Friday Foto Friends-The Mursch Family Gathering Saga continues...

Our family trip/gathering last weekend was all about people...people we love and cherish...memories being made and much laughter and conversation.  I debated on whether or not to share pictures of the people today, or pictures of the things I saw and the places we stayed.  It is amazing how much was packed into this very short weekend trip.

So, after cogitating on it, I decided to share pictures today of things I saw that made an impression on me. I will share family pictures another time. (Well, maybe a few pictures of family will jump in here or there...)

My cousin Becky was right...I will have enough photos to keep the Friday Foto Friends going for a while...even though I already posted pictures this week from some other parts of our trip...I'd rather try to get them all out sooner rather than later so they are fresh on my mind as to who and what they are!

All that being said, let us start out with a classic "Closed Doors, Open Windows" montage:

This is my niece's new home and carriage house garage in North Carolina...and we were all gathered to celebrate this new home with our extended family. There's a story to this...and I will briefly share as we go...

Looking out the front door of this house you see woods and beautiful grounds.  You already saw pictures of the woods and creek that runs along the back side of the property HERE.  

This property was a part of a much larger parcel/farm dating back to the 1700's that belonged to a family of elderly unmarried siblings who sort of "adopted" my brother and his family since they did not have any children of their own.

As the years went by, my brother and his wife and two daughters truly loved these old folks and cared for them as if they were their own family.  One by one, the three old folks became more and more debilitated and needed much care, which they lovingly provided.

When the final member of the family passed on, the farmhouse and most of its land was willed to the members of my brother's family.  One niece built this new home on her parcel of land...

And these next few pictures are just some of the special things I saw and wanted to share with you:

Needlepoint done by the sister in the family of the three siblings of the original property...and she was crippled by polio all of her life.  She did some amazing needlepoint pictures, some are in this home, and many are in the original farmhouse...(but more about that home in a later post)

 Another of her creations:

I love this sign in the powder room:

This plate is the same pattern that my mother had in our home growing up.  My niece actually found this at an antique store, and bought it for her home.   And thus, there was a blending of the old and new throughout this house, with many things from the family that owned the land originally, and also many reminders of the heritage of our own family

The old clock on the shelf belonged to my parents, and sat on their mantel for all of the years of my life growing up in our home.   It now counts the minutes of every day in a new home for a new generation of our family...

These are my parents, celebrating their 50th anniversary many years ago...

 This Carriage House garage was built from the same plans that my father had built his Carriage House garage from many years ago...and so we gathered together to celebrate the continuation of this same building for another generation and many to come...

 "Todd's Garage"...my niece's husband...

 
And Todd's 1950 Chevy Truck...

I was impressed by this since it is the same age as I am...

Pretty cool, huh?

Here is the outside of the garage...(with the doors open)

My niece and her hubby had a great idea to bless this special garage.

They asked each of us to write something with permanent markers on the inside walls, which will eventually be covered with some kind of interior wallboards, but the blessings will be sealed inside this building for life...and so we all took turns writing our blessings...what a wonderful idea!

Here are a few:

"Grandpa Mursch is here in spirit"

Here is an old picture of my dad, holding a photograph of his sweetheart, my mother, back before they were married:

Here are a few unposed pictures of our family enjoying being together...playing horseshoes...

gathered around the table on the back porch...

This one is my favorite: conversations going on around the dining room...

And random shots of family members writing on the walls, blessing this special place with peace and love:

 This is a good place to stop for this day.

But stay tuned for more on this saga of the Mursch Family Gathering

and the history of where we were...

 Now let us travel over to Deb's Place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have been up to!

Have a blessed and happy day!!!  Just a few more "blessings and thoughts":

Profound wisdom from a 12 year old

"Keep it simple and real"