Shaw Girl Happenings

New Years

2012-01-03T10:49:00.000-05:00

Mike and I went to a sober dance. Formal attire was requested, so I dusted off my wedding dress. I forgot how pretty that dress is! Now I have to think of other places to wear it. We were home to watch the ball drop at midnight.

The next day, a small, but hardy group of us ran 12 miles for 2012. We have no snow, either.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2011-12-31T09:16:00.006-05:00

What's everyone doing to celebrate the new year?

We plan to do a bit of soggy skiing in the afternoon at the Peak, meet up in the fancy Regency Pub for appetizers and seasonal cheer, be home by 8, crack champagne at 9 or 10 (because it's midnight somewhere in the world) and then go to bed! Sounds like the traditional Shaw New Year's from when we grew up!

Unfortunately, the whole 2.5" of snow that we have received this year (yup, that's the total for this November and December combined) has just about melted.

New Hands

2011-12-30T09:51:00.002-05:00

It was a family event in August when I walked into Brooks Memorial Hospital, and had my bilateral carpal tunnel release. Hannah was my nurse, and Joel was the surgical assistant who prepped me and stitched me up. I could feel things with my fingers immediately after the surgery. (My hands and fingers have been numb and kind of useless for years.) Here's the happy patient recovering on her porch.

New Sewing Machine

2011-12-30T09:42:00.004-05:00

My trusty sewing machine of 25+ years literally blew up this year, with a loud bang, accompanied by smoke and sparks pouring out of the back. I brought it in for repair, and they just shook their heads. So, I can home with a new machine. So, I am sewing again. Here's a few things I've stitched up. Now that I have feeling in my hands again (thanks Hannah and Joel!) I can sew again.

Happiness is...

2011-12-28T16:36:00.000-05:00

sipping a peppermint mocha in the middle of the afternoon. Thank-you Hannah! Mmmmm.

Eby and I snowshoed up to this lookout last Saturday. The snow is melting fast here, but I hear Buffalo is getting pummeled.

Christmas, Parents, and other things...

2011-12-23T13:53:00.000-05:00

Everyone is getting the "family" gift of some kind of yummy thing to have for Christmas morning, or whenever.

Hannah and Susan,
The parents hope that you will come in the spring and drive a Uhaul back east with any of their stuff that you want. Mother does want money, but it is more of a token.

It is cold and snowy here. Playing with the dog a lot. I was sick this week and am still coughing. Yuck.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Adirondacks - Day 3 - Cascade

2011-08-13T10:53:00.000-04:00

Summit of Cascade - 4098'

Another beautiful day dawned, and it was off to Cascade Mountain. Except for me, as my knee buckled on the descent from Giant the day before, forcing me to hobble down the mountain at an excruciatingly slow old lady pace (which was, unfortunately, exactly how I felt.) I took off with a couple other hikers for Baxter Mountain, an easy hike. Baxter looked, felt, and smelt, just like hiking back home, complete with humidity and bugs, so with an attitude of "why bother?" we bagged the hike, and headed for the ice cream shack that we had passed back on the road. It seemed a much more noble pursuit. Katie and Matthew, however, enjoyed Cascade and the summit.

Then it was off to Lake Placid to see the sights. Matthew and I snuck into the Olympic Ice Arena complex and gave ourselves a tour.

Here we are on the ice of the 1980 Rink, where the "Miracle on Ice" occurred. Shortly after this photo was taken, we were kicked off the ice by a skater who yelled at us in German.

Many thanks to Val and the Adventurer's Group: Ben, Jan, Jill, Becky, Nick, Lindsey, Maria, and Becky, for an excellent adventure. And no bear ever disturbed our camp or food, although I think a couple of chipmunks did.

Giant - Here We Come! Day 2

2011-08-12T10:22:00.001-04:00

Summit of Giant-of-the-Valley 4627'

The trouble with climbing Giant, the 12th highest peak in the Adirondacks, is that you have to start at the bottom. Now this probably seems obvious, but with most of the other peaks, once you drive your car to the trail head, you are already at 2000+ feet. With Giant, or its full title, Giant-of-the-Valley, you start in that valley at the bottom and climb up for 3 miles. Up, up, and then up some more. You scramble over rocks, you hoist yourself up over boulders. You grab onto trees, worn smooth from countless other hands, and pull yourself ever upward. Near the top we entered into an alpine forest. The trees changed, the flowers changed, the aroma changed. The views are magnificent. But I made it, scraped hands, scraped knee, with every ski injury I've inflicted on my body screaming for attention, I made it. I could see Whiteface, including the ski trails. I could see Mt. Marcy. I could see the Lake Champlain Valley. I could see Vermont. I could see New Hampshire. I could see my children, gazing in wonderment.

Matthew, Katie, and Sue's Excellent Adventure - Day 1

2011-08-11T09:22:00.002-04:00

Top of Falls

After an extensive car ride, featuring a scenic by-pass through downtown Schenectady for reasons that escape me, we arrived in the Keene Valley, home of the High Peaks. After a quick jaunt to our campsite, at the base of Roaring Brook Falls, we set up the tent under a canopy of tall hemlocks, packed our food in the bear canister, and off we went in search of the top of the falls some 400 feet above our campsite. You can't really see the falls from the top, as the water just drops straight down from the sheered off bedrock. We hopped across the stream, stood on the rocks, took pictures and enjoyed the view. (On the ride home, I read that people have slipped, plummeted, and died doing exactly what we weredoing. Ignorance is sometimes dangerously blissful...) We gazed to the southeast towards the summit of Giant-of-the-Valley Mountain, our goal for the next day.

Back at our campsite, we had a Moroccan themed dinner and dined on Falafels with Hummus, and Fruited Chicken with Couscous, which were a big hit. The hummus had a nice hint of lemon, which paired well with our pan fried falafels. The chicken, studded with currants, apples, and sun-dried tomatoes, melded with the curry and coriander spiced couscous as we dined under the hemlocks.

We topped off the evening with hazelnut chocolate fudge, a nice fire, and sighs of contentment. Lastly, I crawled into my fluffy sleeping bag, tired and satisfied, between my two kids, and stretched out, discovering the tree root knot that would be my constant companion through the night right under my lower back.

Hey Siblings

2011-06-20T17:03:00.000-04:00

Although it is still raining mostly, summer fun is being had anyway. For 4th of July, I am taking Eby dog camping. Just us two girls. Mike is working weekends. (nice!)

Hannah - you can track me in NYC again this year. I made it in the lottery. I think they have the same thing for Ironman. I will let you know.

The photo is of Mike with Eby in the side car.

Hope you are all having a fabulous summer.
Rebecca

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!

2011-06-15T11:16:00.000-04:00

How are you settling into your 50s?

2011-05-23T07:23:00.002-04:00

Softball season is comming to a close (I hope). Nicole made the newspaper once, did not make the tag! :) Nice hair! Jake has tried to golf with the team, he is always rained out. Can"t believe it's almost Memorial day!

2011-02-22T15:02:00.002-05:00

Heading out to check on parents thurs. march 3. arrive @ 3:50. leaving there monday march 7 @12:10. Don't get in here until midnight (then 50min ride home) but i get to blow $ for 1 hour in vegas!

Everyone fine.

2011-02-18T16:26:00.003-05:00

Carrie, Molly and I spent last weekend doing yard work at the parent's house. That is what Mother wanted help with so that is what we did. My shoulder was sore from rakeing! We clearned out old leaves, trimmed some things back and tied the droopy bushes.

