"Blind as I'd become, I used to wonder where You are-

...These days I can't find where You are not!" -mewithoutYou

I'm excited about this. Thanks for setting it up Katie and Andrew! I love you two!
Wow. I just want to apologise for being so out of touch with some of you. While reading the other posts just now, I learned so much that I should have already known if I wanted to consider myself anything of a good cousin.. But in any case, I was very glad to learn all these things.
Right now I'm wandering around LA, I'm in Venice/Santa Monica now. Seeing how the world works. Communing with God. Taking a break from the repetitive, money driven world, the American Dream. It's been an incredible season. I've learned so much, met many fascinating people, thought about things in a way I have never allowed myself to think about them, because my mind was too focused on less important things.
One thing that simply amazes me: how well God has provided for me throughout the course. Just when I am out of money or getting hungry or lonesome, I'll meet another interesting character or find a to-go box full of food.
Like last night my friend Chris introduced me to a guy names Jonas. Crazy Australian. He says, "let's go down and check out ma crib, hey? I found some great sneakahs, ya need some sneakahs main??" So we start walking down the street and he leads us into a parking garage. "Here's my crib!" he exclaims with arms outstretched. It's his stash: a few items-quilt, comforter, suitcase-hidden in a corner behind his mattress. He pulls out the suitcase and starts handing out clothes that he found in garbage bins, and expensive clothes! He gave me some sweet high top Nikes and a really nice tweed sports jacket. I won't be able to hold on to the sneakers for long, I can feel the pain and suffering of the sweat shop they were made in, each time I pull them on. I'll sell them at the Buff Exchange, along with all the other valuable clothes that these rich Californians are always throwing out.
So.. I'm gettin by eh? Anyway, my internet session at the library is about to expire, so I'll have to run, but I will be around as often as I can and I can't wait to hear everything about my lovely cousins' lives! I love you all dearly and can't wait to see you. I simply have to see you all when I'm back in Colorado, so I'm going make sure that happens, because we've been apart far toooooo long.

Peace be with you.

You're doing something great because you're great

I'm so happy that you've got this going. My siblings and I are so blessed to have so many wonderful cousins and memories of good times being together. I have seen how all of you do so well together and it pleases me to no end that you have what we had. I'm just saying that you should treasure this and stay in touch frequently. You're part of a wonderful family and should do everything possible to gain strength and enjoyment from each other.
Lori's girl Abby was born three weeks ago today. What a blessing she is to all of us. In about two weeks, Joshua and Kyleen will have Aidan. We are looking forward to seeing him/them.
I hope to see "all y'all" sometime soon. I don't know when or where that will be, but it will be good, I'm sure.
Enjoy the day God has given you,
Uncle Ron (or, "Grandpabon")

Wendys life

Hey cousins I am so excited about this blog. This is such a fun way to keep in touch. Where do I start??? Junior and I ave been married for 10 years this May. We have four very active children. We live about 17 miles east of Eads, which is farther away from the middle of no where. Junior has a very good job with the local Hog farm, Heritage Farms, as the head of environmental services. I am currently working at the local hospital as the night shift supervisor, however on April 1st I am changing to a Home Health nurse. I am excited to be working normal hours and have weekends and most holidays off. I wonder if I will like going from an ER nurse to the more relaxed environment of Home Health. It is going to be a HUGE change but I really think I am at a place in life where I am ready for a low stress, family friendly career. Abbie our oldest will turn 13 this October. Abbie is into everything from sports to 4-H, She attends Eads middle school. Abbie has also been square dancing since she was in Kindergarten and Is getting ready for the big revue this next weekend. Trey is going to be 10 this November . He loves anything outside. He can often be found just sitting in some bushes with his bee bee gun waiting for the unexpected rabbit or bird. Last year he studied hard and passed his hunters safety. His father is also an avid hunter and the two of them can spend hours and even days away from home on their many hunting trips. Trey also has been square dancing since Kindergarten. Currently he is trying out his skills on the basketball court on a youth league every weekend. Baseball and softball are Trey and Abbie's favorite activities during the summer with games every week night except Thursday we are always on the go . Cade will be 5 on April 12th. He will play t-ball for the second year this summer. Right now Cade is in preschool and will go for another year. I am not going to start him in kindergarten until 2010. He is just so small and still falls asleep during class and I just think he needs another year to prepare. He, like Trey, enjoys the outdoors. The baby, Madison is growing way to fast, she will be 4 this august. She has flaming red hair and the temper that often comes with being a red head. Currently Madison is into being a prissy little girl. She is so different than Abbie she loves to play dress up where Abbie would rather play with trucks in the dirt. Well I think that about sums up our family in a nut shell. It was great to read the posted blogs, keep them coming!!!!! Wendy

Random acts of Emily

First of all, I've gotta say I'm psyched about this idea. You Bontrager cousins are some of my favorite people ever and I'm excited that we get to start keeping in touch better. Hooray for cousins!

