Last weekend was my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. My sister Eileen and her family hosted a great party and dinner at their home in Oklahoma. In preparation for the celebration, Eileen, my other sister Mona, and I poured through the family’s collection of old 8mm films, 35mm slides, and prints. We pulled out the best of the best and put together a 22-minute video which we showed at the anniversary dinner. Here it is! Please leave a reply below with any stories of best wishes for my parents.
Tag Archives: Nana
Oklahoma Christmas 2011
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.
July 4th in Oklahoma
We spent July 4th this year in hot and sunny Oklahoma, staying with my sister and family. Highlights included Claire and Juliet sharing rooms with their cousins, the Edmond town parade, fireworks over the University of Central Oklahoma campus, and lots of time in the swimming pool. We didn’t take many pictures, so click on the picture of Juliet, Claire, Sophie and Susan at the parade for a slideshow mostly of pictures Abbas sent us.
Thanksgiving 2010
We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Dallas this year. Highlights included staying at Mike and Lou’s new house, Claire and Juliet enjoying time with their cousins Sophie, Susan and Sara including singing along to the Sound of Music for the first time, and seeing Katherine’s cousin Tom and Aunt Betty (one of Claire Elizabeth’s namesakes). The visit wrapped up with two fun days at a local indoor waterpark, where the girls played in pools, rode down waterslides, gorged on cheese curds, and helped Susan celebrate her birthday at Scooops, the ice-cream themed “no parent zone” spa.
Here’s a kid quote from the visit, something Claire said to me after spending a few days hanging out mostly with her Sara, Sophie and Susan. I tried to take her to the bathroom and she told me:
Daddy, only my cousins can take me to the potty!
For a slideshow of picture from Abbas and me, click on Abbas’s great picture of Claire and her three cousins with my parents’ dog Jeffrey.
Late summer 2010
Here’s part two of our Summer 2010 catchup. We’ve got pictures of Claire’s first face painting (a butterfly that matched her dress), a trip to a local kids zoo and amusement park called Happy Hollow where Claire rode her first roller-coaster, a bike ride to a nearby playground, a ride on a steam train through the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a pizza picnic dinner during a visit from my parents, playing at home including with a Slip ‘n Slide on the 100 degree day that was our hottest this summer, a visit to a beach in Half Moon Bay, and some eating shots including Juliet’s first (and certainly not last) chocolate ice cream. Click on the picture of my girls at the beach for a slideshow.
Christmas 2009, OKC
Our Christmas adventure this year began in Oklahoma City, where we visited my sister Eileen’s family. The week started off with a Christmas Eve record snowfall of over 12″ that triggered an Oklahoma state of emergency, an unplanned overnight stay for my Uncle Mike and Aunt Lou Ann, and lots of fun snowplay for the five girls under 11 in the house. Other highlights include cooking, presents, movie nights, volunteering at the local Food Bank where we packed bags and bags of frozen cauliflower, and Santa’s unexpected gift of Christmas the cat. Click on the family group shot below for a slideshow. My sister Eileen did a cool video of the week as well.
Visiting Essex
When on the east coast a few weeks ago, we also visited my parents in Connecticut, where Claire enjoyed a great visit with her Nana, Poppa, and special guest Aunt Eileen, plus a yummy homemade birthday cake and her first small town 4th of July parade. Also included are a few pictures of berry picking the day after we returned. Click on the picture below for a slideshow.
Nana and Poppa visit
My parents — Nana and Poppa to the girls — wrapped up a fun nine-day visit last week. Poppa took Claire for lots of walks around the neighborhood and to the swings at our local park, while Nana was both soother-in-chief for Juliet (cuddling and cooing non-stop) and chef-in-residence for the rest of us, making countless tasty meals. It was particularly kind of them to stay for a few extra days and help Katherine after I had to leave town on a Wikipedia trip. They also had the chance to catch up with our friends John, Deanna and little Marlow who came by for a quick visit. Click on the photo below for a slideshow.
Thanksgiving 2008
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
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.
