Graditude

This week of the Thanksgiving holiday is always so fun! I love it. What's not to like... yummy food, and lots of it, being around family laughing and catching up since we all live far apart, the kids getting to play with their cousins, crazy Black Friday sales, and vacation from life and school. 

This year we are especially looking forward to it. All the Shumate side of our family will be gathered at my Grandparents house for a special family Thanksgiving. My Grandpa Shumate is 90 years old and may very well not be around for Thanksgiving next year, so we will all be together for this holiday to visit, eat, laugh, and give THANKS!

This year, our family has tons and tons to be thankful for. Over the past few weeks since Patrick has lost his job, the song Count Your Blessings has been brought to my mind over and over again. I do not at all think this is a coincidence, but one of the many tender mercies the Lord is blessing me with right now. 

"When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, 

When you are discouraged thinking all is lost. 

Count your many blessings, name then one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!"

Here are just a few things that I'm truly grateful for:

(in no particular order)

~The Gospel and a loving Heavenly Father who will never leave our side and loves us.

~My bestest friend and husband who I love more and more everyday.

~My 3 wild and crazy boys. My life is better because I am their mom! And a little more insane!!

~My family, they are so supportive and loving, and sometimes a little crazy, it provides some classic entertainment some days.

~My friends, we have met some amazing people over the years!

~Blogs, what a fun way to journal and keep in touch with family and friends!?!

~ITunes, really, how did I live without it for so long? We listen to music all the time at our house. I especially love to watch my boys singing along to songs, its just too funny, even when they sing the wrong words!

~Family Wii Night and Family Movie Night... a super fun way to spend time together as a family and the boys get SO excited if we even mention the possibility of such a night.

~My dishwasher... because I REALLY hate to hand wash dishes!  :)

~My Scentsy to help make my house smell good.

~Diet Mt. Dew... it gets me through the days somedays! Don't judge!!

~Crockpots, they usually (unless I mess it up, which I totally have NOT ever done!) make yummy dinners for my family.

~My DVR... without it I would never get to watch anything on TV that I like. And I'm kinda lame like that, that I LOVE certain TV shows.

~I love the weather where we live. Sure the summer's are kinda brutal, but the other 8 months of the year the weather is great! I love it! I've officially decided I hate snow, so hopefully I don't have to live somewhere it snows again for a long time.

~Constant "I love you"'s and hugs from my kids

~Back scratches from my hubby... really, is there anything better then that?!?! MAYBE neck massages, but they are both amazing, and he gives them to me often and it is wonderful!

~Cafe Rio... really... need I say more?!?! Maybe only if you don't know the goodness of the food from that place, and if you don't, I am truly sad for you! Come visit me, and I will introduce you to it's perfection! :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all remember how incredibly blessed we all are, and I hope you eat lots and lots of yummy turkey and tasty pies!

An Unexpected Chapter......

I have debated over the past several days if I was going to post about this or not. I didn't want it to be an "oh whoa is me" kinda post or a "whatever, good riddance"  or an "overly spiritual" one either. I finally decided that this is a major event in our lives, and this is what I blog about, major things that happen along with the simple everyday things so here it is. 

We are now among the ever growing percentage of people who are unemployed. And it sucks. Bad. It was totally and completely unexpected for us, however, as we look back over that past several weeks and even months, we can now see that a loving and caring Heavenly Father knew exactly what was about to happen and was already watching over us and blessing us long before we knew it. It has been little things like how about 6 months ago, after Patrick had been having a particularly hard time at work, I mentioned that maybe it was time for him to move on from this company. He said he didn't think it was, he had worked there too long (over 10 years!!) to just leave now. So we dismissed the thought and continued on with our lives.  It's bigger things like just 2 weeks before everything happened, we got a VERY unexpected check in the mail from our mortgage company for an overage in our escrow account and a letter telling us since our property taxes had gone down, our escrow amount we pay every month was going down, therefore, our mortgage payment was going down as well. We had just put that check into savings and were still wondering what we were going to spend it on. It's things like when everything went down, we thought that the company would just give us a final paycheck and be done with it. But they gave us options that usually they don't give people. And while having to choose which option was best for our family was hard because one of them meant moving back up to Utah to take a job there, we chose the option that kept us here where we feel so strongly that we are suppose to be, without a job, and waiting to see what will happen, and with enough money in the bank to sustain us for several months. 

