Shaw/Lemons Family 2011

I don't think I am the only one saying this, but where has 2011 gone?

Family in San Rafael Swell

I know that is has been a tough year for many, and our whole family feels very fortunate that we are surviving and thriving among the many challenges. We have had a fabulous year. We’ve had lots going on, both big and small. We survived the year and everyone is healthy and happy!


We started off the year trying to finish up the renovations on our new home so that we could move in. Also, trying to clean up/pack the old house so that we could sell and move out! Finally, we put the house on Arlington up for sale, and mostly moved into the new house. It was kind of reminiscent of camping actually, most of our furniture had to stay at the old house to stage it.

So, we slept on the floor, had boxes as coffee tables/end tables, and camping chairs as couches. We taught Randy what college was going to be like.

The old house sold in a record 3 weeks. We were very thankful! So, almost on the 20th anniversary of owning our Arlington home we moved out completely and into our new home.  This is our first Christmas in the new house.

It seemed as if we were a little lite on vacation time this year. We managed to fit in two family trips in this summer. We went out to Utah for 5 days, and tried to explore some new canyons. We camped in the San Rafael swell, visited Lake Powell, hiked misc. canyons of the San Rafael Reef. It was a fabulous trip, very relaxing and fun!

Panaramic view 4 wheeling around Lake City

We were able to spend a week in early August camping in the Lake City/Ouray/Silverton area of Colorado.  This is definitely one of the most scenic high country areas of Colorado, and we want to go back.

Randy, Mary, and Sam

Sam and Randy

Randy was able to go to San Diego with a friend for Spring Break.  He spent time on the beach, toured the USS Midway, and enjoyed being away from the parents.

Randy, now 16 has had a fabulous year I would say. He has done stellar in school, honor roll each semester, and likes most of what he is learning. He spent most of the summer being a bum (probably his last), except for helping with a major landscaping project at the new house and minor fix-it projects.

This fall he started up a new school year with his heaviest course load yet. We hear the junior year is always that way. Fall is also soccer season and Randy decided to play school soccer again. He also picked up duties being one of the team captains, and as his soccer coach said, the team disciplinarian. He is now bummed that it has ended.

Randy is just days away from getting his driver's license!

Our business has had a good year. We are proud and grateful to celebrate our 11th year in business! We picked up another client who is keeping Sam even busier. The technology learning with this client seems to be never ending and on the bleeding edge. Bleeding edge is good most of the time, but not always.

Sam is doing awesome. He is still pursuing his 4 wheeling to explore the mountains, some biking, and is now expanding his interest in ham radio. He passed the test for the next level of his amateur radio license this year, and is in the process of getting equipment so that he can begin to take advantage of the expanded permissions.  If anyone has their license, email us with your call sign.

My agility habit is still going strong. I had to take a three month break from agility due to an injury at the end of summer, torn plantar fascia. The injury kept me out of Nationals, but I decided it was better to recover then to push re-injuring myself.

Tangle

Tip and Split

Tip, my oldest and most experienced Border Collie has had a fabulous year. She earned several championship titles that took several years to achieve. We qualified for USDAA Nationals, and had several significant wins at the regional level. Split has had most of the year off with an injury, but we are hoping to bring him back a little in 2012. The goal is to keep him active his whole life so I am trying to not rush his re-entry into agility.

Tangle, my pup has just started to compete in agility. I must say this boy has been a different journey for me. He shows great promise and I am honored to be running him. Since USDAA Nationals are in Denver next fall we are going to see if we can get him qualified for Nationals.


We hope that this note finds everyone healthy, happy and thriving!


Come visit!  We did change our address so if you don't have it, get in touch!


Love Mary, Sam, and Randy

Happy Holidays 2009

Sam, Randy and I hope that this holiday note finds everyone healthy, happy and prosperous!

This has been a milestone year for our family. Randy is now taller than both me and Sam!
Also, we have been married 20 years.

I was reviewing our pictures from this past year trying to decide which ones to include in this note. The thought hit me, we have done a lot this year AND this year went way too fast.

To summarize, at the end of 2009 we are happy, healthy, making new friends and still employed. It has been a good year.

