And more ketchup.

I thought I'd take a break from packing up my house and post more of the stuff that's been on the docket.  It was WAY too much to post in one sitting. 

During May everyone in our family was a student :)  Pretty cool.  Aaron flew out on April 19th and started school on May 7th. Here are a few pictures of his beginnings in Dominica... 

Layover in San Juan- This was at the hotel where Aaron stayed called The Beach House (This is where I'll be staying on Monday night ... uhhh one week from RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE! yip yip!)

Then he got to Dominica.  Here is his landing...

Here is our house...

the 2nd story in the back :)

And here's a look down our street:

Notice the absense of street lights? It's super dark at night - Aaron was walking home in the dark the other night and tripped over something.  He was pretty startled when he looked back and found that what he tripped over had been a large crab the size of our kitchen stool.

if you look over the house down at the end of our street you can see this bay:

different view:

A hike the first years took.....

 In the capitol, Roseau, at the fish market.  This is a Marlin.

Aaron at his white coat ceremony- the same day as my graduation!

Stay tuned for the kids' and my graduation! G'night!

Ahhhh my 31st birthday

Today, January 9th, is my 31st birthday.  It doesn't feel special at all.  Not because people haven't made it a special time, (because I've had a blast this weekend which I will tell you about in a minute) but because I have realized that your actual birth day doesn't mean very much.  I think that instead of celebrating your birthday, you should throw a party every time you change for the better or learn a life lesson or accomplish something great.  I want to send out an invitation to a party that reads "Come to my party celebrating 40 pounds lost!" or "I've just learned a major life lesson involving tears and many sleepless nights- give me presents."  LOL  But really, we make it easier by celebrating each year in hopes that you've done something with the last 365 days to better yourself and mature a little.  So now when I hear someone say "Happy Birthday"  I'll have to think about the previous year and decide if it really is a happy birthday or not.  Have I changed for the better- at least a little?  Or have I wasted this year? 

This birthday is a very happy birthday.  I have a husband who loves me despite my faults and many attempts to convince him I don't deserve him.  I have children who have good hearts and are smart and who love me.  I have parents who are strong in the gospel, love each other, and have been the ultimate examples of sacrifice, humility, unconditional love and wisdom.  I have wonderful supportive friends and family who have seen me through a very difficult and life-changing year and make me cry when I write this. stop it.  But most importantly I have my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who has sacrificed all for me.  Who has let me know that no matter how I falter He loves me and has atoned for my sins so that I can live with my Father in Heaven again.  I cherish this year. Through all of the trials and blessings I have learned a lot of lessons that have changed me and will stay with me forever.  I would be an ungrateful wretch if I didn't publicly thank my Heavenly Father for the blessings I've received and for the gift of forgiveness in my life.  Thank you, everyone, for your roles in my life, especially in the last year.  Happy Stephanie's Birthday to you.

Ok, as for YESTERDAY!!!!  My parents didn't make the flight- they fly standby so they rely on the flight having empty seats and there weren't any yesterday, so they're planning on coming next Saturday.  It'll be fun- I'm kind of glad that they're coming on a day when I can spend more time with them- that gives you all a week to think of something touristy for us to do- Start thinkin, people!  Sooooo.... we ended up going to Liberty Market for my free brunch of biscuits and gravy, a bite or two of cinnamon roll and breadpudding-french toast, nummy breakfast potatos with horseradish sauce (OMGundersnatch it was goood), and southwestern style scrambled eggs.  And Orange Juice (the best drink on the planet besides water and milk-which is why I capitalized it).  Afterward we went over to the Gilbert Farmers Market and sampled some local produce, honey, salsas, hummus (ew. mine was WAY better- tutorial coming soon, sorry), and pastas.  We drove home, I took a nap, then we dropped the kids off at their aunt Valerie's house and headed to Elements Massage for our 4:00 55-minute couples massage  :)  Aaron has never had a massage before and he was nervous- it was pretty humorous to listen to his moans and groans during the session.  The therapist told him he was pretty tight- which I've been telling him for years. She said she could probably bouce a penny off of him. HA HA!  It's impossible to pinch that man's bum!  I really liked the girl that did mine- she was really good.  I think it's the best massage I've ever had.  Word to the wise- TELL the therapist what you want. You will enjoy the massage so much more. Also, did you know that if you refer someone to Drs Goodman and Partridge and they tell them you referred when they set up their first appointment, you get a free 30 minute massage at elements?  Just thought y'all should know.  That's how we got ours and we just paid to upgrade to hour long massages.

