Christmas gathering in Yonkers, 2014 Edition

-- Updated 1/24/15 with more photos --

Kevin and Kathy were the hosts of this years traditional Christmastime gathering in Yonkers. Here's a photo of the happy crowd, with the newly engaged Shanna and Rick front and center.

Here are a few more-candid photos of the festivities, including a couple of alternate takes of the group portrait.

Scenes of Christmas 2014 (Send us yours!)

---Updated 12/27---

We hope everyone in our extended family had a very Merry Christmas! We're collecting snapshots of the festivities, and here's what we have so far.

Hugh and Dolores are spending the holidays visiting daughter Cathy and grandchildren Christopher and Stephanie in Ohio. A couple of days before Christmas, they all visited the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus.

In addition to its horticultural displays, the conservatory was exhibiting the entries in a gingerbread-house contest and some glass sculptures.

Cathy has shared a collection of photos from the conservatory that you can see here.

Grandpa Hugh sent along this photo of Chris & Stephanie unwrapping presents on Christmas morning.

At Birch Street HQ in New Jersey, it was a traditional Christmas morning with Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy opening gifts around the tree.

From Virginia, here's a shot of Xander in high-anticipation mode on Christmas Eve. He and parents Marie and Brian had a fine time opening their gifts on Christmas morning.

One of Xander's favorites was this Nerf bow-and-arrow set. He had a great time playing with it in the yard on a very mild Christmas afternoon.

Meanwhile, Courtney flew up from Florida to New York on Christmas Eve to visit her mom, Nanette. They're spending time in the city and at Nanette's place on Shelter Island.

Send us your Scenes of Christmas!

Shanna and Rick are engaged!

Christmas brings some special news to our family: Shanna and Rick are now engaged to be married.

Sources tell The Birch Street Web that Rick proposed and Shanna accepted on Christmas Eve. They have not yet set a wedding date.

Jersey boy Rick is a graduate student at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. Shanna is a teacher at the Ann & Andy preschool in Elmsford. N.Y.

We expect to have more details soon, so check back!

Merry Christmas to all our family

This Nativity scene was displayed for many years at the home of Daniel and Lorraine and their family. Brien now has it at his home and shares this photo with Merry Christmas wishes to all.

Still more signs of the season

We hope everyone's having fun, or at least not getting too stressed, preparing for Christmas.

Above, Birch Street Web headquarters looking festive. At right, the tree at Cathy, Chris and Stephanie's home.

Signs of Christmas are growing

Some of us are more ready that others for the approaching holiday!

Clearly, Xander is more than ready for Christmas to arrive in Virginia.

And from Clearwater, Fla., Rachel and Cindi share the photo below of their well-decked tree.

Brien joins jam session at Yonkers tavern

Brien has been spending some Tuesday nights taking part in a weekly jam session at one of the establishments on McLean Avenue in his Yonkers neighborhood.

"This is me wailing away (and singing!)," Brien writes. He says the jam nights at the Heritage Bar and Restaurant are "a lot of fun."

One of the organizers took this photo of Brien taking the lead. "I was singing Steppenwolf's 1970 version of 'Corina Corina,' an old blues song dating back to the 20's."

Signs of the coming season

Cathy sends along these photos of winter's arrival at Deep Creek in westernmost Maryland, where she stopped en route from Ohio to Baltimore for Thanksgiving weekend.

Looks pretty - and cold!

Meanwhile, some of us are preparing for Christmas, which is fast approaching. Shanna and her boyfriend, Rick, visited a farm in Connecticut over the weekend and picked out a tree for her family's home in Yonkers.

Happy birthday(s) to Brooklyn Rae and her Dad

It was three years ago today that Brooklyn Rae was born to Shauna-Rae and Brennan on her dad's birthday. We wish daughter and dad a wonderful birthday!

Brennan continues serving at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Base in North Carolina. He'll complete his tour of duty in the fall - or might be discharged early, possibly as soon as January.

In anticipation of that, Brennan and Shauna-Rae have bought a house in Broadalbin, N.Y., about 25 miles west of Saratoga Springs. Shauna-Rae, Brooklyn and little brother Brennan, who's four months old, have already moved, and the photos below were taken there in late October.

Brennan was able to come north to spend Thanksgiving weekend with his family. In January, he plans to begin taking online courses toward his next career. "He wants to teach high school history and coach sports," reports his mother, Mary.