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Pictures of our family
Update 5/09/09
January '09: Not many photos this month, our camera quit working and we hadn't bought our new one yet. So some photos of the kids at the Botanical Garden for the Christmas toy train exhibit Also a couple of shots from a birthday party Jack attended. Jack and three other boys (Nace, Andrew, Tim) are in line for the bathroom and Andrew's mom Anne asked them to pose in ninja poses for a photo. I forgot to mention last month that Scott finished his master's degree! He graduated with a Masters of Science in Management Information Systems from the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Thank you for everybody's kind words and congratulations.
February: Well no new camera yet so we rely on my dad's photos. Jack with maroon sticky stuff in hair for crazy hair day at school. St. Louis art museum and the science center, one of the parents took our photo at Meghan's classmate's birthday party, Meghan being picked up at preschool by my parents. Jack communing with a squirrel outside my parents' window.
March: New camera (Nikon D60) works just fine. Meghan turned 4! She had a little party at her preschool with her classmates and then some gifts and cake at my parents' house. Tae Kwon Do for Jack, testing for his second credit within the first degree level. YMCA basketball for both Jack and Meghan. YMCA swim lessons for Meghan. A trip to the Butterfly House to see them release some of the newly emerged butterflies (they also have a carousel there). Some miscellaneous photos around our house and backyard, plus our dog Abbey and cat Chloe.
My condolences to my friend Mara Deleon's family and friends. She passed away in late March. I will post a couple childhood pictures with next update, I might be able to get a recent photo. Mara and I were friends as little kids but only recently got back in touch by email. Her email group of friends and I are sharing many nice stories about her.
Update 2/22/09
December '08: Christmas at my parents' house. My brother Randy visited from Cedar Rapids, Iowa (plus wife Darla, stepson Joel, daughter Taylor). (* note about Joel's "strength" t-shirt, he and classmates wear to support a seriously ill fellow classmate. *) My other brother David, his wife Jen and daughter Lola stayed in Chico California for the holidays as they were busy with newborn Phoebe. Miscellaneous photos of Jack missing his front teeth. Meghan had "Bouncing Bears" gymnastics at the YMCA but our photos were too dark, Dad took the photo of Meghan with Scott. (We are getting a new camera, ours has pooped out.) Jack had "Minnow" swim lessons at the YMCA. Jack and Meghan posing in their Christmas pajamas sent by Tyler and Jenna Langendorf (Shaw second cousins in Champaign, Illinois.)
November '08: Jack turned 7 years old! We had a small family celebration and also a little party at Ronnie's movie theater. It has this really neat cafe that looks like an old fashioned drive in theater with the seating in the cars. Jack and his school friends ate pizza and cake, opened presents and then watched Madagascar II. A very nice time! Then some miscellaneous pictures like Jack in his spongebob jammies, playing soccer, and playing "World of Goo" on my parents' computer. Also of Jack getting is black belt certificate. Playing in leaves in our backyard and Meghan playing in wacky dress up clothes.
We went to Champaign for Thanksgiving and visited Scott's mother Candace and also his dad Steve and stepmom Jessica. His younger brother John Shaw was there from Chicago. His older brother James, wife Charity and sons Gavyn and Owen were there from Rockford, Illinois. We took some group kid photos in cute red vests that Jessica knitted, each has the grandkids' first initial.
On our way out of town we stopped by to visit the family of my friend who passed away in April of last year. (I mentioned in the April shawshack, that in the Misc. section are photos of Joey (Georgia), me, and Jack when he was a baby in 2001.) Joey's 29 year old son Travis lives in Rantoul with Kayla, son Gavin and new baby Georgia (named after her grandmother.) Travis's young family seems to be doing very well. Rich was there too, Joey's husband. He's up in Holly, Michigan which is a northwest suburb of Detroit. Joey's brother Jim was there, from Indiana, also Joey's mother Mary and stepdad Richard Keneipp of Indiana. A very nice group of people to know. (the sunhat on baby Georgia is too big because it belonged to Meghan, given to her by Joey when Meghan was a baby. We thought baby Georgia would like it from her grandma.)
Update 12/21/08
October: Miscellaneous photos on couch, Grant's Farm, and tae kwon do. Halloween carving of the pumpkin, and the kids in their costumes. Meghan went as Dora the Explorer. Jack went as the Unknown Phantom which had really cool glowing red eyes underneath the hood. He got off the school bus wearing that on the day of the halloween parade. (He had to leave his scythe at home.) Mom and Dad took a trip to New England to see the fall leaves. Mom, Dad and I went up to the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area for my step niece Stephanie's wedding to her longtime boyfriend (and Marine) Josh Hartson. Stephanie is the daughter of Randy's first wife Tammy Neumann. My other step niece, Tammy's other daughter, is Whitney. Their daughter together is Taylor. Randy is married to Darla, who has a son Joel. What a really good time that wedding and reception was!
Scott did attend his 20 year high school reunion, although unfortunately no photos, here is his school in Champaign, Illinois. http://www.champaignschools.org/index2.php?header=./central/&file=index
(Wrapping up the summer photos!)
July: A visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden to see
sculptures www.mobot.org/events/niki/Niki.asp Fourth of July in Champaign, IL with Scott’s
aunts, uncles and cousins. A nice time
staying with Matt and Denise Langendorf, our kids
enjoyed playing with Tyler and Jenna.
