Memorial Weekend

... And I'm proud to be and American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me ...
                                        -Lee Greenwood


Sometimes it is easy for us to live our day to day lives
without thinking of the all the fighting that's going on
overseas

Today is a good day to remember
remember the heros
who are still serving around the world and
the heros who did not make it home

I really am so thankful for their services
...
 Our family was lucky enough to see a lot of our out of town family
this weekend

Most of our Omaha crew
came to Kansas City and
Shannon & Scott had us all over for a bar b que

so much fun for the kiddos

 Chris, Laurie, Katie & Christy
stopped in for a break in their travels to Florida
we all met at Rancho Grande
for one of their favorite meals

My cousin Chris, a Ranger in the Army,
{and one of my heros}
 has been deployed overseas
eight times
Thank God, he has fought hard and been blessed
to come home to his family
every single time
Thank God

The kids, so innocent, asking question after question
everyone so intense, listening to anything
he will tell us about his experience

so greatful he is here, so greatful he is safe
so greatful for family
...

Another piece of weekend excitement

Melissa and Shawn's baby girl arrived
Leah Diane Weaver
6 lbs 10 oz

How sweet is she!

Celebrate the Fifth Grader

Tonight was the Fifth Grade Awards Ceremony

at Meadowbrook
.

How sweet was the opening ...
with the violins and cellos playing
while the parents took there seats
.

Then the show started

each teacher called their students name

and announced their acheivements

Sam's awards included:
A and B Honor Roll all year long
Award of Recognition for being involved in Student Council
Recognition for his achievements in Strings and
National Physical Fitness Award

I've been feeling pretty emotional this entire school year
 with his elementary years wraping up
.
but tonight
I felt proud of my young man
walking across the stage, shaking hands with his principal
and receiving his awards and accomplishments for this year

His teacher, Miss Abby Crossett,
well, we think Sam hit the lottery with her ...
I think he is more prepared for middle school because of her

She takes her job seriously and truly cares about her students, she does not stop teaching when the bell rings. She doesn’t just want them to just do better in math or reading, but to do well in life also. She kindly guides conflict between students and helps them to find friendship in each other. She leads by example and instills values, life skills and knowledge. 
{we really like her, can you tell}
-------
A few friends from the evening:
Steven Bishop/Rylee Newton
Kyle Voss-McReynolds
Blake Dunkin
Dighton Mumma

I am still a little sad for this school year to be over
but I am very excited for the next chapters in his life!
...
When it was all over
Grandma and Grandpa wanted to take Sam to Baskin Robbins
for a celebratory treat


{this is a tradition, a tradition that we all enjoy}

Chaumiere Lake

What an amazing fishing experience for Sam

He's been fishing before

this was not his first time

Grandpa takes all the boys fishing

he has fished in boyscouts

he fishes when we camp

but today, oh today, was different

Sam caught fish after fish after fish

he baited his own hooks

he took his fish off the hook and tossed them back into the lake

now they were very small perch

and sometimes we think he even caught the same fish

time after time

but he had such a great time

Then we got to see this amazing site ...

How sweet is this!

When we were packing everything up to leave,

Sam asked if he could call grandpa ...

he wanted to tell him that he had caught

21 fish

and the adults caught ...

 none!

Kids Triathalon

Swimming. Biking. Running.

It makes me proud to even say it ...

Sam competed in his first triathalon!

oh, the excitement, the nervousness

and the cold

{55 to be exact}

He swam 100 yards

biked 1 mile and

ran a half mile

As soon as the race started

he was on his own

He swam his 4 laps as we all cheered him on

then outside he ran to find his towel and clothes

everything he needed was waiting for him with his bike

He dryed off, got dressed and couldn't get his shoes on!

He rode the mile with his heels hanging out of his shoes

Before the run, he stopped and took the extra seconds to get those shoes on

he looked upset, worried ... he was fine

{it's all for fun, baby}

He looked so tired, but he ran

and when he could see the finish line

he sprinted, all the way in!

 his overall time was 17:29.6
19th place

Wow, we are all so proud of our little triathlete

19 35 Sam  Bowers  214  11 19  2:47.0  16  1:57.8 20  6:27.0  31 1:27.1 15  4:50.4 17:29.6

Easter

One of my very favorite holidays ...

this year held even a little bit closer

to my heart

I wasn't sure how big our celebration would be

since Grandpa is not feeling so great

{he just finished another round of chemo}

We went to Grandma & Grandpa's

and to my surprise

he looked and felt great!

We all ate a big lunch and then

 we headed outside for the Easter Egg Hunt!

What a gorgeous day!

We all opened a few gifts and read cards

 had a few emotional moments

and relaxed and just enjoyed hanging out

with family

Happy Easter to All

 We finally did it

we bought Sam a cell phone

I am only a little excited about this

but this kid ... he is over the moon!

 

I get the reasons that he "needs" it

he is starting to be away from me a little more and more

 each day

walking to school by himself

riding his bike to his friends house

meeting friends at the park

btw, I can hardly handle any of this

but I truly realize how important this bit of freedom is for

my independent, growing, confident child

... I do

it's just tough on a mom, a little tougher than I expected

I'm struggling with the fact that this is the last year of elementary school

where I know his teachers, his friends, their parents

he will be in a new school next year

 a middle school student

with new friends, new responsibilities, new opportunities.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited too

excited to see him make new friends and have these new experiences

and for him to grow into the young man that Brad and I dream of him becoming.

It just all feels like it is happening faster, all of a sudden

and for me ...
.

it seems to be starting with this phone ...

this little piece of freedom

Always Remembering ...

Our daily lives can be so busy

work, school, sports, appointments, etc

sometimes it's hard to make time to get together

but today, we make time

for our families to be together and

celebrate Grandpa/Dad ... together.

It's so important to me and to Shannon

and I think it is really important for the boys

they all miss him so much

Red.Blue.Yellow to represent KU

of course

Purple to represent Pancreatic Cancer

for shannon and i

little notes attached

we release them to ... Heaven

Then we're off for a delicious dinner at Stroud's
Daddy's favorite place for all of us to eat together

I know that he is there with us

We all enjoy this little ritual so much
the remembering and the together-ness

I hope we are never to busy

to remember