Texas (Christmas) - Dec 2014

Owen - The Bday Boy Age 8

Since we went to Louisiana for Thanksgiving this year, we did the early Christmas weekend in Texas.  Keith was already in Texas for work.  Shawna flew in Friday evening - Keith picked her up at Love Field at 10pm and headed back to the house and straight to bed.

Margaret, Shawna, Jean

Josie

Saturday was Owen's birthday, so we were able to attend his 8th bday party.  He opted to do it at Blue Sky Sports in Euless - an indoor soccer venue.  Most of the kids in attendance were from Owen's soccer team - plus the whole family.  Marissa was there with Boone, Lily was able to make it, as well as Chip and Judy.  Keith played soccer with the kids - his time on the Cosmos did not seem entirely helpful to his current skills.  Shawna chatted with Marissa and Jean.  After soccer, all the kids retired to a party room where pizza and cake was served, followed by beating each other over the head with balloons.  Only two hours with kids and we were both very tired so we both had a nap for an hour before heading out for the evening activities.  We started with dinner at Hibiscus - we arrived 20 minutes early so had a drink in the bar.  Graham plowed us with apps and desserts, so we just shared the Lamb Shank for our main course.  The food was amazing as always.  We then headed over to the Meyerson Symphony Center for their Christmas concert - it was excellent.

Lily and Boone

Margaret, Keith and Damon

On Sunday, we slept in a bit.  The family started showing up at about 11am - we got quite a bit of time to play with the kids and open gifts before our lunch of brisket, beans, potato salad, and then steamed pudding for dessert.  We then headed to the airport at 3pm to fly home and wrapped up 11 days on the road for Keith!

Lily, Keith and Boone

Lily and Josie 

Owen, Josie, Lily and Boone 

Lily's Picasso!

Louisiana (Thanksgiving) - Nov 2014

We went to Louisiana for Thanksgiving to visit Shawna's mom, dad and family.  We flew into Baton Rouge on Wednesday evening, arriving late and stayed until Monday.

On Thanksgiving day, we had 17 people at Shawna's mom's house for lunch.  We were joined by: Chet, Pat, Brandon, Nicole, Hunter, Brittany, Harmony, Hayden, Nicole's dad, Jim, Barbara, Nicole's aunt and uncle, and Ashley.  For lunch, we had brisket, fried turkey, cornbread dressing, rice dressing, sweet potato casserole, eggplant casserole, gelatin salad, pineapple cake and coconut cake - we were not hungry when all was said and done!  After everyone left, we napped and watched a movie with Shawna's mom.

On Friday and Saturday, we spent the day going through all of Brock's slides - throwing many of them away and keeping some to ship off to convert to digital prints.  We ended up throwing away about 10 garbage bags full!  It was quite an undertaking but happy to have it done.  We were also visited during the day by Glenn on Friday and Nicole on Saturday.

On Friday evening, we had dinner with Hope and Craig at their camp in Spring Bayou.  They picked us up by boat and we road around the lake for about 30 minutes.  We then went to the camp and had a great time catching up and drinking wine.  Hope made a big batch of jambalaya which was very yummy and a bread pudding made with donuts and white chocolate sauce which was also very yummy.  Keith gave her a hard time for cutting the bread pudding recipe in half but we had plenty to eat!

Hope and Shawna

Craig and Keith

On Saturday, we met Shawna's dad and Barbara in New Roads to have lunch at Hot Tails.  Keith thought we were going to a strip club with that name!!  Keith and Shawna split a catfish platter because at this point we were quite done with food!  The meal was very tasty.

On Sunday, we mainly relaxed and on Monday, after we had breakfast, we packed up and chatted with Shawna's mom until we left to drive back to the airport.  It was a great trip to catch up with everyone, to stuff ourselves with tasty food and to get through all of the family slides.

Ojai, CA - Nov 2014

Ojai Valley Inn and Spa

Simran and Shawna had been discussing going to Ojai, CA for a couple of years but the boys were not motivated to go.  We were both interested in going since we watched the show "Brothers and Sisters" which was based in Ojai.  So, Simran planned a girls weekend to Ojai with two friends of hers in CA (Jen and Kara) and when she invited Shawna, Shawna responded with a 'hell, yeah"!

Shawna flew into San Fran late on Thursday night from Hartford as she had been in Hartford all week for work.  When she arrived at Simran's house, they chatted for a few minutes and then crashed for the night.

