The Bower Generation

Saturday, October 29, 2011

More pics of Blaine as promised!

So here are some of the pictures that I wanted to post on my previous post but realized they weren't on my computer! So here are some special moments from the hospital.

Bonnie and I before delivery

As soon as Blaine was born! This was such a beautiful moment!

Proud Grandparents. You should have seen my poor Dad the whole time. The nurses came in one time during delivery and said that there was some cowboy pacing out in the halls. Daddy is always so worried about his baby girls.

Michelle and my mom. Bubba was giving his new cousin loves! Precious!

Uncle Bryan!

Aunties already fighting over who gets to hold him!

I love being an aunt. I miss this little boy everyday! ps. if you haven't noticed by now he has a full head of dark hair. It is adorable!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Baby Blaine...

There is something miraculous about a baby being born. It's a reminder of how fragile life can be and how delicate a child is in this world. Babies are truly gifts from God. On October 2nd I was able to witness the birth of my nephew Blaine Adam Eakle! Jacob and I were on our way home from our 9 day trip to Idaho and we had stayed overnight in Nevada to make the drive a little shorter. As we got up that morning we realized that we must have left our phone in the car overnight. As soon as Jacob found it he looked at me and said, "you have like 15 missed calls from all your family members". All the sudden tears filled my eyes with the immediate assumption that Bonnie must have went into labor during the night and that she had probably had delivered her baby. I fumbled with the phone desperately to dial my mom's number. As soon as she answered, I said sobbing like a baby.."Mom has Bonnie had her baby....oh mom bonnie had her baby and I was suppose to be there for her." Then my mom cuts in by saying. "Rach, Bonnie probably isn't going to have her baby till this afternoon, you didn't miss it". I wish you could have heard the conversation because I was seriously out of control. Anyways, I looked at Jacob and he knew exactly what we had to do. We got our stuff together and hopped in the car. Can I just say that my husband is a champ. He knowingly drove the 7 hours to Bakersfield knowing he was going to have to turn around and drive 4 more hours back home to San Jose to make it for school on Monday! I love that Man!! As soon as we were on the road to Bakersfield I said a little prayer that God would give me patience to not freak out on anyone or anything because I knew my emotions were high and if I missed being there for the birth of my sisters first baby I was probably going to kill somebody. When we arrived at the hospital I ran into the waiting room with Bubba. The funny thing is everyone looked and me and said, "finally, now Bonnie can have that baby!" Im pretty for sure that deep down Bonnie was holding off until I got there! Because about an hour later the doctors started preparing her for delivery. When I got into the delivery room my mom says to me..." were you beating Jacob, we were all assuming that poor Jacob was getting some sort of abuse the whole way here." Most people that know me know that I am just a little hot headed sometimes, especially when I get panicky or under stress. Lets just say, its something I am working on and no I didn't beat on Jacob! Remember...I prayed! Once Bonnie was fully dialated and the nurses were getting everything ready we all seemed a little frantic and excited. She asked me if I would hold her other leg along side Adam. I must admit that it was much more of a grueling task then I thought, because let me tell you, I wasnt even the one having the baby but I was so exhausted and tired by the end of it all. Bonnie pushed for about an hour and forty five minutes. She had some difficulties during her labor to say the least (Im sure details are not neccessary). But finally that baby boy arrived. Bonnie was amazing! She was so strong throughout the whole delivery! Undoubtedly the best part of the whole thing was when Blaine was pulled out and laid on Bonnie's chest! Every eye in the room was filled with tears. Its like all of the sudden we all felt this rush of emotion. There is no mistake in saying that it is truly a spiritual moment to see a baby come into the world. Its like you can't deny that he came straight from heaven. He was perfect in every way! The experience was magnificently beautiful. Truly undescribable! What a blessing for me to be apart of such a wonderful moment in Bonnie and Adam's lives. Thank you both for letting me be there and thank you God for getting me there in the nick of time!! Without having to kill anybody. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you all the funny part. You cant have any memory in our family without having a funny part right? So we all knew ahead of time that there was no video recording or pictures during the delivery, but after the baby was born we could take as many pictures as we wanted. Well in the midst of all the excitement, right as Blaine was being pulled out we all hear a "click click" and a flashing light coming from my moms corner in the room. Then the nurses yells "no pictures no pictures" I look over to see my mom snapping pictures of Blaine coming out of Bonnies "whoohaa". She got so excited and in the heat of the moment she just started taking pictures. Once she heard the nurse she realized what she had done. We laughed so hard later when mom tried to explain that she didn't even realize what she was doing. When we looked at the pictures when Bonnie came home from the hospital they were by no surprise very graphic. But honestly, it was hilarious. The Cox family never has a dull moment! Now Finally here are what we have you have all been waiting for. Pictures of Little Bubba Blaine... yes people he is a Bubba too... we can't help it. We are country people!

