Our Summer

The summer has been a whirlwind.  We have been so busy, but had a lot of fun along the way. If only summer could be a little longer. The end of summer here in South Carolina, doesn't mean the weather is cooling off, in fact, we still have plenty of hot days left in the schedule, but it means the boys are heading back to school. It's hard to believe school is starting in a matter of days. We have neglected the blog a bit, but here are some of the things that we have been up to.

 The following week after the race & luau, we jetted over to Washington State to visit family and friends. The boys were very excited, and overall, the flights went well.

 Joseph was probably the most excited to get on an airplane. His favorite pastime on the flight? Reading the safety brochure. He read that thing over and over and over again.

 He was also very excited that Grandma's house had LOTS of legos. He is a lego maniac and spends a lot of time building creations.

 One of our first stops on our trip, was to visit Ella's grave. We decorated her grave site with flowers and enjoyed a little Washington summer rain.

 Next we headed out to explore one of our favorite places, downtown Tacoma. We road the link (the light rail train) and walked a good bit too.

 Some of my favorite architectural elements downtown, the old clock tower

 and the Spanish steps

I love the graffiti art on some of the buildings

 One day I had lunch with some of my girlfriends, and Adrianne went into labor immediately after leaving our lunch date... so the next day I got to go see baby Alexis!

 The boys always enjoyed being cozy at Grandma's

We spent some time with our good friends the Turner's, and stayed the night up at their new house. It's always a party when we get together. 

 

Lake Stevens, a few minutes from the Turner's house

 

skipping rocks into the Puget Sound

Many Washington Beaches on the
Puget Sound consist of rocks like these

Nothing is better than eating Ivar's clam chowder
& fish & chips while at the waterfront

 It's always fun to stomp around in the rocks, and search between the cracks for crabs and other small sea creatures that hide til the tide rolls back in.

After we left the Turner's, we headed back to Tacoma, but not before stopping to visit the Seattle Temple Grounds. We walked through the gardens and Joseph had to kiss the baby girl statue.

 Anson had to roll down one of the soft, grassy hills. Tanner just liked sitting and pondering.

This is a little glimpse at what Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma traffic looks like. Every time we go home to visit Washington, we are reminded how much we hate the traffic and don't miss it.

More of our Washington trip and summer adventures to come

A Luau For Our Friends

Last summer Devin's friend Jimmy Kaholoaa came to South Carolina to help with things and  witnessed all of the generosity that was being shown to our family.  He suggested that we host a luau to show our appreciation, so this May he found a pig in the Polynesian town of Utah. He cooked it, froze it, and checked coolers full of pork on his flight back to the South.  

 

We thought we would be doing all of the work for the luau, but as word got out that we were having a luau, some of the same friends that helped us before helped us again!  Becuase the luau was the same day as the Run Ella Run race, much of the coordination and planning was done without our involvement. 

Hand-drawn wall art

This fruit table was the center of the room.  Jimmy had done many luau's in many parts of the world, but was impressed with many of the decorations and ideas that Dacia and her friends came up with.

 These very creative center pieces were created one late night while the dads were on a father & sons campout. 

We had far more food than we could have eaten.  The biggest hits were the desserts.  The pineapple-upside-down cakes were delicious, but the guava cakes were unbelievable. And they looked just as amazing. 

 Our friend, Milo, gave our boys matching Hawaiian shirts and all the guests wore plastic leis. 

Milo's family also arranged to have dancers come and perform various Polynesian dances while the guests ate.  Our boys even got up in front of all of the guests to perform one of the dances that they just learned. 

It was so much work that as we were preparing for the luau, we were often reminding ourselves that this luau would only be a one-time event.  However, after the luau was over, we felt that this life doesn't get much better than good food shared with good friends.  We may just have to do it again sometime. 

2012 Run Ella Run memorial 5k

2012 Run Ella Run memorial 5k

Last year when we returned home from the Washington funeral, Dacia decided she wanted to do an Ella Run 5k.  So with a week of planning in the midst of everything else that was going on (like taking care of an invalid), we had our first Ella race with about 40 runners.  It started and finished right in front of our house, didn't involve race bibs and the starting line was drawn in the street with chalk.  It was very fun and we decided to make it an annual event.

