More pictures

Here are some more pictures! Hope everyone had a great Christmas, We sure did! Now on with the New Year!!!!!!

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope everyone had a great year!

Erick - is still plugging along with his Cabinet Business. Loving being in the Bishopric with Bishop Brown and Jerry Hathcock. Survived a broken arm and a chipped tooth and a cut thumb. Loves to watch a GOOD movie. Great Daddy and Husband! FINALLY got his Contractors License - Long Story- Is going to be a PA with Ma - Kami- for the Trek this next year

Kami - Released from Relief Society Second Counselor. Called as Kassidy's Primary teacher, and now a new experience, I get to try out being the Primary Chorister. Lost 35 lbs this year, CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Loves reading books when I get the time. Trys to keep up on my blog for scrap booking reasons. Is grateful for the necessities of life. Is going to start boot camp for Erick in preparation for 2010 Trek.

Kassidy - Turned 12 in May. Loves Young Women's! First year at girls camp, kind of homesick. Is a beautiful Ballet dancer, serenades mom and dad every morning playing the piano. Wonderful big sister, great helper, and a very happy girl! Has 4 adoring siblings, loves to sew and make crafts, and has to go EVERYWHERE with mom. Mom kind of likes it though!

Parker - Turned 10 this year. Played Frosty in his school music program, WOW he can dance! Plays the BIG base drum for the intermediate school band, he loves planning activities with the student counsel and also plays the Piano very well. Loves to go to scouts and makes excellent grades ($5 per A) mom and dad are going to be poor! Begs mom to play EVERY sport. We are going to be sports fans or else!!!

Chandler - Turned 7 this year. Started Piano lessons and doing great! Is ALWAYS inventing things. Loves paper, scissors and TAPE. Loves to delegate chores and picking up his toys, he is pretty good at it to. Has the best smile and loves to laugh A LOT.

Payson - Turned 4 this year. Loves Brooklyn so much he can't keep his hands off her. Can be GOOD and BAD! #1 Mario Kart Wii player. Loves to read books and take naps! Loves to eat his fruits and vegetables and thanks Heavenly Father for them often. Dr. says that he is under weight! Gosh he eats ALL DAY! Kind of shy. Goes with G&G Wiltbank to practice going to Kindergarten. Informed me that he isn't good at that so he can't go next year!

Brooklyn - Turned 1 this year. The best baby EVER. Is never bored - always someone to play with. Loves Dollies. Loves to take baths and SPLASH SPLASH! Blows her nose great! So never say the word nose because then she starts a blowing, Kleenex or not! Learned to climb the stairs and slide back down. Is attached to her daddy as soon as he walks through the door!

Daddy - Daughter

I thought this was a cute Daddy -Daughter moment. They were just sitting on the bottom step watching Chandler get his hair cut.

Bye Bye Bowl Cut!

We cut it off, all off! We gave chandler a NEW DO! It's funny how much they change when you give them a different hair cut. You see how they look like different cousins and family members and such. Chandler was so excited to be able to use HAIR GEL. And he can't wait to go to school he says that no one will recognize him. Mom still likes her baby boys with bowl cuts, but it is a nice change for awhile.

A day at the SPA!

Kassidy had fun painting Brooklyn's finger nails on Saturday. Brooklyn just sat and loved it! We are so happy to have 2 cute girls in our family. How blessed we are!!!!!! Brooklyn is at that fun age where she is discovering everything and is so cute to watch. Erick and I decided that for one night it would be great fun to have all our kids Brooklyn's age for just one night. It would be a blast! Hey Santa Hint Hint.

And why do we need to buy toys?

I keep a basket of combs in the kitchen so I can quickly retrieve a comb as my boys are walking out the door in the morning to comb their hair. All this week Brooklyn has been playing with them. And why do we need to buy toys?

Christmas Decorations

Here is Payson Posing with the Christmas Decorations. It sure is nice to have old enough kids to go get all the Decorations under the house and then put all the boxes back and then they go retrieve them again to put them back for next year. Thanks guys!

Saturday morning surprise!

I came down stairs a couple of Saturdays ago and look what I found Chandler doing! He has been bugging Erick for awhile about this extra set of scriptures that he had on the bookshelf. So Erick finally gave in and let Chandler have them. It made Chandlers day and he couldn't wait to get up the next morning and read them.

