Pre- Oz…Was That Just Summer?

If my timing were better this posting would have come out much earlier and foreshadowed the trip to Oz…regardless, here is a little re-cap of the end of summer.

It seemed we just put in the dock and opened the cottage…and it was time to pull it out and put all the sheets and towels away.  But that doesn’t mean the Adventures stopped…they just kept going on and on.

We did travel back and forth to NH, but never seemed to light in one place for more than a night at a time; but we sure had fun!  July was filled--Fourth of July celebrations, the Andover Parade, pork on the grill, fireworks on the dock, wedding showers, weddings, and having Jess & PJ join us at the cottage.  This year there are not pictures of all the events, but we have the key pieces.

Jess and PJ with us at the Cottage

For several of the summer events Jess and PJ flew in from their home in Denver to join us.   That meant some dock time together with fishing, boating and just “hanging around.”

 

Wonderful Weddings

It was great to have Dad (Grampy) able to be there for the ceremony as well (he was in rehab at the time battling shingles and a little CHF).

This was another summer of family weddings and they were both great!  Kevin and Ashley were married at the Granite Rose in Atkinson, NH on July 13th.  It was a beautiful service followed by an evening of dining and dancing.    Cheri and I also managed to dance with Jess & PJ during the “Father / Daughter” dance and the “Mother / Son” dance

Then a month later we were able to not only celebrate but be a part of Kristina and Sarath’s wedding. 

This wedding also took place in Atkinson, but at the Country Club and resort.  Another beautiful setting…It also turns out that with a letter from our church indicating that I am a leader within the church and a check for $25 the State of NH allowed me to perform the ceremony.  Nana and Papa were also guests at the wedding so we took the opportunity to get them in some photos.  It was also a good time to get a shot of Dad with the older Swenson siblings (which included the Mother of the Bride).  Once again there was quite a bit of dancing...and the Swenson clan closed down the party.

Morris / Manz / Swenson Annual (sort-of) Cottage Outing

As we often try to…we held an almost full gathering of the Swensons, Manzs and Morris at the cottage.  Margaret is still in Korea, Sarah and Andrew live in Australia, and David and Heather Manz were home with some pet problems…so they were not able to be at this gathering of the clans.  But that didn’t stop us from having a good time…particularly since we were also getting reports out of Australia that a new family member was wanting to make her presence known (we didn’t know it was a her at the time…but we were getting excited with the anticipation). 

A special thanks goes out to James Morris for providing these photos of the event!

We had a small tent city to accommodate the growing group, and filled the weekend with good eating, good discussions and an all-around good time…

And then we got the news of the arrival of Evelyn Louise Walker in Oz!.  Through the wonders of FaceTime we were able to see and speak with Sarah, Andrew and our new Granddaughter from half-way around the world…all within ninety minutes of her being born!

The Adventures continue to grow…on (or back) to Oz!