The tradition continues: The annual Yonkers Christmas gathering, 2009 edition (Updated with video)

The Midland Avenue homestead once again was the scene of a Christmastime party featuring four generations of the family. Daniel and Lorraine hosted the crowd consisting of their children, grandchildren (except California Dan) and great-grandson Xander; spouses of children and spouses of grandchildren.

Much food was consumed, many gifts exchanged, a Spontaneous Dance Party broke out, and the annual game of Capture the Flag was played, followed by the traditional Argument About Who Cheated at Capture the Flag. Another great Christmas celebration!

Enjoy some video highlights:

Please send us your Christmas celebration stories and photos

Becky in holiday week curling tournament

After a brief Christmas trip to the Maryland homestead, Becky is back in Rochester where she is leading a team in the Grand National Curling Club Junior National Play-Downs.

The tournament is being held at the Rochester Curling Club, not far from RIT where she is a freshman.

Follow the team's progress at the club's web site.

A sporting gift

Dan and Eyvonne enjoyed a big sports-watching weekend. As Dan's present to sports-fan Eyvonne, they watched the San Jose Sharks defeat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 on Saturday, then went to San Francisco on Sunday and watched the 49ers defeat the Detroit Lions 20-6. Good picks, Dan!

Merry Christmas! Holiday snapshots 2009 (Updated 12/27)

Marie, Brian and Xander


From Kevin, Kathy, Shanna and Kevin, via Shanna's Facebook page:

From Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy:
Marie, Brian and Xander visited Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy on Saturday:

And visions of sugarplums...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Andy awarded First Class rank in Boy Scouts

Andy officially received his First Class rank in a Court of Honor ceremony held by Boy Scout Troop 33 in Fanwood on Monday (12/21).

Andy completed many of his First Class requirements during a week at Sabattis Scout Reservation in upstate New York this summer, and was awarded the rank by a Board of Review this fall. He has been a member of Troop 33 since the spring of 2007.

California couple's first Christmas tree!

Lizzie performs in 'Nutcracker'

Update from Cape Cod:

Lizzie has been busy with rehearsals and winter dance performances. This photo shows her preparing for the Chinese Dance in the Nutcracker ballet.

She's been in four performances of Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet this season. Her fifth was canceled Sunday due to the snow.

Regards to all,
Tish

After the storm: Shoveling and frolicking (Updated 12/25)

The big snowstorm of Dec. 19-20 was a major inconvenience to some, but fun for others. As of late Sunday afternoon it was over for most of us - but still snowing hard on Cape Cod.

Please tell us your snow stories and/or send us photos, by e-mail or by adding to this photo album (find out how).

So far we have pictures from Dan in Fanwood, Marie in Trenton, Shanna in Yonkers, Tish on Cape Cod, Hugh from Deep Creek Lake, Md., and views of Sag Harbor from the Sag Harbor Express.

Click the window to see larger images at Picasa

From Webmaster Dan:
Here at Birch Street headquarters we measured 7 1/2 inches on our backyard table this morning. Luckily it was all fluffy powder, and fairly easy to shovel. And with the sun out, it was a good day for backyard frolicking. We were lucky - the timing and nature of the storm was perfect for us. We didn't need to go anywhere during the storm Saturday, there wasn't any ice, and everything looks good today covered in white.

From Tish:
Hello from snowy Cape Cod! This photo was just taken when I peeked out our front door - we are somewhere around 18 inches and it is still snowing. (Sent Sunday afternoon.)


Monday update from Tish: The snow finally stopped and today is a snow day for all the Cape Cod school districts. And from Gerrit, via Facebook: It seems that Cape Cod towns decided plowing will be unneccesary for this snow. Im sure it will melt by 2010 anyhow, why waste the money in these slow economic days...

From Hugh:
Here's a photo from Deep Creek Lake. Officially there was 24 inches of snow, but where we were it did not seem more than 18 or 20 inches.

Solstice Snowstorm 2009

We hope all our East Coast family members are coping well with the big snowstorm.

Here on Birch Street, the snow was the perfect backdrop as Julie baked cookies and Dan, Christine and Andy put up and decorated the Christmas tree. We're sort of starting to feel almost ready for the big day.


Please send along your stories and photos as you weather the storm -- and shovel out.

You can add your own pictures to our Birch Street Sharing photo album. Find out how.

Wise words about science and faith

"Both religion and science seek an understanding of the universe and our place in it, but from different perspectives. ... Properly pursued, the two fields are complementary, neither antagonistic nor mutually exclusive."

