Andy and Shannon's house in the country

Andy and Shannon are moving into their new home -- a house on six-plus acres in Middleburgh, N.Y. They closed on the purchase this week, promptly rented a truck and began moving their furniture and belongings.

The three-bedroom house has a partly finished basement, a large deck - and an amazing view of state forest land and the northern reaches of the Catskill Mountains. The photo below was taken last summer from the back of the house for the real estate listing.

The property also came with an outbuilding used mostly as garage and storage space, with a portion devoted to a chicken coop. Shannon and Andy intend to grow vegetables and other plants, and were considering getting chickens as well. As it happened, Shannon writes, "The previous owner had some chickens and decided that she didn't want to take them with her to her next place -- so she offered them to us!"

The house is in the Town of Middleburgh, in Schoharie County, about three miles from the Main Street shopping district of Middleburgh Village -- seen here in a Google street-view image from September 2018.

2019 Christmas family snapshots

We hope everyone in our extended family had a wonderful Christmas season. Here are just a handful of photos from the holidays. We'd love to post more if you send them our way (birchstreetweb@gmail.com). Happy New Year to all!

Lucy's first Christmas, with mom Shanna and dad Rick

Charlie with cousins Bea and Jack

Christmas on the Cape with Nolan (aka Capt. America) and Josie

Josie's first Christmas

Bea and Jack with grandma Kathy

Andy and Shannon with Julie and Dan on Christmas Day

Christine and Jamie playing with a Christmas gift from Julie and Dan

Holiday season family gatherings begin

At least two big family gatherings took place on the Saturday before Christmas. Kevin and Kathy hosted the annual Yonkers Christmas party, which featured the first appearances by the family's newest members: babies Lucy and Jack, and Owen's bride, Ellen.

(Click images for larger view)

Meanwhile, Bonnie and Jay hosted their annual Cape Cod gathering of their extended family.

Christine and Jamie joined Jamie's mom and stepdad, sisters and cousins and other relatives in the festivities.

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.

Family celebrates Hugh's 90th birthday

Hugh's family celebrated his 90th birthday (Nov. 8) by gathering the following Sunday for brunch at the Johns Hopkins Club in Baltimore.

In this group photo, Hugh sits at the head of the table with his wife, Dolores, seated to his left, and their daughter Cathy next to her. Granddaughter Stephanie and grandson Christopher stand behind their mom, and continuing counter-clockwise we see granddaughter Liz, daughter-in-law Lisa, son-in-law Dan, daughter Julie, granddaughter Christine and her wife, Jamie, son Doug, grandson Andy and his girlfriend, Shannon (seated). Granddaughter Rebecca wasn't able to attend.

His children interpreted Hugh's "no gifts" request to mean "just a few things." Among them was a scrapbook of pangrams (sentences including all letters of the alphabet) that Hugh and high-school-age Julie had written to each other as an ongoing game. Julie found where she had kept them, and Christine created cartoons to illustrate them.

Jack receives the sacrament of Baptism

Jack, the son of John and Genevieve, was baptized on Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Manhattan. Genevieve's close friend Megan and brother-in-law CJ were godparents.

Genevieve reports: "Fr. [David] Nolan baptized Jack (who didn't cry!) We felt lucky to have so many family members and friends there."

In this photo, Bea receives a big-sister blessing.

Christine & Jamie - The Wedding Photos

Jamie and Christine's wedding photos - the complete set of professional pictures documenting the day - are now available in an online album for her family and friends to view.

The couple will choose their favorites for a keepsake album, but you can see the entire set of proofs by CLICKING HERE. Enjoy!

Congratulations newlyweds Owen & Ellen!

Updated 10/19 with more photos, videos

Owen and Ellen were married on Sunday, Oct. 13 in an afternoon ceremony at Our Lady of the Cape RC Church in Brewster, Mass.

Ellen and daughters	With this ring...

Just Married!

A happy crowd of family and friends then joined the couple for a reception at Wequassett Resort in Chatham.

It was a wonderful, joyous gathering, with fine food and plenty of dancing. Click the links below for more photos - and a couple of video clips of the dancing!

