the bowen family quartet

Charlie popped the question to Sarah on Saturday. Naturally, I called this a long time ago. the doubters and skeptics said it would not happen. All the while, D-Bo believed. It was a fun day surrounded by friends and perfect weather in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Here are some pictures from the day as well as the video I shot and edited.

Charlie and Sarah's Engagement Video (Full Version) from dan bowen on Vimeo.

December has been a pretty good month. Tate and Lyla are getting big and are growing increasingly cuter. Today we celebrated Christmas with the Bowen side of our family, at my grandparents house. The kids were spoiled rotten. Wednesday is our annual Tacky Sweater party so we are gearing up for that. I will post some pictures and video tomorrow from Charlie and Sarah's engagement. Enjoy some pictures and video from the past month.

I got to play some songs at Barley's Christmas party a couple nights ago. Elise sang with me. We played a few Christmas songs and an original song I wrote a year or so ago ("The Brightest Days" - the video is below). It was pretty fun.

It was sort of like watching Fern Gully in space (see below) meets Terminator.

I am starting to get the hang of my new camera. It can be tedious shooting with a DSLR (it's an awkward shape for shooting video) but it allows me to get shots I couldn't otherwise get with another camera. This is part 1 of a Christmas montage that I will continue to add to. This segment features footage from last weekend's Christmas parade in downtown Pleasanton. We (Mel, Tate, and I) watched the parade from the street in the 30 degree weather and then went to the Moog's house and had pizza. Tate and Addie had a light saber battle that Addie ultimately won. It was a fun evening.

Christmas Time (Part 1) from dan bowen on Vimeo.

On Monday I will be shooting a Christmas movie with the help of world reknown actors Alex Rapine, my brother, Deej, Kyle Clark and more. Look for it to hit a web browser near you, by Christmas.

I was feeding Tate lunch today and a football game was on TV in the background. I wasn't really paying attention until I heard this commercial. This is not a joke. This is not from SNL. This is a real drug and the real side affects. I think I would rather keep smoking.

Here is a video from a couple months ago that I made for school. It's ridiculous.

tBen Foster and I went to the bike shop yesterday after church. We had just eaten lunch with some folks (wife, Tate, Lyla, Allison, Charlie, Sarah) and he said he wanted to check out some bikes. Long story short, they were having a crazy sale and I have been saving for a road bike for a while and Mel-Bo gave me the go ahead to purchase it (after we got home). Ben got one too. I am so excited to ride it! Unfortunately it freaking snowed today so that didn't really work out. So here's to tomorrow and the Wildflower Triathlon (May 2 - Olympic Course), which I will be competing in this May (by competing I mean attempting to finish).

Tate loves the vintage fire truck at Uncle Chris and Auntie Ashley's house. It's the first thing he asks about when he finds out we are going to the canyon. Here is the proof.

Here are a couple entertaining videos of Tate that I took right after I got my new camera.

Tate, at 2 years old, is quite possibly one of the funniest and most talkative chaps I know. Here are some of his latest gems...

I sorta miss blogging. As impersonal as it is, I feel it is a bit more intimate than something like Facebook. I suppose a good old fashion face to face conversation is still the way to go though. I go back to work tomorrow after a week off. I enjoy my job but it has been a nice respite to be at home with the fam. We went to Frosty Farms Christmas Tree (place?) in Sebastopol yesterday as you can see below.

First Annual Christmas Tree Cutting from dan bowen on Vimeo.

It was a lot of fun. My family and Mel's enjoyed the experience. Both kids have been fighting sickness and it seems like I have been sick for the month of November. It seems like this because I have. I got antibotics yesterday and am feeling better now, but the illnesses were an unwelcome guest at our first annual tenenbaum slaughter. Life continues to be blessed for us. Mel reluctantly goes back to work on Wednesday. She too enjoys her job as a teacher, but much prefers her job as mommy. Below you will see another video. I wanted to capture the bizarre spectacle that takes place on a regular basis in our home. That would be Tate eating entire tomatoes. Whole. He is the first person (and likely last) I have ever seen do this. Enjoy.

Tate eats a whole tomato from dan bowen on Vimeo.

If you are looking for any good books, Mel and I both read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller (his latest book) last week and loved it. I have already purchased 3 copies to give away as gifts. I bought The Road by Cormac McCarthy on Friday at 8pm and finished it tonight. It was really dark and depressing, but amazing. I can't wait to see the movie. I am in the middle of several books right now (Peace Like a River and Friday Night Lights) but The Road sucked me in (plus I was sick so I had a ton of time on my hands) and took precedence over the other books I was reading. Enough trying to sound smart. Off to bed (yes it's like 9:20!). I will try to be more on top of this blog like the good old days. Christmas pictures and more video coming soon. I love my new camera!