THE KINKAID SCHOOL
Alex Curlet and his wife Catherine are living in DC and are busy settling into their new home. Alex continues to work at Clark Construction and is looking forward to some new projects, which will be bringing him back to Houston more often. In September, Kasey Buza Davis welcomed a daughter, Charley May. She and Tim are loving their new family of four. In February, she joined the litigation group at Winston Strawn LLP in Houston. Life is certainly busy, but “full of love and laughter.” Since finally wrapping the Hobbit trilogy last year, Jeanne Dear has been enjoying some much needed and deserved downtime. She is loving living in New Zealand and is currently spending a lot of time on the road working/playing with festivals, theatre and cirque tours. With the Avatar sequels slated to start shooting next year, she’ll be making a decision soon as to whether she wants to stay in the film industry or change course. She reports that considering the clowns she’s found in the industry, she may stick with the circus! Elana Herman Evans and her husband Greg are busy keeping up with their children Henry (4½) and Millie (2½). Henry is now in prekindergarten at Presbyterian School. This past fall, she accepted a position as in-house Senior Counsel to Nalco Champion, a publicly traded energy services, chemical company. She is primarily supporting the downstream and fracking business units. Greg and Elana just returned from the Caymans celebrating their seventh anniversary, and they are headed to Rosemary Beach with the family over the fourth of July. Grayson Fitch is a newlywed! He and his wife Kristi tied the knot on May 10 in Houston. After a honeymoon to Maui, the couple is planning to settle down in the Woodlands. Grayson continues to work for Constellation. Wylie Garcia reports that life was very cold this winter in Vermont, but very busy in her studio. She recently designed the State Gown for Mrs. Vermont in the national Mrs. USA competition. Her wearable art was featured this past May in Art New England Magazine. Along with a busy exhibition schedule, she began producing a new body of work, ink drawings inspired by nostalgia for the Texas landscape. She and her husband Clark Derbes are also happy to report they are expecting their second child in early September! Katherine Harper married Jared Vanlandingham this spring in Santa Fe and is very excited about her new last name! The couple travelled to Patagonia, Chile, for their honeymoon, and Katherine says it was gorgeous. She is now back to work as Head of Marketing and Communications for Reel FX. Their next animated film, The Book of Life, with 20th Century FOX comes out in October, and she hopes lots of little Falcons will go see it!
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Laurie Riley Heins is living in Hoboken, New Jersey, working at Coty in the city and enjoying life with her husband Neill and their two girls, Maggie (3) and Caroline (2). “Life is busy but full of goodness!” Margot Fried Hogan and her husband Brett are still living in Houston and welcomed their second baby boy, August, on their fourth wedding anniversary. Having launched MFH Marketing in 2012, she was working for The Houston Chronicle Style section and Houstonia Magazine until January 2014. Currently, she is taking some time off to enjoy life with her boys and explore new projects. Ran Jones and his wife are still living in Santa Monica, enjoying life with their seven-month-old daughter Juliette. Ran continues to work in TV casting for shows like Undercover Boss and The People’s Couch. After a long road, Yoav Kaufman is finally entering his sixth and final year of residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery, and he was recently accepted into a one-year hand fellowship at Stanford. Yoav, his wife Erika and their 15-month-old son Ethan are all looking forward to experiencing the west coast in 2015 before returning to Houston to establish his practice. Chris Leavitt and his wife Sarah are living in Houston and enjoying being new parents to son Harrison. Chris became a partner at The Buzbee Law Firm last year. Matt Lea and his wife Natalie continue to live in Houston with their son Harrison (3) and daughter Harper (8). They recently bought a house in Briargrove and have been busy remodeling. He is still at Porter & Hedges LLP practicing energy finance law. Andrew Lee and his wife Maryn moved to Garden Oaks in September and are loving their new neighborhood. Mandee and Andrew just got back from celebrating their five-year anniversary in Europe, so the rest of their summer should be pretty low key. Maryn will turn 5 this fall, and she loves her new school. Andrew is an analyst in the land department at BHP Billiton, and Mandee’s personal training business is doing very well. Other than that, it’s business as usual and life is pretty quiet. Jimmie Luthuli is working in DC local politics. She was also recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Wanda Alston Foundation, a charity that provides shelter and support for young members of the LGBTQ community in DC. Jamie Luff and her husband Martin are living in Houston and having fun with their son James, who is now two-and-a-half! Brooke McGuyer married Scott Hutson in a beautiful ceremony at Boot Ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas, this past fall. Brooke and Scott are thrilled to be expecting a baby girl this August. She continues to keep busy with Brooke McGuyer Interiors and chasing after her now four-year-old son Parker.