My other duty was to get Daddy out walking. We went very short distance and slowly, but he increased each day. Not being active is bumming him out. Unfortunately, the bike trainer did not fit on his bike, so no peddaling while watching the Zags.

I won't make over when Hannah is there because I am out of vacation time. But by the time Sue gets there in April, I will have more time built up and will plan to come over if I can.

Parental update II

2011-01-18T11:41:00.001-05:00

Pops spent the night in the hospital. He got a couple new schunts (?). Carrie said he is already looking better as he is discharging all the built up fluid. Stay tuned.

Parental update

2011-01-14T17:26:00.005-05:00

Hi all,

Last weekend I got to spend a day with the folks over in Spokane. Here is an update.

Pops (aka daddy) is having some serious leg problems causing swelling. He has to take medication to get rid of the water. He thinks it may be heart failure.

Mother: Stressed about getting them out of the house and getting the stuff taken care of. There is furniture that she want the east coast sisters to have, but doesn't know how to do it. You may want to call her if you are willing to pay to ship something or willing to go out there and haul something back.

She wants to eBay smaller stuff and I want to help her with that. I suggested she consider a professional estate sales person to come get things organized and take care of the bulk of it.

Mother finally got hearing aids! It is so much better. Molly and I made the Bionic Woman ear sound everytime she could hear us! (do-do-do-do)

Carrie's girls are growing like weeds.

Carrie and Molly agree that I have the "mother 60s do". What do you think? (Man i'm lookin' old......)

******************

Thank-you for the Christmas goodies. We love our washclothes!! Mike and I both received Cabela cards, too. Hannah, I don't know if you sent a box, but if so, it didn't arrive. We did get your cute card, though!

It was very low key for us. We didn't get gifts for each other, but we enjoyed our first Christmas together in 8 years. I took a nap and cooked a ham. Nice.

Allegany Breakfast

2010-10-30T10:19:00.003-04:00

A gorgeous day for the annual Allegany Breakfast. Great breakfast (3 different kinds of apple crisp) with donuts fried in the dutch oven over an open fire, bacon, eggs, blueberry buckle, and more. A great fall hike followed, down Patterson Trail 3.5 miles to the Bova Ski hill.

Hi sisters!

2010-10-29T11:11:00.002-04:00

How are things back east and in Spokane? It is football season and college ball is very big in Montana. Personally, I am enjoying the fall colors and crisp air. Perfect Allegheny type weather.

Big Man on Campus

2010-08-29T19:05:00.005-04:00

Matthew went back to St. Bonaventure today. Here's a couple of pix of the big man on campus. Hard to see him go. He has a 2 room dorm room this year. Here he is with his roommate Sam, and outside of his his dorm (which happens to be the oldest and original building of the university.)

2010-08-22T21:13:00.005-04:00

We have had a very busy summer,( I spent most of it driving someone somewhere!) Nicole had different camps for volleybal and basketball.

Jake had golf lessons, tennis camp, and I think this was his favorite, Sailing! It was run out of JCC and the local yacht club and here they got to sail with different boat owners in a few short races on bigger boats, for the final night. He had fun!

We also took a road trip to Lake Placid. It is amazing that the olympics were there, everything is small, except the ski jumps. And the mountains of course, we went to the top of whiteface.

2010-07-16T10:37:00.002-04:00

Thanks for the knitting picture!

I love Katie's art work.

The parents met Mike and I at the Symes Hot Springs hotel last weekend. There are natural mineral hot springs all over Montana. It is good for those old bones and our not so old bones. We had a very relaxing weekend.

Between the two of them, there is one good mind (pops) and one good body (mother). Mother is deaf and forgetful and Pops is wobbly. But, considering their ages, they are cruising along. Daddy did mention that they should be getting out of the house soon as he does not want to fall down the stairs again.

Enjoy summer!
Love, Rebecca

Katie is Now 17 and Polish!

2010-07-08T09:32:00.002-04:00

Katie's dreams came true on her birthday, yesterday, as she became the proud owner of an Excelsior White Pearl Accordion. I probably am the only mom in the county who has a 17 year old who is enamored with the accordion. She has begged for accordion lessons for a couple of years. Her brothers response? "Oh great, now we have to listen to her practice on that."

Knitting

2010-06-30T14:08:00.003-04:00

Rebecca wanted knitting, so here's a shot of the newest project:

A lace tunic with a projected finish date of July 23rd.

Katie's One Girl Art Show

2010-06-30T13:54:00.006-04:00

As a student in "Independent Art", Katie was responsible for her own art show. Here's a showcase of her work from this May.

Some close ups:

Trying Not to Be So Crappy About Posting!

2010-06-30T13:37:00.005-04:00

You are right Rebecca, we have been crappy about posting! Now that I am fully recovered from surgery, and have my energy back, I will try to be more timely.

So let's start with the fashion news!

Here's my neck, post surgery. Note the nifty silk scarf. I'm really stylin' now as I wear a lot of scarves. (I switch to a cotton bandanna with a map of Camp Timbercrest on it when hiking.) I really haven't found that the Frankenstein look works well for me, sans scarf.

Hey!

2010-06-16T10:43:00.001-04:00

OK - you all are crappy at keeping up with this blog. I miss seeing new posts, Nicole playing softball or Sue's knitting.

10 days to Ironman. Pray for me! :)

Health report

2010-05-11T11:11:00.003-04:00

What is happening with everyone's health? It sounds like many things are going on with my loving siblings. Please take care of yourselves. The parents have good days and bad days. They are walking the circle again after some time off. If the 80+ year olds can get out for a walk, we all can! Stay strong everyone. I love you.

I am ironman. (think Black Sabbath)

2010-04-16T17:01:00.002-04:00

Hi Siblings!

The biggest challenge of my athletic life, a full distance Ironman triathlon, is coming up quickly. Set in Ceour d'Alene on June 27, Molly and I had volunteered for the past few years before I decided "if they can do it, I can, too!" Follow my other blog http://runningrebeccamt.blogspot.com/

Here is the run down of what I am training for:

Swim: 2.4 miles (predicted time 1 hr, 45 min)
Bike: 112 miles (predicted time 8 hours)
Run: 26.2 miles (predicted time 6 hours)

Yes, all at once - all in one day. You are right! It is crazy!

It takes a village and thankfully, Mike is fully on board. He has been doing most of the housework and generally being a good guy about me being gone so much. I am off running, biking or swimming while he vacuums. The rest of my "village" are other team mates from the local bike and running clubs. There are many opportunities for me to meet with others.

Happy spring!

Off to School!

2010-03-24T20:25:00.005-04:00

Now that Brian is in his senior year, I didn't even take pictures of him taking off to college. Stupid, lazy, and I regret it. However, I did manage to snap one of Matthew, and we have Katie on the porch (all by herself, for the first time) on the first day of school and a picture of the teacher going off to school, too.

I was sick for almost half of August. Spent 2 weeks on the couch sleeping and watching Law and Order. That's how I would describe my summer: the Law and Order Season. Lyme's disease? Jamestown canyon disease? Who knows. I'm too damn tired to even take a picture of my oldest son going off to college. Notice how I'm holding my arm. It hurts. I gear myself up for the first day of school.

Back to the Blog

2010-03-10T21:03:00.003-05:00

Well loyal readers, I have been absent from the blog scene for way too long. I wandered over to the dark side, the FaceBook side, and have spent too much time reading about "friends" and their high scores in PuddleJumping, and whatever, and have created a virtual life with "friends" I don't give a damn about.

Enough.

