Life Goes On

Well it is time to update our blog. The past three weeks have been pretty crazy as well as emotionally draining. It has been hard to concentrate on much of anything. The peace of the comforter is amazing. He has been helping us and lifting us when we feel such great sorrow in our hearts. I don't know that we could bear the heartache without the peace and comfort of the gospel. We have felt the prayers of everyone and we thank you so much!

When something so tragic happens it makes you appreciate every moment of everyday, things that normally you might take for granted. I will never forget the last time Keith visited our home and I had the best conversation with him. Much of it had to do with mitochondria of cells and stuff like that but it was so fun to talk to him. Then I still get a kick out of on the day he was leaving, a little sheepish, he had to ask me if he could use the toilet plunger. We had a good laugh. But now those are treasured memories.

Memories like the other day when I picked Cassidy up from school, when she saw me her smile was so big and she gave me the best hug. I will never forget it. And when Logan skips around the house saying "taloot taloot taloot". It is music to my ears. And all the little notes that Megan writes to me are precious (She goes through a ream of paper a week).

There is a quote from the movie "The Music Man" I believe that says something to the effect that if you always wait for tomorrow all you end up with is a whole lot of empty yesterdays. (Thank you Dad for sharing all the good oldies with us. Jilleen remembered "The Music Man" the other day). This thought has been on my mind a lot lately. We shouldn't take any day for granted because each day is a gift that we have been given to try to be a little better. So my goal is to try to look for the best in every day and to not always put off the things that are most important. The laundry can always wait.

Now I will get off my soap box and share what has been going on. Logan started joyschool on Aug. 26. Me and 7 amazing women are taking turns teaching the kids. It is an adventure but is tons of fun.

We finally made it through the red tape of the school district and Cassidy will be given an aide to help her for I think three hours a day. This is such a blessing. I am so thankful for the wonderful teachers at the school!!!

Megan started a little dance class at the fitness center that she is really enjoying. It goes into Nov. We will see how she likes it then maybe get her into a real class.

I am slowly getting used to being in the Young Women's program. It is a busy calling but I think it will be good for me. I survived teaching my first lesson to the whole Y.W. today. It went better than I thought and I was very impressed with the testimonies of the girls afterwards.

Lorin is just staying busy, busy, busy, busy. Sometimes I wonder how he does it. He amazes me with his possitive attitude when things don't seem that possitive. He is a great example to me! On Friday when he really needed to be at work to get a crunch job done he took the time to come home and take us to dinner. We had a real good time and we needed that. It really meant a lot to me. Here are some random pictures.

Logan excited about the first day of Joyschool.

Logan's cousin Luke handed down his Batman and Spiderman costumes. Logan has had such a fun time pretending to be a superhero. He even sometimes wears both costumes at once. In this case he insisted on wearing the mask to bed and fell asleep with it on. I took it off later and when he woke up in the night he wanted it back on. Never a dull moment.

These are all my cute Beehives minus 2. We made peach freezer jam for our activity. They are all so much fun and so full of life. I am glad to have the opporunity to work with them. It was hard to get them to all hold still for the picture.

I know another picture of Logan but he does so many things that are so picture worthy. I got him in the bath Saturday night and when I came back to check on him he had his shorts on. I guess he didn't want a bath but to go swimming. Oh well.

In Loving Memory

We are deeply saddened at the loss of our dear brother, uncle and friend. Lorin's brother Keith was killed in a plane crash near Moab yesterday.

As our hearts ache and try to make sense of this tragedy we are thankful for knowledge of the plan of our Heavenly Father that we will see Keith again.

Keith we will miss your smile, your sense of humor, your example and your love. Late nights with the Shumway's will never be the same.

We pray that the peace and comfort of our Lord and Savior will ever be with Lisa and baby Landon. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Back to School

Megan is in 4th grade.
Cassidy is in 1st grade.

At this point Cassidy does not have an aide. We will see how she does the next couple weeks. It would be awesome if she didn't need any help. I will be there to help her with lunch. I think I get more nervous for school to start than my kids do. I will miss having them home. Needless to say I cried as I left the school.

Girls Day Out

On Saturday I had a "day out" with my sisters in law. We spent the whole day shopping in Park City and then ate at Olive Garden. It was nice to just shop without kids and to be able to take all the time we wanted looking at stuff. And it got my mind off of all the frustrating things going on last week. We missed having Lisa there. Julie flew in from Mesquite, Joanna and Natalie drove in from N. Ogden, Kim from Evanston and Corissa from Kanosh. Joanna was a trooper being 7 months pregnant. Natalie kept us all laughing and is known as the devil for getting us all to buy cute things. Kim stuck to her list and just bought what she came for. It was just great to have so many of us together. Thanks gals for a fun day!

Horse Riding

At horse riding yesterday Cassidy got to take another trail ride and rode Misty the whole time because Roany had a sore hoof. They let Cassidy take the reins and lead the horse around the barrels quit a few times. She did a real good job and was very proud of herself. She told Lorin all about it the minute he got home.

Megan's Birthday

Megan's 9th birthday was on Sunday. She talked me into doing a party and we did that on Friday. Megan and her friends made bracelets, ate pizza and decorated cookies. On Saturday I took her to Build A Bear because that is what she wanted for her birthday. She made a simple, cute teddy bear. It is hard to believe that Megan is 9. I wish I could shrink her down sometimes. Megan is a special part of our family. She likes to make people happy and gives the nicest notes. She is very creative and is always doing art projects. We love you Megan. Being 9 will be great!

Our New Neighbor

OK to add to the posts about extremely scary spiders, here is my contribution. I went in the shed to get out a garbage bag and I looked down and there she was the biggest black widow I have ever seen. Not only is she huge so is the egg sack that accompanies her. I called Lorin to ask him if it was OK if I annihilated the thing but he wants to catch her and put her in jar to fight another black widow he is growing at work. I am pretty sure this is the same black widow he tried to catch a couple weeks ago that is why I called him to see if he still wanted to catch her. Is that a guy thing? Actually I am relieved that he wants to deal with her because I really am scared to death to try to spray her because she will run. I am completely sicked out and I will not sleep well tonight until I know she is no longer a threat to me and my children. And in the back of my mind I know that if there is one black widow there are probably millions more. I hope this will motivate Lorin to take the time out of his crazy schedule to spray for spiders. We bought the poison months ago he just hasn't had time to do it. So if you didn't want to come to my house in the first place now you have a good excuse.