First day of another year!

Today was the first day of school for Devan and Kami at Uinta Meadows Elementary. They were both so excited that they were up and dressed before 7:00 am. Devan was ready to see his friends from school and see his new second grade teacher. Kami was ready to meet new friends and see her new Kindergarten teacher whom I had requested.

I sure hope that my kids excitement for school will last through out the whole school year. I sure would make it easier on me.

P.S. for those of you who know me I did cry . I waited until Kami could not see me and I cried on my way to work. I am such a baby!

Remembering a loved one

Today I spent the day remembering a great man. We miss Keith everyday, my kids talk about their uncle Keith saying things like " if Keith were here he would love this," or they remember some of the fun things that Keith did with them. We will always remember his quick smile, his love for the out doors, his family and especially his wife and little boy. I know that Keith is looking out for them from heaven and that he loves them very much just as we all love him.

I still feel as if this is all a dream. When the family all got together over the 24th of July I mentioned to Neil and his sister Joanna that the last time I saw him a live was a year ago that day. I never would have thought that I would not see him again after that day.

I am truly grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that I have that Keith will be with his sweet wife again and they will be together. I know I will see him again but until then we will enjoy being with Lisa and their son, teaching him all about his dad. We miss you Keith and we will always love you.

Happy Birthday Neil

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband.

I know I was gone for his birthday but I did remember and I am just a little slow getting it posted. On monday the 6th I cooked him dinner, made his favorite cake and invited our friends over to share his day with us. We played games and had a lot of fun.

Neil you are wonderful and I am so thankful to have you in my life. I love you so much. Thanks for all you do for me and our children. Happy Birthday!

Hiking the Narrows

Over the fourth of July weekend Neil and I were invited to go on a two day hike with our friends Chad and Bekah Hughes and Ryan Howell. Sadly Neil had to work and finish up at his store so I had to go without him. I was a lot of fun and most of the hiking was done in water. As you can tell from the pictures. I was very tired after the hike but I had so much fun.
Here I am with Bekah just as we are getting to the river to begin our 16 mile hike down in the water. The water was really warm and clear. Thank goodness for walking sticks, we used these to help us keep our balance and fall all over the rock. It helped a lot when some of the time the water was waist deep.
Here is Bekah posing behind me while her husband took a picture. I was a very slow hiker, so she stayed with me while the boys took off a head of us.

Taking a break. We all took our water shoes off at this point and rinsed out all the rocks and dirt that we had collected along the way. Pictured (Left to right) Ryan Howell, Chad Hughes and me. Bekah is taking the picture.

Entering the first Narrow. We had to hurry through this part because it started to rain and as you can see there is no high ground in case it floods. Which by the way it did. We just made it out as it really started to pour and climbed up into cove that was carved out of the rock. It rained hard for about an hour. We were trying to decided how long to wait before hiking again incase it does flood. So we waited about another hour. We climb down and see another group coming through the narrow. Just as we are getting ready to leave the water comes. We were stranded. Whats crazy is that we were only about 15 min. from our camp. Luckly we were at a place were we could camp. But looking up the Narrow was a group of about nine stranded on a rock. Literally, a rock. After being stranded up there for about 2 hours and 2 more floods they chance the water and make their way down. The water as you can see from the picture was ankle deep. After the flood was over it was chest deep in many places. Thankfully everyone made it down safe and we all ended up camping together.

From this picture you can see just how muddy the water was. You could not see the bottom so you didn't know how deep it was. Thank goodness for walking sticks. Anyone want to go next year?

Happy Fathers Day!

I wanted to wish the man of my dreams a Happy Fathers Day. Neil you are wonderful. You are a great dad, husband and brother. Thanks for all you do for our family and all the love.

I also want to wish all the other men in my life a wonderful day as well. You know who you are, my dad, grandpa, brothers, brother-in-laws and friends.

A small Tidbit!

Now I am not very good with putting my thoughts into words but I feel I have to try. Back on about May 27th we got word that Wolsey was closing the Evanston Store. Shocked? Yah, so were we. We thought everything was going great and we would not have to worry. Well so much for what we thought. After we found out I was shocked, but I felt we were going to be okay. I talked to my good friend Jenni, her husband is Neils assistant manager, about what was going on and we both felt that deep down we know this was going to happen. Well now it has, so we feel we can breath easier knowing that it happened. No more feeling like we are walking on pins and needles.

