Took Cecile To See The Nutcraker - San Antonio

Cecile has been always wanted to watch The Nutcracker and I have always said "No way that you will get me to go see that thing".  I surprised her and she really liked it.  It was in San Antonio at the Lila Cockrell Theatre inside of the convention center.  They had cocktails and sold actual nutcrackers and christmas ornaments.

Most of the main participants in the ballet are from Russia and they were very good.  The backdrops and effects were very good as well.  Not my cup of tea but it did not suck...

Closeup of a Nutcracker

Who is the Mascot???

It was a somewhat hot day and the mascot came by and got the crowd all wound up and hung out with kids that wanted to pet his head.  The mascot also hung out with cheerleaders...

It was Derek...

Parkers 4th Birthday Party

Parker had a wild Pirate Party with a cool custom cake, a treasure piñata  and he got a ton of Cars2 and Pirate toys.  Derek had a blast hanging out and flirting with one of the teenager girls that was there.

Whitney did a very good job of decorating the place for sure...she even dressed up as a tinker bell.

The custom cake had a jolly rodger on the top and had a treasure map design all on the sides.

WTC Memorial Visit was Awesome

This is a panoramic shot of Ground Zero where they are rebuilding the two towers as well as having a memorial where there are two pools where the original towers stood.  This place is amazing and very surreal.  So many people lost their lives and when you walk around this area you cannot help but feel very upset and respectful.

Cecile and I are very glad that we went to this place and that when all this is finished and the buildings are occupied, all Americans will be so proud and we will never forget.

Steve and Cecile at Times Square

I had to go to NYC and New Jersey on business and took Cecile along.  It was great.  We stayed at the Westin Times Square hotel and it was great.  While I drove to New Jersey, Cecile stood outside the set of Good Morning America.  She got to see Henry Winkler and got her picture with one of the Good Morning America co-host!!!  She liked it very much.

Derek Mets Jesse James

At the local hot rod show, Jesse James, from West Coast Choppers who has located here in Austin and building custom hot rods was signing autographs.  I brought my West Coast Choppers shirt and he signed it and then I asked if he would take a picture with Derek and he agreed.  Derek was very stoked.

Derek Saw the Solar Eclipse

Derek was really excited to see the Solar eclipse, so we all took him to the best place to see the event, The Oasis Reasturant on top of Lake Travis.  We all got there and had an early dinner and drinks.  BTW, it was extremely hot, like over 100 at 6:00pm!!

Here is a picture of Derek sitting at the table steaming along with everyone else waiting on the eclipse to go down.

Our Hawaii Trip Was Great!!!

This summer I went along with Cecile, Camille, Nan, Taylor, and Hunter to the island of Maui.  This was my first trip to Hawaii and I must tell you that I had a fantastic time.  It was very peaceful and also exciting.  The snorkeling was awesome (I tried to go everyday) and the water was beautiful.  I also learned how to surf, which at my age was an accomplishment!!  Taylor and Hunter were much better than I was at surfing but it was still fun.

Here is a picture from the balcony of the Hotel in Princeville, HI.

Steve Got Promoted

Pace finally recognized Steve for all the hard work that he has done for the past 4.5 years and promoted him from Director to Vice President of Engineering and QA - Telco CAT.  He has to travel a great deal more between San Jose, Austin, and now Boca Raton.

Let's hope that Steve's team of engineers will work hard for him and that they know that he works hard to make them feel good about coming to work and having some fun in the process while putting out great products.