Noel's vacation with Grammy and Grampa

Noel came to visit us for 10 days in early June while Paul and Michelle went to Scotland and England to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. We enjoyed our time with Noel, even though some of our days were rainy. Eric and Moose, Cathy and Nicky all came for a weekend visit. Noel enjoyed meeting the dogs, and playing board games, during their visit. We chose a beautiful, not too warm, sunny day to go to the Bronx zoo, before our weekend visitors arrived.

It was a belated celebration of her 6th birthday.

Before our weekend visitors, we took Noel to a Butterfly Sanctuary in Deerfield, MA. on a rainy day. There are over 3500 butterflies and moths in this marvelous place, filled with wonderful flowers, trees, and tropical plants that are home to butterflies and moths from around the world. We spent a lot of time there before and after our lunch. Noel was fascinated, and was able to see some butterflies leaving their cacoons. Two of our favorites were the Cairns birdwing, a beautiful green butterfly, and a beautiful irridecent blue butterfly from South America.

We were able to take Noel to Lake Ossipee to enjoy some swimming, and playing in the sand.

She loves the beach and building sand castles and collecting rocks. She wanted to carry them up the 80 stairs to the house. We suggested she build a small rock garden, which she thought was a great idea. She placed her rocks near a tiny maple sapling and some clover, near a shrub in front of the house. We will leave her rock garden in place with her name and date on a rock in the garden.

A Texas Vacation

Marion had mileage on United that would expire in August, so we decided to visit Texas. As luck would have it, the week of March 15 was Noel's school vacation, which coincided with Barre's vacation from teaching a course this semester at MCLA. We looked forward to warmer days since Paul had told us the days in early March had been in the 70's. We took no heavy coats with us, and looked forward to wonderful sunny days for the week.

Our first excursion was to the Dallas Arboretum. The weather was wonderful, and the gardens and flowers were spectacular and so colorful. Spring had arrived! Noel really enjoyed the gardens, and taking pictures with her own camera. The cowboy hat and bandana were part of a costume from her dance class, and she really looked like a native Texan, but speaks without the accent.

There were massive plots of many various flowers like tulips , daffodils, hyacinths, etc. with a variety of colors, all so beautiful. The weather was perfect. Because it was school holiday the parking lots were full, so we were shuttled by bus from a parking lot in a nearby mall.

The trees and shrubs were also beautiful, and Barre could identify them when we had a question.

The Arboretum is very large, and the walking is easy. It borders a large pond, and the plantings near there also include water features, and koi fish, which Noel enjoyed watching. By the end of the day, we realized we had done a lot of walking, enjoyed all of the beauty around us, and were a bit tired!

On Friday night Barre and I attended Paul's hockey game. He is the fellow in the yellow shirt, playing goalie. It was our fourth day in McKinney, and the temperatures had gone done enough to make us wish we had brought a heavy coat. The game time is shorter than a college game, and we survived. His team won.

Sunday morning found us looking out the windows at six inches of snow! Noel was excited, and after breakfast she went out to play in the backyard. She loves snow, and spent quite a while playing. The snow was quite wet-- good for snow balls, and snow men. In the afternoon, Noel returned to the yard, and already, the grass was visible, and much snow had melted, but there was enough to make small snowmen.

This is the view from the front porch on Evergreen Drive. We didn't expect to have snow on our visit, but it had completely melted by Monday morning. Noel had to go back to school and we flew home, so Barre could teach on Tuesday.

It was too cold on Sunday to visit the Dallas zoo, so we went bowling, and had lots of fun. This picture was taken when we returned home. Paul, Michelle, and Noel had better scores that Barre and I. Our week also included a tour of Paul's work place at Gearbox, which was very interesting.

