A visit from the other Shumates

Devin, Dacia, and all their kids came over for 4th of July weekend. On Friday we went to Silverwood. It was a very hot day so we spent all day at Boulder Beach. At about 5:00 pm, we were all starving so we went to this restaurant inside Silverwood. Here's a picture of all the kids while we were waiting for our seats.

After dinner we went on some rides.

Here's the kids mocking the cactus behind them.

The next day we went up to Manitou Park in the South Hill. The kids ran around and Matt took a bunch of pictures.

Here's a couple of all the Shumate cousins together.

We didn't really do much for the 4th of July except just hang out together and let the cousins play all day. It was a fun weekend!

June happenings

Matt's grandfather, Bob Shumate, died, and we went to Tacoma for the funeral. Here's a few pictures from the cementary.

Here's a picture of his children.

Here's some of his grandsons.

And here's most of the grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Afterwards we went to a river and the girls played for awhile with their aunts and uncles and cousins. It was a nice, hot day.

The next day we went on a ferry with Grandma and Grandpa Shumate. It was the first time that Kelsey and Gwyn had been on one.

We also went to Fort Nisqually at Point Defiance Park and saw what it was like to live in the 1800's.



Also in June, we went to Reagan's piano recital. We were surprised to see so many people there. It's normally just a handful of students and their parents there but this year they combined it with another teacher's students and had it at a different location. This caught Reagan a little off guard but she did great, even though she messed a little more than she would have liked. We were all proud of her.

The girls have been wearing shorts these days, so we get a lot of this happening. This is just one of the many injuries between Reagan, Kelsey, and especially Gwyn. Ouch!

Finally, here's a cute picture of the girls "striking a pose" that Matt took.

May happenings

May started out with a trip to Tacoma. Matt got to hang out with the fellas he grew up with. It's been a loooooooong time since they've all gotten together. They stayed in a condo by the ocean for a couple of days. If you want more details, you'll have to ask Matt. All I get is "what happens in Westport, stays in Westport." Just kidding. I was so glad that Matt got to take a couple of days off and hang out with the guys. He doesn't do that very often.

Here's a cute picture of Kelsey and Aunt Jaqui that was taken that weekend. I love this picture!

On the way to Tacoma, Matt stopped at Vantage, which is the half way mark and it where we cross the Columbia River. Here's a picture he took.

On the way home, we also stopped in Vantage, but this is on the other side of the freeway. It was soooooooo windy. You could barely keep your eyes open!

We made it back just in time for Kelsey's First Grade music program which was the next day. It was called E-I-E-I-uh-oh. Kelsey was a chick with her good friends Chloe, Ashley, and Sarah. Their costumes were pretty much thrown together, whatever we could find that would resemble a chick. It was a cute program and most importantly, Kelsey had fun.

Later in May, the girls got to be part of a children's music video for Jenks. They got to dance around and move around like different animals. We are friends with Corey Jenkins, who writes songs for kids. We have one of their CD's that the girls like a lot. You can watch the video Here. Reagan is wearing a greenish and brown shirt, Kelsey is wearing a pink shirt, and Gwyn is wearing a green shirt as shown in this picture. Watch for them in the video!

Lastly, and very sadly, we said good-bye to our good friends, the Buers. They are our friends that we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve with last year. I will miss my good friend, Wendy and our kids will miss their kids. Here's Kelsey with her other BFF Hannah.

And here's Gwyn with her bud Landon. She loved playing with him.

April happenings

I already posted about Easter, but here are a few other things that happened in April:

First, we were surprised to find out that Kelsey's BFF Hika was visiting from Tonga. She moved to Tonga over 2 years ago. Here's a picture of them together a couple of months before she left when they were 4 years old.

She wasn't supposed to be back until the end of the year but her mom came back to have a baby and Hika got to come visit us a few times. Here is a picture the first night she came over. They played really good together and kept playing even though it got dark outside. Hika is now back in Tonga with her family until the end of the year.

These pictures were taken one nice Sunday afternoon. We went down to the river and took a

walk. After the long winter we had, it was nice to get out and be outside together.

Also, in April, we got a visit from my mom. The girls love their Grandma so much and had a wonderful visit with her.

Lastly, here's a picture of Gwyn playing with one of her buds, Finn. He's a cute kid she calls her friend. I just like saying "Gwyn and Finn."

March - Reagan's school music program

In March, we went to the 2nd Grade music program. The theme was "green." No, it was not about being "environmentally friendly." They sang a lot of cute songs about things that are green. Reagan loves to perform. She gets nervous, but it's excited nervous. Although she is normally a little shy, she is very brave when it comes to getting up in front of a lot of people and gives each performance 100%.

She got to do a dance with scarves with a few other people. She did awesome!