Grandparent's Orchard

September always makes me think of picking pears and apples in my grandparent's orchard in Corvallis. They lived in this beautiful 1800's home on a tree lined driveway. My Granddad was a master gardener and his place seemed beautiful year round. In my teen years when I'd sense that first bit of fall crispness in the air I'd usually make my way over to their place immediately, checking to see if the fruit was ready to pick, because I loved to go home and dry it! Have you had freshly dried pears?! Amazing! Grandma always had yummy dried fruit on her dining room table when we'd come to visit and I loved that. I aspired to be "homey" like her. :)
My Granddad passed away in May, and this September I've found myself thinking about him a lot. I miss his charming smile and laugh, and I miss his good strong hugs whenever I'd say goodbye.
This past weekend I got to go out to my grandparent's place and take some family photos for some dear friends I've known for many years. (I'll have their beautiful family shots to post here soon). While we were there I asked my friend to snap a photo of my family there in the orchard too so that I'd have a sweet keepsake to remind me of my memories there with Granddad and Grandma. (p.s. errrr, rather, she took a gazillion photos to try to get Jude to look at the camera w/ out talking or begging for a lollipop... as we all know, photographing a two year old is no small task! Thanks Heather!) :)