The giant pumpkin!!

Well the jury is still out on how much the thing weighs but our best estimate is around 225 lbs. Katie and Josh have really enjoyed watching the pumpkin grow all summer. Every time we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house they would run out to check on it. The plant was enormous and completely took over the back corner of the yard. We actually ended up with 3 pumpkins, but the other two were pretty small. We hope to do even better next year, maybe a 300 pounder! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for providing the garden and watering the pumpkin for the kids all summer!

Save the Okapi's?

Kaitlin recently had an assignment at school titled- What would you do to make the world a better place? Our little animal lover decided that she wanted to do something for the endangered animals of the world. Armed with a shoe box labeled "endangered animal fund" her quest began. The box sat in the classroom at school after she gave a short presentation about it to both classes. It attracted quite a bit of attention and all the kids were excited to see the pennies and quarters add up. After a month we had a grand total of $50.20! Not bad for only 36 kids and 3 teachers! She did some research and decided on the World Wildlife Federation as the recipient. Now a Sea Otter and an Okapi have now been adopted by Kaitlin and Horizon School. She learned alot from the experience, and how one person can influence others and help change the world! We are so proud of her!

Remember when.....

Top picture-

Easter 2006- Katie 6, Josh 4

Bottom picutre-December 2005- Josh 4, Katie 6

Nothing much has been happening in the Bowman house lately. Or not much that is blog-worthy anyway. So I found myself down memory lane instead....(Cue the fade-out!) When Josh was 3 he discovered Spiderman. It was all he talked about, what he played and what he wanted to watch (i.e. the Spiderman movie). About 2 or 3 weeks before his birthday and after much talk about his birthday plans, he suddenly declared one day that it was Peter Parker's birthday. (Spiderman's mild-mannered alter-ego.) This newly founded holiday required that mom bake a chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting. I thought it was too cute and of course baked the cake. Now I look back and see that my son was smarter than I gave him credit for. The little schemer just wanted cake and didn't want to wait until his birthday to get it! You have to give him credit for such a creative plan though. As for Katie she has always been a little more direct and oh so serious. She has often been referred to as a mini adult. During the summer of 2005 we decided to have a yard sale. Some of the kids toys they had outgrown were part of the huge junk pile in our driveway. Katie was very excited to help me and sell her toys. We were sitting and waiting when the bargain hunters began to arrive. She gets up out of her chair and with a very heavy sigh says in her mini adult voice, "Well, I have to go to work now." There is no way I can describe it here and do it justice, but it was so hillarious and so darn cute! She really did go over and try to sell things to the customers! Most of the things she has said or done over the years to make us laugh are because they seem so out of context for a young little girl. Well, that's enough memory lane for now. I'm sure I'll visit it again for some more funny stories!

A new arrival!

Logan Connor Splattstoesser is Katie and Josh's newest cousin. He was born on Sept. 11 at 5:12 pm weighing in a solid 8lbs 11oz. and 20in. long. He is totally cute and we cannot wait to meet him. Katie and Josh don't have any cousins in Utah, so we love the pictures and look forward to visits from cousins Skylar, Kayden and Logan Splattstoesser and cousin Elliot Ann Brady.

Picnic at Cold Springs Trout Farm

Friday night we went to the annual school picnic at Cold Springs Trout Farm. After a yummy dinnner we set out on our quest to catch a trophy trout. Those who know anything about the trout farm know this is about the easiest fishing experience you could possibly have. The pond has about 1,500 trout all swimming right at your feet. Everytime you throw in some fish food, the fish go into a feeding frenzy worthy of a Discovery Channel Shark Week special. All you have to do is put the fishing pole (which is really a stick with a hook) in the water and throw in the food. The fish in their confusion are supposed to bite the hook. As a kid my family did this a couple times. We had actually been fishing "for real" and were not particulary impressed since the whole process only took about 3.5 seconds. Our kids have not been fishing outside the trout farm and are always excited to catch a fish. Josh was up first, he was right in there with a firm grip on the pole and determination in his eyes. The first attempt was unsuccessful, oh well, the odds are definately in his favor, right? Well, 2 full cups of food later, Josh is completely bored with the whole fishing thing. (Even though he has only been fishing for maybe 15 min.) It was not until dad was off getting yet another cup of food, that Josh and Grandpa Don catch a fish while just playing with the rod in the water. No food, no feeding frenzy, just plain dumb luck. Katie on the other hand caught her fish on the second try. She is now the master of trout fishing, in this house at least! She spent the rest of the time running from pond to pond making scientific observations about the habits and growth patterns of trout. (Those of you who know her, know that I am not kidding about this!) All in all it was a successful fishing trip and a fun time for everyone!

First Day of School!

The kids started school yesterday, finally! They were both more than ready to go back. I think they were actually more ready than mom. Josh is in level 3, the same class he was in last year. There are lots of new faces, since most of his friends moved up a class. It will be a bit of a challenge for him to make new friends. He also has the chance to be the oldest in the class, which will be good for him since he is the youngest at home. Katie is in level 5 this year, which is a 8-12 year old class. She has a new teacher this year who is lots of fun. She is really excited for all the projects and fieldtrips they have planned. She is also going to play violin in the school orchestra again. We are all looking forward to another great year!

Our little ocean

Our day trip to Bear Lake was a huge hit with the kids. They had never been before and were quite impressed. The lake has receeded drastically since Jeff and I were kids but it was still a beautiful blue. We ate lunch and played in the water for hours. The kids could walk out as far as they dared and it never got above their waists. The wind was blowing just enough to make it pleasant and it created waves, even though they were pretty tiny. With the sand and sea shells on the beach, we called it our little ocean. Katie built her own sand castle decorated with sea shells, complete with a moat and seaweed flag. She was really sad to leave it behind. Josh's favorite thing was running in and out of the waves, arms and legs flailing in all directions, screaming as loud as possible. Our perfect day at the beach was only complete after a couple of fresh raspberry shakes!