Ella and Francisco

Ella and I traveled up to Michigan to spend Easter with my in-laws. We had a great time visiting with family and friends. We spent some time at Eliza’s condo where she served a great dinner followed by some serious Wii time. After Easter mass we went for brunch at a local hotel. The brunch was held in a ballroom which contained over 50 tables full of happy families. On one of the beautiful evenings, Ella and I took in a local comedy improv show with her friends Mike and Katie. One of Katie and Ella’s friends from high school was a cast member and came to talk to us after the show. Always a good time in Michigan!

While we were in Michigan, we had a chance to share some very big news with Ella’s family…

I have been meaning to post photos from Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. As we get closer to this year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas times, now seems like a good (if not almost too late) time to finally post them. Thanksgiving was here in Austin and Ella and I were joined by my Dad, Luz-Maria, Luis, Andrea, Karl, and their baby. Aimee, Luis’ girlfriend joined us on Friday and we enjoyed meeting her and showing her Austin. Karl and Andrea and baby moved to London from San Antonio, and Aimee went to Azerbaijan for a year. Luis has visited her a couple times, giving new meaning to the term “long-distance relationship”.

Christmas was a lot of fun in 2008. For a couple of years our good friend Negina has organized “the 12 Bars of XMAS”, a custom planned pub crawl through the heart of downtown Austin. This year was attended by many good friends in festive hats and bells. The night ended at Taste, a very fine establishment that caters in fantastic gourmet entrees and wines. The owners, Regan and Kristi, were kind enough to offer us some samples of their incredible food and wine and made us instant fans. A very fun evening that ended with a special gesture.

This year was our first set of holidays as a married unit. We spent them in Austin creating some new traditions as a family. For Christmas we bought some tree ornaments at Tesoros, a fun store that sells decorations from Mexico and Central and South America. We also purchased a small Christmas tree, which we named Stampy, after our favorite pet on the Simpsons. Naming the tree had some repercussions. We became too attached to the tree and when it came time to recycle it, well, let’s just say it’s hard to give up a friend to the city’s mulching service. Below we have a few pictures of us and our first tree (in memoriam), and pictures of New Year’s Eve at our friend John’s house. The New Year’s Eve pictures get progressively spectral (i.e. blurry) as the night wears on.

By the way, you may have noticed our sassy personalized aprons. They are our lovely engagement gifts from Gloria and Tony. The aprons help us remember who is who.