Christmas 2016

2015 Blaney Family Christmas Letter

2015 Blaney Family Christmas Letter     

                                                                    Yes, We're Just That Cheap.

Disney 1997

   In 1996, we "earned" free flights by being bumped on our trip to Tim and Min's wedding.  So in 1997 we took the girls to Disney World where we purchased a five day Disney pass but only used three of those days.  Fast forward 18 years and after a little confusion on the part of the Disney staff, we met up with Jon and Mary Jo in March and used one of our two remaining days!  At this rate, our next return to Disney will be in 2033.  Who's in?

   While we were in Florida we were able to spend some quality time with Bill Blaney who had taken up temporary residence in the Villages which is kind of a Disney World for seniors.

                           Eugene R. Kolb, U.S. Navy

Gene at the Korean Memorial

   With some urging from his family, Gene Kolb participated in an Honor Flight to Washington D.C.  The Honor Flights are an attempt to help WWII and Korean Veterans see the memorials erected in their honor as all of them are now in their 80s and 90s.  They were treated with such respect and dignity and the welcome home celebration they experienced when they returned was so emotional, it still gives us chills remembering it.  As an added bonus, Cathy was able to be Gene's escort on the day long trip. 

                                                          Erin Blaney B.A. MSW.

Erin Blaney MSW

   After two years of class work and internships in the Chicago Public School system, Erin earned her Masters of Social Work Degree from Loyola University Chicago!  We have always been proud of Erin but even more so on that day when one of her colleagues spoke at the graduation ceremony.  She reminded her fellow graduates that it's hard for some to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps as many of the people with whom you will be working have no boots.  Erin has moved back to Green Bay where she works as a social worker at Washington Middle School where 75% of the families live under the poverty level.

   While in Chicago for the graduation, we were able to find an inexpensive flight to New York where we hit the top tourist spots and took in four shows.

                      Peru?  I Thought You Said Purdue! 

Kathleen & Cathy at Machu Picchu

     As a nursing student in 2009, Kathleen volunteered at a mission called Santisimo Sacramento, in Piura, Peru.  She always wanted to return so in June, Kathleen and Cathy flew to South America and volunteered for six weeks.  During that time they met some of the most wonderful people, witnessed extreme poverty and made some life long friends.  They were even able to take a bus trip from their parish to Ecuador to see Pope Francis.  If you get the chance, ask either of them if it was hot during the Pope's outdoor mass!  Before returning home, they also took a trip to Machu Picchu. They kept a blog of their experiences.  To visit that blog please go to www.PeruBlaney.blogspot.com.

                                        New York, New York A City So Nice They Named It Twice

  After leaving her position as a nurse case manager at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, Kathleen accepted a job at the New York City Dept. of Public Health.  Apartment hunting in NYC was... interesting.  Since her arrival in the city that never sleeps, she has reacquainted herself with some old friends, made some new friends and embraced many of the features for which New York is known; Broadway shows, museums, Macy's Thanksgiving parade (balloon blow-ups), Halloween in the Village and thanks to Leah Jenk, she was even able to take in the final game of the World Series.

Thanks for letting us relive some of our favorite memories from 2015.  A blessed Merry Christmas to you all!

   Ken, Cathy, Kathleen and Erin

Disney the Good and the Bad

Disney Service

I'm still on the fence when it comes to the Disney Mantra of the "Customers Always Come First".  I've heard and read about it so much I've come to think of it as almost cult-like.

THE BAD:  Eighteen years ago, Cathy and I purchased 4 Five Day World Hopper Tickets from Disney World.  We only used three of the days.  Before booking our current trip, Cathy called and was told that the tickets were still good, so we booked a hotel.  We received a number of emails from Disney about our upcoming visit.  One email encouraged us to link our Magic Kingdom tickets with our hotel reservations.  Because our tickets were so old we followed the on-line instructions which included calling a special phone number for tickets purchased before 2007.  The operator told us that if the tickets didn't say "Don't Expire" they expired.  There is an appeal procedure to which we availed ourselves.  We had to email copies of our tickets along with photo IDs and call a certain phone number the next day.  When we called they said they'd call us within 24-48 hours with a decision but they didn't.  We called them and they had decided that the tickets were still good.  To be clear, they did not give us two days worth of tickets - they only agreed that we were right all along.  When I showed up at the Magic Kingdom ticket booth there was still a slight hassle even though I provided them with our file number.

