"Holy Snakes"

Jakie got to hold the huge boa constrictor (okay not hold, just pet) when the zoo keeper brought it out to visit. He wanted to make his tongue touch the snakes! Yikes! He had to settle for squeezing its tail. I was freaking out, but he loved it.

Utter Mischief!!

Well, I think the picture speaks for itself but if you need a clue I have 3 points to make: Jacob (3 year old red head) alone in his room, and a bottle of baby powder looked like fun!

We are still cleaning powder out of cracks in the walls, drawers and his room smells powder fresh 3 weeks later.

When is his 4th birthday again??? 3 has been tough on mommy!

Making Friends with the Taylors

Once again we are so lucky on the friends front. Our friends from work:Merle (for rick) and church:Michelle (for Me) have 3 little kids and they are adorable! Jakie loves to go see Luke (4) & Emma (7 ) & Sam (1) at their house. They play dress up in old Halloween costumes (as seen here) while mommy talks to Michelle (their mom) about fun things like babies, kids, potty training, church. etc. (I am the new 2nd councilor in Primary and Michelle is Primary President). The Taylor's are a great family and we are lucky to have them as friends.

Welcome Home Shumways

Welcome to our New City! We rode the old city incline (Funicular I think) up the mountain side in downtown Pittsburgh to see the best view of the city. This was not my best day!! It was unbelievably hot, (no AC in the mountain car was almost too much to bare) the humidity was at least 75 percent and we were exhausted. We got a family shot though so I am happy we did it.

"Touch Down Jesus"

Of course, if Rick was going within 100 miles of Indiana, (Gary, Indiana) we were go int to Notre Dame University. I loved to see the light in his eyes as he told me of the game he'd been able to attend a few years back. He wanted to re-see everything and recreate the poses with Cam. It was cool to see, and as beautiful as he had once described.

Our Trip Cross Country: Flooding in Iowa

So, in total we drove 2700 miles from Seattle to Utah then to Wyoming then to Nebraska, to Iowa, to Illinois, to Indiana, to Ohio to Pennsylvania. Along the way we stayed with friends just about 1 mile from the flood zones in Iowa. This street was about 6 ft. under water not a week before we visited. It was still closed to visitors when we went to view it. I cant believe the damage flooding can do!! I really feel for the ones that lost their homes and businesses.

Flooding in Ohio

Another street view of the flooding that was happening in Iowa City in late June.