Hey, Uncle Brian I have a Secret! Shhh!

In my family there was always a joke when we were kids. My mom had a plant hanging in the corner by the kitchen table. The plant grew really well and we would always attributed it to all the fertilizer that us kids would give to the plant. When there was something served for dinner that we didn't especially like the plant was the recipient of some much needed fertilization when mom and dad left the room! I think Brian was caught one time, anyway he is the one we tease about it. Brooklyn has come up with a new idea. For some reason when she gets tired of eating her cereal she stuffs them down her jamies. So every time I go to get her dressed I find surprises. So Brian I would appreciate it if you wouldn't teach my children such things. They need to eat their food weather they like it or not!

November 9 2009

Well it is finally FINAL! Erick is a licenced contractor!!!!!! It took forever.

Capitol Christmas Tree

Saturday November 7th we attended a "Capitol Christmas Tree Celebration." Arizona has the honor of providing the 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree for the US Capitol. The tree is an 85' blue spruce harvested from the Apache Sitgreaves Forest south of Eagar. This is the first time a tree has been selected from an Arizona forest. Parker was able to sing with his school choir at the celebration, it was an historic moment! My camera died so I didn't get the best pictures. The tree is packaged up and goes on tour across the US until it arrives in DC November 30.

Our Family Secret

People have wondered how we get our kids, even Payson our 4 year old to memorize the Articles of Faith. Here is our secret! First of all the prophet has asked us to have family prayer 2 times a day. So we have family prayer before the kids go to school and then before bed. So when we kneel down to have prayer we start off singing a song to bring the spirit and then we repeat an Article of Faith. It only takes about a week of doing it twice a day for them to memorize one. Plus it also helps them learn the Primary songs for the Primary Program. So my Challenge is to everyone who reads this to try it with your family, and you will see how great it is. We are done with the articles of faith so we are moving on to the Scripture Mastery Scriptures for Seminary. You might also think that it takes longer, you know time is rushed in the mornings trying to get kids on the bus and things, but it only takes about 5 minutes start to finish. So come on take the challenge!!!!!!!

Halloween 2009

This year for Halloween We went to our wards Trunk or Treat! We decorated our car and handed out candy. The ward provided yummy pizza and the the Shumways had hot chocolate for everyone. Kassidy Dressed up as a mummy, Parker a pirate Chandler Kung Fu something, and Payson was Batman and Brooklyn was the Cow! After the Trunk or treat we trick or treated at a few more houses and then it was early enough that we were able to come back and the kids got to hand out candy at our house. It was kind of nice to have Halloween on a Saturday this year. It was less rushed and we were able to enjoy it a little more. I hope everyone had a safe and fun Holiday with all your little ones!

Articles of Faith

Chandler and Payson memorized all their Articles of Faith. They got their huge candy bars the 18th of October. Yeah Chandler and Payson! Now we are onto memorizing the Scripture Chase Scriptures!

Fair Weekend - Safford AZ

The First part of October is the Graham County Fair. Erick and I always like to go back to Safford and visit around this time. While we were there Erick and Uncle Gary decided to shoot off rockets and it turned out to be a fun afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa were the spectators. Everyone got the turn to shoot them off. The night before the kids got to paint and glue the rockets and get them ready for the next day - Launch Day- Thanks Daddy and Uncle Gary for the fun afternoon!

RVHS Home Comming

During the week before Home Comming the kids do all different things, like wacky Hair day and PJ day. This is Erick putting pipe cleaners in Kassidys hair for Wacky Hair day. Parker is in Student Counsel and so he got to ride on the Intermediate School Float. Erick and I and the rest of the kids got to enjoy watching the Parade. This time of the year reminds me so much of being in High School. Go RVHS Elks! Go Elks!

Parkers 10th Birthday

Parker turned 10 on September 29th. He got some tec-decs and Legos!!!!!!!! My kids LOVE Legos. On Sunday that is the usual activity, to sit and play legos. He couldn't wait to get home from school so he could open and play with them. Parker is such a good kid. I love to have him help do projects around the house. He is my buddy. When there is a big project to do he sticks it out with me and we get it done. I love working with Parker! Happy Birthday Bud!

