Banos Familia

Christmas 2008 & Jennifer & Jonathan's Wedding

2009-01-04T19:42:00.001-08:00

It was great to see everyone who was in town for Christmas and the wedding. I wanted to share a few pictures from the wedding and Christmas and hope that if any of you have some you would like to share you will email them to me so that I can post them.

New York, New York!

2008-08-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

With just 3 days in New York, Margot and I:

Met Mary, Luis, Casey, and Molly for late brunch at Nice Matin...

Went to see the play Molly is stage managing, EXPATRIATE,
and left in awe of the acting and singing!

Took a city bus tour on the top deck and got sunburned!
Waited and waited and waited in long lines to get to the top of Rockefeller Center...
Still had enough energy to do a little shopping afterwards...

Enjoyed an unforgettable, out-of-this-world, DEEEE-licious lobster dinner at The River Cafe in Brooklyn...

and even had time for a very quick shopping spree at H&M before checking out on our last day!
Lovely to have been there, and just as lovely to get home again...

Summer Updates 2008

2008-07-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone

There is plenty of news about the Banos family these days so I figured I would take the opportunity to update everyone (just in case you didn't already know).

In PWAC CC generation 2 news Betsy and I are both pregnant again! Baby Vaicius is due in January and Baby Rinehart is due shortly thereafter in February. If I am late and Betsy is early these babies might share a birthday - now that would be cool.

Lucy spent 3 weeks in Atlanta visiting Nana and Papa-T and hanging out with her cousins, Liam and Wes. She had a great time but I missed her like crazy. I was away from her for 2 weeks and doubt I will ever do that again - it was too long!

Christian and I spent a week traveling around Portland, Seattle and the San Juan Islands, where we visited with Richmond who is out there working again this summer for Wilderness Ventures. He took us sea kayaking, which was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

Little Luis finished a triathalon - how cool is that??? I am very impressed. Luis and Anne headed up to watch him compete and captured a few great pictures:

Josh turned 31 and was in town visiting for the week of his birthday. While he was in town we all got together for a birthday dinner (and doberge cake) to celebrate:

It dawned on me recently that I am the only one of the cousins living in New Orleans these days (other than Molly P but she doesn't have a choice at this point). So, will one of you please move back to NOLA? Just checking...

Please let me know if you guys have any other news-worthy information as I am sure I left out some interesting things.

Happy Birthday Molly - Josh In NYC

2008-05-22T20:26:00.001-07:00

Today is Molly's birthday - Happy Birthday Molls - we love you!

For those of you in NYC, Josh will be playing at the Knitting Factory on Sunday night so check it out!

Introducing, Dr. Catherine Jones

2008-05-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Catherine is officially an M.D.!!!

I caught her on her way into the graduation ceremony at Fogelmen, looking very impressive in her robe:

Here is a short video clip from the ceremony.

I got distracted trying to take a still picture so that is why the video gets wobbly a few seconds in.

We celebrated with a lovely party following the ceremony at Aunt Julie and Uncle Edwards'. It was a great excuse to get together and a total treat to celebrate Catherine's accomplishments.

More Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from the delicious Mother's Day dinner.
Dama would have been so proud of Aunt Margot's incredible igloo cake.
The picture does not do it justice people...it was a sight to behold:

not to mention, absolutely divine. Aunt Margot actually made the whipped cream herself. I am telling you, you can taste the difference, this was no Cool Whip. As you can see from the picture, this is a very complex dessert, one that I would never dare to attempt.

The table, beautiful as always.

Catherine and Lucy on the front porch:

In other news, I recently learned about an impromptu PWAC CC brunch two weeks ago in NYC. Sarah was there visiting Mary so they got together with Molly, Little Luis and Casey. Everyone had a great time but nobody took a picture!!!

What else, it seems like there are about 10 graduations - okay, I am exaggerating a little. Here's what I have been able to keep track of and I apologize if I am missing something - Jane, Laura, Baker, Catherine - all graduating. Austin is getting his wings sometime in June (13th maybe?). Richmond recently defended his thesis and will spend the next year writing his dissertation (I think I have this right) - before all of that happens - however - he is off to do outdoorsy stuff for the summer. Jonathan and Jen are now living in St. Louis but will probably be back and forth a bit for wedding-related planning. Josh just got back from Russia. I have a link to his pictures from that trip and will attempt to set it up so you can check them out. Betsy and Dan just returned from Argentina - the highlight of that trip was apparently the time they spent drinking wine in Mendoza. I guess that was the best part - stands to reason. After graduation Catherine is traveling around a bit and is then headed to Albuquerque. I am sure there is much more news out there - just let me know and I will post it.

I hope to see some of you out at Thib over Memorial Day Weekend. Molly will be in town (she managed to fit in a quick break between shows) and we are REALLY looking forward to lounging around by the newly-refurbished pool!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms and Grandmoms and Great-Grandmom in the Banos Family, and a huge
thank you to our dear children, and nieces and nephews who are as dear as our own, for
for giving us so much for which to be grateful.

We gathered tonight at Margot and Walker's for a delicious supper in honor of all the Moms, those present and those not. Margot made Dama's spectacular igloo for our dessert...a wonderful ending to a lovely evening.
Here we are!

