The Big News

Look out for a new Shumway coming in October 2011!

Working Girl

I officially started my new Job at Critchfield Dental this week and I really enjoyed it. . This is actually the office that I just walked into and asked them if they happened to have any openings back in September, and they didn't for a hygienist, but they were in desperate need of a dental assistant for the next week. So I did some assisting for their Doctors for a week and from then on they have been calling me when ever they needed a temporary hygienist.  Then about a month ago they asked me If I would like to work there and of coarse I was excited because I love the Dentists and Staff and its less than a mile away from Midwestern in Glendale. It will be a consistent 2 days a week but some weeks will be 3 days, which is perfect.

I also will still be working at Wigwam Creek Dental out in Litchfield park a few days a month, mostly on Friday's or Saturdays. This office has such an upbeat staff that is hilarious and just makes a great experience for their patients.

The job hunting experience has been such an humbling experience for me, its hard to put yourself out there and try to convince people that you are the best for their job. I would always feel as I was applying to jobs that if they would just let me work for them for a day, they would see that they would want me.


It is another testimony to me that Heavenly Father works in his own time and what will be the best for us. Even though I don't like the starting a new job every day feeling of temping, I learned a lot from having to temp at a lot of different offices and made some great connections that way. It helped me to know what I would want in a job and employer and want I would not like. In addition, the tender mercies that came along with getting these two jobs have been pretty neat.
So I'm a little bit worn out from working this week, but also really excited to be a little bit more of a (consistent) working girl.

Brad playing QB

Brad has been playing on a Flag football team with some of his classmates. Their team name is Anatomic dead-space  ( You can ask Brad what that means exactly). There are actually quite a wide array of nerdy team names. I got the pleasure of being the official time keeper at the game.

Some visitors

This week one of Brad's Mission Companion's had a interview at Midwestern, so him and his wife came to stay with us.  It was fun for Brad to catch up with Andy Fraser, and I had a good time hanging out with his wife, Micah. They also have a little boy, but he stayed back in Utah with some of the Grandparents. After the interview was over we went and hiked at the Thunderbird Recreation park which is not far from our house. It was the first time we had hiked the trails and we look forward to doing them a lot more. They are kinda short so they aren't a huge time commitment, but still fun. The mountains also over look where the north phoenix temple site is so that was fun to see. I was surprised to see how small the temple sight is. It will definitely be a smaller temple compared to Mesa.  We were so glad that the Fraser's came to stay with us, it was really fun for us. It would be neat if he ended up going to Midwestern, but he has some more interviews, so we will see what happens.

Stake Basketball

An action shot in all it's blurriness of stake basketball.  Brad accidentally bounced the b-ball off someone's face to make the ball out on them in this game. Oops! Man Church ball can be viscous.

Church Basketball- The only fight that begins and ends with a prayer.

A New Calling

I just got an additional calling this past Sunday that I'm pretty excited about.  I'm going to be the...........

Ward Girl's Camp Director!

Cabin Mom 2009

 Bring on the singing, woods, crafts, laughing and crying and over load of estrogen. I'm excited to get to know the Young Women in my ward.

Camp Lomia

My Nana

Brad and I had a wonderful time spending the holiday with our families. I didn't take any pictures, so once I gather up some from those that were good enough to take out their cameras I'll have to post some.  Over the holiday's I also attended the funerals for my Grandma (Nana) Sarah Utahna Luke Butler. My Dad's mom and the last of my Grandparents. She went by Utahna, named after and Indian Princess from the Legend about MT. Timpanogos in Utah.. She was as unique as her name. I love funerals because you learn so much about the  person who its for. Even though I had heard bits and pieces of most of the stories recounted, there is still things that you didn't know. I won't recount her whole life story or anything just a few memories of mine and some pictures that I have on my computer. Don't feel pressured to read the whole thing, I know its long.

Nana in the middle with all her family. My Grandpa John Dallas Butler pasted away about 31 years ago. She was a widow for a long time. She went on three missions after he passed away. She would (try at least) to teach the gospel to every one she met.

 

Me and Nana. She is wearing her World greatest Grandma sweatshirt. I remember for Christmas she would give us each $5 and I would get very excited for that. For a few years in a row she would also give our family a 10lb cylinder log of cheese, which I always thought was very funny. 

When I was younger Nana would take her Grand kids up to Eagar Arizona for  part of the Summer. My siblings have  lots of their own stories of Eagar . My memories are mostly with my cousin Jennifer. We are the youngest of her Grandchildren and she would call us her little munchkins. We would just run wild up there, playing in the pasture, the Barn, the tree house, it was so much fun. Nana didn't like to cook so we got to eat all the Corn flakes,Totinos pizzas, and butter pecan ice cream that we wanted. 

 

Nana could sleep any where, and she did! Nana seemed to always fall asleep when ever sitting on a couch. She would often have pull over and take a nap when driving up to Eagar.

Nana was a very slow driver, on one occasion I remember being in the car and she was pulled over by a cop because she was driving too slow. Another instance, She was driving Jennifer and I up to Eagar and we noticed a very long line of cars piling up behind us, we told her to pull over because the line was so long. Jennifer and I spent several minutes counting all the cars that had piled up. I don't remember the specific number but it was a lot! We probably drove our Nana crazy sometimes, but she was patient with us. 

Nana spent her summers in Eagar and winters in Mesa, and I had many slumber parties with her in her house across from the Mesa Temple. She would take Jennifer and I took my Uncle Nolan's house to see his wide array of animals. Nana was very supportive of me and she attended so many of my Choir concerts when I was in Middle and High school. I also had the neat experience to interview her while in High School when my Stake was doing a documentary of those who lived in the era of World War Two and she told me about when she was a part of the USO tour with some of her friends and toured around the country.

It was probably around when I started high school that Nana started declining with Alzheimer's. After a few years it got to the point where she had to be put in an assisted living home. While she was living there I had the opportunity to take her to church sometimes and frequently would drive her over to my parents house for Sunday dinners.  It was hard to watch as Nana's memory faded away. After a while you get used to how they are and you just enjoy the humerus things that happen. I have so many funny interactions with Nana.

Here is a sweet picture of Nana a couple of years ago at a family dinner at my parents house. 

Nana was such a sweet and funny lady. I love her and the great example she was to me. I appreciate all the time she spent with me and love that showed me. I'm so grateful that she is finally reunited with my Grandpa and her family and friends.