Paysons 4th Birthday

Payson turned 4 on August 31st. I can't believe that Payson is 4 now! We had a fun Birthday, we had and airplane Birthday cake and opened gifts. He got a Lightning McQueen remote control car, 2 foam swords and some little tonka cars, the ones with the cute little faces on them. Payson just loves them. He packs them around in his backpack. Thanks Payson for letting us enjoy your birthday with you!

Brooklyn turns 1

Yeah! Its Brooklyns first Birthday. Brooklyn turned 1 on August 13th. She was born on the first day of school last year. This year it was tha second day. It was so much fun having a baby GIRL birthday. We have dollies back in our home! So guess what she got for her birthday, a baby! All the other kids had so much fun watching her open her gifts. Sometimes we feel sorry for Brooklyn because she gets malled all the time. I guess that is her test, being the fifth child you have so much help you don't even have to open your own birthday gifts. We had to restrain some older brothers that wanted to help soooooo much. It was a fun night we had pink birthday cookies and icecream and opened her presents. Granny and Grandpa had to come see what the 1 year old got. Happy Birthday Brook we are sure glad you came to our family. WE LOVE YOU!

First Day of School 2009

Our kids started school this year on August 12th. I can't believe that my kids are this old! Kassidy is 12 Parker is 10 and Chandler 7 Payson 4 and brooklyn 1. The years just march on! Going back to school is an exciting time of year. New clothes, Backpacks and school supplies. We have to do a fashion show every year for FHE to decide what will be the first outfit for that first day of school. We usually invite Grandpa and Granny up to see the Show. This year I have two kids at home. Payson will be in Kindergarten next year, so it will just be Brook and I. One at home is so much fun. I have had Chandler home by himself for about 3 weeks and Payson got a whole year, but he got cheated because that was when I was so sick being pregnant with Brooklyn. Those times are special. Just Mommy and me!

School Shopping

This year for school shopping we went to Flagstaff. We like to go there because it is a bit closer than Mesa, less conjested and COOL! We always enjoy swimming in the Hotel pool. This was Brooklyns first experience with a pool. She didn't know what to think, but enjoyed it after awhile. We stayed in the jacuzi, the pool was freezing. We try to make this vacation for the kids so we just relax and do what the kids want to. There are just enough stores, not too many and they are within a few minutes of each other, so we can get it all done within a couple of days. This year Kassidy is our 7th grader and Parker is in 4th and Chandler is a 2nd grader. Payson is excited about starting Kindergarten next year. Payson is practicing going to Granny and Grandpas without mom and dad so he will be ready for next year. I haven't had a clinging child yet. Payson is a bit that way, so it will be interesting. He informed me the other day that he didn't need to go to kindergarted he liked staying home.

Relief Society Walking Party - July 2009

This summer our Relief Society Walked from Sharon Vermont to the Salt Lake Valley! Not really, we compiled our miles that we walk over the summer and say that we walk from one point to another. Along the way, each Sunday we have a cute handout that we give all the Relief Society Sisters. Like we started in Sharon Vermont, Birth place of Joseph Smith so we had Birthday Cupcakes, We traveled through Nauvoo so we made little loaves of bread. The sisters really enjoy all the handouts too, and it includes all the sisters in the ward. We have Perfect attendance! Ha Ha. So at the end of our walking we have a party. We go all out for this. This year Joseph and Emma Smith invited us to their Garden Party! We had the party in our back yard. Erick strung up white lights and Joyce and Jake Zeigler helped with the decorations! It was such a fun night. Joyce always goes the extra mile, she made pioneer sun bonnets for all the ladies. When they walked through the back yard fence they were welcomed by Joseph and Emma and then handed a sun bonnet. Everyone looked so cute and it really set the mood. We ate a yummy potatoe bar and then we were pleased to hear from Joseph ( Keith Owens). Keith and Pam you guys played the part great! Needless to say I didn't know that this would be my last activity as the Enrichment Counselor. I was so sad to be released, it was great working with Kim Hall, Jenny Himes, and Sharon Fisher. We had such a great time together! thanks guys! So on to the next calling!!!!!!!!!!!