Those words from the introduction sum up the essential point of "Science and Faith: Partners in the Search for Truth," in which our own chemist and scholar debunks the idea that science and religion are incompatible rivals.

As a student of both fields, Daniel explains in very common-sense fashion how each has its limits but how together they can give us a fuller understanding of the world we live in.

In his writing, Daniel shares both his strong faith and his enthusiasm for the pursuit of knowledge.

The book, published this spring, is available from Amazon.com. Clicking the image here will take you to its page at Amazon, where you can also read the first few pages.

Christine in holiday choral concert

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School music department presented its Winter Choral Concert on Dec. 16. It was an evening of holiday music featuring the 160-plus-member Concert Choir and five smaller groups of singers. The school puts a lot of emphasis on music and the students put on an excellent show.

Christine is among the sopranos in the Concert Choir. Her boyfriend Matt sings bass in all the male and mixed groups and is one of seven SPFHS students chosen for the central New Jersey regional mixed chorus, which will perform in late January.

Here are excerpts from the Concert Choir performance. As it begins you'll see Christine in the top left and Matt in the bottom right of the frame.

Andy drums in holiday concert

Park Middle School Band presented its 7th and 8th Grade Winter Concert on Dec. 15. The program included the "Blue Notes" singers, the full school chorus and the school band. Eighth-grader Andy is the band's first-chair drummer.

Here the band performs a medley of "Carol of the Bells" and "Greensleeves." Andy is in the percussion section in the right rear, playing suspended cymbal and triangle.



This video gives a closer view as Andy plays snare drum on "Coventry Carol."

Singing out with holiday glee (Updated with video)

The Male Glee Club of Yonkers performed its annual Winter Concert on Sunday (Dec. 13), featuring numbers by the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein and George Gershwin as well as holiday classics like the Twelve Days of Christmas and White Christmas.

Daniel, seen at top right, has been singing with the club since 1976. For this show the audience included his wife, Lorraine; daughter Kathy and her husband, Ted; sons Dan, Brien and Kevin, plus Kevin's wife, Kathy, and their children Shanna and Kevin.

Here's a two-minute clip of excerpts from some of the Christmas songs in the show.

First snowfall of the season

The view in Hamilton, NJ:

Getting into the holiday spirit

Xander went with his family the Winter Wonderland festival at Kuser Farm Park in Hamilton Township.


Xander's Grandma Barbara says "Blue was the hit of the night."

In memory of Anamarie (Updated 12/3)

Our family is saddened by the passing of Anamarie, mother of Larry, Emory and Nanette, grandmother of Courtney, sister of Daniel and their late brother Austin, and "Aunt Anamarie" or "Aunt Ann" to so many of us.
A wonderful and joyful lady, Anamarie passed away at her daughter's home in Florida on Thanksgiving evening. A memorial service will be held Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. at Aycock Funeral Home in Jupiter, Fla. A second memorial will take place in New York at a later date.

We are building a web page dedicated to Anamarie's memory, so please send along any stories and photos you'd like to share. Click here to see the page.

UPDATE: A wonderful selection of photos from Anamarie's life has been posted at "Making Everlasting Memories" (www.mem.com). A few of them are also on our memorial page. For the rest, click here to go to the MEM pages dedicated to Anamarie and choose the "Images" and "New Gallery" links.

Happy Thanksgiving from Maryland

Doug and Lisa returned to their Maryland home to host a Thanksgiving weekend gathering for both sides of their family.
Above, Doug and Lisa are at top right beside Doug's sister Julie; her husband, Dan; Doug's parents, Dolores and Hugh; and Doug's sister Cathy. In front are Doug and Lisa's daughters, Rebecca and Lizzie, and seated behind them are their cousins Stephanie, Christine, Andy and Christopher.

Below, Lisa stands with her brother Rick, sister Sue and Sue's husband, Dave; seated between Rebecca and Lizzie is Sue and Dave's daughter Kathy.
It was a weekend of good food, conversation and relaxation (with a bit of clean-up work around the property thrown in).

Plus a spontaneous rock concert -- that is, a spur-of-the-moment trip by Rebecca, Kathy, Christine, Andy, Julie and Dan to a nearby theater to see Crack the Sky, a band that was very popular in Baltimore in the 1970s and still plays occasional concerts in the area. Julie has always been a big fan, and it's rubbed off on her husband and kids.

Happy Thanksgiving from New Jersey

Brian; his dad, Steve; Xander and Marie sit down for a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner, as Barbara takes the photo.

Send us your Thanksgiving stories and photos - Keep in touch!

Honeymoon in St. Thomas

John and Genevieve had a dream honeymoon on St. Thomas, and now we have some photos courtesy of Genevieve's Facebook page.

