Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

2010 has been exciting for us and full of a lot of changes.  We have been blessed immensely.

Esther is 2 (almost 3) and in nursery at church.  She absolutely loves her nursery teachers!  She loves to look at books, sing, dance and she is quite a dare-devil.  She climbs on things at the playground that make Elizabeth's knees shake.  Esther has a best friend named Lydia that she adores and has become good friends with two girls next door.  Esther has mastered animal noises.

Joseph turned 6 this year and started Kindergarten at a Montessori charter school.  It has been good for him and he has made lots of friends there.  Joseph loves to read, build things out of anything (Legos, blocks, car parts, recycled stuff), draw plans of things to invent and sell to people, and run.  He recently got a suit to match Glen's and loves to wear it to church.  He wants to grow up to be just like his dad.  :)

Athena turned 18 this year and she is engaged at school with choir and other great things.  When she is not busy with school performances, she is busy getting good grades and having fun with friends.  She also plays the organ at church. 

Elizabeth has been busy with the house; especially with painting and organizing things.  We recently made our casita available for missionaries in our stake to use and the things from the casita that ended up in the house must go.  ;)  Elizabeth has fun exercising at the YMCA.  She also has very strong entrepreneur-tendencies and is working on projects from home to make extra money for the family.  **Here's where Elizabeth's life gets really interesting:  Because she has dysphagia (trouble swallowing her food), her doctor tested her for several things and one of the things she tested positive for is a gluten intolerance.   Now Elizabeth is learning how to cook gluten-free food.  And it's pretty fun, unless she really wants a nice slice of baguette with a bit of Brie.  Sometimes, there is just no substitute for the real thing, haha... Another side benefit of dysphagia is getting an endoscopy, which will take place at the beginning of 2011.  A specialist will stick a long tube with a camera down her throat and take a peek at her esophagus and stomach.  Eek.  

Glen, the very smart and hard-working head of our household, went back to school and is earning a Master of Ed degree at Arizona State University.  He has completed his first semester and is learning LOTS.  He likes to ride his bike to school when he can and is having a bit of extra fun with learning how to teach secondary school kids (middle school and high school).  He is a Priesthood teacher at church, as well as a ward missionary.

We send you and your families lots of love and prayers for the best blessings the Lord can give you.

With Love,
The Stowers Family

We Blew It Up and Then...We Ate It!

Okay, so I remember the last time I blogged on our family blog, that I promised to do a blog post devoted entirely to Glen.  I have to forego that for now, but will do it next time.  He's been up to some amazing things.  Stay tuned...

Now, onto our firstborn son, who just turned 6 and is loving it...

We had a blast celebrating his birthday as a family and then a few weeks later with his friends.  We had a science-themed birthday party and our birthday activities were centered around doing short, easy science experiments.

To kick things off, I cut out bow ties (with scrapbooking paper) in advance and had the kids decorate their own "mad scientist" bow ties.  After each child (and parent, haha) was done, I glued a clip onto each one with my trusty glue gun.  The drying time was quick and each of wore bow ties for the rest of the party.  Then, we had 5 science experiments, present opening, cake and ice cream and the finale science experiment.

We decorated our dining room and front room with green and orange colors and hung pictures of various famous scientists on our wall.

We also had an erupting volcano cake.  I got the instructions for that at http://beyondwonderful.com/recipes/desserts/cakes/volacano_erupting.html .  I modified it a bit to my liking.  ;)

I don't normally buy dry ice (which the recipe calls for) and found it at the grocery store for about $1 per pound.  The smallest size I bought was 5 pounds.  Never, ever touch it with your bare hands!  It's extremely cold stuff.  We kept it up and out of the way of curious and inquiring children.

Enjoy the pictures and video of Joseph and his party!

A view of the Rocket Balloons Experiment...

More Rocket-Ballooning!

The egg went from here...

To here.

  And now, the volcano cake eruption!









Happy Birthday Joseph! We love you! xoxo

Running, Moving, and Growing Up

Lots to do and just enough time to do it all.  Barely.  :)

My official half-marathon training began a few weeks ago and I decided on running 'Shun the Sun' here in Tempe, AZ.  The culmination of all of this great fun will happen in November.  First things first, I went to Runner's World (Online) to print up a training plan.  Goals written down on paper usually help to simplify tasks that are set forth.  Easy?  Maybe not on some days.  But the plan is simple to follow and I'm on track.  I start Week 4 tomorrow and am eager for my runs to get longer and to mix some speed into my workouts.

Writing down plans on paper has been quite effective and have decided that I will do this with a lot more of my goals.