An excuse to paint

2008-03-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Springtime at White Plantation is so beautiful that there is little room for any improvement.
However, since we will be celebrating Jonathan and Jennifer's engagement there next weekend, extra-special attention is being given to make sure that everything looks perfect...and it almost does. The big house has never looked better with its freshly planted flower beds of pinks, lavenders, and whites. In comparison, the dollhouse looked especially old and neglected, badly in need of some sprucing up. Yesterday Julie, Margot, Julie V. and I decided it was the perfect time to tackle this project.

I have to say that we had a blast doing it...each in our own true-to-form way. Quick and easy is my method so I offered to sweep the inside, but quickly deserted my post when I discovered some kind of a nest in one room, and poison ivy vines in another. I "supervised" from the golf cart until the painting began. Margot and Julie V., no strangers to hard work, took over and swept the little dollhouse out like no one else could. They also swept the roof! Aunt Julie, with her careful attention to detail, began painting the shutters. We were quite a sight, balancing our paint trays and roller brushes, painting away, trying so hard not to get any blue on the house or on ourselves. Margot planted precious window boxes and Julie was painting an old wagon for Lucy with the left-over blue paint. So now the little dollhouse has freshly painted shutters and front porch, and we probably would have kept on going if we hadn't have run out of paint!

Now, Lucy and Edward will have the chance to create their own memories as the newest members of PWAC CC!

Happy Birthday Mary

2007-12-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Mary's Birthday!
Happy Birthday Mary.
We hope you have a wonderful birthday.
We miss you tons and can't wait to see you when you are back in town!

Happy Birthday Jane

2007-12-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it - Jane's birthday is tomorrow and she is going to be 18, yes 1 8.
I feel old.
Happy Birthday Jane.
Have a wonderful day!
We will be thinking about you!

Thanksgiving Weekend 2007

2007-11-25T19:59:00.001-08:00

Here's the rundown of Thanksgiving out at White for those of you who couldn't make it and were totally missed:

Most of us were out there by Wednesday night - the G. Banoses plus Granny and Papa and Susan, Sarah, Katie, and Richard. Big Laura was also in town and stayed at AJ's with Edward and Scott. The Jones family was all there as well - along with Jennifer and her family who joined us for lunch on Thursday.

Lunch was at the big house and Aunt Margot had everything set up beautifully. The weather cooperated too. It was cold and gray, but not too cold to eat outside on the porch. We watched football, ate some delicious lunch and then hung around outside because the sun finally started to come out.

Here's mom and Aunt Margot leading a team out to the fields to check out the sunset, "C'mon you all. I mean it is beautiful..."

The guys played some frisbee and football and Papa George even got in on some of the action for a minute or two. They took a break to help Uncle George unload the wood for the bonfire:

Thursday night we all enjoyed hanging out around the bonfire. We had a few close calls with wild embers and then the collapsing wood but no major problems. It was actually perfect. Lucy even joined us all out there for a little while and was fascinated.

Lucy spent most of the afternoon playing with Chloe:

On Friday many people went to the LSU game and were gone for the entire day. It was a very long and disappointing game but everyone had a great time. I (along with mom, Aunt Margot and AJ) took La Luz on her inaugural trip to "town" to shop. Let me tell you, trips to town have improved so much since I was little and the big draw was K&B. This time we went to Houma.

There were plenty of scrabble games played over the course of the weekend, but I am not sure who the reigning champ is now. All I know that I got squashed by Laura and mom the one time I played.

Christian, Lucy and I stuck around until late Saturday night so that we could enjoy some fried, Des Allemands catfish courtesy of Uncle George. It was delicious. The best part was that Jane and John entertained Lucy the entire time so we got to enjoy dinner without interruption.

I am looking forward to seeing those of you who will be in town over Christmas. I hope that everyone is doing well.

Here's an update on the Banos family news (that I know). Please feel free to send me any information and I will post it.

AJ and Uncle Edward are off to Europe to meet up with Mary and travel for 3 weeks (not necessarily in that order).

Sarah and Cheairs made it back safely from their honeymoon last week.

Josh is going to Indonesia in mid-December.

I hope nobody else is taking a cool trip or I will become insanely jealous. This is almost too much to take!

Happy Birthday Aunt Margot

2007-11-08T19:08:00.001-08:00

We hope you have a wonderful birthday!
We love you very much!

Happy Birthday AJ and Sarah

2007-11-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

I hope that you both have a very Happy Birthday and a wonderful year ahead.

I promise I will get around to posting some of the pictures from the wedding soon.
In the meantime, if any of you want a copy of the pictures, just let me know and I will send you a disc.

Halloween 2007

2007-10-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

State Street was packed with kids tonight. It was an absolute mad-house and some of the best people watching I have engaged in since Mardi Gras. I know where I want to be every year on October 31 and, as long as Margot and Walker are up for it, I hope the tradition will continue.

It was a great excuse to get together and it was total fun to be in the absolute middle of Halloween Madness! We had delicious sandwiches, vegetable soup, satsumas, and Halloween cookies that are as good as those awesome ones we used to get a McKenzie's, if not better.

Although Lucy and Edward ran out of steam pretty early on, I think they had an excellent time and I am hoping that next year they will last a bit longer!
Here they are in costume:

and here is a view of the porch:

It was the perfect way to celebrate Halloween! Thanks Margot and Walker!

