Merry Christmas

This Christmas has come and gone so quickly. I don't know if I was truely prepared as I would have liked to have been. We spent Christmas Eve over at Ed's father's house visiting with his dad, his younger sister and brother and their respective families, and with his mother. It was a very relaxing afternoon. Afterwards, we took our kids to see the newest Narnia movie. That was very enjoyable. Yesterday for Christmas we spent the whole day at home devoted to time together watching a lot of our new DVD's. The Christmas tree is dried and ready to come down, but it seems like we just put the decorations up and I don't want to take them down just yet. We never did get around to making Christmas cookies or carmel corn, for we were flooded with goodies from our friends. (I will really have to get back on my diet this week!)

Jennifer has been home for a week now, and already is preparing to return "home" to BYU-Idaho. She also comes and goes so quickly. She is a burst of energy when she is here. As always, I will miss her when she is gone. I got to laugh at her today as two of the male figures in her life decided to join her at church today and she had to balance her time between both of them. We like both of them, but felt bad for one as he doesn't really stand much of a chance against the returned missionary. Both are sweet though and welcome at our home any time.

This time of year also brings with it Aaron's birthday. We celebrated it with him on Wednesday. Dad took him up to Cabella's near Olympia to go shopping for his Scouting supplies. Now that he is 11 he is an official Boy Scout and needs all the camping/hiking gear. Later that evening we met Grandpa Mueller and Grandma/Grandpa Greenfield up at Chuck-E-Cheese for his birthday dinner. Since we figure that this will actually be the last time we go there for anyone's birthday, the kids all pooled their token tickets (all 3342+) to win a remote control vehicle.

2010 has been a year full of anticipation. We have waited all year for Ed to get a job, with no luck so far. We go into the New Year with high hopes that our unemployment status will change soon. We continue to see the Lord's hand in all that we have. He continues to bless our lives everyday. Thank you all for your continued prayers on our behalf. Please know that we are praying for you and our country as well.

Love you!

Only 3 more DAYS!!!

My little girl comes home in just 3 days, 16 hours, and 41 minutes...but who's counting? We did find out some good news this last week. We appealed to the financial aid office for special circumstances (due to Ed's job loss) and they granted our petition by awarding Jennifer PELL Grants for each semester she's in college taking at least 12 credit hours. Yeah! I was worried that she wouldn't be able to afford winter term, but the Lord does bless us when we do all that we can do and leave the rest to Him. I'll get to have her home for a total of 10 days. Granted, not much of that time will she actually be here at the house, she has way too many people to go visit. But, I'll get to "tuck her in" each night. I love my baby girl!

Veterans Parade

This year's parade was different than any of the other ones we have participated in in the past. What made it different? It didn't rain!!! Usually we are soaked by the time we are finished and look like drowned rats. The big flag that we carry gets really heavy and the boys get tired real quick. This year the rain held off until later in the day and we finished by noon with lots of energy to spare. The last picture was one that the Columbian newspaper posted on their website of our pack. Aaron got cut out of the picture, as he was just on Kevin's right. Another Mike Wokaski moment.

Halloween

It was an eventful day, since we celebrated on Saturday, October 30th with Trunk-or-Treat at the church in the evening. In the morning we got up early to help make breakfast for the Aaronic Priesthood planning meeting. Then it was off to the county carrot patch to help dig up carrots for the local food bank. By the time we got home we were cold and very muddy. Showers were taken and then we headed down to the church for the fun and games.

On Sunday, when the rest of the world celebrated Halloween we left the house and headed over to the grandparents to visit with them.

Apple Picking

I love this time of year. When we set out for Echo and the apple orchard, it was raining, but by the time we arrived, the rain had stopped. The apples were wet and made my fingers freezing, but Sister Sears lent me a pair of gloves and I was able to harvest lots of apples. Over all I think the group did over 750 gallons of juice! It was so good to see Jacob, who made the trip over from BYU-I. It made me miss my Jennifer even more so. I can't wait to be able to give her a hug myself. Only 24 more days until she is home for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

One of my favorite things

I think I renewed my love of football from attending the games my daughter cheered. It brought back memories of watching football on television with my dad. While I do enjoy attending a baseball game or two, there is something about watching those boys tackle each other, or make a great catch, followed by a frenzied run into the end zone. Maybe it also has to do with the chill in the air. I don't know, but football is definitely my favorite sport. I wish I could be in Idaho to actually watch Jennifer cheer the football teams in Rexburg. She has promised to send me video of their routines. Check out her blog to see more pictures.

Live and Learn

I didn't know that if I posted a picture on my blog site that it automatically became part of the world-wide-web for time and all eternity. Edward came home today and asked that I remove the pictures of him in his football uniform that we took when he first got his uniform. Evidentally the pictures come up whenever anyone googles Union Titans. How was I to know? I thought the things that I posted here were private. Even though I took the pictures off my blog, they remain out in the internet search engines for all to see. I guess I know now. Sorry Edward.

Union Beats Enumclaw and I lose out

Yesterday the Union Titans beat the football team from Enumclaw Washington 38 to 7. It was a perfect day for football, the sun was shining, but there was a crispness to the air. It would have been a perfect day, but we were missing our Jennifer. Watching a game without her cheering, or in the stands with us, or on the field with the boys just isn't the same. We tried texting her and getting her involved that way, but she is mad at Edward and me and is thus 'giving us the silent treatment.'

