McDowell Family

October Part 2

2012-01-12T16:18:00.001-08:00

Tate got to go to his first Cub Scout Day Camp. He loved it! I must say I really do enjoy my calling as a cub scout den mom. I know some moms are not to hip on this calling, but I like it. I get to work with Tate. After a year of this calling I'm starting to understand the cub scout program. The boys are at a great age where no matter what you plan for the activity they think it's awesome. Like last week we learned about keeping the earth clean and we picked up trash around the church - they loved it! Anyways, scouts is awesome and I'm glad Tate thinks so too!

I got real lazy about Halloween costumes this year. I waited until week of to attempt to figure it out. Fortunately for me, Old Navy marks down their costumes BEFORE Halloween, so Joslyn scored a cute butterfly costume for CHEAP! (Did you know SALE and CLEARANCE are my favorite words?)
Tate was insistent that he wanted to be the Luke Skywalker that trains in the swamp because he wanted to wear his Yoda backpack that he got at Disneyland this summer. We came up with what I thought was probably the lamest and most embarrassing costume which consisted of ace bandages, pants 3 sizes too small, and a cut up and spray-painted undershirt. He thought it was great, and asked me repeatedly if I thought he'd win the prize for best costume at the ward party. I'd respond "We'll have to see", but truthfully I was thinking, "Heck no! This is the worst costume ever!" I could not believe it when he actually did win one of the prizes for best costume. He was thrilled! I was shocked, but glad that his silly (expensive) Disneyland souvenir paid off!
We had a fun spooky dinner on Halloween night.
Dad pulls out all the stops for Halloween. Blow-up scary thing. Fog machine. Black lights. Fog bubble machine. Skeletons. Bones. Etc.

So glad grandma Jeanene had a firefighter costume Jack could borrow! He loved that it glowed every time I took a picture.

We had a fun Halloween!

October Part 1

2011-12-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

John and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a cruise up the east coast. We started off with a red-eye flight to New York and tried our best to see the entire city in one day. We did pretty good and saw most of the major touristy stuff, including gigantic rats in the subway!

We attempted to figure out the train/subway system. We did pretty good until we decided to try to use it to get back to our hotel at 1AM. We finally bailed and wound up paying a very shady taxi driver who dropped us off in the middle of the road across the street from our hotel? At least we made it back!
We saw Lady Liberty by riding the Staten Island Ferry out and back. Kinda fun, and free!
We saw all the protesters. What a mess!
This was all we got to see of the 911 memorial. We didn't know we needed tickets for everything else.
We took a pedicab thru central park at dusk. It was so pretty. I'd love to go back during the day.

We walked thru Grand Central Station. AMAZING! And also bought some of the most delicious chocolate cheesecake while we were there.
Of course we saw times square. CRAZINESS!!!
We did Empire State Building at night. The lights were spectacular and I am absolutely positive the building was swaying!!!
Leaving New York heading for New Port Rhode Island.

There were several tall ships in the harbor at New Port. They were so cool.

We visited two of the Vanderbilt mansions in New Port. They were incredible. You could fit our entire house in just the entryway. The design, wood, stone, gold and marble work were absolutely breathtaking! I wouldn't mind living in a house like that!

Our second stop was in Boston. We spent alot of time walking thru faneuil hall. We did a duck tour of the city which showed us cool places by land and by water. Our favorite part of that was the duck whistle they gave us at the end. (cheap thrills, and cheap souvenirs for the kids!) We ate at the Union Oyster House, one of the oldest restaurants in the US and then went at got a cannoli at Modern's pastry.

Our next stop was Bar Harbor Maine. John was especially excited as this area was part of his mission and he hadn't been there since his mission. We rented bikes and rode thru Acadia National Park. It was so beautiful. The leaves were starting to change and all the colors were amazing. It was really fun to bike too. I'd love to do that again!

Then we went for seafood at a restaurant that was right on the water. John opted for a whole lobster and ate just about all of it including an eyeball! I played it safe and had the lobster roll. All very delicious!

Our next two days we stopped in Canada. There wasn't much to do. It was pretty chilly, and it was in the middle of the week, so things were pretty dead. We wandered around some museums and shops and checked out some old ships, and then just went and hung out on our cruise ship.

We had a wonderful trip and have decided we definitely won't be waiting another 8 years to take our next cruise!!

September

2011-11-13T14:04:00.001-08:00

Our Labor Day camping trip was WONDERFUL just as it always is! We added a few new friends and families to our group totaling up to around 60 people. The kids had a blast riding the quads and getting filthy dirty. We all got our fill of yummy food and intense card games. Happy times had by all!

These crazy boys have so much fun together!
Later in the month......

Cute little Jos got sick but still looked adorable sleeping it off.
Joslyn stared tumbling class and LOVES it! I think mostly she loves wearing her tutu!

(the elephant is not part of the class, it's just outside of the studio and she loves to sit on it. Pics of the actual class are forthcoming!)

Tate and Jack are playing soccer again. Tate has really gotten into it and tries so hard to help his team be successful. He goes to school with all of the boys on his team and they have such a good time together.

Jack puts in a decent effort and looks forward to the treats at the end.

Tate's teeth continue to come out. He looks like quite the Tate-O-lantern!

August

2011-11-04T11:36:00.001-07:00

We celebrated grandma Jeanene's birthday with a night at Amazing Jakes with the McDowell clan. Good times were had by all(even dad)!!!

The boys started school. Tate is in 3rd grad with Mrs. Hauskens and Jack is in 1/2 day morning Kindergarten with Mrs. Bornowski. They love their teachers and so do we. We have been really happy with Franklin and are excited for another wonderful year.

Tate is really enjoying cub scouts and was so excited to earn his Bobcat award.

Dad got to paint his face with Bobcat prints.

July

2011-10-28T13:34:00.001-07:00

I know our July was busy. I'm sure we did fun things. We just didn't take any pictures. Oh well!!!

Tate lost his 3rd tooth. He has come to the conclusion that the tooth fairy gives him more money when he pulls it out himself rather than letting mom do it. I have concluded that the tooth fairy must must have been short on cash that night.

Tate loves creating masterpieces with his legos.

Joslyn loves the tub. Even without water.

June part 2 - CALIFORNIA!!!

2011-10-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

John's parents took the entire McDowell family to California for a week at Newport Beach. All 25 of us stayed in one amazing beach house, and we all survived to talk about it!

We had a great time together, with one of the best days being our day at Disneyland.

I LOVE DISNEYLAND!!!!

The kids had a blast!
Joslyn was awestruck by Mickey!

The kids were such troopers even with the long lines and crazy crowds. I've never been to Disneyland on a busier day.

Couldn't pass up the sequin minnie ears!

Jack started fading around 10pm.
By the time the light show started, he had kicked Joslyn out of her stroller and was zonked!
But we were all still smiling at the end of it!
We didn't have the best beach weather (I never even got in. TOO COLD!). But Tate had a great time running in the waves with his cousins. Tate was smart and wore the wet suit.

Family pictures on the beach was quite the three ring circus, but after lots of bribes, several threats and a few tears, we got some decent shots.

We got this awesome mustache out of a candy machine. Somehow we are missing the pics of the boys with theirs, but we were all laughing our heads off!

It was an awesome trip!!

June part 1

2011-10-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

Jack turned 5 HOORAY! We celebrated with family and Jack was sooo happy that Aunt Katie let him help decorate his chocolate snake cake. Jack go some fun gifts including a hand held v-tech video game which he call his "DS" (he thinks it's a nintendo DS, but mom and dad are too cheap to buy him one of those), a crazy remote control car from grammy that lights up and flips over, but his favorite gift was the gum from Joslyn. Simple pleasures! Oh to be 5 again! We love Jack and are so glad he is a part of our family. There is never a dull or quiet moment with Jack around. Some of his favorites at age 5 are:
Colors - red and blue
Foods - hot pockets, cheese pizza and cheese hot dogs
Drink - soda
Dessert - gum
Song - Dwarfs silly song (from Snow White)
Thing to do - play my vtech and watch a movie
Thing to do with dad - go to the movies
Scripture story - David and Goliath
Thing to do at school - go on the swings
Chore - clean the downstairs bathroom
"I like to learn about animals and I want to touch animals. Only the nice animals."
What do you want to be when you grow up? "An astronaut or a ninja"
Where do you want to go on your mission? "Nowhere cuz I don't wanna get married. I'm not going a mission with girls."

