My baby girl...

Happy birthday to my baby girl. Okay, she's my only girl. I love here deeply. We don't always get along, but I know she loves me too. She is my best friend. I can't believe she is 12 years old. The years have gone so fast. I am so very proud of Kaylee, and all she has accomplished in the few years she has been in our family.

She is a wonderful student, so self motivated. Her grades are nearly perfect, and she doesn't even struggle in school. She is an incredible swimmer, both in speed swimming, and in her new love, Synchro. She has had to make some hard decisions when it comes to synchro, and has gotten flack from some people about those choices. She made these decisions after much prayer. We are proud of her determination to excel at a sport, and keep her standards high and testimony strong, even if others don't agree with her decisions. She is a good example and missionary to her teammates and other swimmers. The choices she has made in the sport, and opportunities she has sacrificed show what a stong testimony she truly does have .

She is a great example to those around her. I constantly hear from others how great she is. (Even though I sometimes wonder which child they are really talking about). She is a loyal friend, kind and compassionate. She is also a pleaser, always wanting others to be happy with her. She has a few very close friends, but not one best friend.

We think Kaylee is wonderful and we are very proud of her and the choices she makes each day, (when she is not tormenting her brothers).

Happy birthday to our princess Kaylee!!

Frustration!!

You know what ticks me off? I drive all the way across town to take Kaylee to Swim team practice...not synchro... only to sit in the parking lot for 20 minutes and then find out practice is cancelled. Someone needs to tell that swim team we are working with about notifying swimmers about changes!!! I feel better now, and probably won't yell at that coach now!!

Viva Las Vegas!

Mike and Kristie hosted us for a mini family reunion in Las Vegas over Labor Day weekend. We had the best time hanging out at their new house, and seeing some (censored) things on the strip.

Mike and Kristie: The best hosts ever
Mike and Kristie got the adults tickets to see the Cirque de Soleil show Mystere. It was AWESOME. I can't believe the incredible strength the performers have. Sure made me want to hit the gym more, and get Todd there too. I would have never imagined people could do those things, or that I would be so entralled the entire time!
The 3 brothers, yep, Todd is oldest and smallest
The Bowman Grandkids Our family
Chris, Rachael, Lexie. Emileigh is home sleeping with Grandma

We went to the Mandalay Bay Aquarium, to see the MGM Lions, the M&M World, the Venetian gondolas, and the Bellagio water show. We tried to see the Treasure Island pirate show, but it was cancelled. We later heard that it was a good thing we missed it, because it would not have passed the censor for our kids. I think the Bellagio was the biggest hit. The kids just wanted to stay and watch more and more.
We spent lots of time in the pool, and eating. We took the kids to church on Sunday, trying to explain that the church is the same no matter where you go, but some of the kids had a hard time understanding why their building was so small. (Yeah, we usually attend at the Stake Center, this was a regular size building)
Thanks for a great weekend. We can't wait to come see you again. It was great!

Hallelujah!! and you want me to drive where???

Well it was back to school for the Bowman's. It is amazing to read friend's blogs and hear how excited their kids are to pick out school clothes, supplies, etc. My kids pretty much did not care about anything this year. Basically, I was lucky to get them dressed in clean clothes with no holes. Even Kaylee wasn't too interested in planning an outfit. And Ty, well he's just too cool for school anyway. But I sent them off, glad for another 9 months of somewhat peaceful days.
Little did I know what was in store...I went to work full time for Todd doing Real Estate. I am working with 4 separate clients, who are having trouble finding exactly what they want. Numerous 5 -6 hour trips to the 3 other corners of the Valley... Goodyear, Surprise, and Queen Creek, have filled my days for the past 6 weeks. And hours searching properties, making offers, and searching again have filled my evenings. Hopefully this will all pay off soon!
Not to mention the coaching I am doing for swimming and synchro this year, and Oh yeah, preschool 3 days a week. I have a feeling I will be busier than ever this school year. Who said when all your kids are in school it gets easier???

Okay, I'm a slacker, I get it!

So it's been 2 months since I last wrote. In fact, if it weren't for the many comments I hear about what a slacker I am, I probably still wouldn't be writing. Now you all know why I don't keep a journal. There is no one prodding me along. So here is a quick recap of our end of summer...
Kaylee did great at Nationals...5th in Solo, 10th in team. Since they have all swam 3 years or less, (mostly less) this is awesome.



While in New York, I got to spend a few hours in Palymra and the Sacred Grove. What a wonderful experience. Todd flew out on a free ticket to watch Kaylee swim. What a surprise for her. She was thrilled. Not such a great trip for Todd...He came down with MONO and the rest of the month was awful. (for me too).

In July, Mom left for girl's camp, and Dad had to be in charge. He had to take the kids to the City Finals swim meet by himself. Whil all of our kids did great this summer, Tanner was our City Champ. He won 2 golds and a silver, clinching the High Point trophy.
We got to spend a week in Carlsbad CA at the beach. This is exactly what the DR ordered for Todd and for the rest of us too. What a great relaxing vacation of doing a whole lot of nothing. The boys all learned to surf too. Here are some pics we took while there.

New York and then some

Our trip to NY was quite the event. The short story is like this... When we arrived at Sky Harbor Thurs. eve, our red eye flight was delayed. This made us miss our connections the next morning. US Airways tried to rebook us getting us into Binghamton at 12:18 Sat. morning. Unfortunately, Kaylee needed to be at the pool Fri. evening at the latest. After much searching, and frankly, demanding on my part, half of our team got rebooked to fly to JFK in NY City arriving at 7:30 am. Binghamton is only 200 or so miles away, so we could rent a car a drive there by noon. We left JFK by 9 am and by 9:30, we had a flat tire...while in the BRONX.
Not necessarily where you want to be with 6 pale skinned females by themselves!! Luckily, this super nice guy helped us change the tire, and we were off to get it fixed.
The tire repair guy tried to fix it, but said "it probably won't hold for long, and besides, have you noticed the other 3 tires are bald?" So off we went to the "nearest" rental car stop, LaGuardia airport, to exchange the mini van for a new car. All they had was a Lincoln Navigator. Now this would not be bad, but with gas... (okay no social or political commentary here). Finally we were back on the road. Thank goodness for GPS units in the cars, or we would not have known where we were going. Pretty soon, we crossed into NJ. And then, possibly into Penn. We stopped for lunch, now noon, and had to ask the waitress what state we were in. You should have seen her face!! But yes, it was Penn. When we were just out of Scranton, PA., 67 miles from the pool, I was caught saying, only 1 more Hour or so. Famous last words. 2 miles out of town, we hit major road construction. There was no off ramps to get off the highway, even had we known where to go. We went 4 miles in 2 hours. Finally, we got to the pool in Binghamton at about 7pm. Only 7 hours late. Kaylee missed her pool practice time, and workout time. As for the other half of the team... suffice it to say, 4 different flights to 4 different cities, only to have to drive the final hour and a half to get to the pool. And the original flights we were rebooked on...either overbooked...or cancelled. We found out that had we stayed with US Airways original plan for us, we would not have arrived until Sat. afternoon...if at all!!. We stayed in this awesome Victorian home built in 1902. It had 7 bedrooms, and 4 bathrooms. It was wonderful.

Our national Champ!!

Wow, what a trip!!! More details to follow when I have a few minutes to spend time on the computer...
Kaylee placed 5th in her solo and 10th in her 13-15 team event.