Along with my runs, I have lots of weight-lifting here at the house.  Lift up one box.  Carry it to the other side of the room.  Set it down.  Onto the next box...;)  I've had lots of fun organizing our house, because we just added two more girls to the mix.  That's right!  They arrived three weeks ago.  What are their names?  They're both named 'Sister'.  :)

We are blessed to be able to host sister missionaries in the studio that's attached to our garage.  We had lots of help from our friends and ward members to help get the studio renovated and to get the sisters moved in.  Our studio is awesome and it now comes complete with a kitchenette area.  Missionaries normally cannot live in a household where there are children, but since they live in a separate studio, things worked out well.  It is a blessing for us to be able to consecrate part of our home for the Lord's work.

Joseph has been all smiles lately.  We worked very hard to get him into the school of his (and our) dreams and each day I pick him up, he's a flurry of excitement.  I love it!  He's in a charter school that is Montessori-based and it's such a good fit for all of us.  Esther misses Joseph though, and still asks why he doesn't ride back home with us in his car seat.  (But, I think she secretly likes being able to have me to herself...:)

Have a happy and blessed week!  :)

He's got one foot forward and ready to go onward to Kindergarten...

Oh yeah! Where's Glen in all of this? No worries, he'll be highly featured in our next blog post...

Hot Enough To OVERcook An Egg On the Sidewalk

Our true Phoenix summertime heat kicked in last week.  Until then, the temperature had been up and down and back and forth, and I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, the summer climate had changed here.  Nope.  Not a chance. Today is cooler with a high of about 100-ish degrees and fall will arrive in 3-4 months.  Until then, we have our 110-120 degree summer weather to enjoy.  Thank goodness for swimming pools, splash pads and the library!  :)

I have been computer-less for some weeks while Glen uses mine.  He's hoping to get a good deal on one soon.  He's had ideas about getting an Apple...  Meanwhile, I have been busy at the gym.  I started training for a half-marathon and of course, love the yoga classes.  I've also been painting the interior of our house and it's looking beautiful.  In the evenings, I have been scrapbooking and reading.  It's been nice to be away from technology for awhile, but I am grateful that we have a Droid to check my e-mail with.  :)

Since Glen has had my computer, he's been busy.  He applied to ASU to get into a Master's of Education program to become certified to teach secondary school.  He will be qualified to teach HS Biology or MS General Science.  When Glen's not tearing it up on the computer, he's winning 5k races and training for a triathlon that will be at the end of September.  

Here's what else we've been up to:

I got through Cub Scout camp this summer.  :)  It was awesome and we have great boys in our ward.  It was undoubtedly hot, but I went to camp prepared with a big floppy military-style hat and a long sleeve white shirt.  It kept me cool and sunburn free.  The highlight of my time there was shooting a bow and arrow and a BB gun.  Fun times...

Esther desperately wants to potty-train and so we decided to start working with her on it (unwillingly). She has figured out that toilet paper can be fun and how to stay busy while sitting.

In May, Glen and Joseph went on a Father and Son's campout at church.  Esther and me?  We stayed at home, had pizza and watched movies with a friend and her daughter.  Girls always know how to have fun, but Joseph and Glen may have outdone us.  After plenty of S'Mores, campfire stories, and scenic hikes, the boys came back home excited and ready to go back out camping right away...

Finally...Joseph is still at it with Legos and improves his skill each time he gets a chance.  Here are some shots of his latest creations:

He's got many more where those came from and just loves to design and create.  Esther is starting to get into Legos too, and I am so glad that my kids enjoy doing some of the same things I did when I was just a wee one.  Some things just never go out of style.

We hope that you are all doing well and blessed and we enjoy reading about you on your blogs and in your e-mails.

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

A Fun Veggie Trick We Learned

We are working on eating more raw veggies. This will benefit us in so many ways...less heat in the kitchen, less time to prepare dinner, less dishes to wash and, did you know...raw veggies generally contain more live enzymes and vitamins than cooked veggie have.

We started this tonight with cucumbers. Our main dish was loaded nachos (corn chips, cheese, chili peppers, tomatoes, olives and shredded chicken). The kids LOVED it (and so did me and Glen). Joseph ate his cukes up and Esther, well, she did not. Her plate sat and sat and sat. Finally, we had an idea...kids like to sometimes to do things that are forbidden to them, so...

...we forbade Esther to eat her veggies. That's right! And it worked like a charm. Glen and I kept telling her not to eat her cucumbers, while Joseph cheered for her to do. Then Glen and I told her not to listen to Joseph. So, what did she do? She listened to Joseph and ate all of her cucumbers...with a big grin on her face. She got more nachos.

