Christ-mas 2004
Merry Christ-mas and Happy New Years !!!
Well it has been another exciting year. It started last Feb. when Brandon’s basketball team made it all the way to Regional Finals. Those were an exciting three weeks. It even goes a little further back, when Charlie and Xavier and some nephews drove to Gainesville to see Brandon play in a national Christmas tournament. We even drove to Daytona to go swimming in the Ocean and of course play some ball at the nearby playground.
This has been a whirl wind year with colleges recruiting Brandon. Most recruit him because of his high SAT scores and 4.0 gpa. Others recruit him because he is Hispanic and some for his basketball. We have to wait until Dec. 15 to hear from his first choice MIT where he met the coach and went out with some of the players. The coach (who calls him once a week) says he is in, but we still have to wait for the admission committee. If for some reason he does not get in, then Cal Tech is high on his list (coach still calls Brandon). Amherst was nice enough to fly him to visit, but they do not have engineering. Ga. Tech is his third choice (Manny’s personal favorite) and of course U.of Fla. would be FREE and a strong alumni association for jobs after graduation (but he could not play ball for Ga Tech or UF).
Of course the highlight this summer was the family reunion in Miami. Brandon and Austin just love meeting and talking to the cousins and hearing all the stories about Cuba. Brandon used those stories in several of his college essays.
Kathy signed her new contract with Tampa General for a second year. She really loves her job and likes the free dinners at all the expensive restaurants around town put on by the drug reps.
Austin grew about 4 inches and is 6’2” now and made the varsity team as an 8th grader. In his first varsity game he scored 9 points, hitting 2 three point shots. This has always been a dream of Manny’s to have Austin and Brandon on the same team. Austin passed it to Brandon in the corner for a beautiful three. When the coach asked Austin why he wanted to play varsity, Austin said because I want to play with my brother (Austin passed up the leading scorer position in the JV team).
Manny continues to teach Pre-Cal and Calculus and of course run the summer programs with over 2,000 campers. He was able to find two more scholarships for two minority kids to enter 9th grade. And the girl that we drove to school for 7 years graduated from Berkeley and got a full ride at Northwest University.
We know many of you did not vote for Bush, but Brandon got to vote for the first time and he went 2 for 2: Bush for president and a Cuban Martinez for Senate.
Well we have truly been blessed and we continue to look forward to hear news from our family and friends,
Love, Kathy, Manny, Brandon, Austin
(PS: almost forgot, Brandon bought a motorcycle for his 18th birthday, it is a beautiful 1982 Honda 500 and Manny gets to ride it too.)
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Christmas 2003
Merry Christ-mas 2003
This was an exciting year. Kathy earned her Masters Degree in Nursing and is now a Nurse Practitioner. She also passed the National Boards. She was hired by Tampa General Hospital and works in a clinic with three other doctors. She loves her job and they seem to love her. In addition, the drug representatives take her out to dinner about twice a week (and we are not talking Sonny’s or Wendy’s here). What a life. We did spend one week on call and the phone was ringing at all hours of the night (that was not too much fun).
Brandon is in his junior year and taking a heavy load with AP Biology and AP Physics. In addition he is an officer in the Math Club and Prom Committee. He serves as a Guide and on Student Government. He also started a remote control airplane club and even flew to Boston to learn how to fly from Uncle Mel.
Of course basketball season has started and we are 3-0 at this time and ranked 3rd in the State. He hit the winning three bucket to beat Jesuit (a school we do not like very much). Last summer he traveled to Five-Star Camp near NY City where Uncle Charlie drove him to the camp. He also attended a 3-day leadership conference at Disney for the top 200 rising high school juniors in Florida. He was invited to represent Florida in DC for the nationals.
Austin is in 7th grade and was asked to play JV high school basketball, but we decided to give the 8th grade team (where he was MVP as a 6th grader last year) one more year. Austin loves to work with his hands and he bought a go-cart which he took apart and put back together with his friends. He also recently bought a mo-ped skateboard. Austin earns his money cutting lawns.
Another highlight of this year was our trip to DC for Mimi’s wedding. We stopped in North Carolina on the way up and visited Duke and UNC. We also climbed the dunes of Kitty Hawk. Of course the highlight of the trip was the uncle/nephew game where Austin hit a few threes in uncle Xavier’s face. Staying with the Hammies was a blast.
Manny continues his work at Berkeley. You can visit his website at www.berkeleyprep.org just look for the Summer Programs. While there you can also visit the boys basketball website with updates on the basketball team. For the second year, Manny is teaching AP Statistics and he claims that the students are learning a little too much about the real world out there.
Hope this Christ-mas season finds everyone healthy and happy. We are still having a blast in Tampa, Florida
Love, Kathy, Manny, Brandon, and Austin Suarez
This was an exciting year. Kathy earned her Masters Degree in Nursing and is now a Nurse Practitioner. She also passed the National Boards. She was hired by Tampa General Hospital and works in a clinic with three other doctors. She loves her job and they seem to love her. In addition, the drug representatives take her out to dinner about twice a week (and we are not talking Sonny’s or Wendy’s here). What a life. We did spend one week on call and the phone was ringing at all hours of the night (that was not too much fun).
