My artists

Packing up and making the tough decisions. Downsizing is difficult. How to part with such masterpieces!?

By Bryan

By Carolyn

The Kids in their Digs

Carolyn moved to Philadelphia mid July and Bryan moved to Hoboken August 1. Both places are in great locations and seem to be working out well.

Carolyn's new apt in the sky - all 425 sq ft of it - before all the finishing touches but still looking good:

The TV room, bedroom, original door knob from when the building was a hotel,
bathroom, and kitchen - all she needs

Bryan is now on his third place after 1 year in Brooklyn, followed by his second gadabout, then a few months in Brooklyn, and a few months with us. He has a roommate and is a short PATH ride to work in Manhattan. Here's his new apt by the Hudson:

Bedroom, kitchen, kegerator, dining room, living room

So they are both settled for the next 12 months. Miss them both but love visiting!

Adam Graduates from UWO*

Our nephew, Adam, graduated from Western University (*formerly known as UWO) in June of this year. We were in Ontario for his graduation party on June 14, and coincidentally Adam's 23rd birthday! Right after Carolyn's graduation weekend, in May, Adam started his full time job with Coca Cola and by all accounts it's going great!

Adam - the man of the hour!

Past grads - Bryan, Jack, Barb

Future grads - Eric & Michael

The family and neighbors

I didn't do a very good job of capturing everyone in my pictures! It was a fun day nonetheless. Congratulations, Adam!

We also had a great visit with Nana!

Bryan & Nana at The Keg

Carolyn graduates from PSU - May 2014

On May 10, 2014 Carolyn  received her PSU college degree with a Communications major and IT minor. We're so proud of her!

Tommy, Carolyn's boyfriend, graduated on the same day and was able to join us in the celebrations.

Carolyn & Tommy, BA 2014

With lots of family visitors from Ontario, her graduation weekend was a lot of fun  and we will remember it forever.

First gathering! Dinner at the Gamble Inn and a celebration of Barb's 50th birthday!

Post graduation dinner for our graduates! 

Post dinner photo opp outside The Penn Stater

Another pay raise for Don and I with Carolyn's graduation! Yah! We're done! Carolyn will be working for Verizon in Philadelphia, starting mid-July. Congratulations sweetheart.

Christmas 2013 - In Ontario

Christmas morning we drove to Mississauga in time to enjoy a Christmas dinner with Mom at the Marriott again. It was very nice, although we missed the Walnut Creek family!

The next day - Boxing Day - was Toronto Marlie day at the ACC! We had a bunch of seats all booked together and enjoyed a good game with free ball caps, followed by a post-game drink at the Real Sports Bar for the >19 years olds, and a shopping spree at the Real Sports clothing store for the <19 and="" nbsp="" p="" parents="" their="">

The following day, we were back at our fav morning coffee spot, Tim's, with our fav coffee drinker, who is now a whiz on her tablet, which was a gift from Christmas 2012.

And then we were off to Ingersoll for some Gill family Christmas cheer at Kathy's home!

Don & I, sisters Barb & Kathy with chocolate earrings, Doug & Barb
Delicious turkey dinner a la chef Kathy!

Having fun with "kids" and post-dinner antics!

24 and there's so much more ...

Bryan turned 24 years old this past week! Since everyone was in a different town last weekend, we celebrated this weekend. Carolyn and Tommy joined us from PSU. And we had a short overnight visitor, Andrew (a friend of Bryan's from school who is recently engaged).

It was a beautiful spring Saturday - perfect for a late afternoon fire. This was followed by a delicious tuna dinner, thanks to chef Don, and a creative birthday cake, thanks to baker & icer, Carolyn.

Happy 24th Birthday Bry! 24 candles throw off a lot of light!

 On Sunday, today, Bryan started his first batch of homemade beer. Here's hoping its a success!

Christmas Eve - 2013

Celebrating Christmas Eve at home before an early start for Ontario on Christmas morning - gifts, good food, fine wine, fun, and best of all, being together.

Thanksgiving 2013 - One more photo

Love this photo of Don with the VT gang, taken during the annual tree trimming party.

Annette, Barbara, Don & Cathy

Thanksgiving 2013 - Florida

We all managed to meet in Florida for Thanksgiving. Carolyn & Tommy drove down from PSU, Don & Bryan drove down from NJ and I flew down and drove back. We surprised Carolyn by bringing Toby down too, so we were really all together!

Couple of SI firsts on this visit ... first time having Tommy with us -

First day breakfast tradition at the Sailfish Marina - bird attack in 2nd photo

And first time seeing a pelican grab a fish too big for his gullet. This poor pelican tried and tried but could not swallow the fish. It was also too stubborn to let the fish go, despite its distress and the fish's flopping.

We could clearly see the too-large fish in his beak.

Dinner & Trivia Contest at the Tiki Bar at Riviera Beach

Toby - claiming his space under the coffee table on our new rug.

It was a great week. Lots to be thankful for.

PSU Visit in Nov 2013

Still back blogged ...

