The time has come again to give you a glimpse into our lives. The year started out with a wonderful trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, to visit Dad and Mom last January. Although it was pretty crazy to travel with five children all 10 years old and younger to the depths of southern Mexico, it was well worth it! It was also great to see my parents in their element, interacting with people at the temple there. We could tell by talking to those we met that Dad and Mom are doing a great work as they serve. We visited some pretty cool ruins and even drove down to "Puerto Escondido" a small beach town touted as one of the top 10 surfing places in the world. We didn't surf, but had some fun swimming in the calmer bay area. And except for the 49 bed bug bites our son, Daniel sustained one night, we had loads of fun.

Other highlights of the year revolved around music (strings and piano), sports (soccer and base ball) and a couple short trips to Kanab to visit Jonni, Donna, their kids, and Apache, a buckskin mare. In May, Lastenia's grandpa, who lives on the Olympic peninsula in Washington State, gave us his 18 ft. aluminum boat--- perfect for fishing the great lakes of Utah. We had some fun this year in the boat, except for the time when I smashed my right pinkie between the boat and the trailer, which resulted in 11 stitches. I was so close to becoming a part of the elite group of Bowman uncles and cousins who have lost fingers in various accidents (including my Dad, who lost part of his forefinger roping a calf, years ago--on Christmas Eve-day I might add). Alas, it's probably better that I kept my digit rather than being counted as part of this group.

Lastenia continues to deal wonderfully with the rigors of being a mom to our five children and I continue financing all the above mentioned activities by keeping the books at American Express.

It is fantastic to be part of this great family. I was just reading my mom's history and it is amazing to see the faith and strength her family had as they suffered through World War II and the fact that they ultimately gave up everything to start a new life here. When I think times are tough for me, I just need to think of Oma and Opa trying to feed their family when food was so scarce during the war. I am thankful to have the Beuk blood run through my veins. We wish you the best during this Christmas Season and throughout the next year.