First 'Baslock' wedding

Jennifer Bastian, the eldest of the 'Baslock' kids, got married on Saturday. The crew were corralled for a photo before the end of the reception, agreeing to take a break from the party, they posed willingly!

Left to right, Brian, Allison, Jennifer and Jason, Carolyn and Nathan.

Then the festivities resumed!

A slide show of the full ceremony and reception can be viewed here. It was a special day.
Congratulations to Jennifer and Jason!

New year's eve dessert

This New Year's Eve special Baslock dessert was prepared by Brian and Carolyn.

Chocolate crunchy caramel tart!

Note: I guess this got stuck somewhere along the way. I sent a picture this evening and then the post command and thought a different picture was going to be posted tonight. I need to find out where the other picture is now.

Mobile post sent by shersteve using Utterli. Replies.

Once upon a time this summer

We did go to Weikert, PA to spend sometime with our good friends, the Bastian's. Doug's father, Walter, has a tradition of making hand cranked ice cream. The old ice cream maker finally gave way last year. It was time this year to christen a new 6-quart model.

Walt's birthday happened to fall during the time we were there and I offered to be the designated photographer to record the surprise party. I finally caught up to putting together the slide show for the multiple birthday parties Walt celebrated, culminating with the big surprise one.

View slideshow

Enjoy!

West Point Graduation 5/31/08

One of our good family friends, Nathan Bastian, graduated with honors from the US Military Academy at West Point, NY on May 31, 2008. It was an honor for us to participate in this special event. The following video attempts to capture some of the flavor of the pomp and circumstances for this event.



To Doug, Cathy, Jennifer, Brian and the remainder of the Bastian family, you have every good reason to be proud. Nate will be a good officer in the US Army.

Congratulations, Nate!

Home sweet home

The hectic travel (both business and personal) schedule experienced over the past 6 weeks is not complete. It was all good and full of wonderful learning. Much writing to catch up on now.

For those interested in the Franklin Override coming up June 10th, the audio segments for the information session held on 5/28/08 are now available. Posting these segments pushed Franklin Matters over 700 posts since it began in November 2007. So if you thought I have not been writing much here, that may be a bit of the reason why.

The West Point graduation this weekend saw the Baslocks get together to congratulate Nathan on his great accomplishment. Second Lieutenant Bastien is now off for 60 days of vacation time before heading to work on a Fulbright Scholarship in the Netherlands in September. What an honor it was to witness this graduation! Pictures and some video (with a little luck) will be coming up this week.

Stepping back 10 years

I dug into the 1997 photo archives to find the photos on the right. The series on the left are current and digital from this past holiday week.

See my Tabblo>

My how time flies! Hey, I had dark hair then!

Notice how the two "little" kids then are the tallest kids now!

Dinner with Nate at O'Connors

Dinner with Nate at O'Connors, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Nate came to Worcester to visit with Allison. A good enough reason for a Baslock family dinner. This time instead of gathering around a wooded camp site, we were around a table in an Irish pub atmosphere. O'Connors

The food was delicous. The service excellent. The atmosphere delightful. The whole experience, priceless.

Photo notes:
1 - top left - Hospitality is highlighted on the outside walls (with good reason).
2 - top right - in the bar area, they have quite a collection of bar taps representing local and international beers.
3 - bottom left - Carolyn and Allison
4 - bottom right - Nate surrounded

sherku: Baslock's Garter

amidst wood pile garter
slithers, pauses, sunlight
basks in Baslock's attention

Weikert: Baslock adults

Weikert: Baslock adults
Originally uploaded by shersteve

The Baslock's are the result of two families growing in friendship over the years.

Pictured here are Doug and Cathy Bastian, Dolores and I

The week that was, was the first vacation time the adults have been together without one of the combined five children around.

Empty nest? Ah, but it is a good thing!

Thank you! Thank you!

A special thanks to Rosa, Phil, and Allison for posting while I was away!

Rosa left a special Cracker Jack surprise for me in addition to promoting the 7 Wonders of Learning. This is the Rosa I once perilized in words.

Phil spent some time on the hitchhiker trail and here.

Allison sent forth a couple of the sherku I had drafted and queued for publication.


The Baslock vacation in the woods of Weikert, PA was wonderful. More stories, pictures and sherku are forthcoming.

Baslock? Oh, this is something that has evolved over the years that the Bastians and Sherlocks have know each other. When we come together, it as if we are one family hence, the Baslocks. (We did try the Sherstians on for size but that name didn't wear so well.)

Baslock's New Year's Eve Party

The happy bakers (top left),  lessons in Magarita 101 (top right)lead to some dancing (left), grazing the table of delights (bottom left), and ultimately the count down to the new year (bottom right).

When the Baslock's get together good times happen.

We enjoyed our New Year's Eve. I hope you enjoyed yours!

... See my Tabblo>