Jack and mom went on a birthday lunch date to Red Robin. The chocolate sundae was the best part!

Joslyn got creative with her snack and found the perfect trail for her animal crackers.

More May - Memorial Day

2011-08-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

We love camping!

It seems like at least every other time I post on here, it includes camping pictures. I guess we're just a camping family, and ever since we've had the trailer....I don't mind it a bit!
We love playing with the cousins!

Joslyn loves her Uncle Brent!

We love all the yummy camping food!

We love shooting daddys guns!

We love getting dirty! (mommy loves that there's a shower in the trailer!!)

We love being silly in the trailer, having a reason to wear our warm jammies, and having awesome morning hair!

May

2011-08-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

May was a good month!

I really don't know how it's possible that my little boy is old enough to be baptized! I can't believe it but it's true. Tate was baptized and confirmed by his dad on May 14th. It was a happy day. Most of his aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents were there. Uncle Jason even flew in all the way from Oregon to be there.

We are so proud of Tate and the good decisions he makes each day. He is such a good boy. He is a great helper around the house, and with his brother and sister. He works hard in school and is very smart. He loves going to primary and always is doing really well with his scripture reading. We are so pleased that he chose to follow Christ's example and be baptized.

Grandma Elaine and Papa Milt got him new scriptures for his baptism, and John and I had a scripture case custom made for him. It is engraved leather with a picture of Christ on one side and King Noah and Abinadi on the other. It is soooo cool.

Jack graduated from his second year of preschool. His teacher said he is a very creative boy. Very smart, and a leader. We hope he continues to be a good boy!

He was happy at the beginning of the graduation.

Then it started to get a bit long for him.
His smile wore off pretty quickly.
Then in true Jack fashion he started acting silly.
He was happy again when it was over!
And was so glad to have his brother and sister there to congratulate him.
But this is what he really came for. It was all worth it for the doughnuts!

Tate loved 2nd grade! He had the best teacher ever! He is really going to miss Mr. MacLay, fortunately he just lives around the corner, so Tate can see him whenever he wants. I got to help with his last day of school party, and the kids had a great time playing games outside and eating pizza at their desks.

Jack and Joslyn both took swimming lessons during April and May. They had a love hate relationship with it. Jack got kicked out of the class for his age group and had to swim with the younger kids cuz he was being a chicken and a big baby. He finally braved up toward the end, and can totally swim by himself, but he prefers not to. He knows floaties are much easier!
Joslyn loved the first day, and hated the rest. She did learn to float on her back, swim to the side, and climb out. Hopefully next year will be much better!

April

2011-06-26T18:51:00.001-07:00

Tate the GREAT turned 8!
Some of Tate's favorites at age 8:
color - red, yellow, blue and black
Food - hot pockets
Dessert - vanilla cake
song - You Are My Sunshine
Movie - Star Wars-Attack of the Clones
Things to do - ride bike, watch cartoons, and play legos
Best Friends - Brady & Carson
Tate is such a good boy. He is an awesome big brother. He watches out for his little bro and sis, and is pretty good at playing with them and sharing his things, except for his Legos! Those are so special to him, and he loves creating things. Tate is very tender hearted and shows kindness to everyone. He is an excellent student at school and has a creative mind. He really excels at math and memorization. We are so glad Tate is our sweet boy, and we love him so much.

We celebrated his birthday all weekend starting with a party for his friends on Thursday after school. I told him he could invite whoever he wanted, and he wound up inviting 30 kids! We had about 25 show up. Next year there will definitely be a limited guest list! The kids had a great time playing lego games, building with legos, hitting the pinata, and eating an awesome lego cake that aunt Katie made.

Friday morning Tate got to open his presents, legos (of course!), a lego shirt, and an easy bake oven - he's been wanting one of those for a while now. Maybe he'll be an expert pastry chef like his aunt Katie! He got to go to lunch with his Grammy Elaine - who he shares a birthday with, and then we all went to Red Robin for birthday dinner. What a fun day!

We continued the fun the next morning at the ward Easter egg hunt and breakfast. John made sure Joslyn had all the right strategies for getting the most eggs!

Joslyn and her best buddy Shea.

Sunday was a very nice day. We spent it remembering the wonderful atoning sacrifice of our Savior and being together as a family.
The kids were super excited to see what surprises were in their Easter baskets.

All ready for church.

Smile for grandpa!

Had to finish the day with one more Easter egg hunt at McDowells.

Who said the candy is just for the kids?

March

2011-06-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

Tate had track and field day at school, and I got to go and help. His favorite event was the obstacle course, and he liked getting wet in the water relay too.

Jack loves spending time with his daddy!

Tate got to race in the cub scout pine wood derby even though he wasn't officially 8. They needed an extra car to make the numbers even, so Tate quickly borrowed a car and was ready to go. Everyone laughed because his car was pink, but it wound up being the fastest car! He didn't get the 1st place award though because he didn't actually count. Maybe next year when he's official, we'll paint his car pink and hope for the same good luck!

We took the boys to their first drive in movie. We packed a picnic dinner, stopped at the store for a variety of movie candy, and then settled into the back of the truck. We saw "Mars Needs Moms". It was a pretty good movie, but snuggling with the boys while we watched it was the best! We will definitely do it again!

We went to the dunes with friends and family for spring break, and had a wonderful time! Tate is getting really good on his 3-wheeler and rode it from sun up til sun down. We had a nice relaxing time, and came up with some creative time killers too.
Cutest little dune princess.

What do you do when you get bored at the dunes?
Dig a hole.

See who fits in the hole.

Sit in a box, and wait for someone to drag you around.

See who can squeeze between the legs of a table, and realize you're not as small as you thought.

Cutest 2 year old - EVER!

2011-03-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

I might be biased - but seriously - so so so cute!!!!
Helps to have an amazing photographer. Thanks Ashley!

January & February

2011-03-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

FEBRUARY

Kerby's invited us to their cabin, and introduced us to "Just Dance". We danced our fannies off, and laughed our faces off. It was a blast!

There was no snow when we got there, but we got some pretty nice snowfall for a couple days, and it was more than enough to keep the kids busy!

The princess turned 2!
Aunt Katie made the AWESOME cake and cupcakes. We are so spoiled to have our own personal pastry chef!
The icecream was delicious too!
There was lots of family to help us celebrate, and some pretty fun gifts too!
It's my party - and I'll throw a fit if I want to!
Get me outta here!
Gotta show off my new dress up clothes!
We are so happy to have Joslyn in our family. She definitely keeps things going around here. She's got all of us wrapped around her little finger, her brothers included, and she knows it. She is certainly the princess, and we wouldn't want it any other way!! We love you baby girl!

JANUARY

We spent New Years at the dunes. The pictures look like all of our other dunes pics - dirty kids, and lots of sand, but they're always cute so enjoy again!

Little Miss does NOT appreciate the fact that we have implemented time-out on the stairs.
But she does loved being chauffeured around in her cute pink car.
Marie decided to run another marathon. Why? Because she's CRAZY!
And because she thought the broccoli fields of Yuma would be a nice place to run. Somehow she talked some crazy girlfriends into doing it with her & she was so glad to have Tiffany and Diane there too!
Fortunately she wasn't picked up by any of the work trucks and busses that were coming from Mexico.
Where is mom? She should be here by now?! I was glad my hubby and kiddos were there to support me.
I finished in 4 hours 11 seconds. 20 minutes slower than hoped for, but still decent.
Now that moms done, we get to PLAY!
They had lots of fun activities for the kids after the race.

The benefit of running a small marathon? While not happy with our times, Tiffany and I got first and second place in our age division. WOOT WOOT! We got to stand on the podium and accept our medals and everything. So cool, even if it was Yuma.
I was there too, I should get a medal!

