Un Tempio a Roma!! (A Temple in Rome)_

Sorry that it has taken so long to blog on this, but I was so busy with all of the other things going on lately.

I wanted to announce to any friends and family that we learned on Conference morning in this October that there would be a temple in Rome!! Amazing huh.

Here is the site that the church has slated for construction:


It looks so truly Italian. It will be an amazing temple just because of where it will be. I believe that this is the very site that President Pacini took us on our first day in the mission. I still have an olive leaf from the ground there.

I served in Rome in 2000-2001 so I cannot begin to express how excited that I am. We worked so hard to get enough members for just a real stake, so I am thrilled to know that the work has progressed enough to merritt a temple! I can think of all of the faithful members that will want to work there if not visit every week. Even the people of Sardegnia will be able to go with less trouble than before.

Fact: For years, Italian Saints have traveled the long distance to the Bern Switzerland Temple, which now serves more stakes and districts from Italy than from any other country.Today there are over 22,600 members organized into 6 stakes and 7 districts. That is just amazing to me. I am a missionary from Italy's past but I know that the first missionary to Rome is so proud. Paul, *Paulo* I know that you are so proud of your mission finally being ready for all of the blessings of exaltation right in their own city!! Cant wait to see the construction start and visit on day! Anyone else planning on going to the dedication?

A Wonderful Fall Day In Pittsburgh!

Jacob and I had a wonderful time today in a park nearby. It is acre upon acre of rolling hills, tree lined lanes and ponds, etc. It is the largest I have seen since Central Park in NY. I took Jake out to a favorite spot where the leves had all turned and fallen. The scene was something out of a story book and made me so glad to be here during this season. The leaves are all falling now and I am so glad that I got out to take advantage of the weather, perfect lighting, and my beautiful boy in his cute little outfit. He was so much fun to shoot! I go the pics back today and loved them all. I have a favorite, first you see in the series, but they all made me smile. He has so many expressions and emotions. I love this little boy! Hope you enjoy them too.

Fun on the Farm 2

Rick got to see how much fun Jakie and I got to have on Friday and wanted to... You guessed it... go see another farm on Saturday. I loved what I saw Friday so I was up for it again. We looked all over the area and found a great farm in North Pittsburgh that was unbelievable. The colors are so amazing right now and a hey ride, pumpkin patch walk, and the other games available sounded like fun again. This farm had 3x's the fun that Trax farms had and Jake loved it. I think the face painting, slide and Halloween games were the biggest hit!

Farm Days

Ahhh, Farm Days!! I got to take Jake to a local farm (Trax Farm) In South Hills of PA on Friday. We got to go through the store, harvest yard, do a tour of the apple processing areas and do a fun hey ride. We met up with some moms from the ward and Jake was in heaven with other kids to play with. We had so much fun!! This is about my favorite time of year and I have loved being home to enjoy it with Jacob. Every day is a gift. I love it! Here is a record of our fun:

Catching up

Gosh, It has been a while since my last post. I so wanted to be better at this and was for a while, but things have gotten pretty heavy here over the last week. There are so many things that have happened. I will go threw a few here to update: Starting with happy or light hearted news to the hard news.

1.Jacob has been wearing me out. He is definitely ready for school or something of the sort. He wants to learn to read so I will start teaching him now. He has his numbers down, colors, and is quite a critical thinker. You would not know that when he is doing swan dives off of the side of the couch into a nearby chair, but he is. I guess it goes to show that he is quite a balanced little booger. He says something brilliant and then does something insane. Somehow I identify.

2. I got my hair cut last Saturday. I loved it in the salon, hated it a day later and now love it again a week later. All in all, exactly the way my haircuts go. The length is still long, and I am still my dark color, but I got bangs and I think that they are pretty cool. I think I look international with them. Ha, don't make fun of me saying international. Maybe even Italian.. Magari (I wish)! Be kind if you disagree. I cant glue the hair back on.

3. Rick got to go back to Seattle to do recruiting at the University of Washington (His Grad School). I was jealous but I just rented tons of movies, shopped a little and played with Jacob for the 4 days that he was gone. I can always keep myself busy without Rick but I so prefer to have him with me. I miss my best friend when he is gone. He got to stay with Kevin and Steph (friends there) and see Geoff & Kim, and his buddy Kevin. I wish I could have gone to see everyone too but I could not make the trip. I would have spend the whole time talking to friends and walking on the beach! He had a ball and it made us both miss Seattle. This is Jakie sending Daddy off to Seattle:

4. Saddest News: Rick got a call while in Seattle that changed us forever. His father (mentor, leader and hero) was diagnosed with Cancer (not sure which kind yet) in an advanced stage. We are not sure about all of the major details (those will come shortly) but just the knowledge that He is not well was enough to send us to our knees. Rick has been so lucky to have a person that lead him and guided him along side his Mother. He has been a true example of what a father should be. We are all hoping for the very best and thank all friends (that know already) for their prayers and support. We have a unique situation because his father is every bit as much of a father to me. I worry for him the way that any daughter would worry for her own father. I was blessed when I got Rick and double blessed when I got Rick's family. They have been wonderful and made me feel truly Shumway!! I have a special connection with Dad and have always adored him. His motto when I dated/was engaged to/ and married Rick (all about the same time!) was "whatever Sarah wants she can have". Who could not adore that! Just kidding. I just love when I get to sit and talk about things. I always learn something from him. I am praying and having faith that I will have much more time to come. Rick and I will be flying home to Utah on the 21st of this month (Oct) to spend time with the family. We will be there together for a week or so and then Rick will return home for work, etc. I will be staying in Utah until the 19th of November to allow Jake more time with the family and Grandpa. Jakie has a gift for cheering others up and Grandpa sure loves his little Jakie boy! I am looking forward to getting to see Dad and soak up time with the family. We will keep you posted on progress, etc as I know many know Rick's Dad and have loved him when they got to know him.

Wouldn't this face make you smile!!!

5. Sad News again: Rick's Grandfather (his name sake: Richard Phil Shumway) passed away in the early morning. Rick is devastated to miss his funeral but knows that the family with know how much we miss him. He has been a wonderful influence on our lives and a bright spot in the family. Grandfather will be missed and we will rush to see Grandmother on arrival in Utah. We love her and know that she misses him dearly. I have not doubt that we know exactly where he is though. A righteous man of his caliber could go no other place. He will do for us on the other side now and I feel lucky to have known him while on the earth. I wish to be like him and I wish to make others feel loved as he has. I will have Rick blog about a few stories that I am sure will make you laugh. He was a wonderful man.

My Little "Fly Boy"

So, if you are laughing at the picture I posted here then you are just like me. I had to go and look for a scarf at a store near by store today and as I contemplated the impact of each colorful scarf, I heard a little voice say, "hey momma, I am coolie". I looked around and this is what I saw:

Ha!!!! I laughed so hard when I saw him that the whole store turned around and laughed as well. In case you cant see very well, he has 4 pink pimpin' hats on (stacked) and a pink peace chain around his neck!

He thought he was so funny that he went and put on a pair of black heels and walked around like that for a bit. He makes me laugh every day. How did I ever get so lucky to have such a funny, sweet, and utterly adorable little boy??!!

Other than that little moment, there is not much going on. I am following Fox news every day to see where this darn economy goes, cleaning, banking, disciplining and working out. Sounds mundane but I am always busy and love what I do. Rick is gone on business until tomorrow (4 days total) and we cant wait for him to come home. I miss my best friend when he is gone! I feel so lucky that he is mine! Mushy, I know, but true.

There is more to write and now that my Primary calling is on track, I am sure that I will blog more. I have missed it and I miss all of you!

Angry Blogger

Sorry for the amount of time it has taken to get back to blogging. I have been so busy with my calling and just trying to keep up. There has been so much going on that I could not possibly catch up. Suffice it to say that I have mostly been listening to FOX network (I am super into the political shows), cleaning, cursing Obamas campaign, enjoying new friends, adoring Jacob, disciplining Jacob, and trying to convince him that if he would just crap in the potty his bum would not burn. I don't get why he wants to go in the diaper and cry when I change it. Anyway, Good times folks!

Caution: This is an angry portion of the blog!
The biggest thing thing for me this week is the realization this week that we are freaking poor!! Yep, it took until now to realize that. It took finding a house that I love that is totally in our "price range" and wanting to buy it to figure that out. We went and looked at it, dreamed about it and came home to do the finances to put in an offer before we realized that we can't afford it. Well, cant afford it and keep savings and be responsible! We could swing it but life would suck after ward.

I was so bummed, then angry!! Angry that we have done everything by the books. School, working, paying taxes, working so hard and then when we should be able to make it, the economy screws us. The very day that I find a house, the economy goes in the tank and all funding that would have helped is gone. I resent our leaders that made this happen. I so hope that McCain and Paylan are elected (Sorry to our democrat friends and family, but it is true, I am republican)!

I am sick of government saying that if we work less, do less, and stay needy that they will fund us. What is wrong with working hard in life?? It is never easy. We have sacrificed more than should have been possible at times, but we did not give up and suck the system. Working 15 hours with a new born and never seeing my husband to both work and make the bills is a major sacrifice. School debt to be self sufficient is a major sacrifice. It is just frustrating to see folks that took the easy route here afford homes, new cars, etc. on tax money and we cant afford a home. I am so afraid of a system under Obama that offers more government involvement and less incentive to do well. I don't dislike Obama the man, I dislike Obama the mentality. I really hope people become aware of what we are in for if they win. I have a feeling that we will not have a home for a while if they do.

I don't want to disrespect anyone choices politically if there is a reader that disagrees. I just needed a forum to vent. Rick is sick of hearing about it already! Ha! At least I have the faith that tithing and obedience to the gospel will offer blessings and eventually we can have what we want/need.

My mom said something wise: "the worst thing you can do is force things! You don't want to do something that wont just work out". She is pretty smart so I think I will take her advice and go in to the 3rd stage of denial and finally just accept it. Anyway, hope your home hunts are going better than ours. Wish us luck. Love you all!!