Listen to the video as Joseph reveals why Esther should not eat vegetables (hint: he says that veggies make people stronger and if Esther gets too strong, he and Glen won't be able to handle her). Yes, Esther is strong and has a lot of energy...those darn vegetables! ;)

Lost Teeth

So, do you remember that Joseph had loose teeth on his half-birthday? One of them came out. Yep, right in the middle of his school day when he least expected it, there it went!

At Joseph's preschool, the kids all brush their teeth after their lunch. Joseph brushed his teeth, spit, and out came his tooth. He told us that it almost fell into the ketchup on his plate (the kids brush their teeth RIGHT after their meals). :) His teacher put it in a plastic baggy for him to take home.

Do you remember when you lost your first tooth?

Here are some pictures of his "less-one-tooth" smile and of the tooth, itself. The tooth fairy almost forgot about his tooth, but she remembered right before bed and that's what counts! :)

This is what Joseph plans to buy with the money he received from the tooth fairy. He is crazy about Legos!

And now...listen to Joseph as he tells about what the tooth fairy brought ($1). :)

Bunnies At Our House?

At the preschool story time, our library shows a short, fun video at the end. We have seen all kinds of movies...and I remember seeing some of them as a little girl!

We had the opportunity to see the film called Knuffle Bunny, which is adapted from the book "Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale," written by Mo Williams. It's a great story (and a great show) about a little girl who loses her Knuffle Bunny. In the end, he brave dad finds it in the most unlikely place.

Well...for Christmas, Esther got a doll, who has her own bunny-doll. Guess who just became Esther's "Knuffle Bunny"? Esther carries the bunny around with her, loves it, and takes the bunny to bed with her.

Here are some pictures of Esther with her teeny-tiny friend.  :)

Here is some video of Esther with her "Knuffle-Bunny." Stick around, there's a little surprise at the end...:)

Halfy-Birthday to our son, Joseph!

This week has been busy!  (But we love it).

Joseph celebrated his half-birthday on April 27, 2010.  We had a fun dinner from Taco Bell and had fun eating a strawberry cake Joseph picked out at the store.  He's 5 and a half now and growing wiser by the minute.

He is also very excited about two loose teeth he's got...

Here he is with a special plate we got from Aunt Judy.  The moment he saw it, it became his.  ;)  It has a heart shape outline in the middle of it.

Next, he and his candles are shining for this camera shot.

And here is the video we took:



It was an awesome day with Joseph and we had such a fun time. Mine is the next half-birthday celebration. We'll see what kind of cake I come up with. :)

Joseph Interviews Glen in Las Vegas...Watch and Learn the Secrets.

We went to Las Vegas for the first time. I had a Leadership Conference at The Venetian and Glen bravely and boldly took Joseph and Esther around to see some of the family-friendly exhibits on the Strip. This one-of-a-kind interview takes place in front of the Bellagio, where we had just seen their famous fountain show. Our jaws dropped in amazement and Esther danced to the music like it was nobody's business.

We're back at home now, enjoying the beginning of Summer. The temperature is in the high 80's now, and hitting 90. Time to get into the pool!



We went over the Hoover Dam too! What a thrill! They are building a bypass bridge that will help traffic to zoom right over all the slower-going sight-seeing-traffic around the dam. They've done a lot of great work here!

Here is a cute picture of our family that a German couple took. We bribed Joseph NOT to smile in this photo...just for fun! heehee

Happy Easter! :)

Happy Easter!

We kicked off the weekend with face paintings for Joseph and Esther on Friday. Joseph was a tiger and Esther was a bunny. Cute, so cute! Later, we went to Aunt Judy's house for an evening of delicious food (Aunt Judy makes killer enchiladas) and fun!

So, Easter was a lot of fun also! We had a great day with watching General Conference and loved all the great, awesome talks!

Here is a bit of what we did:



We hope you had the most wonderful Easter ever!

Go On...Touch A Truck

The area we live in is very family-friendly and has many activities that are held for the community to attend.  One of our favorite events so far is Touch A Truck.  Lots of and lots of trucks are parked in a huge parking lot at a nearby community college.  The types of trucks are varied-fire trucks, cranes, tow trucks, trash trucks, semi trucks, buses...you name it, it was there.  The great thing about this event is that the community has an opportunity to see how the trucks work.  Climbing on them is encouraged!  :)  Following is a video I did with some of the highlights we took footage of.  We'll be back next year!  :)