I have some issues happening that I would like to explore through this blog. Not for the whole world to read, (although the world can navigate here if they would like), but for those who want to read, want to comment, want to explore.
Here's a picture of Katie, Mother, and Daddy, on Katie's 16th Luau Birthday Party back in July. What a wonderful day! Such a blessing to have my parents here for both Matthew's graduation party, and Katie's birthday. And check out Hannah! She came in full regalia! Such fun!

Anniversary party!

2009-11-24T11:55:00.002-05:00

The party was a success! It was wonderful being together and it seems like the parents enjoyed themselves.

Thank-you all for making the effort to come. Hannah, I will meet you in Vegas anytime! Photos to come soon. ~Rebecca

Still rockin'!

2009-11-08T10:07:00.002-05:00

Mike and I recently came back from a 3 day Phish concert in southern California. What fun! One of the pictures is one of the fire art pieces that were located throughout the Festival Grounds.

I ran in Palm Springs in the warm morning air. There is a huge wind farm there. Although that was the only run I got to do, I did dance 4 1/2 hour a day to the music.

We also had some nice hikes in Joshua Tree park and Grand Canyon.

Ode to our kitty.

2009-10-15T15:10:00.002-04:00

Our little cat, Hunt, took his last breaths last night, Oct 14, 2009. He was a great cat and a good hunter. He is resting in peace near his favorite bushes by the house. God speed little Huntly.

Southwest Airlines - Select Flight(s)

2009-08-27T19:41:00.001-04:00

Southwest Airlines - Select Flight(s)

cheapest I found Sue! think about it (doesn't look like we are skiing this year)

Summer Update

2009-08-26T14:19:00.002-04:00

My little family of humans and animals have had a full and fun summer. I have been doing the usual, crazy athletic stuff: Two half-iron triathlons and a marathon (along with shorter stuff). We are also painting the deck.

Making sure that Eby gets enough exercise is always motivating. I love taking her out on the trails near my house and letting her run around and chase squirrels.

Mike and I have seen a lot of Molly this summer. Her house is a perfect distance to stay when going to concerts in the Gorge Amphitheater. We have seen the Dead, Phish and we are going to Dave Matthews over Labor Day.

This weekend is our third camping weekend. We will be heading into the Helena National Forest in the Big Belt Mountains and setting up camp some where that looks nice. Eby is very fun to take camping!

We should talk about November - seeing as it is the 60th wedding anniversary.

Matthew Graduates!

2009-07-31T06:43:00.003-04:00

Hats off to Matthew, Class of 2009!

Mid- Atlantic Regional 14u softball tourney, Trenton, N.J.

2009-07-21T20:43:00.004-04:00

opening ceremonies

there were two tournaments going on at the same time the 12u group and the 14u group

8 teams in each division

every one played

team spirit

the 12u team from south county

cheered us after we were eliminated

from the tournament
(don't know how they finished yet)

Long ride, girls had a great time, made some new friends and some great memories!

watch for them in an upcoming "basil" commercial!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T08:43:00.001-04:00

New Generations & Old Traditions

2009-05-03T20:16:00.004-04:00

Jake went turkey hunting with his 'turkey mentor' on jr. hunting day.

1st time out, he shot a 14 lb. bird!

He was very excited, guess what we had for dinner!

the week before we went on our annual botanical gardens tour of the easter flowers.

New addition

2009-04-23T18:55:00.004-04:00

Who knew? We got a dog. Eby! She is so full of energy, we go out twice a day. It definetly is different. She is some kind of terrier, but it's hard to know. She is from the shelter, of course. I now serve on their board!

Izzy and Anya

2009-04-03T17:12:00.001-04:00

Happiness is waking up to purring in your ears!

More ski photos

2009-03-11T18:51:00.001-04:00

Photo 1 - 49 Degrees North.

Photo 2 - Lookout Pass and Dilly Dally Alley

Photo 3 - Mt. Spokane.

All days glorious!

Ski Trip 2009 Chapter 2 - In Which Katie Meets Ullr

2009-03-03T17:21:00.008-05:00

Friday morning Rebecca and Molly meet us at the house and we all took off for 49 Degrees North. Rebecca announced that she had a new name for Molly, namely "Slow or Stopped". Seems like we're always waiting for Molly, but in reality, it was Katie who we waited for before we could drive off. Katie was poking around, getting her things in order in no particular hurry, while Daddy muttered away with impatience. I looked at him, and calmly said "Katie is our Molly", and everyone smiled and relaxed. We drove off, just 15 minutes behind our schedule. We do like to hit the slopes early.

49 Degrees North is in Chewelah, Washington, about on the 49th parallel, near the Canadian border. The summit, Chewelah Peak, is 5774 ft with a vertical drop of 1851 ft. Dad's got a season pass here. Cost him about $70 for the season. Last year, it was our favorite place to ski. This year, not our favorite. Only half the chairs were running, and the grooming was sub par. Although we did have another beautiful sunshiny blue sky day! Near the end of the day, all of us, including Daddy, headed for this supposedly blue groomer which none of us had ever skied. All started out well, nicely groomed and scenic, then the vertical ran out. We had to skate up the hill. By this time, if we had turned back, we would have had to climb the other way. The trail finally turned back down the mountain, but the grooming ran out. We were dealing with heavy powder, accented with granite and logs. Not good for 85 year-old legs. After maneuvering through this, we ended up on a gentle downward slope that ran over a mile, and then dumped us into the main bowl. After that run, we all called it a day and headed home.

Ahh, dinner! Pasta with shrimp and sauteed portabellas, salad, and a yogurt, fruit, chocolate parfait, all fat and sugar free. My mom's unbelievable. Then we all were ushered to the TV room to watch the Gonzaga Bulldog basketball game. Mother had a running commentary throughout the game. "He's a brute!" and "Look at his skinny legs, I don't think he's eating enough." So much fun!

This tree is an icon of Ullr, the prehistoric god of skiing. If you ring his bell, you will return to the mountains to ski another day. This is Matthew in '08.

Ski Trip 2009 - We Arrive

2009-03-02T20:21:00.005-05:00

Katie and I sure had a great trip out west to ski with Grandpa! Traveling out was a bit hairy, and a strange route to be sure. South to DC, west to Seattle, east to Spokane. Hot coffee spilled in my lap somewhere over the mid-west, and since I was boxed in between Katie and some huge guy who took his seat and half of mine, the coffee just settled into me and burned my skin. When we finally hit Spokane, 13 hours after we started, I smelled like sour milk (from the cream in my coffee), my thighs and belly stung with every movement, and I was not a happy camper. Somehow, our skis and boots got to Spokane 4 hours before we did. As soon as we hit the house, exchanged our hugs and hellos, I stripped off my smelly jeans, put on my pajama bottoms, and helped myself to Daddy's bourbon. Since he can't drink anymore, I figured I'd help him out by cleaning out the liquor cabinet, one drink at a time.

Even though skiing in the western Rockies with my 85 year-old father was the emphasis of the trip, my mother's cooking was the real highlight. That night, we enjoyed a roasted turkey breast, sweet potato fries, salad, and a blueberry cake for dessert. All of my mother's cooking is fat-free and sugar free, but it's hard to believe. One taste, and your eyes close, your taste buds tingle and you "mmmm" with delight. Katie and I didn't last long that first evening, and soon headed to bed. Katie got to sleep in my old 4 poster bed, which she thought was very comfy.

