goldilocks and the bears....

oregon wooed us in all of it’s glory. from its amazing weather, pristine beauty, breath-taking waterfalls to boat rides on the river. wow.

but not only that, the future-in-laws were over the top. Welcome packetts awaited us in sacks that had actual brush/trees on them...everything inside from oregon. everywhere you turned you were greeted with love, hugs, food, and drinks. The O’connors were overwhelmingly generous to our family.

All sorts of snacks awaited us at the free cabin/lodge we were staying at. that is right, you heard me, free cabin.

Picture “dan in real life”. and then picture a tad bit more crowded...but loving, crazy family just the same.

It just felt so right. a huge trip for a huge occasion. We could stay up late talking, teasing, laughing and debriefing together and all be woken up together by little sunshine herself. =) it made for all types of down times together and claire getting taken on walks by Aunt, Uncles and Grandparents whenever her heart desired.

one of my favorite moments was when John came down after being woken up by the bear early one morning and just lounged with us and we chatted for a long time...

Our first full day, we went to view some incredible waterfalls at a state park outside of Salem.
It was so much more than i could have thought. they were absolutely incredible. We laughed and talked and meandered and teased little goldilocks.

and then we spent some intentional time telling john how much we love him and all the riches that we see in him, with a waterfall in our background. it was wonderous. luckily the bear was tuckered out and in a snuggly mood for this.

my dad had an idea for a photo shoot called goldilocks and the bears...it worked pretty well...