From Thursday, June 24 to
Monday, June 28, Dennis and Deb accompanied the Loyas (Tami, Dan,
Sarah and Danny) on a trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit
Deb's (and Tami's) family and attand a graduation (from College) party
for Deb's neice, Erin Juenke. The Loya's arrived on Wednesday giving
the kids a chance to swim in our next door neighbor's (Diana and Peter)
pool. Thursday. we drove to Newark (EWR) and flew via Continental
airlines to MSP (Miineapolis/St. Paul International Airport) arriving
at 2pm CDT. We then drove a rental minivan to Turtle Lake, WI and
began a series of visits to relatives - first with dinner at Deb's
favorite restaurant to get pizza in her home territory, Drag's, in Rice
Lake and the next day with Deb's Mom, Agnes Bazewicz, Brother Bobby (and his wife Diane) and Brother Gary (and his wife Sue).
We visited Deb's Mom because she is unable to travel for health reasons
and couldn't attend the large family event later that day. It was most
noteworthy during our visit that this was the first time Agnes had met
her greatgrandchildren, Sarah and Danny. Agnes also urged Deb to give
Erin her congratulations and to tell her that Erin's deceased Mother
Chris would have been "so proud of Erin's acheivement." The visit to
the home of Bob and Diane gave us the chance to see the renovations
they have made, especially the new, sparkling kitchen, and to munch on
fresh vegtables from their garden.
Gary and Sue hosted the event at their home and provided an ample
spread of food and beverages for what was an
afternoon and early evening picnic. Here we were joined by Deb's
nephews, Dusty (and wife Diana and children Dallas and Dana) and Gary
(and his daughter, Katy) and niece Kim (and son, Hunter). During
the event, the kids got to visit the neighbor's cows and Gary provided
tours of the grapes he's growing. Both Thursday
and Friday evenings, Dennis made brief (but fruitless) visits to the
Turtle Lake Casino! Both Friday and Saturday mornings, Dennis
entertained Sarah and Danny, including a trip to the motel's swimming
pool. The time in Wisconsin also gave us the chance to sample many
varieties of cheeses and "meat sticks: from one of Deb's favorites,
"Louie's" meat store.
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Saturday morning and early
afternoon we drove back to Minnesota and checked-in to a motel in
Litchfield (about 60 miles West of Minneapolis). An unexpected
pleasure, at least for train lovers, Dennis and little Danny, was the
mainline of the BNSF (Burlington Northern and Sante Fe) rail line
adjacent to the motel. All night long. long freight trains rumbled by
and sounded loud, loud whistles as the multiple engines crossed nearby
grade crossings!
The graduation party for Erin was held at the home of her husband,
Josh's father outside of Cokato, MN. As in the case of the event at
Deb's brother, Gary, the day before, Erin's party was an
afternoon/early evening affair. It was attended by more than fifty
people, including many of the persons
who attened the WI affair as well as Deb's sister-in-law, Irene (widow
of Deb's deceased brother, Ralph), Irene's fiance Bill Davies and her
son Scott (and friend
Desiree) as well as Erin's husband, Josh and their son's Gavin and
Trevor. Erin is the daughter of Deb's deceased sister, Christine. Erin recently
completed a degree in Accounting at Metropolitan State University after
a long, couragous stint as an adult student. Sunday was spent at the
home of Irene Bazewicz in Mound, MN on beautiful Lake Minnetonka. We
were joined
by Irene's fiance Bill, Erin and her family, Scott and Deb's nephew
Chad and his wife Carrie and their sons, Sammy and Jack. As usual,
Irene and Bill were gracious hosts and wined and dined us well. Sunday
evening
we spent at a
motel near the MSP airport and flew back to EWR Monday, arriving back
at 3pm.
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The pictures below capture some
of the flavor of the fun, meaningful trip.The first picture is a view
of Dennis and the Loyas at the MSP airport. Next is a a shot taken by
Dennis of the visit to Deb's Mom, Agnes.The third and fourth views were
taken at the Friday event. The group
shot includes (from the left: Deb's brother Gary and wife, Sue; Deb's
brother Bobby and Gary's son, Gary Jr.; Tami, Dan and Dennis. The next
picture shows Dusty and Diana, Deb's nephew (and Gary's son) and his
wife.The next picture shows Sarah and Danny
fishing in Lake Minnetonka at the home of Deb's Sister-in-Law, Irene,
under the suipervision of Dan. The two pictures in the botton row are:
on the left: Erin and Jack (son of Chad and Carrie Bazewicz); on the
right: Erin's husband Josh and their son, Gavin. These pictures also
were taken at Irene's home.
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