How Can He Be So Old?

My Gavin started junior high today. He's in 7th grade. When did this happen?
I'm getting pretty teary right now. My voice only cracked a few times when I was saying good-bye this morning. Gavin said, "Mom, don't cry. It's only school. Stop kissing me. That's like three kisses in 20 seconds." I know, Gavin. I just love you so much.
When Gavin went to Kindergarten, I bawled. My little boy was leaving me. I came home to an empty house and wondered what I was suppose to do. I prayed Gavin would be okay at the big school. I hoped that I had taught him enough at age 5 to make good choices. Greg told me not to worry, but of course, I did. No need. Gavin did great at Kindergarten and every grade since then.
(A note I wrote to Gavin the day he went to Kindergarten.)

August 27, 2003

My sweet Gavin,
In my mind I knew this day would come sooner than I would like, but my heart is telling me that you are ready; ready to become yourself, to pursue your interests, to make new friends, to be a good example and to have fun.
Gavin, you are truly my joy and light in this world. Nothing makes me happier than to see your eyes disappear as they crinkly into laughter, to hear your deep, throaty laugh, to see your sweaty head after you have played so hard, to feel your juicy raspberry kisses and to see you sleep so peaceful.
Heavenly Father has given me a most precious spirit and I have constantly been amazed by your joy, enthusiasm, knowledge and love. You have been mine for 5 years and I am now ready to share you with others. I know you are ready for Kindergarten and I can't wait to see the wonderful things that will be your life.

I Love You!
Mom



August 24, 2010

Gavin,
I don't feel like I can call you my sweet Gavin anymore. You are still sweet, but I know you would not appreciate me labeling you as such. You are mature, smart, kind, funny, observant. Dad would call you wise and that would be the greatest compliment of all.
I am nervous and scared for you to be in 7th grade, but I am also excited and happy for you. What wonderful experiences you will have, what great friends you will make, what incredible opportunities you will have to grow - mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
You are a good person, Gavin. You have an inner sense of right and wrong that I hope you will always keep sharp. I have been amazed as I have watched you grow at how strong the Spirit is with you. I know you attend church, read your scriptures and say your prayers. The Spirit can't help but be with you. However, you carry an extra portion of the Spirit. Heavenly Father is watching out for you and you are destined for great things.
Remember I love you. I know that things might get bumpy between us the next few years. No matter what happens, I love you. I'm your biggest supporter and fan. I know who you are and who your Spirit is and it humbles me to be your mom.
Love,
Mom

Now, Gavin will read that and roll his eyes. That's fine. I'm used to it. On to the fun stuff.

Every first day of school since Kindergarten, I've fixed Gavin's favorite breakfast - French toast and bacon. I'm surprised he can eat so much. I was always so nervous that I couldn't get breakfast down on the first day of school, but Gavin can eat quite a bit.

Our traditional picture in front of the 'picture bush' as Gavin calls it. I love taking pictures of new shoes. They are never this white again. Gavin is now wearing a size 10. Really, we are just waiting for the rest of him to grow into his feet.



So I wasn't going to be the mom who went to the bus stop and took pictures, but I did snap a few pictures of the bus from our back porch. This is Gavin's first time riding the bus. I hope he does okay carrying his sax on the bus.

Good luck, Gavin. We love you!

Yellowpine in Pictures

We made our annual pilgramage to Yellowpine this past week. It's a family tradition and one I hope will continue for many years to come. We did all the same things (which makes it so fun), so just a few pictures to share.

We...

...went on walks. We trekked the nature trail quite a few time. It's a pleasant, shaded walk with a lot of fun things to see. Grandpa loves the nature trail. When Kate would get fussy in the afternoon, he would take her to the nature trail. (We really did a lot of walking. Why are most of these pictures of us sitting?) Luckily for Kate, Mom found these super cute pink hiking boots at DI for $2 before the trip. Unfortunately they are none too big, but they were perfect for this camping trip.







...played games. One of the best parts of camping is the games. We played many games, the favorite being Mexican Train Dominoes and Settlers of Catan. Enoch and Gavin loves playing dominoes with Grandma and Grandpa. Enoch is quite a good player. This is the first time I legitimately beat Jarom at Settlers. Okay, he gave me some great advice to start the game and then made some risky moves at the end of the game (maybe he let me win), but I still did win, so I'm claiming it as a victory because I've never even come close to beating him.


...played with fire. I don't know what it is about fire, but boys just love it. All boys. No matter the age. Mom and I would just shake our heads when it was time to build the fire. Geesh. They would get it as big as they could. And then poke sticks at it for the next couple of hours. And be entertained. Ooookay. Enoch did sustain an injury - a burned finger from the tip of the fire-stirring stick.



