Baby is here

She is here and she is beautiful. Her name is Avery Hope Bowers. Avery was born on 12/5 at 0817 and she weighed in at 8lbs 2oz. She was 20.5 inches long and hardly makes a noise right now. Hopefully this will not change. Mom is doing well and is only a little sore. I think she looks like her mother for the most part, but has my nose. God help her that she doesn't take on any more of my traits. Sorry this took so long, but we just got out of the hospital and we have had visitors all weekend long. I am so excited to watch her grow. Maddie is already wanting to hold her constantly. Well, I have ranted for a while now, and must continue informing people. So, I leave you all with this statement. She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.
Love You all
Jesse, Heather, Avery Bowers and Maddie

Hey Jesse,

Only a few weeks to go! We'll be waiting for news of Avery's arrival!
Tom and I wondered if you guys had made it out to Pierre hunting this year. Tom went antelope hunting the first part of October but that's all he's done so far. I would like some pheasant but will probably have to hit up my brother-in-law again this year for that.
Don, Joanne, Kim, Larry, Carla, Ted and some friends of ours, Susie and Rob Dolezal went to Belize a few weeks ago. Had a blast and plan on going somewhere else in a couple of years! We came back just in time for winter :(
Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Baby coming soon

For those of you that are still looking at this blog site on occasion. Heather and I are getting a lot closer to the due date. We will be having the C-section on the 5th of Dec. Thankfully missing most of the hunting season. I am getting really excited. I still can't believe that they are saying that the baby will be a girl. Me a father of another girl. I will definitely have to be paying attention to the boys in the neighborhood. We have only been readying the room a little bit as the baby will be rooming with Maddie. The name we have picked out for her is Avery Hope.
I will talk with you later.
Jesse

DuWayne

Hey Kerry, Mike and I were just watching movie details on Dish and I think we found DuWayne!! Did you know that "The Rock"s real name is Dwayne Johnson?? Maybe that's who was knocking on your door!! You should've let him in! LOL

Baby gender

Well, yesterday Heather and I went to see the OB doctor and had our ultrasound. Everything looks to be pretty good. The baby is in the 38th percentile for size at the moment. I'm sure she will gain plenty of weight before she is born. She weighs in at 1lb 1 oz. All of the organs are there except one. In case you haven't figured it out, they told us we were having a baby girl. They are only 85% percent certain. However, they focused between the legs for a while and I didn't see that organ that males are famous for. I have to admit, I am slightly disappointed, but not much. I was hoping to even out the hormone levels. Ha. This is what I get for calling her a him for so long. Anyone can submit a name, as Heather and I are still arguing about girl names. I like Avery and she like Marley. I will talk with you later.
Jesse

What a great weekend!

Thank you Mike & Vicki for another wonderful get-together!! I hope you two have gotten some rest. The food was amazing...although I'm not sure there was enough to go around (ha)! The kids all looked like they were having a wonderful time...it's very cool that they get a chance to meet and get to know each other. I can see why Kelso and Faith's kids have such fond memories of spending time at the lake!
If anyone has photos that they would like to share on this blog but aren't sure how to put them on, you can email them to me at kerrypierr@aol.com and I'll get them posted for you.
Again, thanks Mike & Vicki - you're amazing!
P.S. Vicki did you find your monkey balls?
P.S.S. If you see my buddy Duhwane, tell him hi.

Come and Gone

Well, with everything that has been going on lately, I thought that I would say that it was great to see all of you again. I only wish we would have been able to see each other for a little while longer. It always seems to be too short. I know that Maddie and Heather had a good time. Well, Maddie had a great time. I have never seen her so wiped out after a weekend. She slept for 12 hours on Sunday night. I can't wait until we will be able to get together again. Joni, I forgot to get your number so we can get together sometime. You can contact me at 310-0785 or 582-7861. Maybe we can get together and do a grill out night one of these coming weekends in Aug. Give me a call. I will talk with you all later.
Jesse

Extra Guests

Just for anyone who hasn't heard. Dad and Kerry were very generous in extending the offer to Donna (mom) and her mom (Brownie). Brownie remembers when Grandpa Kelso would come over to the house when they lived in SF and would pick up Chuck and my moms little sister Halley and take them for ice cream. It is one of her favorite stories to tell. They are both excited to be able to come to Madison and get to see everyone. Thank you Dad and Kerry! and everyone else that has also been supportive of mom coming. Bailey who is now 9 has no idea how big her family is. This will be a whole new experience for her. She will be getting back from Texas on Tues July 22. I am so looking forward to seeing my little girl. It has become a tradition for her to get to spend time with mom and Eddie in the summers. This summer was especially long since I was in the process of moving and starting a new job and getting the house on the market in Pierre. But things are working out nicely, I love my new job. It has also been really cool to spend time with Carla/Ted and family too. If any one didn't know - Thanks to Carla I was introduced to Mark who happens to be one of Ted's best friends. Bailey really likes Mark as matter of fact if you ask her she will tell you he is the only guy I have dated that she likes. I am extremely excited to see everyone!

Hello EVERYONE!

