favorite places

china. 

the great wall. sharing the GOSPEL in a place like Beijing. 

old sheldon church. 

south carolina. old. pretty. place where we got engaged.

ukraine. 

place where missions captured my heart. gorgeous. one of my favorite places.

washington. 

mountains. evergreens. place we started life together.

A Trek Up the Mountain

Okay, so it wasn't a mountain. Not really. But it felt like it. We climbed from 6,000 feet elevation to 8,000. A totally uphill "stroll" on the way there that took 9.5 hours (would have been shorter but I am both inexperienced AND a good whiner). Pretty. Fun, looking back.

We climbed up the part that is partially hidden by the tree branch on the left. It looks very mush like the snowy part in the middle.

At our campsite. I have three pictures of him with this same pose. Apparently he was proud of his climb. 

There were fifteen or so mountain goats wandering around our camp in the morning. They got really close to us, sniffed around, and weren't afraid of us in the least. This picture is like an Eye Spy, goat version. They blend in pretty well. 

We used snow to wet our toothbrushes. No shower, no bathroom (unless you like rocks), but we brushed our teeth!

Before setting out the next morning: My brother, me, Carson. 

At the end of the journey. I think it took us six hours to get down. From going downhill all that distance, I had the hardest time going up and down the stairs after that (funny thing - only 24 hours after this venture, I donned a cocktail dress and heels... what a contrast from being dirty and probably smelly)

saturday adventures

This Saturday wasn't a really lazy one. We biked awhile... (12.5 miles total according to Google Pedometer)

Passing a not-too-shabby waterfall (you can tell when I've just said "SMILE!" can't you?)

And on our route back, we found a pretty hidden little place with a stream and several waterfalls. Up here by these little pools it was actually warm enough to swim. For Carson to swim, that is. I sat down in the water but it didn't get further up than the bottom of my tank top. Coooold!

Yay helmets!

Later in the day, we drove up to Raven's Roost, where there are a bunch of cell phone/ radio towers and incredible views - here's Mount Rainier

And here's us with Rainier - it didn't work out so well, but those peaks are back there, I promise!

And since we hadn't had enough adventure, Carson climbed up and into one of the buildings. I obviously wasn't tall enough to make it up there but I helped by giving him a boost.

And then he threw some snowballs at me... it's strange to be in flip flops and jeans in the snow - stranger to be in shorts, tank top and chacos in the snow. (Thank goodness for the jacket Carson had stashed in the back of the car for me)