Tag Archives: Uncle Mike

Christmas 2013

December 30, 2013UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Laura, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, Christmas, Claire, Grandma Judy, Juliet, Sara, Sophie, Susan, travel, Uncle Abbas, Uncle Mike, Uncle Rob, Will VStu

We’ve fallen behind posting pictures here. Thanks to Katherine’s photo organizing skills, we’ll be posting a half dozen catch ups over the next week or so.

Christmas 2013 took us to both Houston and Oklahoma City to see family. In Houston, we visited the Johnson Space Center with the girls’ cousin Will and had a fun Christmas morning (new pajamas!). We also got to visit Katherine’s old friends the Taylors and see their girls. Then it was off to Oklahoma City for much fun with the family there involving another Christmas morning, bowling, baths, and of course cheerio covered waffles.

Happy 50th Anniversary!

May 13, 2012UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, Nana, Poppa, Uncle MikeStu

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.

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.

July 4th in Oklahoma

July 5, 2011UncategorizedAunt Lou Ann, Nana, Poppa, Sara, Sophie, Susan, travel, Uncle MikeStu

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

December 24, 2010UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, Nana, Poppa, quotes, Sara, Sophie, Susan, Thanksgiving, Uncle Abbas, Uncle MikeStu

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.

Christmas 2009, OKC

January 11, 2010UncategorizedAunt Eileen, Aunt Lou Ann, Aunt Mona, Christmas, Claire, Juliet, Nana, Poppa, Sara, Sophie, Susan, travel, Uncle Abbas, Uncle MikeStu

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.

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.

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.