Well I think I am past the shock and now I am scared and very stressed out. We have no job and now we are trying to determine if we are to stay here or move. I know my stress comes from the fact that I am now looking for a teaching job, but my licence is expired and I some how need to find out what goes in my placement file. (I never completed it because I never worked after graduating due to being on bed rest with Devan.) Anyway I feel that once I get that done and find a job I will be okay. Someone told me once that you can't have faith if fear is present. Well I need to have faith in my Heavenly Father. I know he is there for me and my family, I just need to trust in him.

I want to thank all of our family and friends who have been there for us and kept us in their prayers. I you all would, keep praying, I fear we are not though the worst yet. I love you all and thank you for your support. We will keep you posted as soon as we know where we are headed.

Happy Mothers Day!

I know I am a day late but I wanted to let all the wonderful women in my life to know that I am thinking about them. I am so lucky to be surrounded by some incredible women and I hope they all had a wonderful Mothers Day. I love you all and thank you for all you have done for me. Thank you for all the advice and example you have all shown me on how to be a great mom.

I know for me there are times when I feel I am not doing a very good job but all of you help me to realize that being a mom is not easy, just totally worth it.

Happy Mothers Day to all you Wonderful Moms.

Devans Baptism

On May 2nd Devan was Baptised and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are so proud of the choice that he has made. We love you Devan!

Thankyou to all our family and friends that made the long journey to be with us on this specail occasion. We love you all and thankyou for your support.

Birthday Party Fun!

Fun Kanosh Weekend

We took our friends down to Kanosh for the weekend so the boys could go play while we played at the house before the new family moved in. It was a great day to play outside, which we did and we all got burned. The kids loved the horse ride that my grandpa arranged for them and then my dad took them on a tractor ride around their yard. It was really fun, relaxing and we sure enjoyed ourselves. We sure love Kanosh.

Happy Birthday Devan!

Today Devan turned 8 years old. It seems like yesterday that he was a tiny baby in the Intensive Care and now he is 8. These years have gone by so quickly. I have loved watching him grow up and seeing his personality develop into the person he is right now. He is a loving boy with a sweet spirit. He loves to play with his friends, anything from baseball to digging in the dirt to playing Halo on his dads "X" box. He always has a ready smile and makes friends with everyone. There is not a person who does not like him. He is my miracle boy and I love him with all my heart. Everyday I thank my Heavenly Father that he has blessed me to be the mother of this wonderful boy. I am so grateful to be Devan's mom and I hope he has a wonderful birthday.

Happy Birthday Devan!

Our Dancing Princess

Kami loves to turn on music and dance around the house. On this paticular day she wore her Little Mermaid costume and was dancing and posing around the house. We love to watch her dance. She even puts on dancing parties. If you want a good work out come to one of her parties.

Just watching her makes me smile. My mom took pictures of me when I was little dancing like Kami to any kind of music. So I guess she gets it from me

Meeting with the Bishop

Today Devan went to see the Bishop about getting Baptised. He has chosen to follow our Heavenly Father and become Baptised. We are so excited for him. I myself can't believe that my little boy is already old enough to be Baptised. His Baptism is scheduled for May 2nd. Please keep this day open. We will be sending out announcements so that everyone can try to attend. I know he would love to see everyone there.

Just a side note, I don't know if you can tell, but Devan has also lost his first tooth. Its on the bottom and it came out just weeks before his 8th birthday. The tooth fairy was also very generous with Devan as well, for he too received $3.00.

Evanstons Pinewood Derby

Devan was very excited when I told him he could participate in the Pinewood Derby this year. The pack leaders allowed him to race even though he is not quite eight. As you can tell he constructed his car after one of his favorite toy cars.

First you have to draw on the shape of your car, cut it out, do a lot of sanding, and then its ready to paint. There is a coat of primer and at least two coats of orange paint, along with a coat of sealant to make it shinny.
The end result is the Duke's of Hazard car. He was so excited to race his car. In many of the races he got second place. We are so excited for Devan to be joining scouts.
Here is Devan and his friend Scott getting ready to watch their car race down the track. Their faces just say it all in how much fun they are having.

The Shumway News!

Our first story today is nothing but good news. My niece Cassidy is home from the hospital. We are so excited to have her home and she is doing incredibly well. We were able to see her last Saturday and spend time with her, Lorin, Janice, Megan and Logan. We sure missed going to their home and seeing them. Janice's home has a wonderful spirit and its very welcoming. I love going to her home. Cassidy still has some challenges to face but she is so strong that nothing gets her down. We sure love that little girl and we know that she has a wonderful spirit, a sweet smile and loving personality.