Many will say that we are simply crazy for choosing the option that we did, to take a sort of "severance" and not take a job in such a horrible economy. And I would be lying if I said that thought hasn't crossed our minds either. It is incredibly scary to take that kind of chance. But as we thought and prayed and talked about it together, we just knew that it wasn't the time for our family to move back to Utah and that we had given all that we could to this company and it was time to move on and find a new road to travel on. And to those who think we are simply crazy or stupid for doing so, then to them I would say that we KNOW that the Lord is watching over us and has something in store for us. Where or when we will find out what that is, we don't know, but THIS is where He wants us right now and we are putting all the faith we can find in ourselves into HIM right now to guide us to what He wants us to do and a job that will sustain our family.

That doesn't mean this trial hasn't been hard so far. It doesn't mean that we haven't had bad days where the negative and stress haven't overwhelmed us. But it DOES mean that we know we will be ok and we can feel His loving arms around us giving us hope. 

Plans we thought we had set are now changed. So now what the future holds is uncertain.... and I'm not so sure that is such a terrible thing.

Being a Mom of Boys.....

As the years have passed, I have found the statement that little boys have a special place in their mother's heart to be so true. Due to the fact that I am, of course, a mother of 3 boys, I would venture to say I'm kinda an expert on boys. Now that is NOT to say that I am perfect at raising my boys, but I pretty much know how they work, think, and function. I am surrounded by it all day every day. And try as I might to teach these boys manners, discipline, kindness, the gospel, and what is deemed appropriate or not (just to name a few).... I know that boys think bodily functions are hilarious. Especially at the dinner table... even when Mom is giving them "the look" until they say excuse me, showers are their worst enemy, anything green is not edible (unless it's green Jello or candy), and washing hands seems to be optional (which it IS NOT!) And that once they start school, it is most definitely not cool to hold your mom's hand in a parking lot, store, or as you cross a street... I mean someone might see, and we just can't have that!

However, little boys most definitely do hold a special place in their mother's heart. Among all the dirt and grossness that they posses, there are those heart-melting times when they want to curl up in your lap and cuddle, when they ask for just one more kiss goodnight, and when they give you those sweet innocent looks that remind you how awesome it is to be their mom and how you wish they would stay little, sweet, and innocent just a little longer.

This is just one of the reasons why I'm so obsessed with getting my boys pictures taken at certain milestones when they are babies and at least once a year when they are a little older. So that one day when I'm old, crazy, and probably senile from all their shenanigans I can look back and remember how once upon a time they were pretty dang cute and melted my heart on a regular basis.

Last year I had a friend take these pictures of Landon when he was a newborn and of the 3 boys all together. I L-O-V-E-D them! So when Landon turned one, I asked her to take his pictures again. And once again, I'm loving them! I just love how his little personality is showing in so many of the pictures. Here are just a few of them... possibly my most favorites!

 

Oh yeah... and little boys in overalls pretty much have cuteness oozing out of them!

Halloween Again!

This year Brayden really wanted to be Harry Potter. He's reading the first book, and so he was really excited to dress up as Harry.

Conner, wanting to do pretty much everything that his big brother does, wanted to be someone from the Harry Potter books/movies too. First is was Ron, but I couldn't figure out what Ron would look like so that it would be different from Brayden's costume. Then I convinced him to choose something else, so he chose Hagrid. Another problematic choice. All the Hagrid costumes were for adults since Hagrid is so big anyways, and I couldn't figure out how to pull off the bushy wig and beard when he wasn't allowed to wear masks and stuff to school. So that is how we finally settled on Harry Potter in his Quidditch robes. The costume even came with a Golden Snitch! 

