Blog

Now that we are a Florida-based family, it was time for James to learn how to swim. Water is everywhere here and it is much more of a necessity than it ever was in Utah. Once we settled into our … Read More

The holidays were a whirlwind of moving and madness, so the Traveling Shenks were looking forward to things settling down in the new year. That has not happened. It looks like our new life in Florida will be a busy … Read More

I remain eternally behind on this blog, so we are going to cover the holidays in just one post. Here we go! For Halloween this year, James and Leo went as bats. James was Batman last year, and this year, … Read More

When we first arrived in Florida, we moved all of our stuff into a storage unit and were lucky enough to be welcomed into Chris’s parents’ home. They were so generous in allowing us to live with them until Chris … Read More

After eight amazing years full of adventure, hiking, camping, mountains, changing seasons, and exploration, we said goodbye to our lovely little house and the great state of Utah. Our little family has so many fond memories of our time there … Read More

At this year’s Shenk Family Reunion in June, we let the big news slip about our upcoming move to Florida. Aunt Jewel and Uncle JC hurriedly planned a trip out to see us in late August and we were so … Read More

Ray LaMontagne is my favorite singer. If you’ve never heard of him, then please go get some of his music here and you can thank me profusely later. He’s amazing. Red Rocks is a fantastic outdoor amphitheater just outside of … Read More

I’m sure you are all hoping for details of the big move, but this isn’t that post. We are backtracking and covering some awesome events that happened while we were still in Utah in the next few posts. You will … Read More

In spring of 2006, Chris and I sold his house, put most of our stuff in storage, and moved to Utah. It seemed like a great idea at the time. We could see the West and enjoy the outdoors.  Welcome … Read More

The Shenk Family has had another great summer full of fun adventures. Here are some of them consolidated into one easy post. It’s mostly pictures. Of James. As usual. So, enjoy! Enjoying a picnic in the mountains Chef James preps … Read More

Every two years, the John and Emily Shenk Family has a reunion over the summer. This year, it was being hosted by Dan and Naomi Shenk in Harrisonburg, Virginia. We love going to these reunions and look forward to them, … Read More

After we returned from our Florida trip, we had just a few weeks of down time before gearing up for the big road trip across America. (Stay tuned for that post.) Here are some of the fun bits that happened, … Read More

In May, we made our annual trip to Florida to enjoy visiting with friends, family, and hot, sunny days. We are always so grateful to everyone who makes time to come and see us and we love getting together and … Read More

James’ preschool does a little Mother’s Day program each year where they sing a song and present the mothers with a plant and some interesting answers to a questionnaire that the kids fill out. It’s hilarious to hear what they … Read More

This post is not so much about a family adventure, as an adventure in learning something new. A couple of years ago I took a quilting class and loved it! It is a great creative outlet for me and I … Read More

Utah is home to five national parks, that’s right, five! They are all amazing and beautiful and everyone should make it a point to come see at least one of them in your life. After living here for eight years, … Read More