...ate really good food. I love camping food. Of course, I camp with my Mom. If you don't eat well camping, go with my Mom. She brought her special brownies. They are so good. The special part: my mom can make four different kinds of brownies in the same pan. Magic! She makes 1/4 brownies with chocolate frosting, 1/4 brownies with mint and chocolate frosting, 1/4 nut brownies with chocolate frosting and 1/4 nut brownies with mint and chocolate frosting. Everyone is happy! We also had our traditional chocolate topped rice krispies treat. We have to have them when we camp. Greg did some incredible dutch oven dinners - chicken cordon bleu and calzones. They were so good. Yummy!



...rode bikes and scooters. It is wonderfully exhilarating to zoom around the campground loop. It is just fun. Enoch had a blast riding his bike. He finally is stable enough on his bike for it to be very fun. He rode and rode and rode. He make friends riding his bike. He found a bike hill to go up and down. He had such a great time. The scooters were also very fun. Poor Kate would try to keep up with Enoch while she was riding her scooter. She couldn't quite do it, but had fun trying. The kids loved riding Greg's scooter with Dad. We were all diligent in wearing our helmets. Even Dad, who got teased for wearing his over his baseball cap!






...slept in a tent. It really wasn't that bad. We had cots, pads and great sleeping bags. I will say, though, that I really enjoyed my bed when I got home!


...watched it rain. All afternoon. Oh well. Most people played games in the trailer. I took a nap in the car.


...were obsessed with sticks. My kids had to have a stick in their hands at all times - walking sticks, fire sticks, play sticks. It was almost comical. Good thing there were a lot of sticks at the campground. (Gavin doing his Star Wars sand people impersonation. It a little concerning at how well he can make the sound they do.)





...took naps where we could.



...went fishing. Greg and I aren't big fishers, so our kids have not had many experiences fishing. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa took pity on our kids and took them to the river to fish. Gavin did pretty well with his casting and Enoch did pretty well frustrating Grandma. Grandpa caught a small fish, let Kate pet it (she didn't like it because it wasn't soft) and threw it back.



...played (and pouted) in the dirt. Why not? We're camping. Let's get as dirty as we can.



...loved sitting around the fire. Isn't that the perfect part of camping? We talked, laughed, made s'mores and just enjoyed the warmth of the fire. It was so great to be together in the evening just relaxing.



...watched the hummingbirds. We always put out a hummingbird feeder near our campsite. This year the hummingbirds were quite plentiful. There always seemed to be at least one around the feeder, sometimes as many as seven or eight. The kids got a huge kick out of it. Gavin tried to catch one and Enoch almost did by accident. They didn't seem too afraid of us.


...smelled the Ponderosa Pines. No kidding - they smell like vanilla. They campground always smells like sugar cookies.


...got hurt. Just Enoch. Does that surprise any of us? My kids know to wear their helmets while riding bikes or scooters. My parents reinforced that when they told the story of my cousin, Stuart. He had a terrible crash at Yellowpine on his bike and lost his short-term memory. One afternoon Enoch was riding his scooter down the slight hill from the fire pit to the trailer. He was not wearing a helmet! He fell and hit his forehead on the concrete. He wasn't a bad fall, but he did have a little scrape. A bit later, he climbed up on my lap and said, "Mom, I still have my mind. I didn't lose my mind like Stuart." We all got a kick out of that.


...played at the Stillwater dam. I can't really say why everyone else thinks this is fun, but they all just love it. We always drive up to the dam and throw rocks in the water. Really, really big rocks. Such entertainment. Greg and Jarom hefted the biggest rocks, but Gavin wasn't far behind.




...didn't lose Enoch. That was the most surprising part of the trip. I gave all the kids a whistle when we got there and told them to sit down and blow it if they lost their way. By that night, all the whistles were lost (but, remarkably, we found all three whistles while we were unpacking). The best way to keep track of Enoch was by walkie-talkie. He thought those were fabulous. Good thinking, grandparents!


...had fun! Such fun! We love Yellowpine.

Shuttle Launch

For all of those that are attending the Shuttle launch I just wanted you to know that we can now register for a chance to get tickets to see the launch from the space center. They will hold a drawing of everybody that registers and the lucky winners will get to purchase tickets. So the more people that we have register, the better chance we have of winning.

http://web.venue365.com/ksc/index.jsp


I was just going to see the launch from the nearby town of Titusville, but this will be our last chance to see the shuttle launch and all the good places in Titusville will probably be pretty crowded. So, go and register.

Also, I would like to have a head count so I know how many tickets to get. The launch tickets are about $100 a piece.

Greg Fowler

Hello I just
Hello from Greg. I just wanted to let you know about the new car that we got. We got a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. It gets much better mileage than the old Trooper. As you can see I am currently getting 46.7 mpg. That is the average over the past 985 miles.

That is much better than the Trooper, which is the primary reason that we got it. Here are some pictures.

It comes with aerodynamic wheels.


It has become an obsession of mine to get the best possible gas mile. Our neighbors got a Prius about the same time as I got my car. I am currently beating her 43 mpg.