Seattle Marathon, 2007

I ran the Seattle Marathon over the Thanksgiving weekend. This was my second time doing this race- I beat my time last year by 23 minutes. With a time of 3:15:52, I ran an average pace of 7:29. I came in 1st in my age group (out of 169) and 7th overall (643 women). I beat my Portland time by 10 minutes, which is an flatter course. It was definitely fun to compete in this race, but now I have a much harder time to beat next race.

We went up the day before the race and walked around Downtown Seattle. We had lunch by the pier at Red Robin, and dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. We got to go to Pikes Place and look around--- lots of people were out shopping.

Thanksgiving at the Rethwill's!

My first Thanksgiving were I was the cook. Luckily my mom and dad are close by and could give me lots of help. If you have never brined a turkey-- you have to. It was so good. The meat is so tender and moist.
Oscar's Mom and two brothers came up from Sutherlin with their kids, Oscar's sister and husband came from Beaverton, my parents, and Oscar and I made 19. I have also never cooked for 19 people.
They all stayed the night and the girls went shopping the next morning. Not too early, but we were still able to get some good deals. This was my first Thanksgiving in Portland in 5 years and I was really looking forward to shopping in the big city, but end up pretty disapointed with the sales. Not much I couldn't live without.

Growth Group Retreat!

Our growth group spent the weekend in Lincoln City over Veteran's Day. We had beautiful weather! All but one couple from our group was able to join us, which is great considering the family growth situations most of them are in. The pictures are: first- the Rethwill's, second- Don and Sarah Jenkins, and third- Paul and Karyn Meier and Preston and Coby Knifong.

Halloween at the Farrell's

Oscar and I spent Halloween night at the Tauni and Jeremy's. Can you tell what our costume is? Tauni is such a good cook- she made us Taco Soup and Beef Stew, plus yummy pumpkin desserts and hot cider.
I was never really sure what Jeremy was- either a male nurse or a surgeon. I think male nurse :)

Young Life Pumpkin Carvin

You may not know this, but Oscar and I, along with two other gals from my school and thier husbands have started a Young Life Club at my school. We meet every monday night for Club- where we sing and play games, win cool prizes, and give a short talk about God and how He has been part of our lives. We have a great group of kids and have a pretty good turn out so far- for starting from scratch. This pumpkin carvin was one of the fun things we did before we officially started club. Don't they look good?

Football at Western & Irene's Birthday at Olive Garden

We started the day off with a trip to our Alma Mater, Western Oregon University, to watch our friend Sammy Cook slaughter SOU. The game ball was delivered in a helicopter. We enjoyed the company of the Cooks, the Vavreks, and the Dickey's.

After the game we went to Olive Garden in Eugene. We met up with most of Oscar's family for a great dinner celebration. Then, back up to Troutdale!