2011......Really??

2011-01-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

I seriously can't believe we're already a whole month into 2011! December started out great and ended up well.....kinda crappy.

Our Disneyland trip was a total bust. We had one day of nice weather in San Diego and got the chance to see Old Town, but by that night the rain started and NEVER STOPPED. We didn't even go to LA. We just stayed the next three days in San Diego, inside. Our biggest excitement was going to the movies one afternoon, and Chuck E Cheese another. On a happy note, the kids played great together, and were completely happy to watch cartoons and color. We are so glad the Mortensens were there to endure the rain with us!

FYI- If you visit San Diego, check out the Mormon Battalion Museum. It is super cool! Plus, who doesn't love panning for gold!?

We had to take a pic of my favorite temple, even if it was raining and freezing!
Doesn't the beach look so much fun? This was our first night, and the beach remained just as miserable. We didn't go back, even though it was a five min walk from our house.

Joslyn got into the fun at Chuck E Cheese

I started feeling sick in CA, and by Christmas Eve I couldn't take it anymore! I went to the Dr so they could tell me I had strep throat and would be spending my Christmas home alone.
John took the kids to my parents for Christmas eve where they had a wonderful dinner and lots of fun gifts. Unfortunately we did not notice that the camera setting got changed and all of the pictures are blurry - oh well.

I did get to watch the kids open up their Christmas PJ's before they went to bed - again, blurry picture.
Christmas morning was wonderful and Santa totally spoiled us. Unfortunately one of us was not feeling so good and forgot to take any pictures. Oops.

John and the kids spent Christmas Day at McDowells where again no pictures were taken, but I'm sure they had a lovely time and I know they received wonderful gifts. I spent Christmas at home, alone, miserable! The day after Christmas Tate got to go to the Dr so they could tell him he had strep throat. Fortunately John, Jack and Joslyn stayed healthy.

The Christmas Loot

Joslyn loves the car that grammy and papa Fort gave her so much. She wouldn't even get out of it while John put it together.

We went to the dunes for New Years. It was freezing cold and windy so we basically had to stay inside the trailer the whole time. Tate did endure the cold to be able to ride his 3 wheeler, but came in often to warm up. I am sooooo thankful for my warm trailer!

Needless to say, I was kinda glad for the new year to come. Things can only get better!!!

Quick Catch-up before Christmas Craziness!!!

2010-12-17T08:16:00.001-08:00

We have had horrible, horrible, computer luck the last few months. We are finally up and running - sort of - we are missing some pictures, having hard drive and sound issues, but we'll get it all figured out eventually. I had to post something before all of the excitement of the holiday overwhelms us. But now I must go pack. We are leaving to CA in less than 2 hours.

DISNEYLAND HERE WE COME - WAHOO!!!!!

DECEMBER - so far....
Decorating helpers

Tate lost his second tooth. He pulled it out himself and was so proud!

Cutest reindeer EVER!!

Enjoying an 80 degree December day at the zoo.

Tate totally rocked his Christmas concert and even had a special dancing part.

NOVEMBER
Sleeping Beauty

Tate had another successful soccer season.

Jack had an unfortunate fall-in. Supposedly he was washing his hands!?

OCTOBER
Marie ran the St. George Maraton improving her time by 40 min from her first marathon.

We let our kids play at Amazing Jakes from midnight til 3AM for the Stratton family reunion.

We had a blast at the State Fair enjoying the demolition derby, greasy food, dirty petting zoo, crazy rides - always so much fun!

Halloween Fun at the Ward Party.

SEPTEMBER
Labor Day Camping trip - which gets bigger and better every year. This year with McDowells, Lintons, Mortensens & Roundys. 50 plus happy campers!!

Jack started his second year of preschool. This year with Ms. Kerry.

Joslyn is a total climber. She climbs up onto everything!

AUGUST
Socks on hands = fun, then confusion, then frustration!

Tate started 2nd grade and LOVES his teacher Mr. MacLay who is in our ward, lives around the corner, and whose son is one of Tate's best buddies.

JULY

Joslyn wants to do it herself!

We spent a weekend at the AZ Grand Resort for Lots of fun and WATERSLIDES!!!

Yes - that is a bite mark on Joslyns forehead - it happened at the gym.

Tate hosts his first lemonade stand - total earnings - 50 cents.

26.2

2010-10-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

What does 26.2 miles feel like?
Will I do it again? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

BEWARE: Major Update!!!

2010-07-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Nothing like playing in the irrigation in your underwear at Grandmas!

We went Memorial Day camping and had a blast as usual. Joslyn wasn't walking yet, but I decided to try not to think about how dirty she was and just let her go for it. She was absolutely filthy,but so happy! The kids are such happy campers and loved playing in the leftover snow and catching tadpoles in the pond (we actually still have one of them - I don't think it's ever going to turn into a frog).

Jack graduated from his first year of preschool - one more to go. He had such a fun year with all his buddies at Busy Bee's Preschool and we LOVED Miss Nicole!!

First swim of the summer at Aunt Janet's pool. Joslyn wasn't too sure, but now she loves it!

Jack turned 4!! We opened presents that morning and that evening we had a fun water T-ball party at the park with some of our favorite friends. Jack is bubble gum obsessed right now so he HAD to have gum for a present and gum on the cake - he really didn't care about anything else. Aunt Katie made the AWESOME spaceship cake - with LOTS of gum - it was so fun! And grammy gave him the king size dark chocolate candy bar - he was in HEAVEN. Jack has a major sweet tooth (wonder where he got that from?)!

John and I both got to girls camp again - and again it was WONDERFUL! We were the smallest ward with only 9 girls and 4 leaders - but with such a small group we had a close bond and the girls were wonderful to eachother!

Tate FINALLY lost his first tooth. He thought he was never going to. He was the only first grader at his school who hadn't lost one. I told him it's because he takes such good care of them! He was so excited for the tooth fairy to come that she had to wait until after midnight to deliver the cash!

All the kids had their first boat trip to Canyon Lake with the Kerbys. We had an awesome time and they all loved riding on the tube. We even took the little girls on a ride. Joslyn HATED the life jacket - she could hardly move. Otherwise we had a blast!!

I think this pic is hilarious! I don't know what happened, but I love how Allison and I have the exact same expression and wave going on - too funny.

We got to enjoy the 4th fireworks at the Diamondbacks game with the Petersons. It was a sad game (D-backs lost BIG time), but an awesome fireworks show!

Playing the Wii in his undies - blackmail.

Time - got any?

2010-05-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have had no extra time lately, so updating the blog has been last on the list, but the guilt finally got the better of me so I am sacrificing and updating rather than cleaning my bathroom;-)!

Random fun Pics....
Yes, that is My hubby in the tiniest ride along at the mall. He wanted to prove that he could fit.

Jack had an excellent time on his preschool field trip to the farm. He LOVES chasing chickens!

Joslyn's first sucker

She loves to swing

Jos will not leave her flowers or bows in her hair - she has eaten/choked on several

Can we just keep him in here?

Tate did really well in soccer this year. He got the award for best defender.

Tate's spring sing concert

Tate turned 7! I really can't believe I have a son that old! He is such a good boy. He is so helpful with Joslyn, and plays great with Jack. He is doing great in first grade, but really looking forward to the summer! He had a fun birthday party with lots of friends, fun, games and an awesome smores cake make by his awesome aunt Katie.

We went camping Easter weekend. The kids were worried that the Easter Bunny might not find us, but he did, even in a trailer in the woods! We made it home in time to enjoy an Easter egg hunt and dinner with all the McDowell cousins.

Little Princess

2010-03-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

I really cannot believe my little princess is a year old. It has been so much fun to have a little girl in our home, especially when it was totally unexpected.
I was certain I was going to have another boy - that's why we didn't find out what we were having. So when the nurses shouted "It's a girl!" I was totally and completely shocked, but oh so happy! The boys love her, John adores her and I am just having so much fun with her. I think the five of us together make a great team!
So here's a quick look back through her first year. The first couple (unprofessional) pics were at the hospital - the rest of the fabulous pics are by the AMAZING Ashley who has been so kind and has probably rolled her eyes at the number of shoots I wanted to do with my little princess. But here are just a few of my faves!
Brand New

Five Days

Three Weeks

Three Months

Six Months

Nine Months

One Year

Where Have We Been - BUSY!!!