Sarah and Cheairs' Wedding Festivities

2007-10-31T07:48:00.001-07:00

The wedding-week festivities are in full swing. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and understand that all the Banos cousins will be in New Orleans for the wedding!

With that in mind, I am passing along a message from Richmond:

Any cousins at in New Orleans and at loose ends on Friday (don't already have lunch plans): it would be fun to get together and get lunch someplace low key. Possibilities might be: Mandina's, Domalise's, Frankie & Johnny's, Cooter Brown's, Liuzzas. If you are around and free email Richmond at - reusti3@lsu.edu

I won't be able to make it to lunch but will be looking forward to seeing everyone at some point Friday night!

Safe travels to everyone making their way to New Orleans in the next few days. See you soon!

Happy Birthday Uncle Edward!!!!

2007-10-16T21:28:00.001-07:00

Earlier tonight AJ, Sarah, Uncle Edward, Debbie, Eads, Evie, Catherine, Mom, Lucy, and I all got together at Sucre to visit, celebrate Uncle Edward's upcoming birthday, and enjoy some gelato. It was nice to spend time together and Lucy particularly enjoyed the attention.

Happy Birthday Mom

2007-10-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is mom's birthday. Happy Happy Birthday!
Now that she is teaching the weeks are very busy, so we decided to celebrate on Sunday. We all got together for dinner (that mom cooked) and it was delicious. I made a cake for the occasion. I think it will be a long time before I try to do that again. It was made with love, but I just don't think baking is within my skill set.

Here are some pics from dinner:

How's everybody doing?
All is well here. We are looking forward to seeing everyone for Sarah and Cheairs' wedding in less than a month!

I hope all is well.

Happy Birthday Aunt Becky and Jonathan

2007-09-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Aunt Becky and Jonathan both celebrate birthdays.
I hope you guys both have a wonderful day.
We will all be thinking about you!

Labor Day Weekend 2007, White Plantation

2007-09-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Before heading out to Thib, while Christian was busy with volleyball practice, Lucy and I stopped by AJs for a quick visit with baby Edward.
It is really entertaining to watch the two of them not play together at all. Most of the time it looked something like this:

At one point, as Edward was bolting off towards the liquor bottles, undoubtedly to liven up the part, Lucy actually yelled "boy", in the same way she does when trying to get Loki's attention, and started making the "tsk,tsk" sound with her mouth in the same way she tries to get the neighborhood cats to come over and play. The highlight of the visit was when Edward flushed a wooden hot dog down the toilet. Lucy hasn't stopped talking about it.
There were a few moments where we provided a glimpse of what is to come when they are a bit older and understand that independent play is not the only way to have fun:

It was great to spend time out at Thibodaux. The weather was nice, not too hot and only a little rainy and always at the right time. As a result of the rain, the ditches were filled and the dogs had a field day.
We had a delicious dinner together on Saturday night, courtesy of Uncle George. Most of the weekend was spent enjoying the awesome new pool. It is something to behold:

Welcome Back Jordan!

2007-08-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Jordan is, at least for now, stateside again. Hooray!
By all accounts, he is great. I know that you guys, just like me, are dying to see him, so I am posting some of the pictures that Margot took when they met Jordan in North Carolina this past weekend.

Mom and Luis, White Plantation, circa 1957

2007-08-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post an old picture of Uncle Luis on Thursday but didn't have any.
Mom found this one over the weekend and I couldn't resist posting it.

Happy Birthday Catherine and Uncle Luis and More Good Stuff

2007-08-15T19:30:00.001-07:00

If I have my dates correct Neets' birthday is tomorrow, and Uncle Luis' birthday is on Sunday. Happy Birthday! I hope you both have a wonderful day and know that we will all be thinking about you.

Here is a cute picture from way back when that I found a bit ago while digging through my scrapbook. It looks like Catherine must've been either 1.5 or 2.5.

Please send me any pictures you would like to post and any exciting news. Here's a wrap-up of new stuff that is going on that I know about:

1. Molly started working on a new show recently and is really enjoying it. The name of the show is "Tings Dey Happen" and it looks like one I would enjoy. I am kind of bummed I can't make it to NYC while it is running. She just emailed me the link to a wonderful NYTs review and, if I can figure it out, I will post the link so you can check it out.

2. Mom starts her new job working as an aid and tutor at Abrahmson, a charter school based on the renown Harmony model. The school has a website and it is definitely worth checking out. It really looks like it is going to be awesome. If I can figure out how to make it work I will post the link.

3. Lucy is going to start the toddler program at ASH next Monday. It is hard to believe, but another generation of our family is starting up at ASH. Pretty incredible.

4. We are going to be out at Thib for Labor Day - anyone else? I know Baby Edward will be there because Lucy can't stop talking about it.

I hope everyone is well and that those of you who are gearing back up for school (Laura, Baker, Molly, Richmond, Catherine - well technically you have been back, right?-) are well-reseted and ready to go.

I miss all of you far away and send my love!

Friday Night At Galatoire's

2007-08-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

Josh and Erika are in town for the weekend so we celebrated Josh's be-lated birthday at Galatoire's tonight.
It was loud, bustling and delicious. We had an excellent time.