John gazing contemplatively from the balcony of their room.

Dinner on the beach.

Genevieve looking mahvelous on the hotel grounds.

During a catamaran cruise.

Birch Street Web's coverage of the wedding
Preview the official wedding photos

An early visit with Santa

Xander got a jump on the holiday season by getting in some pre-Thanksgiving face-time with Santa. Nothing like getting your requests in early!

Newlyweds settling in at home

Genevieve and John arrived home in California on Tuesday after their honeymoon in St. Thomas. "The trip was great," John says. "Will send some pictures soon, once we've settled in."

The newlyweds are hosting John's mother and sister Kelly for an early Thanksgiving celebration this weekend. After that they plan a fairly quiet T-day at home.

See the official photos from Genevieve and John's wedding (Updated 11/16)

Genevieve and John's photographers have now posted their wedding photos on the Ulysses Photography website. There are hundreds of wonderful pictures that can be previewed there.

You can get to the album by going to ulyssesphotography.com and clicking "Client Proofs" and then choosing Genevieve & John's wedding. You'll be asked to enter an e-mail address in order to see the proofs.

Meanwhile ... some of John and Genevieve's friends have been posting pics of the event on Facebook... Here's the best shot of the ceremony itself that we've seen so far:

Photo by Giselle

See Birch Street Web's coverage of the wedding

Doug and Lisa explore Death Valley

Continuing to make the most of their residency in Nevada, Doug and Lisa took a trip into Death Valley and brought back some great photos.

Darwin Falls

Mt. McKinley as seen through a natural arch at Alabama Hills, near Lone Pines, Calif.

Doug peers through an arch

Genevieve and John get married - and the crowd goes wild

Genevieve and John were married in a beautiful ceremony at Our Lady of Fatima church in Scarsdale on Nov. 7. They celebrated with family and friends in a joyous reception at the Tarrytown House, where bride, groom and guests danced up a storm late into the evening.

Here are some video highlights: First, John and Genevieve exiting the church amid cheers and birdseed.



John and Genevieve make their entrance at the reception.



Genevieve dances with John and with her Dad:



The evening wrapped up with this sing-along-dance-along finale:



Here are just some of the photos Dan took:



More photos in these albums:

Genevieve and John's wedding - Shanna's photos	G&J Wedding - Guests - Dan's Photos

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Now! A new Birch Street Web feature!
ADD YOUR PHOTOS!
Read this to find out how.

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See John and Genevieve's wedding website

Sneak a peek at the "official" photos

NEW! A way we can all share photos

Webmaster Dan says:

I've created a new account on Picasa where we can all share photos. Here's how:

->Click this link to Picasa
->Enter this in the E-mail field: birchstreetsharing
->Enter this in the Password field: keepingintouch

You'll see photo albums added so far, and you can add your own pictures by clicking the Upload button. Following the prompts, you can create a new album or add to an existing album. You can add captions to the photos, put comments on other people's photos, e-mail links to friends, etc. (I recommend setting the albums to "Unlisted" so they won't show up in web searches.)

Once you've added pictures, let me know by sending an e-mail to birchstreetweb@gmail.com and I'll spread the word here on Birch Street Web.

Any questions? Contact me.

Andy chosen for school's jazz band

Andy auditioned and was selected as one of three drummers in the Park Middle School Jazz Band. He placed first in the scoring (59 out of 60) and was assigned the most difficult piece to perform in the band's concert later this term.

He's also a member of the percussion section of the school's Concert Band, which has a holiday show in December and another concert in the spring. The spring show will include a number called "Jai Ho" from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" on which Andy will play the drum set part.

The terror of Tibbets Road

At Kevin and Kathy's home, son Kevin takes charge of the Halloween decorations and creates his own spooky audio-animatronic display.

At left you can see a full-sized skeleton rigged up to move and a pirate skeleton emerging from the ground.

Shanna sent along a video clip of what nighttime trick-or-treaters saw when they came to the house.

"You can't see it all in the video but the front gate opened by itself when the trick-or-treaters got to it," Shanna says.

"There were skeletons with strobe lights and blinking eyes in the bushes. The skeleton on the stairs also moved when the kids were getting their candy."

(The video starts out pitch black, but give it a few moments.)

See more Halloween pictures

Share your pictures and stories

SPFHS marching band's season finale

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders Marching Band wrapped up its competition season with a great show Sunday night at the USSBA Northern States championships in Allentown, Pa.

Christine enjoyed her third year in the band's flute section, and her brother Andy is looking forward to joining next fall, the one year that both will be students at SPFHS.