2010-03-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

February
John took the boys to the monster truck show. The boys were totally amazed and had a fabulous time!!

Joslyn had her last appointment at Cranial Technologies.

They have to put a stocking on her head for the 3D pictures - she loves that!

But she's done with her helmet - Hooray - Check out all that crazy hair that was hiding underneath!

New "BEE"ginnings turned out really good. I'm so greatful for the wonderful women I work with that make my job sooo much easier!

RAGNAR DEL SOL
My friends at the gym talked me into running a 204 mile relay from Prescott to Tempe.
Crazy? - Yes!
Freezing? - Yes!
Did I run in the dark? - Yes!
Is that Dr Beck on my team? - Yes!
Awesome? - Yes!
Will I do it again? - Yes!

I'm finished with my part, now where's my cookie?

Our whole team crossing the finish line together.

Our little princess turned one - seriously cannot believe it! Joslyn is such a sweet happy girl. We have loved having her in our family. The boys are so good with her and are her protectors. She is pretty laid back and is pretty content as long as there are Cheerios nearby!

Awesome new boots!

January
New Years at the dunes.

Fun in the snow at the Flagstaff condo. I don't understand either!? Jump out of the hot tub and lay in the snow????

Sweet little helper.

Both boys are playing soccer. Tate loves being goalie. Jack loves the snack at the end. My opinion - 3 years old is too young for soccer!

Notice that in pic 1 Jack is no where near any other players or the ball. In picture 2 he is playing with the grass. Glad we paid money for this.

December
John brought home a trailer full of snow on Christmas Eve. I think we had every kid in the neighborhood at our house that day, and for at least two days after!

Santa was good to us. The boys love their new bikes!

Quick Update

2009-12-20T15:00:00.000-08:00

I've taken a major blogging break, but hopefully I'm back. I'm committed to doing better - not that you care, but I want to do better for my sake!!!

My FAVORITE November family tradition is going to the AZ State Fair. So glad the Mortensens and Roundys decided to brave the crowds with us and fully partake of a total WT event! Everyone had a BLAST.

The real reason that we go every year - demolition derby. Yes we know we're totally WT!

My cute kiddos at the Mesa Veterans day parade. Ashley said it best, "it's totally suck awesome!" Gotta love Joslyn's michelin arms.

We did a can food drive with some families from the ward for FHE. We wound up collecting almost 500 pounds of food. The first night when we were putting the bags and fliers on the doors, Tate smiled and said, "Mom this is just as fun as trick or treating".

We had our Thanksgiving dinner with the McDowells the Friday before Thanksgiving. As always great food, great fun, and lots to be thankful for.

We went to the mall the weekend before Thanksgiving and Santa was there - with no line!!! We knew this was a golden opportunity so we took it, but were of course too cheap to actually buy the pictures.

We spent the actual Thanksgiving at the sand dunes. Our fellow campers (family and friends) dubbed me the trailer mom since I had brought several different crafts and activities to keep the kids entertained. We of course had to make gumdrop turkeys. We also made indian headbands and beads.

Dad's idea of fun, because he's not the one doing the laundry.

They loved decorating sugar cookies in the trailer.

And this picture only Sara will appreciate.

Halloween and Stuff

2009-11-06T09:51:00.001-08:00

Halloween was way good times! We went as the Peter Pan crew with John as Smee, Marie as Wendy, Tate as Captain Hook, Jack as Peter Pan and Joslyn as Tinkerbell. We all looked pretty fabulous if I do say so myself. Please be very impressed that I made mine and Joslyn's costumes ALL BY MYSELF!!! This is the first time in my life that I have every sewn anything completely by myself. I'm so proud of myself, and was doubly glad that I could use it for my Young Women in Excellence project that I needed to get done!

Joslyn got her helmet last week. We are glad that this will fix her crooked little head so that she will be PERFECT;-)! It stared out plain white, but her daddy jazzed it up quite nicely with stickers and of course some bling. He wouldn't let me help - I guess I don't have the decorating skills!?

A couple weeks ago Joslyn was supposed to be taking a nap but I heard her in there messing around for quite a while. She was happy for a while and then she started screaming. I went in to check and found this. I guess that's why they say bumper pads are dangerous. So of course I took the bumper pad off. Within a few minutes she had her leg stuck between the slats! So I guess our options are: strangulation by bumper or broken leg from bed slats!?

This is just a cute pic of her bouncing on her horse and her cutely painted bedroom wall in the back ground - we were afraid of using too much color - ha, ha!

A Few Firsts

2009-10-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Tate's first Skateboard lesson. Ramps on the first day was pretty intense! He has a love-hate opinion of the whole idea.

Joslyn's first piggytail. With all her hair I'm sure we could have done it much sooner, I just never thought about it - still not used to the idea of having a girl!

Joslyn's first silly face - she does this a lot lately.

Jack's first fieldtrip. We went to Schnepf farms with his preschool and had a great time.

SanDiego

2009-09-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

We waited til the summer was over to take our family vacation so we could beat the heat and the crowds. It was PERFECT!!! We parked our trailer in a lovely trailer park(a first for us - but won't be the last) that was only a couple hundred yards from the beach. We met up with our friends the Mortensens and the Echols and we all had a wonderful time!

Chillin in the trailer park

Our first day we spent at Legoland. It was so fun. The boys were old enough and tall enough for almost all of the rides. They were brave and even went on the scary ones. They have an awesome water area that the kids played in for almost two hours. Mini lego land was so cool and all of the dinos, animals, people, etc built out of legos were amazing!

We spent the second day at Sea World. The kids loved looking at all of the animals, so did I. I love the polar bears and am completely amazed at the whales in the Shamu show. I really want to swim with a killer whale - so cool. The boys liked feeding the sting rays even though they felt slimy. Tate LOVED the Atlantis ride and we went on it at least five times - it was a blast! Joslyn was such a good girl at Legoland and Seaworld and was happy as can be just sitting in the stroller or hitchin a ride in the carrier.

Our last day we bummed on the beach - some of us showed our bum! Jack loved the sand and hated the water. Tate got pretty brave and decided to try boogie boarding. He decided it wasn't for him once he got salt water and sand in his eyes. John made friends with a squirrel and Jos took a nice nap under the umbrella.

All in all a FABULOUS time!

First Day of School and Labor Day Camping

2009-09-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. Had to put of the pics of the boys first day of school. Jack is in preschool with Ms Nicole. Jack has a blast with his buddy Brexton. He is learning zoo phonics, so he comes home with awesome animal sounds and some cool art projects too.

Tate is in first grade at Franklin South with Mrs. Kellogg. He still has a love/hate relationship with school, and we are working on the idea of getting his work done at school so he doesn't have to do it at home - so hard to be a kid!

We of course went camping for Labor Day, but wound up with only a few pics - I'm sure they'd just look like all of our other million camping trips anyways!! This was Joslyn's fifth - yes fifth - camping trip and she's only six months old.

Half a Year????

2009-09-03T20:32:00.001-07:00

Seriously cannot believe that my little angel is half a year old. I'm pretty sure I haven't accomplished anything in the last six months. Where does time go?
Joslyn is a good girl. She's been sleeping 8 to 9 hours at night for quite a while now. She can sit up by herself, when she wants to. She loves playing in her exersaucer and she really gets a kick out of watching her brothers. They are willing to do just about anything to get a smile out of her. She somehow managed to keep most of her hair and has already had one trim (just the mullet off the back). She is so much fun to have around and we love her to death! While Joslyn is already stunningly gorgeous, my dear friend Ashley keeps finding ways to improve upon her beauty with every photoshoot! ;-)

This and That

2009-08-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Just a bit of this and that and a few fun pics to close out the summer.

