Cute Kitties

We all love our new kitty.  He's just so cute!  And it seems our little kitty loves us too.  He tolerates all of the playing that goes on in a house with three boys...from morning to night.

J loves to start out the day with a "Kipper Cuddle".

Who wouldn't love these little guys?

This is what our house used to look like...

It doesn't look this way anymore, but I'm getting ahead of myself!  Let me start over.

We've really enjoyed our home during the past three years that we've lived here.  We've made changes here and there, landscaping outside and tons of work on the inside, but we finally decided it was time for us to get the house painted.  Did I mention that we've never really liked the body color?  The brick is nice, but the body color is a dull beige that sometimes seems to have a pink undertone.  Yuck!

The Big Guy Lowe and I started looking at colors around the beginning of summer.  Talk about HARD!  We felt that we finally chose the right colors, so it was time to begin.  GULP!

We decided to have my brother, Michael, take charge of painting the house and he decided to bring along his "lackey"...more commonly known as our dad!  It cracked me up to hear my brother and Dad joke around with eachother the entire time they were over.  I love my family so much--both the family I have now and the family I came from.  I have been greatly blessed.  Thanks Mom and Dad.

Before the paint could be applied, the house had to be power-washed and prepped.

Some wood needed to be replaced.

The windows needed to be covered.

The pergola needed to be repaired...

all the way across.

Only then could the painting begin!  We held our breath until we were sure it was the right color. 

Then the trim, the accent color and the pergola were painted.

Until we had our final product!  Before I unveil the house, let's take another real quick look at what it used to look like...

and what it looks like now.

We LOVE it!  Thanks Michael and Dad for all your hard work.  It was great having you here and your craftsmanship is excellent!  We'll let you know when we have another project.  hehe  ;)



D is ready for Preschool!

I've been trying to adjust to G being back in school this year...we've just been missing summertime when we are all playing together.  To make things more interesting, D will be starting PRESCHOOL this year!  While my heart seems to be tugging at me again, I am so excited for him because he is so excited about being in school!

We started out with a curriculum night for the whole family!  We were really looking forward to this so G would be able to show D around.  This was the preschool that G went to, and he loved it! 

We were a bit curious to see how D would do going into preschool since he still fights going into his primary class at church every once in a while.  We took pictures of all the things they wanted D to become familiar with.

Starting with all our boys at the front doors!!

Every day when D arrives he will be able to pick out his apple and hang it on the tree. 

Then he goes on to choosing an activity table!  There are four tables to choose from!

He knows where the letter of the day is too!

This is where circle time takes place.

Then the boys were able to play with all the cool toys they have!

We left that evening feeling pretty good about it all, and D was even more excited to be able to start School the next week!

After this test run, it was time for the real deal!  The first day of Preschool came, and D was so brave! 

(Do you see the excitement and nervousness?)

 He did a great job!  He went in, put on his name tag, hung up his apple and seemed so big.  Man, this whole heart-tugging thing is happening so often these days!

This was my last shot as D was big enough to be in Preschool!

As I walked out to the car, I had such a mixture of happiness that D had done so well and a bit of sadness knowing that my little boy isn't so little anymore.  He did great that day and has looked forward to "school" each day since!  We love you D!!!

Welcome Kipper! (Can you believe it?!)

For many years we swore we would not be pet-owning people.

We had tried having a dog previously, and even though Apollo was a wonderful Doberman it just didn't work out.  (Cute picture of G when he was 3 years old.)

Apollo is now loving life with a dog trainer that has another Doberman and two Rotweilers living on 5 acres!

Yep, we had just decided that pets weren't for us.  Then, somehow, things began to change.  I think the beginning of this change came this past Christmas when we decided to get fish--harmless fish.

But it didn't stop there.  Nope.

This past week we stopped by to see some good friends that we hadn't seen all summer.  Without knowing, we were walking on a slippery slope.  We soon found out that their cat had kittens; 5 of them, about 8 weeks old.  Yep.

I was strong.  I resisted the temptation of holding too closely those furry little bundles, but The Big Guy Lowe went down hard!  There was one in particular that he kept carrying around...do you see where this is going?  The boys were also hopelessly in love with the kittens.  (Really, who couldn't be.  At that age they are so dang cute!)  We did leave that night without a kitten, but after a small amount of discussion we were back four days later to pick up our own wee bundle of purring love.

Kristen was actually pretty attached to this little guy.  He is just so good natured and calm.  Thanks for letting him come to our home!!

We stopped at PetSmart that night and picked up the supplies and then took the little guy home.

The boys love the little guy, oh, and we even have named him Kipper!

And look at those beautiful markings!

Yep, so I guess we have a "real" pet now...and we're pretty happy about it!

I'm not even thinking of what might happen in the next year, but I will be very careful when we go visit friends that we haven't seen in a long time.

Okay, so we all love the little guy!!!

