Our wedding

Our wedding was a beautiful day that I will treasure forever. There were no doubts or worries but complete peace that I was marrying the man the Lord had planned for me, since before I was born. You see, I've prayed for Jay many years before we even met. I knew the Lord would bring him to me at some point and he was well worth the wait.

Here's a few of my favorite pics from our wedding. There's to many to post all of them.

My Birthday

We celebrated my 27th birthday yesterday. For my b-day Jay bought me a fishing pole and vest (it's what I was hoping for)!!! I acutally look like a true fisherman now. Of course I wanted to try out all my new stuff so we fished all day yesterday. We both caught fish so it felt like a successful trip. Jay actually out-fished me (a very rare occurance). Don't tell him I said that:) We fished the upper Santiam. It's so beautiful in that area. So many waterfalls and cool rock formations. The river can be a bit tricky to get to but Jay always makes sure I get down in one piece. He even ended up carrying me on his back through water yesterday so I wouldn't have to get my pants wet in crossing the river. I know.......I'm very spoiled. You know for being approx 100 lbs and only 5 ft I'm probably the most clumsy person alive. I'm always sliping and sliding down & up the hills (and anywhere in between for that matter). Anyway, I had a wonderful birthday with my hubby. It's doesn't matter what we do together it's always fun when we are in each others company.

Our new nephew Keenan Zane........

We went to see the newest addition to the family last night. Keenan is so cute! He's 7lb 11oz 22in. He was wide awake the entire time I held him. W're very excited for nephew number three. It looks like little Brooke's going to be out numbered for a while.

Backpacking

We just got back from our first backpacking trip. It was a very difficult hike but if you look at the pictures you will see that the views were well worth it. It was breathtaking. The hike was uphill almost the entire way. The lakes we went to were at the base of Mt. Jefferson. We walked along steep rocky ridges, and trudged through mud and snow. Unfortunately I was so exhausted by the time we got there on Friday I wasn't really able to enjoy nature as I usually do. Almost every step I took was accompanied by a prayer. My hubby is so wonderful and attentive to my needs. I know that he wasn't feeling well either but he was more concerned about taking care of me. When we found a place to camp I had been feeling like I needed to puke for the last couple hours. I pretty much couldn't do anything......not even swat at the 23 mosquitoes that bit my face. Jay would come over and swip the bugs off me while setting up the tent. I went to sleep pretty fast and even though we were sleeping on thin mats I slept so well. The next day I was still exhausted but had a little more motivation to take in the beautiful sights surrounding us on all sides. We fished Bays lake and Scout lake for a long time but didn't catch anything (The fish were most likely full of mosquitoes). We were kind of counting on fish for dinner but we enjoyed a yummy box of mac & cheese instead. Believe it or not that was some of the best kraft mac & cheese that I've ever had. After fishing we decided to go for a quick swim in the ice cold water. It was sooooo refreshing. The cold felt so good on my blistered feet that I was completely content at just hanging my feet in the water to soak for hours. There were so many pretty wild flowers and butterflies everywhere! We got lots of beautiful pictures. So we're home now and we have blistered feet, bruises from where our heavy packs rested, and more mosquito bites than I would wish on anyone......however I'm glad we went. It was a test of endurance and we took away many amazing memories. Over the weekend I also learned more about my husbands compassionate and caring heart. His encouragement kept me going. I'm so thankful that the Lord has given me a companion as amazing as my Jay.