 As I was trying to figure out what Landon should be, my sister offered to let me borrow this costume that my mom made for my niece last year. It was so dang cute!! I thought for SURE he wouldn't keep the head part on for long, so we put his costume on at the last minute and ran outside to take pictures. I was yelling at everyone to hurry outside so we could get at least a few good ones of Landon before he started flipping out and tearing the hood off. I was completely shocked when he didn't touch it once. In fact, he left it on and didn't touch it for over 3 hours. He lasted through all the pictures, driving in the car, and trunk or treating at the church. It wasn't until he was tired and wanting to go home and go to bed that he finally started pulling on it. There was only 1 ribbon casualty due to his decision to be done with the head part, but that can easily be fixed!

 The 3 kiddo's all ready to go trunk or treating!!!!

Seriously... I couldn't stop taking pictures of Landon in his lion costume... it was just to dang cute!! This one you can see the cute little tail in the back.

 Those chunky cheeks... you just have to give them a big kiss!

See... I couldn't stop taking his picture... I probably have at least15 more that I spared you all and didn't post.

He just sat in his stroller the whole time while we walked around the church parking lot to trunk or treat.

The boys got SO MUCH candy!! Brayden counted his candy once we got home and had over 115 pieces, that didn't count the ones he ate in the car or that he shared with his mom and dad!  :)

We will be on candy overload for a while!

Once we got home... Patrick dared Brayden to eat a Warhead and keep it in his mouth for at least 30 seconds. It was pretty funny. Brayden's face puckered up and tears were in his eyes, and he was laughing so hard. He did it though! I don't think I could... I hate that kind of sour candy!

Hope everyone had a great and fun Halloween! We most definitely did!

School Halloween Parties!!!

Last week both the boys had some fun Halloween festivities at their school. 

Here they are in their costumes all ready for school

Brayden was Harry Potter in his Gryffindor Robes.

 Conner was Quidditch Harry Potter. He refused to let me draw a scar on his face with my eye liner like I did for Brayden. He was just so disgusted that I would even think to use "girl make-up" on him! What was I thinking??

First up was Conner's class party in Kindergarten. Those kids got so much junk to eat, it was just crazy!

 Landon came along for the fun too. Conner was so excited that we were at his party with him.

For the older kids in the school, they had a trunk or treat and parade for them. All the classes walked out so everyone could see them in their costumes, then they got to go around to get some candy at the cars. 

I loved this picture of Brayden as he's jumping! He was really excited for the candy that was coming his way I guess!

Waiting patiently..... 

After the kids went around to all the cars, they went back into class for the last hour of school. Those poor teachers!! 

Conner had more fun playing with his friends instead of watching the parade and stuff going on.  Here he is with his friend John in his Peter Pan costume.

With all the parties, we were at the school for a good part of the day, so that really made nap time hard.  Landon finally just gave up and took a quick nap in his stroller for about 30 minutes. The bad part was that was ALL he slept that day. Which made going to soccer games that night until after 8 pm tons of fun! He was one tired little boy by the time he finally got to go to bed that night!

The kids had a great time at their school parties and got lots of candy and goodies!

Watch out Ladies....

These Patton boy's are turning out to be pretty dang handsome!

Brayden - 2nd grade

This picture makes it look like he has flaming red hair, and he really doesn't. I mean it does have some red to it, but this picture makes it look as red as mine, and it really isn't in real life.  He's pretty cute though!

Conner - Kindergarten

This little man just melts his momma's heart!

I may or may not have teared up a bit when these pictures were brought home. My little guys are growing up too fast!

Halloween Party

Last weekend Patrick and I went to a Halloween party at a friends house. We went back and forth if we were even going to go. But we finally decided to dress up and go and it was so much fun. We were glad we ended up going. There was good food, funny games, great costumes, and pumpkin carving.

I went as a Pumpkin...

Patrick went as Pi

Together we were PUMPKIN PIE!!

