Western Adventures!

Earlier this Summer we gathered with family from around the globe
 for several days together in the Colorado mountains.

Always good to catch up.

Our youngest nephew who Daddy very fittingly nicknamed Jelly!

Lots of relays with lots of littles!

Jujitsu lessons with Uncle Scott. We just know this will help the Bowers men wrestle more gently. :)

Cousin Pyramid. Very nice.

Family hike! Soo beautiful.

Worth every step. :)

Time in the kitchen with our very own Manee (my Mom!).

Every boy just needs a good dog! Crockett adopted Chloe for the week.

Jumping local waterfalls. Part of the series called 

"Things Parents Hear AFTER The Fact That Probably Would Have Been Vetoed." :)

Marvelous dynamics of cousin conversations! :)

  Having Uncle Dave at the grill is kind of like knowing it's almost your birthday!

Just...The Best!!

Loved our time talking, talking, talking and trying out amazing new recipes.

 More Jujitsu. Rarely do we see Charlie at the bottom of any pile. Ha. :)

 Dad will be 80 in several years but you'd NEVER know it.  

Guys had a great time working out.  

Bouldering with Uncle Dave.

Men's Meeting in honor of Declan's 12th Birthday.

Fellowship of littles! So very fun. :)

Amazing Bible time every morning. 

The Daddies in our families are gifted public speakers, and 

we were so blessed by their wit and wisdom!

More family stories and great conversations after supper!

Loved having my big boys and my little brothers (ha!) all in one place.

The Lord also provided a stop at the Grand Canyon. 

We are so thankful Daddy was able to hike this with us. 

What a special blessing!

Praise the Lord we managed to stay AHEAD of the pack mules. :)

Absolutely stunning! 

The magnitude of God's power and design here is truly phenomenal.

That is entirely TOOOOO close for any boy and any squirrel. Ever!! 

 Lecture on plague spreading species. Immediately. :)

Where four states come together! Hot, hot, HOT. Whew.
Omitted the sticky picture of us all melting together. :) 

Happy dinner on Route 66 before heading home to Alabama.
One of our last hurrahs with the Aunts and Uncles was roller skating. Carver decided to catch a frisbee while on wheels. (!!) Since he's taking most of our pictures and was at the emergency room getting x-rays, his sling is the only proof we have of the party. :)

Christian. Goodness. You're only 14! What on earth did you DO? :)

Why we fly Southwest! Cockpit tours and button pushing. Yes!

Interestingly, all the Bowers claim to pack light. Ha! :)

Grateful to the Lord for a wonderful time together 

and for sweet fellowship with family we love and miss very much.

Wallace Bradford and Jubilee Katherine!

Jubilee Katherine

The Double Cousins

Wallace Bradford

Double Delivery!

Our four big boys arrived in Iowa Saturday night to move things out of the farmhouse. 

It miraculously sold in 18 days, 

and when the buyers asked for a mid-July closing, we realized 

God's absolutely perfect timing coordinated with the due dates! So grateful. 

On Sunday morning, Lina was on her porch, breathing through some good contractions (hallelujah!) and finding her focal point. At this time it was a little green cornstalk in the field. Very Lina. :) We all got ready for church, thrilled that we were getting closer to labor, and kept about ten phones handy JUST IN CASE!! Cass, Josh, and the rest of us went to church and had a wonderful time catching up with everybody.

 Sunday afternoon the boys and my Mom were organizing at the farmhouse and I really felt like I needed to get back over to Kalona. I checked on Carolina but all was quiet. No answer on phones. Napping, thought I. 

When I went Cassidy's house her "minor twinges" were long. Painful. Three minutes apart. Had been since lunch. Knowing the hospital was 50 minutes away, we called Josh, who called Carson to see if he would take his place doing farm chores. 

And Carson was...well....already on his way to the hospital. Going quite fast. 

 In the wake of the small flurry to get out the door, this thought: 

They are ALL going down the same road. To the SAME hospital. They have the SAME midwife (this ought to be quite interesting!) and possibly COULD have these babies on the SAME day. Oh. Wow. 

So I jumped in the truck for the longest trek of my entire LIFE, praying all the way like a maniac Granny and practicing utmost patience with the Sunday afternooners driving VERY methodically through Iowa.

 First Carson flies by them. Then Joshua. Then Mother. 

Can you picture this? :)

When I got there Carolina was pushing and had gone straight from the parking lot to delivery. Carson very sweetly let me join them and at 6 pm, about 20 minutes later...glorious, glorious, GLORIOUS! 

 Jubilee Katherine Bontrager arrived!

6 lbs, 12oz...20 inches long

Hallelujah!! So tiny and precious and perfect and delicate! 

Jubilee is a celebration of life, and Katherine is for her lovely Momma.

Since Josh and Cass figured outside the hospital was close enough for help if things really went fast, they parked and walked. And walked. 

And visited dear Baby Jubilee. And checked in. 

And they were given the room right next door to Carson and Lina. :) 

If I was a writer like our dear Josh I would think of some word beyond HEROIC to describe Cassidy, but that pretty much sums it up. The stroke of midnight came and went, and at that point I'm not sure any of us remembered the charming idea of a shared birthday. But the Lord was ever faithful to provide encouragement and good counsel from the midwife

 and a slight change of course that helped Cassidy immensely.

At the most wonderful 6am that ever was,

Wallace Bradford Bontrager arrived! 

8 lbs, 1oz...20 inches long

Named for William Wallace and William Bradford, he spent his first 30 minutes of life in the free world observing all of us observing him. Not sure if he was planning a battle or a sermon, but he seemed to approve. Whew! :)

We PRAISE THE LORD for such magnificent answers to prayer, for the blessings of family and children, for the perfect timing of everything, and for giving us these precious, precious souls to love and raise for Him.  Mommies and babies are home and happy and adjusting to "the new normal" well. 

I love this time that Curtis has given me to be here with our girls!  

Racing between houses and darling babies with recovery remedies and BIRTHDAY PRESENTS (now that we know where to apply the pink and the blue) is the best initiation into Grand Mommy life I could possibly imagine!

So much love and so many prayers! Thank you!!!

More pictures on the way. :)