Red’s Grandpa passed away April 3rd while holding Red’s Grandma’s hand. He was 89 years old.

Some of you may be surprised to know this, but Red and I are related…not in the scary genetic alien-baby sort of way, but through marriage of far removed cousins.  Put simply, we are NOT the first Kopczynski-Nuxoll wedding to happen in the Pacific Northwest.  That being said, the funeral was jam-packed with people that knew Red’s grandfather as well as my grandmother!

Thus, Nuxolls and Kopczynskis alike may enjoy the photos from the funeral and reception.  The Spokane Symphony also dedicated a song to Grandpa Kop.  You can hear the recording on NPR here.

One of highlights of the reception was when John Kop, age 96, sang a tune for his deparated brother.  John Kop, of course, is a good friend of my grandmother (Helen Nuxoll) who is also 96 years old. 

I also got a chance to sneak out and visit my Aunt Carla and Uncle Fritz, as well as my Godmother, Aunt Adonna.   It was great to see them.  (So great, that somehow I forgot to take a picture of Aunt Adonna!)

Enjoy!

Some of you may have noticed our website is up.  However, I can’t even believe how many events can possibly happen to us in a three month period.  Since January 1, 2008 (our last “official” update), we have taken 2,492 photos.  We have been to six major Rutgers events, four formal galas, five different U.S. states, two birthday parties, and one civil union.  

Oh, and I met Al Gore, Maurie Povich, and Connie Chung, but that is a story for another post.

And sadly, we are on our way to a funeral.  Red’s grandfather, Bernard “Kop” Kopczynski, passed away last Thursday.  We will be in Spokane, WA this weekend to celebrate his life.

Despite the backlog, I am certain that over time you will appreciate the wait.  As you can see, you now have the ability to register and make comments.  There is also an “RSS Feed” (don’t worry, I didn’t know what it was either), which means you can sign up and the website will automatically email you whenever I update it. Finally, you can “search.”  Yes folks, you can type your own name in and see what pages you were mentioned on.  Pretty exciting.  Of course, that will come with time.  For now, we have 2008 up and that’s about it.

In closing, I need to pack, clean, sleep and catch a flight within five hours (Red isn’t home from work yet), so this “update” is merely a bandaid for those eager Rutgers colleagues of mine who would like to see their photos.

Thus, I give you: Barrister’s Ball and MSP Banquet photos.  Please note, we came late to the Barrister’s Ball and only got about an hour or two worth of pictures. Then our camera was stolen.  But then it was returned via USPS with an anonymous note.  Whoever did it – we love you.  You will forever be a legendary mystery in our lives.

We had a very exciting New Year’s party this year!

Here is our view from Red’s office! The Times Square ball is below us (to the left of the screen)!

But the fireworks were still above us! What a great view!

In addition to photos from New Year’s Eve I have updated the website with photos AND CAPTIONS from:

• Christmas with the Nuxolls
• Christmas with the Kopczynskis
• Random fun in Seattle
• Finishing up finals (before the holidays) and random house parties

And, as always, there are a few shoutouts before I go:

Happy 45th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Happy Birthday Tom! (red arrow) Here we are waving to Red as our brother Joe gets ready for ski patrol to take him down the mountain)

Happy Birthday Dr. Culbert!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

We hope all of you have a wonderful 2008 and we hope to see you soon!

They tied the knot this weekend!

Lots of fun photos from this one! Over 700 in fact!

I also stopped by the Nuxoll Universe:

My dad shined my shoes.

My mom and sister and I shopped till we dropped (here we are, dropped).

And Sharon and I enjoyed (believe it or not) SNOW in Seattle!

And now I am back to studying for finals!

Mary’s Job

First of all, I had the greatest summer on record with Credit Suisse.

Part of our awesome Summer Associate posse on the last day.

As you may have heard, I worked in the CDO and Fixed Income Derivatives Team. If you have no idea what that means, that is okay. All you need to know is that it was awesome, I learned a lot, and the people in the next two photos are now my collective “Super Gurus.” These guys went all out to hook me up with an interviews and if things pan out, I may have a great job lined up for this summer!

And not only that! They offered for me to stay at Credit Suisse during the school year, which I accepted!

Of course, my work as a student has not ended. Thus, I am still enjoying the rigors of law school. This semester I am taking Employment Law, Administrative Law, International Trade Regulation, and Professional Responsibility.

As you can see, it took awhile for me to get the book out of the cellophane…

I also spent a lot of time planning and executing law school events. Sadly, however, I forgot my camera at the Buddy Mixer, but it was a PACKED party!!! Follow the link for the random photos I have of SBA events, including our SBA retreat.

Scabies and Babies

Thankfully, I have neither scabies nor babies. However, we had a big scare recently (about the scabies, not the babies). I have been itching up a storm since July 27th.

Not sure if you can see, but my thighs are covered in itchy red hives.

After five different diagnoses and treatments, my doc said, “Well, there is absolutely no way it could possibly be scabies from India, because if it were, Red would be itching too.” However, he decided to treat us both, just in case. His reasoning? “With you my dear, anything is possible” (e.g. CDC alert Typhoid fever).

Here we are, banished from our bed to the air mattress so we can treat our non-existent scabies.

