Graduation 2009

Brandi & Courtney did it! They graduated on May 30th - 2:00 @ the Wells Fargo Arena. The middle picture on the top is of Courtney & Brandi both leaving the stage together. There were 719 graduates from Basha High this year. It was a great day. Aunt Bonnie came to see them graduate. We went to Cafe Rio after. A big group of friends got together and had a big graduation party that night. Courtney was excited to graduate but Brandi not so much. She loves school - for the social part not education. Courtney plans to stay at home for a few years and attend Chandler-Gilbert Community College. She did get accepted to BYU Provo, BYU Idaho & NAU but feels like she should stay home. She was against ASU so never applied there but now wishes she would have. I now have 3 out of my 7 kids graduated from high school. I'm feeling old!
Courtney is wearing a stole/sash that is for National Honor Society, her colorful tassel and medal are for Arizona academics scholar and the yellow cords are for graduation with high honors. We are so proud of her.

Cute Camping Kids

Camping in Pinedale

Camping in Pinedale - Memorial Weekend

Camping in Pinedale - Memorial Weekend

We had a wonderful Memorial Weekend camping in Pinedale, AZ. It was raining and super foggy on the ride there about 20 minutes from Pinedale - so we were happy when we got there (Friday night) and it was dry. It rained the next morning and on Sunday too. I was sure glad to have the trailer to be in. Sunday night it started pouring on us so we all huddled under the tarps and played games. Uncle Larry had a bright idea - we went and got some wood chips that was on the property to spread out in the camping area so it wouldn't get so muddy. The Rodeo fire burned up some of my mom's property in Pinedale so over the years we have been cutting down the dead trees and this year we burned quite a bit of the old wood that was junking up the place.
We have an auction every year to help pay back the cost of food and supplies. That's alway fun.
For church we have a testimony meeting or sharing of thoughts. It's always a special time. Our family loves to go camping. I love to get away from the busy life at home.

Lucy Crawling

Lucy is crawling all over the place now. She is pulling herself up to furniture and growing up sooo fast. She is such a cute little girl. We love her so much! You will need to turn the music off at the bottom to hear the video.

Kristen's 16th Birthday

Kristen turned 16 on May 12th. Courtney bought her some balloons to bring around school - she was a little embarrassed but did it anyway. Scott and I took her out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. She was really embarrassed to sit on the saddle. She wanted some bodacious brownies for her birthday. It's one of our favorite treats. Her big present was cash - she wants to do some shopping for EFY in June. She doesn't even have her permit yet, so no drivers licence soon. She is a little scared to drive. She is excited to be able to date now.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day was good. Scott always gets me a coursage for church. Tyson got me a gift card for Paradise Bakery one of my favorite places to go with friends and family to eat. Sydney got me a cheesecake brownie from there too. I love them!!! The girls got me a early present and stopped by Elmers on Saturday (our favorite mexican food place) and got me a bean & cheese burro with rice inside. They also got me a gift card to Bath & Body Works, another one of my favorite places. Haley decided to give the moms a pedicure at Nana's house. That was a fun treat. I always love the cute things they bring home from school too. I love being a mom and love my beautiful children & Katie & Lucy too.

Jenny& Russell's Wedding Day

May 9th was a wonderful day. It started out by going to the temple in the morning for Kristin (Nick's fiance) to go thru. We had lunch in the cafeteria at the temple (the coconut cream pie was yum!). Then we went to Jenny & Russell's sealing at 1:30. After that I took pictures for Jenny & Russ - the one's above. We headed to her reception that started 5:00. Courtney had her spring formal/mormon prom that night - see post below. She was headed out at 6:15 so I ran home to get some pictures of her & Jaxon - then back to the barn for the reception. It was another fun time with friends & family celebrating another awesome occasion. I am soooo happy for Russ & Jenny. They are perfect together. Next week Nick & Kristin get married.

Jenny & Russell's Reception

Jenny & Russell had a small reception at Mom & Dad's barn. Food, Family, Friends and Dancing = Fun times.

Knight for a Princess

May 9th, 2009.
Our church had a multi stake spring formal - "Knight for a Princess" (Mormon Prom). Courtney went with Jaxon Smith. She had a good time. It was refreshing to send her off knowing she was going to a dance that wouldn't have bad music, dirty dancing & inappropriately dressed girls. Besides that they didn't charge the kids a ton to go - $5/person and that included a photo. I really hope they do it again next year.
Courtney is so beautiful.

Trek Family Reunion

We had our Trek family reunion on May 3rd. I was so excited that everyone was here. Scott teased the kids a couple of times on the trek that we were having steak and potatoes for dinner or lunch - so I really wanted to serve them that for our dinner. I also made rolls and Texas sheet cake because it was McKinleys birthday the day before. We ate, took some pictures of course, played a get to know you type game & had fun visiting. These kids are so awesome. What a great family!
names in order of the middle picture - Morganne Keppner, Chelsea Thompson, McKinley Lamb, Evan Sharp, Sarah Wuthrich, Thomas Whitlock, Dillon Roberts, DJ Dalley, Scott, Me & Nathan Howe.

Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party

My Mom & Dad had their 50th Wedding anniversary on April 24th. We celebrated on the 25th and had a big party at their barn. It was so much fun. See other posts below. I am so thankful to have such awesome parents. They love everyone and everyone loves them. I am so proud to be in our family.

The Whole Gang

Shumway Family! We had Aunt Dayle make us some shirts for the party - the front says Shumway Family est. 1959 & the back has all our names on it. The kids LOVE wearing them. They turned out great. Someone forgot to buy Papa a brown shirt. Don't mean to brag, but we have an awesome family! :)

We're Related

We were happy to see all of you at the party. Thanks for coming and we really appreciate those who came that had to travel to get here. Some came from Utah & Oklahoma & I know several of you spent hours on the road coming from Arizona. We love you all. I am glad that Families are Forever.

Friends

Some pictures of friends that came to the party. More pictures below.

Friends at the Party

We had so much fun seeing everybody at the party. Old & new friends came, friends from our ward & previous wards, friends from down the street and from far away. We certainly felt the love. We appreciate everyone who come to help celebrate Mom & Dad's 50th.

Food & Fun

We served beef brisket with beans, coleslaw & rolls (all homemade). We put Sam's Club to work making the cookies & cakes. Brandi was way excited to help serve. We had a horse carriage for those who had to park at the end of the road. I made a slide show of old and new pictures that we had showing by the barn, that was fun. I put up a display of pictures and had scrapbook pages for guests to sign. Now to finish the scrapbook. We also had dancing - pictures below.

DANCING

We had so much fun dancing at the party. Dad loves to dance - it's so fun to watch him. Our family loves to get crazy. One of our favorite songs to dance to is "We are Family".
It was great to see so many people get up and dance.

More FAMILY Pictures

One thing I love about our family is that we enjoy being together. These are more pictures from the party with family in them.

Favorite Foods Friday

My cousin Cyndi Palmer made this for a treat at a family reunion. Sooo yummy.
Scoop vanilla ice cream into a cup/bowl, drizzle with Hershey's syrup caramel, add a few spoonfuls of maraschino cherry juice, stick a few *cinnamon crips in the ice cream and top with a cherry. You could put a squirt of whipped cream on top, then the cherry if you wanted to. Enjoy!
*I bought the cinnamon crips at Basha's - but they are easy to make by cutting up tortillas, frying them & sprinkling with cinnamon sugar.