Snapshot...

After we got back from South Dakota (we still have more postings to do on it) everyone came to our house. Anne's daughter was in town too and we gave her the nickel 25 minute tour of Rochester. Liz and Doug worked some magic to get Paul's grill to work after 6 or more years of not being used. And we had a mystery celebrity photographer take our photos...

Back Row: Karen, Grandpa D, Doug, Liz
Middle Row: Anne, Michele, Veto the cat, Grandma D, Paul, Diane
Front Row: Sammy

3 generations....Paul, Sammy, and his Grandpa D...

Flashback: April 1984

Paul's maternal grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in April 1984. Paul scanned this picture yesterday (taken on or about that anniversary). They were good, decent, nurturing, and loving people. We miss them both dearly. The world could use more people like them.

Cousin Liz & Doug Visit

This past week Paul's cousin Liz (daughter of his mother's brother) and her husband Doug came to visit. It was a great visit, full of laughs and story-telling of days gone by. Later we all went up to the Twin Cities to have a dinner with Paul's sisters Anne & Diane at Grant's place. We hope to see them again soon.

Liz & Doug...
...and Rochester's famous corn cob water tower...

Sammy finds a coaster at Grants...
...meanwhile a spooky jack-o-lantern looks on...

Sammy playing with the doors to Grant's study...

Grant and Sammy roughhousing...

Cousins...
Sammy, Paul, Diane, Liz, Anne, & Doug...

A Quick Trip To Austin

Last week we went down to Texas because Paul's nephew Chris was graduating. Paul's parents and brother live in Austin, so it was a good chance for all of us to get together. It was nice to see family and Sammy always enjoys seeing his grandparents!

Sammy & his Aunt Diane

The graduate...resting after all night studying no doubt...

Cousins Dominic, Sammy, Celine, Chris, and Andrew on the couch...

Sammy models his hat for his cousin Andrew...

Getting us all to behave and cooperate for a photo is like herding cats...

Chris and Celine arm wrestling...

Chris vs. all of his cousins arm wrestling...

Sammy and his Grandma & Grandpa (after who he is named)...

Sammy tells his grandparents an amusing story...

Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

Paul's brother David lives far away in Texas. Paul and his sisters (who live in the Twin Cities) rarely get to see David and his wife/kids. So when we found out very recently that David would be in La Crosse, Wisconsin they took they day off to meet him there. Not knowing what to expect (or even why David and his family would be there) Anne, Diane, and Paul (Michele & Sammy are back East on vacation) piled into a car this morning and drove from Rochester to La Crosse to see David & family for a few hours.

Apparently, David's family was traveling with another family and they were stopping to see the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse. So that's where we went to meet them...at the shrine in La Crosse. As the three of us pulled into the Shrine's parking lot we saw what looked like a very little shrine and collectively thought, "David and his family/friends traveled all this way to see this?"

The rest of the story is told in captions of the pics shown below in sequence:

So this is the Shrine?...later we found it, it's the Votive Chapel...

Anne has her cake and eats it...at the Shrine restaurant...

Celine, Aunt Diane, Dominic, Andrew, and Aunt Annie...

David & his wife Jacci and their Nikon D50 camera...
...the exact same model Paul has...

Unexpectedly to us...they piled us into these golf carts...
...David's friend Scott drove one of the carts...
...we soon found out he isn't the world's best driver...

We twisted up and up this winding path...
...much steeper than it looks here...
...just ask those in the golf cart David was in...

We stopped and they passed out construction helmets for us to wear...
...note how good David looks as a construction worker...
...you can almost imagine him snarling, "Where's my donut?"

Ah...so this is the Shrine Church...now it all makes sense...
...it's still under construction, hence the helmets...

It's stunning, so large and under construction...
...nothing like during the Middle Ages back in old Europe...
...with modern tools and scaffolding...

Here is the nun who gave us the tour...
...she kindly answered all Paul's questions regarding their project management...

They showed us just about every part of it...
...multi-level basement and all...
...though we saw no gargoyles or secret passage ways...

This is the room for the bishops and higher to put on their vestments...
...when finished their bathroom will have real towels...
...while the bathroom for the regular priests will just have paper towels...

David steals the blueprints which were left unattended...

