ALTERNATE SITE
(last update: June, 2001)
Formal PORTRAITS (NEW! APRIL 2001)
For obvious reasons, this section is probably our most popular and also the one that is updated most frequently. Please let me know if you have any problems viewing the pictures (if the thumbs load WAY too slow, links are broken, etc.). In order to give us more "capacity", I've had to setup a separate account location (http://www.NBCi.com), a free webpage site, to store most of the picture pages - so it has added some load-time overhead {PLEASE be patient}. Items below are added "more or less" in chronological order . . . Anyhow - ENJOY and definitely check back regularly!!
ORIGINAL
SITE - if you can't get any of the picture links to work, try 
- (JUNE 1997) INTRODUCTORY NEWS WITH NEW WEBSITE DESIGN/LOCATION - Let's see, what's been happening... Well, first of all, we've got this web-site "published". That in and of it's self is a major accomplishment. Work (Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York; aka "LLANY" [but now known as "LincolnLife-NY" in 2000]) has been very "enriching" for both Gary & Kelli. Gary is the Director of Technology (Title changed - 2000), and gets to (has to?) play with everything TECHNICAL. Kelli has a similar "challenge" in her role as Director of Administration (title changed - 2000) - which is to say, she runs everything ADMINISTRATIVE. Multi-tasking rules the day, but these are truly once in a lifetime opportunities, career-wise..
The rest of our time has been spent trying to make Central New York (CNY) feel like home. We left behind in Fort Wayne (we lived there for almost 10 years until we moved out here on Jan. 2, 1997) all of our existing connections for leisure activities, baby sitters, Hair stylists, Doctors, Social activity, Vets., ad nauseum - so basically we are starting from scratch out here. The area is very nice, however, so it's just a matter of time! On a more serious note, speaking of Vets, we had to use one this past week for Gizmo. Unfortunately, she never came home. For those of you that don't remember, Gary has had Gizmo and Raven for over 13 years (for more than Kelli & JJ combined!). Gizzy developed some congenital heart problems or something, and just never snapped out of it. Signing the "euthanasia" papers was VERY hard...
On a happier note, I did mention leisure activities, and what I mostly mean by that revolves around SPORTS. Leaving behind Lincoln and Fort Wayne, we naturally left behind any sports league connections we had made (and known golf courses etc.). Also, Gary has been a "top-tier" member of the Fort Wayne Rotisserie Baseball League (Fantasy Baseball), and hated to give that up; so he didn't!! The first major (solo) trip back to Fort Wayne after our move out here was by Gary for the annual "drafts" at the end of March. Guess there is little question about placing priorities!!
All work and no play makes us tired - so we do "play around" a little bit. Kelli is contemplating looking for someone to help her get back into the "piano" thing, and Gary has his monstrous tape/cd/lp collection (as well as some well documented forays into the "lyric writing" business with K.D.Mitchell) so MUSIC is a big pasttime of ours. Also, we always look for fun and amusing things on the WEB, so we've compiled some other Entertaining sites that you might enjoy.
Well, that's the news for now. Check back periodically (hey, why don't ya!!??); meanwhile, you may want to check out some of the other MISCELLANEOUS Fun STUFF. TTFN (Ta-ta for now).
1998 Hope for Bereaved Benefit, Newspaper Picture & article - Kelli and Gary were co-chairs of the 25th anniversary "Celebration of Hope" benefit dance.
(DECEMBER 1998) For those of you that haven't heard, we are "Cat-less" for the first time (for Gary) in 15 years. Raven had a garage door mishap - I won't go into details here, but it was rather traumatic, although I hope quick. As J.J. said at the time "Mommy, at least we still have the turtles."
(MARCH 1999) YES, THERE IS NOW A BOY TO CARRY ON THE KERN NAME! Walter Gene Kern made his appearance on March 23, 1999 at 12:41 p.m. He, like his sister before him, was "11 days over and induced". Mother was a real trooper during the whole ordeal (and the alternatives were...), and she's happy to be on the way to "getting her body back!". Walter Gene was basically a forgone conclusion name-wise. Both Kelli & Gary had close Grandfathers names WALTER (Gildow, Kelli's Dad's dad; and Gruwell, Gary's Mother's Dad), and Gary's Father's first name and Kelli's Father's middle name is GENE. So, like it or not Wally, your name was pretty much pre-ordained - get used to it!
(MAY 1999) To help care for Wally and JJ this year, the Kern's will have an Au Pair, Keshni Govender from Durban, South Africa. Keshni arrives in early May and will be with us for an entire year.
DISNEY - Feb. 2000 (lots of pictures, be patient)
(JUNE 2000) "Alpha to Omega" - whereever there is an ending, there is also a beginning. As we came to June, it was time for Keshni to head back to South Africa (Darn, we're gonna miss that girl!). HOWEVER, it was also a chance for KMORNWAN APINUN ("POOK") to arrive; she'll be doing the "au pairing" for the Kern Kids this year. She is from Bangkok, Thailand; should be an interesting year!!
(OCTOBER 2000) OK, lots of news, and pictures will be sure to follow...
(1) WE HAVE A NEW ADDITION TO THE FAMILY!! "LUCKY LOOP" the Pug puppy has joined us! We picked up Lucky on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2000 (he was born 08/24/2000). So far JJ dotes on him, and Wally really couldn't care less. We'll see how those "late night potty trips" in the dead of winter make us all feel.
(2) Kelli was selected as one of Syracuse's "40 under 40" business leaders!!
(3) Gary was featured in a COMPUTERWORLD article (Oct. 2 issue "Learning from History's Leaders") that even included his picture. The website doesn't do the picture justice so I'll post it and some of the "editted material" later. But check this out!!
(4) JJ has started kindergarten!! 1 down 1 to go...(MARCH 2001) Well, we will soon be moving, we just don't know WHEN yet. Lincoln NY is scaling back operations (consolidating to other Lincoln Life locations) and 90% of the people who were working there are now "job eliminated" (as of varying times in May - the Kerns have a date of May 31, 2001). Therefore, it's on the road again! Not really a bad thing as we were ready for a change. Stay tuned for further developments!!!
1st Quarter 2001 - Kids
1st Quarter 2001 - miscellaneous
(JUNE 2001) Well, it happened - we are without employment. Right now it's OK as we have severence pay through the end of the year and there is something to be said about being able to spend more time with the kids in the summer months. We have decided that GARY will seek employment first (See resume!!), and then Kelli will focus on whatever geographical area that turns out to be - but if September rolls around and there's still nothing on the horizon we may have to switch our strategy! Stay tuned...