September 11th, A Day of Service

Just over two months ago, The Big Guy Lowe was asked to be in charge of setting up a large service project for the 10 congregations of our church in this area to participate in.  In addition, he was asked to involve other denominations so that it would be a community service project.  He was given a few other parameters to work within and then space with which to work.  In addition, this service project was to take place on September 11th, a day that holds heartache in many. 

I am so impressed with my dedicated husband.  He started working, coming up with ideas, contacting other churches, creating and going to meetings and taking phone calls at all hours.  He prayed for guidance and inspiration in the preprations of this big assignment...I know because we pray together morning, night, over meals and whenever else we are able.  I was touched by his dedication to this assignment, even as he still had his professional work and other church responsibilites to complete.  I don't think he'll mind me sharing that he was pretty nervous the night before the big event...who wouldn't be?

September 11th; A Day of Service turned out to be a huge success.  Officially, 460 people turned out and harvested over 4 tons of carrots that will benefit the Clark County Food Bank as well as Loaves and Fishes.  I was impressed with how well organized everything was.  It went so well, and everything was accomplished that had been desired.

The Big Guy Lowe asked if I could put some words together to help begin the project with.  The words he read are as follows:

 Nine years ago today, our country experienced one of our greatest tragedies. Thousands of lives were lost, hearts were broken, and countless lives were changed forever. We would like to observe a moment of silence in memory of those who lost their lives in the attacks of September 11, 2001.



While we are unable to change the events of that dark day, we are able to choose how we respond. Life is fraught with challenges, great and small. When we choose to reach out to those around us with a kind word, with helping hands or listening ears; when our actions are motivated out of concern for others rather than concern for ourselves; when our desire is to serve those around us; it is then, little by little, that hearts are healed.


Today, we are each doing our part, however great or small, to heal hearts. Today, we are each doing our part to follow the powerful words “Love one another.” Today, through our hearts and hands, we are showing that “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” Listen to your hearts today. Pay close attention to how you feel while serving. Hearts will be healed as we help…starting with our own.

I was grateful for the opportunity to do my part in the preparations of this great event.  I was even more grateful for the opportunity to support my wonderful husband who follows through on hard assignments. 

I love The Big Guy Lowe completely.  Thank you babe, for being everything you are.



While there was an "official" photographer there to document the event, I had my little phone and took a few pictures of the boys and me as we did our part in the harvest.  We couldn't see The Big Guy Lowe from where we were standing--too many people!!  (Not that we're complaining!!)

We received our assingments and headed out to the fields!  See the excitement on those boys faces?  ;)

It did get more exciting once we reached the fields and began pulling the carrots out of the ground.  The Boys did a great job

...for a while.

It was pretty clear when the boys were finished!  We had been there for about 1 1/2 hours total!

As we were leaving we said good-bye to Uncle Michael and picked up our thank you cookies that had been home made by the women's organization within our church called the Relief Society.  Those cookies made the world a better place as far as my kids were concerned!

It was wonderful knowing we were all able to participate in a wonderful opportunity to serve others.  It felt good to dig in the dirt and know that the literal "fruits of our labors" would benefit so many.

In The Book of Mormon, a loving king who was also a prophet taught the people the following: "...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."  I know this is true. 

What a wonderful time to share as a family.  Thanks babe, for seeking and then following inspiration to help this Day of Service turn out so wonderfully and thank you to all the many other people that volunteered and then followed through to help everything run so smoothly. 

Here are a few more pictures of SO MANY people that came out to help harvest carrots.

Once the carrots were harvested, they were brought out of the fields.

Then the carrots were scrubbed, boxed, and placed in walk-in coolers to wait for delivery

A shot of The Big Guy Lowe helping get boxes of carrots to be transported (left side in the gray sweatshirt)

What a day.  It just feels so good...

G's first day of Second Grade

How is G old enough to be in Second grade already?

He's so excited to start school, while I feel like I am dragging my feet.

I like having all my boys around during the summer.  Hmmmm, maybe it's just because this summer seems to have passed so quickly.  Oh well, the morning has come and G is ready!

Of course it was raining, but that didn't dampen our spirits!

G was happy to see some of his friends from last year!

I'm excited to see how things go with G's new teacher.  She's been teaching for 19 years and knows how to run her classroom.  She is known for keeping her class in order and helping her students achieve great things.

No individual desks, just tables.  Boy do I love G's smile!!

Here's the last shot before I left my wonderful G in the care of his new teacher.  I can't deny that there is still a little tug at my heart...  I love you G!

After school!!!  Time to meet G at the bus stop!!!  D was so excited to have his older brother back that he just about ran the entire distance!

Jennifer is still our wonderful bus driver and there is G after his first day of Second grade!!

Yep, it was a good day at school!

And it's also good to have brothers together again!

Congrats on a great first day of Second Grade G!!  We love you!!