ps. more pictures to come. I realized that I don't have all the pictures from the hospital. So stay tuned.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Bonnie's Baby Shower

I've had a wonderful time for the past month and a half helping my mom plan my sister Bonnie's baby shower. We celebrated it this past weekend and it really turned out beautiful. It was so nice to see all the people that love and support Bonnie! Baby Blaine is so blessed. I have to admit, this project has been a breakthrough moment for me. Most people know that growing up I was quite the tomboy. If it weren't for my mom, I would have been in by boots and overalls with my brother everyday. I played sports and was super active. I can honestly say if it weren't for my sisters being beauticians, I would not only not know how to do my make up or hair, but my nails would have never been painted. Well actually, they still only get painted when I go visit them because they cant hardly bare to look at my unpainted grown out nails. I say all that to say, since I got married over three and a half years ago I have slowly become domesticated starting out with cooking (just because I love to eat) and slowly into more craftier projects such as sewing, decorating, planning, etc. I cant say that I am completely there yet, but I'm working on my girly side a little everyday. Just in case I might be lucky enough some day to have a little girl and God forbid, I just might have to paint her toenails. So here is a glimpse at Bonnie's shower: Here is an overview picture of our back patio. Jessica was in charge of the flower arrangements

This is just tissue paper. Super easy to make Pom Poms!

This raspberry limeade punch was absolutely delish! And super pretty to serve. Recipe by Ree Drummond Pioneer Women.

The Clothesline banner was easy and a cute way to display Blaine's name and sweet baby outfits.

The brunch was so YUMMY! With the help of Aunt Brenda's Steak Wraps and salmon spread, and Grandma's fruit jello and my mom and I's fruit and cheese tray and chicken salad croissants. Makes me hungary even thinking about it. It really looked beautiful on the table.

The desserts were made by Joslynn DeHoog. My mom just bought these cake and cupcake holders at home goods. Aren't they darling?

Party Savors by Mikin McClanahan.

We had such a fun time! Love my family!!

If you want to see all the pictures from the shower check out my facebook! For those of you who didn't believe me about being a tomboy. Well this picture says it all.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Mama Gene... Part 1

