MI FAMILIA
Hi. Well, now that I've introduced myself, it's their turn... Meet my fambam. (This is where I get to toot my little horn about each of them)
OH by the way, we are baaaaasically the Brady Bunch... Mother got remarried to Rick in August of '11, so we merged familias and became the McBowmans or BowGees. (We usually go with the first one for obvious reasons...)
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Sydney, Me, Hanna, Momma, Rick, Logan, Jordan, Benji, Michael
at the OUT.DOOR. wedddddng day... in August... during the record breaking 90 consecutive days of triple digit Texas heat... hottest... summer... of... my... existence... we died... |
THE Bowmans
Steve- My dad. Dang, I sure do love this man. I'm actually named after him (his middle name)! Lourens, Lauren. Yeah, yeah? He's suuuuch an incredible example to me, and I am so very grateful that I was blessed to spend time with him, even though it may have been short, I know with surety and conviction that through the Plan of Salvation, I can and will see him again. I'm so so so thankful for Christ and the fact that He died so that eternal families are a reality. I have an amazingly strong testimony of the Gospel and eternal families, I want to share it with everyone I meet! I don't know where I'd be without my daddy. He has taught me so much, he was the most hard-working, generous, kind hearted, hilarious, wise person I've ever known and looked up to. It's almost been 5 years and I hope to continue to make him proud. I'm so blessed to have an extra guardian angel watching over me from heaven!
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My chubby little 13 year old self and
my ALWAYS tan daddddy! |
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Out on the porch in the Costa Rica
chairs, just chillllin |
Amy- My Mother. My momma is such a talented woman! She's taught me lots of valuable lessons throughout life. She loves to bake bread, play the piano, go to lunch with ladies in the ward, sing, volunteer at the children's schoolio, and take care of the 3,620 chickens and 342 goats on the farm. (Alright, alright, it's actually only 12 chickens, 2 mini-goats who don't do anything at all except neigh, or whinny, or whatever it is that goats do, aaaaaand it's not really a farm... It's a mini "barn". I just like to make fun of them, heh heh heh.) I get my musical talentos from mi mamaaa, she's amazing. (Not disclosing the age, because that's against the rules... but I'm preettty sure she celebrated her 23rd bday last year!)
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Dang, I was a cutie... hehe not
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BYUI reppin, all day baby!
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Michael- This boy is quiiiite the charmer. He's 15 and single. Ladies get in line. He recently learned how to drive, and scares pretty much everyone on the road. He's good at running track. He sings, AND plays the guitar. Wow, uhhhh, ok, this is starting to sound like an LDSSingles.com profile... Hahah Michael and I share love for the game "NAME THAT QUOOOOOTE!" stemming from movies, to TV shows, to memorable life moments. His favorite story to tell is about how he got hit by a car... Guarantee that you'll hear it within ten minutes of meeting him, ha! This child. He's a fightaaaa, and I'm extremely proud of him.
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St. Louis, MO temple!
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He loves me, I promise, you can see it in his eyes
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Hanna- I swear, she's stuck in my brain at the age of 10, but this little beauty is already a TEENAGER aahhhhh. She's a heartbreaker for sure. She's on the cheer team for her middle school and anticipates to be on the high school team as well. (Kickapoo High, go 'poo!) This girl is good at aaanything she picks up. Dance, swim, rockclimbing, volleyball, you name it? She's a pro. She's obsessed with turtles, and has a serious addiction to Nutella. I love her to the moon and back 394023 times.
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Hanna loves churchy church and the
infamous duck face. |
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The girliessss after General Conference in
April '13 at the SLC Temple! (Hanna, Me, Syd) |
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Church pic, whatta stud.
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Yoyo-ing at the temple... yet you can't see the yoyo, so he
looks like he's seeing the future or something. That's so Raven. (90's babies, I hope you understand my sense of humor, ha ha ha) |
THE Mcgees
Rick- This guy can talk to literally anyone! Super outgoing and a great businessman. He's got some great parenting ideas (e.i. phones plugged in to charge in the kitchen before 10pm, y'all, awwww yeeeeee) Hahha jk jk, he's a great guy. I know I can call him whenever I'm in a pickle. It's a tradition that he spins me around in the grocery cart anytime we go shopping. He's got great taste in music, being a former DJ & all. And he seems to know eeeeeeeevery historical fact about the church! (I learned this when we took two weeks out of the summer to drive cross-country and got to stop at each and every site.)
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Mum & Rick... I took the pic
from inside the cart. Push me, peasants!! Muahahah |
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WE STAY REPPIN' FA DEM COUGS
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Jordan- Ahhhhh my bro JorDAN is 18! He's getting ready to head off to the Mexico City MTC (missionary training center) on July 16. Once he completes training, he'll serve a 2-year LDS mission in Rancagua, Chile! So stoked for him! We can finally comunicar en Español togedder, weee! Oh, and thats the same mission that David Archuleta is serving in... Just throwin' that out there. It'll be way cool to both be out in the field at the same time :-) Pen pals, yayay! Anyways, Jordan is a very talented videographer, he owns his own DJ-ing business, and has coined the over-used (but not thaaat over-used) term "yeeeeeah maaaaaaaaan." (It only counts if you throw up the shaka sign in conjunction with the phrase, so I've been informed.) He has a pet crocodile named Roxadile. Oh, and you may have heard of Hallway Swimming on youtube? Yaaaaa, he started that. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhkO3RkCScs)
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Jordan & I DJing the wedding. Threw down some sick beats.
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Somewhere in Sexy Mexi.
