Please welcome the newest member of our family!

Since Jake and I were going to be married, we thought it would be okay if we got a new pet - together. On June 8, we brought home our six-week old bundle of fur and named him Festus. (Jake gave me two choices for the name - Festus or Cletus. I am sure the cat will thank me later.)

For the last 15 years, Jake has had Hank, his trusty yellow lab and all around best friend. When I moved to Chico, I brought with me my one year old black cat Mo. (Mo was unavailable for photos the day we shot these.) Being 15 years old, Hank really could care less about my Mo. However it took some time for Mo to get used to sharing the house with a dog but in the end they respect each others food dishes and sleeping space quite well.

Now the dog is the least of Mo's worries. Enter a new kitten. Jake and I are quite protective of our new little guy. He really has a cool personality until about 4:30 am when playing becomes his priority over sleeping. We hope he will grow out of this.

The first night we had Festus, he was scared being in a new place and cried all night like new kittens away from their mom do. Being the good parents, we thought having him sleep in our bed was a good idea. Now I remember someone telling me that you should never introduce your children into thinking sleeping with mom and dad all the time is okay. Let this be a warning - same goes for pets! Festus has now taken up permanent residence on our pillow right in between us. And WOW - can this cat purr! In hindsight, we should have called him Harley because this is what he sounds like when he purrs.

As the weeks have passed, Festus has gained more free space to roam. He was limited to the master bedroom and bath for a while. Reason being he was so little and if we let him out of our sight, he would cuddle up in random places to sleep and we would lose him. This only happened once or twice. We then discovered a $1.97 cat toy at Wal-Mart that had a bell and colorful feathers on a string. Festus thought this was greatest thing. Since then, we ring the bell and he comes running - at least when he is in the house. He loves to hear his feet on the hardwood floors. He will run laps in the living room and front room just to hear the patter of his little feet.

Festus then discovered the back yard and he had to be out there all the time for a few days. Being so little, the tall sunflowers and other flowering plants are like a jungle to him. I think the newness of the yard has warn off as he willingly comes back into the house now.

Each day he discovers something new. This week climbing onto counters. Who knows what next week will bring. The only thing for sure is that we are satisfied with our new kitten and enjoying being newlyweds! ~mrs. c

A few wedding snapshots...

Jake escorting his mom Patty.

My brother Ricky escorting my mom Mary.

Our ring bearer Josh

Kara looking elegant in navy blue.

Our flower girls Jenna and Lesley.

Dad walking me down the aisle.

The unity candle lighting.

And we walked back down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Cecil.

And the wedding party exited quickly. Maybe because the bar was now open and the beer was cold.

Me and My Daddy .

So we cut the cake without any frosting mishaps.

And we sealed it with a kiss.

Thank you to Uncle Don (left) and Aunt Jeanne Azevedo (right) for all of these great pictures.

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Cecil at last!

Hope you enjoyed these as much as we did. ~mrs. c

Where are the wedding photos?

Many of you have asked and others are probably wondering where are the wedding photos? As soon as I get a few, I will be sure to share. And if you were at the wedding and have a picture to share please email it to us. Being the one who usually has a camera with her at all times, on this particular day I had to leave it up to others. ~cheers! mrs. c

We love the Northern Oregon Coast

After our July 5th wedding in Chico, Jake and I packed our bags, loaded the truck and headed North for cooler weather, cleaner air, fresh seafood and relaxation. The result was all of that and more! Here are a few photos of the cool Oregon coast where we rented a house for the week, the green grass with my favorite Holstein cows and of course our $98 clamming adventure. The photo to the right is the view from our beachfront rental home in Cape Meares, Or. Enjoy as we did! ~mrs. c

Jake spent some quality time surf fishing.

And while I would love to say that these lovely delicacies were the result of our time in the water, the truth is we found a great seafood market that sold these by the dozen. And yes they knew us by first name by the end of our week long adventure.

Nothing is more beautiful than black and white bovine on green grass - BEAUTIFUL!
A day trip to Astoria took us across the Columbia River on this bridge into the Washington.
I wish our view at lunch could look like this everyday!

And how cool is a community that houses their Chamber of Commerce in a cute red barn.


And while Jake attended to more fishing...
I took some time to do some beach combing.
And like all newlyweds, we attempted to take pictures of ourselves. Not bad I thought.

And one of the really great treasures of the Oregon Coast are the numerous light towers. This one happens to be in the community where we rented our vacation home, Cape Meares.

Wouldn't it be cool if all California dairies could look this lush? However I am sure some California animal rights activist would consider this some sort of abuse. Yet another reason to consider relocating. I mentioned the clamming adventure. Well here is Jake in action with his rake in the ocean. The tide was low a few of the days we were there making the conditions perfect for clamming. however experts we were not. And by the time we figured it out, the tide had come back and we were left to buying them at the market.
Nonetheless, we worked hard for these six beauties.

Official Calm Shovel - $24

Real Clam Rake - $26

Two shellfish baskets that clip to your waist - $18

Five Gallon bucket to bring home our treats - $6

Two Oregon State Fishing license -$24

Total - the most expensive clam appetizer ever made!

...but we had fun!

And being the good farm kids that we are, of course we stopped to take few photos of the antique tractors.


And I just thought he was cute!

Welcome to our blog!

With so many family and friends throughout the state, I thought that we could provide updates on happenings in our new life together with this blog. I was never very good at keeping a diary so don't expect daily entries. However sometimes I just have things to say and I need a place to share them. So I am going to try this electronic approach. And who knows, you might even find Jake taking the chance to share a message or two. Stay tuned and thanks for reading. ~mrs. c