It's the Little Things

Look what secret message I found when I asked for the directions to Feather Falls...

I really love this guy. I don't know how I got so lucky. Its a little crazy.

Happy Day :)

Love,

The Bowes

Bike

We decided to get Jeremy this road bike we have been loving on every time we went to Walmart. It was an adventure purchasing it though, a tire blown out or something and then trying a new tube and it not working. But all in all, we got it and LOVE IT! It gets me to work super quick on campus and Jeremy rides it to Kabuki. Poor guy goes up a monster hill to get home, but at least he can just hop in the shower and count it as his workout after work :)

While we were waiting for all the bike stuff, Jeremy chose to show me his hula-hoop skills while I sat on the floor. Lets just say, I have the best entertainer in the world. Anyone looking to hire?

Happy Hula-Hooping :)

Love,
The Bowes

Para Para Paradise

Our last stop on our month California vacation was Paradise California to see my Dad and family. Oh my goodness, did we do some fun things. This was Jeremy's first trip to Paradise so I was excited to show him the place I had grown up visiting.

One of the first neat things we did was hike Feather Falls. That was one of my favorite memories with my dad and brother, so I was excited to take Jeremy to the beautiful falls. We also were lucky enough to go with Jenika and her sweet baby Mason. People thought we were crazy pushing up a stroller, but we loved it! What an accomplishment to bring a baby on a 10 mile hike! Wow! It was so pretty!

We also got to see my sweet step sister Riss graduate from High School. She is such a lady! I love her pretty purple dress and cheering for her as she walked up. She was in the program so many times for different awards! What a cool sister! And because she was so smart and grand, we had front row seats! We could almost touch the graduates as they passed. But since we were on the front,we received huge gusts of winds that chilled us to the bones! Luckily we had some blankets! Congrats Charissa!

We loved spending time with our nephew Mason, and were lucky enough to get to watch him one afternoon while his mom was getting her tooth fixed. He became so tired that he was running around and nothing made him happy. So Jeremy whipped out his laptop, layed with him on the bed, and watched pixar short films. Mason was laughing and smiling, and then slowly his eyes began to close. It was such a cute moment.

One day we were able to go to the county fair with my aunt and her kids. That was so fun to! We loved the crazy house with weird mirrors and the slide. The kids were so fun!

We were also able to go visit my brothers grave. I hadn't been there in such a long time and was excited to go clean it up and see it again. It was nice to reflect on the fact that I have another brother on the other side. I can't wait to see him again.

On Memorial day, the town lines the streets of Paradise with flags. It is an incredible sight! You can see flags forever. We took some pictures before heading out the the lake. What a beautiful day it was.

Our vacation ended with a beautiful visit to Tahoe, one of the areas where Jeremy served and where my grandparents have a cabin. It was so neat driving around together and hearing his stories from his mission. We had dinner with one of his favorite couples there, went to a Spanish baptism, and visited one of his favorite families. Before we left, she gave us a beautiful wedding gift of rocks she had painted. Goodness, the sweetness and kindness of those people. They just love Jeremy! I don't blame them!

It was such a lovely vacation. We were so blessed to be able to go visit so much family. Oh what fun!

Happy Summer!

Love,
The Bowes

Mexican Riviera Cruise

How blessed are we??? My family took us on an amazing Carnival Cruise. It was such a fun experience, and the company was even better! Who were the people on this cruise with us, you may ask?

Here they are:

 My sweet step sister Brooke

  My lovely Mom and Dad

My hunky husband

and my super fun brother! 

What a great group!

The cruise ship, The Splendor, was so big! And there was a constant stream of food being emitted from its decks! There was a water slide, pools, gym, dining room, on and on. It was an incredible ship!
The entertainment was fun. We enjoyed things like game shows, comedy clubs, and some music dancing stuff. The grand theatre was BEAUTIFUL! We called it the glitter room.

Two members of our group actually won a coveted carnival trophy! My dad won a ping pong tournament on deck, and I won who wants to be a millionaire! (the 3rd time I played, but whos counting?)

 
Dad also was in a hilarious game show with battle of the sexes. For the final event you had to squeeze a coin between your bum cheeks, walk over to a cup, and try and drop it in. Everyone was dying with laughter! it was sooooooo fun!

 He almost got it in, but to no avail.

Our first excursion was to Cabo San Lucas. We had some issues with Jose' Cruise and his water taxi, but thanks to strong talking men, we got our money back. The first day we spent relaxing on the beach and the second day in Cabo, we went on a boat tour of the arch, lovers beach, and my favorite, went snorkling. I had never done that before and was blown away by how close the fish were to me! And how many colors! We saw a school of fish and could swim in it! So crazy!

Our next excursion was in Puerto Vallarta. We went on a city tour where we stopped at some places to shop, walked around the city, and stopped finally at a beautiful resort beach with free paddle boarding, kayaking, and lots others. There were so many neat sculptures and things to see on the beach walk. I was blown away by some of the art and street performers.

But what was the craziest part of our trip? I would say Jeremy being stung by a jellyfish while paddle boarding! Ahhhhhhh! He said it felt like being sliced by a knife, then being shocked. His arm looked crazy for a couple days, but its healed up fine.

So, what your dying to know, did he pee on it? Why yes, yes he did. He said it made it feel a little better, but the interesting part is the fact that we were playing Fact or Crap on the cruise ship the next day and were told that peeing on a jelly fish sting is an old wives tale! That it is completely crap! Hahahahah! Oh well, at  least it was cool! They said to use vinegar.... much less exciting.

It was such a fun week! We felt so blessed to be with such fun people, doing such fun things, and being protected through it all.

Happy Cruisin'
Love,
The Bowes