Grandpa Lloyd

Nicole, thank you for posting this picture of Grandpa with your mom and my dad - and forgive me for swiping it for a repeat post. (Truly, your blog is a treasure trove of all things that matter most to me. Thanks for going to all that hard work to capture our family memories!)

My handsome grandpa turns 93 today - isn't he dashing?

Some of my fondest memories of Grandpa Furniss are Grandma's and his visits to our home on Burch Creek Drive when I was a child. I remember hanging over the white couch in the living room, noses pressed against the big front windows watching anxiously for their white Pontiac 6000LE to pull into the drive. We knew at some point(s) in his visit, Grandpa would oblige us and our budding cosmetology talents by patiently lying on the living room carpet and letting us do our worst with pink foam curlers, barrettes and those hair elastics with hard plastic marbles on each end (many a finger nail whacked trying to maneuver those). The best part was after we'd exhausted all our hair styling creativity, he'd retrieve his black comb from his pocket and with one whoosh, his perfectly shaped coif - or as I affectionately like to refer to it, the David O McKay - was back.

Happy birthday, sweet Grandpa!

We Gave Thanks.

And for a quick recap of our Thanksgiving holiday...

There was a little of this:

Time spent trying to find one another here:

 To catch a train and visit these delightful hosts in Connecticut:

Books were read:

Bikes were ridden indoors:

And there was pie. Sour cream apple walnut pie from the Little Pie Company. No pictures, because hello! Sour cream apple walnut pie from the Little Pie Company.

Give thanks, indeed.

Crowells in the Country

The last stop of our vacation *cough, cough* last October was to visit the beautiful Crowell family in the beautiful English countryside. Corey and Alisa are dear, dear friends who never cease to amaze and inspire with their wonderful examples. And those kiddos of theirs had us wrapped around their fingers. We would have counted it as vacation enough just to enjoy time with the Crowells at their home, but it's a total perk that they happen to live in a charming English town with castles, countryside and Cambridge all a stone's throw away. 

I want to go back to there... 

*photo credit - the very lovely and talented Alisa

*photo order - blame it on Allison; for those of you who were there, hope you're not thrown by the total and complete disorganization of the photos :)