This summer, was our first summer (since Mushkie was born) that we did not return to ILTSP (The Ivy League Torah Study Program) in Naponach NY in the Catskill Mountains. While we did enjoy our summers there, the work at Shabbos House grows each year, and we are no longer able to take six weeks off and get away from it all.

Instead we stayed home, and got work done at home, for the family and for Shabbos House. We organized paperwork, clothing, did some fundraising, mailed a summer update, worked on the back-end of this website, and did all kinds of things that kept being pushed off because of the hectic academic year's activities.

Being home, we invited summer students and alumni in the area to come for Shabbos, and we had very nice cozy and comfy Friday Night meals together. Sometimes as few as 5-10, and as many as 25-30. One weekend a group of recent alumni came up to visit. 

At the start of summer, we had a great trip to Michigan where we spent Shavuot with Raizy's sister and her family, the Greenbergs, who opened a Chabad Center in Walled Lake, outside of Detroit. We had a great road-trip there and back, and stopped off in Niagara Falls on the way. (Maybe we'll post those photos on these pages as well, sometime soon).

The kids had a great summer at Morah Clara's Gan Yisroel Day Camp, at Delmar Chabad. Each day they came home excited with new crafts, stories to tell and experiences to share. Mushkie's learning how to swim, Moshe can go down to the lowest step in the pool, and Chanie always describes the scenarios of the day in the greatest detail.

Once camp was over, in the first week of August, we spent time each day, taking the kids on little outings, spending some quality times together. The above links have some photos of visits with relatives, outings in parks, farms, and country fairs, and a day at the local kids' amusement park. We did many more things, but there's a limit to how many photos we can post!

We had an amazing time at Yishai and Rachel's wedding, and now look forward to Mendel's brother Shmuly's wedding in Montreal on September 1st. (On the way back, we plan to stop off at Parc Safari near the border, where the kids had a blast last time..)

While we did mail a "Summer Update" - we did not send the usual postcards with family pics like we do each year. We got quite a few calls and e-mails asking for them, seems like folks did miss getting them. Thanks for the interest. These photopages are here thanks to those who kept asking for those adorable summer kids pictures. Look for a Rosh Hashanah postcard, with some pics on front.

We look forward to another wonderful year at Shabbos House with many new and old freinds, Best wishes on the New Year. Ksiva vaChasima Tova, a Happy Sweet New Year to All!

Mendel and Raizy, Mushkie, Chanie, Moshe and Sara Rubin