Happy Birthday Papa George!

2007-07-24T19:34:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is Papa George's birthday! We will all be thinking about you and hoping that you have a marvelous day Papa George! We love you! Best wishes for a Happy Happy Birthday!

Jane Is In Holland

2007-07-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Aunt Becky and Jane recently returned from a tour of some of the colleges in the Southeast. Of course, UGA was her favorite, I am guessing. They returned from the college tour and a few days later Jane packed her bags for a two week trip to Holland with her soccer team. How cool is that? I hope Lucy will get to do something awesome like that one day.

I hope to have some pictures from the trip to post for everyone.

I have quite a few pictures from the last few days of baby Edward and Lucy hanging out. Here are a few:

Happy Be-lated Birthday Uncle George!!!

2007-07-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot...yesterday was also Uncle George's birthday!
Happy Birthday Uncle George with lots of love! I hope you had a great day!

PWAC CC In NYC

2007-07-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any updates in a while and it seems like quite a bit has happened.
Most notably, today is Josh's 30th birthday! Happy Birthday Josh! He is celebrating by going to see Transformers tonight, of course.

Molly emailed me this piture of a mini pwac-cc gathering for Sunday brunch in Chelsea.
I wish I could have been there:

Christian just returned from a week in Nicaragua and Lucy, Loki and I are thrilled that he is home. He will be here for about 2 weeks and is then off to Costa Rica for 10 days.

Molly recently moved back to her Astoria apartment and seems to be settling in just fine. She starts a new show on Sunday and it will run through October, I think. Richmond seems to be enjoying his summer kayaking in the northeast. I talked to him last week when he had a few days off and he sounded like he was having a blast. Josh is still planning on a brief visit to New Orleans with Erika sometime in the next few weeks. AJ is bringing baby Edward to town later this week and I can't wait to see him since I missed him over 4th of July.

Please feel free to send me your updates so I can let everyone know what you hae been up to.

Happy Birthday Anne

2007-05-23T19:37:00.001-07:00

Today was Anne's birthday and Uncle Luis marked the occasion with a wonderful surprise birthday dinner for her at Gautreaux's. La Luz and I had to sneak away a bit early before a major meltdown but everyone was having an excellent time. Here are some highlights.
Happy Happy Birthday Anne!

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!
Aunt Margot cooked a delicious dinner this evening and everyone who was in town got together to celebrate. Mom made dessert in honor of the occasion and for Christian's 33rd birthday.

Here's a picture of the girls:

Mary graduated from UGA this past weekend and GG told us all about the graduation and the wonderful time everyone had in Athens. I wish I could have been there - any excuse to go back to Athens for the weekend. GG also said that baby Edward was precious. I can't wait to see the pictures. Congrats Mary!

Giant

2007-04-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

When I was in NYC a few weeks ago visiting Molls I had the chance to check out the show she was working on, Giant. The show just ended last weekend but not before this rather complimentary review that ran in the Village Voice. http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0717,various,76445,11.html

Incidentally, the guy from the Village Voice and I were at the same show. It was a small audience because it was the day before the Noreaster hit and people didn't really want to go outside of their homes. The actors were worried that the audience didn't enjoy the show and Molly had to reassure them that it went well - here's the proof!

Happy Birthday Jordan and Austin!!!!

2007-04-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

Austin and Jordan celebrated their birthdays yesterday!
Happy Birthday guys!
Much love and best wishes for another wonderful year and many more beautiful ones to come!

Big News!

2007-04-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

So now it is official. The Banos family will welcome one more- Sarah and Cheairs are engaged!

In a carefully orchestrated surprise, Cheairs arranged for Mom and Dad to be at his family's farm in Tennessee while he surprised Sarah with a picnic and a ring. They were all able to celebrate later in the day and with a lovely dinner.

We're all very excited for the new addition to the family and for the impending celebrations! Cheairs, in order to make it all official, we'll be sending the Banos familia starter kit, complete with rain boots and a fly swatter for Thib., and a small family tree so you can study up!

Congratulations, Sarah and Cheairs!

More Easter Pics

2007-04-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from Easter weekend, courtesy of Aunt Becky.
I love the picture of the basket of dyed eggs and, I have to admit, some of the crazy tie-dyed eggs look the best.

Easter 2007

2007-04-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great time out at Thib this weekend but we really missed those of you who could not be there. The weather was absolutely bizarre. It was incredibly cold and very grey. I don't think I have ever seen so many people in jeans and down coats at Easter mass. The lady in front of us had her little girl wrapped up in a fleece blanket, seriously.

Lucy and I arrived in time for lunch outside on Friday with mom, AJ, Papa George, GG, and our friend Margarita:

Lucy spent the remainder of the afternoon on her new Dora the Explorer car from mom:

and checking out Jade and the colt. It was amazing to see the look on Lucy's face when she figured out she was looking at a real-live baby horse - total awe. And why not? Look how cute:

On Friday night Uncle George boiled about 80 lbs of crawfish and we gathered on GG's porch for Good Friday dinner. The crawfish were delicious - easy to peel and not too spicy. It was actually a big treat to be able to focus on visiting and eating crawfish as opposed to slapping mosquitos - our usual Good Friday crawfish boil routine. Lucy did a pretty good job of hanging out with everyone but I think at one point she sprawled out on the porch and at that point Aunt Margot took her back to the house to bathe her so I got to visit with Catherine and Sarah for a bit longer and appreciate a night of leisure.

