Christmas Birthday?

Could it really be a Wii?
Finally, her own phone! (Sigh.)
Future Tiger? Who can tell.

The calm before the storm."I've been wanting an ipod my whole life!"
Dora, from Kyle. (The best present ever!)
Grandma and Grandpa McDowell
Meg and the gorgeous Shumway girls


December 25th is a crazy day in our house. Not only do we get to celebrate Christmas, but we also are lucky enough to have Meg's birthday fall on the 25th. While it complicates things a little, we still love that Meg shares a birthday with the day we celebrate our Savior's birth. It was a sweet coincidence and we'll always try to make sure that it's special on both accounts!





As for the presents, I think that the kids got a lot of great stuff and maybe even everything that they had their hearts set on. We even managed to come up with the elusory Wii (lucky timing at Costco), even though they spent their day playing guitar hero on their old PS2 and downloading tunes on their ipods.



For her birthday, Meg finally got a phone. (Did I say finally? I mean, she's only 12!) She was thrilled. We are anxious. I think we set a precedent with Josh last year, but having done it we also acknowledge that every child is different. Oh, I hope that we are wrong!



But really, the best part of Christmas is family. We spent last night with the McDowells and I think that I called home at least twice before nine a.m. this morning. I love being in Oregon for the Holidays, but sometimes it's just too hard to move the entire operation up there. I miss my Grandmas most of all. Talking on the phone isn't really the same, but it's a close second. I hope that everyone else had as fantastic of a Christmas as we did. We are so blessed in so many ways. My heart goes out to all those who couldn't be with those they love, especially our cute Kerbee who is serving in Iraq. I'm sure that there is nothing she would want more than to be home holding her sweet little Aroura and watching her rip through her Christmas treasures. I'm so grateful for Kerbee and all the rest of the soldiers out there protecting and serving us.


Lastly, I am so in debt to our Saviour. How do you express gratitude for the best present of all? I am a lucky girl, a very blessed girl who knows that I can never do everything myself. I know that my making it anywhere will require a great measure of grace on His part and that He was willing to do that for not only me, but my family and everyone else, too. I hope that this Christmas we all reflect on our good fortune and on the birth of a single baby who changed the course of all of our lives by what He did with His! Merry Christmas!

Cards for Christmas!

This was our Christmas Card winner!

The elusive "perfect" Christmas card photo is so hard to get. The kids were great sports though, and we managed to pull off a few cute ones. Of course, I am biased being their mother and all. All I know is that when your kids are old enough to cooperate, picture time is an entirely different experience. (Minus the times when your kids go through crazy smile phases!) Anyway, these are a few of my favorites!

Thanksgiving McDowell Style!

The McDowell Family Turkey Bowl.

Ty and Kate: Grateful for their sweet cousins!

The entire McDowell crew.
Brady, Ashlyn, Jeana, Ashley and Alyse.
Russ's bum big toe, courtesy of a sprinkler head.
The "girls only" club. Poor little Ty!

Well, talk about the perfect Thanksgiving! We ate, laughed, chatted, played football and even managed to get everyone together for a group shot (no easy task)! Mike and I hosted the event this year and enjoyed every minute of watching the family hang-out and enjoy each other's company. You'd think that with most of us living right here in the valley that we'd see each other more, but it takes a holiday to pull us all to one spot. Luckily, Russ and Denise and their kids were all there with the exception of Garrett, who we missed. Ashlyn came from Idaho, where she is going to college and playing Volleyball (at 6' 1" she's a natural talent), so it was great to see her with her cousins. We were also lucky to have our cousin, Jeanette, come all the way from Arkansas, too. We were pulling them in from all over! We missed Rick and Becky's family and also John, but we understand that you've got to split loyalties sometimes. Thank goodness Cheri and Steve just brought Jack with them, so we gained one instead of losing 6. Regardless, we had a fantastic time with only a few football casualties to report. It was a great day to celebrate and think over the many, many things that we have to be grateful for: our family, our freedom, our good health and of course, the blessing of the gospel in our lives.

Life with Kate

Once in a while you snap a picture that just captures your child's personality. I had a night like that with Kate. She came in with her favorite blue shoes (hand-me-downs from Meg), her favorite red silky nightie (a hand-me-down from Aunt Jill) and loads of jewelry purloined from Meg's treasures (she's a real gem for going through Meg's goods). Add the glasses on top of an always dirty face to a little background music and you have the recipe for quite a show. Kate couldn't help but get down. She was twirling and spinning all over the place. I grabbed my camera just for one shot and couldn't help but take a few more than that. If I had to pick one word to describe Kate it would have to be SPUNKY! She definitely makes me crazy with all of her antics, but I'll take that if it comes with a good laugh once in awhile. She fills our house with fun and love. I mean, how can you not love a face like that?

Check out my Slide Show!

One of these things is not like the others!

Just thought I'd post a cute picture from the Clarkson Halloween bash. This is pretty much our book club, with an imposter posing in the back. Can you guess who? Oh, and I was wearing a costume. . .cat ears and a tail!

Rocky Point Reunion

Sand Rays from the reef. It's amazing what lives in the ocean!

Ashlyn, Lynette, Brandon, Kelly and Emma Pam, Corey, London, Jay and Tyler
Meg, me, Kyle, Josh, Mike and Kate

All the Wettstein girls! London, Ashlyn, Meg, Kate and Emma (who was thrilled, by the way!)

My only brothers, Kelly and Jay. I can't remember the last picture of just the two of them together!
Yep, that's all of us. The timer on the camera is a pretty cool invention! Thank goodness Kelly was there to show me how to use it.
Looking at the Sand Rays that the kids found snorkeling. We put them in a little tide-pool so that everyone could get a good look!
Kate and Brandon loved every minute of being on the beach.
Traditionally, we spend a weekend every fall with my brother, Jay, and his family. Usually we meet them at Disneyland, but this year we decided to go to Rocky Point, Mexico, to enjoy a little get-away. Since Kelly lives here now too, it just made sense to all drive down, rent a place on the beach and spend a few days reconnecting. So Jay and Pam flew in from Oregon and we headed to Puerto Penasco for a little Mexican Vacation. Our kids all love each other so much and look forward to time spent together, so it just seemed appropriate to hang out on the beach and let them play. We didn't do much but tan, skim-board, find shells, snorkel and tell the locals "no thank-you, we don't need any cigars, amigo!" It was so relaxing and fun for everyone because there isn't a whole lot else to do there but play on the beach. No pressure to shop or go to Sea World or anything like that. It's just the perfect place to just spend time together.

Once we got back to AZ, we enjoyed a little rivalry by watching the Oregon/Arizona game. Nothing like watching the Ducks beat the Devils down. I'd have loved for ASU to have pulled it off, but hopefully Oregon can make a showing for the Pac-10. Jay and Kyle had a whole dollar riding on the game along with a lot of smack talk from a seven year old. We found out after the fact that the dollar that he bet was actually pilfered from Josh's cash box. Typical Kyle to bet someone else's hard earned money!

The last fun thing we did was celebrate Kelly's birthday. We went to Lonestar Steakhouse where Kelly ordered the porterhouse with the warning that he still had lunch's quarter-pounder stuck to his ribs. He said he was only going to eat a few bites, then take the rest home. Ha Ha. He ate the entire thing, no joke and then still saved room for a milk-shake from Chik-fil-A. I keep telling him that it's all going to catch up with him someday, but so far he's kept the love-handles at bay. Go figure! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!