Robby and Kyle's Visit to NH

Robby and Kyle came out from SLC!

They got to meet Salil and spend time with the Shrivastava Family, and then traversed beautiful Vermont to visit us in NH.

On Monday, we visited Castle in the Clouds

You gotta listen to "Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeren when you look at these pics!  :) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ibBPhiaG0

The leaves were fantastic

We hiked the Brook Trail which has 7 waterfalls on a 2 miles loop....

or maybe it was a 7 mile loop....we thought. :)

Ruins of an old cottage

Waiting for our tour at the Carriage House.

They have a trolley take you up the hill, and then you can walk the trail back down.

We did a basement tour first, and then saw the main house

This property used to have a greenhouse here

A photo of the original green house, with a potting house under it.

The house was built in only 18 months with hundreds of masons and experts.

It originally had 6000 acres, including 2 miles of Lake Winnepesaukee waterfront. 

They have still preserved 5000 acres of pristine mountain property.

The planter boxes on the wall 

The owners, Thomas and Olive Plante went bankrupt after Tom made some poor investments.  

The depression in 1929 didn't help them ever recover.  They were able to stay in the home until 1941 due to a friend taking on the mortgage.  When the friend and Tom both died in 1941, Olive took her personal possessions and returned to her parents in Illinois.

Amazing that once having made 6 million dollars, and then to die broke.

Robby was coerced into a PDA shot

.....As was Scott

This 100 year old rubber flooring was amazing

The home was gorgeous.  No expense spared

And the view was unmatched

The original name of the home was Lucknow

After Castle in the Clouds, we took a look at Wolfeboro.

It had this interesting bench, which was a gift from Russia.

Tuesday, we toured Lowell and Concord, MA

This little garden was a fun little shabby chic addition to the city

We visited Scott's work's fabric Discover Center, the Lowell National Historical Park visitor's Center, had dumplings at Tasty Dumplings, and toured the Boots Cotton Mill.

Boots Cotton Mill

(Photo from Facebook - not mine)

We then took a drive to Concord, MA, and Robby and Kyle were able to snag a tour of the Orchard House, while Scott and I walked up and down Main Street. 

 

I found my dream cereal with an image of "Scott" in a "wife beater" and kilt in the British shop. :)

The drive home on curve-y roads back to Windham was so beautiful!

We had so much fun showing Robby and Kyle our digs!

Thank you so much for coming!!

Grandma and Grandpa's visit

Mom and Dad Parker spent 2 1/2 weeks in our neck

It was great to have quality time with them and reconnect!

It was great to have them really get a feel 

for our lives in this moment, which is a very happy one!

We got to go to church together, and, of course, stopped at our favorite lending library on the way home

Watching General Conference together

Scotts tradition is to add a row of yarn 

that Cora has chosen to her blanket during General Conference.

We hiked Foster's Pond, and explored new trails.

(You might say "got lost".... haha)

Watching Tim at his Windham meet

(It was chilly!)

COVID testing....and all that fun

Luckily, no COVID, but we had sniffles, starting the day Mom and Dad arrived.  Pretty bad timing, but luckily, the symptoms were pretty mild.  Cora and Ollie had several days home from school though.

We kayaked Cobbett's Pond to Turtle Rock

Grandpa with the Turtle

Ollie and Grandma

Ollie, Grandma and Grandpa

The next day, we made an attempt to see Braintree, MA, and the John Adams Museums, however, Oliver threw up the moment we hit Boston.   We cleaned him up a bit at Bunker Hill, and then went straight home.  I spent the afternoon cleaning the car and carseat.  Bummer we didn't make it to Braintree!  But, we were all glad that that was our biggest misfortune on the trip.  

Could always be worse!

Aaron and Scott played Paint Ball at the Bursell's

Meanwhile, Tim ran a meet at Alvirne High

We got to Aaron on the next week!

A gorgeous time of year!

And this year was particularly beautiful

Waiting for the bus

The leaves dumped in 2 days!

the View from the front porch

Grandma is so much fun to play games with!

Our woods

This is my favorite spot.  In Fall, the colors are so beautiful on the hill.

Pickleball

Dad with his van.  He spent quite a bit of time getting it ready for the trip home. 

He fixed the leaking that was happening in rain, the shock, got new tires, and returned to fix a flat.  He's amazing!  It's all ready for the trip home!

Halloween Dance for Tim

He's dressed as Sans

So many fun memories!  

We really enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa coming at this beautiful time of year!

We look forward to seeing you to celebrate your 50th anniversary in January!