In the morning, we met up with Molly and Rebecca and headed over to Silver Mountain in Kellogg, Idaho. Our favorite run was on the Wardner Peak at 6200 feet. We traversed across this slope (i.e. cliff) on this tiny track until we reached "Meadows" an innocent enough sounding bowl with a warning sign of "experts only, ski at your own risk, death may occur." An ungroomed trail, with mogals everywhere, plus a few chunks of granite and trees thrown in for good measure, fell before us. Before we started, Katie and Molly struck a "heroic pose" to gear us up for the descent. It took us a good 1/2 hour to ski it down, as it was so long, but the effort was worth it, and the skiing was thrilling. That evening for dinner, Mother served us lamb stew with mashed potatoes, and bread pudding for dessert. So delicious, and again fat-free and sugar-free. Heaven. Early to bed again!Katie and Daddy on Silver's gondola and Rebecca & Molly, sporting tams, on gondola

skiing!

2009-02-27T16:53:00.002-05:00

Hi ya' all,

We had a great time skiing!! It was really fun to ski with the fam. I will update with photos soon. Love, R

WDW running report link:

2009-02-02T17:03:00.001-05:00

http://runningrebeccamt.blogspot.com/

Now back in Montana and back in the lovely snow! Skiing, skiing, just keep skiing.

Hats, Hats, Hats

2009-01-07T20:18:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture of Brian, and his girlfriend Francesca, in their knitted hats. These are the only 2 hats that I photographed, out of the 10 hats I knitted, which is really stupid of me. So...if you'd post a picture of yourself in your hat to the blog, that would be spiffy. Except for Hannah; her hat is still on the needles.

Happy New Year From Our House to Yours!

2009-01-01T09:53:00.004-05:00

A Happy and Prosperous New Year to Everyone!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:04:00.001-05:00

Before

After

Some Things Never Change!

Including the hopeful dog who thinks she's eating Christmas Breakfast with us!

Allegany Fall Breakfast!

2008-12-20T09:17:00.002-05:00

Remember that invitation I sent out a couple of months ago about joining together at Allegany State Park for a Autumn breakfast? I am now finally reporting on the gathering! It was a sunny, crisp, fall day, very similar to the family fall gatherings of past.

Alas, you can't smell the aromas of breakfast: cooking pancakes, eggs, and bacon, smearing homemade jams on homemade breads, coffee over on open fire, a table full of food and hungry hikers, the creek in the background.

After breakfast, we drove up to Thunder Rocks and played until a thunderstorm suddenly blew in, then we headed home!

I was the only Shaw in attendance from the original breakfast. I thought of all of you and you were sorely missed!

More photos, by Jennifer, can be seen here.

Conference All-State

2008-12-08T18:38:00.010-05:00

Matthew and I have just returned from Rochester from the New York State School Music Conference. Matthew was selected to sing in the Mixed Chorus along with 240 of the top high school vocalists in the state. This is the cream of the crop, and to have someone like Matthew from our little school (his class has 47, count 'em, 47 students in it) singing at the same level (or better) as vocalists from performing arts high schools, Long Island, and the Big Apple, was just a thrill. It was definitely, a once in a lifetime experience! The picture above is of the 3 students from our county who made All-State. Matthew is in the middle.

Matthew attended over 20 hours of rehearsal in 3 days, and performed at the Eastman School of Music, the premier music school in the US. I kept busy by attending a bunch of great workshops for music educators, and concert after concert. Click here for a link to a newspaper article about Matthew.

On another note, (get it, another note...) here's a picture of Katie, the Adventurous, getting ready to try her Sea Urchin Nori Roll at the dim sum restaurant next to the Eastman theater. Katie reports that sea urchin is "tasty, but slimy..." She is eager to tell her biology teacher, who has sea urchin in a fish tank at school, that she dined on one of those spiny creatures.

NYC Marathon

2008-11-16T16:07:00.002-05:00

Susan, your backpacking photos are GREAT! I love to backpack and I am jealous (in a good way)!

Hannah, Mother said she had a great time with you all over in Spokane. I am sorry I wasn't able to get over there. I had just returned from NYC and was exhausted!

The New York City Marathon was FUN, FUN, FUN!! I ran my fastest time, the crowd was amazing, the weather was cool and sunny and it was NYC! (That's me with the black tights just before the finish line!)

Beautiful Fall Hike

2008-11-01T08:21:00.003-04:00

Here's a few pics of our Sunday afternoon hike, on yet another gorgious fall day in western New York. This one is about a 5 mile chunk of the East Overland Trail. This sign is right off the parking lot. Doesn't it make you want to just jump right in and start hiking?

This hollow was just
beautiful,
with the sun filtering through the trees, the scent of fall, and the brook babbling (babble, babble, babble...)

Spirit Week!

2008-10-31T20:58:00.002-04:00

Just a shot of Matthew leading the band during the homecoming pep rally.
He takes his job VERY seriously!

Overland Trail

2008-10-29T20:08:00.000-04:00

Back in September, I hiked 3 days on the Westside Overland Trail, with my old friend from Kindergarten and beyond Jennifer (nee: Scott) Schlick, and a Kindergarten teacher friend Concetta (with whom Katie and I canoed with this summer.) We backpacked this baby, slept in Adirondack type shelters, enjoyed glorious weather, and a few surprises. The trail starts at the Pennsylvania line and winds it's way through farm fields, thick forests, over creeks and streams and ends in the gorge, northwest of Mayville. It's 25 miles long. I hiked 19 miles of it, as I jumped on the trail after school and met up with my buddies in the afternoon.

Our first surprise was at the first shelter. These mountain bikers came pedaling pell-mell through our lean-to site, and one blew out a tire. We offered them some food, and as they fixed the flat tire, one biker pulled out a penny whistle and piped us a tune. He was from Scotland, with a brogue so thick, we mostly just nodded when he spoke and said "uh-huh" because we couldn't understand much of what he said. A serendipitous moment. You can see from the photo how lovely this area is with the pond and the pine trees.

Here's a nice pic of us hiking down the trail. We hiked south to north which is actually a gradual uphill. I'm the one closest to the camera.

We all made these crazy hats to celebrate the autumnal equinox while we camped at the second shelter. Also notice the decorative turkey tail feather that I collected en route. It has since found its home in my oboe case. We found pears, grapes, and apples as we hiked. We ate the apples for lunch, grapes out of hand, and cooked up the pears into a compote for breakfast.

Here's Jen and I, ready for the trail. We are currently planning a spring 4-day hike on the part of the North Country Trail that passes through Allegany State Park.

October 13 in Montana

2008-10-13T15:24:00.002-04:00

It snowed all day yesterday! It is so beautiful, but it will be gone by Wednesday. Bummer.

End of Summer

2008-09-30T18:14:00.003-04:00

Dear Sisters,

Summer sped by! I have read the blog, but not contributed lately. Seeing Brian going off to school is the signal that fall is here. It has been spectacular in Helena with crisp, cool mornings, sunny afternoons, nice yellow leaves (that is the only color we get!) and growing darkness.

You probably already received my email about my new fundraising campaign. This time for Leukemia and Lymphoma society. It means a lot to me as one of my high school friends passed away from Lymphoma and I am learning a lot about blood cancers in general.

First I say yes, then I try to figure out how I'm going to raise $3,800 friggin' dollars!! I have a couple of events planned in Oct and Nov.

The marathon will be at Walt Disney World in Florida, near the in-laws winter place, on January 11, 2009. It will be my 10th! In November I will run in the NYC marathon and hope to really focus and post my fastest time yet. When I go to Disney, I hope to have fun and make it to the end. Two different races for two different reasons.

All is well here with Mike, Hunt and Anya - Queen of the Nile. I am in love with that cat! Speaking of which, Izzy looks like a fine feline as well!

The photo is of Anya, who is under the tree, bopping the little deer on the nose. She is fearless!

