Meet Our Peeps!
Our Families:
We both have large families and parents with many siblings, so we both grew up with a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins. The majority of Tim’s extended family lives in our area — including his parents (Kiki & Papa). Tim’s younger brother Brendan and his girlfriend live in Florida, just outside of Orlando. They have two dogs and love Disney.
Jer’s Mom lives close by as well, while his sister lives just two hours away. We see Tim’s extended family often and are very close with his cousins, many of them were in our wedding.
Much of Tim’s family lives on the same street, just 30 minutes away from us, so Sunday family dinners at Mimi’s (his grandmother) are a must. You don’t want to miss the scoop or being able to see the cousins and their little ones grow. Mimi also owns a cottage on a lake in the Berkshire’s, just an hour drive from our home and it’s a wonderful place. There is a motorboat, several kayaks, and many tubes for everyone to share and enjoy the beauty of nature. Tim spent his childhood weekends there with the entire family.
Our Traditions:
We have A LOT of family traditions and we LOVE that. Some of our most precious traditions are:
1. Thanksgiving: This is our holiday to host. We have Jer’s mom, sister + kids and cousins who live in this area. It is Jer’s sister’s favorite holiday and she is the head chef of the day and cooks a few of the signature dishes (just like their father used to).
2. The Red Lion Inn, in Stockbridge MA: Tim’s mother’s side of the family gathers here a few days before Christmas and we do a cousin gift exchange. Many of us stay Friday night and wake up there Saturday morning. It’s magical at Christmas and a great way to kick off the holiday season. The family has been doing this between 45-50 years depending who you ask!
3. Christmas Eve: After Christmas mass, we spend Christmas Eve with Tim’s father’s side, a tradition started by his late grandmother (Grandma Jane). Each year, the party rotates between houses of her 3 children — a great time to be together.
4. Summer vacation: Tim’s family has been taking a beach vacation every summer his entire life, starting in the Cape and spending one week the last 15 summers in Martha’s Vineyard. All the aunts, uncles, and cousins pick a place and some overlapping dates in the summer and everyone vacations together.
5. Jer’s family reunion: Every summer, Jer’s mother’s side of the family get together for a reunion in the town his parents grew up in, Ogdensburg NY, which is on the St. Lawrence River and you can see Canada from the kitchen window. There are generations of families who still live in NY, all the descendants of Jer’s maternal grandmother and her siblings. There are some serious laughs and competitive games played.
Our Friends:
Our friends are very important to us. Tim has a lot of great friends he grew up with that are still in this area. Many of them have young children and are starting their families as well. We love hosting this group and getting people together, and we enjoy being the house everyone stops by and wants to hang out at.
Most of Jer’s closest friends he met in college and through work across rotations and locations, so we have lots of weekend trips to see friends and experience new cities and activities. Mostly in the northeast we visit them in Boston, Skaneateles, New Jersey, and NYC.