Meeting a College Hockey Legend

Eric and his girl friend Cathy are both college hockey fans. Eric inherited his interest in the game from Barre when he was a little boy who began to attend UNH hockey. The gentleman in this picture is Canadian Ken Dryden, a grauate of Cornell Univesity, Cathy's alma mater. This particular evening Cornell celebrated his career in the early 1970's as an outstanding goalie, (lost only 5 games in three years), by retiring his hockey number, 1, and permanently displaying his shirt in the rink.

Eric has heard of Ken for years, but was too young to see him play. However, he has read some of Dryden's books, (he played pro hockey for 10 years, is a lawyer, and a member of Parliment in Canada). He and Cathy were pleased to meet him and have their picture taken with him. He also autographed Eric's book. At the end of the evening, Cathy and Eric went to an ice cream shop in Ithica, and arrived at the door as Ken Dryden and his friends were entering. They were invited to his table and spent an hour conversing on college hockey, former players, and the "Miracle on Ice", when the US won the gold medal at the Olympics.

Cathy and Eric will never forget this hockey evening!

Holiday Greetings from the Hellquists

We wish you Merry Christmas and send our best wishes for a wonderful New Year. We decided to send our greetings on our blog. Betty taught Marion how to create a blog while in Australia in February.

We still follow UNH hockey and travel to Durham, NH for home games. Our friends, Dick and Katy, provide us with a "B & B" so we don't have to drive home late at night. They are also avid hockey fans. We enjoy these weekend visits very much.

In February we went to Australia to stay with Betty and Surrey for three weeks. Surrey had been diagnosed with cancer two months earlier. He and Barre had unfinished work on their water-lily research, and spent much time writing the paper which named five new species. We enjoyed our time with their family and grandchildren, and the wonderful summer weather.

In early April we drove to Alexandria, VA to attend the NCAA Frozen Four hockey finals. We were pleased to stay with Barre's friend, Bruce and his wife Theresa for a few days. Bruce was able to join us for the hockey games and we also had time to visit some of the sights in Washington, DC. We stopped, on the way home, at Gettybrug, PA to tour the new Museum and Battlefield.

In June, Sasha and Elena, from Borok, near Yaroslavl, Russia came to visit for three weeks. Both are botanists working for the Russian Academy of Sciences. Sasha has been corresponding with Barre concerning pondweeds for four years. Barre drove them to many locations in New England and New York where plants of interest were collected. On the 4th of July we enjoyed a family picnic in NH with cousins and friends, followed by fireworks in the evening. The day before they flew home, we drove them to the top of Mt. Washington enjoying a sunny day, with a 70 mile view from the summit.

Elena, Sasha, and Marion at base of Mt. Washington


The last week of August we traveled west to the Universtiy of Michigan Biological Station where Eric had been teaching a botany course during the summer. We stayed for the weekend and then headed south to Texas to visit with Paul and family in September. Noel is now in kindergarten and we enjoyed our Grandparents day visit to her school. We went to the zoo, aquarium and an evening baseball game, all in Dallas, over the Labor Day weekend. We also got to watch Noel at her hockey lesson. Soon after arriving back home, cousins from Indiana were with us for a brief stay. We all enjoyed a drive to the top of Mt. Greylock, which is almost in our backyard, and a fantastic view of the autumn foliage.




Noel at hockey practice

In October we headed south to Barre's hometown of Summit, NJ where he renewed friendships with his high school classmates at their 50th reunion. The events were well organized and it was enjoyed by all. Barre and friends were able to tour the elementary school they attended, visiting all the rooms and reminiscing about their school days and teachers, sharing much laughter.



Davis VanWinkle, Bruce Craig, Barre, and Harry Snyder at front door of Franklin School

In late November, our dear friend, Surrey died peacefully. Betty's blog kept everyone in touch with him and the family throughout the year. We will miss Surrey, and have many wonderful memories. He and Barre have traveled, conducting fieldwork, throughout tropical Australia since 1997. We have now added Skype to our means of contact with Betty, and look forward to having her visit us in the future.