Please consider a donation. Even $5 will help so much! Visit my website:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/wdw09/rshaw

Love, Rebecca

Off to College!

2008-09-01T22:05:00.008-04:00

We packed up Brian last week and sent him off to his 3rd year of college. Seemed like a quick summer....

Brian is in a new dorm this year. It's one of the oldest buildings on campus, but what a great dorm! Hardwood floors, a walk-in closet, a real oak desk (not some built-in-the-wall monstrosity that you can't even put a computer on) and a big room.

the official off to school porch picture with dad and the official stand-in-the-yard off to school picture with mom

Brian is officially majoring in English and minoring in Music. We wish him blessings for this semester.Brian's Sweet Dorm Room

Brian's Dorm

Canoeing the Mighty Conewango

2008-08-20T09:55:00.012-04:00

Katie and our canoe, on the Conewango

Katie and I had another great adventure! Along with our friends Concetta and Micaela, we planned, packed, paddled, and successfully completed an overnight canoe trip on the mighty Conewango! After a few weeks of sitting around the house, as slugs, while Katie recovered from her tonsillectomy (and, by her choice, in-grown toenail surgery), discovering our long lost canoe muscles, the great outdoors, and primitive camping was a delight!

The old canoe paddled like a charm, even loaded down with all our gear. Astute blog readers will notice that Katie is using an original "Shaw" paddle, that originally belonged to the Thistle of yacht club days.

Concetta, Micaela, and Katie

The Conewango is a slow moving river this time of year. The current was barely discernible. It's mostly flat water, and when the wind was against us, if we stopped paddling we drifted upstream. We stopped at this peninsula, about 6 miles from our start, for a break. Keeping our eyes ever vigilant for wildlife, Concetta spotted the rarely seen, (at least on canoe trips) but always impressive, Holstein cow. The bovine wandered down to the rivers' edge opposite of our peninsula, and was totally unimpressed with our cow calls. Other than the cow, we saw a few heron, but not much else.

Our Deluxe Accommodations!

We spent the night on an island which has 2 Adirondack style shelters, a broken pit toilet, a fire ring, picnic table, docking area, mosquitoes, and that's it! As soon as we landed and unpacked, we gathered firewood, started a fire, and sat at our table to relax. If you ever want to go primitive camping, you want to bring Micaela with you. "Be prepared" is her motto. She announced "I have nail polish! I have perfume!" So we all painted our nails bright fuchsia pink, to cover up all the dirt we had under our nails, and were welcome to spray on perfume to cover our grubby canoe aroma. We dined on foil dinners, sushi, and wine. Probably a bit too much wine; after dinner I slipped on the river bank and fell in!

Misty Morning on the Conewango

The next morning there was a bit of rain, and the day started out gray and cloudy. After our typical camping breakfast of toasted bagels, bacon, and coffee, we packed up and headed out. We paddled around the island, and then headed downstream into Pennsylvania. The sun came out, burning off the cloud cover and revealing another beautiful day. A great blue heron sat on an old log and allowed us to paddle up closely. With our tired muscles protesting, we loaded the canoes on our rooftops, and drove home. We were gone just 25 hours, but it seemed as though we had traveled to another world and back. Maybe, that's just what we did...

Sue with Daddy's paddle

Izzy

2008-08-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

"I got a cat for my girlfriend. Best trade I ever made" says Matthew about his newly adopted shelter cat "Izzy." Girlfriend's out, kitty is in.

East Meets West - The Infamous Corn Row Picture!

2008-07-17T09:35:00.001-04:00

Anne, Emily, Jacob, Nicole, Katherine, Matthew, Brian
4th Generation Midway Park Fans!

A historic occasion! For the first time ever, the third generation of Will and Shirley (i.e. all the cousins) were together. Meeting in the same amusement park their great-grandparents visited on dates almost 100 years ago, the cousins gathered at, historic, Midway Park for Carrie's and Emily's birthdays. After much discussion on how to take a proper corn row (oldest to youngest? shortest to tallest?) the photo was snapped.

Here's a heroic shot of the cousins with the picnic grove in the background. (Heroic poses seem to dominate many of my photos this year. The common denominator in each shot appears to be Matthew...)

Here's the Birthday Buddies: Emily and Carrie, daughter and mother.

Thanks to Jake, the family's "Ace of Cakes", we had 2 delicious decorated cakes for the celebration.
And finally, a last photo of the sisters: Carrie, Hannah, and Sue. Rebecca and Molly, we missed you!!!
For more pictures of the visit, with rare photos of Rick and Kenyon, click here!

Happy Birthday, Katie!

2008-07-15T09:19:00.000-04:00

I can't believe my baby girl is 15!

2008-07-14T15:31:00.004-04:00

Hooray ! Softball season is offically over! We recently participated in the NYS regional Babe Ruth softball tournament held in Cato, NY (near Syracuse)
The team consisted of girls from 5 teams from northern chautauqua co. ( pine valley, forestville, fredonia, westfield, and sinclairville)
Nickie only played a few innings, but she had a good time.
Rain delay, we were playing great before the delay then ,nothing! We lost 4-2 end of the tournament.
Team picture before playing!

Fourth of July!

2008-07-06T17:49:00.000-04:00

You know, the trouble for us with parades is, we don't have any little kids to take to the parade. I loved taking my children to the parade when they were little. They were so excited. They waved their little flags, saluted the Stars 'n Stripes when the color guard went by, squealed with delight when a bit of candy was tossed their way. This year, my kids rolled back to sleep when I woke them up. My exclamations of "It's the 4th of July!" and "Time for the parade!" bounced off their backs as they turned away from me and rolled back asleep. Well, this was no way to start my favorite holiday, so I called my sister-in-law and said "Can I borrow my nephew?" Wallace had a grand time at the parade. He grabbed candy that was thrown to him, stuffed way too much in his mouth, waved his flag, and danced to the music. Just the way I remembered my kids...

Boys State

2008-07-03T17:05:00.000-04:00

Matthew had the time of his life at Boys State. He's the first candidate to be selected by the American Legion to go from his high school in many years. 1000 boys from across the state met and set up a mock government. Matthew did very well: giving speeches, introducing bills, and running for office. He was elected State Senator, and missed his party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor by 15 votes. He slept very little. Rick and I attended the closing ceremonies.

Minimal Camping?

2008-07-01T14:52:00.001-04:00

There's got to be a special term for the camping in a convertible. Minimal? Convertible Packing? Converting it (as in roughing it?) Rick and I pared down to the basics: tent, stove, dining shelter, a small cooler, sleeping bags, and 2 sets of golf clubs. And a bottle of wine. Cruising to Syracuse with the top down...priceless.

Rick and I decided, on a whim, to travel and surprise Matthew at the closing ceremonies of Boys State, hence the camping trip at Green Lakes. The biggest surprise, however, was when Matthew said "So...are you driving me home?" And we said "Nope, sorry! No room in the convertible for you, you'll have to take the bus!"

59th Chautauqua All-County Spring Festival

2008-06-22T10:00:00.005-04:00

How many Shaw Girls went to All-County in the Amp at Chautauqua? I went a bunch of times, first on my flute in the jr. high band, and then with my oboe in the senior band. Matthew and Katie were participants this year in the senior high chorus, and the junior high chorus, repectively. It was a nice, warm, beautiful day for the event. Astute blog readers might be able to spot Katie. This shot is right in the middle of the the grand finale "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The finale still gives me shivers after all these years.

Summertime

2008-06-18T12:45:00.004-04:00

Oh my! Doesn't Matthew and his girlfriend (!!) look amazing. Wow.