It was pretty funny! This pumpkin costume of mine I made back in the day when I was pregnant with Brayden and worked at a Dr.'s office. I was like 8 months pregnant, so the Jack-O-Lantern face was right on my prego belly. I won the costume contest with that beauty! It's been tucked away in our Halloween boxes ever since. Then we decided literally just hours before the party that we would go, so we had to come up with something and fast. I found this idea online and thought it was perfect since I already had a pumpkin outfit. So we ran to Michael's and got a white t-shirt and more sticky felt and made Patrick's costume. We just Googled Pi and printed off the symbol and then traced it onto the felt, cut it out, and stuck it on. We ran out of numbers (and time) or else the # pi would have gone on and on even farther. Stuck all the numbers on and found the biggest pillow we owned and shoved it under my shirt and we were off to party!

This is the super yummy Pumpkin Dip that I made to take to the party. I had never made it before, but it turned out so good! We will have to make this again!

Here is our awesome pumpkin we carved. The bad thing about Vegas is the once you carve your pumpkins, they don't last long.... it's too warm. This was carved on Friday night, and was moldy and had to be thrown in the trash by Tuesday morning. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

We played some fun games where we were to wrap our partner up like a mummy with TP, it was a race, so we were trying to go fast and the TP kept ripping. We totally lost! It was pretty funny though. Patrick was really dizzy by the end.

Then it was a race to roll a Tootsie Roll across the floor with their noses. It was quit the sight to see!

Seriously, that pillow got in the way all night long!  It was kinda annoying by the end of the night.

Everyone had such fun costumes! Mario and the Princess, a bird and bird watcher, black widow and a fly, Lois Lane and Clark Kent, Jailbirds, and a Spanish couple.

It was a fun night with a great group of friends!

First Dates & Swear Words

Ten years ago today, on October 22, 2000 Patrick and I went on our first date!!

Let's back up a bit first and I'll tell ya a little bit about how we met. Maybe one day when I get my blog book published and my kids or grandkids read about how we met and our first date they will think it's as funny and cheesy as we do! About a year ago, I found my old journals from college and I read about meeting/dating Patrick and read all the notes we wrote (yes I kept them ALL!) and I cried at them and Patrick laughed at them and said that he couldn't believe we were so cheesy and that I actually fell in love with him after those notes. They are a little cheesy, but romantic at the same time! At least to me they are... but they are pretty funny too!

In September of 2000, I had just started my 2nd year at the LDS Business College and had just turned 20. Patrick was 22 and had just gotten off his mission a few months earlier and had moved up to Provo and lived with some friends from his mission and was planning on going to LDS BC for just one semester until he was to attend BYU. His intent was to just get a few easy classes out of the way before moving onto BYU. Little did he know (or me either for that matter) and in Sister Aukshun's Book of Mormon class one day in September, both our lives and our future plans would get tweaked a bit. One day I happened to walk into my B of M class and sit down next to this guy I didn't know. We started chatting a little and soon found that we were both from Arizona. Class started, we stopped talking, and went about with class and the rest of our day. That was probably the last time in that class that I actually paid attention to anything that was being taught. The next time in class, we sat next to each other again and chatted and wrote notes to each other all through class. Sorry Sister Aukshun! I think she knew what was going on though, because I don't ever remember her once telling us to stop talking and listen or anything. Maybe she saw young love growing!

A few weeks went by with this going on every Monday and Wednesday in our B of M class. I was starting to think he was pretty cute and fun to be around and talk to. And his smile with those dimples was seared into my brain and it soon became all that I thought about!

One day in our infamous note writing, Patrick wrote me saying something to the effect that I was "the whole package" and guys were probably after me all the time. So not the case! He joked that I should make up a "business" card to hand out to guys proclaiming that I was indeed the whole package. I just laughed and was like "yeah, right!" and went on my way. The next Monday in class he comes in with this....

He had actually sat down over the weekend and made these up for me thinking it was so funny! I took it as he wanted my phone number, so I asked him if he wanted to be the first one to get one of my "cards" and he said sure. I think that was his hope/plan all along, but he denies that to this day! I gave him my number and he called me the next day and asked me out for that weekend.

Just FYI... he is the ONLY one I gave a "card" to!

In the mist of our notes back and forth durning class, one day he writes me and asks me if I know that song by Evan and Jaron called "Crazy for this Girl." I said yes, and he said that he thinks of me every time he hears it... especially the chorus because that is how he feels about me. I remember going to work that day and I heard it come on the radio while I was at my desk and it made me smile as I listened to it and tear up a little in disbelief at what was happening. He really felt that way about me?!?!

