After reading Liz's and Katy's I know that my blog is soooo boring, hopefully I'll get more into it when the girls have their babies or I learn to dress the page up a bit or..... who knows.
All is well here. And cold. I don't like the cold much. Boo Hoo for me. I was trying to find Jim and Beckys blog but the link she sent didn't go anywhere so... if any of you have it, I would love it if you could send it to me ;)

My Girls

Here are a couple of quick shots we took of Holli and Lacey showing their pregnant bellies!! Holli has 3 months to go and Lacey about 4.5. They are as excited and nervous and anxious as I remember being when I was pregnant with them! Its fun to watch them grow and feel new things and see them be excited about each little movement and new feeling they get.
And by the way, sorry for letting the blog go so long, seems I just don't have much of anything of interest to report, that everyone doesn't already know about. Love you all.

Sorry for the sideways one...lol...

Ben wirh Bambi is too cute huh?!?

CaliforniaFire

Hi everyone, I know its been forever since I've blogged, and thats mostly because I'm lazy and I haven't taken many pictures AND all of you that read this really mostly already know whats going on here so.... anyway besides all excuses aside here are a few of Bens pics from his fire in California.

long time

Hi, if anyone is still reading this, that is... My computer is finally back from the shop and just got the internet working again. I have no pictures to add right now but just to update you all just a little bit.
Ben is still in CA on those terrible wildfires out there. Has been gone since the last week of June and will be home (hopefully!) by the end of July. It seems like such a long time since he left, its been a long month but I'm sure its nothing like what it has been for him. We haven't had good cell service so I'm lucky if I hear from him once a week. Took a long time for the fire season to start for him this year but once he went.. wow, a good long one.
The kids are doing well, at least as far as I know =) They are all so busy going about their lives that I figure no news is good news. Hope that everyone is doing well... and surviving the heat! Hope to hear from you all soon. XOXOXOXO Juli

My Son

I was looking thru here at my posts and realized that I didn't even have a post or picture of my son! Jake, 17. What can I say about Jake? My one and only son, my baby (no matter how big or how old, ALWAYS my baby!) I think he is a pretty awesome kid with such a big heart. I believe in you pal, and will always be here for you.

Fathers Day and Tylers B-Day

Its fathers Day! It has been a really nice day. Ben got up early so I gave him the gift that all the girls and I went in on and let him put it together (nice wife, huh?) It was a wheelbarrow and he got to work right away! I think it was a great gift and he will get alot of use out of it.
We went to dinner at Eldon and Janes, so saw Gpa for Fathers Day and they had a little birthday party for Tyler (2) and he was alot of fun to watch opening his gifts. So all in all it was a pretty great day.
I did miss my Dad. Of course. I do every year. Not just being able to go to his gravesite but just "him", y'know? Anyway, hope my message got to him anyway.
I've put a few pics this time, now that I found my camera. We miss everyone, every day..
So, to sum up, Happy Fathers Day to all the dads!! We love you.

Getting There

Although we still have plenty of boxes left to unpack, we are slowly but surely getting there. I still can't find my camera or my medicine but I figure if I keep looking they will show up eventually. At least thats my hope right now.
Things are beginning to come together and looking more like a home than a warehouse for boxes. I feel a little more comfortable and more at home. Would like to have some grandkids come to visit and play on the swingset! And just enjoy the backyard in general. We think that would be so fun for us. Oh, and them too!!
I really need to find my camera so that I can take a few pics to post so anyone can see how its coming along. I definately need new furniture and something with drawers for the kitchen and I need to get my imagination in gear to figure out just exactly where it all needs to be.. and then be able to find it again when I need it!! LOL =}
Miss everyone. xoxoxo

Boxes

Oh My Gosh, it seeems for every box I empty two more pop up in their place! They are multiplying like crazy. It is starting to look and feel a little more like home here in our new house (thanks for the congrats guys!) and yet I just can't seem to find a place for everything. And doing just regular housework on top of trying to empty boxes and find homes for all the stuff that just seems to follow us everywhere, I don't know if we will be done unpacking by Christmas or not!!
All kidding aside, it is alot of work but we are enjoying it because we know that we finally made it happen and knowing that you have something to work for makes things a little easier and feel a little better in life. I feel so blessed that I have Ben in my life, and with that, his family too.
I suppose everyone has heard about poor Missy? Being attacked by two dogs here in the neighborhood. I don't really blame them, I know Missy is very territorial as most dogs are, and she has always thought that she is a rottweiler so to be fair, I'm pretty sure she started it even though I didn't witness it until I heard the familiar barking that says "This is my place, get out!" followed by terrible dog screaming, growling and barking. Thats when I found her being pulled in two by these much bigger dogs. She lost half an ear and a lot of fur. Two bite marks in her back by the shoulder area, one more a deep scratch and the other an actual wound.. We are feeling a little nervous over that one. We have been trying to treat it but may end up looking for a vet. She is a changed dog, just lays around in her bed and doesn't go anywhere, no energy. She is sore and sad. This saddens Ben and I deeply.
Wow, looks like I wrote a novel here. Guess its time to get back to emptying boxes. Hope everyone is well and will hear from you all soon.

