Tag Archives: Aunt Mona

Nana and Poppa visit

Given that it’s 2007, Mona and I have decided to embrace the latest internet fad and post our first blog entry (with a little help from Stuart).

IMG_1499We have had a grand time on a West Coast tour, starting with a visit to young Mona in Seattle for a week.  After a few days in town and visiting Mona’s office at Chateau Ste. Michelle, we drove up the Olympic Highway through the mountains to the East side of the Olympics for some gorgeous views.  We had a lovely overnight visit to a town called Mazama and stayed in cozy little cabin at the Freestone Inn.  Here’s a picture from our Chateau visit:

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IMG_1624Next we headed down to the Bay Area for six days with Stu, Katherine and their little girl Claire.  We’ve spent most of our time watching Claire eat, sleep, play, cry (not much), and generally amuse us all.  We’ve also enjoyed many picnics in the backyard and had a fun dinner out Saturday at the local P.F. Chang’s.  Claire seems to change every day and we’re anxiously awaiting the latest weight statistics to see just how much she gained during our visit (it seems like a lot!).

IMG_1621One interesting thing we learned was a set of handy tips for soothing a baby called the “Five S’s” from a book called The Happiest Baby on the Block: Swaddling, Side, Shhh, Swinging, and Sucking. I didn’t believe it at first but a friend of Katherine’s and Stu’s lent them a copy of video that shows how to do it, and both on the video and with Claire these really work! If you have small children, definitely give them a try.

We’re heading back home this afternoon, but wanted to share our trip with you.  We’ve got lots more pictures — click here or on the picture below for a slideshow.

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Whose nose?

Everyone wants to know…. Who does Claire look like? Below is a recent snapshot of Claire and the earliest pictures we found of a few relatives. Please cast your vote for the top two lookalikes in the poll above and to the right of this paragraph, and then click on the Comment link under Sophie’s photo to tell us more about what you think.

UPDATE: The final tally is in and we had 18 people cast their votes as follows: 10 votes for Katherine, 6 for Stu, 5 for Cousin Will, 2 each for Aunt Laura and Aunt Mona, and 1 each for Aunt Eileen, and Cousins Sara, Sophie, and Susan. Do you agree? Add a Comment!

Photo of ClaireClaire Elizabeth West
Photo of Katherine as a babyKatherine
Photo of Laura as a babyAunt Laura
Photo of Sara Shobeiri as a babyCousin Sara
Photo of Stu as a babyStu
Photo of Eileen as a babyAunt Eileen
Photo of Sophie Shobeiri as a babyCousin Sophie
Photo of Will Vines as a babyCousin Will
Photo of Mona as a babyAunt Mona
Photo of Susan Shobeiri as a babyCousin Susan

Elizabeths

We’ve gotten a few questions about Claire’s middle name, Elizabeth, and thought we’d share some of the history behind a name inspired by both sides of our family.
Photo of Katherine's Great Aunt Betty at the family reunion in Glacier, June 2007
On her mother’s side, Claire Elizabeth is named for her great-great-aunt, Elizabeth Emma Lampe Erickson (pictured here a few weeks ago at a Lampe family reunion in Glacier National Park). Aunt Betty, as she is widely known, is the matriarch of Katherine’s dad’s family. Claire shares the honor of being named after Aunt Betty with her great-aunt, Susan Elizabeth Heidel Lotz. Born in 1915, Betty celebrated her 92nd birthday just one day after Claire was born. She grew up in Philadelphia and Oak Park, Illinois. She has lived all over country including Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ohio, and even Hollywood, were she worked for a movie producer. Betty currently lives in Iowa City and still drives her own car.
Photo of Elizabeth and Granny from 1915
On her father’s side, Claire Elizabeth is named for at least four generations of Elizabeths. The first was Claire’s great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Dunne (pictured here on the right in about 1915 with her daughter, Claire’s great-grandmother Eileen Dunne Corboy who we know as Granny). The second generation of Elizabeths was Claire’s great-aunt, Jeanette Elizabeth Dunne (known as Aunt Tilly). The third is Claire’s grandmother, Mona Elizabeth Corboy West (known to Claire as ‘Nana’ and a frequent and enthusiastic commenter on this blog). And finally, the fourth is Claire’s aunt, Mona Elizabeth West (who is visiting Claire this weekend).