Category Archives: The Adventure

Tales from our travels

Family and Friends, The Adventure

A Family Treasure

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We have been blessed with many treasures in our family.  Today I want to highlight one that I was reminded of this summer.
Aunt Vesta
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Some treasures sneak up on you. They are quiet and unassuming, and don’t require much attention. Sometimes years go by without any thought or connection.  But once you realize it, it’s something you can’t unsee!
Vesta was married to my Dad’s cousin Vic, who passed away in 1998,  so while not technically my aunt, we still claim her!  She and Vic raised three children and then opened their home to many Chinese students over the years, whom she now considers her Chinese family! As a family, they moved about quite a bit with Vic’s job, but in retirement moved to Haverhill, NH. And Haverhill, NH is just across the river from Bradford, VT. (You get where I’m going with this, right?)

This summer I was able to connect with Aunt Vesta three separate times.

Twice at her home in Haverhill,
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and once as we drove together to the Dwinell Family Homestead to celebrate July 4th!
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(That’s her on the porch, holding the 250th flag.)
Here we are with my cousin, Hannah (which was another lovely surprise from that day!)
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Visits with Aunt Vesta have always been delightful. But this summer, those visits hit in a different (and to be treasured) way. You see, Aunt Vesta is 101 years old. One Hundred and One. She lives alone in her classic New England home (though neighbors check on her daily), still drives (but hasn’t recently because a robin made a nest in her garage and she didn’t want to disturb it), and has overcome two falls in recent years (one of which involved falling in the shower, after which she managed to, with a broken leg, get to a phone, call 911, and then get dressed before the EMTs arrived!). She’s sharp. I mean, really sharp! She is full of stories and memories and insights. She was born the same year as my parents, and while she didn’t necessarily grow up with them, she experienced all those same milestones with them – weddings, babies, moves, losses – Life. Our hour-long drive back and forth to the Homestead reunion stands out as a very special time. And it took me a minute to figure out why. As we shared about our families, both young and old, it was a little taste of what it would be like to have my Mom and Dad in the front seat with me. Those were moments to cherish indeed!

Aunt Vesta, I don’t know how many more years we will be blessed with having you in our lives. But I do know this – we will take each one with thanksgiving! You are our family treasure, and we love you!

Thanks for stopping by, friends!
Steph

Now go call your parents or grandparents or maybe even your great aunt!! You’ll be happy you did! (I was!)

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Family and Friends, The Adventure

We started young

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We met through a church friend (my sister’s boyfriend at the time) and attended rival high schools. It didn’t look too promising for a long-term relationship.

Here we are, 60 years ago, at a youth retreat, eating fried chicken together.

Then came the junior prom –

Then a senior prom –

And then the breakup midway through my senior year of high school.

Post-high school involved a bit of college for both of us, reconnecting as friends after a year and a half, falling in love for real, and in 1971, when we were both too young to know any better, we did a thing!

Babies came.

Babies grew up,

got married, had babies of their own, and began their own life journey.

And before we knew it –

We arrived here!

Happy 55 years to us! I’m not gonna lie – they haven’t all been sunshine and cupcake years. But through old house renovations (ugh, another crack in the plaster?), owning a small business (both a dream and a nightmare), raising three (almost always) wonderful kids, and living in 300 sq. ft. for 20 years – we’ve never given up on each other. And more importantly, God has never given up on us either. We are so thankful for His mercy and grace – that He has kept us together as we’ve been dancing through those minefields!

Thanks for coming along for the ride!
Steph
PS – And here we are in real time – following a lovely anniversary dinner with friends this evening!
55years

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Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, The Adventure

Made it to the ‘Ber months

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UntitledSeptember hits a little differently here in Texas.  Right now, instead of pulling out the sweatshirts, we’re just happy that it’s ONLY going to be ninety-one tomorrow. And look, there’s even a “high” number that begins with the number 8 in our future! We’re hopeful (but not confident) that the triple digits are over, and we’re also hopeful (but still not confident)that the forecasted rain will also materialize later this week.

But while we adjust to summer in Texas, we are also getting settled here at home after our wonderful Vermont summer.  Many of our neighbors also head for cooler climes in the summer, but one by one, they are venturing home.  We’re thoroughly enjoying reconnecting with folks here, Gary and I are getting into a routine of sorts, and I’m still looking for those matches!

So as we start these ‘Ber months, I’m hopeful (but not confident) that I can step up this blogging thing. You know there are lots of stories from the summer – I just need to get them written down!

