Gonçalo and Cristen's Picture Album

We made this album with a script that our friend Tom gave us! He is all about image.

Lucia Celeste. These are the first pictures of our amazing daughter Lucia Celeste. She decided to pick her own birthday and arrived earlier than anyone expected! [March 2006] A day in Macau. I went to Hong Kong for a Advanced Course in Statistical Genetics and found a free day to visit my brother in Macau. These are the pictures! [February 2006]
Alentejo in December. We spent this Christmas with my parents and siblings in Lisbon. While there, we found a few days for a side trip to Alentejo -- which we found was full of green in the winter. We visited quite a few pretty towns, but Vila Viçosa was clearly the prettiest of all. [December 2005] Our 3rd Thanksgiving dinner. This time, we had a total of 24 people over -- which made for a very big 22 lb turkey (10 kilos!). Following professional advice, we focused on our strengths (turkey, stuffing, graving and sweet potato soup) and outsourced the remaining ingredients to our guests. This equitable arrangement made for a great meal and left everyone full of energy for chess, pictionary, backgammon and even ping pong! [November 2005]
In and Around Traverse City. We spend a weekend hiking and relaxing in North Michigan. We were a little bit early to see the leaves turn, but it was still a very useful weekend. I even tested the Lake Michigan water (chilly!). [October 2005] Holiday in Andalucia I had to renew my Visa in Portugal, and that gave me a chance to join the family holiday in Spain. Cristen couldn't make it this time, so the occasional sad faces are because we miss her! [August 2005]
Tigers Game 2005 The Center for Statistical Genetics people all made the trek over to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers -- who are actually playing better than .500 baseball this season (well, sometimes!). [June 2005] Cristen's trip to Newfoundland Cristen visited Heather in Newfoundland, which is a land far, far away! She hiked through beautiful cliffs, ate lots of fish, met her friend Becky from London, and made an unexpected stopover in New York City. A totally packed holiday! [May 2005]
Holiday Party We had a whole bunch of colleagues and students over for the Statistical Genetics Holiday Party (which takes place annually after Christmas, Hannukkah and New Year, and before the Chinese New Year). It was too much fun talking to everyone, and I only found time to take one or two photos. [January 2005] Pedro and Filipa's Wedding My cousin Pedro and Filipa got married on February 12, 2005. That's right in the middle of teaching season, so I only managed to find a couple of days off work. It was a beautiful wedding, and a chance to see the rest of the family. There are photos of all my siblings (except Joseé, who is in Macau!) [February 2005]
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is the biggest North American holiday after Christmas -- well, it actually falls just before Christmas, in the last Thursday of November. Traditionally, people get together with their extended families and cook a very fat turkey. Since our families are abroad, we invited some Chinese students to share our turkey. They made up for our cooking with excellent chinese side-dishes. Besides dinner, we played poker and chinese chess ... but I don't remember who won. [November 2004] José in the Frozen North My brother José paid us a visit. He left the tropical heat of Macau behind for a week to experience the frozen north and meet Cristen's family. We all add a wonderful time, as well as many opportunities to shovel snow. [December 2004]
Our Cozy Little House Some pictures of our new house, which is now nearly furnished (visits from long lost friends and family members are very welcome, and we currently have two guest bedrooms!). There is also a picture of Cristen with our hand-carved Halloweeen pumpkin. [November 2004] Football at the Big House Michigan football is the hottest event in Ann Arbor. This year and, after much effort, we managed to get tickets to three games, Iowa, Northwestern and Minnesota. Michigan won all three on their way to winning the Big 10 Championship. [October 2004]
Holiday in Spain We spent a short and rambling week with my parents and siblings in Galicia and Asturias in Northern Spain. The sun was shining, the scenery was beautiful and the food was tasty. Only time was short, but we still saw lots of things! [August 2004] Cats Cristen persuaded me (and it took a lot of persuasion!) to have a couple of tiny cats on trial at our house. You see, they little cats are very cute (and these particular ones are very well behaved as well as being entertaining). However, they seem to make me a little sneezy. [July 2004]
Visiting José in Macau We made a detour on our trip to Hong Kong to stop by Macau and visit my brother José Maria, who is working there at "O Clarim", a portuguese weekly newspaper. We visited Taipa, stopping by the old and pretty old Taipa waterfront and the building where I used to live. In Macau, we stopped at the Ruinas de Sao Paulo, the Lou Lim Ieoc gardens (where I celebrated many birthdays), and Monte da Guia. José introduced us to the delicious dragonfruit, which we ate during a stopover in Tokyo. [May 2004] Bar Harbor in Maine We went to Bar Harbor for a Genetics course, organized by the Johns Hopkins University. As well as home of the famous Jackson Labs, responsible for many discoveries in mouse genetics, Bar Harbor is also very close to Acadia National Park and the cheapest lobster in North America (and very tasty too!). [July 2004]
Baby Ultrasounds We are expecting a new addition to the family this summer. Cristen has been for a few checkups, and we know the baby is growing at the right pace and appears healthy. We can also report that the baby is alive and, definitely, kicking. [November 2003 - February 2004]

