Europe was a much needed vacation and packed with many great experiences.

Bonn Germany

Near the border of Austria and Germany

Amsterdam the Best thing was Anne Frank House!

Koln Cathedral 1000 years old

Eifle tower with my handsome man!

Stonehenge

Neuschwanstein Castle in the snow

Linderholf castle near Austria border

Fussen Germany

Dinner with good friends in Germany

Ragland Castle in Wales

                                    
                                           Vianden, Luxenbourg a real hidden treasure!
 
 

Caerphilly Castle Wales near Cardiff

Gardening begins soon in Snowflake but first a trip to Europe.

I love garden fresh veggies and canning but I also love to travel. Spring break is next week and I am taking my husband and Dan Number 2 stepson to Europe and the UK. We have a total of 10 days counting travel time.  I am so ready for a break from teaching my beloved first graders.

We will visit Germany, Austria, Luxenbourg, Netherlands, France, London and Wales where the Bowens come from and where my 4 times Great Grandfather John Williams lived and died. His son James Williams the 1st was a revolutionary soldier. Our Bowen Line and the Williams Line actually come from some of the same towns and counties in Carmanthenshire Wales.
We will also visit some friends, Christian and Kerstin Fehring, that live in Bonn. I stayed with them last time I went to Europe in 1994. It will be fun to see them again. She said she is making us a traditional meal from Switzerland. It is called Raclette and is mostly cheese melted on an open fire on veggies. The recipe dates back to the 1200 sometime so it will be fun to try it since the Shields line does go back through the Reiderer and Sente line to the Swiss Alps.  To the town of Maeinfield to be exact. Which is the town the story of Heidi is from.
In Wales we will stay in a B&B called Pennylan Farm owned by Cathy and Dave Bowen, living near the town Monmouth, where the Bowen family came from. We will enjoy Paris, London and many castles. We will go to Anne Frank's house and the Van Gough Museum. I am looking forward to taking some photos with my new camera too.

 When I come back I will see my tulips coming up. We planted about 300 out front in the heart of our drive.  I am excited but for now I have Parent teacher conferences and a few more days of teaching. So for now I am still looking forward to being on vacation with Bart and Dan.

Christmas Vacation in Utah

Spending Christmas in Utah, we had many opportunities to spend time with family. We stayed with my mom and dad in Murray and went to church with them on Sunday. We went to Bryan and Elisha's home in Farmington, Utah on Monday and we played with the granddaughters, Kaitlyn and Allyson. 

 

Missy's baby girl, Ari. She is so fun and cute!

Carla's granddaughter Nora (Alana's baby girl.) She'll be two in January. So sweet and cute.

I did not take any pictures at my Gibson or Bowen Family Christmas parties,  but others did so when they share them I will post some of them on here. The Gibson party was at my sister Carla's house and the Bowen Christmas party was at Bart's sister house Valerie. Dan and Josh went with us to the Bowen party!

Bret, Bart and Brad (Paul) and Valerie
(Bart's 2 brothers and 1 sister)

  Other highlights included bowling with Bret's son and three daughters and we went to the spoken word with Mormon Tab and special guest artists David Archeletta and Michael York. We saw BYU win UTEP! We went to three temples and we liked the Draper temple best. The Celestial room is amazing!

We also visited Uncle Ron and Aunt Claire and we also had a yummy home cooked dinner with my sister Carol's family before the BYU game. Thanks Carol!  It is always fun to catch up with the Bart's dad's sister Claire and her family and to visit  them.  Aunt Claire has done so much Family History work on the Spande line. Bart's maternal grandmother was a Spande from Norway.  (See picture below)




Hole In the Rock In San Juan County UT on the way home.

 

 On the way home, we visited Jane and Stuart in Provo and Bart's brother (Bradford) Paul Bowen. At Jane's we were able to talk with Jon who is in Med school in Phoenix area.  Then Bart's brother is living in Bluff, Utah while he builds a Chapter house for the Navajo nation. He is a contractor and he is well respected and his work has recently been featured in a McGraw-Hill Building magazine.

Where's the Line to See Jesus OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Bowen Sanctuary 2009

 Our home about 1 year ago and when I upload the 2010 that  shows the more recent improvements, I will Load it here too<

Enjoying life in Snowflake

It was a small Thanksgiving ( just the 2 of us) but it was fun and relaxing too. First, we woke up to 2 inches of snow. The first snowfall of the season. Then I made all the food and it really tasted good! Bart said it was his best Thanksgiving meal ever!

We are still here in Snowflake, Az. The years keep flying by and we are in our 3rd year in Snowflake and we are enjoying fixing up our property and learning to be the best teachers we can be. Teaching has it's challenges but the rewards outweigh the hard parts. I love being with the students each day and helping them learn to read, write, do math and just be good kids! I am happy I have the chance to be a teacher because I know it is an important calling. I will post some more pictures and a video of a glimpse into our life in Snowflake. I will try to attach the video that shows our property. We want it to be a place that family members can come if they need to get away. It will be a place of refuge for our loved ones. Life is good and I am learning and growing.

Living In Snowflake

Here we are in Snowflake Az and we have a beautiful home or as my friend's son said, "Its a cozy home." We have a big garden kind of like a small farm with chickens and corn, melons, root garden and fruit trees 10 of them and tons more veggies. Did I tell you about the flowers? Well let me tell you there are so many different flowers I can't remenber them all. I have many pictures of them on FB.

I teach on the Navajo reservation 1st grade. I love my students. They are so cute and fun. I love the challenge of helping them to learn to read and do math. I love the Navajo culture too. They are very real and down to earth people. Bart teaches High school Math andOnline college classes at MCC Micro and Macro economics. He is the real farmer and works out side right now all day. It is summer so we don't work. Although Bart is teaching two classes online this summer. Josh is going to be a senior and he seems to like it here. He loves to make movies and wants to be a film maker. Ben comes in the summer and holidays for a visit and he will be here tonight. I will write more later. Here is a picture of our home. We love to live near the temple. Snowflake temple is beautiful as all the temples are.