  

Were you there? Have photos to share? Please send them to birchstreetweb@gmail.com

The following evening, the new Mr & Mrs were headed to Europe for a honeymoon on a Viking River Cruise.

Owen posted this photo from Amsterdam and wrote: "I'm guessing this is what it looked like for my earliest traceable ancestors when they made the trip to New Amsterdam and started our American family. Thanks for making the trip, guys!"

Stephanie on field with Towson U. Marching Band

The Towson University Marching Band performed in the annual Collegiate Marching Band Festival at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, Pa., on Sept. 29.

Stephanie is now in her second year playing clarinet in the band. Her mom, Cathy, as well as her Aunt Julie and Uncle Dan were among the crowd in the stands. (Dan and Julie had been to the stadium many times before to watch Christine and Andy in high school band competitions.)

The Towson band's 2019 show, "Driven," ends with band members running in from the field to dance in front of the crowd.

Back on East Coast, Cathy has new job

After a little over a decade in Ohio, Cathy has moved back east and is now living and working in the Philadelphia area.

With daughter Stephanie attending Towson University, and son Christopher in Delaware, Cathy began planning to relocate closer to them and to her parents and siblings. She sold her house in Hilliard, Ohio, in the spring and moved temporarily to Riderwood, Md.

In July, Cathy accepted a position as a Compliance Specialist at Lincoln Financial Group in downtown Philadelphia, and moved to suburban Prospect Park, Pa. The job is similar to the work she had been doing at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio - making sure the policies and products sold by the company's agents are suitable for the individual customers.

Cathy is now living in Prospect Park, Pa., within an hour-and-a-half's drive of Stephanie at Towson and even closer to Christopher in Newark, Del. She's already started doing some volunteer work in the community - and, of course, attending Towson University Marching Band performances whenever she can.

Hugh & Dolores revisit honeymoon sites

Updated 10/3 with more photos

After attending granddaughter Christine's wedding on Cape Cod, Hugh and Dolores jaunted over to Nantucket, where they had celebrated their honeymoon in 1954.

After taking a ferry from Hyannis to the island, they "walked around town a bit and had dinner at The Ship's Inn, where we stayed 65 years ago," Hugh writes.

The Ship's Inn no longer has a hotel, so the couple stayed at the Jared Coffin House. "It's one of the few three-story buildings allowed, been built during the Whaling Days prosperity," Dolores writes.

Jared Coffin House

"Nantucket was lovely and memorable as we remembered - still mostly unspoiled," Dolores said. During their stay, "We had a wonderful all-island tour, and that was the best."

But there have been some changes over the years, Dolores reports: "Traffic! Like Rehoboth Beach in August, with cobblestones!" And the meals, she said, were expensive and pretentious. "We have had meals in Europe, Alaska, Australia and New Zealand, and none of those places were so full of themselves." She added that The Ship's Inn's food was the best of the bunch.

Thankfully, she added, "The scenery is still free!" Here are a few of her photos of the sights.

The oldest house on the island—dated 1659

Sankaty Lighthouse, on the east coast of the island. It was moved back from the land's edge a few years ago due to erosion.

The tip of Nantucket, from the small plane that carried Hugh and Dolores to Boston for their flight home.

Congratulation to Newlyweds Christine and Jamie!

Christine and Jamie were married on Saturday, Sept. 21 in a beachfront ceremony at Red Jacket Resort in South Yarmouth, Mass. More than 100 family members and friends gathered to witness the wedding and enjoy a joyous reception, with dinner and lots of dancing.

Anticipation	All set
Jamie sees...	...Christine approach

The ceremony was beautiful. The couple recited their self-written vows, and the officiant offered prayers and read "words of wisdom" for newlyweds that were submitted by family members.

The weather was absolutely perfect for the occasion: Brilliant sunshine, warm air, a gentle breeze.





Below are just some of the reception photos, and links to video clips - but click the buttons above to see the full collections!

The couple's first dance

Wedding party and friends

Hava Nagilah!

Sharing cake

Father-daughter: Christine and Dan

Father-daughter: Jamie and Paul

Mother-daughter: Jamie and Bonnie

Dance party!

Dance Party Videos:

Cousins!