) ( ) Good Morning Family! .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . \| |// ...and we even have decaf, | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! \ / ------ Today's topics include: 1. Welcome to new cousins 2. Promoting the Homestead 3. Happy Mother's Day! If you've been with the family [the BOWER-L list] for at least three weeks, you'll probably want to skip the following paragraphÂ… TO OUR NEWEST COUSINS ~~ On behalf of the entire family, I'd like to extend a most hearty welcome to those cousins who came into the family fold this past week. We are very glad to have you with us and hope you'll stay and remain a part of our online family. As soon as you're comfortable with us and the list, please send in your Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur lines so we can all see how we're related to you. We do not have a fancy format for sending in records or queries to the list. Post as many as you wish! If the data has anything to do with Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur lines or any of the variant spellings that might help someone, please feel free to post it. Every scrap of information is appreciated. If you haven't visited the homesite of this list yet, you are encouraged to do so. The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits to join us all in welcoming you into the family at <http://www.crosswinds.net/~bowerhomestead>. PROMOTING THE HOMESTEAD I need your help, family. With the move from GeoCities, everyone's links from their sites back to the Homestead are wrong. I spent a great deal of time this week just looking for sites that had our Homestead GeoCities link. I didn't get them all. Will you please, when you're surfing or just looking around, keep the Homestead in mind and see if the site you're at has the correct link for our home? If we're to keep the amount of traffic going to the Homestead that we normally have, those links have got to be located and changed. In case you're wondering - yes, I've already notified Cyndi's List and re-registered us with the search engines - about 125 of them. I've also been struggling to get our "name" back at the World Wide Top 100 site, but I'm not doing too well on this issue. Again, I need your help. When you go to the front page at the Homestead, in the top right corner is a square logo [World Wide Top 100 Genealogy]. You'll vote for us if you will click on that logo and go to the site. Especially after the move, we need people to see our banner again. This voting issue is a daily thing cousins. Please, won't you vote for our site everyday and keep our name in the top 10-15 sites? Promoting our home [our data] helps all of us. If you have any suggestions on additional steps we can take to spread the word about us, please let me know. MOTHER'S DAY DEDICATION I'd like to share a poem with you and dedicate it to each of the mothers in our family: When God set the world in place, When He hung the stars up in space, When He made the land and the sea, Then He made you and me. He sat back and saw all that was good, He saw things to be as they should. Just one more blessing He had in store; He created a mother, but whatever for? He knew a mother would have a special place To shine His reflection on her child's face. A mother will walk the extra mile Just to see her children smile. She'll work her fingers to the bone To make a house into a home. A mother is there to teach and guide, A mother will stay right by your side. She'll be there through your pain and strife, She'll stay constant in your life. A mother will lend a helping hand Until you have the strength to stand. She'll pick you up when you are down, When you need a friend she'll stick around. A mother is one who listens well, Will keep her word; will never tell. A mother never pokes or pries But stands quietly by your side, Giving you the strength you need, Encouraging you to succeed. A mother is one who can be strong When you need someone to lean on. She's more than a mother to you and me; A reflection of Him in her face you see, A love that knows no boundaries. It's good that she chose to be All this and more to you and me. She shared a love that knows no end, She's more than a mother, She's a good friend. Author Unknown Happy Mother's Day to all of us, ladies! We are special! :) Family...it's what we're all about. I really enjoyed this time with you. I hope your upcoming week is filled with health, productivity, fun, and above all, filled with love. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'