A grand summer gathering on Long Island

Kathy's summer house has been filled with family this summer. Genevieve, John and their children - Beatrice, Jack and Liam - are spending the season at their house nearby. Vivien, CJ and theirs - Charlie, Austin and little Oliver - are visiting from London and staying at the Fair Play cottage. It's three-month-old Oliver's first trip stateside. 

For a few days in late July, Dan and Julie stayed with Kathy, enjoying her hospitality and the chance to meet Oliver and the rest of the gang. Robert was there for part of the time, but CJ was back working in Europe for that week. Also in the photo above is CJ's cousin Allie, who was staying with Vivien and helping watch the kids. 

Click here to see photos Dan took at the house, the beach, and during a walk he and Julie took on the nature trail at Jessup's Neck.

Hugh & Dolores celebrate 70 years of marriage

Surrounded by their family, Hugh and Dolores marked their 70th wedding anniversary with a dinner party in a restaurant at their residential complex in Maryland.

The couple's children - Julie, Doug and Cathy - organized the June 15 gathering, and fortunately all the grandchildren and most of the spouses and significant others were able to attend.

Julie and Dan drove down from New Jersey. Their daughter, Christine, and her wife, Jamie, flew in from Los Angeles. J&D's son, Andy, came down from Upstate New York. 

Doug and Lisa's daughter Rebecca also was visiting from NYS, along with her boyfriend, Greg. D&L; their daughter Liz; Cathy and her children, Christopher and Stephanie, all live within driving distance and came for the day. 

H&D's long-time friend and neighbor Gini Patterson also joined in the celebration.

Along with balloons and flowers, the table was decorated with cards relating bits of trivia about H&D's wedding and the date - June 12, 1954. Some examples: The ceremony was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Corning, N.Y. The officiant was Father Roger Alling. Dolores' sister, Noreen, was matron of honor. Hugh's father, Clyde, was best man, as most of Hugh's friends were serving in the Army. 

A reception was held in the church parish hall, organized by the ladies of the church, with non-alcoholic fruit punch. A second reception was held at Dolores’ parents’ house, with a keg of beer in the garage.

Other tidbits about that date: Bill Haley & His Comets released "Rock Around the Clock" and the top-grossing movie was "Three Coins in the Fountain"

"We both want to thank all of you for such a lovely weekend," Dolores wrote to the family afterwards. "The balloons and trivia were a nice touch, plus, 2  delish cakes! And all those cards too!"  

Vivien, CJ welcome baby Oliver!

Breaking news from our correspondent Kathy in London:

"Oliver Theodore arrived on April 23rd at 8 pounds 8 ounces. Both Mom and baby are doing very well. I'm lucky to be here with them." 

Proud parents Vivien and CJ, and big brothers Charlie and Austin, are looking forward to introducing Oliver to all his stateside relatives this summer.

What is happening up there in the sky?

Wearing their safety glasses, Dan and Julie gaze at the sun as it disappears behind the moon during the the total eclipse of the sun.

Dan and Julie took a little trip to Upstate New York to follow the sun, and the moon, and witness their rendezvous in the sky on April 8.

After enjoying Brien's parade-watch party on Saturday, D&J followed Andy and Wren up the Thruway. They visited A&W's five goats and two recently adopted cats. Later Sunday, they took a stroll through the campus of SUNY Cobleskill, where Wren is working toward a BA in cybersecurity and made the President's List with a 4.0 GPA in the fall term.

Cats declining to be photographed

On Monday, D&J headed north and west into the eclipse's path of totality. They found a park in the little village of Croghan, N.Y., where a few dozen people - mostly other out-of-towners - had gathered to watch the sky show. It was very near the center of the zone of totality, where the moon would completely cover the sun for about three minutes.

An amateur-astronomer friend of Julie's had said that the difference between an eclipse covering 99% of the sun and 100% is like night and day. Very true!

NASA photo

"Even when the sun was down to a tiny sliver, it was as bright as a typical cloudy afternoon," said Dan. "But once it blipped out, we were in twilight, similar to about a half-hour after sunset. And the thing in the sky looked alien - like a black disk with a shining circle around it." The view was very similar to this NASA photo taken elsewhere along the moon-shadow's path that day.

"It was an amazing sight - certainly worth the trip!"

