Joy

I LOVE this picture.  I think it shows that immense joy we have all experienced in sharing Mari's pregnancy.  This first baby of TNDC will be so loved by all of TNDC.  It is one lucky baby.

Thru the Months

Here is Mari at the beginning of the pregnancy and on the Thursday before her due date!

Western Oregon University

Administration Building

Our main reason for going to Oregon was to visit Western Oregon University.  Drew has been accepted there and needed to check it out to see if it was a good fit.

We did an all day tour which included lunch and a basketball game.

It is really nice campus that reminds me of an east coast school.  There are a lot of really great things about it and I think it will be a great fit if he decides he wants to go there.

The school was established in 1856 by early Oregon pioneers and currently has about 6000 students.

The town around it is TINY!  But it had all the necessary stores - including a bagel shop, a pub and a local coffee shop.

Bike rack

Heritage Hall - the dorm Drew liked the best

IT Building - was an original building on campus

Library

This tree was planted by the first graduating class.

Werner Building which is the student union

Day 5 - Timberline

Drew

Day 5 was a day at Timberline Resort.  We got sun and were very excited.  It was so beautiful.  I snow shoed while they skied.

Timberline Lodge is the location where the movie, The Shining, was filmed and you totally got a creepy feeling being in there.  

After a full day of skiing, we headed to Monmouth - about a 2.3 hour drive.  The highlight of the drive was stopping at a truck stop to use the bathroom!

Driving up to Mt Hood

View from my snow shoe hike

Another view from my snow shoe hike

Snow against the window

Coming in for lunch

Mt Hood from the parking lot

Snow against the window

Timberline Lodge with Mt Hood in the background

Mt Hood in the background

Day 4 - Meadow followed by Ski Bowl

Ready to go in the morning

Day 4 was double the fun!  They skied Meadow the first half of the day, came home to rest and eat dinner and then went to Ski Bowl for nite skiing.

I stayed at the Lodge to watch the US vs Canada women's hockey game.  Bummer that they lost!

Dinner between the skiing was mac n cheese, shake and bake and broccoli.  They were still hungry enough after that to eat a giant plate of nachos at the bar at Ski Bowl!  They were burning a lot of calories!

Resting up between the ski sessions

Ski Bowl at nite

Grace and Drew at Ski Bowl

Wind was rough so they came in to play cards

And eat nachos

Day 3 - Meadow video

Here is a video of Drew skiing Mt Hood Meadow on Feb 19, 2014.

Day 3 - Meadow

The boys flew in from SJ at 9 am and were back to the Lodge by 10:30 - which meant we were up at Meadows at noon.  They skied from noon to 7:30 pm.  They all said it was the best snow they had ever skied.  It snowed all day from lite snow to really heavy snow and winds.

No one really cared about the weather.

I hung out and chatted with some local high school girls about the ski and snowboard scene.  They filled me in on the Ski Boarding School that G wants to attend.

We came home at 9 and had a big spaghetti dinner and watched the Olympics.

Drew

Kody

Snack time

Leaving the resort at about 8:30 pm

Day 2 - Afternoon Fun

Since the weather on the slopes was rough, we headed back to our Lodge and did some R and R!

Heading back to our Lodge

This is the walk back!

Day 2 - Mt Hood Meadow

Before first run

On day 2 we went to the Meadow Resort.  We went early because a big storm was expected mid day.  We got there at 9 and it was barely snowing but within an hour there were  huge flakes and swirling snow.  The conditions on the slopes got bad - windy and blowing snow.  Jim and Grace skied 14 runs between 9am and 1:30pm and decided to call it a day.

I was smart enough to go out early for my snow shoe hike.  I got covered with snow but it was not as bad as it could have been.  While hiking, I found the location where they keep the explosives for avalanche control.  In fact, I could hear some of the explosions while I was hiking!

Taking a break

About halfway thru the day

Explosive huts

Warning!

Hiking into the resort from my snowshoe hike

Day 2 - Before and After

Before

After

Day 2 was a day of all day snow.  This is the before and after while skiing at Mt Hood Meadow Resort.  This is about 4 and a half hours.

We left at about 1:30 because you couldn't even see on the slopes.