Moved!

Hi everyone!
We did it! We actually finished the biggest thing on our "someday" list. We are actual homeowners. It feels so very good. We have been on a mission to get to here from the beginning. Thanks to all those that helped us out in the meantime so that this day would be possible.
And a very loud enthusiastic SHOUT OUT to everyone for helping with the time consuming and dirty, hard work of actually moving!! You know who you are and we wish there was some really great wonderful way to let you know how much your help meant to us! We love and appreciate all of you!
The hard work is not over quite yet, for us. I haven't found all the right places to put things and when I do, I can't locate the "thing" I want to put there!!! But there is time, so if you stop by for a visit, don't be surprised if there are still boxes and boxes and boxes creating a maze through-out our home! Our phone numbers haven't changed so please give us a call sometime and come visit.Soon.

AllOurFamilies: Countdown to Holli's baby!

AllOurFamilies: Countdown to Holli's baby!

Lacey's Baby!

Get your free online pregnancy calendar from WhatToExpect.com

Countdown to Holli's baby!

Get your free online pregnancy calendar from WhatToExpect.com

lost everything!

Hello again all,
I recently got a nasty virus on my laptop =( and lost alot of pictures and music... music I can get again but most of my pictures that I had loaded on here are gone forever.. This makes me so sad! I still had some very very cute ones of the grandkids. Luckily Bens laptop has some really nice pics, all we need to do now is convince him to add to this blog and we might get to see what a good photographer he is turning into! So, please help me by bugging him anytime you see him or talk to him and tell him its his turn to blog and to please add some pics!!!!
** Liz, thank you for the nice comments, you are the sweetest! I sure miss you all very much and hope I get to see more of you all during the summer.**

The End....?

Everyone has had such a busy time lately! We all have new things in our lives that keep us that way. I've heard rumor that being busy is a good thing, so with that in mind... I guess most of us are in a really good place!!! This makes us happy and I'm most thankful for that.
An apology to those that I didn't get around to adding here in our family album(s)... I am very disorganized! And also busy.

It seems that none of my friends want to be bothered with their invitations to visit my amatuerish blog, and those that have come by, well.... we all know how difficult it is to create a google i.d. in order to leave comments and such. My friends have busy lives too.

So, family and friends, for now the AllOurFamilies blog will be defunct up until I either decide to update or learn how to really blog and make things interesting or just delete it altogether.
Thank You all that have been supportive. Ben and I love each and every one of you!!!!! And are so very proud of our children!

We hope that you all will visit us when we finally get moved into our new home. That should happen between May 30 and June 1st. We are very excited at finally being able to have our "own" home for the first time together.

All our love, Ben and Juli

"Our House"

ok, these are only two of several pictures
of our new place, the front and the fireplace. I have alot more pictures.... but don't want to blog down my blog (haha) anyway, just wanted to add these so anyone who actually visits might get an idea of a little of it.

Babysitting Tyler..

Two quick pics of Tyler...
He is "fix it" his own bed with pillow and blanket. He was so tired and so cute!
During bath time.. He loved splashing Grandma and playing in the warm water. He went down for a nap
soon after. And I dried off!

on blogging...

Well, here we are, tons of pictures still for me to go thru and wanting to post every single one. I still haven't gotten Bens parents and brother (with family). Between buying a house and all the new things that have been happening, I have pictures scattered everywhere and of course I can't add ALL of them.
This whole blogging thing is still very new to me.. I look at Katys and Lizs and I feel very amateurist! But hopefully with some practice, I too, can get to a place where people want to see my blog, and who knows!! Actually leave me a comment or two!
Ben and I are at such a good place in our lives right now and it took us a little time to get here. We appreciate EACH and EVERY one of You that we have in our lives, you makes us feel like a part of something bigger than each of us alone.
Being Grandparents has been the absolute best thing ever! We are proud to see what you all have done and are doing in your lives. We may not, either one of us, had much of a part in it but thanks to you all, we are NOW a part of it and its a feeling that I cannot descibe to you.
We have such LOVE for our Family! Huge, extended, wholly unpredictable, diverse, wonderful FAMILY. Thank you all so much.