On Friday morning, we had a light breakfast at Simran's house and then drove (with Jen) to an airport north of Marin where we met up with Kara and flew via a private plane to Ojai.  Kara's husband, Chuck, owns his own 6-seater Cessna - it was such a treat to get this personal service.  The flight took us about 2 hours and it was beautiful weather along the way.  We flew into Santa Barbara, got a rental car and then drove about an hour to Ojai.

Traveling in Style on Chuck's Plane

After checking into the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, we got a light lunch at the spa cafe and then relaxed at the spa - Shawna got a facial while the rest of the girls got a massage.  Feeling relaxed and content, we then got ready in our rooms and had an early dinner at Maravilla, one of the hotel restaurants.  The food was good but pricey and the restaurant was a little too fancy for our taste; the dessert, however, was outstanding!  Kara and Jen were not feeling great (both had colds) and Shawna was pooped from being on East Coast time so after dinner, we went back to our rooms.  Shawna and Simran attempted to watch a movie in the room but both fell asleep multiple times during the movie!

On Saturday, we had breakfast at The Oak, another hotel restaurant and attended a core class in the gym.  We then walked downtown and did a wine tasting at Ojai Winery followed by shopping in the Arcade Shops.  The wine was tasty so Shawna bought a case of 3 different whites!  We grabbed lunch in town at Suzanne's, each having a yummy salad.

We then returned to the hotel to enjoy the spa again - this time Shawna got a massage while everyone else had facials.  Simran and Shawna thought their appointments were at 4pm but got a call at 3:05pm to ask where we were.  Apparently, our appointments were at 3pm - luckily, we were only a few minutes away so we made it there in time to enjoy the full treatment!  That evening, we were lazy so opted to eat at the hotel.  We had drinks at Jimmy's Pub and then split a bunch of appetizers and one entree at The Oak.

Selfie!

On Sunday, we had breakfast at The Oak again.  Jen and Kara decided to attend an aroma blending class while Shawna and Simran walked downtown to check out the farmer's market.  The market was nice with lots of produce and some other goods like honey, pies and nuts.  We met up with Jen and Kara for a drink at one of the outside cafes and then drove back to Santa Barbara to meet Chuck for our flight home.  Before leaving Ojai, we stopped by The Farmer and the Cook (a Simran find) to get some communist (aka vegetarian) burritos and tacos to take on the plane.  When we got back to Simran's house, Rakesh had cooked dinner for us and so we enjoyed a very tasty meal of lamb, mashed potatoes and spinach.  Marwa joined us for dinner as well- it was great to catch up with him.

Farmer's Market in Ojai

On Monday, Shawna worked out of Simran's house and then Simran drove her to the airport to fly back home.  The weekend was amazing - Ojai was very pretty and relaxing and of course, Shawna had a great time hanging out with the girls!  We decided that this must become an annual tradition and we already started to scheme on places we could go next!

Flight Back to San Fran Had More Bags!

Texas - Nov 2014

Keith with Owen, Lily, Margaret and Josie

Shawna had a girls weekend in Ojai so Keith decided to use some Southwest points to fly to Texas for two days - his first Denver-Dallas try on America's best airline!  The flight was Saturday am so after my parents picked me up we headed for lunch at Breadwinners.  There was a 30 minute wait so we had a coffee in the waiting area and then sat down for brunch.  Following brunch we headed back to the house for an afternoon of sorting through Dad's slides so we could scan them all.  We made good progress before showering and heading to Truluck's for dinner where Margaret joined us.  It was a delicious dinner where I had a wedge salad, fantastic filet, and sweet potato fries.  It was straight to bed after dinner as it had been early up in the morning.

Keith and Boone

Sunday am we spent wrapping up the slides - ending up with about 12,000 total to send off to Scan Cafe in India.  It was a good effort - about 20 total hours between dad and I to knock them all out.  We had to scramble to leave at 12:15 so we could meet the rest of the family at CBD Provisions at the Joule.  Graham, Audrey, Lily, Boone, Margaret, Owen, and Josie all met us for a couple of hours before we had to head to the airport so I could head home - less than 3 hours after arriving!

Boone, Lily, Josie and Owen

Raleigh - Oct 2014

Both of us had to be on the east coast for work - Shawna in Hartford and Keith in DC/Philly - so we decided to extend the week and spend a couple of days in Raleigh/Durham to see the gang.  Shawna flew in the Thursday night and worked from John's house on Friday while Keith arrived on Friday afternoon.  John was gracious enough to do all the airport pick up / drop offs - as well as dropping Shawna off at Trali to meet Lisa and Beth for a few drinks on Friday afternoon.