For those of you who do not know. My sisters and I have recently came up with a new name for my mother. Well not exactly new, we have been calling her this for quite some time, but we decided it would officially be her "grandma name". You all know she is way to young looking, beautiful and honestly just to much of a unique person to be called just plain old Grandma. So we call her Mama Gene, or Gina, or G, or whatever seems to slip out at the moment. Now I know this post is well overdue, do to the fact that my mothers birthday was well over a week ago and she is probably someone I could write something new about just about everyday. But I will have you know, she has been working my little toosh off and she knows what for, so I will just leave it at that. Let me start out by saying, I know without a shadow of a doubt that this brief compilation of thoughts will barely skim the surface of things that I want, need, and have to say about my mother. But I have to start somewhere right? Thats why its titled "Part 1". First and foremost I want to say a few things about my mother and the kind of person she is in general (this is the mushy part). Outside of being a wife and mother, my mom works at the Bakersfield pregnancy center. She has dedicated her time, passion and talents to so many young women for the past 10+ years (a wild guess). Honestly, I believe this says a lot about her heart and the true charity and love that she expresses on a daily basis to so many young women who are in need of an ear to listen, a helping hand, a mentor, a friend. I cant even grasp the amount of lives she has touched by her desire to serve. Compassion is actually a very accurate word to describe my mother. She has such a desire to serve other people. A true attribute of our Savior Jesus Christ. My mother, outside of her service for others, was and still is, foremost a wife and a mother. This is her true passion and love. She has made many sacrifices over the years. From volleyball games, car races, to wedding planner. She has done it all, to say the least. I'm sure my mom had her moments of struggles over the years. She stood strong as the keeper of our home, as the matriarch of our family. She has held our family together at times when it seemed like each member was holding on by a thread. Her fervent prayers, steadfast love and devotion to her family has proven itself time and time again as our family reaps the blessings of her planted seeds. Now obviously I could go on and on about my dear mama and I honestly don't believe there is ever going to be a time where a feel like I have expressed my full love and gratitude towards my mother. But here is one thing I do know. My mother always tried her hardest, put God first, loved as Christ loved, and loved each of us despite our circumstance. She is my example, and if I try just a little bit every day to be like her, I know I will be better for it! Wow.. that felt good. I've needed to say all of that for quite sometime. Now.. despite my mother being all of those fabulous things that I mentioned above. Can I just say.... YOUR STILL OCD MOM.. there is no denying it. One thing my mom definitely is, is a perfectionist. Growing up the towels had to be facing a certain way when we put them in the cabinet (no one ever saw those towels but us). Outside oleander bushes were trimmed to perfection along with washed windows and no streaks on any surface EVER. But one thing is true. We all know how to work and she knows how to make things turn out just as they should be....perfect!! Ok mama..don't you be mad at me. But you know I tell it like it is and well honestly, deep down, we all kind of like it! Love you MOM

Isn't she just beautiful?

Friday, August 12, 2011

Poppy

Per my mother's request I decided that I wanted to blog about our dog Poppy that pasted away 2 weekends ago when I was in Bakersfield visiting. Let me start by saying this dog was given to us by the Robinson family (Stevi and Dani) probably about 11 years ago. They told us she needed a big back yard to roam around in and our Cox farm is always an "open yard" when it comes to dogs. We have never bought a dog ever! They have always either just came up to our yard or been given to us. I guess that goes for the saying "you don't choose the dog, the dog chooses you". Anyways, the Robinsons are big baseball fans so they had named her Dodger, but for some reason when we brought that city dog out to the farm, that name just didn't seem to fit her (or it could have been the fact that my parents are not huge sports fans). Either way we decided we couldn't call her by that. So for the longest time we just called her "puppy dog". Well, knowing the Cox family, we of course have to give every person and animal about fifty nicknames, but for some reason "Poppy" seemed to stick. Now if you have ever seen Poppy you would immedietly notice that she is a little on the "scary side". She sort of looks like a black wolf, just not as big. She had these glowing yellow eyes and a full coat of long black hair. My parents always considered her as a sort of guard dog because most people that came out to the house for the first time, were a little hesitant about getting out of there car. I think the Cooligan guy always made sure to bring treats, just in case. Poppy came at a time when most of us kids were older. I was in junior high and my sisters in high school. Im sure we didnt appreciate her as much as we should have because we were busy trying to be teens. However, for my parents she was a special dog, a guardian, a friend.

Most people know that the dogs out at the farm are given no special treatment besides a few leftovers every now and again. They roam around like free dogs catching rabbits, gophers, mice and squirrels. They have to defend themselves from coyotes or any other preditors. Im sure its the closest thing to heaven for a dog. They arent cooped up in a yard and have an endless supply of dog food that they can munch on at there leisure through out the day. Now when it came to Poppy she was just a quiet dog. I honestly dont remember her ever barking at all (that would be Scooter that did all the barking). She was always rubbing on peoples legs to be petted. We always use to tell her to go away, because she would shed her long black hair all over you. Needless to say she was a good dog, who loved her owners. Now Im sure this isnt really anything of a special sort of dog story. Im pretty sure she never saved someone from drowning or getting attacked by some ferocious animal, but she was indeed special. Especially to my parents.

