Time to Play Catch Up

Yes, I am more than a bit behind on the blog. Sorry, but when life gets busy, the blog goes by the wayside. I must repent of this in the new year.

So here we go. A quick recap of the last few months in the Shupe household.


Christian finished up an amazing marching band season with American Fork High School. In spite of the tragic accident involving Heather Christensen, the band moved on and won several competitions. They won the Western Regional Competition and then, thanks to the generous support of family, friends and sponsors, they went on to Indianapolis for Nationals. They made the semi finals there and ended up placing 15th out of the 91 bands attending. We were able to watch them perform at nationals via a live satellite feed at the high school. It was a great wrap up to a unique season. Here is a YouTube link if you want to take the 9 minutes or so to watch the performance. It was a tribute to World War II veterans and featured music from Band of Brothers. Christian is the second bass drum from the left if you can spot him. Also note the injured band members in the front by the pit, playing their instruments but unable to march. And hang on for the tribute at the end.




Remember this cute, fluffy little thing? Well, she's grown...


...and grown and grown and grown. Inga loves the snow and it makes for quite a challenge when walking the dogs. Jack prefers to keep to the sidewalk, Inga prefers to romp through the snow off the sidewalk. I think she's pretending she's in the Swiss Alps tracking down a lost traveler. But we love her and she has brought new life into ten year old Jack. They are the best of friends.



And speaking of cute things, have you been to Hogle Zoo yet to see this baby elephant? If you haven't, you really must. We went to see her in October and all I could think was, "I think my dog is that big."



Halloween came and went. It was the year of the pirate. Sidney, Kristina, myself and several friends dressed up as pirates. Even Jack the dog ended up in a pirate costume. Poor thing--he's just too good natured to protest when we do such ridiculous things. Inga had the good sense to have nothing to do with any costume.



And Thanksgiving came and went. We held it at our house this year and stuffed ourselves until we thought we would burst. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? Oh, yes, and the thanks part too.




We took the family to Disneyland for Christmas this year. We spent three days in mid-December at Disneyland. The first day, it poured rain. Never fear. Who's afraid of a little rain? Not us. But apparently, a lot of other people. We spent six hours at the park and walked onto almost every ride.

The next day was perfect. It was overcast so I think that scared people away but there was no rain and again, we rode ride after ride after ride with little if any wait. The kids actually went on Splash Mountain twice in a row and didn't even have to get off in between.


Day three was sunny so we ended up with a busier day but still not crazy. Kristina complained about the ten minute wait for some of the rides. I think we spoiled her with the previous two days.



And Christmas was wonderful. It has been a relaxing and wonderful holiday for all of us. We hope it was the same for you. Life is good, not perfect, but very good. We are blessed.

More Thanksgiving

Today I spent some time organizing my photos on my computer. I have over 11,000 (yes, 11,000) photos on my computer and they are getting out of hand. In the midst of the photo organization, my computer locked up and after shutting it down to reboot, would not restart. I thought I was going to meltdown. But after a few minutes, my Mac decided to come back to life (needless to say, I'm backing everything up tomorrow). And as a result of my organization efforts today, it is easier for me to share photos like these with you today.


In keeping with my efforts to recognize the abundance in my life, I want to say how grateful I am for an amazing childhood. It seems that a childhood like mine is harder and harder to come by in today's world and too few kids get to just be kids. So I am grateful that I got to be a kid. No one can top the memories I have of Kelton summers, of playing with cousins, of reading books for hours on end, of just hanging out without a care in the world.


There is nothing like good clean Kelton dirt for a kid. I swear my immune system is stronger for it. I think Dr. Mitch Moffitt, known for eating a bucket of dirt daily as a kid, would back me on that one.


Man, we had a good time. My parents and grandparents are largely responsible for that and so I'll sing their praises in the next few days. Thanks for the memories.

Adjusting my attitude...

I'm having one of those days. You know, one of those days when the universe seems aligned against you? So in an effort to adjust my attitude I thought I would share this quote with you. I found it while reading a talk from Thomas S. Monson from October's General Conference.

Both abundance and lack (of abundance) exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present---love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us (happiness)---the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

So, on that note, I am going to try to focus on abundance over the next few days. Thanksgiving is, after all, only a little over a week away. So I'll start with today. Today I am grateful for a husband who is patient through my moods, loves his kids, takes good care of all of us and still loves me even when I post pictures like this.


Really, could I ask for anything more? (Don't you think he bears a striking resemblance to Ruprecht in this photo? "He's going to love Oklahoma's wide open spaces. He likes to run and run and run."--Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)


I do love this guy.