I will have to check with Randy (but being a teenager, he is still asleep), but I think he would say that he has had a good year. He graduated 8th grade and moved on to high school. This was a HUGE transition for him. Mackintosh Academy, where he had been since 2nd grade, was about 120 kids in total with each class being about 12-18 kids. Dakota Ridge High School, the school he is attending now, is about 1200 kids strong. He is loving the change. Randy started off high school the right way. He has challenged himself academically as well as tried out and made the Jr. varsity soccer team. He still takes tennis lessons, but couldn't do both soccer and tennis for school (competing seasons).

Outside of school Randy also remained involved in YGP (Younger Generation Players). In the spring he was in show choir and traveled to Disney World with the group this summer. One performance, but they spent 5 days in Disney. Not a bad gig, huh? He also tried out and made the play Wizard of Oz where he played Zeek, one of the farm hands. He has continued with Tap this fall, cutting back on show choir while he figured out high school.

Sam and I continue our employment with Shaw Consulting. The company has done well this past year and hope that 2010 brings the same or more. I am still programming and loving it. It gives me an opportunity to learn something new everyday. Sam continues with network and security consulting. We are mindful that the economy has brought many challenges for small business and are thankful for ours.

We took several trips this year. We took a fabulous family spring break trip to northern California and Oregon. We visited the red woods where we camped on the beach for several days. That was AWESOME! On the way home, we visited Crater Lake where our experiences were unexpected. We had no idea that Crater Lake has as much snow as it does in the winter. It buries National Park buildings. Very cool. Also fascinated by the fact that an hour's drive from Crater Lake in either direction there was no snow.

In May we went to Missouri for Sam's mom's 75th surprise birthday party. Much of Sam's time for months was working on that surprise, and he and his sister did a great job caring that off. Not easy to plan a party from a distance.

Hobby-wise Sam continues to do some 4-wheeling with his Nissan (although probably not as much as he would like). We did get up to the high country several times, to a military plane wreck, camping in the snowy range (WY), and to the beach. Sam also got a wonderful new mountain bike this year which has been affectionately nicknamed "the couch". It has 29 inch tires and full suspension. This has allowed him to return to one of his favorite active hobbies.

I continue to do agility with our two Border Collies and definitely don't get to do that as much as I would like! Tip, my older dog and I qualified for USDAA Nationals this year down in Scottsdale AZ. We had a great time and did very well at Nationals. In every event we placed between the top 20 or 30 dogs. I was really pleased since there were dogs/handlers from all over the world there. Split our younger dog continues to gain the needed experience, and I am hoping to get him to a Nationals this next year. He is a fun, fast, and happy boy!

It has been a year since I had my thyroid ablated (killed off). That has also been a journey. Getting my medication at the right levels mimicked the stock market recovery for the whole year. I think that I am finally on the right track.

We have been in our house for 19 years now and it is time for some major projects! This year we tore out our deck and had a new patio poured. After that was done we wondered why we had waited so long! We love it. When the weather is above 40 in the mornings you can find me out there drinking my coffee (and playing fetch with the dogs because you can't ignore them).

Sam, Randy and I joined Facebook this year. Like I said, it was a big year :) That has been fantastic and has allowed us to stay in touch with many friends. We invite everyone to look us up. Many more of our daily pictures and musing are on there.

Again, Happy holidays and we hope that 2010 means health and prosperity to us all!

Mary, Sam, Randy
Tip, Split, and Precious

Greetings!

Well, Sam and I don't normally put together a holiday letter, in fact we are really bad about sending out cards. It is not that we don't think of everyone and wish to reconnect, it is that time flies always!

This year we have been very blessed, as we are most years. Nothing big to recount for the blessing--perhaps that is why our lives are blessed. We are all happy and healthy. Sam and I will be celebrating 20 years of marriage in March! Boy, does that seem possible?

We are still running our consulting business. It has gone well this year. I am still programming, which I love. It is like solving puzzles and getting paid for it. Sam is building and maintaining networks and computers. Although he loves his clients, he would like to pick up one more in Tahiti I think. It would be tough to have to travel to their site! The economy is on our minds of course. We both try to be mindful of how lucky we are, especially in times like this.

