Happy Birthday Jakie Pie!! December 14, 2004 10:25am

WHO YOU WERE:

WHO YOU ARE NOW:YOU ARE OLDER NOW, BUT YOU ALWAYS WERE AND STILL ARE OUR FIRST SPECIAL BOY! BEST PART, ALL OF THE BEST PARTS HAVE STAYED THE SAME!

Jakie can't read (at this level) so this is more for the memory book I will make out of this one day.

Jacob, on a daily basis I have 20 conversations with you that I wish I could record. You are truly the funniest little boy I know. We have never had a dull day with you since Dec 14th 2004 at 10:25am! You made a memorable entrance into our lives and it has been memorable ever since!

There are so many things that I love about you after just 5 short years of knowing you and I know that there will be so much more as the years go on. 'I look back I see pictures of you wide eyes, bright red hair, sweet cheeks and ever present grin and I just cant believe how fast it has gone by. I cant believe the big boy whose feet touch the floor when I try to rock him!

Jacob, you have always been such a wonderful boy! Even as a baby you laughed early, you always had a smile, you had a temper but forgave quickly, you were very mischievous, very head strong, very intelligent, very independent, social (at the same time) and very loving! None of those things have ever changed about you. I have known that you loved and adored your daddy and me from the first time I held you in the hospital room. Your eyes looked right into mine and I could feel that I was going to be 1/2 of the luckiest parents in the world. You teach me everyday and allow me to teach you, most of the time. You make me want to be a better mommy and my greatest desire is to make you the best little boy you can be.

We always want you to know that we love you! Your daddy and I talk endlessly about our love and gratitude for you and I suspect that we always will. We are so proud of the way that you love your brother, help your mother and try as hard as you can to obey your Father. It can be hard to do those things when you are just 5 but you sure try each day. We don't ever want you to loose your enthusiasm, your energy, your love or purity. They are so wonderful to have in our home!

I tell you these things each chance I get, but I want you to look back at this and know that you were loved, you were adored and that you were special. Thank you for all of the happiness you bring to our family. You were our first everything for 4 & 1/2 years and though your brother has joined us (and brought us much of the same wonderful traits you have) you will always be our only Jakie Pie, and our first little boy. We love you Jack-om-beans! Happy Birthday and thank you for being our boy!

Christmas Season/Birthday Wishes

Well Everyone, thank you so much for the birthday wishes on Facebook, calls, texts, cards, etc. I sure love you all. My 31st was a great birthday! I woke up at 4:20am and watched myself turn 31 (like I do every year), sang myself happy birthday and went back to bed. I woke up later that morning thinking I was going to spend the day shuttling hubby to/from work, going to the shop for the van, taking Jakie to school and cleaning all day and ended up blowing off anything that was not required and just spent the day in bed! I had Rick and Jakie with me the whole day as we watched cartoons, ate ice cream for breakfast and played games in bed. I loved it. I think that is how I am going to do my birthday every year. Total revolt! It only got better when Rick got home and we went out for Chick-fil-a for dinner and came home to desert and presents. Great birthday! Thanks again everyone for the birthday wishes. Some day I will have a big huge party for friends and family to come and have fun with us. HERE ARE A FEW FLASH BACK PHOTOS OF ME AS A BABY!

Aside from that, we are just busy, busy, busy with the holiday stuff. Jakie's birthday is coming up in about 4 days (Monday) so we are doing what we must to make that fun for him. No big party this year like 3 & 4 since we are headed out the next day to TX. He will get a fun party next year I think. Maybe a wild & Crazy party at some fun place. Who knows? I felt bad at first but then I though...wait...we have limited funds, we are leaving the next day, time is short this Sat as we prep for the trip and Jakie really wont know the difference. Forget it. Why kill ourselves, right! Oh well. Family parties are what I always had and it makes the parties with friends more fun when they are a surprise when they happen.

Anyway, loving the holidays, loving the family times coming up and looking forward to cramming it all in. I think this week will be going to see Santa, ice-skating, Christmas shopping, and the tree we put up on Monday! Gotta love it all! Check out our tree. It was 20$ so it looks even more beautiful to me. Sorry it was not lit in this pic.