I went to girls camp for my 3rd summer in a row and had a blast! The girls in our ward are so incredible! We don't have many, but the ones we do have are amazing. The leaders are fantastic too. I am so lucky to be able to work with such wonderful women and young women!

This pic may not be funny to anyone else, but it was so funny when I took it. For first aid training the YCL's did a mock disaster. The girls were supposed to rush to the disaster victims and use the first aid methods they had already been trained on. The victims were doing a great job acting out their injuries, but the girls did not hurry to help them by any means. This poor victim was suffering of severe frost bite. The girls stood there flipping through their camp manuals trying to decide what they should do for her. It was quite commical.

All decked out for skit night. Our ward did the thriller dance.

Had to show off Joslyn's cute bikini bod. I always said if I ever had a girl and if she was chubby in the summer, I would put her in a bikini - Hooray!

Our most recent camping trip. I know you're thinking we go camping all the time - it's true! Joslyn is only 5 months old and she's already been camping 4 times. (Tate's not in the pics not because we don't love him, but because he was in Oregon)

Jack thinks he needs to take all his clothes off every time he goes potty, so I make him dress himself. Funny now, but could be a problem next week when he starts preschool.

Jos is not too crazy bout rice cereal. We'll keep trying.

Checking out the new desk at meet the teacher. Hooray for 1st grade.

Supermodels

2009-07-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

Jos and I got to pretend that we were supermodels to show off some really cute hats (see everydaylovephotography.blogspot for the full story). My fab friend and photographer thinks she had to talk me into this, but secretly I've always wanted to be a supermodel. Tyra aint got nothing on us (ha ha ha). Thanks for making me look young Ashley - gotta love photo editing!!! Oh wait - I shouldn't tell the supermodel secrets! I always look that young and fresh!

July Already???

2009-07-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

Jack turned three last month - I'm just too big a slacker and haven't posted about it yet. Jack is a busy boy. He doesn't sit still at all. He has a cute, sweet side to him, and a naughty, nasty side too. He is always one or the other - never in the middle. He often tells me he doesn't like me - let's hope this phase passes quickly! He had a fun birthday and was thrilled with his blue monster cake. He'd been asking Katie to make that specific cake for weeks. Funny kid.

Cute blue frosting....

...equals cute blue face.

We went to Mortensen's for a 4th of July BBQ and swim party. A fabulous time was had by all - unfortunately we didn't take many pictures.

Just a few cute ones

2009-06-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Not much excitement around our house so far this summer. I have discovered that taking 3 kids to the library is NOT fun, and that if you walk out of the library with your screaming baby while your screaming 3 year old is laying on the floor everyone that wasn't already staring and judging - will!!

Jack wanted to do homework like a big boy

Just too cute not to post!

Helping grandma make applesauce

Guess who got pinkeye!?

Even with pirate eye and crazy hair - still so cute

And here are a few gorgeous shots of Jos in her blessing dress. She wouldn't smile - not even once, but the Amazing Ashley got some great shots nonetheless!!!

White Dresses

2009-05-21T16:25:00.001-07:00

I had to put it on one more time before.....

we did this....

and it became this!!!!

Yes - it is standing on the table by itself - so poofy!

Getting her ready for the main event. Thanks for the help Katie & Charlotte.

Our beautiful Joslyn Sidney.

Thank you, thank you to both of my moms who put so much talent and love into making her gorgeous dress!

Tate is Six

2009-05-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tate turned six on April 22nd. I know - I'm way behind schedule! I picked up McDonalds for lunch and took it to school to eat with him. That evening we went to Chuck E Cheese. We celebrated again on Sunday with burgers, cake and ice cream.
Tate is such a good kid. He is doing really well in school and is becoming such a good reader. He is playing t-ball again and almost enjoying it this year. The treats at the end are still his favorite thing. He is totally into Star Wars the Clone Wars right now and his second obsession is Legos, which John really enjoys too. I love my sweet boy and cannot believe he is six - makes me feel old!

Opening presents before school

When we left for school this is what we saw in our yard. Tate's good buddy Jackson Manning had left him a surprise! Tate was soooo excited.

Chuck E. Cheese = Lots of fun - Nasty Pizza!

Star Wars cake of course!

3 Cute Kiddos = Busy Mom!

2009-04-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Has it really been five weeks since I last posted!? I really can't believe it. Joslyn is eight weeks today! HOLY COW!!! She is such a good baby. She has slept through the night six times - I know I'm spoiled. Twice I put her to bed at 10PM and had to wake her up at 7AM so we could get out the door to take Tate to school. What a good girl. The boys are loving her and are so sweet with her. Here are some cute pics of all my kiddos from the last few weeks.

Joslyn likes to be wrapped like a burrito still, but in this pic she managed to wiggle and kick enough to almost pull her jammies off with the blanket.

My son is so creative!

Doesn't every little girl need a dolly, even if it's just to suck on?

My sweet angel girl.

Do you think we can pull them up any higher?

Loving on his little sis.

How do you take your nap?

My Little Princess

2009-03-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you're all going to get tired of me bragging on my little princess, but I just can't help it. I am so happy to finally have a little doll to dress up and make pretty. I can't believe she is already three weeks. Ashley took her pics again, and as always did a fabulous job. Please agree with me that she is the cutest thing on the planet!

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

2009-03-05T19:16:00.000-08:00

Here is the first of I'm sure many photo shoots of our BEAUTIFUL little girl. My fabulous friend and photographer Ashley did an amazing job - but I must say - John and I did a heck of a job making such a cute kid!!!
P.S. - the caption on the last pic was by Ashley and I thought it was too hilarious not to post!

I'm pretty sure if there was a caption from Joslyn for this next one (which has been edited!), it would read-
"DUDE! I'M NAKED! Stop with the pictures!!!"

It's a GIRL!

2009-03-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, we had a girl!!! Joslyn Sidney McDowell was born on Friday, February 27 at 11:06AM. She weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. Dad's first response was, "Oh My Goodness! It's a girl! Didn't I tell you it was a girl!" Mom's first response was tears, silence, tears, disbelief, tears, shock, and then some more tears! We are so excited to have a little girl. Mom and baby are doing great!

Where's Jack

2009-02-26T08:44:00.000-08:00

John went to check on the boys before we went to bed and Jack was not in his bed. He looked on the floor next to the bed, up in Tate's bed, all around the room but he was nowhere to be found. He had me come check it out for myself. I looked in all the same places. Before I started to panic John told me to look under the desk (it's on the side of their bunkbed). Jack had crawled under the desk and all the way under the bed and was out cold with his blanket wrapped around his head (his preferred way of sleeping). John pulled him out and put him back in bed, but not without Jack trying to crawl further under. What a crazy kid!

Is it too Late to Post Christmas? - Too Bad!!

2009-02-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

I've been putting off posting Christmas because I wanted to get other pictures from my mom, and I never took pics of the boys new bunk beds, and I felt like I had to put captions on all of the pics, blah, blah, blah - anyhow none of that is going to happen, so I'm just posting what I have. You can add your own captions as you see fit - but just know that the pic of Tate in the plaid shorts, striped shirt and Santa hat was his idea. He told me he was an elf, and I did not let him go out of the house like that. We did have a wonderful Christmas! There now it's posted - I can move on!

Everything but Christmas

2009-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't want you to miss out on all of this good stuff before I post Christmas so here's a few from Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Too cute in their Halloween costumes.

The ever fun donut on a string at Grandma Jeanene's Halloween party - I think Jack's method is more effective.

I made a fun Halloween dinner for us (John helped too) with bug hot dogs, spiderweb dipping sauce, a scary sea serpent sandwich, and melting witch pudding. Lets just say the kids were not as impressed as I wanted them to be, but I thought everything was cool.

I forgot to take pics of our Thanksgiving feast (I'm sure Sara did though, so maybe if she reads this she can send me some:-), but we had a great meal at John's parents with about 40 friends and family. John had us all eating as fast as possible so we could head to the sand dunes. We spent the rest of the weekend there with lots of fun, great weather and the only injury was suprisingly not from riding. Jack got hit in the head with a shovel. We thought he might need stitches, but thankfully nurse Donna assured us he'd be ok without them.