We keep busy around home and Barre continues to plant evergreen seedlings in the yard. He may have as many as 100 different trees! He still raises Australian tropical water-lilies in the greenhouse. Marion continues her quilting hobby, and is learning to crochet, thanks to friends who have helped her get started. She also regularly visits a new friend who returned two years ago to live near relatives in her home town of Cheshire. Bernice (Bennie) just happens to be the oldest citizen of Massachusetts at 110 years! She is as "sharp as a tack".

Whenever Eric can't have his dog 'Moose' at his summer work location we take care of him. Moose has been with us during three recent summers. Eric follows college hockey in his area of Oswego, NY. Paul and Michelle have lived in Texas for two years. Paul enjoys his job as computer game designer, and plays defense and goalie in a men's hockey league. Michelle has now become a parent volunteer at Noel's school, and takes care of a neighbor's two young children two days a week. She also sews quilts for the Linus project.

Best wishes to all. We are thinking of you.

Love, Marion and Barre

Noel at the rink, and at home

Noel has been learning to skate since she was three years old. She has lived in Texas for two years, and there are many ice rinks in the area. A new one was built and opened in McKinney almost in her "back yard" Since last Spring Noel has been taking hockey lessons, and is enjoying learning the skating skills needed to play. Though she has her stick with her, the lessons have not started to focus on moving the puck. She is wearing the shirt representing the University of New Hampshire, where she attended many games with her parents before moving.

This picture was taken about a month ago when Noel lost her first tooth! She is five and a half years old now.

Noel pictures, taken on our September visit

Noel and Grammy at the Dallas, Texas zoo on a very hot day, September 7. She loves her visits to the zoo. The family has a membership and makes frequent visits. Noel was a good guide, and she knew which animals resided in each major area. Her favorites are the giraffes and the elephants, although it seemed to us she liked all of the animals. She is sitting on a statute of a large tortoise.




Noel started taking hockey lessons in May. She had been learning to skate before she moved to Texas. She took skating lessons in Texas, and then in May was ready to begin lessons that would teach skating techniques for hockey. She is enjoying the lessons, and is the only girl in her class of five and six year olds.





Noel has a complete hockey uniform provided by the professional team, the Dallas Stars, who are encouraging children and adults to learn to skate. There are many skating rinks in the Dallas area, and a new one has just opened in McKinney, Texas where she lives. The lessons at her level do not include use of the stick, but are teaching the kids all the skills of skating backwards, forward, cross overs, balance, etc. Skating is year round in Texas, whereas the local rink in North Adams only operates in the winter. In the hot summers, it is no wonder so many people are enjoying skating in Texas!

Visitors from Russia

Our friends, Sasha and Elaina arrived safely on Monday evening in Boston. Barre was there to greet them and the plane arrived on schedule! It was a long day for the travelers, and they were very tired from the long trip begining at their home north of Moscow, with a stop over in Germany. Russia is 8 hours ahead of our time, and they arrived in Adams at 11pm, which meant it was early Tuesday morning at home. (Reminds us of a long day on the way to Australia.)

Barre has had a schedule prepared so that both Sasha and Elaina could visit sites which would provide both pondweeds, and mosses, which are their botanical specialties. After a quiet day on Tuesday, and discussion of the plans, with study of maps and locations with Barre, they have spent the rest of the week with long days of botanizing. Even yesterday's heavy rains during the day, did not deter them. The evening meal is served at fashionably late hours, on most days. Today the trip takes them to various sites in Connecticut, and tomorrow will be a trip to the Hudson River in NY.

Noel learning to play hockey

Noel had been taking hockey lessons since April. She is enjoying it very much, and learning a lot. She will continue taking lessons through the most of the summer. She is the only girl in the class of ten 5-6 year olds. It doesn't faze her at all. (She also likes ballet and tap dancing!)