Some miscellaneous: Grant’s
Farm. A couple of June photos – Jack with
the medals from the tae kwon do tournament, and also Meghan at T-ball
practice. Jack and Meghan playing with a
big stuffed pug dog which Katie Shaw so kindly gave to Jack a couple of years
ago. Photos of well known St. Louis
landmarks: the Arch and the Art Museum’s
statue of King Louis IX of France. Let’s
learn more! : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France
August: A trip to the Arch! We took the metro train with my parents. The kids enjoyed riding up in the pod to the
top and seeing the city. An artsy photo
of Arch from the Eads bridge arches. Jack learned to ride his bike, took off the
training wheels! Miscellaneous pictures
of the kids, plus Grant’s Farm. My older
brother Randy and niece Taylor visited from Cedar Rapids IA,
went to the Zoo where there was “Dinoroarus,”
mechanical dinosaurs on display. Swimming lessons for Jack at Whitecliff
park/Crestwood pool. (Taylor’s
mom) Tammy, Brad and Ben Neumann visited, they were in
town for a Cardinal’s game. My childhood
friend Anne (Cudworth) Kirkpatrick visited from Rock
Island IL, with her husband Quinn and son Ethan. We met at the Zoo and caught up on the last
many years.
Update 10/12/08
(We're obviously behind!)
June: Miscellaneous pictures of Laura's flowers and plants around the house. (Future Jimi Hendrix) Jack started guitar lessons through the Lindbergh school district summer enrichment program. He learned the notes on the 1st and 2nd string, plus the chords to "Wild Thing" and the intro to "Smoke On The Water." He seems to enjoy it, right now (October) he's taking a follow up class and will probably take it again next summer. Maybe do that twice a year as long as he's interested.
Random play photos of Jack and Meghan wearing pink feather boa, sitting on the porch and playing in kiddie pool. Meghan had T-ball at the YMCA, Jack also did his first coach-pitch baseball. Meghan did nicely at the T-ball when at bat, but playing outfield needs a little work; more defense, less clover hunting. Jack had a tae kwon do tournament at Rockwood Summit High School. He did his Cho Dan Bo form (the belt right before black belt) and also sparred. (Thank you to Chris and William Henry, in a couple of the photos, who helped him with some of the finer points in both those areas.) Finally some photos of Jack and Meghan watching TV.
Update 7/26/08
April: Unfortunately this was a very difficult month for me. I had a good friend of mine pass away from cancer. Those of you who remember I worked at the radio station WDWS/WHMS in Champaign, Illinois, 1992-4, Georgia "Joey" Hruby was an on-air announcer there. (Her last name then was Cheek.) The most recent photos I had of us were taken at Christmas 2001 when Jack was a newborn, we visited her mother's house in Rantoul (Joey is holding Jack on her lap). Also for more info on her, this is a site she worked on for a project toward finishing up her communications degree: www.geocities.com/joeyhruby/ Joey we miss you and keep you in our hearts forever!
Also then I lost my beloved cat Samantha, who passed away from old age and some kidney problems. She was 17!
A positive thing in April was a visit to Champaign to see Scott's uncle Dennis Clark who was in town. He lives in Santa Rosa, California. (Scott, Scott's brother James and the children are wearing tie dye t-shirts Candace got during a visit to his home.) Denny is an artist, here is his website: www.debostudios.com
May: Chalk drawing, the front of our house got really pretty - my climbing rose did well, plus some daisies. Jack finished kindergarten!! (Meghan finished her room at the preschool.) Jack in his tae kwon do shirt. Laura photo for Facebook page, soon to put same on Myspace. Scott with his co-workers - all in same color shirt for a vendor photo. Meghan in a pretty dress that was supposed to be for Easter but was it freezing at Easter, so wore for Mothers day and any other nice occasion. (Thank you Jessica LaRosa, it came with matching dress for cabbage patch doll.)
June and July coming very soon! Thank you for your patience, we had graphics card issues and hosting issues which are all solved now.
Update 4/13/08
January: a couple leftover Botanical Garden pictures from December. Jack getting his "Cho Dan Bo" belt in tae kwon do, which is half red and half black, the next step would be black belt but that's not for a while. My younger brother David, his wife and daughter visited from Chico, California. Lola was born a little after Meghan in 2005 so we were a little busy to see each other's kids, so this was the first time. Some very cute pictures of cousins Meghan Shaw and Lola Parks hanging out. Here's the scoop on the group picture: On the couch are my older brother Randy (from Cedar Rapids) and my nieces Taylor and Whitney. In middle of photo: me, Dad and Darla my sister in law. In background on right: David, Lola and his wife Jen. Foreground on left are my nephew Joel and our boy Jack. Foreground on right are Meghan, Mom and Scott.
February: Nothing happened except hating the weather. Meghan did however put a daisy behind her ear which reminded me of a photo of me when I was about her age. Thank you Dad (Randall Parks) for providing it, 12/69 taken in Paraguay when my dad was on overseas assignment for John Deere in Uruguay and then Paraguay.
March: Coloring Easter eggs. Then the Easter egg hunt at the Missouri Botanical Garden which was on a rather chilly day but fun. It may be hard to see but there are many of those colored plastic eggs on the ground everywhere. We did this last year also, Meghan slowly warmed up to the Easter bunny. This year she really liked it and posed for a picture right away. This time Jack was not so much a fan of the bunny. Also on March 14th Meghan turned 3 years old!!! She had a little preschool party and then one at home. Take care everyone and enjoy your spring.
* Just a note from Scott - he wants to remind everyone that when you look at the pictures don't forget to make sure you aren't missing any, because sometimes there are two or three "pages" of pictures so pay attention if it says "1 of 3" or whatever at the top of the page and keep clicking to the next "page" and so on. For comments, suggestions, or prints - email Laura at lshaw(at)anet-stl.com or Scott at spshaw(at)anet-stl.com
(Note: Replace (at) with @. This has been modified to prevent spam engines from finding our email address through the website.)