Life: December

December is such a fun time. We love all of the people we get to see and the fun things we get to do. It is also a crazy time. Lots and lots of parties to go to and homework to finish. 

We spent the beginning part of December attending parties (including my cohort Christmas party, my research lab party, Karen's going away party, and more than one family party) and finishing up school. And being sick. We are really good at taking care of ourselves when we are sick (not).

We also went to the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional with my sisters! So much fun!

Alicia and I also got to hang out with Lizzy and Mary and their cute kiddos for a few hours one day. I can't believe I didn't take more pictures! Still, it was so fun to get to spend some time with them. Those girls have been so instrumental in making us who we are. I don't know what I would do without them!

Will and Pace!

The end of finals signaled the opening of the newest Star Wars movie for Kyle. While I did see it, I was not quite as fanatical about the whole thing as my husband was.

This is pretty much the only decorating I did for Christmas.
But I made these, so that's cool!

Derrick and Mary decided to come to Utah for Christmas, so I convinced my mom it would be a good time to get some family pictures taken. After all, we now had all of the adults and none of the women were pregnant and no one had given birth in the past five months. It was a definite win. Naturally that day it snowed like crazy so even getting there was an adventure. Taking pictures is always interesting, but the more people there are, the more interesting it gets. There was a lot of bribing going on, and not just for the kids.

Behind the Scenes

Still, I think they turned out pretty cute! (Also, my family seems huge now! When did that happen?!)

He loves me, I promise!

Derrick and Mary

Jeff, Shan, & Addie

Peter, Will, Alicia, & Kate

Mandi, Nate, Porter & Dax

Henry, Amy, Lyla, Spencer, Abby, Connor & Max

Classic!

Original Eight

Cutest Girls!

Again, Classic! 

After pictures we went to see my brothers' old soccer coach and his family to sing a couple of Christmas songs because their 15-year-old daughter had passed away suddenly the week before. Then we headed back for a big lunch. After lunch everyone played around and hung out before Kyle and I and Alicia and Peter opened our presents and gave our presents. The kids also opened their presents from their cousins, which was just about the cutest and funnest thing ever. After presents, Kyle and I got ready to go to Oregon. Kyle's brother Jordan met us in Centerville and the three of us headed to Idaho, our first stop on the journey. I was super freaked out about everything going horribly wrong on the icy roads. Combine that with leaving my family for Christmas for the first time ever and I was a ball of anxiety. My dad was nice enough to give Kyle and I blessings, which helped a lot. It was a little scary, but we made it to Kyle's aunt and uncle's in Burley okay. 

Early the next morning we headed out again for the rest of the drive. The most dangerous part of the drive to Oregon is through the Blues. Kyle was driving when we went through them and it was not as bad as we thought it was going to be (especially as his sister and her husband had spun out just a couple days earlier). About 3 hours outside of Sherwood one of our tires popped. The boys tried to change it themselves, but that didn't work so well, especially as it was SUPER windy! We ended up waiting about an hour for AAA to come and put on our donut. I am grateful nothing worse happened on either drive, but driving for 3 hours on a donut was not good for my anxiety either.

Once we finally made it to Sherwood, we ate delicious dinner (as always) and partook in the Dowdle tradition of decorating cake houses and trains. Not everyone was very in to it this year (we were super tired!) but Audrey took it very seriously and she had a blast.

The next day was full of prep for dinner and for Christmas. We drew names and went shopping for sibling gifts, in the rain, of course. We had a big dinner with all of Kyle's grandparents, plus his aunt, uncle, and cousins that live next door. The girls got to use finger puppets to act out the Christmas story and we all ate ourselves silly before watching a Christmas movie and heading to bed. We all also opened our pajamas. This year, Santa got everyone over the age of 7 matching pajamas. Kyle's dad was even a good sport and wore his with all of us. 

A couple weeks later, but Kyle and I in our PJs.

We opened presents Christmas morning and then just spent the rest of the day lounging around. Despite the fact that there were two little girls there, the best reaction to a present was Kyle's. His eyes got wide, mouth dropped open, and he immediately leaped to his feet to run to the bathroom to change into his newest presents.

We watched a couple of the Star Wars movies in preparation for seeing the new one together in a couple of days. 

We woke up early the next day to head into Seattle, Washington. Kyle's brother Jordan and his girlfriend Carly, who is from Seattle, had decided right before Christmas break to get married (a little dejvu from last year when Kyle and I did the exact same thing), so we went to Seattle so Jordan could be with her/meet her family/propose. 

Davis and Jensen sleeping in the back of our car.

We dropped him off and then went to explore Seattle. Not sure how, but I pretty much didn't take any pictures. Oh well. We went to Pike's Place, the gross gum wall, and the Space Needle before deciding to spend the rest of the day playing with the little girls at the Children's museum. Pretty sure the adults had more fun than the girls in some of the rooms.

Afterward we went to Carly's parents, where Jordan and Carly had just gotten engaged. We ate pizza, got acquainted, and started planning their wedding. Crazy stuff, people! 

The next day was the anniversary of the day Kyle's parents had their first kiss so after church Kyle's dad set up a something fun and special to celebrate. We spent most of the next few days just hanging out, eating, watching movies, and playing. We went to see the new Star Wars movie together, Kyle's mom and I went and got manicures and pedicures, I went to Zumba with her and the little girls, and the adults did a session in the temple.

New year's eve we went to the beach. While they are beautiful, Oregon beaches are also EXTREMELY cold, especially in the winter. Still, we had fun. We went on walks, fought with swords (that isn't what they are called, but that is what they are), built sand castles, ate, and flew a kite. I was freezing the whole time, but of course the little girls didn't seem to feel it and kept wanting to know why we weren't going in the water. 

After the beach we headed to dinner and then spent a quiet night at home while ringing in the new year.