And now, about me:
For 8ish more weeks I'm going to UCCS. Then I'm graduating with a degree in Spanish. I'm pretty psyched about being finished, but also a little terrified about having to be a grown-up and get a real job and all. But for now the plan is to try and get a job teaching high school Spanish. I didn't go for my teaching license, though, so I'll have to see if a charter school or private school will take a chance on me. If not, I might just move to Mexico and teach English there.

For now, though, I'm working at the Language Technology Center at school. It sounds a lot more important than it really is, because although I'm being paid lots of money to basically be a Spanish tutor, I mostly sit at my gigantic desk pretending to do homework, but really just wasting all my time online. Occasionally, though, I actually get to help people with their Spanish or lead a Spanish conversation table that we do each week. And I actually like it a lot. It's nice to have a job that relates to my major.

I think that's about all. School and work don't leave me much time for a life, so those are all the juicy details for now.

Hearts!
Emily

absorbant and yellow and porous is he!

welp. here i am, still in scenic downtown colorado springs. i used to have a nice job doing technical support for the united states postal service, but it was a temp-to-hire position, and the to-hire part didn't end up happening. so i spent a month without gainful employment, and now i'm fitting tuxedos at Bridal Elegance & Gentlemen's Choice! oh, and also keeping my eyes & ears open for something better suited to my particular skill set.

daniella and i have now been together for just a few days over 19 months, and her kids, connor (5) and sile (4), are totally awesome! i watch a lot of cartoons with them, particularly spongebob squarepants. connor loves star wars, indiana jones, dragons, dinosaurs, and not eating vegetables. sile is all about some hello kitty, unicorns, disney princesses, and whatever's girly.

despite only working part-time, it's been hard to keep up with my reading, but one of these days i'm going to re-read the deathly hallows. my favorite band, like, evah, is the Arcade Fire, who i got to see last september at red rocks. in november, daniella took me to charleston, her hometown, where we saw final fantasy in concert, and chances are, it was the best show i'll ever see!

so to sum up, or something, things are going well and can only get going weller! here's hoping i actually make it to bontrager christmas 2008!

Katie's life so far...

Chris, Gretchen and I live in Glenwood Springs. For you Texans and Arkansasians, that's about 3 hours west of Denver, on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide. Chris was born and raised here, and nearly all of his family are close by, which is great. I think it is pretty cool that we live here, besides it being a great place to live, since The VanTassels used to live in the same area. In fact, I am a Labor and Delivery nurse at the same hospital where Lucas and Jared were born, and frequently work with the doctor that delivered them, Dr. O'Donnell. Work is just one area of my life that has changed dramatically since Gretchen was born 1/5/07. I stopped working full-time to be a stay-at-home mom, which I love, but I still work about 2-3 times a month. We love to travel, and have been to Europe, Costa Rica and Belize. Chris's job occasionally takes him to cool places like China and Israel, and there may be a potential trip to Greece or Italy coming up. Oh yeah, Chris's job. He is vice-president of business for a construction company. What else...there is great skiing around here, so we love doing that as well, although once again, something we haven't done much since Gretchen came along. Meg and Ben and I went together during their spring break, which was a blast! I am involved in a moms' group, MOPS, and really enjoy getting to meet and hang out with other moms through that. It meets at our church, Mountain View. I'll try to post some photos soon! Can't wait to hear all about the rest of you!

let's do it to it. let's get this party started.

okay! everyone who knows about this should, by now, have gotten an invitation in their e-mail, inviting them to join the blog as an author. all you'll have to do is follow the link in the message, create a user name & account (even easier than it sounds, especially if you're into the whole gmail thing), and start bloggin'!

i'm looking forward to hearing from all o'y'all!

Inaugural Post

Hello cousins!!
Welcome to theamosblogtragers! (Thanks to Andy for the ingenious name!) I have had fun getting it all set up and can't wait for each of you to post. Please keep in mind that some of us are really out of touch, and include as many details as you can about your life. Feel free to let those creative juices flow in what you post - photos, artwork, profound thoughts, photos, jokes, links to cool sites, photos, interesting movies you've seen or books you've read, whatev. If you're not sure how to do something, the site "Help" page is really great, even if you're computer illiterate. Or, ask me, or Andy, who is a pro at this! If you have news or updates about a family member and they haven't posted it, please update the blog yourself. And of course, share the site with friends if you'd like to, or spouses/boyfriends/girlfriends who are trying to figure out who everyone is! And most importantly, have fun!