My favorite place to be

Is not just behind the camera, but at Newlin Grist Mill <3

And I was so glad when the DeYulis family asked to do their family photos there!

I have so many vivid memories of my grandparents taking me and my siblings there as young children. My grandmother would pack a picnic lunch and off we would go! The ride always felt like we were traveling to a faraway place. So my grandmother always made sure to have a ziploc bag of hard candies on the backseat of the car for us. To keep us entertained and quiet, I'm sure! But to me, it was always such a sweet and maternal gesture. I looked forward to having a hard caramel during our road trips.

Once we got there, my grandparents would set us all up at one of the picnic tables and we would all eat together. Simple and fun picnic food for six year olds - ham and cheese with butter AND mustard on the roll - one of my grandmothers delicacies. After we ate, my grandfather would help us fish in the small pond there and he was particularly patient with threading the worms for me. Something I could never manage to do on my own. I just felt too bad for the worms. And if we got too squirrely, he would take us hiking through the trees and the creek - which to us was the 'babbling brook'. My grandfather would help us cross the water by stepping on the stones as we went, reminding us to be careful of the slippery stones. The ones that were just a bit more wet than the others. While she waited, my grandmother would clean up our mess, then read one of her books. Life was simple and I will forever be fond of those memories my grandparents gave us.

And for that reason, Newlin Grist Mill will always be a Heaven in my heart <3