I completed my first race last weekend. It feels really good to get back into my groove after getting the cast off my leg. \

The blond woman with me is my friend, Julie, who was my training partner when I lived in Kalispell. We signed up for this race kind of on a whim since we had not seen each other for a while. She had a baby last year and I moved to Helena.

I am on the right on the outside with the white short sleeve. Can you see me? It was a blast and a beautiful day!!

Prom!

2008-06-14T20:21:00.006-04:00

Here's a few pictures of Matthew and his girlfriend Jade, before they headed off to the prom. It's always fun to take pictures outside. The neighbors always applaud. Check out Matthew's shoes.

Here's a close-up of Matthew's brocade vest that I sewed for him. I sewed the bowtie, too. Astute blog readers will recognize that this is the same pattern as Angelo's groom vest.
We bought the tux and the zoot shoes from eBay.

Memorial Day

2008-05-27T18:20:00.007-04:00

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day! We went to the 21st Annual Turnquist/Liuzzo Picnic on Sunday. Beautiful weather here in WNY. Lots of people come to this. Rick's cousins from Ohio and Iowa always make it, and even Mother and Daddy have been to this twice. This is a carnivore event, as demonstrated above by Katie. I bring baked beans and the United States of Jello every year. (I should have taken a picture of the jello.) Rick's sister Tina and her family (Liuzzo) host the event in their backyard every year.

Here's a picture of my nephew Wallace checking out my niece Ylsa's baby belly. In another month, I'm going to be a great aunt!

Finishing Up Winter

2008-05-23T12:39:00.008-04:00

Just wanted to finish up the Spokane Trip pictures before Memorial Day!!! And to feature Carrie's lovely daughters, who's faces have never graced our blog. Time to fix that!

First, we have the lovely Anne sporting a fancy hat.

And her older sister Emily. Wish I had one of her dancing, but that picture remains firmly
in my minds eye.

In this photo, the two 'cellists of the family, Emily and Grandpa, discuss a new piece of music.

And one final group ski shot from Lookout Mountain. We're either standing in Idaho or Montana or both!

On to Spring!!!

Spring fun in the mountains

2008-04-15T12:57:00.003-04:00

I got my cast off!! It is so nice to be able to do stuff again. Like this ride that Mike and I took last Sunday. It was a blast!! We rode up to one of the many ghost towns in the area. These are old mining towns. There is still gold around, too!

Ski Boots

2008-04-07T19:26:00.005-04:00

Well, our ski resort closed yesterday and my new ski boots arrived today. Figures. Anyway, if any of you want my old boots, you can have them. I'll even ship them to you, my treat. The old boots are Rossignol size 24.5 Race 2, which means they were top of the line a few years back.

<-- These are the old boots. They aren't super stiff, so you can keep practicing your Chinese Master "ToeShin" and they do respond well to what you want your skis to do. The toe on one inner boot has been cut out for your ingrown toe nail pleasure. So, size wise they are about a size 7. I know we are all the small feet queens, but I know my feet haven't been the same since being pregnant...

New boot (notice wreath from Rebecca turning a lovely shade of brown in the back ground. Can't bring myself to throw it out, it's such a great wreath.) Actually these boots are last year's model. I got a deal... --->

So any takers? Otherwise, I'll find another use for them. Maybe I'll plant petunias in them and invite the ski instructors over for a drink. You're all invited...

Another Story of the Great Ski Adventure!

2008-04-01T19:38:00.005-04:00

An entry on Jennifer's Blog about bald eagles reminded me of a story I forgot to post of our the Day One entry. Matthew and I saw great powder trail marks on Wardner Peak at Silver Mountain so we headed off in that direction. You have to climb up quite a ways from the lift to ski this mountain face. We climbed until we were tired of climbing, and then started to traverse over to the slope on a cut across the cliff face that was about 6" wide, enough for about 1 and 1/2 skis. I made Matthew go first. While we were climbing we noticed 2 bald eagles circling the peak. As we worked our way across the cliff, the eagles shifted and were circling us. I guess were looking a bit tasty! We watched the eagles, watched the snow which our skis dislodged spinning down the cliff, and chatted how strange it was that we hadn't seen anyone ski this part of the resort. As there was no way we could turn back, we finally screwed up our courage and started down. The slope's "powder trails" that we had seen from the lift were frozen crud and the rocks turned out to be boulders. I forced myself down, telling myself "breathe, 2, 3, turn!" When we reached the end I said "Ha! How many 50 year-old women have skied that today?" I didn't get any pictures of all this, I was busy praying, but here's one from the resort's web site (easy for this guy, with the fresh powder...)

Matthew's & Sue's Excellent Ski Vacation Day 2

2008-03-28T16:44:00.009-04:00

We actually made it out of bed, ate breakfast and were on our way north by 8AM! Day 2 was spent at 49 Degrees North, in Chewelah, Washington. Slightly cloudy, with sunshine peaking through in the mid-twenties. Perfect!

No avalanche warnings here. They've "only" had 276" of snow this season! From the top of the mountain you can see Idaho and British Columbia.

There's this great trail that sweeps around the side of the mountain and passes a tree troll with a bell. If you hit the bell with your ski pole while skiing by, legend has it that you will return to the mountain. I have a picture of Brian swinging his pole up in the air to hit the bell from 4 years ago (before I went digital.) On this trip, with all the snow, the bell is waist level.

Dinner, in celebration of Mother's belated 80th birthday was at Luna's in Spokane. I had Grilled Wild Alaskan Salmon with Braised Palouse lentils, mustard greens, little beet salad, and fresh horseradish vinaigrette. It was delightful to both eye and palate. Matthew's dinner of Rack of Lamb filled him up, fortunately.

I knitted Mother an alpaca shawl for her birthday. (Rick called it "Shirley's Shawl".) I bought the yarn from the woman who raised the alpaca, and it is naturally colored. I have one just like it knitted in a cream colored alpaca, only mine has a bunch of mistakes in it, as it was the first one I knit. It's really soft and very warm, in spite of the laciness of the pattern.

Our Big Ski Trip! Photo Essay! Day One!

2008-03-28T16:11:00.009-04:00

Matthew and I had a great time out west skiing with everyone.
4 resorts, in 4 days, in 4 states!
Here's a photo montage of our trip.

The best day, weather-wise, was our first day at Silver Mountain in Idaho. Blue skies, plenty of sunshine, tons of packed powder snow. This resort has had 400" of snow this year!

We skied the whole mountain and we were
very pleased we could keep up with Daddy,
who carves down the mountain like a
bat out of hell....

Matthew got a kick out of this "Ski this and you'll
die" warning sign. With the amount of snow out
west this year, combined with the fact that some
skiers were lost this year in avalanches, we
followed the sign's advice.

Our favorite trail was a groomed black diamond and it's name says it all...
Back in Spokane, Mother cooked up Shrimp Scampi over Fettuccine. She was amazed when her 16 year-old grandson inhaled his dinner, ate half of mine, and was then busy looking around for more food...

Moguls!

2008-03-08T18:13:00.000-05:00

Here we are at Lookout Pass, having fun in the moguls!

Carrie: send me the clip of me skiing and I'll add it to the movie!

Other Groovy Stuff

2008-03-07T18:30:00.008-05:00

Ok, Rebecca, this is the best I can do. You've got some really strange html code going on...

On February 17, 2008, I ran the Orcas Island 25K.
On February 24, the very next Sunday, I broke my leg. We were back in Montana and a short, relaxing run was in
order. There was snow, but I stayed on the dry parts
of the road, except for ONE SPOT where, of course,
I slipped and broke my fibula. To mentally get
through this difficult time, I have deemed it
the “crutches marathon” and the training will
continue for about 5 weeks.
Hopefully, this will keep me sane!!

