Zoo Day with Aunt Amy and Uncle Larry

While we have lived here, we have sort of adopted my mom's sister and her husband as surrogate grandparents. One Friday in July, they treated us to a zoo day on their grandparents' pass. We love the Hogle Zoo and the kids enjoyed the day.

Jordan Thomas Fowles 1/25/1975-7/9/2014

On July 9th, it was late afternoon.  Corey had gone to a work meeting, the four older kids had gone to the park, and the babies were just up from their naps.  I was sitting at my computer uploading pictures from our recent family reunion and blogging about kids growing up too fast on my other blog.  That's when I got a phone call from my parents informing me that my oldest brother had been in a car accident early that morning and had tragically passed away.  I was devastated.

The funeral was set up for the following Tuesday (July 15th) in Northern California, which was where he lived.  He was buried in Salt Lake City.  We drove out to Northern California, taking the trip over a few days.  We first drove to Elko, NV and stayed with our friends, the Nordstroms.  Then we drove on to Lodi, CA and stayed with my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Neil.  Then we drove down to San Jose the next day.  We stayed with Corey's sister Traci and her husband in San Jose and attended the funeral there.  We left straight from the funeral and drove to Reno and stayed the night and then we drove home the next day.

We caravaned with Adam and Eve and Austin and Paige and Aaron and Kaori when we drove from Reno to SLC.  We stopped at a McDonald's somewhere in Northern Nevada for lunch.

The burial was in the Salt Lake City Cemetery on Friday, July 18th.  We had a "Celebration of Life" that evening at a ward building in SLC where an old friend of Jordan's was in the stake presidency and allowed us use of the building.

Here is his obituary:

*picture taken at the Family Reunion of Jordan and nephew Alex (Adam's oldest)

Jordan Thomas Fowles by John Fowles

Jordan Fowles of San Jose, California, tragically died in a single vehicle car accident on July 9, 2014.  He leaves behind six children whom he adored: Peter, Leah, Hannah, Matthew, Emmeline, and Elizabeth Fowles, and their mother Andrea Clavin Fowles.  He is also survived by parents Carl Steven and Martha Fellows Fowles, younger siblings and their spouses John and Allison Fowles, Jenna and Corey King, Aaron and Kaori Fowles, Adam and Eve Fowles, and Austin and Paige Fowles, as well as 25 nieces and nephews.  

Jordan was born in Mesa, Arizona, and grew up primarily in Richardson, Texas.  He was studious from an early age, excelling in school and collecting experience and knowledge around the world as he served a two-year LDS mission in Leipzig, Germany, studied at Ricks College in Idaho, Brigham Young University in Utah, the University of Vilnius in Lithuania, and obtained Master's Degrees at both Oxford University in England and the University of Michigan, where he also graduated with his law degree in 2004, and, most recently, as a Pilgrim walking The Way of St. James in Spain.  He became a passionate lawyer, practicing as a patent litigator first at Fish & Richardson P.C. in Dallas and Austin, Texas, then at Duan Morris LLP in Houston Texas.  At the time of his death, he was corporate counsel focusing on patent litigation at Google.

Throughout the many stages of his life experiences he became a friend and mentor to many, both professionally and personally.  He was a loving and devoted father, thinking constantly of his children.  He enthusiastically helped others and loved engaging in social and civic endeavors, including Alumni associations, the J.Reuben Clark Law Society, and serving in his Church.  He loved the Gospel of Jesus Christ and provided an example of Christian discipleship to those around him.

Family Reunion Part Three

 

 

On the second day of the Family Reunion, that night we had dinner at Adam and Eve's house.  They hosted a grilled cheese sandwich bar.  Then we had a family meeting where Grandma did a "Family History Minute" and shared the life story of her mom, Helen Richards Fellows.  She gave each grandchild a copy of the story.  Then we had a talent show.  We had talents varying from showcasing origami (Caleb) to balancing (Travis) to art (Leah) to singing (Maggie) to gymnastics (Matthew) and many others.

Family Reunion Part Two

Day Two of the Family Reunion took place at High Point Park in Sandy, just down the street from Adam and Eve.  We had family pictures taken in our matching shirts and then we played a whole bunch of games that Eve came up with.  We finished the games with a Root Beer bottle drinking contest, like we've had in past reunions.  Then we had lunch, courtesy of Jordan--KFC.  After lunch, our family went home.  Others went out and did some fun things. 

The kids really enjoyed playing games with each other.  We also got to hear a "Patriarchal Minute" from my dad, where he talked about the theme of SOAR (Service, Open-mindedness, Attitude, and Righteousness) and then played the song "Fly Like An Eagle" and we all danced around to it. 

I just love getting together with my family!

Family Reunion Part One

Day One of the Fowles Family Reunion took place at our house.  We hosted a dinner BBQ on the 4th of July.  Corey cooked up hamburgers and hot dogs and we had lots of fruit, chips, pasta salad, and s'mores bars for dessert.  The kids ate out on the driveway with each other, running around and playing while the adults got to sit inside and chat.  We also brought out the karaoke machine and let the kids sing some Disney songs and other songs.

Jordan had his kids there with him from San Jose.  Of course, Andrea was not there (did I mention they got divorced last year?), but we were just grateful that he was able to come and have the kids.  Lizzie had broken her leg just a few days before the reunion, so Jordan spent most of the time sitting with her on his lap.

John and Allison came up from Provo with their five kids (including new little baby Danny).  Aaron and Kaori came up from Redondo Beach (LA area) with their three kids.  Adam and Even came over from Sandy with their three kids and Paige and Austin came up from Springville.  My parents drove up from Arizona.

After dinner as it started getting dark, many people left.  Aaron and his family stuck around and Aaron shot off some fireworks that he bought at a fireworks stand.  It was a great 4th of July and opening day of the Fowles family reunion.

Swimming on the Fourth of July

I took the older four kids swimming on the Fourth of July while the younger ones were napping and Corey was home with them.  Our Fowles family reunion started on the Fourth in the evening, so it was just to pass the time until everyone arrived.  It was especially fun because they had the Aqua Zorbs out, the big hamster ball things that Travis, Caleb and Eliza are inside.  Westley didn't want to do it.  But it sure looked like fun! And Eliza is getting to be quite the swimmer.  I'm glad my kids are courageous and not afraid to try new things.  Sure makes going out and doing things with them a whole lot more fun.