Well when I was in town for the family reunion two weekends ago we had been noticing that she had been breathing very heavy, but it didnt seem to out of the norm because she had been doing that for a the past few months, but on Sunday morning we knew that she was different. She just couldnt seem to catch her breath. We all knew that it was her time to go, yet we were so thankful that God let it be on a day we would always remember. The day of our family reunion. We watched her curl up in her favorite spot on the back porch. We knew we had to leave and by the time we came back she would have passed. My parents Im sure said there good bye in their own quite way. I didnt realize how sad her death would be until I saw the tears in both my parents eyes. They loved her, she was their dog, their protector for the past 11 years. We came back that afternoon from our reunion. My dad and Adam buried her at the back of the property. We all unexpectedly cried. Floods of emotion came to all of us as we all looked back at the length of time she had been at our home. She was a good dog, a loyal dog. Anyways, not to make this into a sob story, but I think I realized how much dogs really mean so much to their owners and how they truly become part of your family. So here is a little memorial for our Poppy dog that we had for 11 years.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Typical of my mother, she made my dad say a little prayer that they would get a new dog. And wouldnt you know but a few days later. Look what showed up in the yard!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Weekend with Lexican...and muffin Bread?

This past weekend one of my best friends Miss Lexi Watson aka. Lexican came to visit me in good ole Campbell. This is another example of a friend that I totally do not deserve but I'm not going to complain. She is seriously AMAZING!!! You can always count on Lexi making you laugh, putting a smile on your face and always being 100% herself! She is definitly one of the realist people I know (if that makes sense). Probably the last time I was any good at volleyball was probably when I played with her. She is the sweetest girl you will ever meet off the court, but this girl is an animal on the court. No lie! I couldn't tell you how many noses she has broke or girls she has hit in the face. Im pretty sure my dad still owes her about 20 Big Macs. Now if you don't know Lexi, She is about six feet tall and has an arm of an NFL quarterback. Man can she kill it. I use to pick fights with girls across the net from me and then turn and look at Lexi and say "Lex hit her in the face". I know, I know I was still a mean kid even in high school. Lexi never let me down. She always had my back. We use to make promises to each other that we would try to make each other look good so that the scouts would be impressed and we would get scholarships. Now that I think of it. Lexi never let anyone down. She was by far one of the best teammates I have ever had, if not the very best. She was never discouraged and she never gave up. I could always count on her to make a play. She was a fighter and man when she played she had fire in her eyes. Ok so now that I have totally relived my glory days of high school volleyball let me just make a point. I LOVE Lexi. Something about having a chemistry and bond on the court progressed into a friendship that has no limits and has stood the test of time.

So now that you all know how much I really love Lexi, you can understand that we had a complete blast this weekend laughing and reminiscing on old times. We hung out with little Bubba, went shopping, went to the beach, cooked dinner and made bread...Well we kind of made bread. Lexi tried some of my home made bread and decided she wanted to learn. So we started baking and for some reason just about everything went wrong. Lets just say.. when we ate the final product it was more like the texture of a muffin but in the shape of bread. So Lexi named it "muffin bread". I promised her I would reconstruct the recipe so that she could make it at home. So I will include at the bottom of this post the "Not so Muffin Bread" recipe.

Last but definitely no least, I am so excited to congratulate Lexi and Clay on their engagement. I am so happy for them both and wish them a lifetime of happiness. ps.. CLAY- your fiance is one heck of a catch and Bad A**!! Love you both!

(Not muffin Bread)
Whole Wheat Bread

place in a measuring cup:
1/4 cup of Warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 Tablespoon of Yeast (or 1 package)
1 Tablespoon of sugar

Let foam for about 5 minutes

mix in a large bowl:
2 1/2 Cups of Warm tap water
41/2 Cups Wheat flower
1/2 Cup oats
1/2 Cup flax seed
1/2 Cup Sesame seeds
1/4 Cup vital wheat gluten
1 Tablespoon of Salt

Add Yeast mixture to dry ingredients in large bowl, than add:
1/3 Cup oil
1/3 Cup honey

Mix till all of flour is moist, then sprinkle flour on a flat surface and knead for 7-10 minutes adding flour as needed so that it wont stick (usually about 1/2 a Cup is added). Spray two loaf pans or one large loaf pan generously with cooking spray. Divide the bread dough in half and then place in loaf pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place (80 degrees) for one hour. Cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Bread should be hollow sounding when tapped on top.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Cox Family Chaos...

