July

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!!!

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

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

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

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!