Yummy Yummy Zucchini??

Yummy Yummy Zucchini?? The Dr. Gave us the go ahead to start letting Ricky eat fruits, vegetables, meats all pulverized of course. So, first efforts were Zucchini.....Check it out below to see how that went:) Next effort was corn and the reaction was about identical.

They were fresh ground and not canned (which Rick is convinced is the reason for the reaction), but I think that maybe yams or sweet potato may be the next try. Any suggestions. Verdict: Guess we will have to try a few other varieties!

Exhausted

Sorry about the lack of posts. I have so many cute things to upload and have just not had the motivation to do it. I am thoroughly exhausted! I had a primary program in November, my birthday tomorrow, Jakie's b-day on the 14th, Fly to El Paso TX. on the 15th for a wedding I planned for the 20th, Christmas to shop for in El Paso, and then we come home to have the holidays that remain with family here and celebrate my Anniversary. AGGGH! The problem is that I love all of those things! I enjoy each of them and would not forgo anything if I could. I think I just need like 36 hours in a day! I would love that. Oh well, I am just run down I think. Looks like another New Years goal of hitting the gym will be in order this year. I always say I wont do that, but then I am so tired in Dec that I am reminded that I need to work out and get more stamina for the stuff that comes. Well, in the time it took to complain I could have posted cute videos of Jakie and Rick. I will get to that tonight.

Question: Anyone ever want to just run away for a few hours and just go to a movie alone? Maybe Julie and Julia? I think that is what I want for Christmas!

Love you guys. Real posts to follow soon!

Thanksgiving Day Feast

Don't you just love this video? Jakie sang this in Preschool and shared it at home for the first time after thanksgiving. Silly boy. I just love him! I think it says it all:

So, this was the first year that I attempted to make a Turkey, all of the sides and still have guests come. We were able to have our friends Dan and Sarah Linfesty come to stay with us for a few days and enjoy the holiday. The cooking started at about 8pm Wednesday night and went until about 4pm on Thurs (with about a 4 hour break for me to get some rest). The menu consisted of a 12lb turkey rubbed with sage, thyme, butter and garlic, thyme garlic potatoes augrautain, sweet and savory butternut, cranberry and sourdough stuffing, fresh green bean casserole, corn on the cob, home made chive and thyme dinner rolls, Waldorf salad with glazed pecans and poppy seed dressing, home made cranberry sauce, whipped red skin potatoes, home made pumpkin pie, home made cranberry meringue pie and home made vanilla bean ice cream. (things in red were done by Dan and Sarah and were exceptional!!!!) All for 4 adults and 1 kid! Talk about a feast! It was a beast of a meal to prepare, but I really enjoyed it. I like cooking and I like people but if I add them together, I LOVE it. I guess i just love to entertain! Cant wait to get a house one day so that everyone can be invited. Only thing I did really wrong was forget to get pictures!! I was so exhausted after it was all served that I just completely forgot. Oh well, maybe I can get Sarah to send me a few of hers. We ate, relaxed, cleaned up and then played catchphrase until about midnight. I love catchphrase! Probably because I am actually good at that one and I love seeing Rick turn red when my team beats his team. He, he. It is still fun even when he beats mine though.

Well, there is much to be thankful for. I think about this every day, but I guess this season is the appropriate time to say it. I compiled a list of my most grateful things below. I am sure that Rick would have much more to add, but since he is making the bacon he is not here to comment. I think he would say "dido" on most of them though.

1. Rick. I am grateful for Rick and all that he intales. He is his own man but a product of a truly amazing home. He is a product of a Father and Mother that taught him perfectly what is right and wrong. I truly feel lucky to have him!

2. Beautiful children as wonderful inside as they are outside. I smile every time I see them and love every interaction we have (even when they are naughty). They give me a chance to grow and learn in a way that only a mother could. They are truly my greatest gifts.

3. A Home. It is just an apartment, but we feel happiness and togetherness here every day. We are so grateful to be safe, secure, warm and clean. That is so much more than many have and we are grateful for it.

4. Family that loves us! We have never had to ask, but if we needed something, I know we would not have to hesitate to ask. Our parents are so generous, concerned and close to us both. He with his, and I with mine and because they love us, each with each others. This is truly a wonderful blessing as it makes our happy family bigger and happier. Love you guys!