(I'm taller hehe) |
Logan- Hahahah, dang, Logan is probly THE funniest kid ever. He's 15 and definitely gonna win state for wrestling, he's way, way good! He also has started DJ-ing (all in the family, eh?) and has even done gigs all by himself! I can always count on Logan for a good laugh, and I can go to him for support and comfort. He's a great sport about everything, and is suuuuper technologically savvy (which is a plus for me, because I'm like, "whaaaaaa?" when it comes to compooter knowledge.) (Even though I made this blog all by myself, and it was a flashback to the MySpace days, aka 7th grade, where I was obsessed with HTML coding, lolol.) I believe he is world champ when it comes to playing Minecraft. He's got skills, ladies. "You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."
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OMG #selfieeeeeeee
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Logan yoyoing in front of the SLC temple. The boys are
a bit obsessed with yoyos. They even have a club. |
Sydney- I am 100% convinced that Sydney is a sloth. Hahaha, not really. But really... (she loves sloths and speaking in lisps) Syd is 12, and she just got her ears pierced! She's always the life of the party. Somehow she has MORE followers than I do on insta!? She's super crafty and has become a young woman right in front of my eyes! Like she's wearing makeup and everything! I'm like, DON'T GROW UPPPPP YEEETTTTTT. She also overuses the word YOLO and sleep talks. Hehe love her!
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Hanna and Syd being sloths... Ya know, the usual.
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Cutie patootie
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Bybees
I currently live in Salt Lake City, Utah with my dad's sister, Terry, her husband Jack, their daughter (my beloved cousin) Tessa, and Tessa's brand new hubs, Johnny. (Oh, and of course Bentley the Bernese Mountain dog, Irie the wiener schnitzel, and Cosmo the kitten with a stublet of a tail.) I absolutely LOVE it here! The Spirit is so incredibly strong in this home, the ward is incredible (full of older generations, so I'm blessed with a plethora (sorry, I just love that word so much) of opportunities to "get my service on" quite often, which I lovelovelove)
Jack- Best. Advice. Giver. We go to the gym at the crack of dawn every morning and it gives us good bonding time as we listen to Glen Beck (his favey). Uncle Jack is such a great influence in my life! I'm so thankful that I get to live in his home. He loves Coke Zero (as does Terry), popcorn, and protein shakes. His bicep is the size of your head (aka ginormous). I love working out in the garden with him. My favorite is when we get into gospel related discussions. I am so uplifted when I'm around my Uncle Jack! He also has looots of really funny sayings. My favorite is "mcgillicuddy." When we went to Maui last summer we happened to stumble upon a restaurant with that exact name! (Of course we haaaaad to eat there, heh.)
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| Uncle Jack and I at Tessa & Johnny's wedding (2/13) |
Terry- Probably the most patient woman on the planet! I'm so grateful for the awesome example that my Aunt Terry sets for me! She's also my boss, haha! I work up at the Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City with her and Tess. She is seriously wonderwoman. Both Terry and Jack are LDS missionaries serving an inner city mission at the Salt Lake City Jail, where they meet with girls/women who are soon to be released and in addition to giving them the discussions, they help them get on their feet (housing, food, job, transportation, clothing, moral support, etc.) once they get out; lemme tell ya, it is hard, hard yet very rewarding work. I admire them so much! Their days are long- this couple is truly remarkable. I have so much respect for the both of them! Their son, (my cousin) Bo has less than 90 days left until he's finished serving his mission in McAllen, Texas! Español speaking! I think it's so cool that they're all on a mission at the same time! I love it when Terry tells me that whatever I'm doing (whistling, playing the piano, or just a certain phrase) reminds her of my dad, it warms my heart! It's the little things that count.
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| Aunt Terry & Uncle Jack at my mother's wedding |
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| Bestest buds! On the way to Ponderosa '12. |
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| Running in Maui, and all of the sudden, BAM, double rainbow! |
Johnny - Man oh MAN, I don't even know where to begin with this guy! He's the perfect one for Tess. I was there the night they met! He called her the most beautiful girl in the world. When we got in the car to leave, I told Tess, "hahaha y'all are totes gonna get married." OKAY SO I GUESS THAT MAKES ME A FORTUNE TELLER BECAUSE IT DEFINITELY HAPPENED! I even helped choreograph the flash-mob dance he used for the proposal! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NtGTLcG22I) Johnny has become a very influential part of my life, he's my one of my biggest supporters when it comes to the mish. He gives me very, very useful advice, and great tips and suggestions in order to prepare myself to be the absolute best missionary I can be. We've had many super insightful gospel discussions together, he's such a great example to me! He's super funny too, if someone says, "oh, dear." He'll quickly respond with, "Oh moose." Hahahha stuff like that. I love it! Also, we can speak in code in front of Tessa since we're both fluent in Español and she is not, muahahah.
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| The love birds on their special day! |
Pets
Hunter- Ohhhh Hunterloo. I'm pretty dang sure that this beagle is actually a small cow? Hahaha. Hunter is a master howler and likes eating lizards. Couldn't find any pics, so just imagine a giiiiant brown and white cow who's belly touches the ground...
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| This is pre-weight gain. He enjoys bandanas & long walks on the beach. |
Rocket- Our mini horse that can run really fast. (Hence the name.) Aaaaaand that's about all I know about him. Yeeeeep.
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Rocket galloping in the MO snow
Snowball- He lives somewhere in Texas now with one of my mother's ex-piano estudiantes... Don't know where. He was the CUTEST little fluffball ever. His other identities included but weren't limited to: Kevin, Winter, Cottonball, Snowbawwllly, QTip, S-Weezy. Such a good little munchkin. Except that one time when he chewed up two laptop chargers, aaaaaaaaand three phone chargers, AND an essay (well, that one I was happy about, because I fiiiinaaallly got to use the "my dog ate my homework" excuse, heheh.) |
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My friend Todd, Snowball, Moi
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So there ya have it, that's my family. Crazy awesome, love them all to pieces!