Break out the pink because ready or not here we come. We found out today that we are having a girl. Ethan has been telling us he was having a sister for a while now, but I was in denial that it would be another boy. The doctor proved Ethan was right however. Anyway Callie will no longer be the only Bowen grandaughter though I doubt our girl will have the red hair.
That’s right! Peter’s company, United Online, is shutting down their Utah office and transferring him to Woodland Hills, California! So, after being in Utah for well over a decade, we are going right back to where we started from. We are excited and sad and nervous all at the same time… a myriad of emotions, which you can well imagine. It will mean giving up the home here that we built, the friends that we’ve made, and everything that we have grown to love and become accustomed to. Even William came to us just the other day, looking sad and disheartened… he will miss the snow. I promised him that there actually is snow in some places in Southern California, and we would go play in it next winter. What an adventure life is.
Hi all,
Just wanted to post a note for any who may not have heard that we are pregnant with number 2. We still aren’t far enough yet to know if it’s a boy or girl so I’ll post that when we find out. Our due date is Aug 18 and we’ll see if we make it that long. I hope not, Aug is hot in Vegas. Hope all is well with everyone. Love to all! Dean, Mary,& Ethan
I just wanted to take a minute to talk about Sean’s passing. Sean was a good brother and he loved his family. I realized at the funeral that I didn’t really know Sean all that well, which isn’t that surprising given that we never had a chance to hang out together. I think that the total of our “hang time” was less than 6 hours. Usually we were waiting at the airport, or grabbing a bite, or picking up something at the store. I think that we both expected that there would be another 50+ years of family vacations and events to become closer. We ran out of time, and I’m sorry for that.
The week before the funeral was difficult for me because I realize that as the family has moved away, the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents are not spending as much time together. We all have our own lives, and when we live 10 minutes away it is easy to get together for a BBQ or other event. Now that we’re all spread out, it’s tough to maintain the relationships. My closest sibling is about 45 minutes away, and the furthest is something like 20 hours by airplane. I have an aunt in Alaska, that I really liked as a kid – still do. I haven’t seen her in about 12 years, and that was for just an hour or so as she passed through Utah. Things are such that I doubt that I will ever get to know her as an adult. With Kerry out of the country, I’m a little bit afraid that the same thing will happen between my children, her and Ben.
I think this experience has forced me to look differently at family gatherings. I’ve always felt that getting together is important… I just feel stronger about it now. Thank you Sean for helping me in an unconventional way. I speak for all of us when I say that you will be missed.
-Peter
The fourth started on the third for me… My sister and her husband came over and we had a great time playing games. We played the cranium family game, Thing-ama-bots, and Mario Party 8. My brother-in-law won much to the chagrin of Jon. We didn’t’ get to bed until after 2, which was cool because the 4th is a holiday…
At 7 o’clock the phone rang because Jon committed to set out American flags for the scouts at 7 and forgot to set his alarm – much to the chagrin of me! Ali kicked me out of bed (quite literally) and out the door we went. Jon commented how nice it was to be out early on a holiday without the hustle and bustle of the week and to be doing something good at the same time. It only took us an hour or so and when we got back everyone was still asleep. It was nice to just hang around until everyone got up. We had a nice breakfast and a day with no agenda. We did a little shopping for dinner and then went for a swim. Matthew DOES NOT like swimming. In the evening we collected the flags and then had a nice dinner.
By 8 I was ready for bed, but Ali literally kicked me out of bed again to get the fireworks going. She had bought a large collection for the 4th and didn’t want them to go to waste. I guess there is some precedent since I found a bunch that were left from last year on the 3rd and we lit them that night. Jon had a great time telling us about the virtues of the different fireworks before he lit them. They are all cardboard tubes that sparkle to me. Since it doesn’t actually get dark until almost 10:00 it was another late night, but we all had fun, and we’ll do it again next year.
-Peter
I can be a little long winded and was recently accused of telling a “shaggy dog story.†That got me to thinking about shaggy dog stories in general. For the uninitiated, a shaggy dog story is one where the joke lies in the time that is wasted in telling the story. The foundation for the classic shaggy dog story goes a little something like this…
A boy owned a dog that was uncommonly shaggy. Many people remarked upon its considerable shagginess. When the boy learned that there are contests for shaggy dogs, he entered his dog. The dog won first prize for shagginess in both the local and the regional competitions. The boy entered the dog in ever-larger contests, until finally he entered it in the world championship for shaggy dogs. When the judges had inspected all of the competing dogs, they remarked about the boy’s dog: “He’s not so shaggy.”
This made me think of my favorite “shaggy dog story†about Molly the Moth. Of course Molly the Moth is even better because the telling is more funny than the conclusion. I’m chuckling to myself thinking about it because the telling is so good natured that the teller often has trouble getting to the punch line.
I did a quick Google search to see if there are other Molly jokes around, and I found a ton of puns with the same punch line, and one shaggy dog story about a moth running contest but not the same joke. I did find a number of Molly the Moth references, but I couldn’t figure out if they were mnemonic devices like Tony the Tiger or if the joke is making the rounds.
In any case, be sure to corner Uncle Bob for your own personal performance of “Molly the Moth.â€
As many of you know, Aunt Virginia passed away last Tuesday.