A delayed St Patrick's Day parade and party

Rained out on its scheduled date, the Yonkers St. Patrick's Day Parade Past Brien's Window was held on April 6, and Brien continued his tradition of hosting a watch party.

Because of the rescheduling, the gathering was a bit smaller than past years (as was the parade), but no less enjoyable.

Our crowd waved and cheered at the marchers, and a number of them waved and cheered back.

Big thanks to Brien for continuing to host this annual event! We look forward to next year's parade and party.

Birthday(s) visit in Los Angeles

In celebration of two January birthdays, Julie and Dan took a little hop to Los Angeles for a visit with Christine and Jamie. The visit was two weeks after Christine's birthday and coincided with Julie's. J&D flew in from New Jersey on Saturday and spent the afternoon and evening with C&J at their West LA apartment, relaxing, playing board games and talking.

One of the conversation topics was how well Jamie is enjoying her new job. After two years at Riot Games, she started about three months ago as a system designer at Skybound Entertainment, working on a new project that has yet to be announced. The company is based in Los Angeles, although Jamie works almost entirely from home.

It was rainy on-and-off all weekend in "Sunny California," so museums were on the agenda. On Sunday, the four visited UCLA's Hammer Museum, which featured an exhibit of intaglio prints (made via engraving and related methods) from the 1500s to the present. They then took a window-shopping walk around downtown Westwood (photo above).

While Jamie worked on Monday, Julie, Dan and Christine visited the Getty Villa, one of two campuses of the J. Paul Getty Museum. It's a recreation of a Roman villa built in Herculaneum, near Pompeii. The original villa was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in the 1st Century and excavated in the 18th Century. It houses the museum's collections of Greek, Roman and Etruscan sculptures and antiquities. Our trio also saw a temporary exbibit on the ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead," consisting of papyrus scrolls and linens bearing heiroglyphic "spells" intended to enable a deceased person to navigate the afterlife.

Jamie rejoined the group for dinner, and the four then went to a night club in Hollywood to see an LA indie-rock band, Night Talks, perform. "I've been playing their music on Birch Street Radio for years," says Dan, "and because of that, we were on 'the list' to attend the show as guests of the band." Jamie and Christine enjoyed the show, and Night Talks now has two more LA fans.

Christmas 2023: The celebrations continue

The annual family Christmas party in Yonkers took place on Saturday, hosted by Kevin and Kathy. 

It was great to have so many of us celebrating together. The gathering included the hosts' children, Kevin and Shanna, along with Shanna's husband, Rick, and daughter Lucy. Vivien, CJ, Charlie and Austin were in from London. Genevieve, John, Bea, Jack and Liam, who missed the 2022 party due to illness, were all on hand this time. Dan and Julie drove over from New Jersey while Andy and Wren came down from upstate. Kathy and Robert were there along with Brien, cousin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. Patrick joined the crowd although Kelsey was absent, not feeling well. Christine, at home in California with Jamie, popped in via Zoom to greet the crowd. 

Fabulous food, convivial conversation and cheerful children made for a wonderful time to wrap up the year.

Earlier in the week, Kathy enjoyed a visit at her home from all her grandchildren: Jack, Charlie, Austin, Bea and Liam.  

At midweek, Julie and Dan paid a Christmas visit to Julie's parents, brother and sister-in-law in Maryland. Here the group relaxes in Hugh and Dolores' apartment after dining at one of the restaurants in their community. 

Meanwhile, on Facebook, we find this photo of Nanette visiting daughter Courtney in Florida.

We invite everyone in the family to send along your own Christmas celebration photos! Email birchstreetweb@gmail.com (or text to Dan if that's easier).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Merry Christmas! How we're celebrating in December 2023

Merry Christmas to all our extended family from here at Birch Street Headquarters in New Jersey. Please share glimpses of your own celebrations!

The season began early for Christine and Jamie, who traveled in mid-December to Cape Cod for the annual family gathering at the home of Jamie's mom and step-dad, Bonnie and Jay (pictured at far right).

Christmas arrived just a bit early for Dan and Julie, as they were joined by Andy and Wren on the 23rd and 24th. They had a Christmas Eve-Eve feast and exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve morning. The newlyweds would spend Christmas Day with Wren's dad and family on Long Island before heading back to their farmstead upstate.

