What an amazing year it has been so far! It is almost impossible to know where to begin!

Certainly Caryn and my fifth grandchild has to be major event. Olivia Louise Jaeger was born to Steven and Sarah Jaeger of Aliso Viejo on August 12, 2010 and weighed in at 7 lbs 13 oz. Blue eyes and light brown hair. Big brother Elijah holding Olivia in his lap:

Ashton Carrington Kelly and Bradley (Jo Ellen Jaeger and Brian Carrington's daughter and my niece) had twins earlier this year but so many new family members have been added to the Journal list, wanted to put in an updated picture with Lance and Carter. The couple also recently purchased a home in Las Vegas where Brian is going to dental school.

 

Betty Fauerbach Kennedy (her great grandfather, Louis was my great grandfather, Joseph's brother) and husband Mike became proud great grandparents of Caeden Gregory Bowers on September 17, 2010. For the record cousin Betty is two years younger than me and already a great grandmother!

Robin Jaeger, son of my Uncle Randy and a first cousin, is close to retiring from the Orange County CA Sheriff's Department. As Robin put it, "over thirty years of chasing bad guys and jumping fences takes a toll on your shoulders [and the rest of the body too!]". Robin and Nancy live in Mission Viejo, almost in walking distance of of Steven and Sarah (ok a bit of a long walk - but it is pretty close). Their daughter and son-in-law, Kimberly Ann Jaeger and Kevin Roberts live in Aliso Viejo, near Steven and Sarah Jaeger. This picture was taken on in laguna Woods Robin and I met for lunch:

Found this photo of Leighton Nelson, my great nephew and son of Brittany Carrington and Ben Nelson (Leighton is named after my dad). Leighton, like his great grandfather appears to have the love of snow and winter:

David and Laura Jaeger (my oldest son and his wife) and their two daughters, Abygale and Delila have returned to Laguna Beach, CA from an extended holiday in Hawaii. Abygale, now a young lady of 11 has started at Annaleise's School in Laguna. While in Hawaii, Steven and Sarah and the Jacob and Elijah joined them for a vacation and we got this photos of the four cousins and my grandchildren) from the left Jacob Gordon, Elijah Arthur, Delila Sunshine and Abygale Ocean (in July, 2010):

Business continues to be good for David and Steven as they continue to grow a particular program they developed for secure registration or enrollments into clients businesses or programs. The brothers have been in business together for well over 12 years and have sales throughout the United States and Canada.

In a normal year because of my genealogy avocation I "meet" an average of 9 new cousins a year from some branch of the family. But this year was an exciting exception! Obviously I correspond with Jo Ellen and with my nieces and nephews but up until July I really had no contact with the rest of the Jaeger branch (I remembered my Aunt Daphne and Uncle Randy but only as names and perhaps a voice on the phone when I was very young. Anyway, as part of my family history searching I periodically check the family trees on Ancestry.com for the United States and Genes Reunited for Great Britain and Australia. This past July i "found" two new family trees on Ancestry. Looking at them i quickly realized they had seen my tree or someone who had seen my tree because my mother was listed with the family name Benjamin (after her dad Jacob Benjamin rather than Weissman after her step-father or adopted father- a connection that only came to light in 2004.) Seeing that I contacted the owners of the two trees and within a week I received an e-mail from Robin Jaeger, a week later we talked for almost two hours and I suddenly realized I had a lot of first cousins most of whom lived in or close to Orange County, CA where my boys and their family lived. The day after we talked I received an e-mail from Karianne Jaeger, wife of Brent Jaeger who is the son of Alan and Kim Jaeger, another of my Uncle Randy's sons. Karianne and Brent had recently been given a package of photographs that Alan and Kim had gotten from Aunt Cecile, Uncle Randy's wife, after she passed away. In the package were a number of pictures from Saranac Lake and Lake Placid of a very young ) baby nicknamed "Ricky". Karianne FedExed the pictures to me and e-mailed many others (they now reside in my safe but are also on my computer and backed up three or four different ways. Included in the photos is this one, to the best of my knowledge, the only existing photo of my mom and dad - in this case with Aunt Daphne Jaeger and her husband Uncle Ed Beckwith (better known simply as "The Judge" as he was on the Circuit Court in New York for the Glens Falls area:

From the left, Leighton Jaeger, marion Benjamin Weissman Jaeger, Daphne Jaeger Beckwith and Frederick "Ed" Beckwith. Uncle Ed was usually just referred to as The Judge as he was a Judge in New York (Glens Falls) for years and years

And could the Jaeger section be complete with out a photo of "Ricky" at 11 months old:

You can't tell in this photo because I am wearing a cap, but I haven't changed a bit - still have very little hair :(

So suddenly by the end of July, I found myself with a family of over seventy first cousins or closer and if you added in other living relatives the number easily quadruples if not more!