Fun Stuff I Hope to do in the 2008 Season!

Don’t Fence Me In Trail Run, Helena, MT May 2008

Governor’s Cup Half Marathon, Helena, MT —June 2008

Spring Meadows Triathlon, Helena, MT —July 2008

The HURL Elkhorn 50K, Helena, MT —August 2008

The New York City Marathon— November 2, 2008

It all depends on how my leg heals!

this is Rebecca's post, not mine!

2008-03-07T17:03:00.001-05:00

And I thought I was

'blog-challenged'!!

way to go

"Beak-face"

love ya!

Hey Gang!

2008-03-07T13:21:00.003-05:00

Well, as you can see, I have totally screwed up the blog. Not sure how come it didn't paste into its own section and covered Susan's stuff.

I will try again later.
Rebecca

I'm Back in the Blog Seat Again. (Sung to the tune of "I'm Back in the Saddle Again")

2008-03-05T18:57:00.004-05:00

Remember Jennifer Scott? She's writing a blog about sitting in the woods for 20 minutes a day. In the middle of winter. Something about a 30 day sit spot challenge. Anyway, her blog has inspired me to spend some quality time at our blog, something I have woefully ignored for these past months. I have no intention of sitting in the woods 20 minutes a day (I sit enough on chair lifts, in contemplation, in the winter already, thank you very much) although I think the sit spot idea is great and I would love to do it in April. Here's a self photo I took of us the other day. We needed a family portrait. This was the best I could do. Perched the camera on the staircase.

Priceless

2008-03-02T19:00:00.009-05:00

tickets,(1/2 price from a friend)$160.00

parking,$15.00

2hotdogs, nacho's, asst. beverages, $40.00

FAMILY NIGHT!?!!!
PRICELESS

Winter Fun

2008-01-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

Good morning Sisters,
There have been no updates lately. What's going on?
OK, so I have the day off (MLK), woke early to take advantage of our fresh new snow and started getting dressed to go skiing. Unfortunately, I looked at the thermometer: -15 in town and -30 at the ski hill. Bummer!! It's beautiful, clear and we have lots of fresh fluffy powder and here I sit. At least I got some good runs in yesterday.

Two weeks ago we did not have any snow. My friend and I ran a local race. Here are some photos of it, as well as our support vehicle: Mike on his new Ural. He puts the sidecar up on purpose to get used to it in case it ever happens when driving.

On a sad note, my good friend died recently. She was diagnosed with cancer on Nov. 3 and died on Jan. 10. Please don't ignore your health!!

See you all soon.
Love, Rebecca

2007-12-26T13:59:00.000-05:00

Happy Boxing Day everyone!

How was Christmas? Mike had to work so I took the opportunity to go for a nice, long run. We kept Christmas very low key this year. I made chicken stir-fry and pumpkin pie.

Here a some photos of our presents to ourselves:

Ural motorcycle that we have been saving for. We already went up through the snow on some forest roads.

The little kitty is Anya, my new kitten. She is about 7 months old and full of beans! She is awesome. She comes from the shelter, but has Egyptian Mau cat in her.

This is Anya and Hunt on the bed. Hunt seems to be warming up to the little whipper snapper.

It's cold and sunny, but no snow. I have only been skiing once this year.

See you in February!

Katie Earns Her Letter!

2007-12-06T20:19:00.001-05:00

Katie earned her varsity letter this fall for the Girls Swim Team. Her two ribbons are from the counties swim meet, where all the teams meet to compete. She is a free style sprinter, and relay member swimming both front crawl and backstroke. Congratulations, Katie!

2007-11-25T20:52:00.000-05:00

I hate this thing!!! I waste so much time trying to remember how to do anything. Just a few pictures from the fall, halloween, hannah montana and adam savage from myth busters. football has finished now we are playing basketball! jake is waiting for snow!

Cranberry Pie

2007-11-25T18:22:00.000-05:00

Carrie asked me for my recipe for Cranberry Pie, so here it is! This was Uncle Nason's recipe. He served it to Brian, Rick, and me on an Autumn day, when we were visiting. The pie is gorgeous with its deep ruby filling, and pleasantly tart with a hint of molasses. Enjoy!

Amish Cranberry Pie

2 cups chopped cranberries
1 Cup white sugar
1/2 C. water
2 Tbls. molasses
2 Tbls. cornstarch

Mix all the ingredients in heavy saucepan and cook until thick. Pour into a pie shell (9") and top with a lattice crust. Bake 10 minutes at 450, then 20 min. more at 350. (Uncle Nason used a regular top crust and shook cinnamon and sugar all over the top.)

Sue's note: we use a whole bag of fresh cranberries, and we don't chop them up.

Here's a link to the crust we used this year. It's a healthy pie crust and actually tastes good.

Triptik

2007-11-24T15:51:00.000-05:00

Greetings all:

I am thankful you are in my life and that we are in touch with each other! Thanksgiving here was low key. Just Mike, me and the cat. It snowed here so I went on a quick xc around the park out the back door. We also got to go skiing yesterday (Friday 11/23) for $9 - only one run was open and a million kids were trying to cut the line. Little did they know that I was cutting the lift line before they were born! They didn't get in front of me - needless to say!! :)

Here is a couple of pics of our livingroom featuring Shirley's "Creation" triptik. We planned the whole room around it. We really enjoy it.

Today is the parents 58th anniversary if I am adding right. Isn't that amazing!

Have a peaceful day - Rebecca

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T15:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving and Unlimited Nutmeg Muffins to One and All!

(This is actually last year's photo. My turkey's still in the oven.
Note nutmeg muffin in foreground!)

Urban Deer

2007-11-16T12:44:00.000-05:00

Helena has an urban deer problem. There are mule deer everywhere. The city came up with a plan to reduce the population, but the state wildlife agency won't implement it. So for now, the deer stay. It is crazy, but kinda nice. I won't try to plant a garden until I can get it fenced. Everyone has netting around everything.

These critters are in my back yard.

Happy fall!

Fall in the East

2007-10-28T15:43:00.000-04:00

I took the pooch for a walk this afternoon in the backyard, through the woods, and down to the creek. Although the peak of "leaf peeping" is over, I thought the Western sisters would enjoy this virtual walk through our Eastern woods.

These maples turned a brilliant yellow this year.

Here's some leaves swirling around in the creek.
A trout swam by, out of the picture.
(It, obviously, was teasing me.)

Here's the trail through the woods. We have maple, cherry, willow,
beech, apple, and various pine trees. But mostly sugar maples.

Here's a shot looking out from behind the garage.
This is probably the last nice day; a killer frost is predicted for tonight.
I need to gather the last of the tomatoes.

A Completely Untraditional, Traditional Wedding

2007-10-15T17:11:00.000-04:00

The culminating project of "Big Time Productions" was a delight! Rick's niece Ylsa's married her business partner Angelo of "Big Time Productions" on a beautiful October afternoon. The bride and groom were so excited about their wedding that they could hardly contain their joy. Our whole family was involved (except for Brian who's at college.)

Katie was a "Lady in Waiting" (i.e. the "official skirt fluffer", a job shared with her cousin.) Matthew, Rick, and I sang "Alleluia" by Randall Thompson, in the choral group formed for the occasion. Plus, I did some custom sewing for the groom; I embellished Angelo's jacket with ribbon, sewed up a brocade vest (black with gold and silver thread, trimmed in crimson), an ascot and a pocket square. Angelo's ascot, etc. matched the crimson trim in Ylsa's dress. Very sharp! When I delivered Angelo's outfit to him, he couldn't hug me enough, saying "this is exactly what I envisioned!"

