Kurtis and I also had the honor of celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary with Jonathan and Stephanie on the day of their marriage. We are honored to share the date with them.

Some of the amazing folks that helped put this event together.

Ceremony – St. Michaels

Reception – Esperanza Mansion

DJ – Showcase Sound

Florist - The Topiary

Cake – Sweet Memories

Photography – The amazing duo of Julia and Kurtis Kracke of Kracke Photography!!!

As we say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011, we hope you can say the same as us. WOW, what a year!!!  It seems as if each year we get more and more incredible couples, families, babies and seniors to share their lives with us. We can’t wait to be apart of so many peoples new lives  in 2011. Thank you for letting us be apart of your special events, we truly appreciate all of you. You all are the reason we LOVE our job! Cheers to you all and Happy New Year!!

We stopped for a beer and saw this bottle of The Kraken Black Spiced Rum…. The bartender gave us a taste… wow! You could light your own breath.

The Kracke with The Kraken… Yes we are photo dorks!

The second day we got up early, mainly because 7 am Portland time is 10 am our time, we headed for the coast and spent the entire day there! Here I am with my feet in the cold Pacific ocean.

Kurtis wanted to see the beach where they filmed part of the Goonies, so we headed out to Cannon Beach to find the rocks. They are known as the Haystack Rock and the Needles but they will be known to us forever as the Goonie Rocks. The tide was low so we were able to se the amazing tide pools that surround the rock. (don’t know who those people are in the picks….)

Kurtis in front of the Goonie Rock…. You can’t see it but he is grinning like a little kid.

We stopped some other photographers and asked them to take our pick. (we are both grinning like little kids)

Next we went up to Astoria to see the Goonie House and have some lunch. (Yes we are big Goonie dorks.) ; – )

Then it was back down the coast and stopping at a few beaches along the way.

This was our view at dinner. We found an amazing little restaurant in Oceanside called Roseanna’s Cafe. I had the best little clams! hands down the best! and Kurtis had salmon that was to die for!

We got back to Portland really really late and woke up really late so there was only one place to go…. Stepping Stone Cafe, Ever seen Man vs Food??? On his stop in Portland Adam stops by for Mancakes…. 13 inch round and at least one inch think pancakes!! We only got one and couldn’t finish the whole thing.

I promise we did do more then just eat in Portland. We spent the entire day down on the river at the carnival and Sunday Market. We bought a few great pieces of outsider art and I got a great bag. Monday was the wedding. One word…. BEAUTIFUL!!! The pictures will be coming soon!!

So the day after the wedding we went to a Portland institution… Voodoo Doughnut! (also seen on Man vs Food) …. Promise we really really did more then just eat!

This was my pick. Voodoo Doll Raised yeast doughnut filled with raspberry jelly topped with chocolate frosting and a pretzel stake! (characteristics of Voodoo Dolls are all different)

The Bacon Maple Bar Raised yeast doughnut with maple frosting and bacon on top! (how can life get any better?)

Kurtis’s pick was the Diablos Rex Chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate frosting, red sprinkles, vanilla pentagram and chocolate chips in the middle!

Texas Challenge Giant Doughnut equals 6 of their doughnuts in size. If you can eat this doughnut in 80 seconds or less…You get your money back!  We didn’t even try to eat this is 80 sec… We actually only ate 3-4 bites and gave up.

So what is the best thing to do after eating Voodoo Doughnuts and buzzing around on a sugar high??? Go for a 12 mile hike in the Columbia River Gorge!!! It was completely worth the leg cramps, sore feet, rain soaked pants to see Tunnel Falls. (I – 84 exit 41, in case you were wondering.) Yes, we truly went for a 12 mile hike the day after we shot a wedding, three hours there, two hours back….yup, 5 hours of hiking.  I know, I know…. what were we thinking! ( I have no idea either…. I blame it on voodoo doughnuts!).

Around the 6 mile mark the trail comes across a huge waterfall, so instead of ending the trail some very strong outdoors type folk dug a tunnel behind the falls. It was AMAZING!!!  So here are some of the pictures from that walk…. OH, and a BIG BIG THANK YOU !!!!!! to Laura and Dan (the bride and groom from Portland) for the AWESOME wedding favors!! Umbrellas with their wedding logo screen printed on them. They came in so handy on the hike!! You guys are the best!

Yes that is one big, old tree!! The trees, mountains, gorge, everything was beautiful

For the most part the trail was fairly easy, mostly up hill there and in some spots the trail narrowed a bit  - the wire guide rail always makes you feel safe. ; – )

I was AMAZED by the trees and loved photographing them.

This is one of the campsites (lower right hand corner) We want to go back and camp for a few days.

This is one of the few teaser waterfalls they have on the way up to Tunnel Falls….. I would see it and think “Oh, Thank God we made it!!” just to be jinxed and have to keep walking.

This is my favorite tree picture. These trees were planted after a huge forest fire in 1902. Just breathtaking.

This was just before we got to the falls. Just beautiful beyond belief!

WE MADE IT!!! WE MADE IT!!!! (insert major fan fair!!) See the dark thing in the middle of the picture. That is the tunnel. We put our hands on the wall of the tunnel and could feel it move and tremble from the power of the waterfall.

again…. THANK YOU,  THANK YOU,  THANK YOU FOR THE UMBRELLAS!!!

We will get the wedding pictures up soon and share the wonderful day that we spent with Laura and Dan.

Cheers,  Julia and Kurtis