I'm still alive

2008-12-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

So I've obviously taken quite a vacation from blogging, but I think I'm ready to come back!? The problem is I have so many other things I need to get done! Anyone have any extra time to hand out? I promise I'll post Christmas within the next couple days, but for now know that I'm still alive!

A chance to breathe

2008-11-06T10:04:00.000-08:00

So John and I have been back from Cancun for 2 1/2 weeks now, and today is the first chance I've had to breathe. I feel like I've been trying to play catch up, but haven't been able to because of all the other stuff I needed to do. I made it through launch at the gym (big deal with costumes, new music, moves, etc.), Halloween (figuring out costumes, ward party where for some reason they put the YW in charge of 3 booths - where was the activities committee?, family party, and then trick-or-treating), and Young Women in Excellence (which was just last night and went so well! The ladies I have working with me in YW are AWESOME and make my job so much easier!) Now I finally get to try to start catching up. My blog got to come first, laundry and bathrooms can wait!

Jack took a class through the city of Mesa called Jumping Beans. His cousin Max was also in the class. They had a hard time paying attention to the teacher - maybe because they are active 2 year olds, but mostly cuz they were so excited to see eachother that they couldn't stop hugging each other or jumping up and down together. They had a great time together and always had to stop and look at the plants on the way out. Silly boys!

David and I took the kids to the shrine circus a while back. It was way out at West World, and pretty boring, but totally worth what we paid - nothing. I think all of us were most impressed by the motorcycles in the big cage ball, but were NOT impressed with the dancing poodles. We only stayed for the first act and then went to McDonalds. My boys liked their Happy Meals better than the circus - we should have just done that!

Yes - we went camping again during general conference weekend. Don't worry we didn't miss conference, we brought up the sattelite dish again. Some of you may think we go camping entirely too often - I agree! But it makes my husband and my kids happy so I try to have a good attitude. Lots of unhealthy snacks and now having a trailer make it a lot more bearable. Tate thought he was so cool that he could catch a lizzard. He caught a grasshopper too, but that wasn't near as cool.

Tate was out of school for a couple days for fall break, so we decided to check out the AZ Museum for Youth - I think that's what it's called. Anyways it was a bit small and we quickly ran out of things to see and do there, but the boys had fun nonetheless, and we enjoyed an awesome lunch at Costa Vida afterward. I am so grateful that I get to spend so much time with my kids!

Quick Trip to Grandpa's Cabin

2008-09-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Jason was down from Oregon this weekend and talked us into a very quick trip to the cabin. We were there for less than 24 hours, but it was totally worth it. We had dinner at the Strawberry Lodge. (FYI stick with the all you can eat fish fry on Friday nights, and DO NOT order the open face roast beef sandwich - NOT GOOD AT ALL - fake mashed potatoes, fake gravy, fake meat too I think!) The weather was beautiful, and the kids got to see deer, elk, and even a culture - really a vulture, but Tate called it a culture. We got to enjoy a short thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon, and then it was back to the valley heat. Oh-well it was great to get away!

Labor Day Camping

2008-09-09T14:08:00.001-07:00

So we've been going camping every Labor Day weekend for quite a few years now, and it rains every year, but we still go, and we still have a great time! This year we went to one of our favorite spots at the base of snowbowl. We had about 35 people, family and friends, and a good time was had by all. I've attempted to put the pics together in themes - there's a ton of pics thanks to Sara - I only took 4 the whole trip - oops. In no particular order here is our Labor Day - enjoy!

GUNS
The new obsession for the McDowell boys this year was paintball guns and everything that goes along with it. (I think I much prefered the frisbee obsession from the few previous camping trips - less dangerous and less expensive!) Getting the game together was no small task. They had to fill tanks, calibrate guns, choose teams, decide rules, and adorn themselves with all sorts of gear. Had I actually played perhaps all the work would have seemed worth it, but I did not, and it just seemed like too much caos. Anyhow they all had a blast shooting each other and then bragging about how many times they got each other, and how no one was able to get them.

Of course the little boys had to get in on the action too, and had a blast shooting up the trees.

The little boys also couln't have been happier to pick up all the unbroken paintballs.

DIRT
It's a given - with any camping trip dirt is involved and in this instance MUD too. I can't believe we didn't get more pics of the dirty kids, cuz they were all filthy, but here are a few of Jack.

And we must not forget Uncle Brent who rolled his quad in the mud.

RIDING
The kids had an absolute blast riding the quads and the 3 wheeler. Jack walked around all day asking anyone and everyone for a ride.

Tate got pretty brave on the 3 wheeler this year and probably got close to top speed in first gear - he doesn't know it can shift any higher - and he probably doesn't need to know yet! He only crashed once, because he opted to use his foot as a brake rather than the handle brake. He ran over his leg, twisted his arm, and bruised his ego pretty bad. (no real injuries)

This is about how many kids tried to jump on anytime anyone went on a ride - no joke!

FOOD
Curbside dinner on the way up consisting of McDonalds for the boys, A&W for John, and KFC for me. So Healthy and Delicious!

I'm helping to prepare one of our wonderful camping meals.

Just kidding! I'm not qualified - they only let me do the dishes.

PB&J anyone?

GRANDKIDS
This is only a small sampling of the many, many pics we attempted to pose the gradkids for. They were pretty cooperative - sort of. Seven of the nine McDowell grandkids were on the camping trip.

GOOD TIMES
The best part of the trip was our new trailer! When it rained, I had the trailer. When it was cold, I had the trailer. When I needed to go potty, I had the trailer. When the boys were filthy, we had the tub in the trailer. It made camping so much more tolerable. I forgot to take a pic with both sides popped out, but there is a queen bed on the back and a king on the front - so nice!

Me trying to stay warm and not succeeding.

Crazy Tate and Matthew always have so much fun together.

The play-doh kept the kids busy for hours - every color ended up brown from all the dirty hands. We opted not to keep it for next time.

Cute Johnny with cute Jack and Max.

When Jack wasn't riding he was trying to find someone to play ball with him.

Jack exploring nature.

Jack in time out, and Max trying to make him feel better.

cute, cute boys.

Me again trying to stay warm, and this time dry - it rained everyday.

Story time

THE RIDE HOME
I think we actually wore them out!

Fish Sticks and What?

2008-08-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Being the wonderful (lazy) mother that I am, I made Jack a healthy (fast, cheap, easy) gourmet lunch.

This is what it is supposed to look like.

This is what it actually looked liked.

And he loved it!

He couldn't be happier with fish sticks soaked in chocolate pudding.

Please notice the huge flesh wound on his forehead. He face planted on the pool deck at Uncle Brent's.

Tate Started Kindergarten

2008-08-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

So I finally have something to blog about. Our life has been pretty
boring since my last post, but now we have EXCITEMENT!!! Tate started school last Monday - I know I promised pics last week, but last week was the longest week of my life - I was sicker (I know that's not a word) than I ever have been, but I'll spare you the details! Anyhow, we went and met Tate's teacher Mrs.Ctibor on Friday. Tate was so excited to see his classroom and find his desk. He checked out everything twice and
was patient with his brother who had to check everything out too. Monday morning Tate wasn't convinced that he wanted to get up early to get ready, but the mention of packing his lunch in his Simpsons luch box (he really has no clue who the Simpsons are, but John convinced him that they are cool) and he was ready to move! We got there in plenty of time for me to walk him to his classroom and take a few pics. He was doing great and so was I - until I gave him a hug. I didn't cry, but I did get teary eyed, even more so when I asked him if he wanted me to stay or go, and he said go. He hasn't had to be talked out of bed since. He loves school and is excited to go everyday - but he isn't too fond of homework! I'm glad I get to have a year with Jack before he starts preschool. We have all sorts of big plans for our time together. I'm so lucky to be a mom and to get to spend my days doing all the fun mom stuff! I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Tate had to smell the sticker his teacher gave him - after he put it on his shirt.

Checking out the new classroom and desk - Jack always close by!

Ready for his back to school father's blessing - what a great Dad!

Gotta get a first day of school picture in front of the house.