Our second story is in regards to Kami. A week ago Kami lost her second tooth and was very excited to have the tooth fairy come to see her. Well Neil accidentally threw her tooth away. You see after she pulled it out I put the tooth in a plastic bag to keep safe. Neil was cleaning up that night and grabbed the bag by accident without checking to see what was in it and threw it away. He felt so bad that he gave her $3.00 to make it up to her since the tooth fairy cannot come. She was okay with that and she forgave Neil too.

Our third story is a sad one. Four days ago, Friday night, Devan went over to our neighbors house to play when he was bit by their dog in the face. Our neighbors daughter came to get me saying that Devan was hurt and wanted me. She said he hurt his eye. Well I just thought he fell on some ice and jabbed himself in the eye. When I got over there I could hear him screaming and he was covered in blood. I of coarse was hysterical, asking them what happened to my child. Michelle (the neighbor) said that Devan was petting the dog when he turned on him and bit him in the face. We took Devan to the E.R. for stitches and a good cleaning but he is going to be okay. I don't know how he will feel about dogs now but only time will tell. As for the dog, out neighbors are getting rid of him so that no other children get hurt again.

Shhh! We're sleeping!

I went to check on Kami the other night and this is how I found her. Our cat crawled underneath the covers and snuggled up to Kami. It was really cute. The cat loves to sleep with her, ofcoarse she tries to sleep with Devan but he won't let her and for some reason she won't even come in my room (which is fine with me, I'm not sharing my bed). So she sleeps with Kami, right beside her.

Kami has lost another one

Everyone, Kami has lost another tooth. She was so excited. This time she just pulled out her tooth. Ofcoarse it was hanging on by a thread, but she did it. Now the tooth fairy will be visiting our home again tonight. I wonder how much he will leave this time?

P.S. Devan has his first loose tooth but it has yet to fall out. Will post on a later date.

Mamma Mia!

My friend Devin put together a girls night at her home to watch "Mamma Mia" and eat a lot of junk food. Pictured are my friends (left to right) Devin, Bekah and Rachel. We talked for hours while eating our snacks and laughed soo hard during the movie. To wrap up the night we sang along with the movie using the sing along part of the movie. For those of you who have not seen the movie I highly recommend seeing it. We all loved it.

Sleding With Friends

Our neighbors Randy and Malory Klingler and her sisters family invited us to go sleding with them. We had a blast, in fact my kids didn't want to go home. Kami was even brave this year and went down the mountain alone. And she didn't even mind the climb back up. As for Neil and I we got our days exercise just walking up the hill so many time. We sure were tired but the memories we made will last for ever.

Outings with Daddy

So I am a terrible mom and did not take pictures of my children going out with their dad so I will just have to write about it.

For Christmas this year I gave Neil tickets to a Jazz game, the Jazz vs. the Spurs. When I bought the tickets they were center line around the first row but it turns out they were clear in the back and had to watch the whole game on the screen instead of the floor. But they had a great time eating snacks and cheering on their favorite team. As they were leaving the game Devan turned to Neil and says "Dad thanks for bringing me to the game." How cute is that. Kami and I stayed home playing little pet shops and watching a movie.

Just a side note: The Jazz lost that night.

The next week Neil went on a daddy daughter date with Kami. They went out on Tuesday February 3rd to dinner at "Old McDonnalds",(McDonnalds) and they were going to seeing the movie "Hotel for Dogs". Sadly the movie was not playing that night like the website said so they finished their date on Thursday February 5th. They loved the movie and had a great time together talking, and just hanging out. Devan and I stayed home playing Monoply junior. We both won a game.

Ward Ice Skating Party

Thinking of you Cassidy

We love you Cassidy. My niece Cassidy was rushed to the hospital for seizures and she is not doing very well. For any of you who read this please keep her and her family in your prayers. We love her so much! Get better soon Cassidy.

Shumway Party!

We had a great time getting together with all of the Shumway's. We look forward to the shumway party every year. Especially getting to visit and catch up with everyone and to see their scrapbook pages. We spent the day at Joanna's home after Erica's blessing. The time went by to quickly though, before we knew it, it was time to go home. We need to get together more often, we just love spending time with all of you.

The Nurf gun battle

Devan got a Nurf gun for Christmas from Neil. It came with four guns so I knew what was going to happen,and it did. My brothers, Neil and Devan all started shooting each other. This game lasted a good hour and for those of you who have seen my house you can imagine how much room they had. Kami even got in on the fun she was their "dart girl" and she even shoot Jason in the face with one of the guns. Neil talked her into doing it. It was so unexpected of Kami, but funny.

Christmas Day with Kim's family

We were very greatful this year to have my family join us for Christmas at our home. We had a great time being together. It was crowded, but there was a lot of love in our home.