I wanted to shoot a quick email to say that I love you guys! I won't be coming to the reunion, but I'll keep up with the blogging. And Brandon -- be expecting a phone call soon. And if anyone else wants a phone call from me, you can put your number up.
Josie

Really Excited!!!

This end of the Bowers family is really excited to see everyone again. It's been a long time.... Liz is afraid she doesn't even know her own family! We are gearing up to get ready, it's time to buy groceries and maybe clean my house (OK....I've had a LOT of remodeling projects going on, actually STILL in progress, so I'm a little behind....I have a week, no sweat!!!).

Here's what the plan is as far as we know it. Sounds like most people will arrive at ANY point during the day on Friday, we will have food for whoever shows up, whenever anyone shows up, even those that could be arriving later. We'll do lunches and suppers at our house, breakfast was a hard one as everyone gets up at different times, so we'll probably have rolls, bagels, cereal or something on hand at the house or you can catch breakfast on your own, whatever trips your trigger on that one.

I just found out that Madison Crazy Days are going on that weekend, which you shouldn't get too excited about, the pickings are kind of slim in town anymore but if anyone wants to check it out, Liz's band group is selling fresh squeezed lemonade that is absolutely awesome!!!! That alone might be worth the trip (and will help Liz out in band too!!! LOL).

I have had 3 responses to Kip's request for golf so it looks like you'll at least have a foursome. Jesse, Nick, and Jason have indicated they would love to golf with you!! Are you up to hanging with the young bucks, Kip? I believe there is a tournament in the morning so let me know if there are any time preferences. DON hasn't been responding to my e-mails, I would've thought he would want to golf and maybe one other from his family but..... Our evening meal on Saturday will be around 5:00-5:30 at the house, so I could set something up for the evening too. Maybe I'll let MIKE do this part!! He can't golf, he has been having some back problems, but maybe he could be the Beer Boy or something!!!

We will also have some games available for enjoyment at the house, like bean bag toss, bocci ball, and what Kim (Nick's wife) calls Monkey Balls, I'm not sure what the real name is. We'll get the pool set up for the little ones somewhere where they won't get run over by a bocci ball.... If anyone can think of anything that I'm missing, let me know.

We will see everyone next week - take care, and travel safely! We love you all!!!!

Vicki

I commented on Joni's posting, but didn't know if everyone would go in a look at it. Just wanted everyone to know I heard from David and he will be in Pierre on July 22. He will be here for the reunion. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and having the 8 of us together again.

Excited- Still learning!

Excited to see everyone and meet all the new additions to this large family. Still learning how to blog. So I'm sure you will see things from me all over the place- ha!

Sure looking forward to seeing everyone. Sure do hope our extended family(cousins) makes it too.

Chuck is coming up from Texas, Joni & Mark(significant other), Carla, Ted, Alex, Kat & Stella(great-granddaughter) will be there from Sioux Falls-(yep Joni now lives in Sioux Falls). Dani(Carla's oldest) will be traveling in Europe. Sandi, Katelin & Keith from Washington are flying into Minneapolis, hitting the "MALL" then I will be bringing them to Madison after we spend the night at Don's. Stephanie will still be in Florida with Ty(significant other) so won't make it but Chris will be up for a day from Vermillion(has to work).

Kerry is going over early to help out Vicky and I will be in Minneapolis to pick up Sandi, kids and Chuck on Thursday as that is where he is flying into also.

I am heading off to Wyoming for a week of volunteering at a dinosaur dig with the Black Hills Geological Institute(the people that found "Sue" the T-Rex).

Don & Joanne were here in Pierre for the 4th. Mostly to visit Jamie, Alison & Chloe but Don did manage to spear a 12 3/4 lb. Walleye diving on Lake Oahe-IT WAS HUGE!!!! Beat my biggest by over 2 lbs.

I think I found Uncle Dave!

Uncle Dave is that you??? Looks like you! You gotta be there! Would not be the same without you!

Where art thou, David?

Happy 4th of July!

YEAH!

Don & Joanne are confirmed!

Lets all see if we can put some pressure on Dave to come. e-mail him!

We are there! Any body heard from Dave?

Slideshow of Lake Madison - a long time ago!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28173980@N03/show/

Happy to show.

Heather, Maddie and I are excited to come up to hang with the family. For those of you who don't know, Heather and I were married in Oct and are now expecting our first baby. Hope everyone arrives safely.

Woo Hoo

The Tibbetts part of the Bower's clan is so-o-o looking forward to getting together! Can't wait to see everybody! Uncle Mike thanks for getting us all together!

Soon to Come

Can't wait to see everybody. Kim, Hayden and I are looking forward to the festivities.

How Cool! We can keep this up all the time. Can't wait for the reunion. Thanks Mike & Vickie for being such wonderful hosts.

Welcome to the Bowers Family Reunion Blog!

The Bowers Family Reunion is being hosted by Mike & Vicki Bowers
6111 Dakota Ave on beautiful Lake Madison
July 25th - 27th, 2008.

You are welcome to add comments, photos, videos, etc to this family blog. Please share this site with any family members who we may not have email addresses for. We would love to hear from you! Hope to see you in July!

MAP to Mike & Vicki's