We took advantage of our last time to see a PSU football game while we still have a child attending - Carolyn's senior fall semester. It is also the first year that PSU has a D1 NCAA hockey team playing in a new arena. So we had a PSU sports weekend with our Kinnelon friends who also have a child at PSU and who are also hockey fans (who we practically lived with for 4 years while our sons played on the same travel and high school team). Friday night was hockey night in State College (vs UMass-Lowell) and Saturday was football game day (vs Purdue).

Carolyn & Don at Pegula Ice Rink - this photo is from October 2013
Saw our first game here in November

Next day, off to the PSU football game with Marty & Jennie Huber - a beautiful mild November day

Dinner that night with Carolyn's roommate, Kim, who is bound for Rutgers Law School this fall

Spring break in the DR

Carolyn sent this photo from the Philadelphia airport early this a.m. as she and her roommates start their adventure.

Lovin' her senior year @ Penn State

Clearly it's about academics ... with a little tailgating and football on the weekends thrown in for fun. This weekend did not disappoint. Photos from Carolyn.

Kathy comes to Kinnelon

Last weekend Don's sister, Kathy, came to town for a visit. I am bummed that we did not take ONE photo the entire time, not counting the pic I took of my new Sperry's that I purchased at the outlets to show my Sperry-addicted friend.

We had a great visit - lots of talking and catching up, a little outlet shopping, dinner with friends, walking (10,000 steps), beaching, eating - a perfect visit.

And, may I say, we celebrated Kathy's svelte new look! She's lost >35 lbs since Christmas! Way to go, Kath! You look great - even though I didn't take a pic. Can't believe we didn't.

Another birthday

That time of year again. Every birthday is a good birthday ... that in and of itself implies I'm getting up there! Who says that when they're young!?

In keeping with our tradition of 'birthday person picks the restaurant,' I chose The Liberty House, a restaurant located in Liberty Park that overlooks the Hudson R. and lower Manhattan. You can clearly see the new Freedom Tower from here.

Before dinner pics:

Don & I ... its about 100 degrees still.

Tommy & Carolyn

Carolyn & Bryan

During & after dinner pics:

We had a nice table with a view - sushi man in the back!

The family and the skyline at night.

We had a really nice evening. We dropped Bryan off in Hoboken to meet his friends and then finished the evening with a game of euchre with Tommy & Carolyn when we got home.

We're in red

Guess you'll just have to take my word for it - we're in there somewhere. 

Verizon Corporate Classic - taken: July 18, 2013 (one of the hottest days of the summer)

Zac Brown Band on July 19th

Lucky for us Carolyn couldn't use her tickets to see the Zac Brown Band so Don and I took them. We cruised down the Parkway to the PNC Arts Center, and found a great spot on the lawn under a clear night sky. It was a perfect way to spend my summer birthday.

Don checking out the crowd, waiting for Zac

Zac Brown Band on stage way down there and on the screens

We weren't exactly Zac Brown Band fans, in fact we didn't know any of their songs, but apparently they are quite popular and the thousands of people all around us knew every word! :)  It was a really fun evening and now I'll have to download a little Zac Brown. "Wishing I was knee deep in the water somewhere ..."

Verizon Classic in 100 degree heat

Carolyn signed up for the Verizon Classic 5k corporate run in Morristown on Thursday night, along with Don and Tommy. Tommy couldn't make it so I tagged along. Since the weather was stinking hot on race day, the race was reduced to 2.2 miles and it was downgraded to no longer a race but a come-out-and-do-whatever. I walked it with my friend, Denise (Carolyn's internship manager), while Don, Carolyn and Denise's boyfriend, Jim, ran it. We were all sweating bullets before we even started and were soaked when we finished!

As part of the Verizon team we got running tees and swag bags with another t-shirt and a few other things. There were 5000 participants raising money for the Jersey Battered Women's Center. The route was through the streets of Morristown, which blocked off many homes. Many people came out of their homes to cheer on the racers and had their garden hoses set up to spray out onto the street over the runners. I have never participated in a run before and found it amazing how kind and supportive everyone was ... even to us walkers. It was a fun evening.

Twenty-one years old!

Our little girl turned 21 yesterday. A much anticipated day by her, with countdowns on her phone and in the kitchen, that arrived while we were in a hotel room in Fayetteville, NC with a 10-hour day of driving ahead of us. Not exactly the celebration she had in mind!

We organized an interesting day for her, beginning with her first gift - a birthday crown, which she wore all day - only while in the car and almost outside of the car once but caught her reflection in the car next to us in horror. I decided we'd pass the day by giving her 21 gifts. This worked out to one gift every 30 minutes. So I set my phone timer to 30 minutes and repeated it all day. Carolyn got gift cards for $21, a few clothing items, a few gifts of cash ($21), a couple of bottles of wine, and lots of small gifts just for fun. It actually made the trip quite fun. That and the texts with good wishes from friends, and an email and card from Nana. You're never alone with a smartphone. We got home just as the gifts ran out; perfect timing.

Today, when she came home there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for her from Tommy. They really are nice - pretty from every angle. She was thrilled. Very thoughtful.

I baked her a cake after work tonight, which she ended up decorating!

Our beautiful 21 year old!

The cake as iced & decorated by Carolyn

We're very proud of you, Carolyn! We wish you a life of happiness, good health and enough wealth to buy the handbags you love! :)