Beach retreat

Earlier this month, we spent a weekend at Twin Rocks Friends Camp at Rockaway Beach. It was the annual Newberg Friends all-church retreat, something I look forward to all year. I was too busy having fun to take lots of photos, but here are a couple:

Kiddo colored during the larger gatherings:
We had lots of fun hanging out with Sarah!
Decoupage:
Ping-pong tourney:
:)

Summit Trail, 11/28/09

We took our second ski trip of the season Saturday on Mount Hood. Christine, Lindsey and Jacob joined us for some cross-country fun on the Summit Trail on the south side of Government Camp.
We started at the ODOT maintenance area on the east end of town and skied to Ski Bowl East, where Brad, Jacob and I made a brief trip up the paddle lift and tried to ski down on our cross-country gear. I laughed a lot! Then it was on to Ski Bowl West, where we sat outside and ate our lunch at the bottom of the hill before turning around and heading back.

The weather was calm and warm, just about freezing, with some very light snow showers. It was our first time on the trail, which was fairly wide and flat. It's a mixed-use trail, and because of little recent snowfall, the snow was crusty and very beat up. I've been in much better snow conditions. But it was still a fun adventure!

:)

Time to shop!

Need an early morning wake-up call for Black Friday shopping? JC Penney will help! Click HERE to sign up :)

First snow!

I've never skied before Thanksgiving... until now!! Snow has been piling up on Mount Hood, and we made sure we could spend Saturday up there. We started cross-country skiing on the Skiway/Crosstown trails at Government Camp.
Brad found a small hill and had to play:
Deep powder is tricky on skinny XC skis:
It was easier after he made a track:
After lunch, we put away the XC gear and strapped on my new tele skis. We skinned up to the top of the Summit Ski Area. I tried my hand at telemarking... it's hard! But I didn't totally suck, so I'll give it another try sometime soon! Awkward :)
I caught my edge many times and spent a lot of time on the ground. Ouch! I felt like a beginning snowboarder ;)
It was a beautiful fall day in the snow :)

Barbie Girl with Maira and Victor

One of our CE2 students, Maira, was showing this off at lunch. Apparently they were stuck in traffic on the way home from the beach and decided to make a video. It's funny - I thought I'd share :)

Click HERE to watch it! (I can't get the embedding to work right...)

Mountain/snow info

I just added some mountain information to our sidebar ---->

So if you're heading up (or just daydreaming!), check out the Meadows Web cams, resort info and various weather links. :)

Cookie party

What to do with a day off? How about a cookie party with my best gal pals?

First, Lindsey, Kendra, Emma, Noah and I hunted for bargains at the Hillsboro Goodwill Outlet, then we rolled up our sleeves and made five different kinds of Christmas treats. We got in the mood with some Christmas tunes. I know it's against my personal rules, but I really can't control what other people do in their own homes ;)

Lindsey's lemon ricotta cookies: I had to take a break and try out Noah's new tractor. I was moving SO fast that Lindsey had a hard time snapping the pic fast enough! English toffee: Kendra's Russian tea cakes: My mint crinkles: The gingerbread was a group effort, kids included:

Everything was delicious! And I went home with tons of cookies for the freezer :)

We also took a lunch break and bought burritos from Maria's Best Mex taqueria across from Izzy's in Newberg. It was yummy and really cheap. I would definitely eat there again! :)

Is that Smith?

I chose "Management," a Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy set in Arizona and Baltimore, to stream on my computer while I was working out this evening. As the opening credits rolled, this image popped onto the screen.
Then came a couple other familiar sights. Being a big Oregon nerd, I jumped up, paused the flick and did a quick search. Sure enough, the Arizona scenes were shot in/near Madras and the Baltimore scenes are actually Portland. Cool! :)

Winter's here!

Weekend storms dumped 3 feet of snow at Mount Hood ski resorts! Timberline already opened a couple lifts and Meadows plans to begin operations Wednesday... WOOHOO!!

Planning ahead

It may seem like a long way off, but it will be here before we know it!

If you're looking for somewhere to be on Christmas Eve, please join us at Newberg Friends for a music-filled, candlelight service! My handbell choir (including me, my sister and my mother!) will be playing before, during and after each service.

And we have three services to fit your busy evening: 5, 6:30 and 8.

NFC is at 3rd and College in Newberg, just off Highway 99W. Click HERE for directions.

-Liz :)

Turkey Feast '09

Around our house, you can tell the changing seasons by Odie's wardrobe. Obviously, it's Turkey Feast time!

This year's event was a sit-down dinner for 30. We're ready!
Mashed potatoes are easiest prepared ahead and kept warm in the Crock Pot. (Thanks, America's Test Kitchen for that BRILLIANT idea!)
Eryn couldn't resist this impulse buy:
Fancy!!
Dueling rosters took care of our two birds.
Carving the bird:
Laura showed off her Eggplant Halloween costume:
Chow time!
Hope you left room for dessert:
SO MUCH FUN! Can't wait for TF10!
:)

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