Message In A.....Balloon.

Jacob spend much of last week talking about Grandpa Shumway and how he wished he could talk to hm. We told him that he could just talk to him, but he was confused about talking to him vs praying to him. So, we followed some great advice from Grandma Shumway and we attached our messages to Grandpa to a helium filled balloon and sent it straight up! It was sweet to see Jacob so excited as he told me the very things he wanted me to write to grandpa. He expressed all that was in his heart in many little messages and we set it off at dawn a few weeks ago. I think it should be something we do as often as possible, but always on the 24th of July (the anniversary of Dad's passing) so that we can keep him in our fore thoughts. We miss you Dad! Hope you liked the balloon.

Ricky Turned 1 (June 7, 2010)

Happy Birthday Baby Boy! I CANT believe that he has turned one! I swear that I still see him as that huge baby they handed me after 9 months of misery! We planned our trip to California back in March and I did not even realize that it was over his birthday until April when I started thinking about him turning one. So, we were away for the celebration (well, how much can you really celebrate for a one year old???) but made the best of it. We spend the 7th in the Disney Land Park for the whole day. We got him a Mickey Mouse Ears hat that Jacob and Ricky shared (Ricky would not wear it the whole day) and went out to eat to celebrate that night. The tradition of smashing the first birthday cake was done with our interpretation if a cupcake, a hotel room, lots of towels and a baby that ended up with that cupcake in every nook and cranny on his body. It was messy and the lighting was horrible, so the pics are poor quality, but fun to remember none the less! I added a few at the bottom that are from the month following his birthday just to show his little fun personality & sweet hair cut!

See for your self:

There are so many things that I love about this little guy so I figured that I would list my top 10.

1. Ricky is like a little bull. He is rough & tough but loves to be soft when he sees that momma is near. Kinda reminds me of Ferdinand the Bull. Everything a little boy should be!

2. He is a mommas boy. He loves his daddy & is always happy with him but when momma is near, he wants to be held and kissed by mom.

3. He loves to laugh. Ricky has a wonderful belly laugh just like big brother Jake. He loves it when we tickle his thighs, belly and neck. He laughs so hard, people stop and watch.

4. Ricky eats like a man! He really does. He eats more than his big brother. He always wants food in both hands as he eats and smiles and growls when we give him food.

5. He wont say words yet, but he uses his body language to tell us what he wants. He has various sounds indicating what he wants and he is actually quite clear!

6. Ricky likes to do things Ricky's way! If I can direct him right, his determined nature will be a true asset. So far so good.

7. Ricky is funny! He loves to run and waddle around. He loves it when he is being watched and we laugh. He will pretend to fall just to get a rise. Such a clown.

8. Ricky loves his big brother Jake. He watches every move that Jake makes and wants to be a part of it all! 4 years age difference disappears when Jake is making him laugh. They are truly kindred little spirits. So much in common!

9. Ricky is easy to pack around anywhere. We have our melt downs on occasion, but for the most part he is flexible in his sleeping patterns, eating patterns, play times, etc. Pretty much, we can just do our thing and he adjusts with no real consequences! LOVE IT!

10. Ricky is loving. He loves to be held, stroked, kissed, adored or just part of things. He is always happier with us than without us, just like we feel about him.

LOVE YOU BABY! HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY (JUNE 7, 1010) !

More Fun Disney Land Pictures Collage

Click to get a better view. 2x's for close ups.

Disneyland....Ahh The Memories!

Well, It appears that I took about 786 photos on my trip to California with the kids & Shumway family. We even got the added bonus of meeting up with the Jenkins Family at Disneyland on our last park day, and seeing the Anderson Family on our last day in CA. What a great trip! It was so great to see everyone. The kids were adoreable in both families and it was so fun to catch up. Please come visit us when you are out East!

So, as you can tell, there is no way I can post all of the 574 that I kept and have them make sense.

I guess it will collages that tell the stories. (Click on them to see them larger). We rode EVERY ride that could be done by kids and visited both parks (Disney Land & California Adventure Land). I loved them both! Favorite rides were different depending on which person you asked, but I think the over all favorites were definitely All of the Toy Story Rides. Buzz, Woody, they all rocked! I think everyone loved the Soaring Over California Ride and the oldie but goodies were loved once again (Star tours, Michale Jackson's Ride, Thunder Mountain Railroad (Where we learned Jake does not like fast rides)



and the list goes on and on! We had such a fun time! I am making a family book about our vacation on Blurp because I just cant get it all into a blog entry. There was so much more to tell about, but a month has a way of helping you edit your content!