John McInnes and his wife Deborah recently moved to a new house in Houston to accommodate their growing family. Deborah and John had a their second little girl, Annie Cate, in October, and he is now officially outnumbered by the women in his family. He is still really enjoying working with ConocoPhillips in the Chief Economist’s office. Jessica Swafford Marcella and her husband Orrin were just getting home from vacation in Puerto Rico when she wrote. They enjoyed some family time in the sun with their daughter Juliana before she becomes a big sister later this summer! Jessica and Orrin are expecting their second in August and anxiously awaiting her due date to find out whether Juliana is getting a little brother or sister. She is still busy running the government affairs and communications team for a membership association of family providers in DC. Erica Palmer Mandel and her husband Jed were so excited to welcome Jack Harrison Mandel to their family in January! When she’s not chasing after Jack, Erica is busy working at Quorum doing sales in the oil and gas industry. She and Jed are looking forward to celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary this year and enjoying every minute with their son! Laura Kadish McConville is still enjoying life in Vermont, with her husband Peter and their two boys (4 and 6). She continues to work as a medical social working and spends her free time enjoying the natural beauty of her new home state, hiking, biking, gardening and cross-country skiing. Ashlee and Jeff Morehouse welcomed their first child Walker into the world on April 3! They still live in Alexandria, Virginia, and everyone is doing great. LB Roemer recently got engaged to Mallory Rigney while on vacation in Ixtapa, Mexico. LB and Mallory are planning to tie the knot in the Bahamas this coming January. Congratulations! Gavin Roseman and his wife Ashley welcomed their third child, Davis Benjamin Roseman, to their family in May. He is still working at Stellus Capital and enjoying life in Houston. Cayla Tenenbaum Rutchik is living in Miami and currently taking a break from practicing law to spend more time with her son Noah (2½). Jade Sachs and her husband Rob Fea continue to live in Madison, Wisconsin, where they are raising their two sons, Boden and Tate. Jade is staying home with the boys and practicing her skills on the washboard, hambone and spoons in hopes to join a blue grass band. While she hasn’t hit the big time yet, her sons think she’s amazing, so there could be some serious potential for her! Michele Soefer Shapiro is living in Los Angeles with her husband Andy and enjoying life as a new mom to son Simon Robert Shapiro born on January 5.
After four years working at Walmart’s headquarters in Arkansas, Colleen Sheedy moved back home to Houston this past fall and is working in digital marketing for Sysco Corporation. Colleen is loving being back home and closer to family and friends. Bart Shirley just finished his first full year of teaching math at Memorial High School. He and his wife, who is also a math teacher at Stratford, just celebrated their two-year anniversary. They are both looking forward to the summer and spending time with their two dogs, Peanut and Louie. Angela Sellin Strain and her husband Matt welcomed Lily Samantha Strain on January 14. She will be co-managing the UNC psychiatric ED starting in July. Krissy Turner has a new job as a Senior Litigation Attorney at AT&T’s corporate headquarters in Dallas, Texas. She is loving the new role and continues to enjoy Dallas! Layla Zafarnia Vela and her husband Kevin are still living in Dallas enjoying life with their children Ariana (3) and Arman (1). Layla is starting her seventh year at Dr. Pepper, and currently leads the Marketing Sponsorships team. Jenna Wallace is living in Houston, translating operas, cantatas and plays for various classical music and theater groups. Lindsay Green Wallace is still living in Houston and working at Cameron. She, along with fur babies, Dixie and Cleo, can’t wait for her husband Sam to finish his final rotation in Midland and move back home! The Law Office of Anne Keith Walton is going strong in its fifth year practicing criminal defense in the District of Columbia. She vacationed last year in Spain, Croatia, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, but is keeping it closer to home this year with more frequent trips to Texas. Todd Wax lives in Santa Fe with his wife Jessica, their daughter Sarah and their two dogs, Oscar and Chloe. He works for an investment management company in research communications. Laura Kamas Wheeler married Erik Wheeler in Houston this past February, becoming a stepmother to his adorable seven-year-old daughter Gabby. She is still enjoying working as a Marketing Brand Manager for Pappas Restaurants. Carson Wilson and his wife Lindsey welcomed their first son Bobby to their family in October of 2013. They are expecting their second in November and are excited to announce it’s another boy! As for me, Amy Parker Beeson, I am still busy in the trial section at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP and enjoying life in Houston with my husband Michael, and our pup Kaiser. We celebrated our second anniversary this May in Anguilla, and I’m thinking I could get used to spending Cinco de Mayo by the ocean.