Michael

And here, we have the irresistable Michael. ! Braxtons little brother. Took me way too long to get these posted (sorry).
With these cheeks, impossible to not want to kiss him all the time! Good work Chad and Katy!

Blake

Isn't he adorable? This is Tylers little brother Blake. He is perfect. We are so lucky to have them all and to be able to be a part of their lives. Bens sons with their wives, sure put out some darn cute kids!

We have had such fun watching Tyler while Mommy and Daddy were at the hospital bringing -- as yet unnamed-- his baby brother into the world. Tyler brightens our days when we spend time with him. We were so busy that we just totally forgot to take pictures!! <> Also, when we took Tyler to meet his new brother, he didn't like the hospital too much, and part of that may have been that he didn't get enough of a nap and was a little tired. AND YET AGAIN, we forgot our camera!! We couldn't believe how dumb we were! However, I know we will get another chance, hopefully today and this time we will glue the camera to our hands or something to make sure we take pictures. We are so excited to have our 4th grandson join our family! ALL of them soooooo darn cute and adorable and we just want to kiss them all, all day! Stay tuned..

Babysitting Braxton!

On May 10th 2008, We got to babysit Braxton for the 1st time. We were overjoyed and had so much fun! Braxton is such a happy little boy and didn't fuss or cry once! We had treats and played with the "ruff ruff" doggy. But mostly we played with all the balls. Braxton loves balls! And we love Braxton.
He had spaghetti for dinner and
we ran out of batteries in the camera before we had time to take pics of it.
But trust me it was adorable!

My Father

C.E.Shumway (my dad)
12/25/1925 - 08/31/2004 Miss You Dad.

Juli's Family

This is most of my family.. not all of us were there, but all of my siblings, their kids, their kids-kids....... Its a nice picture. We had a great day, we all missed my Dad a great deal but felt that he was there is spirit.

Awww

At the Zoo. I think Grandpa Ben had more fun than Tyler did! But seeing these two bond at the zoo was just so amazing and we cherish this time that we were able to spend with Tyler and Liz. Funny tho... very hard to find pictures of Tylers Mom..

We Love Our Grandkids

Proud papa's! This was Braxtons blessing day, and we got a good shot of the two dads with thier first born sons, Chad and Braxton, Chris and Tyler. Gosh, they grow soooo fast.

Jim on his wedding day...where is Becky?? ( still trying to organize my pictures... ) I will find it and post here with Jim. Doesn't he look excited? and very handsome! We sure miss them.

Another of Holli, Lacey and Jake..... All smiling again =) This was in our back yard in the fall about two maybe three yrs ago. They look happy and this is one of my favorites.

April 3 2002

Hey, check this out, probably not alot of you got to see this event! Ben and I at our marriage ceremony, gotta love my "colors" of black and white and blue jeans! Not sure which one of us had the longest hair.. but, IT WAS SUCH A PERFECT DAY! We are so thankful to have found each other and to be able to have our families and to be a part of them, all together.

My Mom at her 75th birthday party. We had it at a park in Vineyard and it was a beautifull day. In this pic, my sister Liz is tying a ribbon around my moms head. She is pretending she thinks its a cute thing to do, too. We all had a great time. And Mom looked great. This pic came from my phone so not all hi quality but the smile is so worth it.

Braxtons 1st B-day

This adorable picture is Braxton at his 1st birthday party, he is eating his cake and looking so darn cute! We love it when we get to see the kids and grandkids!

Juli's kids

Here is a nice picture of Holli, Lacey and Jake that they gave me last year for Christmas. I Love this picture, they are all actually smiling! Trust me, thats not a sight we get to see every day.

Babysitting Tyler..

We had Tyler for an hour or so the other day and we sure enjoyed it! Tyler wouldn't eat his lunch, so we made popcorn, which we did just because we love to hear him say "popcorn", once the popcorn was done he wanted his "own" bowl and he went right in and crawled up on Grandpa's lap ( a first!) to watch a movie on t.v. He didn't want his picture taken but I just had too, I mean look at the cuteness!

Stuff about Lacey and Dave

What a day this was! The reception. Windy and cold and not too many really happy people, but it was all for the good and the kids were happy in the end. Here are a few pictures of that day (4/26/08) ** Just a footnote... about the cakes, Davids nickname is Tater Head, after they started dating, I started calling Lacey Tater Tot... so apparantly it caught on and thats what it says on the cakes. Also of note, his favorite color is lime green and hers is orange , ergo, the colors you see here.