Chris and Stephanie in piano recital

Christopher and Stephanie (posing at right with their teacher) performed in their Spring Piano Recital in early June 2008.

Here are a pair of videos.

First up is Stephanie playing her composition "British March."


Here is Chris playing two songs: "Pavane" and "The Statues are Dancing."

Whitewater fun on the Lehigh River

For a second year, Andy went with his Boy Scout Troop 33 on a weekend camping trip featuring a day of whitewater rafting. They rode a stretch of the Lehigh River near Jim Thorpe, Pa., on a very hot Saturday, June 7, 2008. In the photo, Andy is on the left in the middle of the raft.

Chris performs in spring concert

Christopher and his 5th grade band mates performed in the Cecil Manor Elementary School Spring Concert in May 2006. Here's Chris on saxophone in a number called "Jazz Riff."

Brien visits the North Country

Brien visited Aunt Pat, Mary Lorraine and the rest of the Saratoga-area branch of the family on May 28, 2008. CLICK ON THE PHOTO to see his report and photos.

California update: Hard-working Dan gets a break

Dan checks in from California where he has been, in his words, “CRAZY busy with school and work.” He’s just finished another semester at Gavilan College, where he recently received the school’s Scholarship for Academic Excellence in recognition of his all-A grade performance.

Dan has earned a certificate of achievement in Communication Studies and is working on his A.A. degree in Spanish; he expects to complete that in the fall semester. After that he’ll likely continue his studies at San Jose State University.

“I finally have a small break in between this last semester and summer classes,” Dan writes. He starts his days before dawn working at the Morgan Hill branch of Peet’s Coffee and Tea, a mostly-California chain whose founder basically invented the modern specialty-coffee-shop business.

“We started opening 30 minutes earlier a couple months ago, so I now have to be up for work every morning at 3:45 a.m. It gets a little rough on the days when I'm at school until 5:30pm, but that's over for the time being.”