From what it sounds like, no expense has been spared...
...Italian marble...exotic woods...all with modern techology...
...reinforced concrete, steel construction, thermal stained-glass windows, etc...

For the trip back down the hill...
...fewer people chose to ride in the cart with David's friend driving....
...oh yea of little faith...

A model of what the finished Shrine will look like...
...only bigger..
"Thank God for the model trains, you know?
If they didn't have the model trains
they wouldn't have gotten the idea for the big trains."

Aunt Annie giving Dominic a kiss...

Anne and Diane contemplating a higher calling...
...inside the Votive Chapel...

After saying goodbye, David, his friends, and some of his kids left for the airport...
...and by leaving I mean they left behind Jacci and Tricia...
...notice the van leaving them...

We had a wonderful visit with them. We were impressed by what we saw. It's definitely a place worth visiting. Since it's only an hour or so from Rochester, we'll have to take Michele and Sammy there too.

SammyTrip2006: Great Aunt Prudy

During our Spring 2006 trip back East, little Sammy got to meet his Great Aunt Prudy, sister of Paul's mother. Sammy really enjoyed meeting her for lunch during the day and again later that night at the 50th Anniversary celebration for Paul's parents. Paul overheard Sammy whispering to Great Aunt Prudy that she's long overdue for a trip out to Rochester, MN to see him!

Great Aunt Prudy and our little Sammy

SammyTrip2006: Last stop, Great Uncle Joe's

The last stop we made at the end of our Spring 2006 trip was at Sammy's Great Uncle Joe's house. Uncle Joe is Paul's mother's brother. Uncle Joe didn't make it to Paul's parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary because he came down with the same kind of bug which resulted in the hospitalization of Michele's Grandparents. We intended to only briefly stop by, but willingly let our arms be twisted by Uncle Joe and Aunt Rosemary to stay for some savory steak and spend the night. Uncle Joe has had some health problems in recent years, so he's started an aggressive weight loss program. He's lost so much weigh he needs suspenders now and is looking a lot better!

Great Uncle Joe, Great Aunt Rosemary, and Sammy

Note: In the photo above is Uncle Joe's dog Teddy. He was recently attacked by a pit bull. Uncle Joe single handedly rescued Teddy who needed to have some fur shaved to stitch him back up.

SammyTrip2006: Great Grandma "D"

As we headed back west from our 2006 Spring trip, we stopped in western Pennsylvania to see Sammy's great grandmother. She's now 92 years old. She worked hard through most of her life running a neighborhood grocery store with Paul's grandfather (now deceased).

She's as tough as nails -- even a bus running over her couldn't take her out (really!). In the mid 1990's, a bus did run over her causing a compound fracture in her leg. It took a long time, but she recovered. The doctor said to Paul's father, "She's in great shape for a woman in her 70's" To which my father told the surprised doctor, she was in her late 80's. Let's hope little Sammy gets some of her long living genes.

Great Grandma clearly enjoyed meeting Sammy who is named after her son. She prefer's calling Paul's Dad and little Sammy "Samuel" so we had to be careful to use little Sammy' proper name. Paul engaged in some playful conversation with Great Grandma:

Paul: Grandma, how old are you, 79?
Grandma: No, I'm 92!
Paul: You don't look a day over 80.
[Grandma blushes]

Great Grandma "D" holds little "Samuel" for the first time.

Paul & Great Grandma "D"

SammyTrip2006: Plattsburgh Wedding & The Art of Feng Shui

Paul's niece was getting married up in Plattsburgh NY, so we planned on attending as part of our Spring 2006 trip back east. Unfortunately, Michele's grandparents continued to have health problems, so just Paul went to the wedding and she and Sammy went back down to Mount Upton. Being away from Michele is awfully hard on Paul, so although he put on his best happy face, things are just not fun for him unless Michele is with him.

Weddings always produce interesting conversations at the reception. At the dinner table, Paul's brother was telling him about how he and his sons were taking TaeKwonDo lessons. Another relative upon overhearing this started talking about how he has a black belt in it and started to explain the nuances of the different fighting styles. Paul is more of a follower of the Feng Shui method of self-defense...prefering to arrange large pieces of furniture like bureaus and wardrobes between him and agressors.

Here's a pic of Paul's familyn at the reception.
In front are his parents.
In the back from left to right are
Diane, Paul, Anne, and David (not in order by age).