It is almost unbelievable that 18 years have gone by and the Annoura‘s first son just graduated from high school! Joe Christopher Annoura graduated from the same high school Susan graduated from, Clear Lake High School. The ceremony took place on May 25, 2022 at Challenger Stadium. Joe graduated in the top 3% of his class with many honors and will head to the University of Texas at Austin this fall to study economics. We are very proud of him!
As we wind down the school year, we see so many things about to happen. Joe is about to graduate from high school and has decided to attend the University of Texas. His goal is to transfer into the prestigious McCombs School of Business and major in finance and international business. His high school graduation will be in a couple of weeks on May 25. Last Sunday, we celebrated his Eagle Scout accomplishment in a small ceremony with his fellow scouts who also achieved the same honor. These boys have been friends since first grade and it was very special that they all did their Eagle Scout journey together. Congratulations to Jonathon Foltyn, Will McGarity, and Zach Upanavage.
Ten years ago, a Japanese TV show called Gutto Chikyuubin came to Houston to film the life of Koh Annoura. The show features Japanese people who have left Japan to live abroad and shows their family back home and their countrymen what that person is doing abroad. The camera crew goes all over the U.S. and all over the world to find interesting Japanese people to show Japan what they are doing outside of Japan. In the original episode, Koh was a bicycle frame builder, we had only two kids (I was very pregnant with Zach during the first shoot), and I had opened Annoura Realty Group for two years. The producers called Koh for a 10 year follow up story and came to Houston again to film Koh and us on April 9th. Now we have 5 people in our family, Koh is racing bikes again, we have changed houses, and our company has now 7 members. The show will air some time in May. We don’t have Japanese TV channels so if you see it, let us know!
Last week was spring break for CCISD and what better time than to knock out Ty’s Eagle Scout Project! The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the USA, founded in 1910. Kids from 5th grade through high school participate in service, community engagement, and leadership development while meeting certain goals and achievements to rank up. The ultimate goal is to achieve the highest rank, Eagle Scout which requires a project that benefits the community. Susan’s oldest son Joe achieved his Eagle Scout badge in 2021 and now Ty is working on getting his. Last week during spring break, Ty organized a group of 12 friends to build four wood benches for his church, Gateway Community Church. He investigated the design, bought the wood and materials, then taught his friends how to cut and use the electric drill to assemble the benches at the church. They also stained their finished products and now the church is ready to use them. A few more steps in the process and Ty can hopefully reach his ultimate goal of achieving the rank of an Eagle Scout.
The Annouras took a trip to Colorado over the Christmas break to their favorite ski place, Wolf Creek. This ski area is not like Breckenridge or Vail in that there is no resort there. But, while there is no resort there, it is reported to have the most snow of any ski resort so it is a great place to ski and snowboard. Most people stay in Pagosa Springs when they ski at Wolf Creek. Pagosa Springs is famous for having natural onsen hot springs! Our favorite hot springs spot is called The Springs. Sadly, it has gotten so popular that we noticed they did away with their one week pass and their prices have gone way up! We still went one of the days and spent nearly all day hanging out in the different pools and chatting with other visitors. There is a full bar and restaurant with wait staff that serve you while you soak in their hot springs bath. It was a lot of fun! Pagosa Springs is also super fun in the summertime with plenty of sunshine and excellent hiking. If you need a place to stay, check our place and book a stay! https://www.itrip.net/pagosa-springs-vacation-rental/191-talisman-dr-d202
