January 2023 Update

Our top story this month is Christmas!  We had a wonderful time with our local family and two special surprise guests!  Amelia and Zach surprised Krista and me (the rest of the people here knew) by flying up from Louisville, Kentucky, and spending Christmas with us.  That was the best gift because it was unexpected!

Our Christmas cards, arranged into tree shape by my creative wife

After Christmas, Carissa’s family and Caitlin’s family came to spend some of the holiday break with us, and that was tons of busy fun.  The local families came over as much as possible, and we spent many fun hours together eating, playing games, and just spending time with people we don’t get to see enough.

Cousins! Carissa's daughter, Ruby (from Philadelphia) holds her cousin Truman, Ella's son (from Hamlin, NY)

In weather, just before Christmas we had an actual, real live, blizzard!  We didn’t get a ton of snow with it, but the winds were very strong, and it felt like they were coming right through the sides of our house.  You might have heard about the amount of snow the Buffalo area got, but we got a lot less than they did.  This video doesn't really do it justice, but it may give you a little idea of the windy snow we had.

 

In sports, GO BILLS!

 

May you all have a blessed 2023!

 

December 2022 Update

Christmastime is always busy, and that was definitely true this year for me and our family.

 

I mentioned a few months ago about a show our church was hosting, Pilgrim, based on Pilgrim’s Progress.  Well, it was everything as advertised and more.  It was very well done, engaging, convicting, and encouraging.  Again, I’d encourage you to check it out and see if it’s going to be anywhere near you:  Arise Collective Theatre | Pilgrim, a Full-Length Musical Based on The Pilgrim's Progress.

 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  On Thursday, the Mickles joined us for our big dinner and to watch the Bills win.  Then the next day, all of the local families got together to keep eating the delicious food and to play games and to enjoy each other.

 

My barbershop chorus is very active this time of year too.  We took part in Webster White Christmas (Webster is the town where we rehearse) where they have a vendor fair, a parade, and lots of holiday activities.  Our chorus went to various venues and sang Christmas songs, and the Mickles and Shaws came and heard us and looked through all the different things for sale.  I’m pretty sure they were able to get some nice gifts!

The Shaws and Mickles at Webster White Christmas

Then the following Tuesday, we did a Christmas concert at the Webster library, and the following week at a local mall.

 

This year I was told that because I am the Program Vice President of our chorus, that I was supposed to be the Master of Ceremonies at our annual Christmas dinner.  I had never attended the dinner, and I hadn’t been told before that that was part of my responsibilities.  I suspected an ulterior motive in their suddenly remembering that part of my duties, but I went and MC’d anyway.  The dinner nice, the food was really good, and the program went well.  One of the events at the program is the announcement of the Barbershopper of the Year for our chorus, and I was the one so honored.  Now I understand why they had to be sure I was there!  The chorus president admitted it at the end of the night, but I really didn’t mind attending, and I am very honored.

 

The final holiday event we attended recently was the dance recitals for Hannah and Kevin’s daughters, Ansa and Alma.  They both did a fabulous job, and it was really fun to see them enjoying their fancy costumes and dance steps.

 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I hope you have a personal relationship with the greatest gift ever given when God sent Jesus to be born, live, die, and rise again to pay for my and your sins.

November 2022 Update

Here’s the update on my family’s activities since I wrote last.

 

The highlight of the month for sure was the trip Krista, Jem, and I made to Louisville to meet Cai and Amy’s new daughter, Dorothy.  It was great to see them all (Cai, Amy, Dorothy, and Zach), and to hold sweet Dorothy.  While we were there, we took a fun walk over a pedestrian bridge over the Ohio River.  Part of the motivation for the walk was the ice cream shop on the Indiana side.  Also, Krista and I toured a mansion that belonged to a family who made their fortune in steamboats on the Ohio River.  All in all, it was a wonderful, if too short, trip.

Dorothy and Krista

She found her thumb!

I love ice cream!

Walking back to Kentucky

Ice cream calories don't count if you walk while you're eating it

Howard Steamboat Mansion/Museum in Jeffersonville, Indiana

We came home on Halloween, and Levi had this pumpkin all carved!

Our other family news is that Amelia decided to move to Louisville for a few months.  UPS, where Cai and Zach work, as you probably know or could guess, gets very busy at this time of year, and they assured her she could get a job there, at least for this peak season.  She and I drove to Medina, Ohio, which is about halfway between our house and Louisville, and Zach met us there.  We ate lunch together at a Culver’s (of course, we got cheese curds), and then they went on to Louisville, and I returned home.  We all thank God for safe travel, and we’d appreciate prayers as she gets used to this new chapter in her life.

At Culver's

Throwing in bonus web content: Ansa's staticky hair made me smile 😁

So, only two things to write about, but they were pretty big things, so the depth of the events makes up for the lack of length in this update.  I hope.

 

October 2022 Update

This was a fun month, with lots of unique happenings.  Which being interpreted is, this update might actually be interesting, and there are pictures!