Truth be told, I am still itching now, though not as badly. I will be getting a biopsy on my skin soon. Worry not – whatever it is is in no way communicable says doc. Besides, no one is itching yet after two months of hanging out with me. Perhaps it is just stress? More likely it is a non-food allergy.

As for babies, I would like to introduce the world to Zooey Madelyn Halverson, born August 19, 2007 (a.k.a. “Jonathan’s birthday”).

I just can’t get over her little smile!!

I would also like to point out that Ragan and Steve’s baby, Noah, got the outfit we sent him. Noah, you look good. Keep it up.

I like to call this piece, “Hoboken Noah.”

So that is it for baby news. As of now, there are no pregnancies to report.

Birthdays and Shoutouts

I did an absolutely terrible job acknowledging anyone except for Sharon since the month of July. So here you have the birthdays and anniversary shoutouts, all at once, beginning with July.

Click “Continue reading” below to see the rest of the post…

Happy Birthday Matt! Yes, this shot is from high school.

Happy Birthday Jessica! Here she is giving me attitude on the boat in Alaska.

Happy Birthday Tricia! Here she is at T-2 days before the wedding.

Happy Anniversary Matt and Alicia! What a gorgeous wedding!

Happy Birthday David! I’m sure he is like 15 years old now, but it still an adorable photo (FYI, I looked it up and he turned 7, so he is still a baby.)

Happy Birthday Tamar (and hope the Portland marathon went well)! Happy Birthday Bruce! Happy Birthday Ethan! Happy Anniversary Bruce and Tamar!! What a happy family!

Happy Birthday Sam! Happy Birthday Jay!

Happy Anniversary Steve and Ragan! I am perpetually hijacking photos off their website, but this was just too “Ragan and Steve” to pass up.

Happy Anniversary Tanya and Dave!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dawne! Happy Anniversary Dawne and Larry!

Happy Anniversary John and Christie!

Happy Birthday Auntie Jeanne!

Happy Birthday Alayne!

Happy Anniversary Ali and Mike!

Happy Birthday Declan!

Congratulations Warren and Karen! They will be getting married December 2rd!

And last but not least…

The Jonathan Tribute

At this point, Red and I have known Jonathan longer than we haven’t, which means we have watched him evolve…

from ordinary…

to extraordinary!

And thus begins the Jonathan Tribute, as the man, the myth, the legend himself, has passed a new echelon of evolution that I will never reach. That’s right. He turned 30 years old in August.

The first of our high school friends to pass over this evolutionary hump, Jonathan, also known as “Dutch,” has aged like a fine wine.

Though it was not a simple process.

In order to evolve, Jonathan had to try many new things:

He biked across the country for charity (Push America).

He explored his deeper appreciation for man’s best friend.

He even tried gambling in Vegas. I am trying to pry him away from the slot machines in this photo but as you can see, he is in one of his “phases.”

We had a lot of growth in Vegas, but mostly because (to our shock), he packed a massive serving of prime rib into his mouth AFTER eating a huge buffet meal. (As you can see, he is taking a bite of the cupcake before attacking the slab of meat on his left).

And finally, he took up modern dance. Here he is performing, “Fat Man in a Little Coat” at the Excalibur in Las Vegas.

Through all the trials and tribulations over the many years we have known each other, Jonathan has proven to be a friend who lasts the test of time.

We love you Jonathan!

Even when you pack a massive bottle of almost-empty Listerine.

Because when I am down, you make me feel better.

And when Red is being lame, you pretend to barf on him.

There is no friend like you, I am quite sure of it, and I want the whole world to know!!!

Happy Birthday Jonathan! We love you!

Road Trippin’

Because of numerous scheduling issues, Red and I were not able to take a major “bar” trip after he finished the exam. In lieu, we good a series of mini road trips all over the east coast, which is something we have wanted to do for the last three years!

I know its hard to believe, but we did go to band camp. Road, that is.

To make this easier, I have put together a medley of photos of our trips with captions explaining where we are. It was a lot of fun.

Baked Alaska

Over Labor Day weekend, Red and I flew out to Juneau, Alaska with his family.

His parents rented a renovated tugboat and we went fishing.

Here is our boat!

As a child, I had a fundamental disgust of fish and all things associated with them. My father will be interested to hear that I did indeed agree to hold a pole and in fact “caught” a fish, but I refused to be photographed with it.

Here is Cary holding my fish.

Regardless, it was the wildlife that stole the show on this trip.

Here is a massive humpback whale breaching.

This shot gives better perspective so you can see the size of these things!

Red holding some fresh catch of the day.

We did a lot of eating and celebrating as well (both Phil and Red finished taking the bar exam). Jan made things as festive as she always does. For a complete narrative with captions, click here.

Tricia and Joe’s Wedding

Once we got home from Alaska, our number one focus was to prepare for and enjoy the much anticipated wedding of Tricia and Joe.

What a gorgeous wedding.

What a beautiful couple.

We finally have all the photos up and organized, so enjoy.

• Spa Butterfly
• Rehearsal Dinner
• The Pig n’ Whistle
• Wedding Day Preparations
• The Ceremony
• The Reception
• The Bus Ride Home and the Afterparty

Hope you enjoyed!

Mary