the 461 sentry...

Last time we were in town. I think for Brian and Tara's wedding we happened to find ourselves in the neighborhood as well... but Hazel definitely was not caught off guard that day.

461

Tara and I were running some errands with Vivian today and we happened by 14th street. The block was kind of quiet (it was hot and it was Monday) but I was surprised I didn't see Hazel. The house looks the same and different. Did everyone hear the story of how we went to an open house there a couple of years ago?

The Birthdays Party

We celebrated the July birthdays last Saturday. Here's a couple of minutes of it. It's not terribly exciting, but it has our favorite song in it.

Here are the pictures.

Here are my babies!

While everyone is cooing over the beautiful new babies and the adorable toddlers that people the blog, I wanted to share a snapshot I came across of my babies taken about 19 years ago!

Nadia Rain Del Pasqua

Here are some more photos of the little bean.
We spent the rest of the day perfecting the family nap.

Another wonderful woman in my life...

Wow what an incredible day. "Working title" Del Pasqua was born at our house in Portland today at 1:07pm. The whole day was an awesome experience and Sandra was a star and will be starring in a new dance video in no time.
Here is quick pic I snapped of the little bean before being hypnotized by her sheer beauty for the rest of the day. I'll post a whole gallery of high res images in the next couple of days.

NEWS FROM PORTLAND

Francy just called with great news. Sandra and Kieran are proud parents of a 7 lb. 12 oz. baby girl born at home and as yet unnamed. Francy was at her lakeside cottage and asked us to pass on the news. You can be sure we will be getting more details soon from the Oregonians.

Breezy Point’s ZIP code — 11697 — once had the highest per capita consumption of Budweiser in the world.

From Tuesday's New York Times:

It was with bitterness, and resignation, that many Breezy Point locals met the news on Monday that Anheuser, the St. Louis-based maker of Budweiser, was to be sold to a Belgian company for $52 billion.

SOPHISTICATED RELAXATION

Brian has already mentioned this in a recent comment but, just in case you didn't know, the Cousins' Party is Sunday, August 10th. Those cousins (and other relatives) in the NY area are aware of the date but perhaps others of you might find yourselves nearby and would like to participate in a day of high-end entertainment. On an entirely different note, did anyone notice the uncanny resemblance between the face shown in the still frame of Kieran's "Canada" video and John Roche? Another different note: Today is Sandra's projected due date - all our love and best wishes to the DelPasquas.

Happy Birthday dear Matt, Happy Birthday to you!

Hooray for Matt!

While we're all waiting for news of the new Murphy cousin in Portland, here are some pictures of the McLaughlin summer in Breezy (plus a few from our weekend on the North Fork of Long Island and from a fun day in Brooklyn with Kate and baby Vivian...).

Week 2

It was granny weekend and Vivian got to spend time with both of her grannies. She also made it to the Sugar Bowl and met her new friend Maeve.

Here are the pictures.

For giggles & squeaks

Last night we celebrated Vivian's 4th with cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles and lots of cake!! Wish you all could have been there!!
Happy Birthday Viv!

Still no arrival - but lot's of dancing...

Caught this video of Sandra doing the baby dance to loosen the hips or as I think the kids call it "loosening the bedonk-a-donk"... Don't tell her I posted it :-)

Happy 4th Birthday Vivian !!

... while we wait for little DelPasqua, I just wanted to Shout Out a big Happy 4th Birthday !! to Vivian Fontecedro.
I hear Ms Jolie - Pitt was so in awe of our two beautiful Vivians that the couldn't resist naming her newborn Vivienne... She obviously had to add the little french twist.
Love to all, and a big Kiss to VIVI.
Kama, Fabio, Lukas and Noah

Today is not the day

As some of you may know this is Sandra's due date. Her mid-wife thinks the baby will actually not come until July 17th. I told Sandra she sounds far too comfortable for this to be the due date. Her parents are in Portland and going with her on mammoth walks though so we'll see. I'll keep you posted.

On another front, David Fransen was appointed Canadian Consul General and he and Barb will be moving to Los Angeles in September! They'll be there for four years. He'll be the senior Canadian diplomat and will be responsible for Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and I think Nevada. He's such a wonderful person and will be fantastic--and close to Kieran and Sandra and little bump.

Welcome Vivian

Well, it doesn't surprise me, but Vivian is simply gorgeous. She is so tranquil and adorable after her first meal. Good omen! Welcome to the land of copious cousins. Every time I call Vivian or hear her name, it has a pleasant ring, kind of an ecco of memories behind the sound.
I would love to see the 3rd generation Cousins party in 2027. Congratulations Brian and Tara, and a big wet kiss.

First Day

Yesterday went surprisingly well, and Vivian had a crowd of family and friends to welcome her to the world. I'm off to the hospital now. Tara is doing well.

Here's some more photos.

Vivian Margaret Murphy

Vivian Margaret was born today at 2:22 p.m. She's beautiful! She weighed in at 7 lbs, 7 ozs and is 19 1/2 inches long. Both she and Tara are doing well.

I'm sure that many more pictures will follow...

Drumroll, please...

My crew and I will be going to Methodist Hospital this afternoon to meet my little niece. Mimi and Pop are already there. The big news is coming soon!

Merry Canada Day everyone

I found this quote from John Stewart that sums up the Canadian/American ex-pat experience fairly well :-)

So this woman asks me, "What do Americans think of us Canadians?"

"Um, we don't. And until we run out natural resources, you guys are pretty safe. *KNOCK KNOCK* Canada, hey, how's it goin'? Um, we're out of wood. Get out."

But just to be fair it is always fun to get the Canadian perspective as well:


Finally if you are looking to brush up on your French check out this video.

Video embedding tutorial

This is a good explanation of how to post Youtube videos (it also works for other video sources).

This is also probably a good time to talk about uploading videos to Youtube. Its free. You just need to create an account. They are associated with (or owned by) google, so your gmail account may work best here.

Once you set up an account, uploading video is pretty easy. They accept most file formats, though there are limitations on size (no bigger than 100mb, no longer than 10 minutes? i'm guessing). And there's plenty of help pages.