 

On September 24, I had two big events, both really fun, and one very rewarding.  In the morning, our barbershop chorus competed in our annual convention.  It was a lot of fun, but we didn’t do well at all, since a lot of our chorus forgot the words to one of our songs.  It came out very muddled because of that, and our scores reflected it.  So, it was fun, but not rewarding.

 

But then, in the afternoon, my family and I got to have an early supper with my Uncle Erle and cousin Wayne.  They live in western Washington state, and I hadn’t seen them in several years.  My uncle was here for a reunion at Roberts Wesleyan, and he very kindly made sure that we could get together.  My dad’s cousin, Priscilla, lives in the area, and she got a hold of me, and we made all the arrangements to get together at a local restaurant.  I also met a good friend of my cousin’s, Wendell.  He and Wayne had met doing a men’s ministry together, so it was cool to make a new friend.  So that was fun AND rewarding!

Wayne and Greg

An old picture Wayne gave me of my dad (seated) with his sisters, Grace (Wayne's mom), Bev, and Sharon

Our group at our table. We also used the table to the right for the rest of my local kids and their families who were there

Uncle Erle and Greg

Uncle Erle, Greg, and my dad's cousin, Priscilla

As I’m sure you all remember (I need a sarcasm font), I mentioned back in May that we had three grandchildren on the way.  The third of those three, our 15th grandchild, arrived on September 26:  Dorothy Louise Matthews was born to Cai and Amy.  Krista, Jem, and I are going to Louisville, Kentucky, where they live, next week to meet her and visit with Cai, Amy, and Zach.  I’m really looking forward to that!

 

Levi’s soccer season is over now.  They made it to the championship game again this year against the same team that beat them 7-0 last year.  This year they unfortunately lost again, but this time it was 2-1, so they were much improved.  Levi played really well all year and was recognized by his team by them electing him as a captain.  I really enjoyed watching as many games as I could get to!

 

Finally, our local family has made it a tradition these last few years to go to a local farm in October to enjoy fall activities and get our pumpkins.  We did that again this year, and we all enjoyed the hayride, pumpkin patch, corn cannon, barrel train, bouncy pillow, and corn maze.

Pumpkin patch

Hayride

Our pumpkins on our front porch

Oh, and GO BILLS! 

September 2022 Update

This past month has been pretty busy as fall activities start up.  My grandkids have started Awana at church, some of my kids (Hannah, Ella, Cody, Jem) are helping as leaders in Awana, Levi has started soccer, the Bills looked really good in their first game, and my family started playing Fantasy Football.

 

Also, Caitlin discovered a way to play Fantasy Survivor with the TV show, so we’re doing that too.  It gives us an excuse to watch a favorite show and interact with our family in a fun competition.

 

Our biggest news in this past month was the birth of our 14th grandchild, Maya Kristine Shaw, born to our daughter Abigail, and her husband, Bernie.  Maya was born on September 7, over a week late, but both mom and baby are healthy, and we praise God for His goodness to us.

Meeting Maya in the hospital

Right after that, Zach came home from Kentucky for a weekend visit.  I think I mentioned before that he has orthodontist appointments every several weeks, so we get to see him fairly regularly, which is very nice.  He got to meet his new niece, visit with family, and visit Lake Ontario while he was here.

Zach and Cody in Lake Ontario

We missed a couple of years because of COVID, but you may remember that my chorus used to participate in a 9/11 ceremony, and we were able to do that again this year.  We sang “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “When There’s Love at Home.”  It was a rainy day, but they gave us an awning to stand under, and I think it went well.  The “crowd” was definitely down because of the weather—there were more performers than audience—but we never want to forget what happened that day, so I’m always glad to participate in this ceremony.

 

Finally, I want to tell you all about a program my church is hosting in November.  It’s a musical theater production called “Pilgrim” based on the classic “Pilgrim’s Progress.”  There’s more information about it here:  Pilgrim – The Musical – First Bible Baptist Church (fbbc.info)  If you’re in our area, we’d love for you to come and experience this.  If you are not in our area, I’d encourage you to look at the performers’ website Arise Collective Theatre | Pilgrim, a Full-Length Musical Based on The Pilgrim's Progress to see if it’s coming anywhere near you, or you can contact them to see if your church or community can get them to come to you.

 

Thanks for reading!

Bonus web content:  We were at a local restaurant with some family, and Josie, Ella's daughter, was sitting with Krista and me.  She wanted us to take a video of her eating, so being the doting grandfather that I am, I obliged.  I thought she would just eat her food, but instead she decided to inhale it:

August 2022 Update

When we were at Barker Lighthouse camp with all of our extended family, we went over to the lighthouse in the Golden Hill campground, which is called Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse, because it is 30 miles east of the mouth of the Niagara River.  Anyway, that inspired Krista and I to try to visit each of the nine lighthouses on Lake Ontario that are in New York state.  We’ve been to a few of them already, but we want to go and “officially” document our visit to each one.

 

Our first step in accomplishing this was to go to the Oak Orchard Lighthouse in Kent, NY.  

