For a combined mutual activity, we went over to Cornell Estates to chill with the old folk.

I woke up one morning with the image of eating breakfast as a small child in my head. I'm not sure if I dremt about it that night or if the smell of my own breakfast being made downstairs simply awakened it. The image wasnt quite clear, but by the end of that day, I managed to pull my "Four Year Old Lizzy" files out from the deepest corner of my mind. I remembered eating oatmeal with mini eggs inside that turned into Dinasaurs.

Over the course of several months, I willingly offered to go with my mom to buy the groceries. I would search the store shelves, determined to find my dinasure oatmeal. (I went on many grocery trips this past year.)

Have you ever heard the saying "You find what you're looking for when you stop looking for it"? Well, that's exactly what happened to me. I was picking up some milk form Albertson's and right as I turned around my eye caught a long lost friend. My Dino Eggs Oatmeal!!!

I baught a box for myself. ;)

Dearest Friend,

You know what Oregon? I think we have a little love-hate-relationship thing goin' on here. We both know, I love walking out of PDX airport (coming home from smoggy Utah) and getting that first whiff of fresh-Oregon-air. I love your many hiking trails, always packed with pure nature. And of course, I love your extreme stereotypes; tree-huggers, dread-head lovers, Birkenstock-obsessors, etc... But you see, Oregon, there is one thing that causes me to glare at you in cold-bitterness. Year after year, do you provide me with snowy Christmases? I think not. I watch the weather channel and find myself wishing, for one moment, that I could live in Utah. The Christmas songs that sing of snowy nights and hotcoccoa, only mock me as I sit cocoa-less and snowman-less. I'm afraid to say this, but the truth is, your lack of snowfall on Christmas mornings is tearing us apart.

I do have to give you some props for your performance this November. Even if you dropped a lousy 1/16th of an inch, it was still fun to laugh at the many Oregonians who hunkered down, locked their doors, and planned for disaster. School was even cancelled!

Here's the thing, Oregon, my new Nephew is coming here for his first Christmas (from Utah), and I'd like him to see snow. You know I love taking out my camera out and snapping a few shots, so I'd also like it if I had a beautiful, white Christmas as a backdrop to some family photos. If you could manage to paint your landscape white this Christmas, I'd really appreciate it.

-Sincerely,

Most Legit Oregonian Ever to Live, Lizzy

Nevember's snow day:

We Love Our Missionaries!!!

My lil Coop

Okay I feel terrible for not posting about my new Nephew, Cooper. However, with school being so busy and stressful, sadly I have no time for writing a lot about him. Well, here he is...

He had a few problems, so he had to be behind a window the whole time I was with him.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him.

I'm pretty lucky to have such a cute nephew.

If you want to see good pictures go to Melissa and Brett's blog.

A little goes a long way...

Imagine this... you're sitting at home watching TV with your brothers and sisters, then your parents walk into the room and ask to have a family meeting. The summer is drawing to a close and school is almost here, so you fully expect your parents to be calling a meeting to talk about the new school year. So, you turn off the TV, get comfortable on the couch, maybe stick your toung out at one of your siblings, and the next thing you know your parents are telling you something that changes your life forever... "Mom has Breast Cancer."

Along with many other people, I dont need to imagine this, because it actually happend to me.

These words are said too often. The only way to put a stop to this scary disease is to find the cure.

I recently excepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Portland Race for the Cure on September 19th, 2010 in the fight to save lives and end Breast Cancer forever. Along with raiseing funds, I will be running in a 5k race.

I have made a goal to raise at least 100 dollars. With your help WE can accomplish my goal. Please donate anything from 5 dollars to 100 dollars.

Thank You!

http://race.komenoregon.org/site/TR/Race/PortlandRacefortheCure?px=2001657&pg=personal&fr_id=1130

Another Side of Heaven

Every summer my family leaves the green of Oregon to enjoy yet another side of heaven, Bear Lake, Utah. There are so many things to do, and see, at Bear Lake. We stay at my wonderful, aunt Laura's house. The house sits right on the lake; so close, you can fall asleep to the sound of the tide coming in and out.

We've been going to Bear Lake for only six years and the traditions that we enjoy year after year feel decades old. Shakes at La Beau's, famous Bear Lake Pizza, tee time (yes, golf), smores, Phase10, midnight star gazing, the grandma catcher, and Laura's cookies. These are only a few of the little things that have left a big impact on my childhood memory.

There are fish in lakes, right? Yes. I am scared to death of fish. My cousins just love to shout "fish!" as we swim out to the dock. I, on the other hand, jump in fear every time they do it.

There are tons, and I mean tons, of frogs by the lake. No matter how long or how hard I try to catch a pet froggy, I never seem to catch one.