Happy September, everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Steph

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Life at Bass Lake Lot 205, The Adventure

Home

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Our first Vermont Summer has come to a close, and ready or not – we’re back home in our little nest in Texas.

We were ready – because we both were missing our house, our neighbors, and our neighborhood! I’m not gonna lie – it feels great to sleep in our own bed and cook in my own kitchen.  (OK, I haven’t actually cooked anything yet, but I did make some killer chicken salad with a rotisserie chicken tonight.)

or Not – because it’s 9 PM, and it’s still 91° out!  (Honestly, the lows here in Lindale are the highs at the Cabin right now). But thankfully, the A/C is working just fine, and I have so much computer/bookkeeping work (i.e., I reconciled four months of bank statements today) to catch up on that staying inside isn’t really that hard to do!

The truck and trailer are mostly unloaded, and we’re generally unpacked.  I’m working on reacquainting myself with where things are in this house (I know I have matches somewhere to light that scented candle) and collecting hugs from our friends here in the neighborhood.

It might be stupid hot, but we’re glad to be home anyway! And ready to see what the Lord has in store for us here!

Thanks for stopping by!  I’m so thankful for your patience and encouragement as we continue on this new journey!

Steph

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Family and Friends, On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Adventure, The Cabin

Summer Plans

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The official start of Summer might still be weeks away, but in our little corner of the world, big plans are afoot! I’ve often said that in my ideal world we’d be someplace warm for the winter, but up in Vermont for the summer. We’ve figured out the “warm in the winter” part (well, it’s mostly warm here in Lindale in the winter), but the summer in Vermont presented a little more challenge. Since our cabin is a family property and used by three generations of Dwinells, it was not available for us to just hang out there all summer. (Though truth be told, we’d be more than happy to do that!) So we signed up for May (when there’s not such a demand since most of the kids are in school) which gives us the honor of opening up the cabin. Gary gets the water system up and running, while I’m inside tackling the dead fly bodies, cobwebs, and any other surprises that be waiting for us!CabinSpring2026 We truly love The Cabin in May, when the trees are just beginning to wake up, and the beautiful ‘bones’ of our landscape are visible! Our niece, Christiana, who lives nearby in Bradford, was up last week (it’s always good to make sure the road is passable and things are generally in good shape!) and she sent along this picture –

I am so ready to be there!!

So that takes care of most of May. We head to Ohio over Memorial Day weekend to watch granddaughter #3 graduate from high school and spend a week or so with our Columbus (area) crew! Looking forward to lots of beautiful family chaos there!
In June, we’ll be back in Vermont, staying at our niece’s house in Bradford while she enjoys some vacation time. We’re calling it ‘housesitting’ – but it’s such a blessing for us to be able to stay there. A huge perk of June is that my sister and hubby will be at The Cabin for a couple of weeks during that time! Pretty sure we’ll be able to get in some good sister time!

July was presenting a bit of a challenge, but we put a little ad in the local whatever (you know – Responsible 70-something couple looking for short-term rental…willing to do renovations, etc.) and that did give us a couple of options. But it was actually the time-tested “friend of a friend” connection that found us this sweet three-bedroom cottage to rent for July and part of August. And the location is excellent – less than 10 miles from The Cabin!
Bonus for being in the area in July is that both of our Ohio families will be at The Cabin during the month.  So we can spend time with them, but not crowd them. (Plus, we get to go home to a flush toilet. Just sayin’!)

We’re pretty excited about these Summer Plans! We’ll be stopping to see friends and family in the coming and going travels, so let me know if you want us to try and stop by!  We are very thankful that these plans have come together so very nicely, and we will once again avoid a Texas Summer.  (I’m sure it will happen sooner or later, but not this summer!)  We leave TOMORROW!! Today is worship, lunch with friends, final loads of wash, and wrapping up the packing.  Leaving your home for four months in the Texas heat requires many boxes to be checked. And really lovely neighbors!

Which brings me to my final point. You know I’m excited about spending the summer in Vermont. All of the above plans are answers to prayer. But our little Texas neighborhood has certainly found its way into my heart, and I will miss the dear folks we have come to love here.  Truthfully, we will miss our little nest and the community around it.

I’ll try to keep up the blogging (sporadic though it may be) throughout the summer. But I’m also bringing my sewing machine, so we’ll see how it all works out!

I think the dryer just beeped – better get back to it!

As always – thanks for stopping by –
Steph

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.  Proverbs 19:21

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