But the summer was to hold more discoveries and more relatives from around the world. In August I received an e-mail from Betty Kennedy asking me about a connection to the Fauerbach family (my maternal grandmother's family) Betty's great grandfather was Louis Fauerbach who was my 2nd great uncle - my great grandfather Joseph Fauerbach's brother; Betty and her family live in Texas and we have spoken via Skype as well as via e-mail and exchanged information. See a picture of Betty with her great grandson above.

Arran Edwards (Joolie Collins Eadie Edwards' son)has been touring the United States and Canada (presently in Canada). Arran who is a musician in Sydney, traveled across the United States then up to Canada where he will eventually work his way west and back to California before heading for home. An avid photographer, his photos of New York are exceptional and one serves as the "wallpaper" on my pc.

Joolie, born Julie Collins (she changed the spelling at age 19 to be different as a dancer and it stayed that way) was a ballet dancer and gained some fame in Australia as well as training with the Alvin Ailey troupe in New York, This photo is from New York in the early1960s:

Sarah Collins, Melbourne, Australia announced her engagement and will be married on August 28th 2011. Sarah, a professional photographer specializing in photos for the entertainment industry in Australia and is a young cousin to Andy Collins (England) and me. Here she is with her fiance, Justin:

Speaking of Andy Collins (we share fourth great grandparents), he is in the Bahrain for two months then will spend four months at sea - weather is just a bit different than back home in England - be well and safe Andy!

Another new (well new to my family tree at least) relative,Martyn Collins contacted me in August, Martyn, who is married with two children e was born in Southport, Lancashire (also Andy's hometown), shares Andy and my fourth great grandparents (which makes him my fifth cousin, along with Andy) and is Andy's first cousin as well. Martyn celebrated his 55 birthday on September 6th.

Special thanks to cousin David Usdan from New York, David and I share multiple great grand parents in Reuben and Dinah Isaacs (my third great grandparents and parents of Marian Isaacs Benjamin after whom my mother was named). While visiting the Bayside Cemetery in Queens he photographed and sent me pictures of headstone for several members of the Benjamin family. David and I have corresponded extensively and I put him in touch with Cathleen Maags who has done extensive research on the Isaacs side of the family though we are still trying to close some links there. David was visiting England and hopefully has had the opportunity to visit Portsmouth and possible Catheryn to compare notes on that branch of the family.

Had occasion to speak to Herman Moss, a cousin of Caryn's, on Skype and she met him for the first time - Millie had spoken to him but only saw him last week for the first time in at least seven years and probably longer. He put me in touch with Marsha Moss, his niece and since she was visiting Michigan we (Caryn, Randy Rossman, Sharon Moss and Marsha) got together for lunch. It was the first time Caryn and Randy met their cousin, Marsha and an exciting and interest couple of hours for us all.

Caryn and I keep plugging away at our myriad of projects (she is working two days a week) and I am kept busy with ACS/CAN responsibilities and political activities as we approach an election year as well as other volunteer projects.

That I am a political junkie and have been since college is no secret. I totally enjoy getting involved in political races and of course in helping ACS/CAN reach its goal in making cancer a national priority. I am taking on responsibility for contacts with our two Senators as well as the 9th Congressional District ACT Lead for ACS CAN, a role I wanted. Additionally I will be off to DC to meet with various members of both Houses of Congress at the end of September. This is a photo of me with Congressman Gary Peters from a recent luncheon and meeting of the Xemplar Club in Farmington Hills:

And one last photo of Elijah, Jacob and Olivia - The Three Musketeers :

 

We are lucky to have a large number of good friends who we spend a great deal of time with and who share many of our interests. See the Friends page for what is new with them.