Visit to Holden Last Friday

Last week I had a pretty strong desire to visit my grandparents in Holden so when Friday rolled around, I hauled the kiddos to Salem to pick up my mom and we made the two hour drive.  I really need to do this more often because what a treasure it is for my kids to know and remember their time spent with great grandparents.

Siena came down with something that morning. At the time, I thought it was just food poisoning so we didn't cancel travel plans; however, a few days later Qiana caught the flu too. Poor little souls.

Heirlooms

A few of the family heirlooms Grandma Wood showed me last Friday:

Julia Theresa Cunningham Coon's belongings. Grandma Wood wore the purple necklace often.

A Christmas gift to Julia Teresa Coon in 1906. 

Great Great Grandpa Egbert carried this with him when he worked away from home on the rail lines. The front cover is engraved with "Joe" in beautiful cursive.

The ruby ring Grandma Wood is modeling was an engagement ring for Grandma Egbert.

The cameo brooch was commissioned by Grandma to be made whilst she was in Italy. The center bracelet is actually a watch. The wedding rings were engraved inside but have been worn down too much to be legible. The pin on the left was what 'Grandma Nana's' baby clothes were fastened together with.

Persuasion: Thumbs Up to Goat Cheese

This salad converted me from a hard core goat cheese hater to the complete opposite after only a few bites. (Either way, if you already love it or still can't stand goat cheese, you may want to take notes.)

Greens + goat cheese + dried cherries + cilantro + pomegranate seeds + raspberry vinaigrette. 

So easy and completely addictive. I even remember the date of the first time my fork pierced into this salad: Thanksgiving 2010, thank you very much.