Finally, a tooth!

Fun and stories

Here we are, making silly faces. Graham made Jon take about 20 of these, with a variety of expressions. But, this one was particularly flattering. :)

Eliot, eating corn on the cob (sucking on it, actually, since he still has not teeth) post pasta. Graham kept saying "Ew, Eliot is so gross!" And he did have a point.

Graham has been so funny and full of great stories lately and yet somehow I forget them all! He's so sweet with Eliot and they've really started to be "friends" now, although Eliot can't do many of the things that he's dying to do just like his brother. He's close to walking, but still doesn't seem to think it's necessary, so really doesn't want to put the effort in. He's taken many steps on his own multiple times, but whenever we try to stand him up and get him going he just plops down and crawls like there's no tomorrow.

The other day G had a rare potty accident because he didn't want to stop playing outside in the sandbox. When Jon asked him what happened, (perhaps he thought this might help him avoid our wrath!) he replied "I don't know, my kidneys just made me go pee". In a similar vein, yesterday he came down from using the toilet and proudly proclaimed "Mommy I just went pee and it ALL went in the toilet!". Hope that doesn't scare you away from coming to visit us, since we only have one bathroom...

He loves to give people nick names, so he currently calls his brother either El-y or El, and he has a very cute habit of calling me "Mother" or the shortened form "Mothe" (as in Muhth).

He continues to be captivated by anything Lego, Playmobile, or with either policeman or rocket/space themes, and he stills plays garbage collector on a regular basis. Sibling rivalry has begun to seep into our midst, particularly if Eliot tries to touch any of the aforementioned favored toys. Ever thinking, Graham is always quick to explain "NO EL YOU CAN'T TOUCH IT! [receives a stern look from one of us] It's not safe for babies, you might choke".

In sad news, our very dear friends the Wootens moved away last week, so Graham said goodbye to his best buddy Dash. When we tried to explain the move to him he kept insisting that Dash would be moving back soon, like we did after our trip to Africa. They were such great friends, we'll definitely miss sharing the ins and outs of life with them, but know that they will be going on to great things at Dartmouth.

In happy news, another very dear friend Debbie was here to visit this past weekend and we had so much fun together! The boys think she's awesome and Graham gets to be the ring-bearer at her wedding in just a few months! Hopefully he'll be old enough to make it all the way down the aisle this time...

Well, as I said I'm not forgetting all my good stories so I'll try to pop on and add some more when I think of them, or when they occur, in the next few days. Take care all!

time for some pictures!

Well, after a wonderful summer of travel around East Africa we are settling back in to life in Ann Arbor, and I figured it was well past time to get some pictures on here. We had such a great time in Congo since my last post on Eliot's birthday, but we had very little access to internet or communication of any type, so my already poor updating became seriously delinquent. Thanks to those of you who haven't given up on us!

During our time in Beni, Congo we got to meet lots of new friends, enjoyed getting to know students and staff at UCBC, and also had a great time getting to know the town better and imagining a future life here as a family!

Some of the challenging parts included not having indoor plumbing or electricity, but we coped with those things much better than anticipated.

Each morning the boys and I had lots of fun doing the washing together (I will be happy if we go back after diapers are no longer an issue!) and the hot sun had everything dried by early afternoon. Funny enough we got so used to having generator power about 2 hrs a day that when we got back to all day power it felt kind of unnecessary and excessive! Funny how quickly perspective can change.

Graham loved playing with the pet monkey "Kiki" at our guest house, and feeding him fruits!

As some of you know our time in Congo was delayed and shortened by a long process trying to get our visas to allow entry. Thanks to tireless work from our friends in Beni we were able to squeak through with our documents (we actually had to print them out in the Kampala airport before catching our connecting charted flight; when Jon finally found a place where he could access his email the document had been sent to him 2 minutes earlier!) Here is a picture of us on our very own missionary (MAF) flight into Beni; in this shot you see the whole airplane, that's Jon's shoulder and the pilot's seat in the foreground. Graham loved having our own little plane and peppered the kind pilot with questions.

I also wanted to post a few more pictures of our idyllic time spent with Jon's family in Nairobi-- we had so much fun! Here is Eliot chillin with our neighbor friend Nicholas. Graham made friends with the entire neighborhood and had such a fun time with "Shosh" and "Babu".

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Here the guys are sitting on the car hood, for some reason one of their favorite things...

