McDowell Family

Sunday, June 23, 2013

February

Daddy bought his little princess a Hello Kitty purse and filled it with snacks for Valentines Day. He sure loves his little girl.

So Jack tells me I need to come to the kitchen - he has a surprise for me.

The surprise starts with this note.

"Thank you Jack. That's so nice" I say.

"No mom, pick up the note. The surprise is underneath."

This was the surprise.

A beautiful happy family picture done with a permanent sharpie marker on the table.

(the sun isn't permanent marker, it's ball point pen etched deep into the wood)

I was speechless.

How do you get mad at that?

We will enjoy it for many years to come.

Snow in Mesa? Yep!! It was mostly hail and some snow and it looked so cool!

Our Baby girl isn't a baby anymore! Joslyn turned four. She had a great day celebrating! Joslyn is such a joy in our family. She loves her brothers and they love her. She loves going to her dance class and to preschool. She has lots of little girl friends and their favorite thing to play is dress up. Her favorite princess right now is Ariel. We love our little girl.

Joslyn did a photo shoot for a little girls boutique called "Pout in Pink". She had a fun time getting her hair and make up done, and had no problem showing off for the camera.

January

We went camping in Superior for New Years with most of the McDowells. The kids had a great time riding quads and digging in the dirt. We love spending time with our family.

One night we drove all the razors into town for pizza. It was pretty fun!

John moved with his company to a new big building. They celebrated with thousands of balloons. I took the kids to enjoy them!

Jack took a few minutes off from playing with the balloons for a relaxing massage.

Joslyn got to go to Jambo for a fun birthday celebration for her cousins.

Jack was having a hard time remembering to bring his coat home from school each day and actually lost it . After buying him a new coat, I told him that if he forgot it again, he would have to have timeout in the backyard without a shirt on. I hoped just the threat would be enough to remedy the problem. NOPE. Its a good thing we live in Arizona and not Alaska. I am such a mean mother!!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

December

December was as it always is....busy, but wonderful!

We started the month off with the piñata and pizza party at Grandma Chapmans. It was lots of fun, but the mood was a little somber with it being the first Christmas without Grandpa taking pictures. We sure miss him!

I think this is supposed to be a shepherd costume for the nativity? Silly girl!

John and I made these cute snowmen for the Fort/Abel gift exchange. We thought they turned out pretty cute!

This was all the loot from the exchange party. Marie lucked out and got the coveted last pick of the night! We got to take home the big black bench that everything is sitting on. Paul made it, and it is beautiful!

We had to document the process of getting beautiful for the dance recital. She's got sponge rollers under the shower cap.

She loves getting her makeup on, even if it takes a few tries to get the mascara!

She was the cutest little candy cane and did an adorable dance to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".

Jos was pretending to be a mannequin at the mall.

Another visit to the mall and a ride on the carousel.

We went to a fabulous Christmas party in the parking lot of a bank. We went last year, and decided we'd try it again. It did not disappoint. They go all out, and they kids love it!

We are multi-cultural around here and gave a little nod to Hanukkah with the menorah Jos made at school. (I think it only lasted a couple hours before she started eating the marshmallows)

The boys did awesome at their winter sing concert, unfortunately the only pic we took was of them in the hallway after the fact. Oh well!

John got asked to be Santa for someones Christmas party. He reluctantly agreed. I think he had a pretty good time, especially since many of the people that he knew at the party didn't recognize him. Our kids thought it was hilarious to see him dressed up.

Continuing the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas eve.

This year.....new robes!!

I think they like them!!

Christmas morning. Can we please come down?

She's super happy with the new helmet. It goes with the new blue Cinderella bike, but who knows where the pic of that is? Christmas morning is always such a blur!