All posts by Stu

Oklahoma Christmas 2011

January 2, 2012UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, Christmas, eating, Nana, Poppa, Sara, Sophie, Susan, travel, Uncle Abbas, Uncle MikeStu

We caught a quick Southwest flight from Houston for part 2 of our Christmas with my family in Oklahoma. Imagine five girls 12-years old and younger under one roof, running around non-stop, making lots of noise, and generally having a ball with each other. Highlights included lots and lots of cooking and eating, opening presents, playing with the new Kinect they received, going out to a fondue restaurant for a fun family dinner, volunteering for a second year at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, and ice skating in the sun. Click on the family picture for a slideshow of pictures from both us and Abbas.

Merry Christmas 2011

December 24, 2011UncategorizedChristmas, Claire, Holiday Card, JulietStu

To welcome Christmas day, here’s a photo of the girls in Santa’s lap and our 2011 Holiday Card.

Houston Christmas 2011

December 24, 2011UncategorizedAunt Laura, Grandma Judy, Uncle Rob, Will VStu

Our Christmas celebrations started off with a visit to Houston to see Grandma Judy, Laura, Rob and Will. Highlights included riding the train at Hermann Park, a saxaphone performance from Will, opening presents, lots of reading, brunch with the Hancocks, and dinner out at Katherine’s favorite Mexican restaurant Chuy’s. And, of course, lots of fun with Will on the trampoline. Click on the group picture for a slideshow.

Christmas 2011 prep

December 20, 2011UncategorizedAunt Mona, ChristmasStu

Gearing up for Christmas this year involved a few of our favorite activities — going to see Santa, a visit from Aunt Mona, and decorating a tree — along with a few new adventures including going to an aquarium in holiday clothes and heading to a local farm to pick and cut down our Christmas tree. Claire also went with some friends to her third annual performance of The Nutcracker. Click on the picture of Claire and Juliet making gingerbread men with Aunt Mona for a slideshow.

Fall 2011 catch-up

November 30, 2011Uncategorizedbeach, eating, Grandma JudyStu

In the Fall, adventures included fun in our yard with an inflatable whale-shaped kiddie pool, a visit from Grandma Judy, trips to the beach, school pictures, a visit to a local goat farm and dairy where Claire enjoyed eating freshly made goat cheese, a few pictures from Claire’s weekend-long visit to see her friend Maya in San Diego, and a Thanksgiving visit from our friends the Toths. Click on the picture of Claire and Juliet in the barn at the goat farm for a slideshow.

Halloween 2011

October 31, 2011UncategorizedHalloweenStu

Another Halloween, another set of cute costumes of the girls who went as two fairies, one green and one black. We’ve got pictures of various playdates, pumpkin patch visits, costume tryouts, school parties, and of course trick-or-treating. This year we have so many families with young kids in our neighborhood that we closed the street, had pizza on picnic tables in the middle of the block around 5pm, then let the kids loose collecting candy. Our friends the Klugmans came over and joined us. Thanks to word getting out about the street closing, we had more trick-or-treaters than ever visit our house and we almost ran out of candy! Click on the picture of our two fairies for a slideshow.

Fall 2011 School Picture

October 18, 2011UncategorizedschoolStu

Here’s the annual group photo from Claire and Juliet’s preschool, taken by the official school photographer (Katherine).

Family Camping in the Redwoods

September 18, 2011Uncategorizedcamping, travelStu

In September, we took our second annual family trip to camp in the coastal redwoods of California at Big Basin State Park in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. We had a great gang of kids under 5 sprinting around the redwoods, climbing on felled trees, roasting marshmallows, and playing in tents. We even went on a long hike together, with Claire walking almost four miles! Click on the picture of Juliet lounging on a tree for a slideshow.

Labor Day in Wyoming

September 5, 2011UncategorizedDeanna, John S, Revills, travelStu

We spent Labor Day weekend this year in Jackson, Wyoming, visiting our friends the Revills who moved there from the Bay Area this summer. We had a great time with Joel and Kristin and their children Anna and Sam. The Stricklins joined us as well, bringing John, Deanna and their children Marlow plus the twins Liam and Jacqueline. With six children under five years old, and Anna playing den mother at eight years old, it was quite a crazy weekend. Highlights included Juliet and Claire watching movies on an iPad during our drive to Jackson, a bathtub full of kids, playing in the yard, hiking along the Snake River, the kids playing dress-up, roasting s’mores, and long dinners for the adults late into the evening. Click on the picture of Juliet and Claire ‘riding horses’ in the Revills backyard for a slideshow.

Summer 2011 catchup

August 30, 2011Uncategorizedeating, hikingStu

Summer brought its usual grab-bag of photos worth sharing. We’ve got pictures of hiking from Claire’s summer of 25-miles of hiking, plus Fathers Day gifts for me including a t-shirt Claire made, Juliet berry picking, Claire’s first baseball game, the usual shots from around the house, and even a video of Claire riding her tricycle round and round her playhouse. Click on the picture of me and the girls at a picnic at the Picchetti Winery for a slideshow.