THE GOOD:  Many of you have heard the story about how when we stayed at Disney 18 years ago we bought a free re-fillable mug and refilled it many, many times during our stay.   We brought it back on this trip to see if it was still good.  We filled it with coffee and asked the checkout person (think cafeteria) if the free refill offer was still good.  She laughed along with us when we explained the situation.  She called over her supervisor who also laughed with us and said that the re-fill offer was no longer good.  Then she said to the check out (under her breath), ''don't charge him for the coffee" and then she walked away.  The clerk waited for her supervisor to leave, looked up at me and said "I already rang you up - I didn't charge you for either coffee".

Christmas 2014

                2014       

       Merry Christmas

       from the Blaneys!

Ken and Cathy celebrated Cathy's first year of retirement by taking the camper out of storage and spending nine days camping, visiting Mackinac Island and returning home via the western side of Michigan and Chicago to visit Erin. We made it home just in time to go to the Packer game!

 

Kathleen joined two friends and spent two weeks traveling through France, Italy and Spain. She continues her work as a Nurse Case Manager at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin.

  

Erin is in her second year of a two year Masters program at Loyola University Chicago. She is loving the city and will earn her Masters Degree in Social Work in May!

Merry Christmas!            

Ken, Cathy, Kathleen and Erin!    

November in Door County

Door County in Nov.

Some people ask us what we do in Door County during this time of year.  So while this weekend is not typical, I think it's worth sharing.

   On the Friday after Thanksgiving Egg Harbor has this very cute, very low key Christmas lighting in Harbor Park.  The event includes free hot chocolate, warm cookies, hot cider, caroling and a visit with Santa.  The tree gets lit at 5:00 and the town square is pretty much emptied out by 5:45.
   After a quick pizza at home we headed over to Hands On Art Studio.  It's an artsy kind of place that has adult night on Fridays.  They encourage you to bring in a bottle of wine, listen to a good acoustic guitar player/singer and paint or create a piece of art.  They fire your art item and you can pick in up a few days later.
   On Saturday we made cut out cookies and watched Home Alone

before meeting Jon and Mary Jo for lunch at the very picturesque White Gull Inn.
   They tried a new fund raiser in Egg Harbor this year.  It was a raffle of sorts.  They sold squares on a very small piece of property.  They walked around a calf with paper antlers strapped onto his head to make him look like a reindeer.  If the calf poops on your square, you win $500!
   Kathleen and I had our photo taken with Santa and headed back to the cottage in time for Mass which was followed by a wonderful leftover turkey dinner served with dressing and potatoes that Jon and Mary Jo brought over.

   Jon, Mary Jo, Cathy and I went to a Letterman Christmas Concert at the Door County Auditorium and nobody enjoyed it more than Cathy.
   On Sunday we had a wonderful breakfast and watched "The Holiday"
   By the way, it has snowed 5-6 inches in Fish Creek and we actually had our driveway plowed out.
   Thanks for letting me share our weekend with you.

Christmas 2013

                                                      Christmas 2013
                     Merry Christmas and Greetings from the Blaney Family

2013 has come and almost gone and once again we are grateful for the blessings with which we have been bestowed.  Here is an update on our family.