The initial plan was to head out locally for dinner and drinks on Friday evening, but after a couple of beers at John's place on Friday afternoon, we found that the neighbors were having a party and we were invited.  So we joined the neighbors for brats, beer, and handing out candy.  We were able to give away some candy to the kids trick or treating in the neighborhood while consuming a fair amount ourselves.  Keith faded at 8:30 while the rest of us hung out longer.  Shawna and JoAnna ended the evening at a neighborhood bar with a few of the neighbors - yet again the girls outlasted the boys!

Shawna and JoAnna with Neighborhood Friends

On Saturday, JoAnna had to help set up at a work event in Durham, so we dropped her off at 10:00 am and then headed over to Keith and Kate's house to see them and the kiddos.  The original plan was to go out for breakfast but we decided to stay in when Keith offered to make breakfast - pancakes and cheesy eggs with bread bought at Gugelhupf.  It was a blast to see the kids - as always amazing to see how quickly they have grown.

Goofing Around with the Artin Kids

Phoebe's Observations of Keith

We headed back to Chez Douglas for a nap and a bowl of John's famous chicken tortilla soup before heading back to Durham for dinner with the old Suppa Club gang.  Shawna had made a reservation for 14 of us at Local 22 Kitchen and Bar.  We were able to catch up with John/Jo, Keith/Kate, Phil/Joyce, Julie/Brian, Kim/Jonathan, Steve, and Stephanie.  It was a really good dinner - Keith and Shawna shared a few small plates (mussels and pork belly), the spinach salad and a lamb flatbread.  Following dinner, we all had a few nightcaps at Parizade.  We flew out on Sunday on the 9 am flight back to Denver - a quick weekend but very enjoyable!  

Kate, Brian and Julie

Joyce and Shawna

Outstanding in the Field Farm Dinner (Dallas) - Oct 2014

Outstanding in the Field

Chef Graham (GD) Dodds

Keith's brother Graham was invited to be the feature chef at the Dallas leg of Outstanding in the Field.  While in Texas only 3 weeks earlier fro FUCAT, we decided to fly back and join the family for the dinner.  Our flight got in late on the Friday night due to thunderstorms in the area - we almost didn't land as the pilot said we may have to land in Austin.  As a result, we did not get to Chez Dodds until quite late and thus went straight to bed.

Jen, Keith, Peter and Margaret

Jean and Graham

With the blackout curtains at the house, we really slept in - Shawna did not rise until 10am!  With no time to got to the gym, we just went for an hour walk around the neighborhood, ending up on the Cotton Belt Trail which is a nicer walk than just walking Glade.  It took about 1.5 hours so we had a quick shower before heading to Dallas.  The event was held at Spiceman's FM 410, an urban farm in East Dallas.  Before going to the farm we stopped by Jimmy's Food Store, an Italian grocery store just a couple of doors down and picked up a few bottles of wine.

Peter and Jen

Shawna and Keith

The farm is a 11,000 sq ft lot behind the retail space for the store which distributes local organic produce.  There was a single long table set up in the field for all 100 of us to sit.  Peter and Jen had arrived 10 minutes prior and snagged the 7 seats at the end - so we were set with a place to sit.  Margaret showed up shortly after we did - Owen's soccer game was rained out so she was able to join us on time.  The afternoon started out with Duchman Family local wine as well as appetizers including manchego with chorizo and apple, burrata with fig, rabbit pate and scotch eggs.  We chatted with each other until the owners of Outstanding in the Field gave a short speech - then we all sat down for dinner.  The dinner was served family style, with kale and watermelon salad, crispy okra, roasted beets, eggplant puree, herb and mushroom ravioli, short ribs with squash and finally "mum's" mince pies for dessert.  We ate and chatted until about 6pm when the dinner wrapped up.  After dinner, we joined my parents and sister for Gone Girl at a movie theater across from Keith's old Steak and Ale.  The movie was nowhere near as good as the book.

Food from the Event

Sunday was another sleep-in (lazy!) - Keith did a bit of work in the morning and then we joined Keith's parents for a walk around the Dallas Arboretum which was decorated for the Fall.  We saw the new Children's Garden for the first time - it was really well done.  Following that, we had lunch at Toulouse where we had a bottle of wine and mussels all around.  Following lunch, we headed over to the George W Bush library.  It was really well done so we spent about an hour looking around.  We then drove home, had a needed nap, then headed to Margaret's for some BBQ ribs that Damon had been smoking all day - they were just fantastic.  Margaret took us to the airport which then ended a great weekend.

Dallas Arboretum 

Madam President and Mr. Vice President - Bush Library

Texas FUCAT - Sept 2014

Baker Drive Childhood Home

Continuing our tradition of FUCAT (F'ed Up Childhood Appreciation Tour), this year we went to Colleyville, Texas to get a taste of Keith's childhood.  Of course, Shawna already knew most of this so the introduction was more for John and JoAnna.