On Saturday it was cold and gray - it actually sleeted at one point. I think we were all kind of in hibernation mode, which was kind of nice. It was a peaceful day. We dyed eggs at Aunt Julie's, read mags, made an obligatory trip to WalMart, and then gathered together again at Uncle George's for some extra-special fried catfish. Once again Lucy was able to keep up with us for the most part, but I figured the party was over when she offered to change Sarah's diapey so we headed home.

At Sarah and Christian's urging I set up an Easter egg hunt for Lucy. I had to do it inside because of the cold, dogs, and armadillos - and I couldn't really "hide" them for fear that Pop would step on them and trip or just pick them up thinking it was more junk Lucy left around on the floor - so I just put them along the steps and on the bench. The hunt was a huge hit. She was psyched when she woke up and saw all of the eggs and collected every single one. Very impressive. Of course, she was momentarily distracted by the Easter loot but almost immediately went back to playing with the yellow volleyball and the two, stupid, orange ping-pong balls she carried around all weekened.

There are some additional pictures of Lucy on the nolababy site and I will try to put the rest from the weekend on flickr soon.

Feliz Cumple

2007-03-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

It's Grandmom's (or as she is most recently and affectionately called) GG's birthday today.

While it may seem inconsequential to her, for all of us, it is a day of thanks for her presence in our lives. And what a presence.

All my life, I have been so proud to have her as my grandmother--always the most beautiful, always the most sociable and lovely, always the best-dressed, always knowing how to treasure the important things and leave the rest, always for others. If someone asked me when I was younger who I looked up to, or who I respected, I remember never really having a good answer. Don't know why, perhaps I didn't need one then.

Today, if someone asked me the same question, unequivocably, it would be Grandmom. The older I get, the more I hope that I posess somewhere inside me, (through osmosis or perhaps I was lucky enough to receive some of her DNA), even if it is minute, some of the ephemeralness of who she is.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

I want to be able to have strength in spite of pain and sadness, I want to have grace in spite of anger and frustration. I want to have faith instead of doubt. I want to have a youthful spirit and sense of adventure. I want to have a beautiful life of love, family and friends.

Luckily for me, I need not look further than her to find the way to do it. She's been teaching me for the past 31 years.

xo

GG's Birthday Brunch

2007-03-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Grandmom's 80th birthday at Ralph's on the Park. The brunch was delicious and the setting was perfect. We all enjoyed hanging out on the balcony overlooking City Park and having a private room to ourselves. It was particularly nice because Lucy was able to run around all over the place and play with the my little pony and comb and brush set GG brought with her. I don't think the other patrons would have tolerated having their hair brushed by Lucy while they ate.

The menu was excellent:

as was the company

and there were various lovely toasts in honor of Grandmom, the May pole. If you weren't there and want to know more about that story I will fill you in.

Papa George also reminded us all about when Grandmom was voted one of the Best Dressed in New Orleans in 1972. Although it is just one small example of how Grandmom is unbelievable in many ways I really get a kick out of the story becuase in 1972 she also became a grandmother - I don't think there are any other grandmothers out there that have the same claim to fame. Here's the story, it is all true:

Happy Happy Birthday Grandmom! We love you!

The New Horse Has Arrived

2007-03-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Uncle Walker discovered Jade's new colt at 4 a.m. this morning. Aunt Margot and Uncle Walker had been in Thibodaux all weekend and decided to stay just in case the horse was born and sure enough - it was!

We are going to try to take Lucy out to Thibodaux on Sunday to see the colt. I promise to take some pictures.

Mardi Gras 2007 - Part II

2007-02-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more to add to the Mardi Gras collection. Aunt Becky is sending some of hers via email and I will post those as well.

Edward and Tiny E:

Lucy and Pop:

Mardi Gras 2007

2007-02-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

Mardi Gras is officially over and the grey, rainy weather this morning was a not-so-subtle reminder that it is now Lent...time to wash away Mardi Gras, literally. Lucy was sort of freaked out by the ashes on my forehead when I got home from work tonight; she kept saying, "mommy go wash your face".

We really enjoyed seeing everyone who was in town for Mardi Gras and missed all of the rest of you terribly. Lucy held strong from Thursday until Monday but was particularly edgy and territorial on Sunday (not great behavior when you have a house filled with guests). By Tuesday she was done with parading and had no desire to put on her dragon costume. So goes the life of a toddler.

Here are some of the highlights:

Mom and Aunt Becky tied for the award of 'most unsuspected bead-loving lady'.

Hanging out on the porch on Thoth Sunday.

Here is a picture of Little Luis in Proteus. He hooked us up with the cool light-up beads and fishies for Lucy.

Here is what Molly and I thought was Jay's float, #13, neutral ground side. We couldn't find him though.

Christian and Lucy, Mardi Gras day.

