Philip's Birthday 2011



Ray, Deena, Philip, Maggie

 We celebrated at Piccolo Sogno Restaurant on August 10, 2011.  Philip is now 21 years old.  The bartender took a group portrait of us toasting Philip's first legal drink.

See more birthday pictures.

Philip Writing Award

Philip submitted an entry to a student magazine contest sponsored by the  Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.  His entry placed first of 37 in his category.

We are very, very proud of him. 

See a list of winning entries and read the the judges' comments about them.

Mothers Day 2011

spent Mothers day with Philip and Ray.  Had a nice brunch at M. Henry, followed by a stroll through Rosehill Cemetery... Then to Boys Town, to visit a couple resale shops, followed by dinner at Hearty Boys restaurant.  Click on Mothers Day Pictures to see.

Books Deena Read Recently

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett...enthralling story, everyone needs to read this.  It will touch your heart and engage your mind.  Hard to believe our society was here just 60 years ago.


The Given Day, by Dennis LeHane....tense, dramatic, thought-provoking. Perspectives on the coming decade involving the NAACP, labor unions, Boston Police Department, and Babe Ruth.  There is much irony in this book.


Crossing Over, by John Edward.  Most interesting.  Sure wish I could afford to attend one of his events or readings.

Pritzger Military Library

The Pritzger Military Library is very cool.

Visit this place!  They own more than 30,000 books pertaining to the Citizen Soldier, with concentration in the Civil War and WW2.  You can rent the faciliaty for a presentation or a special event.  They have state-of-the-art recording studio, auditorium, archive room; and an interesting collection of posters and other artifacts.  There are some very old and rare books here.  The building it is in, 104 S. Michigan, is also beautiful and historic.



For pictures of the RLA-CE meeting I attended here, showing the library, click HERE.

Eric & Lindsey Bridal Shower

What a happy event, and what a happy couple!



The shower was held at Biaggio Superossa Restaurant,  I really enjoyed seeing some of our former neighbors, and meeting some new friends.

For more pictures click HERE.

Downtown Chicago , April 29

I visited the Pritzger Military Library on Friday, April 29.  It was a beautiful and springlike day.


For more Chicago scenes, click HERE.

Alex, Jen, and Memorial Day

We connected with Alex and Jennifer in DC over Memorial Day Weekend.  A few days later, Alex and Jen became engaged.  They will be married on September 2.

See our Memorial Day in DC pictures.

Happy Lammas!

Here we all are, at our Lammas celebration on August 1, 2011.

Erica's Graduation Party

Erica Pinkus and her older sister Monica were my daycare children in the early 1990s.  They were smart, sweet, and very special.  It was a joy to see them again on Erica's special day.  I am so proud of both of them!  Congratulations, Erica!!  You have done extremely well.

To see pictures from Erica's party, click on Erica's Grad Party.

Merry Midsummer!

We celebrated Midsummer on June 30, and also celebrated Kiel's birthday at the same time.

To see more pictures, click on Midsummer 2011.

Our Trip To Ireland

We visited our dear friend Olivia at her home in Clonegal, Co. Carlow, Ireland.

Pictures are divided by date. Click on each date to see the photo album for that date.

June 14
June 15
June 16
June 17
June 18
June 19
June 20
June 21

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day from Ray, Deena, and friends!

Beth, Bea, Kathy, Demetria, Ray, and Kiel

See more Maypole Dance pictures.

Ironmen Newsletter

Alex has a short article in this month's Ironmen Newsletter.  It is on p.4, under the banner for Engineer Company Commander.

He has been busy helping the engineer Company prepare for the Squadron Large Field Exercise (LFE) in June.  If you are free on June 18, you can attend Family Day at the Field, and experience
what its like to be a Marine for the day!  Hope you can make it.

For more updates, visit the Marine Corps News Room.

Happy Easter!

Here we are on Easter Sunday Morning, at Brunch.

Aunt Doree is holding the egg that lasted the longest in the Egg Ditching.

For more Easter pictures, click HERE.

Holy Saturday

Here is our cherry tree again a few days later, on Holy Saturday.  We were on our way to Swienconka....to church to have our Easter food blessed...to see more pictures, click HERE.

Our Cherry Tree

Hello from the cherry tree in our back yard!

It is so beautiful when it blooms.  Here it is at the very beginning of blooming.

Happy Spring?

Here is what we saw when we woke up the morning of April 18.

For more snowy day pictures, click HERE.

Happy Spring!

I had to work on Saturday, April 9; and Raymond paid me a surprise visit with these beautiful spring flowers!

So Busy!!!

I apologize for not posting in a long time.  Ihave been EXTREMELY BUSY.