Happy New Year

Wow, here it is 2011. New Years has come and gone, and with it goes the holiday break which further means back to the grind of school and college. But this break has been great. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here with family and friends. I have had a ton of fun.

Thursday night I went over to Dallin Shirley's house which is 22 minutes from mine with Brenton to hang out for one last time. This kid is going on his mission to Brazil pretty soon, so while most of us are heading back to school he is heading into the field. I know he will be an awesome missionary, and we had a lot of fun hanging out and getting to know his family.

This is Dallin ready to conquer Mt. Timp for a second time.

He was all smiles as he greeted us at the door and let us in from the cold. His house wasn't the easiest thing to find in the world, that much is certain!

Matzen and his sister pose for a shot

The Shirleys have an incredible love seat thingy that could fit all three of us so we jumped on the chance to sit in it. 

We played this train game that was actually a lot of fun. Dallin dominated, but now that I know the tricks of the trade I think I would do better a second time!

Hahaaa awww...

Last time seeing this kid for 2 and 1/2 years. Its sad since we have become such great friends in such a short amount of time, and we have done so much together. Not having him at college this semester will definitely be hard. But we had a great end of 2010, 2011 will be awesome for all of us as we enter the mission field. 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort with my family to enjoy skiing, one of my all time favorite hobbies. I honestly love skiing so much. You feel so free and alive up there on the slopes, and you feel so accomplished when your thighs burn after a black diamond run or after bombing down the hill going 60 or 70 miles an hour. We had a great time, and we all realized that this would probably be my last time skiing with my family for 2 and 1/2 years also. Sad! Who knows when the next time will be! But here are some great pictures highlighting our trip.

This was driving at 7 in the morning. You could just tell it was going to be an awesome day. So perfect outside, hardly a cloud in the sky. And there is Mt. Hood looming in the background.

I love driving up Mt. Hood because the scenery is amazing! The trees looked great with snowy caps on them.

Mt. Hood gets closer and closer.

Messing around in the car. 

This is the view from the lowest run, buttercup - the beginners hill. I was itching to get up to the top!

We finally made it up Vista, one of the prettiest runs because you can see everything!

There is one higher run, Cascade Express that goes to 5900 feet. I love this run because it feels like you are skiing forever until you get back to the lift. And the views here are absolutely exquisite.

Haha.

This picture is awesome because it captures the rustic feel of the Pacific Northwest. I love the trees on the left.

My Dad and sister posing for the camera on a side run.

I didn't have any lower face protection, so afterwards my face was so frozen I could only smile like this haha. I couldn't feel anything!

Luckily when I got back to the car I got to bundle up in this coat of sheer joy. I look like an elf or a jack in the box huh?

Here is a video of me snowplowing Brigitta. I did this a lot throughout the day, I probably got my dad the best in the face when he least expected it :)