Waiting outside the classroom for the bell to ring.

"OK mom - that's enough pictures - you can go now."

4th of July Fun

2008-07-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

Better late than never! We had a great mexican feast to celebrate our American Independance! Thanks Paul and Sara for letting us use your pool. We all had a blast. We couldn't see any of the legal fireworks, but we let off several illeagal ones of our own. The kids loved playing with the sparklers, but when we made them run through the sparkler tunnel they thought we were trying to light them on fire.

Cute, cute Jack

2008-07-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

I had to post these adorable pics of Jack. The first few are of him and his cousin max. They got to spend four whole days together while I was at girls camp. My sister-in-law/cousin Sara was so kind to watch him for me. She said they played so good together, and she's decided that it was actually easier than just having one. Now she wants to have twins! Thank you so much Sara for taking good care of my little boy!

The rest of the adorable pics were taken by our fabulous photographer and friend Ashley. These were for Jack's two year old pics. He acted like a typical two year old and was not very cooperative, but when you've got a photographer like Ashley he doesn't have to behave to get great shots! Thanks a million Ashley!

Girls Camp

2008-07-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

I've been back from girls camp for two weeks now and I still have two
bags that are not completely unpacked. WOW - that is LAZY! So it's
completely different going to girls camp as theYW President. Last year
I went, had fun, enjoyed my time - the end. This year I went, had fun -
and worried the entire time about every girl and every leader from our
ward. Not that I was worried about what they were or weren't doing. I
was just always so concerned that everyone was happy, and safe, and healthy, and having fun, and feeling loved, etc, etc, etc. I really had nothing to worry about because my camp director was fabulous and had everything planned perfectly! My cabin moms and YCLs rocked, and everyone had a blast. Despite a scraped chin, some broken teeth, and lots and lots of bug bites, everyone came home happy and having felt the spirit - SUCCESS!!!

Notice the orange pj pants. We made them before camp. Let's just say there was no mistaken who was from the Hawes ward!

Anslea and Jenna trying out a new style.

Gotta love bathroom duty!

John got to come up again to do the 4th year rappelling. He loved it so much he says next years he's staying the whole week.

The 2nd year hike was quite an adventure! I got to go on this exciting 7 1/2 hour hike, and they actually sent a rescue party to look for us. We were so filthy after a long hot day, hence the pics of the dirty faces and feet - those are my feet, and yes, I was wearing shoes and socks, both of which are now ruined!

Our ward's skit was the BEST! We did the Napolean Dynamite dance and the girls rocked it. We celebrated our success with a dance party in the cabin. The whole cabin was literally shaking!

The entire bishopric came up on the last day, and we really enjoyed the Bishop's teaching time, and being able to spend time with them doing service, playing games, throwing knives and having testimony meeting. If you're actually reading this you can ask about the knives.

Memories

2008-06-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

Got this idea from my friend Mary's blog. Looked like fun, so here goes....

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

Catch Up

2008-06-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

This post is all about catching up on stuff that I should have blogged about long ago but didn't. Some (all) of these pics are just too great for me not to show off, so here goes (prepare yourself - it's a long one):

Tate had his second preschool graduation (he had one last year too). His teacher Miss Kerry, had each child come up individually and before giving them their certificate she talked about the child's accomplishments, attitudes, attributes, etc. She had so many kind things to say about Tate and it really made me feel good. Yes, when it comes to my kids I have a lot of pride. She said that he always has good manners, that he has an outstanding concept of shapes including three dimensional shapes, that he is an excellent reader and already reading at kindergarten 8th month level, that he is a leader, always kind and helpful to all the children, and that he constantly talks about his daddy. We really liked Miss Kerry's school and are grateful for all she taught Tate.

Tate finished his first season of T-Ball, and did start to like it a little bit. His favorite position to play was catcher, even though the catcher equipment was so big he could hardly move, let alone see the ball or pick it up. It was always quite funny to watch though. He was so proud to get his trophy at his closing ceremony. We celebrated with his team afterward with pizza and cupcakes at the park. A good time was had by all.

For Mothers Day John and the boys gave me tickets to the Keith Urban & Kenney Chesney concert. John bought two tickets, but never intended on going with me, he wanted me to take my sister - so sweet. Katie and I had a great time. I asked her several times throughout the night if she was embarrassed to have her older sister acting like such a goofy teenager - she said no, and screamed and danced right along with me. We had great seats on the floor and could see pretty well. Needless to say we had a fabulous time, and we both commented what nice jeans Keith Urban was wearing - WOW he is a good looking man! Don't worry, John knows I think he's HOT! It was so fun to party with my sister.

We have made some major and exciting improvements to our home. John painted a blue harlequin pattern in the family room to go with our new comfy sectional. I had been so tired of my denim couches for quite some time, but I'm not rid of them yet. If anyone knows of someone who needs couches they are sitting in my garage. We also finally got a stainless steel dishwasher to match our other appliances and believe it or not, it actually washes the dishes! I have always just had the crappy dishwasher that came with the house, and I never knew that a good dishwasher actually does its job. Our biggest home improvement was the wall of cabinets that John installed while I was in Oregon. He told me he was working on a surprise, but wow, I was not expecting that. This was also something we'd wanted to do for a while, but never had. It more than tripled the cabinet space in our kitchen, and I am still trying to fill it up. I have such a talented husband!

Jack turned two on the 12th. We celebrated with the grandparents at Red Robin with a free kids meal and then walked over to Krispy Kreme to get Jacks free dozen donuts. (Sign up on Red Robin's website, and just walk in to Krispy Kreme. Also sign up on Coldstone Creamery's website for a free love it size, and Baskin Robbins for a free scoop. I love free stuff!) Katie made Jack an adorable gelato cake, and Jack blew out the candle at least five times. He loved all of his presents, but especially liked the bubble gun from Grandma Elaine, and the animal books from Grandma Chapman.

Last but not least, John had two days of celebration with his birthday on Saturday and Fathers day on Sunday. Tate picked out some awesome plaid shorts for him, which he surprisingly likes. His big gift from all of us was a Nintendo Wii, which I'd been able to keep a secret for over a month. He was extremely surprised and way excited. He and Tate have played it almost everyday. John is such a good husband and dad. He works so hard for our family, but he schedules his time so that he can still spend time with us. He is very helpful with the boys and is always willing to help his family, friends, neighbors and ward members, as well as random strangers at Home Depot. He shares his advice with anyone who will listen and can tell you all the right ways to paint a room, hang a ceiling fan, install a light, refinish cabinets and many other things. He is so talented and willing shares his talents with others. I love my Sweet husband and am so grateful for him. We celebrated Fathers Day at Brent's new home, and I didn't get any pics of John, but I got some cute ones of Jack and his cousin Evie and Papa John.

Rainy Days in Oregon

2008-06-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

Tate and I spent last week at my brother's house in Oregon City, Oregon. We went to help Jason recover from surgery - but mostly to save him from ultimate boredom. As his wife puts it quite appropriately, "He is well enough to be bored, but not well enough to do anything." We were able to drag him along with us to ride the ferry across the river and see the tree climbing goats at FirPoint Farms - but he pretty much stayed in the car. Despite the fact that it rained every day, we did have a good time and it was very nice to spend time with Jason and Liberty. We're still trying to figure out why they like Oregon so much - we were more than happy to come home to the dry Arizona heat!

This is Tate and I on Noah's Arc at FirPoint Farms

Instead of a Ball Pit they have a Nut House full of Hazel Nut's. It was alot of fun to play in, but the best part was finding nuts in our pants for the rest of the day!

Tate and Aunt Liberty next to the giant Tepee.

So the whole point of this trip to FirPoint Farms was to see the goats climb the trees. What is supposed to happen is you put some food in this little cup on a pully. The goats walk up the ramps to the top, pull the rope themselves to bring up the food and we get really excited. Well that didn't happen. A big group of kids had gotten there before us and the goats were full so they could not be enticed to work for a treat.

I just thought this was really pretty. I wonder how long something like this would last in our AZ heat.