Now that we're back in Ann Arbor things are already gearing up for a busy semester. Both boys have spent as much time as possible in the sandbox, to make up for lost time, and Graham has been thrilled to reunite with his old buddies. We feel blessed to be back in this great community, and it's strange how much it feels like the time in Africa was just a dream in some ways! We're praying that God will keep the people and places we visited on our hearts in spite of the busyness of life here in the US. Thanks to all of you who prayed for us during our travels; I'll try to post some more details before too long, but you know how that goes...

Love to all!

Eliot's 1st Birthday!

Feeding the giraffe

Crocodile Tooth!

Eliot is one year old! I can't believe it. His presence in our lives has brought so much joy in so many ways, he is a true blessing to our family. It's amazing to see how happy he makes others, and how affectionately his bright eyes shine as he makes new friends no matter what continent he's on.

For his birthday party we went to Nairobi Mamba Village which boasts a crocodile park with over 70 crocodiles (Graham and Eliot were entranced although their mother was sure to have nightmares--what horrible creatures!) as well as ostriches and a giraffe. After the party we came home and had cupcakes.-- Eliot kept saying "mmm---mmm--mmm" the whole time.

We will finally be heading to Congo on Friday, with the visas cleared and flights mostly figured out. Our time here has been so blessed, but we're excited to finally make it to Beni.

Love you all!

Happy Birthday Eliot!

Feeding the giraffe

Crocodile Tooth!

Eliot is one year old! I can't believe it. His presence in our lives has brought so much joy in so many ways, he is a true blessing to our family. It's amazing to see how happy he makes others, and how affectionately his bright eyes shine as he makes new friends no matter what continent he's on.

For his birthday party we went to Nairobi Mamba Village which boasts a crocodile park with over 70 crocodiles (Graham and Eliot were entranced although their mother was sure to have nightmares--what horrible creatures!) as well as ostriches and a giraffe. After the party we came home and had cupcakes. I'll upload a video of Eliot enjoying his, although we didn't catch the "mmms" he made the whole time.

We will finally be heading to Congo on Friday, with the visas cleared and flights mostly figured out. Our time here has been so blessed, but we're excited to finally make it to Beni.

Love you all!

More adventures

Graham on a jungle hike in Uganda

Two happy guys

Hello again to everyone!

We were supposed to be in Congo today (actually, yesterday) but due to a sudden complete change in visa policies were unable to leave as scheduled. Our friends in Beni are working on it from another angle, but in the meantime we're enjoying a bit more time in Kenya with Shosho and Babu!

Since we've been here Eliot has started standing on his own for a few seconds and is determined to do everything that Graham and his big boy friends do. He particularly loves digging into the huge trunk of Legos that Shosho bought from another missionary family and which Graham spends endless hours playing with. Graham, of course, loves to tell him cannot play with them. But, Eliot really holds his own, swatting Graham's hands away if he tries to hold him back. It gives me a tiny glimpse into the future combination of sibling friendship and rivalry.

Graham has become friends with the entire compound, and regularly goes "visiting" to various apartments on his own. There are three dogs here that he's also become quite close to, particularly one ugly mutt whom he has named "Police Dog Sparky". The dog's love for Graham is mutual, particularly since he doesn't seem to get much attention from anyone else!

Both of the boys seem so comfortable and happy here in Africa, they love meeting people and make friends so easily. They have both come to love Flora, who helps around the house here, and she has taken such good care of them, too! She even babysat one evening so the four of us grownups could go out together- what a treat! They were all happy as clams when we got home, Eliot had even fallen asleep in her arms.

In short, we're loving it here and are so excited to (hopefully) be getting to Congo soon. We're feeling so blessed and happy to be here together. Love to all!

Africa!!

Finally, fast enough internet to post some pics and an update! The Shaw family has now spent over a month in Uganda and we are loving being a family here! The boys are so happy; they love all of the freedom they have to play and explore, the dirt that gets into every crevice each day, and the many friends who have come into our lives since we got here.

We've gotten to have so many fun adventures. Jon's research is going very well and I've enjoyed a few shifts at the local hospital, mostly helping out with their vaccination clinic. We feel so blessed by the opportunity to be here and love our "home" in Fort Portal. We are staying at a friendly little guest house and have made good friends with the staff, who especially dote on the boys. Overall, the transition has been remarkably comfortable and easy; the boys have been such troopers, even through moves and changes. Without further ado, a few pictures.

At the Amabere caves with our friends Doreen and her son Nino

Family photo at our guest house in Kampala, just after we arrived (you can still see the jetlag in Eliot's eyes!)

Graham climbing trees with his friend Ian

In the bathtub soon after we arrived at our dear friend Phil and Emily's house in Kampala. They gave us such a warm welcome!