If you haven't heard the song, here's the music video.

(By the way... this is still "our song" and we still love it, and it still makes me smile every time I hear it. We even almost named a one of our boys Evan!) :)

So our first date....

Patrick picked me up and we headed over to Trolly Square in downtown Salt Lake City. His original plan was to take me to Rodizio's Brazilian Steakhouse, but there was a huge line and we were both really hungry, so we decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe instead. We just chit chatted while we ate and I remember him reaching across the table and holding my hand and thought that was just so sweet. We finished up dinner, walked around the mall a little, then headed back to the car. He wouldn't tell me where we were going next, he would only ask me if I was up for "anything". Wanting to impress him, I of course said yes, but was a little worried about what "anything" was that he was taking me to. We ended up at the Fun Dome. (does anyone remember the Fun Dome?? It was in Murray right on the freeway when I was in college, but has since closed. I went there a few times with my roomies/friends in college.) So as we pull up to the Fun Dome, which has mini golf, arcade, bowling, laser tag, etc. I think that this isn't too bad, I'm good with whatever is in there. But then we park and Patrick points to some HUGE slingshot contraption ride thing that is outside in the parking lot and says that we are going to ride on that! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!?!??! No freaking way!!!! I HATE heights and things that fling you all around, up and down, back and forth, many many feet above the ground. But I didn't want to say no, I was still trying to impress him. I was so freaking nervous to get on. It was finally our turn to get on the ride, and I jokingly said that I was not to be held responsible if I swore while doing this... I mean who knows how one will react when certain death is staring at me in the face. So we get all belted in and the ride starts pulling us back... then it lets us go and we go SHOOTING back and forth over the buildings and cars in the parking lot. I remember nothing but screaming bloody murder and saying the *S-word* a few times and hearing Patrick laughing hysterically! We finally start to slow down, which is very good, because I'm pretty sure I was about to wet my pants, only to start getting pulled toward the ground so we can now go flying up and down now instead of back and forth. I will neither confirm nor deny that I swore a few more times in this stage of the ride. :) I had my eyes closed tight the whole time and my arms were gripping the bars that go over us for dear life. Patrick is still laughing his head off. When the ride finally is over, and I'm grateful to be alive AND to have clean/dry pants on, we get off and go sit in the car to warm up and so I can calm down a bit. We talked and watched other people ride on the Slingshot ride. Then we headed back to my apartment and watched some SNL for a little while. Then when he left, he kissed me for the first time, and it was over, we were inseparable after that. Well actually about a week later, I did kinda sorta try to break up with him, because I was kinda getting freaked out about how much we liked each other, but he used his "jedi mind tricks" (aka the missionary commitment pattern) to convince me to not break it off. We saw each other every Monday and Wednesday when he came up to SLC for school, and then I usually went down to Provo (where he was living... remember he was planning to go to BYU very soon!) and spend the weekends down there. We talked every day on the phone for hours and I thought about him constantly!

About 2 weeks after we had been dating, he was laying on my couch and I was sitting on the floor and we were doing our homework and we got talking and he told me he was falling in love with me and I told him I was falling in love with him too. About 2 more weeks later, we both went home to Arizona for Thanksgiving to meet each other's family and we told them that we had decided to get married!!!! Sure it was kinda fast, we only technically dated for a month before making the big decision, but when ya know it's right, there is no reason to drag things out... right?!?! We realized we didn't want to be apart and we wanted to spend our lives together and have a family.

He makes me happy! From the first time I met him and we started talking he has made me happy. And he didn't judge me for swearing on our first date! He must be a keeper!

Recently a friend of ours asked me if I ever regretted getting married so young. I didn't even have to think about it. There is not a single ounce of regret floating around anywhere.

We are the best thing that could've happened to each other. I needed him in my life and he needed me.

Life only got better after we were together.

It's been a great 10 years...

SURPRISE!!!!!!