Thank God for HUGE miracles

2007-01-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

After days of waiting, I am so relieved and glad to learn that Molly is cancer free. First, I was shocked by the news, having been so recklessly cavalier about the tumor not being malignant. The thought of it not going the way I expected never crossed my mind. And it scared me to wonder about the implications that came with a malignant tumor. Life certainly is fleeting and delicate and although what happened to Molly lost out to her physical strength and will, those stiuations only underscore how precious it is.

It's hard to remember to live each day to the fullest--especially when each day is not always the best day. But I think what that statement really means is that we need to be mindful of being present in our lives--even thoughout the bad, so that when the good does come, we are more grateful for it.

So today I am GRATEFUL for HUGE miracles. It's a good day!

Roman Holiday...and then some....

2006-11-30T13:04:00.000-08:00

It was my second Thanksgiving in Europe, and again, somehow, even though I was far away, the day's significance stuck out my mind more than ever. There is something more poignant, I guess about being an American when one is in charge of remembering. At home, I would have been bombarded with familiar scenes and rituals, those of which I am fond of and reliant upon, but which do not require much from me to remember the day. Thanksgiving at home equals family and being together, and not so much about being an American..more about being a Banos. Being forced to acknowledge the day on my own terms made it more real, more there.

The day was spent at an all day cooking class in Florence, with our Italian "life coach" Judy. Judy, an American from Memphis, has made a career out of hosting Americans for Italian immersion: she teaches how to shop, eat and live like an Italian--and she is darn good at it.

Our first task was to get aquainted with Judy--learn more about her and where she came from, and how she managed to carve out such an terrific life for herself in Italy--one that I am sure everyone fantasizes about. She originally started out as a pastry chef in San Francisco and in the mid-eighties, she chucked it all to move to Italy and do the same there. She quickly learned, however, that the Italians are not so quick to dole out culinary approval, and she had to earn her stripes working as a waitress, asking questions and absorbing as much as they would allow. Eventually, she earned enough credibility to go it on her own and she has done quite well at it. Here's her website: www.divinacucina.com

Wine Store
She squired us through the seemingly neverending lines of stalls of fresh produce, meat, cheese, and specialty items in Florence's Central Market, a few steps away from Judy's apartment. It was certainly a dynamic feast for the senses. Total, unadulaturated sensory overload of the best kind--laden with the two mainstays of any Italian diet: truffles and porchino(pork).

Dizzy from sampling and tasting and smelling and looking, we made our way back to Judy's apartment to begin our work.

We had decided on our menu: In the traditonal Italian way, we started with antipasto of wild boar salami, venison sausage and cheeses. A primi piatti of freshly made raviolis stuffed with pear, ricotta, pecorino and parmesan in a butter sauce followed. The secondo piatti consisted of roasted pork ribs, wrapped around a pork tenderloin, coated with an erbe toscano with roasted potatoes seasoned with truffle salt (!!!). A salad of oranges, arugula, parmesan, olive oil and vinegar comprised the contorno and for dessert, a twist on the classic tiramisu with berries instead of coffee.

It is true that it is not hard to eat well. What is essential is the very best ingredients that one can find, simply prepared. Food that tastes like what it is supposed to, without messing it up with extraneous tastes and textures. The food we made was exceedingly delicious, and was, in fact, extrememly easy to make! I took copious notes, trying to gather on to paper the secrets to beautiful food that Judy seemed so effortlessly to understand.

The meal was terrific. (needless to say)

We did do a few other things in Italy other than eat! Click on the link below to see more:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8RcuWjhm1f7&notag=1

We Should Have Made A T-shirt

2006-11-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

I always joke about how sometimes when we all gather together for holidays we should make a t-shirt to commemorate the event. The t-shirt would come in handy for those still in college who don't have much money to spend on clothing, it would give the old men another shirt to do some yard work in and would spare me and the rest of the girls the trouble of having to come up with something comfortable yet fashionable to wear to Thanksgiving dinner. So, I think next year I am going to do my best to have t-shirts for everyone.

Thanksgiving weekend in Thibodaux was lovely but we really missed those of you who could not be with us. The weather was absolutely incredible from Wednesday until Sunday. It was cool enough to feel like proper Thanksgiving weather but not so cold that you didn't want to go outside. Really my only complaint with respect to how it felt outside is that the mosquitos were awful. It was ridiculous. See the picture of Lucy below for the proof.

The Vaicius family spent most of the weekend recovering from a week-long cold that went from Lucy to Chrisitian and then to me. I think the Poitevents were dealing with some stuffy noses and other ailments as well. By the end of the weekend I think Papa George and the Walgreens pharmacist were on a first name basis after all of the prescriptions he had to call in.

We all gathered together at the big house for Thanksgiving dinner at around 4. As always, Aunt Margot had completely transformed the big house into the most inviting retreat imaginable. Candles, fall foliage, and the smell of all of the delicious food made for a most enjoyable evening together.

Here's a picture of Lucy and Edward during the blessing. I realize it is probably not polite to snap pics during grace but I couldn't resist.

Having Lucy and Edward together for the weekend was definitely the highlight, even if they didn't communicate much. It was worth it just for the opportunity to see GG and Papa George holding the great-grandbabies.

It was also a nice treat to have all the Foxes around this year. For those of you who were not there, you would not believe how old Susan's kids are! I wish I had a picture (Jane or Becky, if you have one, send it to me and I will post it with their permission).