Here we are on the ferry. The operators probably thought we were crazy to get out both times in the rain to take pictures, but hey - I'd never been on a ferry!

Liberty's sister Becky took Tate and I on the Oregon City elevator - the only vertical street in the US.

Becky kept Tate entertained all week. She played games with him, took him to the park, let him follow her around, and let him help finish building a new gate for Uncle Jason's backyard - which Tate promply left his mark on by attempting to write his name. Becky caught him after just the "T", so now Jason & Liberty can think of Tate every time they use their new gate.

Liberty has a beautiful garden with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, zucchnis, greenbeans and pumpkins. Unfortunately none of them were ready to eat. Tate helped Liberty check their progress everyday, and was so excited that one of the strawberries was starting to turn red.

Thanks Jason and Liberty for entertaining us - We love you guys!

Two Years ago

2008-05-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

Memorial weekend two years ago is when John decided our lives weren't exciting enough and he opted to spend his holiday weekend in the hospital. As I'm writing this I still cannot believe it happened. So here's a brief flashback of how our Memorial weekend went down two years ago.
Friday
10 PM - We arrive at Gilbert ER - John's symptoms: vomiting blood
11 PM - First blood transfusion
Saturday
1 AM - Second blood transfusion
2 AM - Nurse tells me I need to contact family members - reality hits that I may become a single mother
5 AM - Third blood transfusion - obviously still losing lots of blood
8 AM - Ambulance transport to Maryvale Hospital ICU - We still have no idea what's causing the bleeding
10 AM - John has a violent reaction to a sedative, punches a nurse, and is restrained to his bed
12 PM - Finally sedated, receives an endoscopy to reveal a tear in his esophagus, it is glued and then clamped
1 PM - Fourth blood transfusion
Sunday
9 AM - Fifth blood transfusion
Monday
10 AM - Moves out of ICU to a regular room
Tuesday
1 PM - Goes home
What a long and crazy weekend! So for now and for forever my Memorial Day Weekend will be when I remember the mercy of my Heavenly Father who spared the life of my incredible husband.

Tate Says....

2008-05-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

So here's the latest and greatest from the mouth of Tate.

Yesterday it was a bit stormy, and there were a couple of really loud bursts of thunder. Tate came out of his room and asked what it was. I told him that it was thunder, and that I love the sound of thunder. He replied that he did NOT like the thunder. He went back into his room, and the next time he came out he told me that the thunder had stopped, and asked if I wanted to know why it had stopped. Intrigued I replied, "Yes." He explained, "I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to turn it off and He did." To which I responded, "Well I like thunder." Without missing a beat he replied, "Do you want me to turn it back on? I can just say another prayer and turn it back on." We should all have that much faith!

A few nights ago in his bedtime prayer Tate said, "Bless me that when I turn 8 I can get bathtubbed." Normally he says bathtized, but bathtubbed is much funnier. John and I started cracking up, and the reverence was gone quite quickly. I sure hope Heavenly Father has a sense of humor.

Tate is responsible for cleaning his room and doing one other chore each day before he watches TV or plays video game. His favorite job is dusting because he can get it done in under two minutes. The other day I asked him to vacuum the tile downstairs - which he's done several times before. He whined and complained for about 20 minutes before he finally said, "Mom, I can't vacuum, it's exhausting!" I asked him if he even knew what exhausting meant. He replied, "Yes. It means tiring and I can't do it!" Call CPS on me now! I'm giving my 5 year old "exhausting" chores.

We are so dang cute!!!

2008-05-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Ok - so first I get to brag about what a cute husband and cute boys I have, and then I get to brag on my wonderful photographer. One of my bestest friends Ashley Rogers took our family pics for us, and these are just a few of the awesome shots she got. Thanks Ashley for making us look so good!!!

Tate is 5!!!

2008-05-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

I've been holding off on doing a birthday post for Tate until we were finally done celebrating. His birthday was the 22nd of April. He opened presents that morning, went to In and Out Burger for lunch, and then Red Robin with both sets of grandparents for dinner - quite a busy day! On Sunday we celebrated again with birthday dinner at our house, more presents and a fabulous Star Wars cake made by Aunt Katie. We finally wrapped up the celebrating just this last Saturday with another party for Tate's friends. We played Star Wars games, hit eachother with homemade wrapping paper light sabers, ate pizza and cupcakes and had way too much fun. Needless to say, I am glad all of the festivities are finally over!

I am so grateful for my sweet boy and I really cannot believe he is five. He is such a good boy. He is so kind to his brother and they play so good together. He has a complete obsession with Star Wars right now, but loves to watch all movies. He says he wants to be a Star Wars guy when he grows up so he can be in a Star Wars movie. I really wouldn't be surprised if he does wind up doing something in the film industry, because he really is obsessed! My favorite thing about Tate is that he will tell me several times a day "I sure love you mom". I love him so much and am so glad he's mine!

When he first woke up he wanted me to measure him to see if he was taller because he's 5.

That night we had to measure again just to make sure.

Pictures of the kids party are still coming - stay tuned.

Human? Alien? Adult?

2008-04-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

So the other day we were on our way to my sister-in-law Rachel's house for her to give Jack a hair cut. Tate's friend Jackson was coming along with us and Tate was explaining to Jackson who would be at Rachel's house. He told Jackson, "The baby is Carsyn, and the human is my Aunt." I'm pretty sure he meant to say adult, but human works too!

Tate's Journal Entry

2008-04-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Last night Tate decided that he wanted me to help him write in his journal because it was his last night being four years old. It's usually torture to get him to give me even a few words to write down, but last night was a different story. Here's what he had me write.

"I hope that I will have fun at my birthday and um, I hope my grandma that she will have fun tomorrow night. And bless Chayden that he will come home safely. And I hope that Gage, that he will have fun at preschool. And I think when I was 3 or 4 we went to Disneyland. And I hope that daddy can go to church next week. And I hope that Chayden, that he will play with me when he gets back from his trip, in the driveway. And I like the zoo. And I hope Hailey that she will come home safely. And we bless her that she might be 6 or older than me when she comes back from her trip. And I hope that mommy and daddy, that they will sleep well tonight. Bless Jack and me. And I hope that Maisy sleep well tonight. And I hope daddy, and I hope me, that I will feel better. Bless my cough to go away (forced cough, cough). And I hope that my ball doesn't get in the street. And I hope that the still small voice will tell me "Don't go in the street." I hope he will tell me that if I don't look both ways. And I like my toys. And I hope we will have a good birthday for me. And that's all."

Conference Camping

2008-04-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed watching conference in the mountains so much last October that we decided to go for round two last weekend. We camped just 13 miles east of Payson so it was a nice quick drive, but the ride home was a completely different story. The B-line was closed at the Bush Hwy turn off, so the back up was horrendous!!! It took us two hours to go about 30 miles - totally ridiculous. Despite the long ride home, the runny noses and coughs the boys developed, the sunburns, overeating, excessive dirt, and my nephew falling in the fire pit and being rushed to Payson ER - it was a great trip. The boys had so much fun getting filthy dirty, riding the quads, and playing with their cousins.

Notice the TV to the left of Tate. You can vaguely make out the MOTAB - see we really did watch conference!

Cute dirty face kid!

Play time.

Nap Time.

Time out is never fun - not even in the mountains.

Jack and cousin Max in the hammock

Max, Jack, Matthew and Tate watching Elmo's world in Aunt Sara's trailer

Jack likes to pucker his lips when he says words that end with a ch or sh. In this picture he's saying "lunch".

Are these my true feelings about camping?

New hair style called too much fun on the quad!

The best part of camping? Non-stop eating!!!

Let's Play Ball - Even If You Don't Want To!

2008-04-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Tate started T-ball a few weeks ago, and still isn't convinced that it's his thing. Let's just say that almost every time I tell him he needs to get his uniform on he responds with, "I HATE BASEBALL!" To which I respond, "You are such a lucky boy to get to be on a baseball team. Some kids don't get to do fun things like that." Life is really rough when your parents make you do fun things. He's got two games every week for the next month and a half - maybe by the end he'll actually start to like it.