Tag Archives: Aunt Mona

Pink Tornado

October 23, 2009UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Mona, birthdays, Sara, Sophie, Susan, Uncle AbbasStu

Earlier this month we had a great family visit from my sisters Mona and Eileen along with Eileen’s husband Abbas and their three daughters Sara, Sophie and Susan (I call them the “pink tornado”). Friday night Eileen and Abbas had a quiet evening up in San Francisco, while down in Menlo Park the five girls under ten outnumbered adults and went crazy playing in a tent in our backyard, munching pizza on our new kids’ picnic table, and gazing at a bright Jupiter and its moons through some binoculars. Saturday morning we visited the local fire department’s annual pancake breakfast and saw lots of safety demonstration and rescue dogs. We also checked out the neighborhood playgrounds, hosted a friend of Eileen’s and her family, picked figs from the tree in our backyard, and enjoyed Sara taking lots of pictures including some pretty art shots of trees. Finally we had a Saturday night birthday dinner for me featuring a “train cake”, a family tradition involving individual pound cakes, chocolate frosting, and lots of decorative candy. After the Shobeiris left Sunday, Mona stayed for a relatively serene few days. Click on the picture below for a big slideshow including lots of Sara’s pictures.

Aunt Mona visit

June 7, 2009UncategorizedAunt Mona, Claire, Juliet, videosStu

The girls’ world-traveling Aunt Mona had a layover in San Francisco last week on her way from India to Seattle so stopped by the house for a quick visit. Claire and Juliet were thrilled to see her and we all had some fun. Also included are some pictures from a warm afternoon when we tried out our new Slip ‘n Slide in the backyard with our neighbors and their kids, plus a cute video of Juliet gurgling and giggling. Click on the picture below to see.

Aunt Mona visit

March 16, 2009UncategorizedAunt Mona, Claire, JulietStu

Aunt Mona just spent a great week with us, helping out in many ways including getting Claire dressed each morning, feeding her breakfast, shuttling to daycare, bringing Katherine the all-important lattes, cooking some great meals, taking Claire to her Saturday morning KinderGym class, and making daily trips to Trader Joe’s for groceries. Click on the photo below for a slideshow which starts off with Claire’s first haircut just before Mona arrived and finishes with a some modeling shots of the girls in their matching pajamas, Claire in her “big sister” shirt, and Claire napping during a hike last weekend.

Happy Birthday!

February 3, 2009UncategorizedAunt Mona, birthdays, Claire, Katherine, pregnancy, WestlingsStu

We celebrated Katherine’s birthday Sunday with lots of anticipation around our new arrival. There’s no sign yet of spontaneous rotation, so we remain on track for a c-section Thursday morning. In the meantime, we’re getting the new baby’s room set up, clearing to-do lists ahead of her arrival, thinking about names, charging camera batteries, and enjoying a final few minutes alone with Claire. Aunt Mona just left after an incredibly helpful five-day visit when she, among other things, taught us some tricks for homemade pizza, put together the new baby’s Ikea dresser which came in approximately 42,000 pieces, and baked Katherine a chocolate-with-cream-cheese-frosting birthday cake complete with 38 candles. Grandma Judy arrives tomorrow. We’ll post updates as we have them, so check back Thursday.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures to whet your appetite, starting off with a visit last weekend to see our friends Kaya/Kelley and their son Thaylo and ending with the only naked belly shot from today’s backyard photo shoot that Katherine would let me publish. Click on the fire hazard photo below for a slideshow.

Thanksgiving 2008

December 14, 2008UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Laura, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, Claire, Grandma Judy, Nana, Poppa, Sara, Sophie, Susan, Thanksgiving, Uncle Abbas, Uncle Mike, Uncle Rob, Will VStu

We had a great Thanksgiving in Dallas this year. Katherine’s pregnancy made travel at Christmas iffy so we were lucky to combine two originally separate holiday plans (Thanksgiving with Katherine’s family, Christmas with mine) into one week-long trip to Dallas. Highlights include endless laps up and down the stairs with Claire, visiting Katherine’s Great Aunt Betty (one of the inspirations for Claire’s middle name Elizabeth), Claire’s cousin Susan in a leopard costume, playing with presents under the tree, and a piano duet from Claire and her cousin Will. Click on the picture below for a slideshow.

Poppa's 77th

June 15, 2008UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, birthdays, Nana, Poppa, Sara, Sophie, Susan, Uncle Abbas, Uncle MikeStu

May 30th was the 77th birthday for my dad Peter (who Claire knows as “Poppa”). To celebrate, all of us in his family headed to Oklahoma City to spend four fun days together at the beautiful home Eileen and Abbas recently built. We had a big birthday party, and lots of play time for Claire with her three cousins Sara, Sophie and Susan. Click on the photo below for a slideshow of photos by my Dad and us.

Yosemite

May 29, 2008UncategorizedAunt Mona, Claire, travelStu

We headed up to Yosemite in early May, renting a house in a section of private land just outside the park called Yosemite West. We spent a long weekend with Katherine’s Austin friend Margaret, her husband Nathan and children Sofia and Zachary, and their friends Becca and Divit and their two boys. We had warm, sunny, clear weather and enjoyed hikes through the redwoods and some spectacular views of Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point. Claire also loved her time in the hot tub, confirming she is a native Californian. Also included is a grab bag of pictures from her Aunt Mona’s visit and of her looking adorable around the house. Click on the photo below for a slideshow of photos by Nathan, Margaret, and us.

Eight months!

February 27, 2008UncategorizedAunt Mona, Claire, Deanna, John S, RevillsStu

Claire turns eight months old tomorrow so we thought we’d pull together some of our favorite pictures from the past few weeks. She is now eating solid foods (or at least mushy baby food) two to three times a day, sitting up on her own, and even teetering on two feet when she has some support. We’re convinced she is starting to say “mama” and “dada”. We’ve had some fun visits, including a regular brunch with friends Deanna & John and Kristin & Joel (whose daughter Anna is 4-years old and son Sam is 1-week younger than Claire). We also have some pictures from when Mona visited and she and I went to a fancy party at one of her wineries. Click on the photo below for a slideshow.

Merry Christmas, Mona!

December 24, 2007UncategorizedAunt Laura, Aunt Mona, Christmas, Grandma Judy, Katherine, Uncle Rob, Will VStu

A few years ago my family started a tradition of giving creative gifts to each other at Christmas. This year, my entry was a short video recorded with Katherine’s family singing new words to the title song from the 1966 TV special, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Click on the triangle Play button below to see the video.

Continue reading Merry Christmas, Mona! →

Thanksgiving 2007

November 26, 2007UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, Claire, Sara, Sophie, Susan, Thanksgiving, Uncle Abbas, Uncle Mike, videosStu

We just returned from a five-day Thanksgiving trip to Oklahoma, where we visited my sister Eileen, her husband Abbas, their daughters Sara, Sophie and Susan, Abbas’s sister Hediyeh, my sister Mona, and my Uncle Mike and Aunt Lou Ann. We enjoyed exploring the new house Eileen and Abbas just built, cooked a lot of food in their deluxe kitchen, watched a few movies, ate dinner out at a great steakhouse, and even visited a fascinating exhibit called Our Body: The Universe Within. We missed my parents, who couldn’t join us at the last minute, but thought of them often. Click on the photo below for a slideshow of pictures from Abbas and us.

Also, here’s a 90-second video of Claire in Oklahoma practicing her conversation skills, including gurgling, finger-chewing, and laughter-induced hiccups. Click on the triangle “Play” button in the image below to start the video.