Cynthia Lane Childhood House

Keith and Shawna flew in on Thursday night and worked from Keith's parents' house on Friday.  John, JoAnna and Stephanie flew in on Friday, arriving around 5:30pm.  We picked them up at the airport in the stylish mini-van that we had rented for the weekend.  Nothing screams 'party hard' like a white mini-van!

Shady Oaks Elementary School (the one Keith remembered!)

On our way to dinner, we drove by the building where John used to work (formerly Texas Instruments - now, several companies occupy the buildings).  For dinner, we went to Fish City Grill in Flower Mound where we met up with a current and a former co-worker of John's.  We shared a few appetizers for the table, including hush puppies, smokin' hot shrimp, and shrimp and andouille Mac-n-cheese and Keith and Shawna split the mahi-mahi blackened fish tacos for an entree.  We had a few beers while chatting with John's friends and then we drove back to Keith's parents' house where we had a few glasses of wine with them before going to bed.

Bedford Junior High

After waking up on Saturday, we went for a walk in the neighborhood and then headed out for the 'formal tour' of the weekend.  Peter joined us for the tour and was great in helping us to find everything and to provide some color commentary.  We stopped by following places along the way:

Scout Center

Surprise Plaque at the Scout Center

• Keith's two childhood homes
• Peter and Stephanie's childhood homes
• Keith's schools - Shady Oaks Elementary, Bedford Junior High and Bell High School.  Keith later found out that there was another elementary school that he went to in first grade that he did not remember - we determined that was better than finding out he had a sibling he didn't know about!
• Chisholm Park where Keith and Stephanie first kissed
• The highway ramp where Keith got mugged and his bike was stolen
• The bike bridge where Keith used to walk to school (we walked it as well)
• Troop 340 Scout Center where there were two plaques that had Keith's name on them (apparently not much has happened in the past twenty years as there did not seem to have recent plaques on the wall)
• Braum's where Stephanie worked in high school
• The Donut Shop where Keith ate before school
• Taco Bueno where Keith and Peter would skip class to enjoy some 'fine dining'
• Steak and Ale (the old building is still standing) where Keith worked to save up money for his round the world trip
• Bennigan's (now a Chili's) where Peter worked

Taco Bueno

Exhausted from all of the sight seeing, we grabbed some wings and beer at Buffalo Wild Wings where JoAnna could get her football fix for the day.  We then returned to Keith's parents' house to nap and rest up for the evening.  

Steak and Ale

On Saturday night, we had an amazing dinner at Graham's restaurant, Hibiscus, where he recently received a 4 star rating from the biggest food critique in Dallas.  We took cabs there so that we did not have to worry about drinking and driving.  There were 13 of us at dinner, including Jean, Dick, Margaret, Keith, Shawna, John, JoAnna, Stephanie, Peter, Jen, Chris, Angela and Rebecca.  

Margaret, Keith, Rebecca, Stephanie

Jen and Peter

Graham

Graham sent out a ton of appetizers and salads for the table, including a charcuterie board, pate, ravioli, ribs, and summer salads.  We could have stopped there but the food was too good.  Shawna had the summer cassoulet for her entree which had three types of pork served on peas and corn.  Keith had the lamb which was a huge chunk of meat served with chimichurri sauce.  Graham sent out three desserts which was plenty to give everyone a small bite to top off the meal.  All of the food was very tasty and we enjoyed the meal with several bottles of white and red wine.  After dinner, John, JoAnna, Keith, Shawna, Stephanie, Chris, Angela and Rebecca went over to The Porch for one more drink and to chat some more.  We took a cab home and got to bed close to midnight.

JoAnna, Dick and Jean

Stephanie, Chris and Angela

Boone

On Sunday, JoAnna was able to catch up with her aunt who lives in Ft Worth - she came over to Jean and Dick's house in the morning for a visit.  Peter and Jen hosted us all at their house for bar-b-cue and a pool party so we went over around 11.  Keith's parents, Peter's parents, Margaret and the kids and Graham and his kids joined us.  The kids (and Keith) had a great time goofing around in the pool while the rest of us hung out and had a few margaritas.  We had a great lunch of brisket, baked beans, potato salad and coleslaw with a yummy cheesecake/sopapilla dessert that Jean made.  After eating way too much food and saying our goodbyes, we drove the airport where John, JoAnna and Stephanie flew back to Raleigh and Keith and Shawna flew back to Denver.

Graham, Stephanie and Keith

Josie, Lily, Owen and Jordan