A hot time at Disney for Dan and Julie

Julie traveled to Florida to attend the Girl Scouts National Convention, held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort on July 20-22. Although not an official delegate, she enjoyed the activities and events and took notes to report back to the Heart of New Jersey council.

Dan flew down to join her as the convention was wrapping up, and the couple spent the next three days visiting three of the Disney parks - Hollywood Studios, Animal Kindom and EPCOT.

Pacing themselves in the midsummer heat, and avoiding the thrill rides that had the longest lines, they had a great time exploring the parks. Neither had been to Disney Florida in decades. Only Dan had seen EPCOT before (on a long-ago trip with young Marie and Danny), and neither had seen the Hollywood and Animal parks. They finished up by watching the EPCOT fireworks, then flew home on the 26th.

Catching up with Mary and her family

Editor's note: At Brien's St. Patrick's Day Parade party last month, Mary shared several pieces of news - and agreed to write them up for The Birch Street Web. Here is her account.

So much has changed, so I’ll just dive right in and start with myself. I decided to sell the townhouse I was living in, that I inherited from my mother, and I bought a house on Sacandaga Lake - 15 minutes from my son’s house, so, closer to the grandkids. I’m directly across the street from the lake and have lakefront rights.

I moved in last spring (2022) and spent a lot of time kayaking and then snowshoeing this past winter. It’s a cozy 3-bedroom, 1½ bath ranch with den and full basement on half an acre, perfect for me and my dog, Luna.

I rescued this little hound last March and she has been amazing so far - loves kayaking and going snowshoeing with me. (I had to put the Big Guy / the great dane down.) Roger and I have parted ways so it was perfect timing buying the house. I have incredible neighbors and the Sacandaga Brewery is less than 3 miles away (nice bike ride LOL).

I am switching positions at my job within my organization, the Boys and Girls Club of the Capital Area, which operates Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs at public schools in the area. I am currently the UPK Director for the Cohoes City School District. I oversee 8 classrooms and have 21 employees. But I will be transitioning to the role of Director of Operations and will be overseeing all 24 of our UPK classrooms in 3 different school districts (Albany, Watervliet, and Cohoes), with a staff of 56. I also will be overseeing the directors that run after-school programming and aquatics -- so, exciting times, venturing a bit outside of the Early Childhood world.

I am also starting a consulting company: WOO Consulting (Wise Old Owl), offering life coaching, spiritual life coaching and holistic healing. During the pandemic I became certified in all three areas. I have been running a free 6-week pilot program with 6 clients to get feedback on their experiences and overall impression of the coaching and goal-setting. So far, the follow up conversations have been incredible and so helpful. I am meeting with a business consultant to file a DBA and set up web-site and social-media platforms -- so more to come on that once I am up and officially running.

Now, updates on my children:

Brienna is still living in Saratoga with her boyfriend, Tommy, and is currently attending art school. She is concentrating on graphic design and seems to be loving it. (Photo: Brienna and Tommy with Barkley, a Christmas gift from Mary.)

Brienna's son, Cash, is turning 12 in August and is in middle school -- crazy how time goes by. He lives in Lexington, Ky., with his dad and stepmother, and has a baby brother who is now 6 months old. Brienna still sees Cash often throughout the year and every day on FaceTime -- thank goodness for social media.

Brennan and Shauna Rae and their kiddos, Brooklyn (11) and Brennan (8), are doing amazing. My son and his wife have both completed their Masters degrees. Brennan is currently a physical education teacher for Fulton/Montgomery Elementary School and Shauna-Rae is teaching special-education high school math in Broadalbin, as well as pursuing her administration degree. The kids are busy playing basketball, soccer, baseball and softball.

The family is thinking about relocating to Tampa, Fla., after the school year ends; their house just went on the market to see if this might be feasible. They might not be 15 minutes around the corner from me for long! But I reassured them that I will just book more frequent-flyer miles -- and the kiddos can still enjoy snow on their winter break, as they can spend it with me in NY!

Shannon and Mary

Shannon is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. She has been married for 3 years -- and she and her husband, Frederick, are expecting their first baby, a girl, in mid-July. 

