Beaver Creek

The weather was so beautiful here the other day that Joel and I wanted to take advantage of it, so we decided to take a little excursion to one of our favorite places in the world, Beaver Creek.  It's a little Minnesota state park about 40 minutes away from home.  Beaver Creek holds a lot of sentimental value for Joel and I.  It is where we went on our first date and it is where, on January 16th, 2005, we became engaged.  It is a beautiful and peaceful place that we never get tired of visiting.  And we realized the other day that we have visited Beaver Creek during every season, each with its own special beauty.  We just love to go there and marvel at God's creation.  There is a hiking path which runs alongside an amazingly clear creek--and there are lots of trout in it which Joel always likes to point out.  I don't know how he can see them but he always does--it's those hunter's eyes I guess. :)  It was fun for us to think about how, when we were on our first date there, we never would have imagined that we would be back in that same place some day with our baby daughter, Lyla Jane.

If you listen closely you can hear Lyla snoring. :)

Lyla in her cozy wrap (from Auntie Abby)

She slept the whole time. :)

On one of our excursions to Beaver Creek a few years ago, it happened to be one of those mornings when the fog and mist was rising off the creek and the sun was shining down on it just perfectly--it was so neat, like a post card or something.  Well, Joel and I were walking along the trail admiring the beauty of the mist on the water with the sun streaming through it, and there in the middle of the creek stood a deer.  We got all excited because it was an absolute perfect photo opportunity.  I mean it could win awards.  Well, it turned out that our camera focused on the branches in the foreground rather than the deer in the mist, and by the time we figured out how to get the shot the deer had heard us and run away.  Anyway, all this to say that it reminded us of the song "As the Deer" taken from Psalm 42:1  "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul thirsts after you, O God."   

The beauty of His creation is a reflection of God and it does make us thirst for Him.  We're so thankful that we are able to enjoy it with our little Lyla.