Plowman Family Dinner/September 2026

The whole famn damily on the Plowman side—well, nearly all of them—gathered at our house on Sunday, September 27, for monthly family dinner. In addition to hosting, we provided the main dish, which was pasta and spaghetti sauce. Other attendees brought fresh fruit and vegetables, breadsticks, brownies, and apple crumble to round out the evening's menu.

We celebrated three September birthdays: my sister, Biz's, as well as those of four-year-old Sam and nine-year-old Tanner. Here are the birthday kids, being sung to and then blowing out the candles on their cake:

Sam, who of late is obsessed with dinosaurs, was beyond grateful for his Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton costume and said he'd likely be wearing it on our upcoming Halloween:

Christmas 2025

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year were both wonderful for the Plowbuckles! We are grateful to have spent time with family members on both sides.

On Christmas Eve, we joined with most of the rest of the Plowmans (and Woods) over at Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful for family dinner. The only ones not present were Dallin, Eliza, and ... ta-da! ... new baby Levi Brent, born on Tuesday, December 23. (Sharing your birthday with Joseph Smith is a pretty great thing!)

Our dinner included ham, mac and cheese, a crackers and cheese plate, salad, fruit, and veggies, and everything was delicious.

Ten-year-old Danny was anxious to show off a newfound skill: solving a Rubik's cube. (I was anxious to see him do it, because it's something I haven't yet learned how to do. And I lived through the 1980s.)

Games played included the Cup Game (not sure what else to call it; it's a bit of "Simon Says" mixed with having good reflexes) and this Tic-Tac-Toe game, also involving cups:

After dinner, the kids dressed up for our annual Christmas pageant, including narration-from-beyond by both Dad and Mom and the singing of various Christmas hymns:

Following that, we proceeded on to the opening of Christmas gifts between siblings and cousins. The way this works is that the Mike and Jana, JB and I, Dave and Jessica, Ben and Adi, Steve and Summer, and Biz and Jeff each give a gift to one of the other couples, while the niblings draw a name and each give each other a present. Jeff and Biz gave us a Megaplex gift card, which we will make sure is put to good use.

The cousin exchange is the highlight of my night. I love to observe these kids giving each other something truly meaningful—often something they have worked and saved for themselves, through allowances or chores—and to see the hugs that follow.

Seventeen-year-old Jackson walked away with this knife:

On Christmas morning, JB and I awoke to find that Santa Claus had visited us and filled our stockings with numerous chocolates and candies. My wife was, once again, incredibly generous with the presents she gave me. I got an electric toothbrush (my dentist recently recommended I get one), a Utah Mammoth t-shirt, a Salt Lake Bees cap, and a few books off my want-to-read list. My good friend Pepe also got me a few more of those books.

After breakfasting, we hopped in JB's car and drove out to Grantsville to spend time with her parents at their home. While we were there, Nicole & Spencer and Danielle & Tyson and kids stopped by, as well. We enjoyed ham, pasta salad, baked potatoes, and rolls, and we also contributed a Peruvian paneton to the meal.

JB's mom gave a thumbs-up on the dessert.

Improvables: Christmas Party 2025

The members of the Improvables troupe, plus accompanying family members, congregated on Saturday, December 20, for our annual Christmas party and white elephant gift exchange. This year, we gathered at Nickelmania in West Jordan, which was already one of JB's and my favorite hangouts, so we were more than happy to join in on the fun.

For dinner, we enjoyed Costco pizza (only the best stuff for our guys), salad, muffins, and few other sides. After we ate, it was another feverish white elephant exchange. JB ended up with this Nightmare before Christmas karaoke microphone:

I ended up with a mobile alarm clock—really an ingenious device and one that I could really use going forward. Other prized items included a Chuck Norris beach towel, a boxed set of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, and a little statue made up of bent forks and spoons.

Since we were at Nickelmania, well, the rest of the evening was made up of (you guessed it) playing arcade games. We are just like little kids at heart.

Christmas 2024 (and Beyond), Part 2

The family festivities continued with the Plowman side on Thursday, December 19, when we hosted Steve's and Summer's clan at our house for a holiday dessert night. The kids enjoyed baking and making treats with JB.

I aided the cause by watching the Broncos game on TV nearby.

As we are wont to do, the rest of the family joined with us for Christmas dinner at Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful on Christmas Eve. The fixings included Dutch oven mac and cheese, meatballs, chili, veggies, and other fun stuff. Biz also came up with and led most of the games, including movie trivia and a scavenger hunt for the kids.

