Plowman Family Dinner/July 2023

On Sunday, July 23, we gathered for monthly family dinner at Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful. We had a summertime BBQ menu, with hamburgers and hot dogs, fruit salad, and chips. JB provided the desserts (Sunday Chocolate Pie and Rice Krispie treats). We were without both Mom and Dave, who stayed home sick at their respective residences.

Keeping everyone entertained was 10-month-old Sam, who is now "crawling" across the ground by scooting himself forward with his legs while laying on his back. Here, Jana (Queenie) and Graham helped him to walk a few steps.

Janae's & Jeff's Wedding

A few weeks ago, we had the blessing of attending Jana's friend Janae's temple sealing to her new husband, Jeff. It was our first opportunity to attend a sealing for the living since our own 5+ years ago, and it happened to take place at the same temple (Bountiful).

An added bonus was that the sealer for this ordinance was my dad's friend, Lonnie Gleed, whom I had not seen for a number of years.

Paco's Class Reunion

I have an announcement to make: Paco is officially Old. As in, Old with a capital O. Because I've now been to my 30-year high school reunion, held on Friday night at Bountiful High School.

I've been to every class reunion I've been invited to: 5, 10, 20, and now 30 years. But this year's was my favorite, because I (finally!) didn't have to go all by myself. I got to take JB along with me and introduce her to a number of classmates and friends.

Besides those with whom I'm in semi-regular contact (Pepe and Darren among them), I got to see other people I hadn't seen since the last reunion 10 years ago and still others whom I'd not seen since the 10-year reunion or graduation. Among those people was the "Paquita" to my "Paco," a classmate of mine for all three years of high school Spanish; my sixth-grade crush from elementary school; and my senior prom date, who fortunately will still speak to me in public.

In summation of what I learned from seeing these old friends, let me just say this: Many if not most of the women look just about the same as they did in high school, while many of the men look noticeably balder/grayer and/or heavier. (I'm not above pandering; men have nothing I want.)

In addition, we got to tour the remodeled entryway to the school and cafeteria. We also got to go into the old fallout shelter, which I hadn't been to since my Driver's Ed class. And as for the old "smoking" Indian in the foyer? He now holds an actual arrow rather than what used to appear to be a cigarette. (If that last part makes no sense whatsoever, then ask me about it in person sometime.)

It was great to be with the Braves (not Red Hawks) of yesteryear for a few hours. I hope it's not another 10 years before I get to see them again.

Plowman Family Dinner/June 2023

Summer is here (yay for sunburns and mosquitoes!), which means that family dinner moved to outside this month. Ben and Adi hosted us in their backyard in Centerville for a menu featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, fresh fruit, and other goodies.

Katy and Woody (pictured here) were among the many who showed up and took part:

Weekend at Bear Lake 2023

Last week, the Plowbuckles joined our family's annual summer trip up to beautiful Bear Lake. We (collectively) shook things up this year by doing a couple of things differently: (1) traveling in June rather than August and (2) renting an Airbnb on the north/Fish Haven, Idaho, side of the lake. These choices paid off tremendously because we had beautiful, spring-like weather throughout, and also the "Pirate Ship Chalet" was a good fit for our large group of hooligans.

What is a Pirate Ship Chalet? you ask? I didn't know, either, but I do now. It looks a lot like this, an actual pirate ship playground attached to the side of the building:

This was a fun little playground for kids of all ages. While many of those in our fun house went out on the water or over to the pickleball courts to play, Aunt JB and I were fuddy-duddy homebodies and hung around the house most of the time. But fortunately that meant we also got to spend a great deal of time with the littlest niblings, because after all we are the Fun Aunt and Uncle.

Tanner and Sadie picked The Empire Strikes Back to watch with JB when offered their choice of movie! The Force remains strong in our family.

Other enjoyable activities at the Pirate Ship Chalet included playing Jackbox games like Tee K.O. together, foosball, pool (billiards), watching movies, and streaming the final game of the NBA Finals after a lightning storm knocked out the satellite dish. (The Denver Nuggets won their first-ever championship!)

Of course, a visit to Bear Lake can't be complete without at lest one visit to either LaBeau's or Zipz in downtown Garden City (on the Utah side of the lake) for Dole whips and/or raspberry shakes.

All told, 10 out of 10 stars, we would definitely recommend the place where we stayed and our overall vacation experience. 

On our way home, we remained in Idaho and took the long route through St. Charles and Paris and then into lovely Preston, setting for the cult hit movie Napoleon Dynamite. Heading south, we then passed through Franklin, just a stone's throw across the Utah/Idaho border, to visit the graves of JB's great grandparents. So that was an added bonus.

Chalk Art Festival 2023

The annual Bountiful Main Street Chalk Art Festival returned during the first week of June. Sadly, JB and I were unable to arrange our schedule to go and actually walk among the art before a few different thunderstorms washed away most of the drawings. But also fortunately, my siblings caught a few pics before those pieces of art were swept away.

Ben, Christian, and Graham collaborated on this rendition of the Little Mermaid:

Our 20-year-old niece McKenna created this beautiful piece:

... and won third place in the adult division!

Biz and her kids added the third family creation to the chalk art festival, but I didn't get a very good shot of it when I (finally) walked by the other day while running an errand at the post office:

Regardless of that fact, we are amazed with the results. The breadth and depth of artistic talent runs deep in our family!

Mom's 80th Birthday Party

On Monday, June 5, my beloved mother hit a milestone, turning 80 years old. (I think that fact makes both her and me as her second-oldest child feel old, but such is the passage of time. We're all trying to enjoy every day and roll with the many different things that each new day brings us.)

As a family, we gathered at one of our favorite restaurants—and site of no fewer than four family wedding dinners—Joy Luck. It was a surprise party for Mom, who was expecting dinner with only Steve and Summer and their kids. (No one let the cat out of the bag accidentally, so mission accomplished!)

The delicious Chinese food was plentiful, and it included Peking spare ribs, sweet and sour chicken, chicken lo mein, egg rolls, ham fried and white rice, and the like. We ate family style, because we are a family after all (29 people altogether, missing only one person who was home sick).

Mom's only wish for her birthday this year was to spend time with her kids and grandkids, so that is what we gave her. In return, she has given us so much more over the course of her 80+ decades of life.

June 5 is also our niece McKenna Kathleen's birthday, who's now 20 years old and finished with the terrible teens. So, we had a double birthday party all told.