The Howe Family Mission Statement

Our Stake President, Presiden Lewis challenged each family to write a family mission statement. We wrote ours after the conference.

1) Helpful

   *Look for opportunities to serve others.

                                 

       And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. (Mosiah 2:17).

2) Outgoing

      *reach out to the one.

       And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. (Luke 15:6)

3) Witness

      *share your testimony.

             Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times    and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye  may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first       resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—(Mosiah 18:9)

4) Every day!

   * pray to know how to gather Israel.

           

           Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God? I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. (Job 27: 10-11)

Snow on Rodeo!

We did our annual treck to Roper Lake for Rodeo BrIt's. It's a good thing my kids are so low maintenance and have such low expectations. The $75 a night cabin rental at the Stake Park is their favorite trip of the year. This year it was really cold! I managed to run around the lake with Benjamin, take Luke on a walk around the lake for his walk and go out on another walk with Olivia and Bella. The rest of the time I hunkered down in the cabin enjoying the view of the lake while reading a book. I can't remember the last time I was able to sit down and read a book to the end. It was relaxing as normal but oh so cold. We did our regular pizza night Thursday and Benjamin brought our projector screen and we watched our families show, Survivor.  The next day was non stop rain so we packed up earlier for home. We got caught in s storm driving back. Maybe it was just regular snow but it was coming down pretty heavy. White knuckle driving all the way home! It was beautiful driving into Tucson with the whole city covered in white, sad that the one day the kids could have had a snow day they were already off for Rodeo Break. It continued to snow till the afternoon. So beautiful and cozy.

Anna's play, a new horse, baby chicks and a walk in the wash.

Anna had her 3 rd grade performance "School of Rock". It was an 80's themed performance. I put her hair in a half pony and Olivia did her makeup. She looked great and sang her heart out!!

We are boarding horses now! We got our first one on Saturday. He's a beauty!

We have 14 baby chicks! Several different breeds. We will see which breed we end up loving. The preschool kids love feeding them worms and my kids love hearing them peep. We are hoping Bella gets over her fear of birds :)

We have had some awesome rain so we walked to the creek to see how much water was in the wash. It was flowing good!!

We love Tucson!

This week I had the privledge to watch one of my preschool kids while her parents went to the hospital to have their second baby. The actual delivery was pretty rough she had a C-section which required several blood transfusions. I twisted their arm so she could spend a second night. I felt the mom needed her husband at the hospital. They are from Puerto Rico, no family in town. I don't know if they attend a church or have a community of Faith to count on, but they have me! What an opportunity to share love and be helpful. To pay back all the people who helped my sister's when they had kids away from home. Their daughter is a delight!! My kids loved her whit and enthusiasm. The kids were truthfully sad to see her go back home ♥️

Parkin goes to the temple!

What a special day to go to the temple with Parkin! With the start of the new year, all children who turn 12 during the upcoming year were invited to attend the temple to perform vicarious baptisms for deceased relatives. Parkin was thrilled to be the youngest Howe child to attend the temple  :) Barbara and Ron work at the temple so it was awesome to have them help make the process smoother. Barbara had some family names for the kids to do so that always makes it more special. Olivia was baptized for Baraba's favorite Aunt. It was a great day with a great son.

We wanted Parkin to be the tallest in this photo so he is on the top step.

Nana came too, the moment is always better with her!

3generations of Howe men. Aren't they handsome?!

It's all about pictures for my blog!

My Baby's last day of High School!!! Also February 1st

At Basis High School Seniors graduate February 1st! Its 4 months earlier than most other High Schools. At Basis, they do everything on a different schedule. Kids start taking Advanced Placement  (AP) classes in the 8th grade. It a rigorous schedule and takes a lot of self-discipline and stress management. Benjamin and I made the decision to enroll our kids st Bais when Bella went itno the 5th grade. The school does not require a placement test. The student s must be motiavted to learn and that describes Bella. She worked so hard without stressing her self out. She knows that pursuit of knowledge is the whole point. And boy did she learn!! This talented daughter of mine has earned herself a full scholarship to the University of Arizona (Go Cats)! 

I made her this chain when she had about a month left of school. Look how happy she was when she got to rip off a link after school. Then has the chain got smaller you can see her grow more nervous.

11 days left in this shot.

And the day finally came last day of school!! Which also happened to be Benjamin's 42nd birthday!

