RZRM: Family News

Recent Family News

1999

Found a new place!! (15.Ag.1999)
We moved to our new place, a house for rent at:
Moving back to San Nico!! (11.Jl.1999)
After almost nine years in Texas territory, the Ríos make the trip back to San Nico. Roger joins UANL, as an assistant professor, and the family very happy to be among their folks. The family gathered for a welcoming reception at the Monterrey airport, and it was breath-taking indeed: Welcome back to the developing world!!

Austin trip (22-23.My.1999)
We take a little break and go to Austin to regain some of our lost spirit. On Saturday, we met with Erika and Genaro at their place for a nice Mexican lunch. Genaro is getting his degree in EE from UT this Summer. genaro got a job with Lucent and they will be moving to Brownsville in August. Later that day, we visited Abraham and Nancy and met little 3-year-old Alex, and their latest addition 7-month-old Sam. On Sunday, we had the great Mike-style BBQ-ed burguers at Terry and Mike Arguello's. Roberto is almost three his sister, Susi, is a big 10-month-old. We had a great time this weekend, as usual whenever we visit the sacred longhorn land.

Atlanta business trip (08-12.My.1999)
Roger attends the SIAM Conference on Optimization to present his work, but takes the chance to meet with the Atlanta Chapter of FutMex-L: David Levine, Jorge Pérez, and Jorge "Coco" Arias, with their respective families. He had a great time. In addition, Roger meets with Zeferino during the conference bringing back old memories. Zefe is now teaching at ITAM, in México City.

Corpus Christi trip (01-02.My.1999)
We made the trip to Corpus to witness, ex-soccer teammate, Alfredo Diacute;az' wedding. We also had a chance to finally meet little almost-2-year-old Biali, son of our friends Shirley and René Mariscal. We even spend the night in their just-bought new house and made the official opening ceremony.

Vande turns 3! (14.Mr.1999)
We celebrated Vande's third candle with a delicious Tres Leches cake. Buelita Gris, who has been here for a month, shared this one with us.

Roger injures knee! (10.Fb.1999)
After many years of healthy conditions, this morning Roger suffered a severe torn ligament in his left knee. He will be forced to take a break for indefinite time.

Shaní is born!!! (04.Fb.1999)
After another very pleasant pregnancy stage, Aleida Shaní, our first daughter (and second child), was born at Memorial City Hospital in Houston, Texas. She was a very healthy baby of 3.3 Kg and 48 cm. We are all very happy (including Vandari, Shaní's older brother) to have her with us. We just need nine more to complete the soccer team.

Ofe's Baby Shower (16.Ja.1999)
María Heubeck, our Chilean friend, organizes a baby shower for Ofe at her place.

1998

San Nico trip (Dc.1998)
We spent the Winter Holidays with all our relatives back in San Nico. We finally met Kin Michelle, my sister's daughter, born in October. We also had a chance to see Ofe's parents who made the trip from Zacatecas. I had been not to Mexico for a year, so I really enjoyed it very much.

Dallas trip (Nv.1998)
It was now Dallas' turn to receive us for Thanksgiving. We spend thanksgiving eve with Margarita, Jorge and his family. Margarita is now working as a Quality Control Manager in a local company, and Jorge is doing his PhD in Statistics at SMU. Dinner was delicious, and of course, the Mexican version of that turkey. We had a very nice time with them.

The following day we visited Siwate and May at their place in Irving. Siwate, my Thai ex-UT officemate, is now working here for I2 and seems to be doing very good. We watched together (on TV) how Ricky Williams led the Horns to a dramatic come-from-behind victory over arch-rival Aggies 26-24, breaking NCAA all-time rushing yards record.

After a nice pizza lunch, we then visited Pilar and Alberto Ruiz and their family. Alberto, another ex-UT, is doing a postdoc at UT-Dallas. Pilar is working in a daycare center. We again continued with the turkey festivities, this time making the "torta" version. Next day both families went to the Forth Wort Zoo. The kids liked it very much. After a nice lunch buffet that left Roger at the edge of blowing up, the Ríos came back to Houston.

The 10,000 Km Club (16.Sp.1998)
It started 16 years ago. Today Roger runs his 10,000 Km.

Vande goes to Pre-School (Sp.1998)
Vandari starts experimenting the teaching process as he sets to attend a daycare/school center.

San Nico trip (06-20.Ag.1998)
Ofe and Vande take a two-week trip to San Nico to see the family. As usual they did not want to return, as Vande had so much fun with all his little cousins and associates. They also went to Cervantes, in Villa de Cos, Zacatecas, to see Ofe's parents.

Canada trip (11-26.Jl.1998)
The Ríos take a two-week business-pleasure trip to Canada. During the first week, Roger attended the Annual SIAM Meeting and gave a talk at the U. of Toronto. I met my paisano Apolinar Zapata who was also attending the conference. He is finishing his MSc work back at the UANL and came to present his work.

We also took Vande to the Toronto Zoo, the Islands, and Marineland, where he was amazed with all living creatures not seen before. We also had the must trip to Niagara Falls.

During the second week, we visited Ottawa and stayed with our friends, the Conways (Judy and the kids, Laura, Alain, and Beau). It was a great experience for Ofe and Vande, and for me to see the my Ottawan friends after almost 9 years. In Ottawa, we saw the change of guard at the Parliament and stopped by the Civilization Museum in Hull (just crossing the Ontario-Quebec bridge). We also took Vande to the Museum of Nature and the Museum of Science and Technology, where he had a very good time.

