Candy... This is how it started

This is how it all started...

The first year that Marie & I taught preschool I would take Celeste with me from their house after preschool to go pick up the kids from school.  After Halloween I had left over candy in my van.  Celeste became a fan!  Since then I have always kept candy in my van.  Luckily for me it doesn't tempt me.  I don't really care for candy.  (Now if it were peanut butter cups or brownies..)  So the last few years I have had many a fan of coming to visit me in my van... (I would like to say to visit with ME... but I know it is mostly for the candy).  Max said it best... Melissa was pretending that the van was going to blow up and Max said, "NO! It can't ... what about the candy.... and Donna."

Changes

This is what our family looked like when Ray

(Melissa said that we both look the same... both with less hair.. haha and Melissa has more hair!)

 started working here, at the Capitol, 16 years ago.

This Thursday, (May 31, 2012) is his last day.

He will start working here, June 1, 2012

at

Orange Commercial Credit.

In March I got an awful call while I was out shopping that Ray was getting laid off.  At first it was  scary and terrible and lots of tears were shed.  He had been there for so long that we didn't know anything else.

But like in all trials and challenges we realized how blessed we are.  He was given a long time (until at least the end of June) to be able to find a job.  He has so much vacation time accrued that we will get a double pay check for the next 3 months.  The timing couldn't of been better, either.  He gets his Bachelor's in Management Science from the University of Arizona on August 7th.  We are feeling very blessed and appreciative to all of our friends and family that have been praying for us, too.  We have felt your prayers!

So with mixed emotions... but mostly excited and happy we are looking forward to this new adventure in our life.  So we're wishing Ray good luck with his new job! 

Now for our next adventure....we can hardly wait until August when he is done with school (and we celebrate our 20 year Wedding anniversary)!

Grandparents Picture

I found this today while I was looking for another picture.

This is one of my favorite pictures!

I miss my grandparents!  This was taken in August of '95.  Melissa was born in July of '95.  We were at a family reunion at Priest Point Park in Olympia.  My Grandma Bilow is holding her.  My grandpa was in his unhealthy days.  That year he turned 80.  My grandparents were so excited to be Great grandparents!

What we've been doing lately

Melissa is on the dance team.  They have been crazy busy lately.  The last few months they have performed at several basketball games & 4 out the last 5 weekends they have been at competitions.  They performed in the kick category.  It has been hard on Melissa, at the last basketball game she pulled her groin muscle and it hadn't quite healed.  But she was quite the trooper!  So almost every Saturday we've been watching her and several other schools perform.  These competitions are long days!  She had to be at the school by usually 8:30 a.m. and usually we weren't home until 7:30ish.  It has been fun watching them perform and get better and better every week!  She wouldn't let me put up her 1st performance video because they had improved so much.

Here is one of the basketball games we went to.  Our bball team was really good!  They made it to regionals.  Melissa is quite the sport enthusiast.  (It makes her dad very happy & proud!)  The dance team had to go out early to get ready to perform.  They are in the upper gym getting ready & waiting.  You can barely see at the top left corner a person up there watching the game.. that is Melissa.

Here's a closer version of her sneaking a peak at the game.

Our team waiting for their turn to perform at one of the competitions.

One of the fun things about going to the competitions is seeing all the other amazing dance routines.  Here is one of them.

At the end of some of the dance competitions they have extra time waiting for the judges so all the different teams come out and dance together.  It is pretty fun to watch.

Getting ready at another dance competition.

Here is the Capital dance competition, everyone getting out on the floor to dance.  I recorded a short video of it.

Melissa doing her splits!  She worked hard at being able to do this!!!

Here is there dance routine at the last dance competition where they missed going to districts by 1 point!  :(

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas from the Shoop family!

Here is our Christmas card & family newsletter.

2011

                        We’ve been making picture calendars for the last 10 years or so for our families for Christmas gifts.  I recently finished this years.  As I look at our pictures from the year, I realize even more how blessed we are & what fun we have together as a family.

                   Ray- He is still going to school and doing really well.  I’m very proud of him for sticking it out!!  He is still working at the Capital & doing odd jobs.  Ray has been Keagan’s Scout leader at church (this just changed….bishopric) and has really enjoyed working with the boys and going on campouts with them.  Luckily he will still be able to go, just as dad now. Ray also likes to garden, he was very successful with our tomatoes this year.   He had a great time this year going to a BYU football game with some friends of his.  They got up early and drove a few hours to Oregon to go to the game.  He thinks this should be an annual tradition!