We went to Kona Grill for dinner and I got the Roasted Asparagus Salad and Lobster Mac n Cheese and a Passion Fruit Creme Brulee for dessert. nummy :)  Then we headed to The Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar in Tempe.  It was really cool and fun.  Oh my the homeless people were collecting in droves last night- and some of them had funny signs- Two guys had boards with a number on each and then one big one that said "You've been rated" One time we passed I was an 8 and the other time I was rated a 9.  Not bad for 31, I say ;)  Another one said "Please help- zombies ate my brains and...."  Aaron didn't let me stand there long enough to read the rest, but I started busting up laughing.  There were homeless people every 15 feet or so.  not even kidding. I thought there was an anti-loitering law in Tempe that passed in 1998 or so- maybe the law lapsed and it's allowed now? I dunno.  I gave all my change to the first girl that we passed and then everyone who asked for our change after that (and we told that we'd already given away all we had) cheerfully said "it's ok, thanks for supporting the cause!"  What cause?  The cause of homelessness?  The cause of you not supporting yourself through gainful employment?  Anyway.. We rode the elevator back down to our car with a woman who was high and made our way home.  Going to Tempe always makes me appreciate our wholesome (by comparison) Gilbert home.

Anywho, today was a good birthday- after a lot of Happy Birthday wishes at church we came home and I got started on the homemade bread- I brought four loaves to dinner at Aaron's parents' house where we had scrumptious creamy potato soup (amazing) frito salad (always a favorite) and homemade angelfood cake with strawberries and whipped cream and fudge sauce for all of the chocolate lovers. Thanks Kristen and Julie for a yummy dinner!

Thank you everyone with whom I've associated this last year.  I've grown and you were unknowingly a part of it.  I hope to continue to improve my life little by little and you can see just how far I've come if you continue to read this blahhhg. For now I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful. :)  Goodnight, Blogiverse.

Utah Trip - First Installment

Welcome to the Shumway Family Blahhhg.

This last week Stephanie's sister got married in the Salt Lake Temple so we rented a car and drove up for the festivities. It was a lot of fun and really nice to see everyone (including Stephanie's brother, Rob, for the first time since he got back from Iraq).

The day after we got to Mom and Dad's house, Aysha and Stephanie decorated the lawn and trees with yellow hearts and ribbons, reminiscent of the song "tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree," and hung a big banner over the garage that said "Welcome home from Iraq! We love you Rob!" (Made by Mom, Cami, and Katie)

Colin (Rand and Aysha's son) and Matthew had a great time playing and really liked each other's company the whole trip. It was nice to have a buddy. When we drove up Mom and Dad's street the whole thing was torn up and there were large construction trucks.... I have no idea what kind of trucks they were. Matthew would start singing Bob the Builder everytime he went outside and would point to the truck excitedly and say "Mom! Bob the builder! Mom! Bob the Builder!"

Rand rode with Rob and Renee from the airport that afternoon and we were all waiting outside to welcome them.

That night all of the girls took Katie out for Sushi, which Stephanie had never tried before and was a little scared about. It turned out fine, however, the rolls Stephanie liked the best were tempura-ed, so it wasn't really true "blue" sushi anyway. They decided that every family gathering would include a girls night from now on, since they had so much fun.

From L to R: Stephanie(sister), Kaite (sister and the bride), Cami (sister), Aysha (Sis in law), Renee (sis in law)

After dinner, we raced to the reception center to take our family pictures. The dress code was blue jeans and a shirt ranging in color from navy to white. Both Aaron and Stephanie wished that they had started their dieting a little earlier (their plan is to start on August 22nd after Aaron takes the DAT) so they weren't the biggest people in each picture, but oh well. Our kids are still cute. The ones shown here are not the actual pictures, just us taking pictures while the photographer does her work.

What a cutie. This has been the first installment of The UT trip blog. Stay tuned for the wedding day and a day in Provo Canyon where we were visited by two moosen. Thank you Brian Regan.