We spend the last day in Waterloo, where I met my friend Daniel Germán and his girlfriend, Donna. Daniel is hopefully finishing his doctoral work on computer science this year. We stayed at their place, which is a very nice house located in Cambridge's country hill. We had the chance to taste Daniel's chicken with mushroms which was excelent. Unfortunately, the trip had to end.

Another baby is coming!! (07.Jl.1998)
We have just been confirmed that Vande will have a sibling around 01.Fb.1999. He says he wants a sister, we'll see.

Vande celebrates his 2nd birthday in San Nico (Ap.1998)
A month after he turned 2, Vande had a big family celebration back in San Nico with all his family. Roger couldn't make it due to his traveling duties.

Austin trip (Ap.1998)
We spend part of the Spring break in beautiful Austin at Tere and Mike's place. We also visited Vicky and the girls and took Vande to see the bats under the Congress bridge.

Red Devil turns 100 K (18.Fb.1998)
The Red Devil turns 100,000 Km, just 3 days before she turns 6 years.

1997

San Nico trip (Dc.1997)
Roger and his family spend Christmas holidays in San Nico. As usual we all have a great time sharing some moments with all our big family. During the first week of January, Roger attends the NSF Manufacturing Grantee's Conference in Monterrey.

Austin trip (Nv.1997)
We spend the Thanksgiving Holiday in beautiful Austin at Siwate and May's place. We also visited some of our old friends like Gera and his family, and Erika and Genaro. We had a very good time.

Ofe's back to action (02.Nv.1997)
Ofe resumes her soccer activities as she signs for the Fever squad of the Houston Women Soccer Association. This is Ofe's debut in Division 1. Fever is a pretty good team and they showed it today as they rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win a nail-biter 3-2.

San Nico trip (Ag.1997)
Roger and his family spend a couple of weeks in San Nico, visiting the folks and friends to share the latest accomplishments.

Moving day (02.Jl.1997)
The Rios' relocate to Houston, Texas, where Roger is starting a post-doc as a team member of the Intelligent Pipeline Optimization Project. This is a joint project between Texas A&M University (Roger's official employer) and the University of Houston. Please update our home address and phone in your address book:

We left Austin with an unforgettable amount of vivid memories behind us. That will always have a very special place in our hearts.

Roger's doctoral dissertation defense (13.Jn.1997)
After years of struggling, Roger finally made it. It was a very special moment. Everything started the night before when Roger's family arrived in Austin without any prior notice. Roger's mom Griselda, grandpa Fidel, aunt Dalia, and uncle Rubi all came all the way from Monterrey to the defense to show their support. In addition, some of Roger's best friends like Siwate, Mike Arguello, Raúl González, and Manuel Treviño, put a lot more pressure in the jury who knew that if they had made Roger look bad they would probably not be let out alive. Everything went great, and the jury, formed by Roger's supervisor Jon Bard and Paul Jensen, Leon Lasdon, Gang Yu, and David Morton, decided not to risk their lives and granted Roger's the degree.

San Diego trip (03-09.My.1997)
The Ríos family take a trip to beautiful San Diego. Apparently, Roger travels because of the INFORMS National Meeting, but he barely had time to make it to his own presentation. We met Dario Alcocer's family and Roberto Heredia as they very kindly invited us to join them for a delicious Mexican pozole. Both Dario and Roberto are members of the FUTMEX-L San Diego Chapter. We also visited ex-UT-Austin student Diego del Castillo and his family in La Jolla. Diego is in his second year as a post-doc at UC-San Diego, Rosy working for the media, and their kids Dieguito and Carlitos, enjoying the beauty of soccer. It was very nice to bring back some old memories.

At the INFORMS Meeting I met Amelia Reagan, former UT-Austin student and now an Assistant Professor at UC-Irvine. I also run into other ex-UT-Austin's like Robert Reid, now working as a consultant for IBM, David Neheme who just got a job in a major airline company as an OR Analyst, the great Manuel Laguna, now teaching at UC-Boulder, and of course, my office mate Siwate, who also came to present his work, and his wife.

It was Vande's first trip to the beach, but the water was too cold we didn't even try getting in. We had a very good time in Old Town, the amazing San Diego Zoo, and marvelous Parque Balboa. Hoping we get back some day.

Dínamo grabs the cup!! (20.Ap.1997)
In a superb and masterful performance, Dínamo become the 1997 Texas Cup Champion in the co-ed division, by defeating two-time and defending Champ Dave's Team by a score of 4-0. This wrapped up an excellent season for our team, who finished the tournament unbeaten. The victory meant a lot to all members of the team, including Ofe and Roger, since it was the last chance for practically most of them to grab an UT Intramural Champion T-shirt and to be inducted into the University Champions Hall of Fame. If you some day visit UT-Austin, don't forget to stop by Gregory Gym and look for Dínamo's picture hanging in that sacred wall.

1996

Dolores Campeón!! (03.Nv.1996)
In a heck of a final match-up, Roger's team Dolores became the 1996 AHSL Cup Champion by defeating archi-rival Santos in sudden-death extra time. After taking a 2-0 lead, Dolores couldn't hang on and saw their lead dissappear in a very exciting second half. In the extra-time, it was Pedro, better known as Cone, who became the hero by scoring one of his trademark fantastic goals. Everyone jumped into the field to celebrate the victory. Unforgettable.

Vande is born!! (14.Mr.1996)
After a very pleasant pregnancy stage, Vandari Pavel, our first child, was born at Seton Hospital in Austin, Texas. He was a very healthy newborn of 3.7 Kg and 52.7 cm. I just don't have the words to describe the feeling of holding that little buddy into my arms.

Revised: August 1999