Lauren and Shaun's Wedding

It was a wonderful long weekend in San Juan Capistrano, CA to celebrate Lauren and Shaun's wedding.  Lauren is Fritz's daughter, Ros' grand-daughter.  Lauren's husband Shaun Storeby is from Minnesota.   Ros enjoyed the non-stop flight on Jet Blue to San Diego. Ted, Kathy, and grand daughter, Kim enjoyed all the preferential treatment that traveling with Ros, the celebrity, offered! Jet Blue's service reminded us of the way it used to be to fly in an airplane - great service and care. 

Once we arrived on Thursday, Fritz, Pam, Lauren and Colby came over and joined us for a poolside dinner at the Residence Inn under the stars. Nice.  On Friday morning, Susan Winter, a local caregiver, kept Ros company so he could rest up from the time change flying from East to West Coast. Shaun hosted the rehearsal dinner for the families,  the wedding party and out of town guests at the Lucchiana Italian Restaurant in San Clemente, a lovely Californian wine cellar private room. Susan picked Ros up from the dinner so that he could go back to the hotel and enjoy some peace and quiet!

The wedding was beautiful and held at a cool place called The Casino in San Clemente. The Casino was quite the place to be in it's hey day - Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Vivien Leigh and the like,  all frequented this art deco establishment. There was a grassy backyard where Pam and Fritz put up their own arbor for Shawn and Lauren to get married under.

 The wedding was even more special because the minister was a good friend of Shaun's and it was his very first wedding ceremony! -  many, many good friends of both Lauren and Shaun's were present...Nice people. Lauren and Shaun were gorgeous - so happy, so in love - it was such a privilege to witness this marriage ceremony.

This is the handsome father of the bride, Fritz, having his father daughter dance with Lauren.

One of the funny things about the wedding was the photobooth. So silly. Ros had fun with all the hoopla. He said it was nice to see people he knew.

 On Sunday, Pam, Fritz, Lauren and Shaun hosted a BBQ poolside at the hotel. Allen and Nancy Smith from Lexington, MA, were there too and sweet to Ros as always! So nice to not be rushed and to just relax with the bride and groom's families and out of town guests.  Convenient for Ros because he could go back to the room down the hall to rest. Monday morning we flew back to Boston arriving home at 11pm.  Ros was amazing - in terrific shape and a joy to be with for everyone.

It was a great trip we will remember for a long time. We are so proud of Lauren and Shaun and their families for hosting such a lovely time and for spending many special moments with Ros.

Mixed Feelings about the Mercury Sable

Ros' Mercury Sable was finally bought off of Craigslist by a man from Derry NH this past weekend. He said his nieces will be  fighting over who gets to drive it. And they should fight over it. Ros was a little teary when he said,"That was a great car. I loved driving it. It never took a drop of oil."

Ros and Julie drove that car to New England and back to Florida more than 5 times via the autotrain.

Twilight Park with the Daytons

Ros, Ted and Kathy travelled up to Rip Van Winkle country to visit Gracia, Bruce, Heather and Greg in their cottage in the magical Catskill Mountains. The big comfortable porch was the place to have breakfast, do a puzzle, take a nap and watch the orange full moon rise in the distance.

How beautiful the view... the morning walks with Flicka...dirt roads and no sign of bears, thank goodness. A funny delicious night at the Twilight Park Cabaret. Now we understand where the theatrical DNA comes from for the Daytons!!

Lake Sunapee 2012

It was Ros and Ted's 51st summer at Lake Sunapee these past two weeks. Spectacular flawless weather. We stayed in a classic red A-frame house across from the beach at Fisher's Bay. There was a view of the lake all the way down past Soonipi beach and Hastings. Ros had his puzzle going and took naps and sat out on the deck in the sun. Every other day, Ted would take Ros out for coffee, lunch or some special outing. Of course Volley, our black miniature poodle, kept Ros constant company which was the best. Max and Mia were working back in Topsfield area and came back and forth. Lucie was totally immersed in her gang of girlfriends sailing, swimming playing tennis and hopping into whalers any chance given.

Granddaughter Kim and husband, Donny Coleman stopped by for dinner after dropping their 2 daughters at Camp Coniston. Jenn and Ken Chipman, Ted and Ros went to the 4th of July Parade in Sunapee Harbor and saw the Smith Family: Alan, Nancy, Holly, Faye, Sherry and John.

