2009 Eli's Coming of Age
(8/23/09)
2009 Eli's Coming of Age(8/23/09)
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Eli Echt-Wilson (here is another picture of Eli Echt-Wilson) had his "Bar Mitzvah Inspired" 13th birthday party on 8/23/09 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Age 13 is the age you become an adult in the Jewish tradition, so this is Eli's "Coming of Age" celebration. On this page are some pictures and videos from that day. Click on any picture below for the original (enormous) high quality version.
We got up on 8/23/09 (Sunday) and had brunch outside at Eli's parent's house (Randy and Ramey) the day of the event. The picture below is outside on the back deck on Randy and Ramey's home in Albuquerque.
Starting at 6pm, a few friends and family gathered at "Romano's Macaroni Grill" in Albuquerque, New Mexico for dinner. Eli and a few others got up and gave speeches. The picture below is the room filling with people before lunch, milling about, talking. Eli is in the red shirt near the center of the picture.
Ari Echt ("Big Ari") in the white shirt with his arm around Molly Moxness. Big Ari standing next to Ari Echt-Wilson ("Little Ari") in the flower print dress facing the camera. Little Ari was named after Big Ari (her Uncle).
Ellie on the left talking with David Echt. David is Eli's poppy (grandfather on his mother's side).
Below is Ari Echt-Wilson, Brian Wilson (me), Eli Echt-Wilson (Bar Mitzvah boy/man). Ari and Eli are my niece and nephew.
Ari Echt-Wilson on the far left, Howard Wilson (Eli's grandfather) in back, Virginia Wilson in purple shirt (Eli's grandmother), Carole Echt (Eli's Nonnie, his grandmother on his mother's side), and David Echt on the far right (Eli's Poppy, his grandfather on his mother's side). Eli is in the red and white shirt closer to the camera. At the center of the table is a 40 pound jug of pennies that Howard Wilson collected since Randy was born (Eli's father) and Howard gave this to Eli at this celebration.
Starting from left that is Ari Echt, Aaron Moxness, Molly Moxness at the head of the table, Debbi Echt, and Mike Moxness on the far right in glasses.
The Daniels family: Ellie (on far left), Susan, Jim, and Mimi on the far right.
From the left: Jonathan Dunski who directed many of Eli's shows. Sibby Browne and Cole Borgeson, Eli's soccer coaches. Kyle Woolrich, who coached Eli early, when Kyle was in high school.
From the left, Eli's teachers Luella Zwilling (in white), Eileen Karas (in black), and Don Starr on the far right.
From the left, the Miner family: Ian (in tie), Nadine (red), Corey (green front), Amanda, and John. At the bottom of the picture is Patrick from Eli's soccer team, and Patrick's brother Dylan on the right.
Bottom left Patrick, above him John Rhinehart, Kathleen Rhinehart, Marjan Vena, Darryl Vena, Dustin, and Garrett.
During the ceremony Ellie and Mimi kissed Eli. Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy, it happened quickly.
From left to right that's Ellie, Molly (in front), Ari (middle back), and Mimi in the parking lot after the celebration.
Another major event of the weekend was to attend the Albuquerque Little Theatre production of "High School Musical 2". Here we are entering the theatre.
Here are the stars of the show on the wall inside the lobby. In the lower right corner is Ari Echt-Wilson (my niece).
This is the inside of Albuquerque Little Theatre right before the show. You can see the title of the show above the stage (High School Musical 2). Use your horizontal scrollbar to scroll to the right and see the whole audience and balcony.
The announcer before the show.
During the show, second from left is Ari Echt-Wilson (red pants, white shirt, bare midriff).
Ari (in red pants with one leg rolled up) performing a short dance number (which is why she is blurry :-).
In this scene, Ari is holding the catcher's mitt. Again, one of her jean legs is rolled up. Ari is playing a hip-hop character, and the style is from LL Cool J or Eminem "gangsta" look where they made this a hip-hop style.
Ari walking forward to center stage during one scene. She is sixth from the far right in plaid shorts with her right hand extended.
After the show Ari and Molly in the area where the performers sign autographs.
After the main production, there was a Cabaret where several people performed. Below is a very short clip of Ari Dancing. Click Here for the original high quality QuickTime version.
Later that night, back in Randy and Ramey's home we're winding down. That's me (Brian) on the stool with Molly.
Finally, a few pictures of Randy and Ramey's Albuquerque home, which they call "The Barn". Below is a picture from the front.
Here is a picture from the back
And a picture of their back yard with swimming pool and back deck.
Inside the great room.
Below are a couple pictures from the great room lined up to kind of show a panorama plus the height of the room. It spans 2+ floors with 40 foot (?) ceilings and massive wood beams.
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A picture from the stair case looking over into the kitchen.
A different perspective on the kitchen.
And we end this picture set with a photo of Lucky, the family dog. :-)
That's it!