Noel has watched college hockey at UNH since she was a baby, and also watched her father play in a men's hockey league when they lived in MA. When she learned before moving to Texas that girls play hockey, too, she expressed the interest in learning. There is a rink her home, the Dallas Stars provided the hockey uniforms for the kids, and she is having a good time. Notice that her pink skate guards, and pink tape on her hockey stick give away the fact that she is a girl!

Moose is on Vacation

On the last weekend of May, Eric and his friend Cathy, came to visit for the weekend. Moose and Nickie, their dogs also came. Their visit was brief because each of them had to get back to work for Monday. Cathy teaches science to 8th graders, and Eric had to pack his gear so that he could travel to Michigan where is he will be teaching at the Biological Station for the summer.
We had good weather which meant we could spend time outdoors with the dogs, and enjoy the yard and gardens in bloom. Cathy got a tour of Barre's greenhouse, and the tropical water lilies as well as his other tropical potted plants.

Moose now gets to be on vacation with us for the summer. It is his third summer with us, and so he is familiar with home and adapts very quickly to the fact that Eric is not here to give the commands. He follows Marion around the house, and keeps track of her location when she is home. Barre is "ok" if Marion is not home, and he responds to commands from either one when we are together, too. Eric has trained him well. Moose enjoys exploring the yard, following us around, (always sniffing), and retrieving a ball we throw using a lacrosse stick. We can throw the ball farther, and Moose enjoys the run to get it and brings it back to us. We also take him for walks on the Rail Trail in Adams and Cheshire, where there are trees for shade, swamps, and even a lake to view, depending on the part of the trail we choose to walk on a particular day. He has already encountered five painted turtles, which he sniffed, on the edges of the trail near the lake!

Moose will be with us until late August, when Eric returns.

Noel's Birthday

On Tuesday, May 12, Noel was in Texas celebrating her fifth birthday. Since we could not be there with her for the occasion, we arranged a time with Paul and Michelle to call them and talk on the computer and see them through our webcams. Each time we see her, she seems to have gotten taller. She had recently had her hair cut shorter (at her request) and she looked older than a preschool student. She will be in kindergarten in August.

The fun part of our visit with Noel, besides chatting with her, was to watch her open the box with the gifts we had sent her. We sent a variety of items, individually wrapped, including pencils and a teeshirt from Austrailia, 5 US Dollar coins (5th birthday), and outfit for her "baby" Felicity. She already had received her sandels from us, by going shopping with her Mom to purchase them and make sure they fit. Betty sent us home with an Aussie shirt for her, a little paper basket for small items, and a small travel pouch from one of her airplane flights. Noel was please with everything, and is planning to take the travel pouch on her plane trip to see Nana and Papa next week in South Carolina.

Our most recent pictures of Noel were sent by computer on Mother's Day. They were all taken at the ice rink where Noel takes her hockey lessons, so she was in full uniform! (I have not become savvy on putting pictures on the blog...sorry...)

Eric's birthday

We were able to spend the 19th of April, Sunday, with Eric, to celebrate his birthday two days in advance. We had not seen him since Christmas, and he now is renting (and caretaking) the house of a former professor at OSU. We not only wanted to visit with Eric, but see the home he is now in charge of. The Webbers have moved to Colorado, to spend two years, and decide if they want to make it a permanent retirement location, before selling their home.

Eric was lucky to meet them, and they asked him to be their tenant and caretaker, after getting to know him. Moose and Eric are both enjoying the space, both inside and outside--a yard with flowers, shrubs, trees, and woods not far beyond.

We also met Eric's friend, Cathy, and her dog, Nicky, who reminds us of a dingo--same color and size--and a very calm dog. (the dogs get along) We enjoyed our visit getting to know Cathy and catching up with Eric's news and projects, and having a dinner at a good Italian restaurant in Oswego. At home afterwards, we had a birthday cake (home made) to complete the celebration. Time flew by, and we were on our way home--a short visit, but both Eric and Cathy had to teach on Monday, he at OSU, and she at a middle school near Syracuse.