5. A Job. That is especially appreciated in a time when there are not plenty to go around. Rick has made very good career choices that have sustained us thus far. It has been with work on both of our parts to make things happen, but I sure am glad that Rick is willing to work everyday to sustain us and allow me to be home.

6. Faith in our Savior And Heavenly Father! Where would we be with out this? Everything we do, every reaction we have in our lives revolves around our faith. So much that would be tragic is bearable,those things that are hard are made easier, and things that are happy are even happier because of that knowledge that God lives and that there is a plan. We are forever grateful for that. It means that we are never permanently apart, it means that we are loved, it means that we are not alone, it means that there is more than what we can see. How grateful we are for that knowledge.

7. For our friends. You are amazing friends. We always wish we could spend time and talk more with each of you, but we are so grateful even for the comments, texts, and shout outs on facebook. We miss you all. We are grateful that we are here, but wish we were there too. Love you all!

Peter, James and Johnson

Yes, we all know the story. Do you know it the way Jacob knows it? For family home evening we were talking about Jesus and the fishermen (Peter, James, John and Andrew). For those heathens (Just kidding) that dont know it: Jesus comes to the fishermen and tells them to cast their nets once more after they have a fruitless day. They obey him and they pull up their nets full to the bim.

This was the story that we shared with Jacob and Ricky for FHE tonight, and out of habit we asked him to repeat the names of the future apostles that obeyed Jesus. Jacob replied with surety, "oh, it was Peter, James and Johnson, and Andrew". It remeinded me of they years when he asked for his bennannee (bananna), his moogie (movie), his caw (car), his daddee (daddy), etc. I love when he says things that let me know what he is hearing in his little mind when we teach him. It makes me laugh that even after we corrected him and said that it was John that he said, "no, no, it is Johnson momma. He listened to Jesus too".

Also, It has been fun to hear about having a feast. Jacob learned that word in Pre-school and now any time that Jakie gets lots of food it is a feast! His eyes get huge and he smiles after ward each time. It makes me laugh every time!

So much happens in a day. I love getting this stuff down because I forget all of the time. Ricky is getting huge so there should be lots of video of Ricky and Jakie to come soon!

Dad's Birthday Today

It is Dad's birthday today. Rick was up at 6am today and as I drove him to work he reminded me (along with my phone alarm, my planner and my callender) that it is Dad's birthday today.

In the Shumway family it is tradition for everyone to say something to the person having the birthday. We say something funny, sweet, or just something unique to that person. I knew that Dads birthday was coming and of course, even though he is no longer here, I still think of things I would say. I would say first to him that I love him. I always felt like a part of things in the family and I loved his sweet smile telling me that I belonged. I miss his funny stories and the humor that he had. We often laugh at things and say that is dad's kind of funny. I miss his dinners that he used to spoil us with. We were grown up but any chance to spoil us he took. Especially with Jacob. I think that as I thing about him this is one of the things I miss most. His love for Jacob was inspiring at times. Dad was kind, gentle and stable for Jake and I loved that. Jacob always knew that if we were visiting and he was near Grandpa, he could get away with a little more. (I remember that feeling with my Grandpa Bratton (my moms dad). He would sneak me some candy when mom said no. He would let us throw a fit a little longer than mom would (though with him, there was nothing to cry about. He gave us anything we wanted). That is the way that Grandpa Shumway was for Jakie. I miss that for Ricky. He will not have grandpa to smile when he squawks, to laugh when Ricky plays or to read to him the same story for the 100th time. Grandma will have to do double time and fill that void for the Shumway side.

Rick and I will often say" Grandpa would have let him do that" when we realize that we have been too harsh on Jake. It reminds us to have a soft heart and be more understanding of things that maybe we are a little too stringent on. That is so often a gift to me as a mother because I make amends for times I feel I was too tough.

I miss the many lessons I learned daily with dad. We love him so much. More than he could have known! I know he is no longer here to hear it but, Happy birthday Dad! Time here does not limit you, but I know that you are near on your day as we miss you and honor you with out thoughts as you did for us each year.