Our annual Christmas pageant followed, including narration of chapter 2 of the gospel of Luke by Dad (the audio recording that keeps on giving, year after year). Sadie played Mary, Ike was one of the cattle, and so forth.

Next came to the gift exchange: niblings giving gifts to their cousins, and siblings giving gifts to siblings. Always my favorite part is seeing the glee on the kids' faces as this process enfolds, both in the giving and the getting.

As for JB and myself, we especially loved the socks Biz and Jeff (and kids) gifted us that featured our two pups' faces printed on them:

We behaved mostly pretty well this year, and therefore Santa did visit our home. We got even more stocking stuffers, and I got ... more socks! Some of the best socks I've ever been given, in fact. JB gets me the coolest things.

I'm also quite fond of my new Spatula City t-shirt:

Later in the week, JB and I joined Steve and Summer and kids (now practically our next door neighbors here in North Salt Lake) to watch BYU play Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, a game that the Cougars won decisively by a score of 36-14. Some of the best entertainment of the night, however, came from two-year-old Sam, who played Peek-a-boo with us:

And so, that's how we celebrated the holidays. In a matter of hours after I type this, 2025 will be upon us. Stay tuned for whatever the new year might bring.

Not-pictured-but-still-memorable events from this Christmas season: Our ward's Christmas program featured no speakers and just music, music, music. New neighbors as well as old friends brought over candy and other treats. Getting to know the new ministering families via chocolate oranges. And so much more!

Olivia's & Caleb's Wedding

Last week, our niece Olivia was sealed to her husband, Caleb, in the beautiful Taylorsville temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Of course, you know that Fun Aunt and Uncle were there for the occasion and for the festivities that followed.

It was a beautiful ceremony on a beautiful summer day in a beautiful place. Both bride and groom looked so happy all day long.

The reception was held later that evening at the Bountiful Central Stake pavilion, adjacent to Bountiful High School. We were greeted by a railing lined with photos and other memorabilia charting the happy couple's relationship over the years.

There was also this quilt, which attendees were invited to write an entry on. JB, whom I'll admit has much better handwriting, wrote something for the both of us. Presumably, this quilt would then be made into an actual quilt and given to the newlyweds.

There was also an ice cream bar—the perfect recipe for one of the many hot Utah summer days we've been passing through.

All told, it was a wonderful day spent with a wonderful couple and many of our family members and friends.

Memorial Day Weekend 2024

It was a bittersweet Saturday morning over Memorial Day weekend as we trekked up to Smithfield to visit Mom's and Dad's grave in the Smithfield City Cemetery. The heavens wept (i.e., it rained) as we saw her death date inscribed for the first time on their shared headstone.

Nearly all of the family made it there for the occasion. Naturally, we also stopped at Gossner's in Logan to pick up some cheese curd and other dairy products.

JB and I made a detour of our own to Big J—the malt shop featured in Napoleon Dynamite—in Richmond for lunch. We also visited the nearby Casper's factory seconds store to get some ice cream sandwiches at a really good price. (We highly recommend this.)

Later that Saturday, we received the wonderful news of an engagement: Dallin and his now-fiancee, Eliza. We are very big fans of hers (have already been big fans of Dallin for decades now) are excited to welcome Eliza into the family.

On Sunday, we gathered for Plowman family monthly dinner at Dave's and Jessica's home in Woods Cross. We enjoyed a BBQ of hamburgers and hot dogs, along with chips, veggies, and other goodies.

JB presented our four-year-old niece Sadie with a belated birthday present (her birthday having been in April). It was this cape, which JB hand-made especially for Sadie:

She loved it, of course. This was another reminder that JB is amazing and can pretty much do anything she sets her mind to do.

Christmas 2023, Part 2

On Christmas Eve, we gathered for Plowman family dinner at Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful. We had all the fixings for a Christmas dinner, including ham, candied yams, funeral potatoes, charcuterie, meatballs, and other goodies.

Dinner was followed by our annual Christmas story pageant. The niblings enthusiastically dressed up as shepherds, wise men, angels, stable animals, and of course Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. In fact, six-year-old Tanner got a little too into the part of playing the baby, seen here resting (and cooing?) in the lap of his three-year-old sister Sadie, who portrayed Mary:

As always, the kids had a wonderful time taking part. As part of the pageant, we continued the family tradition of listening to Dad's recording of the Christmas story as found in chapter of the gospel of St. Luke.