Well, suffice it to say: the kids had a great time and now Jake is planning a trip to Disney World with the Hutchins Family (I think to get a second trip back). After 3 days in the park and so much fun...we were worn out. I was sorry to go, but did not want to stay another day in Disney Land (mostly my feet had objections), so with 3 days left till departure we did what anyone would do.... We headed to the beach, saw friends, and just hung out. It was truly a great trip & a nice excuse to see family & Friends. We miss them all terribly and wish we were closer but we are grateful for the time we did have.

We had to pry these mickey ears from Jacobs head when we got home, but we let him do the plane ride with them. I think that is how he got invited to do this:

Pacific Ocean Fun In The Sun

Although our trip to CA was more about Disney Land, I just could not be on a coast and not visit a beach! I loved riding the rides, loved the magic of the parks, but just adored laying on a beach and letting my toes just dig into the sand! I must live on a beach sometime in my lifetime!

Anyway, we got to visit the ocean a few times during our trip, (so some pics below are our first day in town at Will Rogers State Beach) but our "beach day" was the Thursday before we left. We hit Laguna Beach, long known for its beauty, and had a ball. Meeting Kevin and Steph and the kids there was just icing on the cake!

We had a wonderful time & hated to have to go!

Finally In The Big CA (June 2010)

This trip was taken in June but I am only now getting to it. I was beginning to wonder if we ever really did it! I miss the beautiful beach, the beautiful weather and the stress free fun! Here is what happened in real time (only recorded a month or so later!)

We are headed to CA!!!!!!! I am so excited. We woke up early this morning (June 5th) and headed out on our standard 8am flight. Not much to report there.... A few breakfast burritos, sodas and seats later, we were on our way. We had a 3 hour layover in Baltimore so Ricky and Jakie just played and wandered the airport until it was time to go. Here is Jakie thanking Rick for getting to go to Disneyland! I got a few pics of Rick and Jake playing, but we were tired and I did not shoot much else. We got into LAX at about 2pm. Jacob was so excited to see Mom, Cam and Kate (of course!). We did hugs, hello's and then headed off for the rental car and back to the hotel. Pretty standard. Dinner and Target were the most we made of that evening. The next day Sunday (June 6th) was our first day out to see the city and we made the most of it. Church was un-doable due to times, and location, so we headed out sight seeing later that morning. We drove out to check out a few fun things like: The Beaches! I just wanted to drive around and see/smell the Star Jasmine, birds of paradise, oleander etc. Southern California smells so great to me. I loved in San Diego before moving to UT and I loved smelling the air each morning as I headed to the beach for a morning walk or surf. Anyway, we drove around and though it was cloudy, it was still beautiful. We went in search of Will Rogers State Beach (travel channel said it was beautiful) and after a long search, we found it just North of the Santa Monica Pier. We all got out and went for a stroll (not a full day since Thursday was to be our beach day). We played in the sand, watched the sailboats in the distance, relaxed and then headed home. Well, not exactly home. Mom had done some research on a huge Mexican market in downtown LA so we haded over. We only wandered through for a few minutes, but it was fun to see all that it offered. By then, we were tired! We headed home to rest, and did dinner and the pool later that evening. I wish every day were like that! Someday......maybe it can be:)

The Jersey Shore

When we got to New Jersey to see the Harkers in May, I just could not resist seeing the famous New Jersey Shore. We drove about 2 hours, 3 toll roads and finally got to a fun beach. We circled for about 20 minutes to find a parking spot, got all loaded up and then arrived at a pay booth that charged for entrance onto the beach! WHAT THE ??? I could not believe that they charged 8$ per person to enter the beach. I almost flipped! We paid the $$ in the end but I was thinking to myself, well, they just charged for the last free thing in freaking America! We will not be moving to Jersey anytime soon (unless we get a great job, of course). Oh well. Once there, we had a great time and loved to play in the water! Anyone that knows me knows I LOVE the shore. I love the west coast, but I am just happy near any ocean line. One day I hope to live there forever, or at least visit yearly! Greetings from the Atlantic Ocean everyone!