Erin at Wrigley

After two years of working as a bilingual family support worker working with mothers and infants for Family Services, Erin decided to go back to school to begin work on her Master's Degree.  So, at the end of August, with the help of Mary Jo, Jon and Kathleen, we packed her up and moved her to Chicago.  She began classes in September at the downtown campus of Loyola University of Chicago, just two block from the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).  After unpacking, we toured Navy Pier and we were able to make a pilgrimage to Wrigley to take in a Cubs game. Erin is enjoying her time in the city and seems to have adapted to not having a car for the first time in quite a while.

Kathleen continues to work as a Nurse Case Manager for the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin.  She

  Min, Kathleen, Ethan, Tim & Anthony

recently completed two trips, one to the west coast, the other to the east coast.  She traveled to California in October to spend some time with her uncle, aunt and cousins and to see her friend star in a play.  Tim, Min, Anthony and Ethan could not have been more gracious and welcoming.  They toured UC-Merced, much of San Francisco and spent a day at Yosemite.  The east coast trip was a mixture of business and pleasure.  She attended a health conference in Boston and was able to extend her trip so that she could visit friends in Providence, RI and New York City.

Bridget & Jeff

The family highlight of the summer was attending Bridget's wedding in Minocqua.  Bridget and her husband Jeff had met at Camp Kawaga so it seemed fitting to have their rehearsal dinner, reception and dinner there.  Many of us stayed at the camp and had a great time. The wedding was beautiful.

In 2013 we continued to better appreciate the simple pleasures that life offers.  They include time at the cottage, visits from family and friends, a family friend's wedding in Milwaukee and an Early Family gathering in Door County.

May God bless you during this holiday season.
Ken, Cathy, Kathleen and Erin

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Navy Pier (Chicago)

Anthony, Kathleen and Ethan (San Francisco)

Joan of Arc (Marquette)

                

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas from the Blaney Family. 

2012 was a wonderful year for us as we hope it was for all of you. 
 
We did not do a lot of travelling this year but when we did travel it was to the east coast to visit Kathleen.  Cathy, her dad, Erin, Jon, Mary Jo and I flew in to Providence to witness Kathleen’s graduation from Brown University.  She received her master’s degree in Public Health.  We were able to take side trips to Connecticut and Massachusetts in her 1997 van with 150,000 miles on it with no air-conditioning.  Every we time we stopped and got out, the seven of us pouring out of that van reminded me of a circus clown car. 

Later that summer, Cathy went back out to spend some one-on-one time with her.  Cathy drove and Kathleen navigated as they made their way into the heart of NYC.  While there they attended the Broadway musical, “Mamma Mia”

Watching all the news coverage about Hurricane Sandy made me want to jump on a plane and fly east.  So I did and I am grateful that Delta was the only airline flying into Providence the day after the storm.   Before driving back to Wisconsin we took a side trip to Cape Cod and Nantucket.   Kathleen cleaned out her apartment that served her well for two and a half years and we headed west.  We made side trips to visit Yale, Hershey PA, Gettysburg and the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.   Because of the devastation of the hurricane, we avoided NYC but still spent 3 hours searching for and waiting for gas in New York & New Jersey.  We’ll always remember the people we met at Walgreens.  The area had no gas, no electricity and no heat for days.  Walgreens was being powered by generators and people were huddled around a powerstrip that the store provided so they could recharge their cell phones and laptops.

This year Cathy and I are especially thankful to have two gainfully employed daughters.  Erin continues her work as a bilingual social worker for The Healthy Families Program of Family Services where she works with at-risk infants and first time mothers.  Now well into her second year with Family Services, Erin has fallen in love with many of “her babies” and they with her. 

Kathleen has accepted a position with the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin as an HIV Nurse Case Manager.  Her duties include clinic time in Green Bay and home visits in the surrounding area. 

Other 2012 highlights include Kathleen’s trip to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, and Ken receiving an alumni award from his high school.

Cathy continues to teach 2^nd grade in our neighborhood school.  She struggles with the lack of materials, support staff and the increasing needs of her students but continues to make a terrific impact on her student’s lives.

As always, we'd love to hear from you. 

Merry Christmas!

Ken, Cathy, Kathleen and Erin