Pictures of Love

Words cannot describe what a wonderful feeling it is to be with our families. Here are just a few of the pictures I took while in Michigan with my nephews, my niece, my sister, my mom, my brother-in-law, my husband, my brother, along with Shirley and Lee, who may not be related to us by blood, but they are indeed a part of our family by the love they have for us and through the love we have for them. I have and am a part of the BEST family(ies) ever!
*Shelly

CONGRATULATIONS MAX!!!

Lynn and I spent a fantastic and wonderful weekend with my sister, Ami and her family, in Dearborn, MI. My sister as always was a gracious and talented hostess. My mom who lives in Utah was with us as well as my brother, Richard, who flew into Dearborn from Utah on Friday to be with us for the weekend. I presented my family with Chicago Bear jerseys and my family proudly put them on, even being in the country of the Detroit Lions.

The reason we all congregated in Dearborn was because my nephew, Maxwell, was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by his father yesterday. Max and his father are dressed in white to represent purity, and how spiritually clean an adult or child (being eight (8) years of age) becomes when they are baptized. Once Max was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church we gathered together and had a wonderful dinner. (Max and Ryan (Max's friend) had their 8th Birthday a day apart, so both Ryan and Max were baptized by their fathers on Saturday.) The entire day was special, spiritual and a supportive gathering for family and friends who loved Max and wanted to honor him on his monumental day.

I will be breaking my trip to Michigan up in bits and pieces for my next few posts since we did so many fun things, such as touring Greenwich Village (an historic town created by Henry Ford), we attended Max and Tim’s soccer games, and just had a wonderful family weekend. If I tried to put all my pictures of the trip on our blog it would probably clog the system and no one would be able to download our blog or any other blog site on the web due to my extensive Dearborn photo album. (I guess that means if you want to see more of our trip to Michigan, you'll have to tune in or log on to our blog and check it out for at least the next few weeks!)

I love my family. I can’t get enough of being with them and I value the times we do get together.
-Shelly

In honor of tomorrow and the first day of fall, and the fact that Lynn and I are having astounding adventures with our move to Illinois, I am reminded of Robert Frost’s poem.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Shelly

Welcome to the Family Seth!!!!

I couldn't wait to post today. Lynn and I have wonderful news!!! Our niece, Cori, and her husband Jeff, is in South Korea picking up my new baby nephew, Seth Min Cheol Mohr.
Seth will be twelve months old in November and has been living with a foster family until Cori and Jeff could get the necessary adoption paperwork from the US and South Korea completed.
Jeff and Cori met Seth for the first time when these pictures were taken (today or yesterday in Korea) and will be picking him up for real on Thursday and heading for home on Friday (9/19). It is a glorious time for our family(ies) who have been praying for this day to come, and now it is nearly here.
I hope Cori doesn't mind that I have borrowed a few pictures from her blog site so you can see how beautiful and healthy my (great) nephew is. It is indeed a happy day for our family.

-Shelly

PS

Jeff's grin was as big and as captivating as Cori's when he was holding Seth, but I couldn't pull off the pictures of him from their slide show. There is nothing like a mother and father holding their son (or daughter) for the very first time.

Wind Pipes of Love

I am calling the 'wind pipes of love' the loud and deafening Illinois insects known as the cicadas. The noisy mating and social rituals make the night sounds (crickets, frogs, etc.) of Davis County (in Utah) sound like whispering gnats. When I first heard the cicadas this summer I thought our house had been invaded by rattle snakes. Lynn told me the noise was coming from the cicadas. Have you ever stood under a noisy light pole and heard a constant buzzzzz? That is what the cicadas sound like but amplified by 100 decibels.

The cicadas I've heard this summer are annual guests. They emerge in the summer from their larvae stage under the ground and immediately crawl, climb, or fly clumsely to the closest plant, tree, building, etc. and begin singing, and singing, and then singing some more. There are periodical cicadas that emerge in the midwestern states on a 13 or 17-year cycle. Last summer (2007) Illinois was lucky #17 for the cicadas. If Lynn and I are still living in Illinois in 13 or 17-years, we will be investing in a few good pairs of ear plugs so we can sleep at night.

As with crickets, it is the male cicadas that ‘sing’ to entice the female cicadas. Large groups of males clump together. The loud(er) the noise the more females they attrack. All the loud racket disrupts the birds and other insect or animal species that might try making a cicada sandwich for dinner. (It is the usually the early cicadas that are gobbled up by dogs, cats and the birds. But, there are sooo many new cicadas (even when we are not on a 13 or 17-year cycle) that emerge every day that the dogs, cats and birds are sick of them and leave them alone. ) The louder they sing, the more females they attract. It’s a stereophonic symphony of sorts. It will seem like one tree will vibrate and sing, a neighboring bush will pipe in until the whole day or night sky is filled with the rattling boisterous music or noise of the cicadas.

The cicadas are buzzing their last breaths as we approach fall. They will all die out until next summer's generation appears and begins their energetic and earsplitting 'wind pipes of love'.

-Shelly

Summers Last Fling

Naperville had summer’s last fling on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Labor Day). We went, along with our friends Donna and Daryl Miyasaki. The Last Fling had tons of things to do, along with food to eat, and things to see. We had fun watching tossing and pole events from the Highland Games. Saturday was also a day for the dogs!!! Dogs were in their element as they ran and caught Frisbees at a dog’s Frisbee competition.

Donna has been a constant source of comfort to me over the last few months. A few weeks ago she was afflicted with Bells Palsy. Her affliction though didn’t stop her from having a great time in Naperville. We had a barbecue and a fun card game on Labor Day to celebrate our friendship.

With cool air and a down pour of rain today, seeing pictures from our ‘Last Fling of Summer’ makes me feel warm inside. (now .... if my family will note, in a few pictures how big my smile is and what I have in my hand ... it's COTTON CANDY!!!)

-Shelly

New Opportunities and Challenges

I started a temporary job with US Bank today for Kelly Temporary Services. It is a position for two maybe three months.

Another piece of GREAT news, “I HAVE A JOB”!!!!! A real job!!!!! A different job. A non temporary job. It’s a part time position that will move into a permanent one. I will be working with the Samaritan Counseling Center in Barrington, IL. I am so excited. The Samaritan Counseling Centers are dotted across the country. This is the first counseling center in Barrington and it will open in October. I will either be starting on September 15th or the 1st part of October. Here is Samaritan Counseling Center’s website http://www.samaritancounselingnwsub.org/. Naperville also has a Samaritan Counseling Center. It has been open since 1971. Here is their website http://www.samaritancenter.org/. This webpage will provide you with additional insight to our center's goals.

Barrington http://www.ci.barrington.il.us/
is another exquisite and small town in Illinois. I may be whistling a different tune on the first snow day, right now the drive is awesome, except when I'm at a dead stop at a light signal for five minutes or so. But, the job is worth it.
-Shelly