Grossman family west

So I was poking around the InterWeb the other day and I found a brief history of the Grossman Family Lumber business, incorporated in 1919.

I thought that the entire thing was pretty cool and decided that Avi might want to read it some day, so I copied it onto the GFW site (with proper attribution, of course). As “bonus history”, I even added a little paragraph from my father at the end that explains the move into Real Estate, the current Family Business.

History, now on GFW: http://www.grossmanfamilywest.com/about/grossmansIncHistory.html

Also, I found a company selling some sort of “accessory piece” that depicts the Grossmans Lumber Truck, complete with catch phrase: http://www.abigailscrossinggifts.com/online_store.cfm?categoryid=7&ic=28

Enjoy!

Here Comes Grossmans

Last night, Joel, Holly, and Aunt Debbie left the Big Man at home while we researched his potential career as a Rock star. He’s shown promise with his general interest in our Rock Band evenings, but we wanted to dig deeper. We decided that there was no better model than American Hasidic musician Matisyahu, so we headed off the Fillmore in San Francisco for another fantastic sold-out show (Holly and Joel had seen Matisyahu in Boston). Unfortunately, it was past Avi’s bedtime, so we thoroughly documented the evening in pictures (below). If you’re interested in learning more about Matisyahu, including answers to burning questions like “How do you keep Kosher on the road?” or “Can you participate in a music festival over Shabbat?”, check out his website: http://www.matisyahuworld.com/ Along with the Beastie Boys, Matisyahu keeps the Rock star dream alive for Jewish boys everywhere.

And here’s a recent release:

Dan and Rebecca just sent us some pictures from their camera from when Dad and I watched the Pats game with them at their old apartment in Seattle. They just moved into a new house (congrats!) but we really sent the old apartment out with a bang! Check me out: http://photos.busstop.org/Friends/2009-09-27-Football-Sunday/9868884_hFWW7#671658455_Xbttw

Thanks for the great pics, Rebecca and Dan! Hope to see you again soon!

Go Pats!

–Avi

Last week was Mom’s birthday and Aunt Liz’s, too, so we all went to Seattle to celebrate! I had so much fun with my cousins and aunts and uncles and Gigi and Seattle friends. We went out on Uncle Mark’s boat, and then had a birthday bbq at Uncle Dale’s house, and I got play with my cousin Carson, and watch the Patriot’s game at Uncle Dan and Aunt Rebecca’s place, and I went to a baby shower, and then a dinner at William’s, and got to play with even more friends. Wow! What a fun weekend! Mom and Dad took a bunch of pictures, which they’ve posted to the photo gallery. It was so much fun to see everyone and I hope to see you again soon!

Love,
Avi

Fun with Friends in Seattle

This past weekend was Sukkot and, even though Dad was on a plane back from Washington, D.C., mom and Avi wanted to shake the Lulov and Etrog and celebrate Sukkot, a Jewish harvest holiday. The Temple that we’re no longer members of (that’s another story) had a Sukkot service for families, which offered the perfect opportunity. Avi and Mom went and sang songs and then played with the other families in the Sukkah. They even took a little video of it!

Happy Sukkot, Everyone!

Avi in the Sukkah

Yesterday, my Uncle Dave asked his girlfriend Dara to marry him, and she said Yes!! I couldn’t be more excited because I think Dara rocks! Plus, I already have a tux for the wedding, just in case it’s black tie. (no word on the date yet).

Here’s a picture of the three of us from a time they visited me in San Francisco:

You're going to be my new AUNT Dara soon!

Well, well, well, do I have some exciting news! Mom and Dad and I went to Boston last week and we saw Uncle Jake get married to Liz, who is now officially my AUNT Liz! The whole week was sooooo much fun and I met lots of really nice people from Liz’s family, who mom says are all now part of my family! That’s really cool, except that Dad said that that they don’t cheer for the Patriots. Other than that, I liked them a lot.
Liz looked really pretty and Jake and I looked really handsome. My mom and dad took more than 400 pictures from the week, and they picked the best 100 to add to a new album in the Photo Gallery. Check it out!

Don't I look great? See More Pictures of Me in the Photo Album!

I have been having SOOOOO much fun in Boston! Dad says that he’ll post lots of pictures when we get back home…
Tonight was the most exciting night yet—Uncle Jake and Liz’s Rehearsal Dinner! There were so many people there whom I know and I had a great time. There were some really nice speeches, including one from my Aunt Debbie which was really sweet. But the coolest thing was that my Uncle Jake and Liz created a slideshow of a lot of memories (most of which I don’t even remember!). It was a very nice warm up to the Big Day tomorrow. In case you missed any of the pictures, I’ve posted them in the photo gallery for you to enjoy!

I love you, Jake and Liz!

A picture from their pre-wedding slideshow...

Yesterday, I received an email that looked like this:
------------------------------
To: Joel
From: Nanny

LOve,
Me
--------------------------------

Wow. She really gave it to me. Well, at least we now know where Grammy gets it… 😉

Nevertheless, the grandmotherly e-scolding from 3,000 miles away was effective. I left work immediately, raced home, dressed Avi and Mom for a photoshoot, and spent the rest of the day taking pictures. Without further ado, I present Avi’s Five Month Photoshoot rolled, as always, into the large slideshow with all of his monthly photoshoots… Am I back on your good side now, Nanny?

5 Month Photoshoot, per Nanny's orders

When we were in Boston last week, it became clear that our little family website was a bit more popular than we had realized and the traffic was bogging down our little “beginner” webserver (we realized we had a problem when the entire staff of NWOA all reported that they had seen all of our videos!). Folks on the East Coast, in particular, weren’t having a great experience with the videos, which were taking too long to download.

This weekend, I upgraded our servers, moving to a new hosting facility. That means that videos in our photo gallery should download a LOT faster now—no more waiting for them to load!

I have two favors to ask:

1) This upgrade was a bit more manual than I would have liked. That means that you may come across parts of the website that are broken. I’ve tried to make sure everything works, so please let me know if you find something broken!!

2) The upgrade took me about five hours over two days, and mommy Holly got a little grumpy over it. Do me a favor and tell her (call, email, whatever!) how excited you are about the website upgrade—how much you love the zippiness of the new site… But don’t tell her that I told you to say it! 😉 (if you don’t have her contact info memorized, you can find it on the About Us page)

Enjoy!