Why is it that when the Cox family gets together you can always expect hormonal rants, anger management therapy (from who else but Mama Gene aka my mom), uncontrollable laughs and after stressful preparation, a wonderful meal. Seriously though, any of you who have ever been over to my parents home during a family gathering know exactly what Im talking about. You've got my mom always trying to psycho analyze everyones every move. There is always a "root" to everything. I have to admit though, most of the time she's usually right on the money, but still, really mom? This trip I learned where the generational anger that my son and I have comes from, "your dad". My dad antagonizes my mother all day long with his repetitive remarks. For example, My dad tried this new recipe of deviled eggs last week. Everyone loved them so he decided he wanted to make them for our Cox family reunion on Sunday. My mother of course, being a little OCD, explains to him that "deviled eggs don't travel well." All she could think about was how those eggs would topple over during the drive and be one big mess. She felt bad for crushing my dads moment so she finally told him that he could make the eggs. So all day on friday and saturday my dad probably mentions the fact that the "eggs don't travel well" more than 20 times, especially when everyone kept complimenting him on how great they were. Completely antagonizing my mom to no end. Honestly, she never gets the fact that if she probably ignored him he would probably leave her alone. But no, she lets him under her skin again and again. I will complete this story in just a few moments, but for the meantime I will continue on explaining the outrageousness of the rest of the Cox family.

Between Jessica,Bonnie, and I there is nothing but obnoxious noises and voices, while always poking fun at one another and everyone else in our family. My abs are always sore when I leave home from all the laughing. Jessica is little miss sassy and oh man she is one feisty girl and you don't want to be in her line of fire. You wouldn't believe such a sweet girl could have such an aggressive side. Actually, I think all of us girls have some major sass. Expect for me, you can minus the sweet side. We all have something we are usually bitching about. Bonnie usually is trying to control poor little bubba from throwing rocks in the pool or keeping him clean. Actually she's usually trying to control just about everything (my mom included, both a little OCD). But thank goodness for her because at least something is always getting done.

Bryan of course is our equal medium of the group. He is so calm and collective. Never says anything dumb (like the rest of us). Of course, he got the smart genes in the family. Drama? what drama? This guy has no drama in his life. Us girls have enough drama to last us a couple life times. I asked my brother this weekend if he was dating anyone. My dad immediately comments "why do you ask him things like that, thats exactly why he never wants to come around you girls. You girls are always prying in his business." To my surprise he actually answered by saying that he wasn't dating anyone really and that he was kind of just taking a break. Of course I continued my interrogation by asking him why. I love this part, he says, "all they want is my money and I am sick of all these girls not having a job. Any girl I date is going to have to have a job." So girls if you want to date my brother, then you better start applying.

Then there is me, I love everyone, but I hit my limit and when all of our family anxiety gets a little to much for me, I explode on whomever is right next to me. Which unfortunately, always seems to be my poor mom or husband. I usually let my child do whatever he wants when he's at my parents hoping that someone else will discipline him so I don't have to. At least thats what they think I do. OK, so I said all that to say, that all of that chaos is truly embellished with nonstop laughter. I mean seriously I never laugh harder or make weird voices or noises or freak out as much as I do then when I am at home. I know that no matter what, I have my family and they are always there for me and no one has my back like my family does. We have gone through our family struggles but we are so much closer and stronger through each bump in the road. I love my family and feel blessed everyday to have them in my life. I love how we each have our little quirks and we can always make fun of each other and laugh about it. So in leu of our Cox family reunion this past weekend. There you go!

Alright people, so to finish the egg story. My dad made the eggs, and wouldn't you know that by the time we got to the reunion those eggs were so mangled and gross looking. My dad calls me over and says secretly before my mom sees them, "Rach... my eggs didn't travel so well." I laughed so hard and of course my mom finds out and is holding her head up high like she had just one a battle. Well you know what? Every single one of those gross looking eggs were eaten. That made my dad so proud. So in the end I guess you could say they both won! But once again another example of the fun and chaotic moments in the Cox household!

Also during the family reunion my grandma gave me my childhood baby doll to me after she had sewn her back together. Its been 11 years or so since I've seen this baby doll. I had asked my grandma if she could fix her for me before they moved to Arkansas. She found her recently and fixed her right up. It was a super cute moment to share with my grandma!

another photo from the reunion. I guess you could call them kissing cousins haha