Randy's has spent his first teenage year very successfully. He likes school, but really LOVES the learning. Although his grades are good, he doesn't feel compelled to get them as high as he can. He is spending a little time looking at high schools for next year. I CAN NOT believe that he is going into high school. This has been a process for all of us. Really, how does one select a high school? We will let you know when we finally arrive at how to do it.

He is keeping up with several activities that he has been involved with for several years--tennis and musical theatre. He is excellent at both, but I think he really loves them for the social side of the things. Randy has recently become interested in archery, so he is looking for local places to take lessons and practice. He also tried is hand at dog agility this year (actually has dabbled for a couple of years now). I love to watch him and his dog on course. Randy is so quick on his feet to recover when things don't go as planned. Not going as planned is par for the course. He also is so consistent in how he trains his dog. Those who have trained dogs know that this is not easy! I think now though Randy is going to take another break from agility.

Speaking of agility. I am still doing agility. I originally got into it since we had Border Collies and they needed "work". We now have two Border Collies (which I swore I would never have two and for a year we had three). They are VERY busy dogs. It is really good for me since it makes me get out and play and exercise every day. Tip, my oldest Border Collie (BC) and I have enjoyed some successes this year. We have won a couple of tournaments and placed 4th at National events. Fun to do well, but I really do it to play with my dogs. Again, it is like a puzzle--How do I tell the dog to do this, when I do that? Sense a theme yet for me? Yes, I love learning and being active. Split, the younger boy is just beginning his career. Training the second dog is probably like having a second child. You realize all the mistakes you made the first time around and try to do it better with the second. I expect great things from that little boy.

The dogs add a great deal to our lives, but I must admit they are completely my fault! If I had my choice I would be surrounded by animals.

Agility was a little challenging for me toward the end of the year. In September I was diagnosed with Graves' disease (Hyper-Thyroid). A hyperthyroid affects you in many ways, but the most notable for me was a really fast irregular heart beat, muscle weakness, and a foggy brain. This makes it quite challenging to walk up the stairs let alone trying to keep up with a dog that runs 7 yards per second on course. I had to back way off of things which KILLED me. Sitting on the coach and watching TV just isn't my style. I had my thyroid ablated in November and am hoping to be returning to my normal active self very soon. I am on my way, but not there yet! The silver lining in all of this was that I could eat ANYTHING I wanted. That is kind of nice to experience once in a life time. The long term of Graves is mostly that will have to be on thyroid medicine the rest of my life.

Now that the snow days are beginning to arrive in Colorado, I am beginning to get back into my pottery again. It is a good seasonal hobby 'cause you can only have so many pots around the house.

Sam had eye surgery this year to correct his strabismus; cross-eyed. In the evenings when he would get tired, or after looking at a computer monitor too long, his eyes would converge so that he would have double vision. He decided it wasn't a good idea to drive cross-eyed, and so had surgery in mid-August. Recovery took about 5 days, and he hasn't had any problems with double vision since. YEAH!

Sam has gotten into 4 Wheeling this year with the purchase of his new truck. It is a great hobby since it takes us to some really great places in the middle of nowhere (our favorite location). He is currently studying to get this Ham radio license. This will hopefully allow us to call for help from the middle of nowhere! We did a ton of camping this summer to really test out the truck (yeah that is it!). Probably the most notable camping trip was up to the flat tops of Colorado. This is between Meeker and Steamboat Springs. Spectacular! One of the pictures in Randy (red head) and two friends on the edge of the wilderness area there. Boy teenagers are fun!

My family is doing well. Dad is now 82 and doing fabulous. He does a lot of volunteer work around town and has a fairly good social life. He still travels quite a bit and is always planning his next trip.

Sam's parents are doing well. His dad has slowed down the activity this year, but his mom is going still going strong. She went on a trip to New York City this summer with a group of friends. They enjoyed the shopping and theater shows. But, she was glad to get back to a small town pace.

We hope that this note finds everyone healthy and happy. We look forward to hearing from you and of course everyone is welcome to visit.

Mary, Sam, and Randy