The couple met when both were stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. (Their wedding was simple, with no reception; a friend of theirs married them. Young military, haha!) They later transferred to Eglin AFB in the Florida Panhandle, and bought a house in Crestwood, Fla. Frederick, who was a staff sergeant and medic in the Air Force, just separated from the service and is pursuing his degree in medicine through the GI Bill. Shannon works as a pharmaceutical technician at Eglin.

Shannon and Frederick

Brienna and Mary at the Terrapin Brewery in Athens Georgia - a pit stop on the way to see Shannon in Florida 

A very 2020 Christmas get-together

Keeping up holiday tradition as well as possible under the circumstances, Kathy hosted a virtual version of the annual Yonkers Christmas party on Dec. 27. Family members Zoomed in from up and down the East Coast to exchange Christmas greetings as well as wishes for a much better 2021.

In this checkerboard version of a family photo, we see (top row) Austin in Florida, Dan & Julie in New Jersey, Kathy in Yonkers, and Genevieve with Jack (and John off-screen) in Manhattan; (2nd row) Kevin, Kathy and Kevin in Yonkers, Vivien, CJ and baby Austin in New Jersey (Charlie was napping), Andy and Wren in Middleburgh, NY; (3rd row) Ellen and Owen on Cape Cod (with Lizzie offscreen), Beatrice upstairs from her mom, Christine (with Jamie offscreen) in New Hampshire and Marie in Virginia; and (bottom row) Kelsey and Patrick in northern Westchester (visiting Kelsey's parents), Brien in Yonkers and Mary (with Roger offscreen) in Malta, NY. Also taking part but not captured in this screenshot were Shanna, Rick and Lucy. 

Glimpses of Thanksgiving get-togethers

Marie, Brian and Xander hosted Thanksgiving dinner for Dan and Julie, Christine and Jamie and Andy and Shannon. Marie created a fabulous feast and everyone enjoyed talking and playing games together. It was the first opportunity for Marie, Brian and Xander to meet Jamie. And it was Andy's first chance in several years to travel to a Thanksgiving gathering, after four years of working in retail.

The next day, Dan, Julie, Christine, Jamie, Andy and Shannon enjoyed the annual "Black Friday" gathering at Doug and Lisa's home in Maryland, along with Cathy, Christopher, Stephanie, Liz, Hugh and Dolores. Lisa prepared the traditional meal of Corner Stable ribs, homemade crabcakes and delicious side dishes. It was another chance for Hugh and Dolores to enjoy the company of all their children and several grandchildren. (By the time this photo was taken, Lisa and Stephanie had retired for the evening.)

Elsewhere this Thanksgiving in our extended-family universe, Courtney visited her mom, Nanette, on Shelter Island.

Meanwhile, Austin and his daughter, Rachel, enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner (and a classic movie) together in Florida.

Courtney & Chad wed - and dance the night away

Courtney and Chad were married before a crowd of relatives and friends at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla., on Oct. 20

Courtney's mom, Nanette, walked her down the aisle and later shared a dance with her daughter at the reception.

The joyous reception featured hours of dancing to a DJ/band combo. At one point, the DJ/bandleader serenaded the couple on an electric violin - then set off sparklers on the instrument! That moment is captured in this video that one of Courtney's friends posted on Facebook (login required).

Among the guests on the bride's side were Nanette's brother Larry, brother Emory and Robin, cousin Austin, cousin Owen and Ellen, cousin Dan and Julie, cousin Kathy and Robert. The gathering included scores of other friends and relatives of the bride, groom and their parents.

Click here for an album of photos of the happy event, most of them posted by Courtney's friends, along with a few taken by Dan on his phone.

Here are some snatches of video of the dance party that Dan took on his phone.

Florida girl gets to frolic in the snow

Florida resident Courtney was visiting her mom, Nanette, on New York's Shelter Island when she got "snowed in," as the third in a late-winter series of Nor'easter storms rolled up the East Coast.

"I can't complain about getting stuck in this beautiful place," Courtney posted along with these photos.

A day or two earlier, Nanette and Courtney checked on the progress of the house Nanette is having built to be her new Shelter Island home.

More Christmas scenes from around the family

We see that Genevieve, John and Bea; Vivien and CJ; and Patrick all gathered at Kathy's house in Yonkers on Christmas Day. (Kathy must be behind the camera.)