Big Laura was also in attendance (I think this was her third Thanksgiving out at White and, I hope, a tradition that will continue). She had a wonderful time and, as usual, tried to pass off fake words during the nightly scrabble matches and was even busted trying to hide an "F" in one round. Here's a picture I took busting her enjoying her ciggy while she waits for Papa George and GG to take her to mass:

Uncle George made a great bonfire Thursday night. It was perfect because it got pretty cold. I didn't last long outside becuase of my sore throat but we at least managed to get Lucy out there for her first bonfire experience:

I hope that all of you who could not be with us had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Start thinking about t-shirt designs and themes for next year. I am thinking Thanksgiving 2007 - Eat, Drink, and be a Banos.

Another Happy Birthday!

2006-11-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

To Aunt Margot!
I hope that you have a wonderful birthday tomorrow and a great weekend.
Lucy has been practicing so that she can sing Happy Birthday to you. Get ready.

Feliz Cumple!

2006-11-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to Aunt Julie and Sarah. I hope that you both have a wonderful day and know that we are all thinking about you!

Love,
Julie

Old friends, dearest friends

2006-10-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend at White Plantation, the Academy of the Sacred Heart Class of l966 gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our graduation. Out of a class of 34 girls, 15 women returned for many reasons, but most importantly to reconnect and share old memories, the happy ones, the sad ones, the funny and the ridiculous ones. And, we laughed and laughed, and even got teary-eyed once or twice, all in the company of those who know us so well.

Some old notions of each other still rang true, those that related to the essence of each of us, allowing us to still see each other as young 17-year-olds, unchanged over the years. And miraculously all the negative ones that tended to separate a class into cliques, had disappeared and each one of us relished being in the presence of classmates who had become more beautiful, more truly themselves than ever before.

Must it take 40 years to be able to see the beauty in each one of our classmates and to appreciate it with a gratitude that cannot be described in words? All I know is that our little house in the country will forever be blessed with the memory of the 15 girls from the class of '66 (Ginger, Maureen, Nicette, Peggy, Lynn, Helen, Lise, Nancy, Linda, Cathy, Cheryl, Patty, Marie, Liz, and Cathie) who stayed up late into the night remembering and reminiscing in the spirit of love and deep appreciation for each other.

Ladies who lunch...

2006-09-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

It was one of those very rare occasions when Aunt Julie, Aunt Margot, G.G., Lucy, and I could all get together for lunch, and it was lovely. Margot is starting her job at Children's Hospital Clinic again, 3 days a week, and I've begun teaching ESL to a Costan Rican music student 2 days a week at Loyola, so we have to make the most of these "free" days.

G.G. prepared a delicious lump crabmeat salad, deviled eggs, avocados, tomatoes...the works!
Lucy got her first taste of crabmeat and loved it.
But the best treat of all was having G.G. and her dear "auntees" here to share her lunchtime.

Fish, Beasts and Two-Year-Olds

2006-09-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

JACKSON HOLE

Just returned from a week in Jackson Hole. Mountains, water and plenty of very friendly wildlife....
I was very happy to tick off a few things on my never-ending "to do" list like learning to fly-fish, actually catching a fish with a fly, (that's mine above) and hiking a real, all day hike.
This is Lindsay, our fearless, two-year-old leader. She was always game for whatever the group was doing. She even hiked up a mountain all on her own! Here is Lindsay with her parents, Matt and Julie. Matt is Cheairs' best friend from W&L. We were on a ferry on Jenny Lake.

WILDLIFE!!!

(actually, just a chipmunk)

This picture makes me laugh.

Weekend Wrap-Up

2006-09-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

Georgia won, LSU won, the Saints won, and ASH won...what more could you ask for?

Lucy, Loki, Mom, and I spent another nice weekend out at Thibodaux. Pop was in Chicago bringing Josh his car and Christian was in Baton Rouge for a volleyball tournament.
Aunt Margot, Aunt Julie, and Uncle Edward were also out there and it was great to get to spend time with them.
On Friday night mom cooked a delish dinner and while AJ worked on the Christmas stockings, Mom, Margot, Uncle Edward, and I settled in for a round of scrabble.
As can be expected, it was a real nail-biter. I don't remember much about the game but it should tell you enough about it that my best word was taxi. Oddly enough, mom didn't win this game. She usually does. Here's the score:

Saturday, after a trip to Target, Lucy came down with some sort of virus. She developed a high fever and started acting all lethargic. It ended up being no big deal but it was sort of scary at first. Lucy and I stayed inside most of the day watching some DVDs. Mom, AJ, and Uncle Edward went to see Tahlodega Nights - The Story of Ricky Bobby. I will give you one guess who picked the movie. By the time they got back, Lucy had made a nice recovery. She even provided us with a little evening entertainment.

Lucy hopes you all had a great weekend.

Pura Vida

2006-09-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

Richmond spent most of the summer livin' the life most of us daydream about.
Although his camera didn't survive an afternoon of white water, some of the pictures made it.
Check out the pictures he recently posted on his flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/reustis, unless you think it might make you too jealous.

2006-09-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

COCODRIE FISHING TRIP

We woke up eaaaarly to get to Cocodrie for 6 a.m.

Fortified by Rob's donuts, we started out with our Captain, Lee.