There are very few people in this world that I would load up my kids for a 7 hour drive to surprise on their birthday and then load them all back up the very next day to drive 7 hours back home... and this girl is one of them!
 

Ok, so technically her birthday is on Thursday, but her awesome husband had been planning this surprise party for her for about a month and asked us to come up to surprise her for her 30th birthday bash! How can we pass up such a fun opportunity to hang out with some of our favorite people... The Griggs?!?!

It was a fun Hawaiian Luau! So the birthday girl was dressed appropriately for the occasion.

Why... yes... I AM knockin on her coconuts! We're tight like that!

 Ok, this is what we ate for dinner! Good ol' Mr. Griggs actually went to a pig farm and picked out the pig that we would all eat for dinner and had a friend of theirs roast it! This is how it came to the party! Looked pretty gross, but it was actually good. Conner was a little freaked out by it and came up to Patrick and I after he saw it with quite the concerned look on his face and said he didn't wanna eat any pig for dinner. we told him he didn't have to that he could have a hot dog, and apparently that was much better.... go figure!!

 Such a fun birthday cake!! A friend of hers made it for her. It looked amazing and tasted SO good too!

Here is the birthday girl blowing out her candles. That is her hubby behind her who did such a great job planning the whole thing. It turned out awesome!! Big points to him!

(As you can see, they are DIE HARD Ute fans... for this we forgive them ONLY because they are such wonderful people and that is what Y fans do!!!)  haha!!!

Melissa and I (yes her name is Melissa too, that is just one of the many reasons she rocks!) met about 5 years ago when we were neighbors in Taylorsville. We were both called to the Young Women's in our ward and given the assignment to put girls camp together.... in just 3 weeks time and a budget of only $200! Impossible you say?!?! We somehow pulled it off. Ok we did go over budget a bit, but our Bishop approved it. And ever since then we were bestest buds! We spent those 3 weeks together constantly coming up with ideas for shirts, camp cheers, camp banners, games to play, spiritual messages for the girls, skits, menus, and all the little details that go into girls camp. I don't think there was a single day in those 3 weeks that we didn't spend together. Our husbands were starting to wonder if they would ever see us again. I'm sure we were quite the sight to see with us both having 2 kids and going shopping for supplies and food. There was once in the Army Surplus store that was particularly disastrous and I never stepped foot in that store again! :) We ventured off to camp together and endured the horribly timed rain storms, slept together on my air mattress that had a small leak somewhere and every morning we woke up with our bums on the ground,  together we learned how to cook food outdoors, and she was my shoulder to cry on when I learned that while I was at camp that Conner had taken his first steps and I had missed it! She is amazing! Melis is one of my favorite people in the world! She is such a strong and positive person. Through all the trials and tough times I've seen her go through I'm always amazed at how positive she is and the amount of faith that she has. She is a great example! She is such a fun and funny person to be around... I never laugh as hard as I do when we are with the Griggs... like literally can't breath -sides hurt -tears running down your face kind of laughing. We always have fun crafting together and shopping together. I am so lucky to be able to call her my friend!!

It was so much fun to go up and surprise her! I just love a good surprise!

The mullet HAD to go!

It was high time for the mullet look to go! Landon's hair has gotten a little outta control over the past few months... growing in the back, but not as much in the front. It was getting pretty funny looking, so this weekend, we decided it was time for the mullet to GO!!

  

This was also our first attempt at cutting our own kids hair. Neither of the older boys needed their haircut this young. I seriously think that Brayden was over 2 years old when he got his first haircut (the kid was almost bald until well after his first birthday!) and Conner was 18 months, but we had a neighbor that did hair, so she cut it for me. I wasn't sure where to take a 1 year old, and didn't really wanna pay for it when it seems so easy to just even it all out ourselves. So we gave it a try.

I mean seriously!!! Look at all the hair back there!!!

He wasn't loving the process, but he did really good for his first time!

It turned out pretty good I think. It's unfortunately not finished yet, because we apparently didn't let the clippers charge long enough and it died before we could finish. So we let it charge overnight and we'll try again today to finish it up.

Not too bad... but I think I still have some practice to do! But his new non-mullet look is much better!!