Cowley Reunion: Part 2

So, if you are a follower of my blog, you know that our family had a chance to reconnect with almost all the other Cowleys in our immediate family back in February. You know that we had an excellent time playing in the snow, but did you know that we are so creative, that actual plays were put on by various members of the family? Yep, it's true, us Cowleys are one creative bunch. It all started when Dana and Bella found some cool animal hand puppets in Grandma's toy box...Dana happens to have a flair for the dramatic.

Next thing we knew, we were captivated by Dana and Bella's performance of 'Panda and Chicken Are Best Friends and Like to Go Shopping."

Intriguing is the only word that could have described their little play. Camden seemed quite happy about the puppets having found their stage.

It wasn't long before Nate and Camden developed an intellectually stimulating screenplay of their own to perform.

There were quite a few action scenes in their puppet shows.
All the characters involved were amazingly skilled in martial arts, as it was a requirement for the 'actors' in the boys' play.

So clever was the scripting of their play, the audience became spellbound:
However, as we all know, Uncle Jed is quite involved in the creation of dramatic art. He was so inspired by the children's plays, he too, came up with a play to share with the audience.

He was graciously accompanied by Jared, who as it turned out, was quite the undiscovered talent.
The dialogue was witty and clever.

The emotion on stage was raw and moving.
The acting was superior!

The play went on for a surprisingly long amount of time, but, the audience was rewarded with a shocking twist in the finale! We were all so spent from the dramatic emotional roller coaster the various puppet shows put us through, we had to relax and visit for a bit.
Luckily, Jed was able to lighten the mood with his fashion forward attire.

And Kimmy was able to get some time in with her favorite member of the family, Brody...though her feelings seem to be unrequited at this point. Who knows, only time will tell if Brody will come to love Kimmy as she loves him. The kids needed to get some wiggles out, so it was out to the backyard for some quality basketball time.
I don't think anyone cared that the basketball was flat.

Or that the hoop is in the front yard, not the back.
The boys had a great time throwing it on the roof anyway.
And they even let Kimmy get in on all the action.

Of course, all this playing wore them out a bit, so the boys took a break to hug. Any guesses as to what Nate's expression means here?

And Nate was happy to read to Camden.It was sweet to seem them curled up with a book.

Dana felt the need to demonstrate to Bella her exceptional 'picking up people that are too big for her to pick up' skills. Bella was pleased to be selected as a participant in this display.

The crowed was once again wowed by Dana.
The kids had such a great time together!
What family reunion would be complete without a 'Ring-Around-Rosie' finale to cap it all off?

Announcements, Announcements, Annnoooouuuuccceeeements...

So, we have some announcements to make. The whole family had a myriad of doctor's appointments today, and we learned a lot of things. First, we learned that Kimmy loves the dress-up doctor glasses in the exam room:

Then, we learned that Nate is healthy and growing like a weed and that he wouldn't have to get any shots today. He was really happy about that.

Next, we learned that the new baby we are expecting in August is going to be a ... well, you will have to watch the video to find out. Nate's reaction, where he is trying to play it cool is great, but don't forget to notice Dana getting crazy in the background:

Here are some pictures from the ultrasound. I didn't have the energy to try and scan them into the computer, so I just took pictures of the pictures, and you can get the idea from them.

First, we have the super "Skeletor" face picture:

Then we got this really amazing profile picture, and I have to say, ultrasound images have improved so much just in the 8 years since we had our first one with Nathan. I turned this one on it's side so you could see it better.
Then we got the awesome pictures of the baby's privates, which were much better on the computer screen than they are in this picture of a picture, but there is no doubt in all our minds what it is:
Anyway, all I can say is that I am so glad that we are having a boy...I don't think I could have handled Nate's broken heart if it was a girl. Plus, Jared and I were talking about where we would put the baby if it was another girl, since there really is no room to put the crib in the girls room with their dresser and bunk beds and bookcase, so if it was a girl, it would probably just end up sleeping in a dresser drawer :)! I am sure the baby is heaving a huge sigh of relief right now...

What we do at our house for fun

Cowley Reunion of Sorts

So in February we went up to Oregon to see most of the Cowleys as Grandma and Grandpa Cowley returned from their mission. Lucky for us, the kids are pretty good in the car...

Once we were there, we had a planned a trip up to the snow with all the brothers and their families. Kevin and Megan were lucky enough to get to ride in the Fiesty Mama, Uncle Kevin couldn't resis the opportunity to watch a Harry Potter movie with Nate.Sean and Amanda and their family met us up there and their timing was perfect, they pulled up just as we were all piling out of the car. Unlike our last sledding trip to Tahoe, this sledding spot was perfect, two great hills next to each other with big open spaces at the bottom with no trees to worry about hitting.

Uncle Jed and Nate went exploring.This hill was particularly steep. I think this is Nate on his first try going down it. It didn't take him long to discover that going down on his slick snow pants was just as fun as riding an inter tube. I sent Nate back up the hill to try again with his Dad.

However the result was the same:

For some reason, when Jared took Dana down the steep hill things seemed to go better.

Uncle Jed was great with the kids.

He took Dana and her BFF/cousin Bella on a sled ride:

Then he and Uncle Kevin decided to conquer the steep hill while riding the green tarp:

I don't know if they realized how fast the green tarp would go... Too bad I couldn't get my camera to focus so quickly... here's the aftermath:

I'm not sure where the green tarp ended up. Kimmy wanted to ride the sled like the big girls, so I took her for a little trip.
Then she got to hang out with Daddy for a bit.

With a little help from Jared, Jed and Kate were able to go down once on the big tube.
Dana is our little Daredevil, and right from the start wanted to go down all by herself on the tube, from the tippy top of the hill. Camden was pretty brave too.
Then he and Nate had lots of fun beating up any large chunks of snow the could find.
Even Uncle Kevin had a little bravery in him. Dana and Bella also went exploring and found a fun hole to jump and hide in.

To be continued....