Thanksgiving up and down the East Coast

Family members gathered in various groups around various tables this Thanksgiving. Dan and Julie spent Turkey Day at Marie, Brian and Xander's home in Virginia, along with Brian's parents, Steve and Barbara. Marie served a fabulous dinner, after which the seven played an intense game of Settlers of Catan. As this group has now played that game at Thanksgiving more than once, it has officially become a tradition! 

Meanwhile in Maryland, Dolores and Hugh were joined for dinner at their Oak Crest residence by son Doug, daughter-in-law Lisa, daughter Cathy, grandddaughters Liz, Rebecca and Stephanie and grandson Christopher. 

The next day saw the traditional Black Friday gathering at Doug and Lisa's home, with some of the same characters - minus Stephanie, busy with school work, and Rebecca, driving home to Rochester, but plus Dan and Julie, en route from Virginia to New Jersey.

Back in the Garden State on Saturday, Dan and Julie spent the evening with Andy and Wren, who had visited Wren's dad on Long Island Thursday and some of their New Jersey friends on Friday. (Here they hold engraved glasses that were a wedding gift from Liz.) The four had a fine meal at a local restaurant before Wren and Andy drove back to their upstate New York home.

On Facebook we see that Austin, Cindy and Rachel enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner together in Florida...

...and Rick, Shanna and Lucy continued their Thanksgiving weekend tradition of driving up to Connecticut to choose their Christmas tree.

New photos! Andy & Wren's wedding

The digital album of professional photos from Wren and Andy's wedding is now available, and it's a fabulous collection capturing the special moments of the day.

Here is the link to the whole 1,000-photo album:

Wren and Andy Wedding Photos

In addition, we have a selection of "behind the scenes" pictures taken during the wedding weekend by Christine. Here, for example, the official photographer takes romantic shots on the porch of the house where the wedding party spent the weekend.

Here's the link to the album of Christine's pictures: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ckzM1SZihtvY4jhA7

In addition, more photos - and dancing videos! - have been added to the album of photos taken by Dan and Cathy: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/R28sSt2yVMLhbMjW6

Get-togethers in Maryland, Virginia complete Dan's birthday tour

Dan's traveling birthday celebration finished up finished up on the last weekend of October with visits to his in-laws in Maryland and his daughter, son-in-law and grandson in Virginia.

Dan and Julie set out southbound on Friday, his actual birthday, and arrived at Oak Crest Village for dinner with Hugh and Dolores, Doug, Cathy and Stephanie. Afterward, they enjoyed an overnight visit with Doug and Lisa at their home

The next day, Dan and Julie drove down to Fredericksburg to Marie, Brian and Xander's home, where they spent the afternoon talking and catching up. Xander is now a high school junior, preparing for college by taking AP courses. He is also an accomplished video-gamer, having been on a very successful team in a local e-sports league, and now focusing on a single game in hopes of moving up in competitive ranks.

That evening, the family enjoyed a wonderful meal at a Bonefish Grill restaurant and then a movie night back at the house. On Sunday, they met at the house again for lunch and more conversation before Dan and Julie hit the road back to New Jersey.

California get-together: Dan's birthday tour part 3

The Northern and Southern California branches of the family came together on the Central Coast last weekend as Dan and Julie continued their traveling celebration of Dan's "significant birthday."

The New Jersey residents flew to Los Angeles on Oct. 21 to visit with Christine and Jamie. The next day, they set out northward, while the younger Dan set out southward from his home in Santa Cruz. They met in Morro Bay, the Central Coast city known as the site of Morro Rock.

The 561-foot-tall rock, the remains of an ancient volcanic core, sits on the shore looking like it dropped out of the sky. 

On its north side is a wide ocean beach, and on its south side, the entrance to the bay.

The five family members spent the afternoon sightseeing around the rock, viewing sea lions and sea otters in the bay and swimmers and surfers along the beach. They then enjoyed an excellent meal at the Harbor Hut restaurant as the sun went down behind the rock. 

This was the first time in several years that Christine and Dan got to spend some time together, and the first time Dan met Jamie. Everyone had a great time catching up with one another while taking in the sights. 

After a night at one of the many hotels in town, they found a great local spot for breakfast (Frankie and Lola's Front Street Cafe) before parting. 

On the way back to LA, Jamie, Christine, Dan and Julie made a quick stop at El Matador State Beach, where they looked down from the cliffs at the rocky Pacific coast. (Jamie and Christine previously spent a summer day down on the beach with Jamie's mom.)