Needless to say, we had a terrific day of beautiful weather, and PLENTY of fish. Great day all around.

For more pictures, see the link:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8RcuWjhm1dz

Labor Day at White Plantation - how was your weekend?

2006-09-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had as much fun as we had this weekend.
Lucy hopes you all had plenty of rest

.
and relaxation...

and that she will see her new friend Edward very soon.

It was one of those perfect weekends at White - the kind that are way too short and make you realize how much you love and miss your family when they are away.
It was also an historical moment for all of us because I would swear, just for a minute there, Lucy and Edward held a very brief meeting of the PWAC C.C. II. You be the judge...

But, for those of you who weren't around and were missed, rest assured that while it appears there was plenty of this...

and a whole mess of that...

going on and even though it was Labor Day afterall...there was still plenty of work to be done...

I will post more soon about the Thibodaux debut of Edward C. Rinehart, the most precious baby around. I will also provide more details about the Cocodrie Fishing trip (did anyone get sick?), the late-night trivial pursuit game at the Poitevents (who put their money on Dan and Betsy?), and the Scrabble game at the big house (would Catherine accept p.c. as a word?).

I will also put more pictures on Snapfish and/or Flickr sometime this week. Check the blog later for details. In the meantime, let us know...how was your weekend?

Lucy's Adventures in Thib

2005-10-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Wilma's Snowing!

2005-10-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

We started with the outer bands of Wilma very late last night. Lots of rain from 2am on... After I got to work, however, she decided to start snowing on us! I can't believe what I am seeing outside my window. It is October 25 and Wilma is snowing, now sticking to the cars!

We're doing great up here and will clearly be settling in for an earlier winter than we'd planned. Dan's out of school for Fall Break and catching up with himself this week while I'm spending yet another slow week at work. We'll be heading down to Dallas this weekend for some preliminary house hunting and a U2 concert with Bain. We can't wait!

Hope everyone is well.
Take care-
love,
Betsy

Lucy is Four months old!

2005-10-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Posting from Scott

2005-10-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

hi everyone...just thought I'd drop a note...hope everyone is doing well in the aftermath of katrina and rita...two white trash names that will forever leave their mark on our family...I've been keeping up as much as I can with everything going on and I appreciate the photos and writings...I've been gone for three weeks doing our ship's combat system upgrade...we shot off seven missiles with no problems...it was kind of stressful b/c it's all equipment that I'm responsible for and seeing it work well was a great sigh of relief...other than that, we have a lot of at-sea time in the next few months gearing up for deployment in september (unless it changes, which it probably will)...my orders onboard the USS HOWARD end in November, so I will only have to do about two months of the deployment...hope everyone is doing well...let me know if anyone is coming out to San Diego in the future.
-Scott

Thoughts from Richmond

2005-10-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

I went into New Orleans today, to help my brother in law clean what he
could out of his basement. There wasn't much. Almost everything was
destroyed-- ravaged so expertly it almost looked like the product of
intentional malice. He and my sister had just got the house together
in anticipation of Lucy, my niece. It's a beautiful place, and it will
be again. But it's going to take a lot of work. Just getting Chris and
Julie's refrigerator out of the house and out to the curb required the
work of several fragrant hours and many of the tools on my Leatherman.
We saw a convoy of Humvees careening up State Street Drive, a
succession of Huey helicopters buzzing overhead every couple of
minutes. We saw not one house that hadn't been touched by the storm.
Piles of garbage and debris everywhere. And we heard a new typical New
Orleans question repeated over and over again: "You get any water,
dawlin'? How 'bout ya mom enem-- they get any water?" Where Julie and
Christian were, everyone got water. Lots of it.
Everthing was just a little bit off. Cooter Brown's was packed, as it
always is on Sunday-- even when it isn't the only place open-- and I
saw lots of the people I grew up with, drinking the same beer. But
their greetings were more relieved, their smiles more wan. And the
Saints, all over every TV, were playing in San Antonio. My dad and
Christian and Austin and I drank our Abita Ambers and pretended for a
moment like things were getting back to normal, but that's a long way
off.
I try not to think about it very much but the magnitude of the city's
loss breaks my heart, and when I see the looks on Julie and
Christian's faces when they see the destruction in the house they
assembled so carefully, I want to cry. But I want to cry at a lot of
things recently. Mostly when I see the determination people have to
endure hardship and rebuild their homes, but particularly when the
strain and the weariness and the deep sadness shows on their faces and
they continue on anyway.
Next weekend I'll be back again, to start taking bashing down
sheetrock and cleaning all the toxic, foul--smelling ooze from Chris
and Julie's basement. It's time, it seems, to get to work.
Here are some pictures from the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reustis/sets/1030220/
Hope everyone's well.
R

Lucy

2005-09-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of the most well traveled 3 month old around!

Banos Familia

2005-09-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

Dear All:

I thought it would be helpful for us to have a blog so that in addition to emailing, we may post messages here as well. Please use this site for whatever you wish: messages, pictures (especially of Lucy!) thoughts, recipies, requests, etc.

My hope is that with this site, we will be able to communicate with each other even more.

Please know that although I am up in Washington, I am thinking of you all, and hoping that things will be back to as normal as possible very soon.

Much love,
Sarah