In the lighthouse

Oak Orchard Lighthouse Selfie!

The big event this month was the birth of our lucky 13th grandchild, Truman Ezekiel Sommer, to my daughter, Ella, and her husband, Cody.  Truman joined his three sisters, Hazel, Ivy, and Josie on August 3, and weighed in at 9lb 2 oz.  They are all loving him, and we are too!  Krista and I got to visit in the hospital, and we’ve enjoyed holding him several times since then.

In the hospital with Truman

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is to be at the shore of Lake Ontario when the sun sets.  Krista, Jem, and I did so on Monday night this week, and then Krista and I went back again the next night after celebrating her birthday at a dinner out.

Lake Ontario Sunset

The beauty of our Father's Creation never stops amazing me

I’ll end with this:  Last night I made a fool of myself.  That in itself isn’t too unusual, but our church had a talent night, and so I did so in front of a rather large audience.  Some of you have seen my (what’s a good word to describe it?  Silly?  Weird?  Bizarre?) rendition of “Theme and Variations on Little Cabin.”  Well, I pulled that out of mothballs and did it again last night.  I had fun, and it seemed to be well received.

 

I guess that’s all for this month, so we’ll visit again in September.

 

July 2022 Update

This seems to have been a more eventful month, so that will make more content for this update, but no guarantees about whether or not it interests you.  I write these because my Mom asked me to years ago, and even though she's in heaven, I still keep it up.  Who knows if anyone reads them, but maybe they will interest my descendants years from now.

Anyway, here goes for this past month.

 

My chorus did a performance at a local nursing home on June 28.  The audience seemed to appreciate it, although there were a couple of the songs we sang where we got out of tune, and I was not sure which key I was hearing.  Others noticed it too, and so we’ve been working on that in rehearsals.  There’s always room for improvement, and in our case, lots of room.

 

When Covid kept campgrounds closed, our family decided to camp in the Mickles’ (my daughter, Hannah’s family) back yard.  We had so much fun then, that we did it again this year over the July 4 weekend.  We ate good camping food, did fun activities like tie-dye and fireworks, went on outings to local playgrounds and an ice cream stand, and generally enjoyed each other.

 

The next week some of the grandkids went to a real live camp, and since both Hazel and Ivy (Ella’s daughters) went, we had her youngest daughter, Josie, over to our house for a couple of days of “Grandma camp.”  Krista’s mom used to have some of our kids to her house for grandma camp when their older siblings were at camp at AMOC, so we sort of continued the tradition.  She slept in Jem’s room for two nights, and spent the days doing special things with her Mommom.

I mentioned last month that Zach had moved to Louisville, Kentucky.  He had to come home for an orthodontist appointment, so he made a weekend of it that following weekend, July 8 – 11.  It was great to spend some time with him again, and we had a little party Sunday afternoon at our house with homemade garbage plates.  I think I’ve talked about those before, but in case you’ve forgotten, they are a Rochester area specialty where you can get your year’s supply of cholesterol all in one meal!  You make a base of some kind of fried potatoes (we used tater tots, but air fried them to be a little less obnoxious) and mac salad, top that with a meat, like burgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers (we used burgers or dogs), and then smother all that with your choice of toppings, like ketchup, mustard, onions, or spicy meat sauce.  It really is delicious, but definitely not something you should eat every day.

 

This past Saturday, the ladies got together for a baby shower for Abigail and her baby, who is due in late August.  The venue Hannah found for this was in Canandaigua, which is about an hour’s drive southeast from our home.  While they did that, I spent the morning with Hannah’s son, Alex, because Kevin had worked overnight the night before and needed to sleep.  Alex and I had a really fun grandson/grandpa time exploring Canandaigua’s playgrounds and eating lunch at McDonald’s.

Playground at Kershaw Park on Canandaigua Lake

Pirate ship themed playground

Lunch at McDonald's

In case we weren’t exhausted enough after our Canandaigua trip in the morning, Krista and I went an hour’s drive the other way (north and west) to the Lighthouse Christian Camp in Barker, NY, that many of you are familiar with.  Her father’s family has a reunion there every year, but we didn’t plan to go this year because of the morning trip.  Then Krista’s brother, Dick, and his wife Debbie, let us know they had come all the way from Kansas to be at this reunion, and we couldn’t miss the opportunity to see them, so we drove out there that afternoon/evening.  I have to say, I had to settle for seeing one of my most faithful readers of this update, Aunt Marion, on video because they couldn’t make that reunion, but we had a good time talking with everyone, especially Dick and Debbie.

 

My son Levi has had some exciting times lately.  He will be going to Genesee Community College this fall for their ACE program where you can complete your senior year of high school and freshmen year of college at the same time, and we have been working on the testing and registration for that.  We’ve also been looking for a car for him to get him there and back.  Then his latest adventure was having oral surgery this past Thursday.  He’s already tired of eating just soft foods, and can’t wait to get a cheeseburger and fries again as soon as he can.

 

Well, there you have it.  That’s our latest month, and we’ll talk again in August!