Perhaps we began a new tradition by also playing a recording of Mom reading The Monster at the End of This Book, a family favorite since my siblings and I were very young, while Biz turned the pages in the story. We collectively felt her loss rather acutely during this holiday season and on this particular night, too, but I think this moment helped many of us to feel she wasn't really that far away from us.

In fact, it gives me a great deal of comfort to think that if she weren't already one of the angels who sang at the birth of the Christ child 2,000+ years ago that she is one of those angels singing His praises now.

Next came the exchanging of gifts. The niblings drew names from a hat to purchase gifts for each other, while my siblings and I did the same for each couple in the family. This way, everybody got to open at least one thing. Sadie was especially grateful for and protective of her Frozen action figure set:

Then followed a few family games, including a new one, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Cup," that Biz borrowed from the Johnson Files, one of our favorite Instagram accounts. You had to be there to grasp what exactly this involved—but it was fun for all who played.

Christmas Day was, well, a rather lazy day at our house. Santa Claus came and left goodies, and JB and I exchanged gifts, too. My wife is very thoughtful when it comes to this sort of thing. One of my favorite presents was this T-shirt, based on The Lord of the Rings book/film series:

Hopefully, your Christmas was a good one spent with your own loved ones, too. If not, here's hoping for better times ahead and a better year for us all in 2024.

Improvables: Christmas Party 2023

Members of the Improvables improv troupe gathered together on Saturday, December 16, for our annual Christmas party and white elephant exchange. It's been a rough year for us, having lost our beloved friend and colleague Megan in August. Her absence was felt at this holiday party. But we also feel she would've wanted us to carry on, be happy, and enjoy each other's company, and that is what we did.

Jamie and Tanner hosted at their lovely home in Taylorsville. It was a very foggy evening, but still the majority of the troupe members found their way there. The food was delectable, and the company was even better.

Always one of the highlights of the Christmas season, our white elephant gift exchange was another memorable one. I might be a bit biased, but one of the noteworthy gifts contributed (by yours truly) was a pair of Pickle-as Cage (get it?) tree ornaments. There were bobbleheads, clothes, toys, and other goodies for young and older alike.

Perhaps our collective favorite was a box of approximately 200 odd-sized grey beanies, given together as one gift in a large box. (You had to be there.) There were enough beanies to go around that we all posed for the above picture.

Our Day Out with Katy 2023

Our niece Katy (formerly known also as Kate) recently turned eight years old. That was back at the end of March. We're still catching up on birthday activities, and that led to our birthday outing with her this past Thursday evening.

First, we went to the store so that she could pick out a LEGO set that she wanted. This is the before picture, with everything still in the box:

This is what it looked like when we were done:

We also stopped by the new Centerville Fiiz to get treats, because that is exactly the kind of VIP treatment you get with Fun Aunt and Uncle. Katy is a pretty great kid, and we love spending time with her.

Five Years

On April 18, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. What a wonderful ride it has been, and it only gets better with each passing day. I can't wait for the next five, and the next five, and the next ...

Incidentally, this sign was hand-crafted for us by Tony, a dear family friend who became like family to us over the years. He passed away last year, and unfortunately we were not able to attend the viewing or funeral due to a possible COVID infection among some family members. (We had to quarantine for a few days.) It remains a daily reminder in our home not only of our sealing date but also of his goodness and generosity.

Christmas 2022, Part 2

Our Christmas family festivities continued on Christmas Eve. We headed over to Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful for some holiday Plowman shenanigans.

Among the many revelers present were five-year-old Tanner and his three-month-old baby brother Sam:

After a good meal, including all of the trimmings, we all participated in the annual family Christmas pageant. The kids are always the most excited about this part, and they dressed up as shepherds, wise men, and the other main parts in the Christmas story as found in the scriptures (mainly, Chapter 2 of Mark and Chapter 1 of 3 Nephi).

The niblings then exchanged gifts with each other. I am always impressed with the depth and breadth of how thoughtful they are toward one another. Mom had gifts for each of her grandkids, to boot. She spent a good deal of time over the previous weeks and months knitting beanies for each of her grandkids, which they modeled here:

That bearded guy you may not have seen before in my pics is now counted among the niblings; he's Kylee's fiancé, Talin. They got engaged not that long ago and are now planning on a wedding in August 2023. Not pictured this year is our missionary Jenna, who had her beanie mailed to her in Texas.

One of our collective family gifts to Mom was her life story, which Steve, Summer, and I compiled (meaning that we asked her questions and typed down her responses to them) over the course of the year through the Storyworth Web site.

(Storyworth didn't pay me to plug their product for them; but I will say that we did find it to be a useful tool in putting the book together.)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!