It seems like just yesterday that she was sitting in my kitchen telling me about the latest health research she was reading. The last time I saw her was at Aunt Shirley’s funeral, and I wish I could have spent a little more time with her. She was a really neat lady, and I will sorely miss her. I only regret that I didn’t get to know her when she was younger.
I found this announcement online. If there is another, I would be interested in posting it as well. I would also like to have a picture if someone has one.
We love you Aunt Virginia. God be with you ’till we meet again.
-Peter
Virginia King
A funeral will be held Tuesday, March 20, 2007, in California for Virginia King, who died March 13 at age 92.
Virginia Bowen was born Oct. 4, 1914, in Garland, Utah. A homemaker, she lived in Burbank and Newhall, Calif., as well as Minneapolis. She moved to Utah in 1999 and came to Beaverton in 2005. In 1934, she married Carl M.; he died in 1988.
Survivors include her sons, Wallace, Larry, David, Dennis and Leon; daughter, Sharon Mortenson; brother, Wayne Bowen; sister, Ricorda Bowns; 35 grandchildren; and 58 great-grandchildren.
Arrangements by Finley’s.
Here is a picture of Jon shoveling the driveway. We’re into March, and it snowed – a lot. I thought we were done with this white stuff.
David Bowen came to Spanish Fork in 1856. He had been a chain and anchor maker in Llanelly, South Wales. After he and his family set sail for America he dropped his bag of money into the sea. This misfortune caused a delay in his trip across the plains for he was forced to remain in the East until he could earn sufficient money to buy his outfit to travel to Utah. He located at Minersville, Pa., where he remained a year.When he arrived at Spanish Fork in 1856 he had no blacksmith tools, so he borrowed some from Stephen Markham and worked in a shop in the northern part of town. There was very little money there in those days so people were paid for their work in food and other supplies, which were gratefully received. The time came when Pioneer Bowen had nothing in the house for his family to eat except potatoes. They had lived on this fare for a week or longer and he worked every day. At last, when the potatoes were all gone, he went to the shop discouraged. He leaned against his anvil in despair. This attracted the attention of Harvey Pace, who inquired “What is the matter? Why aren’t you working?” The reply was: “I am trying to decide whether to starve to death working or resting.” He had done blacksmithing for a number of men who were not able to pay him, not even in produce. Mr. Pace let him have wheat and from then on, times grew better and he never felt a shortage of food to such an extent again. On the other hand, he helped many families who were in need.
In a short time after this, Mr. Bowen built and equipped his first blacksmith shop. This was a two-room building made of adobe. Howell Davis and his family lived in one room. During a long rainy spell the place became watersoaked and Mr. Bowen advised Mr. Davis to move out for fear the house would collapse. It fell to the ground a few hours after the family had vacated it.
Mr. Bowen rescued his tools from his wrecked place and moved them to the Robert McKell shop, where he worked for six months. John Bowen tells that he went into the McKell home on the corner every morning to get a shovelful of live coals to build the fire in the forge to start the day’s work.
David Bowen built three other shops where he and his sons, all four of whom learned the blacksmith trade, worked for many years often from daylight till the stars came out. Each son in turn helped his father in the shop and they did a great deal of work for which they never received pay. When a man couldn’t pay, his work was not neglected.
One time when Mr. Bowen was passing a blacksmith shop in Salt Lake City, the rapid beat of the hammer rang out form the anvil. “A chain maker is working in there.” He entered the shop and watched the smithy with great interest. The man said: “You seem to be interested in my work. I suppose it is something new to you.” “On the contrary,” was the reply, “I have made miles of chain.”
A man with a load of fruit was traveling through Spanish Fork one Sunday when his wagon broke down. He came to this village blacksmith’s home to ask him to repair it. He said he had been to several blacksmith’s and everyone had refused to work on his wagon on Sunday. Unless he could get immediate help his fruit would spoil before he reached his destination. Mr. Bowen didn’t like to work on the Sabbath, but there was a man in distress. He said to his son, “Will you help me, John?” The two men soon repaired the broken wagon and the stranger went on his way rejoicing.
David Bowen made the machinery for the first sawmill and also for the first molasses mill in this part of the state.
– Jane B. Tuttle.
Okay, here is the info on the Bashor Photos. I have put them up in the Mary and Dean folder under Bashor Photos.The name of the file is the photo number with Bashor so if there is a photo that you like write down the number. Richie is our contact. He said that he will fix any photo for no extra charge (remove objects from background, shadows, and alternate heads if need be). So… give the photos a look and see what you think. His contact number is 805-522-7508. Pricing is as follows:
#1 1-11×14 Mounted and Canvas, 1-8×10, 4-5×7, 8-wallets, All Proofs (mix and match photos) = $295.00
#2 1-16×20 Mounted & Canvas, 1-8×10, 4-5×7, 8-wallets, All proofs (mix & match photos) =$450.00
#3 1-20×24 Mounted and Canvas, 1-8×10, 4-5×7, 8-wallets, All proofs (mix & match photos)= $625.00
#4 1- 24X30 Mounted and Canvas, 1-8×10, 4-5×7, 8-wallets, All proofs (mix & match photos)= $850.00
They will also mix up a few things so you could exchange 8 wallets for 1-8×10 or 2-5×7. Or another possible exchange is 2-5×7 for 1-8×10.
These are the package prices, they do sell the photos on an individual basis, so if you don’t want to get a package call Richie. Mom has all the proofs and the colors are better then what you see becuase of the scanner we used. Have fun looking at them.
Mary
