Welcome To Our Family "Magnus"

Hi Everyone! We wanted to introduce our sweet little Magnus (named after Magnaus VerMagnusen - worlds strongest man). What a sweet little puppy he is!

I know anyone that was in AK with us this summer is thinking that Ricky is reacting to Magnus the way that he did with Amy's cats and 2 chiwawas (With excitement and a little obsession) but actually he is pretty tame with him. THANK HEAVENS!! Magnus came to us from a Dairy farm in Salem, UT after his mom was hit by a tractor:( His mom lived, but she could not nurse her 6 puppies anymore so they were selling them off for pets. Magnus is the son of 2 cocker spaniels that were family pets. They were very friendly and very gentle. Magnus came home to us on Friday 2 weeks ago and our lives are so fun. He already goes outside, can make it through the night without accidents or whining, goes into his crate happily, tolerates the kids and knows when "daddy" is home:) We love having someone soft and furry to pet and love. So far he has been a great fit. Magnus is getting use to the leash and walks with Ricky (weather permitting) and enjoys his time in the pack and play. I picked one up for a few bucks on KSL to put him into while he is too young to roam the house without "presents" being left on the rug or chewing. We are crate training him, but I feel bad to have him in my arms or in the crate only. I want him to get use to lounging in the house like he will be when he outgrows the pp and chewing stages. His crate will be for visitors, night time and times we are gone and he cant come. So far he is happy and thriving. I just love puppies! Welcome to the family buddy.

I Love To See The Temple.. "Moker Mount"

I had to record this one so that we never forget it. We now live in Daybreak in South Jordan.  The Oquirrh Mountain Temple sits right on the edge of a hill on the far East side of Daybreak (overlooking all of South Jordan) and we can see it every time we leave and return to the community.  Since day one of our arrival  Ricky and Jacob have a game they play as we drive around.  They always want to know where the temple is and when they see it they yell out "There it is" and point.  Ricky always follows up with his little squeal. "YAY...Its the Moker Mount Temple".  All day long they seek, all day long they find and all day long they cheer as they find their temple , "Moker Mount" as Ricky puts it.  It is just one more reason I love living in Utah.  Our temple in Pittsburgh was 4 hours away and they were never able to see it in person.  I love that just a drive to the store reminds them that there is a temple in their neighborhood.  I love the enthusiasm and it makes me happy that it makes them happy to see it.  I tell them the name of it is Ochre Mountain Temple, but I think that now I prefer Moker Mount.  It will always be that for our family.  Isn't it beautiful?

Happy New Year!! Welcome 2012.

I am amazed that we are already in the new year but here we are!  We celebrated the occasion with Danny & Kelly Harker (with kids Linus & Roman) and Nick & Kuulei Harker and us.  It was fun to just get together with sports of some sorts playing while the kids ran around & the ladies played Mexican Train.  I of course won 3 in a row, but that was not the only reason it was fun:)  We ate a pot luck dinner with pizza, dips, chips, sodas, deserts, relish trays & there was plenty for all.  I always enjoy getting together with the Harkers.  They are low key and fun.  The kids had a blast and I was thrilled when Kelly busted out the little poppers that are filled with confetti.  The kids loved it and had a ball.  The pictures below say it all.  It is nice to be back with friends again.

New Years Resolutions:

1. Get all debts paid off.  I want to make major strides this year and feel awesome when 2013 rolls around.

2. Spend lots of quality time with family and calling family.  I really love being close.

3. Teach Jacob to ride a bike and swim.

4. Get to the ocean this year.  I think we may be able to do a Disney Day (and I mean 1 day.)  the kids are itching for a return. 

5. Get the house settled and decorated

6. Get organized and update all blog entries that I have started and not yet finished.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I HOPE ALL OF YOUR ULE-TIDE (spelled right?)  WISHES COME TRUE!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Gosh, this Christmas sure snuck up on me! With all that we have been going through to get the house the whole season almost passed us by. We had the fore thought to go shopping for gifts the first week of December, but after that it was all kinda about getting closed on the house and moved in. We moved our big stuff in on Saturday 17th but Jacob was still in school until Wednesday the 21st. I picked Jacob up from school that day and we moved in that night. It was so nice to be in our home, but then I realized I had so much to do and a Christmas to celebrate. Although we did not get to do much for the season we did get to go see Christmas lights and walk around Temple Square. I loved it, but wish we could have done more. Next year we will be sure to do it all! We did manage to get a sweetish Christmas (Shumway tradition) on Christmas Eve and had a fun evening watching A Christmas Story. Jacob loved it and Ricky laughed at Ralph and Randy each time they were chased by the Farkas kid. "Mommy's little piggy" was quite a hit as well. That night I wrapped presents, set up the stockings and headed off to bed excited to see the kids sweet excited faces just hours away.

We all woke up at 6:30am and the kids were so fun to watch. Ricky and Jacob both stood in amazement as they took in the bounty that Santa had left them. Ricky wanted to open everything and Jacob just bounced around the room in excitement.  Presents did not disappoint and we all got a wonderful Christmas haul.  I have felt so blessed to have so much this year.  It is good to be with family and enjoy the moments with them.  I miss my family very much when the holiday hits but I am thrilled we did not have to do it all alone.  The morning was fun and when it was all over we headed we had breakfast and headed for showers because we had church today.  I generally hate having to go after the presents but I really enjoyed this one.  There was mostly speakers and chorus songs.  It really made me feel like it was a special day and a sacred day.

We got home and did naps and did the traditional drive up to Centerville to visit with Jerry & Kathy & the Jensen clan. I love going up to see them. They are such an easy family to be around and there is never a lack of conversation. The kids had a ball playing with cousins & ate until sick. It was really nice to see everyone and after hours of relaxing it was time to go. We said our goodbyes and headed home. I wish we could have ended the night on that high note but no such luck. We got about 20 minutes down the freeway on the way home and Jake said his stomach was hurting. We figured it was just too much pop or candy but when he turned green we realized he was serious. We had just enough time to get pulled off of the freeway with a bag tucked under Jakie's mouth when he blew! It was horrible but we managed to contain the whole thing. We took a 20 minute break to clean up the car and headed home. We thought that night would be the worst of it but we found the next day that it was not pop or candy. Within 24 hours we were all horribly sick with an unbelievable flu! I have never been that sick in my life. We laid in bed with both kids on the floors around our bed for 48 hours until we could get up the strength to go get some drinks and light food. It was truly unbelievable. It was a great day until that though. We will focus on that.

 Here are a few of our winter picture efforts followed by our Christmas morning & afternoon photos.  (IT WAS FREEZING when we did the photos in the mountains with the boys so I am amazed that we got the ones that we got with Katie's help!)

We Bought A House!!

YAY!! We finally closed on a house today. It records tomorrow and then the keys (and responsability) is all ours:)...:( We are so excited about our lovely new place. We searched from SLC to Utah county and this was THE ONE! We bought in South Jordan and just love it. Our comunity is called Daybreak. The house is a row home meaning it is attached to other homes and ours is in a row of 4. I thought we might hear our neighbors but nope, have not heard a peep. It has taken a bit to get this place ready to show but I am about 50% there. Cant wait to add built in shelves all over the place and finish putting up more drapes I have made for each room. I will update as I get those done. Hope you like the preview of what is to come:)