Not one single Fotheringham leaves Bear Lake without pigging out at the famous Bear Lake Pizza place.

Every one in my family knows how much I love strawberries. They don't last very long when I get to them. Because of my mad affair with strawberries, my mom has to get the jumbo pack at Costco so that the rest of the family can have a few. Anyways, my grandma brought strawberries and chocolate to the house one night. Oh boy, did she win my heart that night.

Back home Sarah and I always jump in the car late at night, drive out to the country, and go on what we call "Scary Drives." We get a sick thrill out of it. Becca, Sarah, and I decided to go on a "Scary Swim." Yes, it was creepy.

Bear Lake is a beautiful place to be, especially when your family is with you. I cant wait to get back.

Girl's Camp 2010

It was ridiculously HOTT at camp this year. Me and my gals are cooling off in the stream.

On one of the days we learned how to do "food art".

I got pretty bored of making flowers out of carrots.... so I made a sculpture of ME in a canoe.

The youth leaders had a special night without our girls.

Tree Hugger.... gotta love nature!!!

Waiting for the bus.

Nerd, and proud of it!

I was standing on a bench behind the stage at camp. I got really excited to sing a song, so I ran and jumped off the bench. But was the landing pretty? I think not. I fell into a pile of logs. I began laughing and crying at the same time. I was behind a divider, so the crowd of campers couldn't see what was happening to me. As I lay dying on the ground, the camp nurses ran to my rescue.

All that's left now is a great big scar and a dramatic horror story. The pain was worth it.... good times.

Picnic at Hagg Lake

My family had a picnic at Hagg Lake with the wonderful Preece family today. The weather was so nice and the lake was gorgeous. I love how Oregon is infested with green trees.

After cooking hot dogs on the grill, Jen spotted four dear up in the field across the street. J* wanted to see if his Frisbee skills were good enough to hit a dear. I bet him the last cupcake if he could do it.

Throw #one...miss, but close. Throw #two...miss. After the second throw, the dear ran off....with the Frisbee. Looks like the Preece family is going to be buying a new Frisbee soon.

I had a great time at the lake with some of my best friends. I cant wait to do it again.

(Gotta get my Zen time in.)

The Nagging Can Stop

For two years my family and friends have been nagging me about getting my permit. One, I am a little scared of cops, two, I don't want to crash, and three, I don't want to fail the test. None of my brothers or sisters had to read the book before taking the permit test, but I just knew I would be the one who has to read it in order to pass. Sarah convinced me that all I had to do was lightly skim over the pages. And I believed her. I went in February to take the test and...failed. I failed the test by one question. Yeah, I was pretty disappointed. After that, I wasn't in any hurry to take it again.

My family began to pester me about driving again. So this time, I read the whole book...twice. I got to the DMV and passed with a 94%....drastically better than before.

I proudly stuck my temporary paper permit in my wallet.

Oh, and acording to my permit, my last name is Otheringham.

All I have to do now is muster up the guts to get behind the wheel and drive. The way I see it, I've been doing the community a great service by staying in the passenger seat. Well, don't blame me for the dents and scratches to come...you are the ones who nagged me to get behind the wheel.

Sarah's Missionary

According to Sarah, the mailman "did his job beautifully" today.

David Arringtton left for the MTC last week, and Sarah is already getting letters. For those of you who have seen the movie The Best Two Years, Sarah's excitement level was that of Elder Vampelt's when he received letters from home.

High Adventure 2010

Four hours after students screamed "summer" through the halls of every school in Hillsboro, I was on my way to a weekend of the great out doors.

High Adventure was held at the beautiful Oxbow Regional Park this year. The park is next to YMCA's Camp Collins, so we spent a day out on the ropes too.

Setting up a tent can quickly turn into a fishing trip when you're with my girlies.

We were camped right along side the Sandy River. There are not many things better than falling asleep to the tranquil sounds of a running river.I do believe I have rubbed off on my friends...their all turning into tree huggin' hippies. Next thing you know their all gunna want dreads too. Sarah made what she calls a "Hobo dinner" for our meal. It was quite tasty.Sarah and I had a great time at the ropes course.Sarah was itching for her turn at the "Leap of Faith". I got a video of her jumping 50ft off a platform hanging in a tree. I took my camera with me to the top for my jump.The next course we did would be perfect for the adrenaline-junky. I'll try to post the videos of this one too.It started raining our second night there. While every one was down in the dumps because on the rain, I put my shorts and poncho on, and took in the refreshing breath of nature. I spent my last morning of camp hiking through the jaw-dropping shades of green that paint this landscape of Oregon. Spending my first days of Summer out camping was a renewing and reviving way to release myself from the old stresses of school. I plan on spending plenty more summer days with my dear friend Nature.