Little Monkey

The most recent general conference of the Church was held a couple of weeks ago. The weekend before that, the Church also held the first-ever women's meeting, and all LDS women aged eight and older were invited to attend.

(Yep, I have some catching up to do yet again here on Electric Bassoon.)

At any rate, while the women in the family were attending the women's meeting, Ben, Steve, nine-month-old Christian, and I had a guys' night out together, first enjoying dinner at Sizzler together, then going over to Ben's and Adi's place to watch the Real Salt Lake soccer game.

As a nine-month-old, Christian has a bedtime much earlier than ours, though Ben gave him a bath before putting him down to sleep. His bathrobe resembles a monkey.

Christian's Baby Blessing

My newest nephew, two-month-old Christian Jordan, was blessed in church in his Centerville ward last Sunday by his daddy, my brother Ben.

All of the Plowmans were there, as well as our Sanders cousins and a handful of old friends. After the meeting, we gathered at Ben's and Adi's home for a brunch.

Good times were had by all.

Christian Jordan Arrives

On Thursday, July 11, Ben and Adi welcomed their first child, Christian Jordan Plowman, into their family at 12:46 p.m. at University Hospital in Salt Lake City. He weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, was 20 inches long, and has red hair and blue eyes.

Here is the "before" shot of the parents, taken just five days prior to the birth (following a family movie outing to see Despicable Me 2):

And here is the "after" shot of Christian, taken just yesterday:

I am grateful to have my fifth nephew (of a total of nine nieces and nephews) here safe and sound.

Day 281: Jackson in the (Fake) Pumpkin Patch

One of my favorite photos from Jackson's infancy is that of Kylee holding him at the Pack Pumpkin Farm, in the fall of 2008 when he was just six months old. It is also one of the first photos I posted here on my blog.

Flash forward to today, when Jackson took me outside to show me the (fake) pumpkin patch he and the rest of the family set up outside the other day when I was elsewhere. It's amazing how some things come full circle, isn't it?

Day 212: Little Brother

One of the best parts about living in my basement apartment in Woods Cross is that I get to spend a little bit of time each day, even if it's just for a few minutes, with four of my nieces and nephews. Unbelievably, Jenna (fourth grade) and Luke (first grade) have already begun their new academic year, returning to the classroom last Wednesday, as they are part of a year-round curriculum at their elementary school.

Nearly five-month-old Jacob is, of course, among those four great kids, and it's great to sit back and watch him take in the world around him with wide-eyed wonder. It's also not uncommon to see, most every day, something like the above picture: Kira and Luke fawning over the little guy. They sure do love their little brother.

Day 155: Jacob's Baby Blessing

My newest nephew, nearly three-month-old Jacob, was blessed by his father in Dave's and Jessica's Woods Cross ward this morning. Several members of both the Plowman and Woodbury clans showed up for this occasion, and after testimony meeting, we adjourned to their nearby home for brunch.

Mom's family's temple work Friday night + Jacob's baby blessing today + Mom's cherry turnovers and cinnamon rolls at brunch = a great weekend overall for the Plowman clan

Day 128: Two Months Old

Today, my nephew Jacob is two months old.

They grow up so fast, don't they?

Day 85: Meeting Jacob

A few weeks ago, I posted on the birth of my new nephew Jacob, although I was not able to visit him personally due to illness. At today's family dinner, however, I got to see and hold him for the first time.

Yep, the story checks out; he's a cute (and tiny) little bundle. And yes, again, I'm more than a bit biased when it comes to my nieces and nephews.

Here, he is cradled by his Uncle Mike and Grandma Plowman:

Works of Art

For family home evening this past Monday night, we got in touch with an old childhood favorite: drawing with crayons.

I am not nor was I ever a great artist. There was a time, though, when I would doodle and draw during much of my spare time (and sometimes during class). I created one comic book after another in the fifth through eighth grades. (If you think my movies are bizarre, you should have seen the comics.) In my extracurricular junior high art class, I often drew my own interpretations of action shots from Sports Illustrated in pencil.

Well, I don't do that much anymore. But it's still fun to pick up a box of crayons and see what you can come up with.

So, back to Monday night. Each table was first given a minute with which to begin drawing a fairy tale or a nursery rhyme. Then, after the minute was up, we had to pass it to the person to our right, and that person would continue the tale. And so on. Next, we did the same with a story from the scriptures. Here is what the others on the table did with my version of the King Benjamin story from the Book of Mosiah:


I particularly liked the addition of the "Welcome to the Jungle!" quote. Finally, we had five minutes with which to draw a self-portrait. Here is what I came up with:

Note that we had only five minutes to draw this. I realize it's not worthy of the Louvre.

Following FHE, I drove out to LDS Hospital in the Avenues of Salt Lake City to meet my new niece, Kira Nancy, who had been born that afternoon at 3:59 p.m., weighing seven pounds and eight ounces. (Biz was smart enough to bring her camera when she and Jeff came out, and she's got some good pics of Kira on their blog.)

I got to hold Kira for about five minutes, which made the whole trip worthwhile. She is a cute little bundle, as were my other nieces and nephews when they, too, were just six hours old. I look forward to sharing some crayons with her in future days.

Holding a newborn in my arms is always an extremely humbling experience. Each time, it gives me a renewed sense of awe and wonder at the Almighty's power and the infinite love He has for all of His children.

Talk about a work of art.