Shumways, Here We Come!

We haven’t seen the Shumway kids for many months so the excitement mounted as we traveled by train from NY to Boston. Poor Saydi hit a traffic jam on the way to pick us up but when the car pulled up this is what we saw:

We felt royally welcomed and knew we were in for quite a ride for a few days with that dynamite family! We loved being back in their cute little New England house! 

The Boston Public Gardens were at the height of spectacular! We read Make Way for Ducklings before we left. The book was in Spanish but Saydi quickly found it a read-aloud version on her phone. So fun!

 

Covered in petals

Next we went to the FINISH LINE for the Boston Marathon. There was only one more window to be replaced and you’d hardly know that anything happened.

There were what looked like filled-in pock marks all over the sidewalks for what seemed like forever. We’re not sure that was “leftovers” from the bombing or not:

Then we walked to the end of the block where the memorial stands. Pretty sobering to be there. It had just rained so they covered almost everything with plastic.

 

Directly across the street from the finish line was the fabulous Boston City Library. What a wonderful place!

On Friday we picked the kids up early and went to see our mega-creative Timothy family in Newburyport about an hour north of Boston. How blessed we are to know that family who marching to their own drummer in splendid style! The beach was too cold and windy so we went to their darling New England home saw first hand all the things they are doing with their kids. Simply unbelievable!

On Friday night we sent Saydi and Jeff for a little getaway while we had fun with the kids. On Saturday morning They cleaned like little champions to create a nice surprise for their mom for Mother’s Day.

What fun to be with them and to get such great messages from all our children on Mother’s Day. The house was full of the fragrance of lilacs, brought by a friend and adorable homemade cards from the kids. Jeff made a breakfast absolutely to die for and gifts abounded!

We ate at an astounding restaurant on Saturday night and had so much fun. But I have to say that the most fun thing of all was just being with the Shumways in their sweet home! Those were the moments that I didn’t take pictures of (darn)! Watching the little two year old Peter racing down the driveway like a Nascar driver on his little bike, reading with Emmeline and noticing how much she has changed with her great ideas and fantastic vocabulary, seeing Charlie’s list of 70 books that he has read at only seven years old and being in rapture at Hazel’s maturity and stellar piano playing (Charlie too) made memories that I’ll never forget.

Saydi and Jeff’s hospitality was extraordinary (as always) with Saydi’s gourmet cooking and their insistence the we use their bed while they slept on a leaky air mattress. What a delight to see Jeff conducing the meetings on Sunday and to observer how much difference they have already made in the ward and how much the members love them. Love love love everywhere.

Thanks to the Shumways for all that plus the great conversations and incredible example of how things should work in a house with eight people and only one bathroom!  It was awe inspiring!

We love you guys!