August 2008

August 2008



Trevor decided early on that he would be a cowboy this year for halloween and has switched now many times, but here's that costume.




Here we are celebrating Jeff's 40th birthday with some colleagues and families.

Jeff's 40th again.

Is our backyard heavenly or what? sweet photo huh? Right before Jeff's 40th bday party.


TImothy with Grandma Shields at Tyler & Kacey Ahlstrom's wedding in Logan, Utah.

Rickey is # 11 for Timpview Freshman football team. He plays receiver and LOVES Football.

Jeff always does a garden and here are some of the kids enjoying the fruits of his labors.

First day of school. Mikelle is in 6th grade with Mr. Jennings, Trevor in 4th with Doman, and Aaron's in 1st with Ms. Garner.

These two are my buddies everyday as we hang out and have a blast together.

Rachel Ashton and her daughter Brinnley with me and Mikelle at Vivian Park.

Sarah was pretty excited about her fish.

Jeff still loves fishing even though he rarely sneaks away these days.

Sarah did eat the fish for breakfast the very next am.

Timothy loves to push things and to wear other peoples shoes (oftimes backwards like they are here)

July 2008

Here's a sweet clip of Timothy enjoying Sarah's scooter in the kitchen. He's two months away from being 2 years old in this clip and doing quite the job of maneuvering corners. It was bedtime and Timothy and Sarah were in between clothes.


Timothy with his cardiologist, Dr. Michael Puchalski.



The five cousins: Timothy, Elias Mudock, David Gal, Noah Shumway, Elijah Pfeiffer.


With great Grandma Merrill

In Duschesne, Utah, with an evening's catch of German Brouwn trout. Grandmpa Shumway fell into a deep hole in the river while crossing it to get to a great spot. It paid off because right after that he caught those two monsters.



Paki Ngatuvai and his family came for a get together while Grandma and Grandpa were here. They provided lovely entertainment and great food, including a roasted pig.

Hunter Murdock and Sarah.


Sarah decided to give Jeff a footrub while he was taking a nap.


Timothy and Sarah love to put on Kathy's shoes. Sarah with one of her dolls.


Previous two photos: at Tuacahn theater in southern Utah for "Sound of Music."


At the St. George Temple.



Here we are at the Whiting Homestead for the Whiting Reunion. There were over 1000 people in attendance and Jeff so kindly allowed Kathy to go with the 5 oldest kids and kept Sarah and Timothy at home since we didn't feel like dealing with him on oxygen day and night. The favorite part of the homestead is always the rope swing which Aaron mastered quickly. He could do lots of turns and here we caught one swing on video.



Kathy with her cousin Jaque Likes, reliving memories of the Homestead.




The survivors of the Homestead race.

Kathy's mom Louine (right) and surviving siblings, from right to left: Geraldine, Phil, Elma, and Jack

Cousins on top of Sierra Trigo, Whiting Homestead, White mountains, from left to right: Rickey, Ty Shields, Spencer, Matt Shields, Colton Shields, Andy Shields.

Mikelle with cousin Natalie Shields

Kids love to roll down the hill inside this pipe.

The rope swing, one of the highlights of the Homeastead.

Trevor got paid to drink straight from the source. Thanks, Dave Brown.

Do all families prepare for family pictures this way?

Ahh, but the result is always worth it!

May June 2008

We have had a lot of fun this summer. We spent May just getting unpacked and decompressed from our travels. Mikelle, Trevor, and Aaron went back to Edgemont for the month of May and Jeff jumped in to teaching 3 classes (9hours) in Spring. Spencer and Rickey took advantage of being checked out of their classes (with not enough time to actually get credit in their classes) and went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Shumway in Tonga for 3 weeks. (pictures below)



Spencer's friends did a tie-dye party that everyone ended up joining in. Ammon and Aaron Smith from Austin, Texas, are in the back right and Thomas & Mary-Kate up front. We enjoyed having Mike, who grew up with Jeff in Hawaii, and Shawna Smith stay with us for a few days in June 08.

Here are some of Aaron's cousins at his birthday party. Taylor & Dallin Remund & Mckay Shields (all cousins), Aaron & Trevor.

We rented the Power Tumbling gym and let Mikelle celebrate her 11th, Trevor his 9th, and Aaron his 7th all in one big party.

Mikelle, Kirsten Dahl, McKaylah Murdock (cousin), Kesley Rumsey, Rebecca Dow, Marcie Ahlstrom (cousin), Joanna Remund (cousin) and Mariah Crowley.


Front: Danny Bradford, Mosiah Murdock (cousin) Luke Simpson, Trevor. Back: Gage Murray, Brett Pulham, James Remund (cousin).





Spencer got his Driver's license June 08!!! Here he is passing his driving test.

We've had some issues with our fridge's egg holder lately. This summer alone, we broke about 8 dozen eggs on our kitchen floor--most of them were Kathy's fault too!! Trevor discovered it's quite cool to add flour to the eggs yolks. It makes quite the concoction.




Getting ready for Jeff's Latin American history asado (Argentine barbeque) that he puts on each time he teaches a Latin American history course. On the right is is the main asador (cook), Crhristian Saez and Jeff's TA, Josh McDaniel. We usually have about 60-70 people.


Post-barbeque siesta (somewhat posed) with the Saez and Wilson families and Grandma Shields.





Camaflauge shorts on Trevor's Birthday.






A large portion of the Shields clan at our home for Mothers Day.


Putting the kitchen to good use on Mothers Day.


Heidi always tells an enrapturing story.


At Grandpa Merrill's viewing in Salt Lake City in June. He was 95 years old.


When Spencer and Rickey arrived in SLC from Tonga, they ran into Elder Van Dyke, a missionary they had worked with a lot in Spain. He was just arriving home from his mission in Madrid. It was fun to see him reunite with his family.

Rickey and Spencer arriving at the Tongan airport with Grandpa, along with cousin and Isaac Mckee.


Beatiful sight from the airplane in Tonga.




Spencer and Rickey enjoyed a day of fishing, including spear fishing.


A tongan catching an octopus.

Spencer Writing: My grandparents' secretary died while I was in Tonga, and her family didn't have anywhere to keep her body, so Grandpa and Grandma let them keep her body in their garage for three days. We were the guests of honor at the funeral, and following Tongan custom we kissed the woman on the head. It was a unique experience. We were wearing our black tupenus (what looks like a skirt, which is the formal way for men to dress in Tonga).
From right to left, Rickey, Isaac McKee (cousin), Spencer, and Daniel McMurray (mission president's son) in Tonga.


With grandpa Shumway, president McMurray, and a Tongan elder.

Farewell to Austria

Kathy got pretty good at making peanut-butter sandwiches "on the go." Who needs a table?



Spencer and Rickey enjoyed their bike tour around Vienna.


With Phillipp and Kehau Malzl, our wonderful hosts, just hanging out and enjoying the beauty at a park in Vienna.


Sweet Sarah picking flowers.





Our final bus ride in Vienna. A sad day.




This was Jeff's sister Emily's favorite gelato shop during her mission in Vienna. It became our favorite as well. Remember Schwedenplatz is the subway stop if you're ever craving it.



Delicious weinershnitzel the night before we left. "Excuse me, we ordered the large." Jeff''s double was only 6.50 Euros.


Spencer helped out on many occasions carrying heavy loads around on his back. Thank you! Here we are waiting in a crowded Austiran airport to fly home. Timothy was always a hit with people around him.