Deb & Tahan & Lucas [Vancouver Family Photo]

“Tahan has a MAJOR sweet tooth,” Deb tells me.

Tahan proves it and grabs the bag of licorice and starts chewing. She laughs at him as he takes another strand — while complaining about the poor quality of the candy — and keeps on eating.

Deb shifts Lucas from one hip to the other and looks my way (it is a look that can only be described as a “mischievous twinkle”) and then grabs the other end of her husband’s licorice and giggles while she started eating her way toward the middle.

Their fun was only interrupted when 5-month-old Lucas decided to grab his own piece of licorice (he wanted to have fun just like mom and dad, can you blame him?!) and his watchful parents stopped flirting long enough to keep the sweet out of his mouth.

(And just FYI: Lucas’s lollipop is still in the wrapper.)

‘Twas a rainy, rainy day in Vancouver when our schedules aligned and I got to hang out with Deb & Tahan. But I guess that’s what makes Vancouverites different than Winston Salem residents: rain doesn’t stop anything (granted, it can’t…otherwise, no one would ever get to do anything!). And, really, aside from the chill, the drizzle didn’t matter at all.

If anything, the gloomy accented the warmth this family created as they love loudly, laugh gleefully, and eat candy gladly.

And that’s why I had so much fun with this beautiful family: they are, truly, full of love.