Ray is a little extreme for a lot of us

OTOH, lots of us like to be comfortable and not carry a lot of weight on our backs. For the trip you describe I know I would probably start with 26 to 28 pounds on my back including water and 7 days of grub. I'm not "ultralight" but more "decently lightweight", with much of my hiking at decent altitude and cool temperatures in the canadian rockies. It is *not* hard to do, but I'd not advise drinking the entire lightweight kool-aid at first on a 6 ot 7 day trip - get into it gradually and try out a few things first. but if your hubby is complaining about the thought of 50 pounds on his back, I don't blame him

Some things to try:

1) Freezer bag style cooking with esbit or an alcohol stove.
reducing your kitchen rig to a small pot and cup each and choosing simple (yet tasty! you still have to like it, not everyone does) and light foods can cut a lot out of your total weight, when you cut back from an army size kitchen, frypans, whisperlite, etc. etc.

2) As mentioned by others - the lightweight shoes work well, I'm a big guy, and I've taken trailrunners on some pretty rough stuff and not hurt myself, but I still prefer boots for
gnarlier stuff. Real trails are still fine in trailrunners though.

3) Save the pack decision as late as possible. if you reduce your weight of what you are carrying down to the 28-35 pound range you don't need to pack that into a 7 pound pack designed to carry moose and elk out of the bush and an expresso machine and barrista in. To put it perspective, both my usual go-to packs for weekend to week long trips weigh about 18 ounces - Now that might be a bit "extreme" because with my system I can carry and be very comfortable with a frameless pack. For something slightly more conventional however, a Gregory Z pack (or I think it's Diva in the female version) weighs about 3 pounds and has a full frame and can carry load..

Your sleeping bags are a bit heavy for their rating. My cheapie MEC down bag that is rated at 32 degrees weighs 600 grams (i.e. about a pound and a half) in size long, and this would be the bag I'd take if I were doing your trip.

Your tent is an OK weight for two, but there are lots of other options which might save a couple pounds. I.E.
http://www.tarptent.com/cloudburst2.html
http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=47

You could also consider hammocks, but they kind of suck for
couple togetherness.

You've already recieved good suggestions about insulated air mats.

Peruse the "27 pound 7 day pack" and the "18 pound 3 day pack" list that are postedd on the parent site to this forum
http://www.backpacking.net/27-pound.html
http://www.backpacking.net/18-pound.html

I've also got my list posted - see below.

You probably can't do all at once, but start thinking about it
carefully and you can probably keep yourself very comfortable in the mid-30 pound range without too much trouble

Oh, and I'll risk being told I'm a nekulturny bag killer - I do put my down bags in compression sacs for trips. I take them out immediately after and store them correctly. Never had major issues.