Weddings!

One of my best friends got married this Saturday! A lot of our weekends are filled with weddings in the summer months and we love it, especially when you know that the Lord has brought two amazing people together to fulfill his purpose as a team. Dru Davis and Janessa Nash were married at a beautiful piece of property just as the sun was setting Saturday night. They could not have asked for better weather. It was so special to be a part of their day and a part of their life together (we are even more excited that they have decided to stay local and are living in Salem; only 20 minutes away!)

Sunny Times...

Heading home tomorrow...too soon!

More fun...

Did we mention that we love summer? These last few weeks have been very busy (perhaps too busy as I don't think we will be able to attend church in Corvallis until the middle of September), but we wouldn't want to miss a thing. This last Friday we went to the beautiful wedding of our friends and Paul's second family Bethany and Danny Nedelisky up in Portland. The time was wonderful, but went by too fast as we then headed back to Silver Falls for some camping with Ashley's family.

Here are a few pictures of our camping trip. Despite some rain on Saturday morning we had a great time hiking, biking, playing games, cooking and playing with our nephews.

Paul and Jacob after a mountain bike ride:

My older sister and her son around the camp fire; he is so much fun!Andrea and Jaden at the falls; he is such a good little boy!

As we entered into August I, Ashley, had to shift gears and started thinking about heading back to the classroom. This summer I was fortunate to be able to sub for my sister at Home Life, Inc. as their Staff Development Coordinator. I have worked for Home Life, Inc. all through college and am sad to have to leave my positions there, but know it is time.

We still have many trips and events to come including the Jeld-Wen Tradition at Sun River, a trip to Tri-Cities for some wakeboarding, a trip to the Running Y and a few more weddings. We have also put an offer in for a house here in Albany and will hopefully be moving in the middle of September. Why Albany? Well, the Albany School District is actually one of the best districts in the state, it means that only one of us has to communte to our jobs, it is close to I-5 making trips to Salem and Portland a bit easier and we have come to find that there are many beautiful parts of Albany that you don't see by just passing through.

We love all our friends and family and appreciate all the time we get to spend with everyone.

Camping with the Hynes fam!

Paul and I had so much fun this last weekend camping with his dad and youngest sisters, Rachel and Elizabeth. We camped at Detroit Lake and had an awesome time canoing, fishing, hiking, playing games, laughing, making smores, and resting. Here are a few pictures of our amazing time:

More Pictures~

Here are a few pictures of my family. My aunt came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago and these pictures are from her visit.

Our family:














My nephews; so adorable! Garrett is two and a half and Jaden is two months.













Garrett watering the garden (we were hanging outside together and when we started to water I asked Garrett if he should water Aunt Ashley and very matter of fact he said "yes!").




















My mom and her sister, Judy, at the coast.

Random Pics...

I LOVE my hubby!

We LOVE summer!

Summer is our favorite time of the year. There are so many fun things we like to do outside in the summer that there is hardly time to accomplish it all. Golfing, swimming, camping, hiking, biking, running, tennis, boating, water skiing, and the list goes on and on! Paul and I went on our 2nd annual road trip down HWY 101. Last year we went through central Oregon and this year we started in Newport and went south into California and the Red Woods. We were gone for six days over the long 4th of July weekend. Below are a few pictures. We loaded our Jetta up (with the help of the Ameele's) and took all our "toys" to enjoy the beautiful coast.

I, Ashley, got to go with my older sister, Crystal, and nephew, Garrett, to visit some family in Santa Rosa, CA. They were so generous to us while we were down there and we got to enjoy some wine tasting, the beach, a hot air balloon ride and much more. Spending time with family is one of my favorite things to do and definite a highlight of the summer.

While I was gone in Cali, Paul had to keep himself busy and did so by backpacking with our friend Justin. They went to the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness and although they ran into some snow and slept on a rocky piece of land, Paul had a great time. He always tells me that one day in the outdoors adds years to his life; it is one of his favorite things to do.

We are house hunting! Now that I have a full time job we are looking to buy our first place. We have an excellent Realtor and a friend of ours is a mortgage broker, so now we just have to wait for the perfect house. We have looked at several homes, but the "perfect" one hasn't been found yet. We are trying to be patient, but since our fridge and air conditioner broke this week we are really feeling the need to get into something else (luckily the fridge isn't ours so we don't have to pay to get it fixed), plus I am so excited to get new furniture and decorate my very own place!

Here are a few pictures of the events over the last month: