Shaw Family
Bear Lake Reunion 2009
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Sam and Kenzie have exciting news. This summer they will be heading off to Penn State for dental school. Sam has been accepted to three schools so far, but they feel good about Penn State. They both are busy, and we’re thrilled whenever we get to spend time with them. We love to have them for dinner and games.

Thomas is doing great at SUU. His co-ed volleyball team just took first place in their competition. Occasionally he calls for a recipe to feed his friends. It was so nice to have him home at Christmas. Can’t wait to see him again.



Jake is waiting on scholarships. He’s enjoying his web design classes at the DATC and finishing up his senior year at Bountiful High. This weekend he and his uncle Mike and cousin Dan are renting snowmobiles and driving in to the cabin. Should be fun!

Anna’s drill team ended the season with a perfect record. They won all their competitions, including the State Finals where they took first place in every category. I still can't believe they did their kick routine in ballet pointe shoes. They were amazing! I’ve tried to upload videos and haven’t been successful yet. As soon as I get it figured out I’ll post them. Anna will be playing Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet next month. She turns 16 on February 26th. I’m not sure we’re ready for that. She already has boys wanting to take her to dances. Yesterday she gave a beautiful talk in sacrament meeting.





Ben is doing well at school. He was able to perform a solo/duet at the Christmas performance. He has a great voice and did fantastic. His deacon’s basketball team just took third in their tournament. This weekend he leaves for a snow cave campout. Brrr! Ben is our head chef. He likes to watch cooking shows and asks me to give him a list of four ingredients that he proceeds to make into a meal. I'm loving it. For one of his classes at school, they're doing a unit on parenting. All week he’s supposed to carry an egg around with him. He’s supposed to pretend it’s a baby. I’m sorry to report that his had a crack on day one. He took it skiing with him.


Matt is busy with work. Last weekend he was there so much that they rented a room at the hotel for him. On one of the nights he wasn’t there, Ben and I stayed. We ordered out, played games and watched a movie. We keep hoping things will slow down just a little. He was supposed to go to England, but that’s been postponed.
I’ve been busy with Young Women’s, Take Shape For Life, my writing groups, and keeping up with everyone else. I’m excited for our trip to Lake Tahoe in July where we’ll get to see Mom and Dad. It will have been a whole year by then. I can’t wait!
I love you all and think about you often.
Love,
Kendra
Sam and Kenzie have exciting news. This summer they will be heading off to Penn State for dental school. Sam has been accepted to three schools so far, but they feel good about Penn State. They both are busy, and we’re thrilled whenever we get to spend time with them. We love to have them for dinner and games.

Thomas is doing great at SUU. His co-ed volleyball team just took first place in their competition. Occasionally he calls for a recipe to feed his friends. It was so nice to have him home at Christmas. Can’t wait to see him again.



Jake is waiting on scholarships. He’s enjoying his web design classes at the DATC and finishing up his senior year at Bountiful High. This weekend he and his uncle Mike and cousin Dan are renting snowmobiles and driving in to the cabin. Should be fun!

Anna’s drill team ended the season with a perfect record. They won all their competitions, including the State Finals where they took first place in every category. I still can't believe they did their kick routine in ballet pointe shoes. They were amazing! I’ve tried to upload videos and haven’t been successful yet. As soon as I get it figured out I’ll post them. Anna will be playing Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet next month. She turns 16 on February 26th. I’m not sure we’re ready for that. She already has boys wanting to take her to dances. Yesterday she gave a beautiful talk in sacrament meeting.


Ben is doing well at school. He was able to perform a solo/duet at the Christmas performance. He has a great voice and did fantastic. His deacon’s basketball team just took third in their tournament. This weekend he leaves for a snow cave campout. Brrr! Ben is our head chef. He likes to watch cooking shows and asks me to give him a list of four ingredients that he proceeds to make into a meal. I'm loving it. For one of his classes at school, they're doing a unit on parenting. All week he’s supposed to carry an egg around with him. He’s supposed to pretend it’s a baby. I’m sorry to report that his had a crack on day one. He took it skiing with him.