This Senior shirt took a lot to get. We missed the initial email that they were on sale and trying to buy one of the remaining unclaimed shirts proved to be quite the ordeal. The final Basis hurdle!! No joke. Her friends rallied around and stalked the administrator's office waiting for the right opening to buy it. They were sold on a first come first serve basis. Bella got to school 30 minutes before it started but then had to go to class so her friends kept the vigil going to get the shirt and she scored!!

Baby girl's name is in that spiral somehwere!

The end of the chain!

Basis is crazy but one thing they do absolutely right is Senior year. It's more like a gap year. Their school day ends at 1 pm so most days Bella and I got to eat lunch together. How many moms get to spend that kind of quality time?! Seriously so blessed to have such an upbeat, FUN and smart girl. She truly is a delight and those who get to have her as a friend can count them self lucky to have such a positive force by their side. Seniors now use these 4 months to do Senior projects, intern or get jobs to save for college. I think Bella will do a little of all of these! 

February 1st, Benjamin's birthday!

In honor of  Benjamin's 42nd birthday, Benjamin and I ran the 7 falls trail at Sabino Canyon. It's a 7-mile run that takes you up to the 7 falls, it was beautiful. I love running with my favorite running partner.

Later that night,we took our family and Nana, Papa, Grandma and Grandpa to our favorite pizza place Dry River Pizza. Yum!

After pizza, we went back to our place for homemade sugar cookies and for the kids to give Benjamin our gifts. We picked out 8 "specialty" sodas. Sodas like Snozzelberry, Beef Teriyaki, Looks like Orange tastes like Grape, etc. Then we gave him a Squatty Potty, he loves it :)

The kids also ordered this, its Benajmin's favorite quote. The shirt didn't come in time so they pasted his head on the image so he could imagine :)

Earlier this week Bella was closing up at her work and the lock to the outside of the shop got stuck in the wrong alignment. The alarm was going off and it became a big problem. She called Benjamin at 11:15pm to come help. Bella said I just knew my Dad could fix it. Bella went on with how great it is to have a  Dad who solves problems. She said he brought the right tools and within a matter of minutes, the lock was fixed so future co-workers wouldn't have a problem anymore. Bella was saying Dad is such a mans man. He's athletic, strong and helpful. I couldn't agree more!! We all love you babe and are so glad you were born!!!

January 24th Papa turned 70 and he retired!! President Ballard visits!

What a celebration we had! Papa turned 70 AND retired from IBM after working 37 years there! Incredible. We had an epic celebration that literally lasted for days. Ryan and Lindsey flew in to make it even more special. The couples all went out to eat on Friday night at Olive Garden. We, of course, stayed for hours just chatting and then brought the party back to Mom and Dads and hot tubed till 1 am. What party animals we are!

Saturday morning we went to Mom and Dads and hung out and took a "Papa Job Quiz" that John Collin put together. Benjamin scored the best out of everybody! I made a scrapbook of memories with Papa. Everybody contributed their special moments that they have had with him. Lindsey wrote a poem, it was beautiful! It starts off the memory book.

Lindsey and Mom made delicious cupcakes too! Chocolate and lemon so dang good!

 Benjamin and I had to slip out for a lunchtime meeting with President Ballard along with all the YW, RS, EQ, Bishops and Stake Presidents in Tucson. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Rather unfortunate that the last-minute General Authority visit landed on our weekend celebration. Bella and Oliva were also blessed to be selected to serve dinner to the General Authorities. Brooke Hanson made aprons for all the youth who served.

That night the youth of three stakes in Tucson had a special devotional with Elder Ballard. Bella was asked to say the closing prayer! Friends that live in Sierra Vista texted saying Bella was famous because they broadcasted the devotional there :)

Later that night the family went to Little Anthonys for dinner and watched the late show at the Gaslight musical theater.

The next morning everyone met at my house for breakfast to give our last gift. Hillary collected retirement ideas from everybody and made a collage of the number 70 with the job ideas. Then Hillary and Ryan put Dads head on a bunch of stock photos representing some of the jobs he could do. So funny!

Later that Sunday Dad was put into the Bishopric of the singles University 5th ward. My parents love the University ward! Perfect timing for Dad to have a new job with his retirement. Heavenly Father knows best! The Smith flew out and everyone else joined us for lunch at my house. So grateful for my family.