“ Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.”

....Apparently this is the cavers motto. Matt and I ventured up to the Ape Caves near Mt St Helens. Neither of us had been before but clearly it is a very popular attraction. There were tons of people but when we got to the upper cave we got away from the people a bit. It was interesting because at some points in the cave we would get to this big mound of boulders and I would think ok, we've hit a dead end. There's no way I can get through that but then I figure other people have done it so I start scrambling up the boulders and eventually make it over to the other side and then I'd realize: that wasn't so bad? It seems like a great metaphor for life. Sometimes things seem quite difficult when you look at the big picture but once you start up the hill...it's not so bad.

Brianne's shower...

ok since we have not had time to post much during our summer...I will just refer you to a fellow blogger. I attended a shower for Brianne. While the guys played some video games, the women ate cheesecake and talked diapers. It was a good time...really. Here is Brianne's entry.

Shirley and Blair

Ahh, weddings. Shirley is my dad's cousin. Sadly, her husband Bill passed away a few years ago but the Lord has blessed her (through match.com) with a new husband. The wedding was beautiful and it was so neat to hear about how the Lord brought them together. Congratulations Shirley and Blair.

Cherry Pickin'

Turns out there is a great place to pick cherries just a few minutes from our house-who knew? Matt LOVES cherries so we went a pickin'. Neither of us had gone cherry picking before. It was fun but warm. The orchard had a great view of Mt Hood although I didn't capture it very well. We picked over 7lbs of cherries(did I mention that matt loves cherries?) and one week later we have very few left. I did make my first cherry cobbler. I'm not a fan of canned cherries or cherry pie filling but made with fresh cherries it was delicious!

Guests of the Ladyfern

We had Erin and Karrie again for the 4th. This is turning into quite a tradition. Although many of our plans didn't quite work out we still had a fun time. It's not what you do, it's who you do it with that matters:-) It was great to reminisce about old times and the silly things we did back in college. We went to depoe bay (no whales were seen), Mt. St Helens (it was cloudy), berry picking (berries were abundant) and Hood River (wind-surfers and kite-boarders were out in full force). Can't wait until next year's visit.

Dinner Tonight

Tonight we made a yummy Southwestern Salsa (recipe from this month's Cooking Light). They don't have the recipe online yet but it was similar to this one (minus the avocado). We used the limes we received from our Fruit of the Month club. It was delicious with homemade tortilla chips.
We bought a watermelon that was way too big for the 2 of us so I tried this Watermelon Salad recipe. I was intrigued by the mixture of ingredients. It was tasty. I might try it with cilantro instead of mint next time. Served it over a bed of lettuce.
I love not having to cook (except for baking the tortilla chips).

Together they made a very refreshing, summery meal. They are both great recipes to bring along to a summer cook out.

Both of the recipes came from an article about a restaurant in Denver where you pay what you can for a meal and if you can't afford to pay then you trade in work at the restaurant for food. Isn't that a great idea? It's called Same Cafe.

Our first venture in sourdough bread(Matt's favorite) proved successful. We had been working on a starter Matt's dad gave us a few weeks back. We kind of pieced together a couple different recipes in order to use the bread maker for most of the kneading and rising so we weren't quite sure what to expect but it was delicious.

In other bread making news...we have also been making some Amish Friendship Bread creations thanks to the Happel's giving us a starter. So far we have made a lemon poppy seed version and a chocolate butterscotch chip-yum. I'm not sure if that's what the Amish intended us to do with their bread but it was good. If you're interested on getting some starter let us know. We are running out of friends to give it to.