Bowen is 17

Happy birthday, Bowen!

A Parade for Your Bday

This kid is 19 years old! How did that happen? The missionaries got to walk in the parade in Mapleton, and a friend of ours from Page who lives there now spotted Corbin. She ran up to him and asked him if he was Elder Ross. Haha! He was a good sport, and he looks better than ever! Happy birthday, Corbin!

Turning 21

This young man doesn't like to get his picture taken very often even though he is so handsome! Drake has turned 21! I still look at him and see this little boy sometimes. And then I stop and reflect on all the growth he has made in his 21 years. Wow! Happy birthday, Drake!

Epic State Track Meet

The AZ State Track Meet has been nothing short of EPIC! We spent two days in the sun at MCC watching our Sand Devils kill it. We are so proud of them, and especially Bowen!

We started out with a huge win in the 4x800. Bowen and his teammates set a new school record in 8:04. Bowen ran the anchor leg as he got the handoff with a good lead. It was thrilling as the kid in second came barreling down the track like a freight train behind him. He was actually the fastest 800 meter runner in the state coming into the meet. Bowen pulled out all the stops and held him off with a split time that was a PR for him in the 800.

Next up was the 3200 meters. This was after the sun had set, so it was a little cooler. That was nice. Bowen rocked it again and sailed in with the win with a nice lead over the field. With that win, he managed something that Theo never did, get two first place finishes in one state track meet. On day two, Bowen did it again in the 1600 meters. It all seemed a little surreal. He has worked so hard and made such great strides (literally) this year. It is wonderful to see him enjoy it all. 3 STATE TITLES!

Prom

While I was enjoying a footloose and fancy free weekend in NYC with my girls, this guy has a glamorous night at the Prom with his lovely date Sara. Of course, with no mom there, the pictures are few and far between, but don't they look great?

NYC Girls' Trip

In April, I got to sneak away for a whirlwind tour of NYC with these babes! We did it all, ice skating at Rockefeller Center, the World Trade Center Memorial, Central Park, Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Tiffany's, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Wicked on Broadway. There was lots of food and laughter and walking and subways. Oh how I love these ladies!

Rex is 15

Crushing it in Chandler

The Nike Chandler Rotary Track Meet is a very prestigous event held over two days, and you have to run qualifying times to even be able to race. Bowen was able to get into the elite 3200 Meter race that was on Saturday night. We went down on Friday to watch other Page kids compete in their events, but by the time Bowen was ready to race, they had all gone back to Page. Tim has also been very involved in Bo's training this season, and since he couldn't be there in person to watch, he asked if we would go Live on Facebook. I did the best I could to watch the race and film at the same time, always tricky. Bowen had an absolute breakout performace winning the race in 9:10. He beat New Mexico State champion and Nike National finalist Kashon Harrison in the final 300 meters in a thrilling personal best finish. We are so proud of this kid!

Wings Training Camp

Bowen has been selected to run for Wings of America in the national cross country championship in February. This is a team comprised of Native American kids from all over the country. He was selected because of his great performances in cross country this year. As a part of preparing for the race, the kids were all invited to participate in a training camp for a week over Christmas break in Albequerque. The director for Wings is a guy named Dustin Martin. Dustin was actually a high school runner on the Wings team when Theo was the coach many years ago. We got to travel with him and his teammates to New York for their race. What a great memory, and a fun connection. Bowen's teammates came from mostly the southwest, and he made some new friends during the week. We are looking forward to an exciting race experience in February in Florida.

Corbin Calls

Corbin has been in the mission field for just a little over three months. I have missed him fiercely! We got to chat for about an hour using Facebook. He looks fantastic and sounds like he is really getting settled into his work. Just like with Drake, this was the very best part of our Christmas celebration.

Christmas Eve 2017

A few days before Christmas, Donny and his family came for a visit. Donny has been working as a contractor over in Kuwait since April, and he is on leave for a month. We spent our Christmas Eve with them, Tim's family, and Grandma and Grandpa Martin having dinner and making little gingerbread houses. We love being able to spend time with our loved ones.

We LOVE Missionaries

We try to have the missionaries in our home as often as possible to feed them and listen to their messages. We are also grateful for the people that are listening to the messages from our missionary.

Thankful for Rosses

This year we decided to do our Ross reunion at Thanksgiving rather than in the summer. We rented a big house up in the hills of Sandy so we could all be together under one roof. We did some fun outings for things like laser tag, and the lights on Temple Square, and we cooked out Thanksgiving dinner as a group effort. I am sure thankful for these people that I get to call family!

AZ State Four-peat!

Bowen was the favorite this year to win the Arizona state cross-country title. He has had a fantastic season and has run very strong all season long. The team as a whole was also looking great, and we were pretty confident that things would go our way on the day of the big race.

Bowen ran a good race coming in at 16:20 for third place. The boys pulled off an amazing team victory with three runners in the top five. This is the fourth year in a row that the Sand Devils have come out on top. Bowen was a little disappointed that he didn't get the individual title, but he has emerged as such a great leader for his team. He has grown by leaps and bounds this year, and we are so proud of him and his accomplishments!