This is our family for the next two weeks!

You know it’s summer when the blackberry bushes start bursting with juicy berries! We’ve been lucky enough to live near lots of blackberry bushes since we’ve been married so I always pick as many as possible and freeze lots for winter pies and sauces…YUM! My favorite pancake sauce is blackberries simmered with a little bit of sugar and served warm. (Yummy on ice cream) I love blackberry pie too…I’ll have to make one after our Thailand trip when my dad comes to visit- he’s a pie lover too!:) Here’s a couple pictures of the cutest blackberry pickers ever:

Scoping the Berries
Papa’s Got One

This last week we packed up the family and headed up Hwy 36 to staff a Jr. High Summer Camp. Jess was the camp nurse and I (along with 4 others) led worship for the week. It was the most playing I’d done since I was in YWAM -two sessions a day. The kids definitely got into the music and had a lot of energy which made it even more fun for us. We ‘Christianized’ the song Crazy, which (along with every song that had motions) was one of the hits for the week.

Now we switch gears and get ready for Thailand. This has been a busy summer!

Hello all…we are back from a week up at TLC camp which Andrew will tell you about and post pictures later. I wanted to post a few pics from Anna and Dave’s wedding, which was July 14th. I only have a few, because after the wedding was underway I was having too much fun and forgot to take more pictures of the bride and groom and all, but oh well!:) We also had the privelege of having Joel and Sarah stay with us, while in town for the wedding. The wedding was so beautiful, outside on a warm sunny day. Andrew and I were honored to be a part of the wedding party, and we got to walk out together in the ceremony- very fun. Anna was a gorgeous bride, looking so lovely and glowing, and her and Dave looked so happy. During the reception as I watched them making their rounds, saying hi to everyone I just kept thinking, I’m so happy for them! They’ve been through a lot this year, but they have a thriving and wonderful relationship and are now husband and wife- congrats you guys, we love you and are so happy for you both! Your wedding was a beautiful and special day! Here’s the pics…we’ll get more from other people and post them later.

Beautiful Bride
Us 3
Nature Boy
Grabbing Annabelle Plum’s Bread

Yesterday, as Andrew wrote, was our 4th anniversary! We had a fun date night in to celebrate…since we have our friend’s wedding festivities tonight and the next few days we thought we’d stay home with Jude last night. Andrew made my favorite Thai food for dinner- pad thai- so yummy! He also popped open some champagne and got a movie- which- amazingly enough- Jude slept through the whole thing!:) (He has a habit of waking up about an hour after going to bed) We were talking about how different this anniversary feels- eating dinner on the living room floor so Jude could roll around with us- but how thankful we are for our life…we wouldn’t change a thing! I’m also thankful for a husband that is creative and romantic. And now for your reading pleasure… some quotes about love and marriage:)

True love stories never have endings. ~Richard Bach

A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.
~Andre Maurois

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. ~Mignon McLaughlin

Tomorrow is our 4th anniversary as Husband and Wife!
It’s crazy how fast time has flown. Some of you who read this blog (actually probably a lot of you) were at that life changing event, otherwise known as our wedding 4 years ago. Some of you we’ve seen or see on a regular basis, some we haven’t seen since the wedding.

Jess and I are continually amazed how our love has grown for each other over the last 4 years. In comparision to our wedding day, what we feel for each other now seems far deeper. I am more in love with Jess than I’ve ever been and look forward to many more anniversaries with her!

In other news…
Jude’s first tooth popped through a few weeks ago and Jess managed to catch it on camera today. Enjoy!