On one of the beautiful Wednesday nights, our whole family plus Mia's friends Brian, Chelsea and Jose from Spain, went to the Yacht Club for family night dinner. It was a lovely time. Many people stopped by our table on the terrace to say hello to Ros. It was very sweet. Then Lucie, Ted and Kathy took Ros home in the boat. An extraordinary night. One other time, Kathy and Ros made a spontaneous visit to Jackie Little, one of Julie's best friends, and sat on her deck at Indian Cave overlooking the harbor. Joyce Coffin stopped by Jackie's for a quick hello as she was walking her dog.

We finished the week with a luxurious coffee time with the Cross family at Marzelli's Deli in the Harbor: Will Cross, Candy, Alison and Jennifer and Dick Smith (Candy's husband).  A most gorgeous two weeks. A refreshing, memorable time. 

Kim came to visit Pappa yesterday. They did a little puzzling and then went out to find yummy whoopie pies from  a bakery in town. They ended up at Mia's tennis match at the high school. It was a very sweet visit and a good day!

May Showers

Ros is doing pretty well this spring.  Yesterday he, Volley and Kathy went to watch Mia play a tennis match at the high school. There is a lot of commotion in the Farnham household right now with all the graduation activities for Mia; Max coming home in another week or so and Lucie's usual gang of girl friends.  A bit of a concern is that Ros has had a cough that has become a mild pneumonia. Hopefully, antibiotics, vitamins and nebulizing will straighten everything out. Appetite is good! He is just taking it easy at home - no Spectrum Club for the past 2 weeks. Bethany and Jo Ellen, his caregivers, are lovely companions and so helpful!  We have discovered Craig's List to buy more puzzles as Ros is voracious - completing a 300 piece puzzle every other day! He is very particular about his puzzles. We are learning more about what he likes about puzzles - that's for sure!!

Ros is looking forward to getting up to Sunapee for the first two weeks in July when Ted takes two full weeks off. It will be a lot of fun. Volley is allowed to stay in the house we are renting in Fisher's Bay. Tickets for Ros, Ted and Kathy have been booked to travel out to San Juan Capistrano in September for granddaughter Lauren and Shaun's wedding which is very exciting!  

We are having an open house to celebrate Ros' 93rd Birthday on Saturday June 16th from 10am-3pm - 179 Perkins Row Topsfield MA. Stop by for a visit. He would love to see you! Bring old pictures to chat with him about days gone by (his recall is not good so a picture is a good way to jog his memory and have a more satisfying conversation). If you cannot make it and want to SKYPE or FACETIME anytime, just let us know. Ros is getting all caught up on the latest ways to stay in touch!

Wait a Second...

Ros does have good news to report! His vision has corrected itself and he no longer sees double!!  He stopped using glasses a couple days ago because he didn't need them! Hurray! Plus he is using only one hearing aid as he says his hearing is improving, too! Double hurray!

Mia and Bethany, one of his caregivers,  took Ros to Target last Friday night to buy puzzles.  Today Kathy took Ros to the bank for a brand new $10 and then the local gift shop to get a bday card for Lucie. Tomorrow is her 14th bday!

Waiting for the Time to Change

It has been a while since we have had anything of news to report. The news is everything is going along fine. Ros is well and has a weekly routine with Farnham family going ons, Spectrum Club (3 times a week) and two lovely caregivers 4 times a week who come in for personal care and companionship. It's going as well as can be expected. We are always grateful for the support services and for Ros' health.

Ros did start to get a cold last week so we stepped up the nebulization to twice daily to keep his lungs clear. He has just about kicked that cold. Other than that - he is cranking through a new 300 piece puzzle every other day.

We had a really nice SKYPE conversation with Pam and Fritz yesterday. Ros loved that - we all do. So if you want to skype us or facetime...please do! It's an easy way for Ros to see you and vice versa....

Well, the time change happens this weekend and spring will come marching in shortly. Ros is chugging along. He is looking forward to the warmer weather.

2012 New Year has started well

It is a great start to 2012 as Ros is doing extremely well - mobile and healthy. Spectrum Club keeps him busy on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Burja (pronounced Boo-ya), the Spectrum van driver, is very cheerful, attentive and careful as he comes right to our door to assist Ros to get to/in the van. We think Burja is an angel.


Ros is doing so well that all of his homecare (PT, VNA and Speech Therapy) have discharged him. He survived our living room renovations and now has a nice puzzle table spot in a corner next to the fireplace.  We are all looking forward to our Farnham Family post Christmas party with the Daytons, Dupouys, WIlsons, Donna Farnham and Colemans, this Saturday.