In Florida, we see Courtney and Chad posing in front of their tree. Was Nanette the photographer here?

And back in New Jersey, while Andy and Shannon spent the later part of the day with Shannon's family, Christine and James enjoyed Christmas dinner with Dan and Julie.

Please share your Christmas scenes with the family here on Birch Street Web!

Merry Christmas to all our extended family!

Best wishes to all for a wonderful Christmas weekend! Here are just a couple of holiday photos that we've collected so far. Please share photos and stories of your festivities!

Courtney posted this photo of her Christmas tree with the comment, "This year we went with a 12-foot tree!" Nanette is currently visiting Courtney in Florida.

Kathy posted this shot of Bea enjoying the Holiday Express exhibit at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. And Genevieve shares this classic pose with Santa.

Family photos of Halloween 2017

Here's a selection of photos, mostly pulled from Facebook, of Halloween around our extended family. Above, Spiderman/Nolan prepares to head out trick-or-treating.

Above, a trick-or-treat trio: Bea visiting with cousins Scarlet and Reuben in New Jersey.

And at right, Princess Bea in her New York neighborhood.

Brennan and Shauna Rae's daughter, Brooklyn, took part in her school's Halloween parade, and this photo of her in a purple-and-black witch-queen gown appeared on the school district's website.

Here's another costumed trio: Xander as Sans (from the Undertale video game), Marie as "Panda Wizard" and Brian as "Cat Dracula."

Christine, Andy and his girlfriend, Shanna, took care of dispensing candy to trick-or-treaters at Birch Street HQ. Here they pose with their pumpkin creations.

And in Florida, Courtney and her co-workers all dressed for the day. There's Courtney at the right, representing the USA.

Florida family members all safe after hurricane

Hurricane Irma in Florida, Sept. 10-11, 2017

We're glad to know that our family members in Florida are all safe after Hurricane Irma made its way through the state.

At one point, the storm seemed to be aiming for the southeastern part of the state, and there was concern about serious flooding in Palm Beach County where Courtney lives. Irma's western turn lessened the storm surge on the east coast when it struck the state on Sunday, although the high winds brought down trees and power lines and Courtney was without electricity as of Tuesday.

The course change sent the hurricane up Florida's west coast, and for a time it appeared Irma had her eye on Tampa Bay. That raised the concern level for Austin and his daughter, Rachel, who both live in Clearwater, between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. But the storm tracked farther inland than expected and began to weaken. "All is well," Austin messaged Monday morning as what was now a tropical storm began to move away. "No significant damage except for scattered branches on the street. Power is still on. Everyone is safe."

As Irma moved on into Georgia and Alabama, its enormous size brought tropical storm winds across South Carolina and much of North Carolina. Owen reported on Tuesday that he'd been assured by a friend "that my Charleston house is fine and did not become an aquarium." His daughter, Lizzie, currently teaches third grade in the Charleston suburbs and lives in Daniels Island, S.C., which was hit by high wind and tidal flooding on Monday. Liz had retreated to Charlotte, N.C., to wait out the storm, but was able to return Tuesday. The school system, which was closed Friday through Tuesday, resumed classes on Wednesday.

Courtney & Chad are engaged

We're catching up with news that broke a couple of weeks ago in Florida: Courtney and her long-time boyfriend Chad are now engaged to be married!

Chad proposed while the couple was on a boat heading to a restaurant to celebrate Chad's birthday. Chad had secretly arranged to turn the birthday party into an engagement party. Courtney's mother, Nanette, had flown down from New York to join the celebration along with Chad's family and Courtney's close friends.

We hear the plan is for the wedding to take place next year, in the fall. Congratulations, Chad and Courtney!

Christine, James visit Disney's worlds

Christine and James recently got to spend several days at Walt Disney World in Orlando, exploring the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot Center and Hollywood Studios.

They spent the most time at the Animal Kingdom park, viewing the wide variety of animals in recreated habitats - and exploring the just-opened World of Avatar section.

Based on the movie about the planet Pandora, that section mixes earthly-but-exotic with artificial-otherworldly flora and fauna, much of which glows in the dark. A river-raft ride includes a close look at Disney's most-advanced animatronic character ever, the Na'vi Shaman of Songs.

Here are just a few of the photos Christine took, plus a brief Disney video clip of that shaman.