home I just ignored how much I missed my Lance! I just wanted you to know how much I love and appreciate you!

Fun Times in AZ

Lance,

Sorry for the delay in all of these pics, but we have been busy!! Love you and see you in 2 days!


Gracie and Emily's fav game: Ring Around the Rosie

Swimming in the HEATED pool. Yes, I cut myself out...HELLO, it's WINTER!

Napping with Papa

Playing with the boys

Welcome Home Uncle Logan!

Anxiously awaiting the arrival...

He's here!

We've had such a fun, family filled week(end)! Logan came home from a mission on Wednesday, which calls for a family gathering (and his friends too). Thursday Gracie and I traveled between 3 different sides of our family to celebrate "Thanks". Then on Sunday, Logan reported to the ward, and again another family gathering. My poor mother! Lots of company and fun, but it was nice when everyone left and it was just our family again. It's so fun to have Logan around again, and just nice to be with ALL of my brothers. I think it's been over 3 years since we were all together and even though I had to endure a bit of teasing, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Annual Girls Day

(most of this is intended for Lance...sorry everyone else)

Each year the Bowler girls get together before Thanksgiving for a lunch and a shopping trip. We shopped at Kierland and had luch at the Cheesecake Factory--YUM! I was so excited to be able to be down for our girls day, I really look forward to it every year. This year was fun because a few of the younger girls joined us (Gracie too!).


Bowler girls in attendance: Libby, Erin, Audi, Me, Gracie, Deb (Mom), Eliza, Aunt Ellen, and Aunt Ann..


Gracie enjoying the extra whipped cream. She used her straw as a spoon.


Libby and Eliza...I love these girls!


Gracie at the end of the shopping day! It was a lot of work!

More to come soon! Love you babe!

Adventures in AZ

Random post of Gracie! We'll be journaling a little bit while Gracie and I are visiting here in AZ and Lance is stuck in the OR. Lance, I wanted this to brighten up your day a little bit. I love our daughter. Remember when she did this, we were laughing and laughing... (she's sitting in the recycle bin)

Love you and miss you!

From the Journal Jar- Sounds

So the Journal Jar challenge is sounds that I love. Em asked me what sounds I loved last night before we went to bed and a few things came to mind immediately, but over the past 24 hours I have been thinking about it more and more, and have come up with a few more. It was a weird experience because almost all day I was more aware of the sounds that I was hearing and I would periodically ask myself if I loved this sound or that sound and why. It was very revealing for me to perform this self-reflection and this is what I came up with.

The first one that I came up with, almost off the bat goes like this " da-DAaH, da da da da duuhh, duh duh dunna dunna dun - from

I just love this show. It is smart and funny, and is always entertaining. Even Emi loves it now, though she did not think it was funny for the longest time ( but Michael Scott wore her down)

I also immediately thought of my Gracie and the sound that I love to here her make. It is of course her laugh, but not just any laugh or giggle that she lets out. I am talking about her belly chuckle, the one that she doesn't do very often, but when she does it is hilarious. This is a deeper laugh that she lets out in spurts and has to work up to, and it comes from her belly(obviously), she can't breath during it and has to take a huge breath afterward, before she launches into it again. I tried all day to make her do it, just to hear it, and during bath time right before bed she finally settled in for a good chuckle session. I loved it.

There are a couple sounds that Em makes that I enjoy - her small voice, every once in a while in her sleep she snorts, when she is mad at me she does this whole slow exhale thing that I fear and strangely love at the same time. I love to here her play the piano and I love to hear her singing( especially Primary songs) and here is the one that I love the most...her voice when she speaks Spanish. Maybe it is because Spanish class is where I first fell in love with the girl across the room with the dazzling smile or simply the voice change that goes on, but hearing her speak Spanish is one of the best sounds in the world for me. I try to make her learn more words, but it just cracks me up every time. I think I embarrass her when I drop everything to listen to her when she starts to speak it, but I really enjoy it and treasure every syllable that leaves her sweet mouth

.

I am now going to make a laundry or grocery- however you choose to look at it- list of the rest of the sounds that I love. (or at least the ones that I can think of)

Michael Jackson - music not the person or his high-pitched speaking voice

theme song for Friends - I'll be there for you-ou

Theme song for "Saved By the Bell" - when the teacher pops a test....

my parents variable doorbell.

Cubans - people not the cigar - a que hora mataron la Lola?

How Will and Carter say my name- or used to

Gracie's impression of an elephant

Dr. O cursing in class- after sitting in one room all day, it is funny.

Dance Radio stations- movin 97.5 and movin 107.5

Ace of Base

Line dance songs - they remind me of stake dances and those were fun. the macarena, cottoneyed joe, cha- cha stomp- too cool.

Spanish music- I love Mana and Shakira, and my little secret...OV7

Rain in Arizona - not Portland

Firetrucks in Portland

Explosions- is anyone still reading?

listening to Em breath beside me at night- she is sleeping right now and I just heard it so I thought I would add it.

well this has been my list, please feel free to make your lists of sounds that you love. Em is leaving in like twelve hours, So I hope she will enjoy reading this while she is in the AZ and I am stuck here at my boring institute of higher learning. Sacrifices... but at least I am not getting surgery!!

Lance