The reception was so fun. As Ylsa and Angelo are professional dancers, we just danced ourselves silly. Angelo, lead us all in the Tarantella, saying "I've waited my whole life to lead this!" We danced the Tarantella around in circles, dancing down the middle of clapping lines, and back around in circles for probably 20 minutes, until the band gave up and went on break!

Here's the cake! It sums up the wedding:
yup it's a wedding cake, but what fun!

For more photos click HERE!

Homeowners - Act II

2007-10-11T16:32:00.000-04:00

Greetings All:

Next week Mike and I shall become homeowners once again! We are buying a house very similar to our house in Kalispell, but nicer. It has a nice view into the east valley, it is right in town and has an open space park in the back. In addition, we will have a guestroom, a full size futon sleeper and a queen sofa sleeper. What I really mean is: PLEASE COME VISIT - WE HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM!!

We could go to Glacier National Park and/or Yellowstone (both about 3 hours away.) The Missouri River is right up the road and if you or your kids were ever interested in Lewis and Clark - this is the place to visit!

I must say that working with these photos is difficult and I am not very good at it.

Have a wonderful Autumn. It's so beautiful here with the leaves turning color. Not like NY, but good for MT! Love, Rebecca

Homecoming

2007-10-01T19:40:00.000-04:00

My kids are growing up too fast. Two different teenagers, gussied up and went to two different homecomings over the weekend.

Matthew went to his girlfriend's homecoming and Katie went to her own school's homecoming dance. Katie turned down several dates, choosing to go with her friends so that she could "dance with everybody and not just one guy."
The fretful mom stayed up until 2 AM until all her chicks were under one roof.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN!!

2007-09-28T17:20:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday Dear Susan,

Happy Birthday to You!!!

And many more......

A View from the Band

2007-09-15T18:17:00.000-04:00

We live in small, rural school district. Our band doesn't march, doesn't even have uniforms. But, boy oh boy, we have an enthusiastic Pep Band! Teachers join with the students, who range from 6th grade to 12th, and we wail on the school's fight song, and a bunch of other charts guaranteed to get the crowd behind our boys in blue. Here's my view from the Pep Band. I played trumpet along with the math teacher, and the rest of the band. Katie played her french horn, and Matthew, the bassoon player, manned the drum line. Rick kept us in hot dogs, and cocoa. It was a great day for a football game! With a game fought right down to the last minute, our team won.

Why We Camp

2007-09-13T20:22:00.000-04:00

In response to a family member's question, “aren’t there any hotels in Syracuse?” I offer the following photo essay.

After loading up the car with our camping gear, our cooler and food box, various iPods, and golf clubs, we headed out for Syracuse to attend the NYS fair. We stopped en route for lunch, making tasty sandwiches from our cooler and food box. Arriving at Green Lakes State Park in the afternoon, we set up our camp, consisting of two tents, and a screen shelter. The screen shelter serves as our kitchen, with picnic table, stove, and cooking implements. Our set up took about an hour. Soon, Matthew had a fire going, kabobs were cooking in the cast iron skillet, and cocktail hour had started.

After a wonderful dinner of chicken and beef kabobs, boiled and buttered new potatoes, tossed salad dressed in a red wine vinaigrette, all accompanied by a tantalizing bottle of Malbec from Argentina (and, of course, milk), we washed up the dishes, and retired to the campfire to listen to the crackling of the fire, the scratch and call of crickets, and the pling, pling of eastern balsam wood seeds hitting our tent. After a nice, hot shower in the clean campground facilities, I went to bed. The wood seeds sounded like rain, and soon I was asleep in my sleeping bag on top of my self-inflating mattress pad.

In the morning, the fire was started again, coffee brewed on the Coleman stove, and various children were kicked out of sleep, (Matthew and Katie, sharing a huge tent with two rooms, were found, by morning, sleeping like a couple of puppies) and breakfast began. Last night’s potatoes became this morning’s hash browns. Rick enjoyed his morning paper by the fire. After a quick clean up and tidying of camp we were off for the day.

As I type this on my laptop, it is evening after a full day. I hear a lone train whistling in the background, while around me crickets chirp. The fire again crackles, with the pleasant smell of balsam. The kids are kicking around a mega ball ice cream maker, Rick is scouting through the woods for deadfall for the campfire. I am relaxed and at peace, sipping the last of the Malbec. I would not trade this for a hotel room, no way, no how. And that’s why we camp.

2007-09-12T18:45:00.000-04:00

Great Harvest Triathlon, August 15, 2007

Mike and I did our first Team Shaw/Tones Triathlon together in Great Falls Montana. I didn't actually wear the red one piece suit as you can see in the photo on the left. We had a great time and I was so proud of my husband for finishing his first triathlon race!!

On September 22, I will be doing a Half-iron distance race, which is the longest distance I race at this time. I did one last year in Spokane, which I finished in 7 hours, 21 minutes. I hope to break the 7 hour mark this time in Black Diamond, WA. My trusty sidekick, Mole-eyes, will be coming with me and walking her own race, the Half Marathon on Sunday.

(Mike finishing race.) That's it from here for now!

Fair Days!

2007-09-11T13:08:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Susan for your Wine ribbon! The NY State fair sounds like it has much better food than the normal fair food, i.e, deep fried twinkies and fried cheese curds!

Congratulations to Molly for a blue ribbon coffee cake and a 3rd place cupcake at the North Idaho Fair. Molly - post those photos! I've had the coffee cake and it is fabulous.

One other fair note: Molly and I will be attending the Western WA State fair next week in Puyallup WA. It is a huge fair and I usually spend a bunch of $ on "miracle" products, eat a scone and watch the Pig Races! Molly and I went often when I lived in Seattle and I am happy we are getting to go again.

I will update photos as soon as I remember to bring my camera to work.

Silver Medal at the State Fair

2007-09-09T11:13:00.000-04:00

I entered 4 wines in the State Fair this year, and one of them, my Geisenheim, won a silver medal. The wines are judged by American Wine Society judges, using the same criteria as when they judge professionally produced wines. Simply put, a silver awarded amateur wine is the same quality as a silver awarded professional wine that you would buy at the local liquor store. (Although, if I sell my wine it is a federal offense!)

We enjoyed our day at the State Fair, munching on spiedies (a local favorite: a whole chicken breast, fried on a griddle, chopped while cooking and liberally doused with a seasoned vinegar sauce, then piled into a warm hoagie bun), fried eggplant (really yummy, with a home-made marinara), a local micro brewery ale, and lemonades for the kids.

We especially enjoyed the equestrian jumping event. We've never seen this except on TV during the Olympics. The riders were smooth and handled their horses with ease. One horse, baulked at a jump throwing its rider. This young rider fell with an audible thump, but popped right up, brushed the dust off her jodphers, and hopped right back on her horse.

We listened to a couple of songs from the band "America." The first tune we heard was "Tin Man" and I was impressed with the band and the singer. (I'm not up on who's who on most pop music, as I was in my neo-romantic listening period during America's heyday.) The singer still has his pipes, and the band's rendition has evolved through the years. (Nothing bores me more than a band performing covers of its own music.) The second tune we heard "Sister Golden Hair" was sung by the other singer, whose voice has not fared as well. As the singer strained, missing pitches by a mile, my cringing kids said "do we have to listen to this?" Fortunately, it was time for the amateur wine awards.

FYI: One never sees ones wine after it is sent in for state judging. After judging, all the wine is poured down a drain, and the bottles are recycled.