Update: Baby Lucas was born on March 8, 2004. Due to severe prematurity, he died 9 hours later. He is buried near Cristen's hometown of Niagara Falls, in Canada and is in our thoughts every day.
Wedding Preparation In order to get acquainted with the ways of the jetset crowd, we jetted in to Portugal for a few days to prepare our wedding. We had to make a couple of stops to round up the guests and also visit the reception hall. [August 2003]
"Wedding Shower" This is a Canadian tradition whereby the bride's family organizes a little party for the bride (I gate-crashed). Art and Wendy put on a very nice party for us and even found a Portuguese flag and "pastéis de nata" -- a traditional, and tasty, Portuguese dessert. [August 2003] Loosee Lake Trail Summer in Michigan is pretty hot. Me and Cristen went to looking for some shade in the Loosee Lake Trail, near Pinckney. It is a nice little walk, with different kinds of trees and some marshland... Recommended, but bug spray is essential! [July 2003]
Sable Point Lighthouse On our way to the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, we stopped in Luddington, a small town on the shore of lake Michigan. We visited a pretty light house by the beach and took a car-ferry across the lake. It is a four hour boat ride in a very big boat! [June 2003] My 27th Birthday I went to Portugal with Cristen to take care of some wedding planning. Coincidentaly, this turned out to be my first birthday at home in 9 years. I had a wonderful dinner (cooked by my Mom and Manuel), a cake with 27 candles, and all my family around. Wonderful! [May 2003]
Scouting Wedding Venues We made several short trips to Portugal to scout possible wedding venues. Here is a sample! [February 2003]
Cristen and Me These are some pictures of my fiancee, Cristen, and me over the last two years. Christmas and New Year I had a wonderful Cristhmas and New Year in Portugal. A very special highlight... I got engaged! My fiancee Cristen came to visit for New Year's and we decided to start planning our wedding on January 3.
Reykjavik, Iceland I went to a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland. There were a lot of exciting discussions about genetic polymorphisms, but I also had time to swim in very hot, very bright, blue lagoon and to take a couple of pictures of the town where more than half of Iceland's population of 250,000 lives. Visiting Cristen. I went to Canada to visit Cristen. We ended up going to a wedding, rowing, canoeing and playing a fair bit of football (soccer!)[September 2002]
Summer in Michigan Some pictures from fun places in Michigan. I went to the Unlimited Sunshine music festival to listen to some alternative bands and up to the Manistee River near Irons, in Northern Michigan. [August 2002] Graduation. I went back to Oxford to collect my degree. These are some pictures from my trip. [July 2002]
Spain My parents, Rita, Inês, Lourenço, Zé, Paulo and I went on holiday in Southern Spain. We went to the beach and saw some pretty places. [July 2002] Fusion Meeting. The Finland-United States Investigation of NIDDM meeting in Finland. [June 2002]
Kayaking. I went kayaking in Point Pelee, Canada, with Outdoor Adventures folks at the University of Michigan. [May 2002] Easter 2002. I was in Portugal for a couple of days around Easter and these are the first pictures I took with my camera. [April 2002]

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