Brandon is in his junior year and taking a heavy load with AP Biology and AP Physics. In addition he is an officer in the Math Club and Prom Committee. He serves as a Guide and on Student Government. He also started a remote control airplane club and even flew to Boston to learn how to fly from Uncle Mel.
Of course basketball season has started and we are 3-0 at this time and ranked 3rd in the State. He hit the winning three bucket to beat Jesuit (a school we do not like very much). Last summer he traveled to Five-Star Camp near NY City where Uncle Charlie drove him to the camp. He also attended a 3-day leadership conference at Disney for the top 200 rising high school juniors in Florida. He was invited to represent Florida in DC for the nationals.
Austin is in 7th grade and was asked to play JV high school basketball, but we decided to give the 8th grade team (where he was MVP as a 6th grader last year) one more year. Austin loves to work with his hands and he bought a go-cart which he took apart and put back together with his friends. He also recently bought a mo-ped skateboard. Austin earns his money cutting lawns.
Another highlight of this year was our trip to DC for Mimi’s wedding. We stopped in North Carolina on the way up and visited Duke and UNC. We also climbed the dunes of Kitty Hawk. Of course the highlight of the trip was the uncle/nephew game where Austin hit a few threes in uncle Xavier’s face. Staying with the Hammies was a blast.
Manny continues his work at Berkeley. You can visit his website at www.berkeleyprep.org just look for the Summer Programs. While there you can also visit the boys basketball website with updates on the basketball team. For the second year, Manny is teaching AP Statistics and he claims that the students are learning a little too much about the real world out there.
Hope this Christ-mas season finds everyone healthy and happy. We are still having a blast in Tampa, Florida
Love, Kathy, Manny, Brandon, and Austin Suarez
Christmas Letter 2001
Merry Christmas from the Suarez Family in Tampa
Dec. 2001
Well as you all know I usually mail out 200-300 Christmas cards every year with a one page family letter. This year I’m going to do it the 21st Century way…..e-mail
This year will be remembered for Brandon graduating from 8th grade into High School and playing varsity (where he is playing half the game and ave. 6 ppg) after a lot of soul searching. He also went on his first “official” date and is driving the car (Manny got many new gray hairs from that experience).
Austin won the 15K Gasparilla Run with the fasted time for 14 and under. He also has taken off with his school’s laptop and he helps Dad and Mom with our computer needs all the time. Austin also made it to the Nationals AAU 10 and under tournament where he made the all tourney team. He wants to thank Tia Margy and Uncle Stevie for helping to pay for him to go to McCallie camp in Tenn.
Kathy continues to study for her Nurse Practitioner (masters in nursing). She continues to be the helper for all her classmates. Her breast cancer is in remission and she has found a new friend the internet (on her graduation present her computer….which crashes every other month).
Manny is busy as ever. He had 2,400 campers last summer and raised close to a million dollars for the school. There are 100 teachers that are happy to have summer employment. Brandon helped with 10 black kids from the ghetto and Austin runs around running the clock and helping the coaches.
Well we are sorry that Uncle Xavier lost his election in Miami, but glad that he will be able to serve his people in other ways. And we still pray for Aunt Lala and the Moonies who lost her husband/father this year. The first of the immediate family to pass away. But we are happy about all the NEW arrivals….especially Joseph and Mary in Atlanta.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday. Kathy is going to NC with Austin to visit her sisters farm for some well deserved R & R. Brandon has three Christmas tournaments. And I am going to Atlanta to play some ball and eat some brownies….
Love, Kathy, Manny, Brandon (15 – 9th grade) and Austin (11 – 5th grade) Suarez in Tampa, Florida
Dec. 2001
Well as you all know I usually mail out 200-300 Christmas cards every year with a one page family letter. This year I’m going to do it the 21st Century way…..e-mail
This year will be remembered for Brandon graduating from 8th grade into High School and playing varsity (where he is playing half the game and ave. 6 ppg) after a lot of soul searching. He also went on his first “official” date and is driving the car (Manny got many new gray hairs from that experience).
Austin won the 15K Gasparilla Run with the fasted time for 14 and under. He also has taken off with his school’s laptop and he helps Dad and Mom with our computer needs all the time. Austin also made it to the Nationals AAU 10 and under tournament where he made the all tourney team. He wants to thank Tia Margy and Uncle Stevie for helping to pay for him to go to McCallie camp in Tenn.
Kathy continues to study for her Nurse Practitioner (masters in nursing). She continues to be the helper for all her classmates. Her breast cancer is in remission and she has found a new friend the internet (on her graduation present her computer….which crashes every other month).
Manny is busy as ever. He had 2,400 campers last summer and raised close to a million dollars for the school. There are 100 teachers that are happy to have summer employment. Brandon helped with 10 black kids from the ghetto and Austin runs around running the clock and helping the coaches.
Well we are sorry that Uncle Xavier lost his election in Miami, but glad that he will be able to serve his people in other ways. And we still pray for Aunt Lala and the Moonies who lost her husband/father this year. The first of the immediate family to pass away. But we are happy about all the NEW arrivals….especially Joseph and Mary in Atlanta.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday. Kathy is going to NC with Austin to visit her sisters farm for some well deserved R & R. Brandon has three Christmas tournaments. And I am going to Atlanta to play some ball and eat some brownies….
Love, Kathy, Manny, Brandon (15 – 9th grade) and Austin (11 – 5th grade) Suarez in Tampa, Florida
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