Family Gathering in Plover Wisconsin

It had been 10 years since Laurie and I had been up to the Steven’s Point/Plover Wisconsin area to visit her many cousins.  Laurie’s mother (maiden name McCormick) was born and raised in the ‘north country’ and there are a scattering of McCormick’s, and via marriage, a plethora of Rossier’s in central Wisconsin.

This is Carla and her husband Dale’s home near Plover Wisconsin.  Cousin Carla has always been very close to sisters Karole, Laurie, Bonnie and Glenda.  Glenda wasn’t along for the trip as she was undergoing knee surgery back in St. Louis Missouri. 

FYI…Dale is in home construction and this beautiful home is one of his productions!

It was a mini reunion/family gathering.  Dale and Carla went all out to prepare for the crowd…including this beverage bar on the patio.

Carla was the only girl out of a family of 8 children.  The 7 boys’ names all begin with an “R”.  This photo features Rex (third oldest) and his wife Jill.  Curt, Dale and Carla’s son, is standing behind them.

Continuing with the “R” theme, Royce (second youngest) and Raoul (second oldest) are seated.  Standing behind them…checking out an old family photo album…are Ross (the middle son) and 2 pairings, Althea and Ryan (youngest son) as well as Roche (second youngest) and Vicki.

That photo album certainly got a lot of attention… In addition to Laurie and her sisters being able to visit with their cousins, this was a great chance for the 8 siblings to get together!

This is a photo of Fred and Marie.  Fred (a McCormick) and his wife Ginny drove up to Plover from the Madison Wisconsin area to join our little gathering.  Sadly Marie recently lost her husband…Rick…who was the oldest of the 7 brothers.  We all miss Rick!  He was always the life of the party…

Laurie (black top) joined the group to peruse the family photo album and to relive memories of her childhood.

In this photo, Marie is seated next to Laurie’s sister Karole.  Sister Bonnie is next to Karole and cousin Rex is at the right. 

Fred took this photo of yours truly (yikes!) seated at the picnic table with Carla and Dale’s son Curt, Fred’s wife Ginny, with Ross in the foreground.

Dale, Carla and Curt own quite a bit of acreage behind the house.  Both Dale and Curt are avid hunters and Dale has created ATV trails throughout the woods.  We all went on a tour of the property on these north woods ‘big boys’ toys’!

You may have noticed that food figures into most of my posts.  No exception this time either!  Dale was carving one of the hams that Carla had baked for the event… I was very impressed by the fact that he had gloves on!   

I took this photo of Carla and Dale posing by their kitchen island.  Ginny is in the background.  Cute photo!

Laurie caught this photo of me taking food photos.  I certainly was focused on the subject at hand.  I didn’t know she took this picture until we got home.

Food, food and more food.  Me being me, I focused on the rolls, slabs of ham and those great cheesy potatoes.  I did ‘manage’ to try both of the desserts too!

For our buffet dinner, everyone moved inside.  Carla had it all figured out as to who sat where.  I took this photo from one end of the dining room table.  Rex is seated at the other end of the table near Roche while Curt, his mom Carla, and her youngest brother Ryan and Roche’s significant other, Vicki, are all standing.

Laurie enjoyed her dinner at the kitchen table.  It looks like everyone just finished dessert.  From the left, Laurie’s sister, Bonnie, then Laurie, with Ryan and his wife Althea at the right of the photo.

Carla and Dale did a fantastic job in pulling this family gathering together!  The food was great too!  There was plenty of variety.  Several of the sides and desserts were provided by some of the other family members… 

Thanks to everyone!  This was a great family event!  It's Wisconsin's turn to come down and visit us in Missouri or East Tennessee.

That’s about it for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for coming to the party!  

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave (and Laurie)