                   Donna- I am still working as a preschool teacher & still loving it!  Where else do you get to do art projects, sing silly songs, hear fun stories, & hang out with one of your good friends!  This year we expanded & have 2 sessions (on Tuesdays & Thursdays), we have 8 children in the morning class (9:15-11:45) and 5 in the afternoon (12:15-2:45).  I am working with the Young Women in church and love being in there with the girls.   I am often the chauffer to many events in our children’s lives.  Most of the time I enjoy this driving.  We get some excellent visits in during these times!!  Ray was able to surprise me this year for a big birthday party!  He had around 30 people there.  I had a few suspicions, but didn’t suspect anything that grand.  For those of you who know Ray well this was a huge feat for him!  He did a great job with the help of a couple of my good friends.

                   Melissa- She turned “sweet 16” this year!!  And she got her braces off!!  She went to a BYU clogging conference in June and did really well.  It was her 1^st time in Utah.  This school year she is a sophomore.  She enjoys High School.  She is on the dance team & we have been having fun watching her perform at the High school football half time shows.  She will perform for basketball, too.  She is still going to seminary (an early morning church class) and her goal is to get 100% attendance for all 4 years, she is currently doing this.  She has her driver’s permit and has been driving us around.  We’re hoping to find time (&money) for her to take driver’s ed at the beginning of next year so she can get her license. 

                   Keagan- He turned 12 this year.  He is in 6^th grade - his last year of elementary school.  Ugh, MY BABY!!  This year he was soooo happy when he passed me up in height! He is officially taller than me now.  He enjoys going to Scouts & all things associated with that – boy things- campouts, shooting guns, fires, etc.  J He likes to play wii, likes history, and we love to tease him.  Thank goodness he is a good sport & he can dish it back pretty well, too.  He really is a sweet & kind boy! (young man)

                                This year we were able to go visit my mom & Thom in Wyoming. They were on a mission for the church serving in Alcova (Martin’s Cove), the middle of nowhere.  It was a great trip!  We took the kids to Utah, Keagan had never been & Melissa had just barely been.  We did the touristy thing in Salt Lake & got to see several friends that we hadn’t seen for a long time. It was so fun re-connecting with them!

                                We are so blessed!!!  We have many good life time friends!  We have a comfortable home, a good family, and we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives!  We hope at this season & throughout the year that we can always remember our blessings.  I know we all have so many things to be thankful for!  One of my favorite things to read about & do is to try to think of all the random little blessings we have.  I love it!  One of my recent ones was- I’m thankful for a fireplace going on a cold night!

                                The cute blonde in our family pictures is my 8 year old niece Aurora.  She spends a lot of time at our house & we love having her!  We jokingly say that we are the “perfect” American family… we have 2.5 kids.  J

                                We hope to hear from you soon!  Our e-mail is rdmkshoop@comcast.net & here is the link to our blog… I’m not as diligent as I used to be in updating it, but still do occasionally.  

                                                                                rdmkshoop.blogspot.com

                             Love – The Shoop Family, Ray, Donna, Melissa, & Keagan.

Sometimes...

I love every stage of my kids lives.  I have found myself saying through out the years this is the best stage of their lives & it has been.  I really enjoy the stage they are in right now, too!  But sometimes I really miss the little kid stage where Santa brought so much excitement & I could really surprise them at Christmas (with out having to pay mucho dinero)!

AND

I really Miss the cute frou-frou Christmas dresses that I got to dress Melissa in!

Some years she had more than one!

Last year's calendar (2011)

Every year for the past several years... at least 10 - I've been making a calendar for my family for their Christmas presents.  Sometimes I wish I hadn't started this tradition, but mostly I'm glad I have.  It makes me scrapbook at least 12 pages every year & I make sure I take pictures through out the year.  What I try to do is to have my calendar page match what we were doing the year before.  So for example in January of this year (2011) we take pictures & make a calendar page for 2012's calendar.  It doesn't always work out like that.  I use smilebox.com to scrap my pictures and then upload the pages to make a calendar.  We used to go to Office Depot and color copy my scrapbook pages and then copy a calendar and comb bind all of them.  We usually have 10 to 15 to make every year.  It was a huge project.  Now I just upload everything and upload the pages to vista print and have it delivered to the house.  They have come a long way!  In more than one ways!! Here is the 2009 Calendar.  Here (2001) are the calendars from 2001, 2000 , 1999  I put up the other Calendars, too.  I can't find a couple of them.  I have had them scanned for a long time, but with the old blogger it took way to long to upload pictures.  It so much faster now!

This was the cover of last year's calendar. (2011)