Matt is busy with work. Last weekend he was there so much that they rented a room at the hotel for him. On one of the nights he wasn’t there, Ben and I stayed. We ordered out, played games and watched a movie. We keep hoping things will slow down just a little. He was supposed to go to England, but that’s been postponed.
I’ve been busy with Young Women’s, Take Shape For Life, my writing groups, and keeping up with everyone else. I’m excited for our trip to Lake Tahoe in July where we’ll get to see Mom and Dad. It will have been a whole year by then. I can’t wait!
I love you all and think about you often.
Love,
Kendra
Thursday, February 10, 2011
January 26, 2011
Good morning—If you could film a movie here it would be an episode of “Twilight”. Cold, Dense Fog and rain! They said that it gets foggy here at this time of year but we had no idea it was like this. It lasts all day and night, lifting periodically and then sinking in again. Sometimes you can hardly see the lines on the highway. It is worse out here by the orchards as they keep the fog locked in. The mists are so heavy that it looks and feels like it had been raining heavily and the cold is penetrating! The piles of shells and hulls from the hulling processer gets wet and stinky and attracts massive herds of fruit flies. All in all a new adventure!!
We have finished our home but it is sitting vacant waiting for the State of California to release the water rights on the plant. They met a few weeks ago and we thought it would happen then but they said they would take it under advisement on February 28. Our site manager thinks that the state is flexing its muscle because of some words he had with them on getting the permits last year. I guess that he told them what he thought of their stonewalling everything and this is their way of getting back. California regulates itself to death. The latest is the new legislation that requires all new homes to have complete sprinkler systems in the home like in commercial buildings.
Dad & Elder Browning have been working on the duplex and it looks like they might have that building completed before we get the final inspection on ours. They are also working on 2 other homes that are vacant. One is in horrible shape, mold, roaches as well as broken everything. The family that lived there were terribly dirty. The one next to it just needed new paint, tile, carpet and updating of lights etc. They have been working on that one for a couple of weeks and it is looking very nice. Yesterday they put bug bombs in the other one to start killing all the vermin before they get in there to start renovating.
I sure hope that all the bugs are killed off before I start working full time with Dad in a few weeks. The Brownings finish their Mission on February 19 and will be heading home to Layton, Utah. We are sure going to miss them. Great friends and it will be nice to have them close by when we go home.
We had a wonderful Christmas in San Diego. Fun trips, lots of good food and games. It was so nice to be with all of you. The kids Christmas Eve nativity play was so clever and lots of creativity and work went into it. Thanks to Corey and Sarah, Sydney, Megan, Madison & Adam for being such great hosts and making us all feel so very welcome. We missed the Fowlers, and the Jason Shaw’s and are glad that Kendra is recovering from her surgery.
How our hearts are saddened by the loss of Rosa’s mother. We had such a wonderful time visiting with her parents a few years ago in Missouri. Great people! I can hardly wait to get to know them better when we are all reunited again and there will be no language barriers. I want you all to know that I have a very strong testimony that there is life after this earthly journey as there was before we came here. As long and hard as this may seem here now it really is just a small moment in the grand design of our eternal existence. I believe that people we know and love here will forever be part of our life and are aware of what we are going through. Heavenly Father wants all of His children to come home and provides help from the heavens to prompt and guide as we make decisions and choices.
On New Years Day we went with the Brownings to Moro Bay over on the coast. It too was a cold rainy day but we had a good time walking along the beach and shopping at all the little boutiques along the bay. The first store we went into we all bought fleece jackets and hats and gloves to wear over our jackets we had brought with us. Then we drove up to elephant seal lookout. Thousands of elephant seals come there at the end of December until February to give birth and mate and then migrate North. The beach was covered in seals. The big males are huge and loud. A lot of fights and babies being born in the sand. Amazing. The seals come back each year to the very beach they were born on.




This month has been filled with the usual, feeding missionaries twice a week, weekly Family Home Evening with the Brownings, projects at the farm, dinners, scouts, quilting and teaching Gospel Doctrine. Dad also teaches the High Priest class twice a month. I have completed my December afghan and almost finished a new one this week.
This month we have been able to go to the LA temple and are going again this Friday as it is our stake temple night. It is so good to be able to stay at the temple overnight especially now with all the fog.
I have been reading James E. Talmages book, Jesus the Christ. Powerful yet simple and clear reading. I would highly recommend that you all add it to your reading list if you haven’t already read it or perhaps reread it. Testimonies have to be fed and that is a feast!
We love you all and are so proud of the things you are doing and the people you are.
Honor Bright!!
Mom & Dad
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