The inaugural Ella 5k from 2011

We mentioned to the chief of the South Congaree police department (who had original jurisdiction of the accident) that we are having an Ella Run and they wanted to get involved. The town of South Congaree hosts a "Stuff a Stocking" program every December to provide Christmas gifts to unfortunate children. This is exactly the kind of thing that our Gabriella Shumate Memorial Foundation was created to accomplish - simply bringing happiness to children.  As a result, we combined efforts and we had to push to keep up with the momentum.

Our initial plan was to double the 2011 runnership for the 2012 race, but that didn't last long.  The venue, police presence, and race course across major roads made it a big success.  This year, we came up with a clever name (The Run Ella Run Memorial 5k) and with the support of one of our sponsors, had a website built.  We sought more sponsors, created t-shirts, and even had chip timing for the runners. 

The venue was the town's arena, which we were able to use at no cost.  It had lighting, a kitchen, bathroom facilities as well as parking, and seating for several hundreds.  We will be able to host future races here and build consistency with the participants as there is so much room to grow.  The stage in the above photo was donated from a local church. 

It seems that one of the biggest expenses for races is the police presence.  We had about 25 police officers who volunteered their time, and worked to disrupt the local traffic as little as possible, while directing the runners through the course. Although the race started at 8am, it crossed several high-traffic roads.  Unlike last year, all of the necessary approvals from the Highway Patrol and DOT were obtained. 

The runners started showing up and getting ready about 7am.  The tall gentleman to the right of the bottom photo is the defense attorney for Caitlin, who was the driver that hit Devin and Ella.  He is standing with his son and some runners from his office. 

The boys' school, Saxe Gotha Elementary, had a group of runners.  In the middle of the above photo wearing sunglasses, is Ms. Houck, the school's principal. 

The runners gathering for pre-race instructions and announcements. 

Chief Amodio introducing the Mayor of South Congaree.

Runners making their way to the starting line. 

The family of 6 above ran the race while pushing two double stollers. They are our neighbors, and ran in last year's race. This year, they were a major sponsor of the race.

The race is underway! 

#247 in the above photo is the lady that took Devin's phone the night of the accident and called Dacia to tell her that Devin and Ella were in an accident and that Dacia needed to go to Lexington Medical Center right away.  The calm way that she spoke with Dacia set the tone for that horrible night.  The race was the first time we met her.  

#189 in the above photo is the lady that held Devin's hand and spoke with him at the scene of the accident.  She was on site right after impact and stayed with him over an hour until he was able to be extracted from the car and sent to the hospital.  Surely it was a difficult thing to get involved in such a horrible accident, but she was brave enough to pull Ella from the car and attempt CPR.  Turns out she lives in our neighborhood and became a good friend. 

Chief Amodio introducing the SC State Senator, Jake Knotts.  Our attorneys were kind enough to enlist his involvement.  Also in the above photo is Lieutenant Shumpert, who remained closely involved with our family after the accident as events developed. 

These are the families who live in the two houses next to where the accident occurred.  They called 911 and communicated with safety officials at the scene.  We had not been able to meet them prior to the race and enjoyed hearing what they observed that evening. 

Bishop McHugh and his wife sponsored the race and brought their golf cart to help at the race.  Despite having seven children and running three businesses he stayed at the hospital almost constantly with Dacia and Devin between the accident and the funeral to make sure our needs were met.  Their family's support has been priceless. 

Two of Ella's best friends in South Carolina, Nora and Kenley out for a joy ride.  The race was the day of Kenley's (seated in the golf cart) birthday and she was excited to "run with Ella" on her birthday. 

These tripods were at the turn-around point of the race, which was the scene of the accident. 

Surprisingly, there were no major mishaps (other than forgetting to prepare the winners' certificates).  We are anxiously looking forward to next year's race and thinking about ways to generate more publicity! 

Joseph's First Dentist Visit

Joseph's First Dentist Visit

Joseph is three years old and hasn't been to the dentist yet.  He knew he was going today and was trying to be brave.  He didn't complain or say anything to reveal his apprehension, but his nervous smile shows how he didn't quite know what was coming...

The ladies at the office made him feel like a hero and showered him with kind words.  Eventually, his nerves were calmed and he actually started to enjoy it.  Unfortunately, all the attention may have gone to his head as he started to act like he owned the place. 

His favorite phrase of the day became "I know that", especially when talking to the dentist or about his visit to the dentist office.  His other favorite phrases lately have been "what in the world" and "no it's not". Although the first is cute, the second has started getting him in trouble with his mother. His speaking has come a long way in the last year, when he didn't speak at all.