Happy Valentine's Day, 2009

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5&6).

On August 6, 2004, you couldn’t have wrenched the smiles off our faces—Doug and I were in love, we were getting married, and we could barely hear the advice we were given that day. But a few things stuck. Our sealer (the man who married us to each other for forever in the Bountiful temple) quoted the above scripture from Proverbs and advised us to use it as a guide in our marriage.

It helped Doug make the choice to move with me to Logan, UT so I could get my Master’s Degree. It helped me move with Doug to Morgantown, West Virginia for Law School. It helped us feel brave enough for parenthood, and this year, it brought us to Utah.

Doug was accepted as a visiting student at BYU for his last year of law school and this meant several important things for us:
1) We could live by family for an entire year. 2) When our daughter, Lucy Sherree Bowen, was born on October 28, 2008, Isaac was surrounded by family members who loved him and could make the transition fun. 3) Doug and I could attend BYU football games:). And 4) Doug was in a terrific location to interview for jobs.

Because we live in Utah, Doug was able to make several quick interviewing trips to Idaho, and meet again with his future employer at BYU. Doug will be clerking in Pocatello, ID starting this August, and we really believe this couldn’t have happened if we weren’t living here right now.

This Valentine’s season, as you and I treasure our loved ones, we invite you to contemplate the love of our Savior, who lived and died and lived again so that we could have joy forever.

Love,
Tara, Doug, Isaac, and Lucy Bowen