I did something really stupid Friday night. I told her that I had to paint her bedroom alone. Friday night was our stake's Father/Son camp out. For the first time I was alone on this occassion. Normally Jennifer and I spend the night redecorating her bedroom which usually involves painting it somehow. Well, Edward is moving into the room and wants to make it his own. Jennifer had painted it Union colors, which Edward wants to keep. She had also painted a Union 'U' on one of the walls. He wanted that also, but when she painted it it was slightly crooked. The lines were all perfectly straight, but not perpendicular to the floor. This bothered Edward so he wanted to repaint it. This simple act sent my daughter into a tail spin to which I apologize. I do hope that she will forgive me and stop giving the entire family the silent treatment. It was not our intention to "wipe away all traces of her" in our house, but to let other people do to their rooms as we have let her do to her's. I guess it is all a part of growing up, when we discover that we no longer have our childhood bedroom to return home to. Growing pains are just that, a pain and they hurt. I am sorry.

Jennifer's At BYU-Idaho

Ed and I dropped Jennifer off at BYU-Idaho yesterday. We had teased her that we were just going to slow the truck down slow enough for her to jump out, but we did end up parking and spending several hours helping her unpack and set up her dorm room.

She shares the room with a girl named Cassie from Florida. She is extremely nice and I think will be a good fit for Jennifer.

Everyone warned me how much they cried when they left their daughters at BYU-I, but I think I was as excited as Jennifer for her to start this new chapter in her life. Yes, I miss her already, but I love the fact that she can text me or call me any time. Back when I was in college, we had to call long distance collect - very expensive - so I wasn't able to do it much. This way it doesn't seem as hard to let her go.

Not only has Aaron blown through the Webelos program by earning all 20 Activity pins in 5 months, but now he has earned his Arrow of Light too! To those of you who are not familiar with the Cub Scouting program, it normally takes two years to do this for non-LDS dens (a year for LDS dens). Using the Cub Scouting program for part of his home-schooling helped. At August's Pack Meeting 3 other boys also earned their Arrow of Light (the other boy will get his next month). I am so proud of these boys. They will start graduating out of Cub Scouts now into Boy Scouts as they turn 11. I'll miss the monthly interaction with them.

Triumph!

I just have to go back and brag on the wonderful accomplishment of my oldest son. For the Teacher's Super Activity this summer they went up to the San Juan Islands and biked all over. One of their final days was dedicated to cycling up Mt. Constitution which has a very steep elevation change. Out of the 14 or so boys who tried, only 3 people (2 boys) actually biked all the way to the top. The first one to reach the summit was Jacob Dayley who bicycles in competitions all the time, at 40 minutes. Edward was second with a time of 50 minutes! And Brother Lillie came in third with 55 minutes. The rest of the boys either walked their bikes to the top or hitched a ride in the van.

Jennifer said that the reason Edward made it was because I kept nagging him to practice and he instead told me that he didn't need to. He had to prove me wrong. She said he must have been like the little train that could, chanting "I told you I could do it Mom, I told you I could do it Mom." Whatever it took, I'm glad that he made it. Way to go Edward!!!

Cub Camp - Aaron's last one

This year the Cub Scouts went back up to Scouter's Mountain to Camp Discovery. The boys all loved camp. The weather cooperated too, as it wasn't as hot as it was the week before us or as wet as the week that followed. This isn't to say that we didn't roast up at the stage area at the end of the day. We had 16 boys attend camp this year! As a Webelos at Camp, Aaron got the chance to earn the Sports Pin for BB Guns. He did really well and shot up the bull's eye area until it wasn't there anymore. He also managed to get a few bull's eyes on the Archery range as well. As a leader, I was scheduled to go up only 2 days, but - as a leader - I ended up going 4 of the 5 days. (Some people don't realize that when you sign up to help for the day, it means the WHOLE day.) I wouldn't have minded as much if I could have been with Aaron's group, but I ended up being with the Wolf group. Oh well.

WOW! Dance Festival was amazing!

The three older kids and a few of their dearest and closest 2000 friends from around the surrounding area have been working since January on learning their dance moves. Friday night and Saturday all those hours of hard work paid off. I wish you all could have been there to see the event.

Photo updates

I recently took the boys into have their pictures updated on the family room wall. If I don't label and date them, I am going to be in BIG trouble. I always said that I have "cookie cutter" kids. They continue to look like each other. I think the photographer captured their character though.

Time keeps rolling on...

Well, we are still unemployed at the moment, so no new news on that front. With Conference Weekend coming up Ed, as Bishop, is taking the priests and laurels down to Salt Lake City. I am supposed to go along, but since Grandma and Grandpa Greenfield are in Hawaii there is no one to be with the boys, thus I may stay home. Ed challenged all of us to read the Book of Mormon prior to conference, and I am happy to report that Jennifer and I just finished, while Ed has also finished it and the Doctrine and Convenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and everything else in the Pearl of Great Price. I guess it was a blessing to not have to have work get in his way.

The Union Titans basketball team won the State Championship this season. Jennifer got to cheer at several of the final games in the Tacoma Dome. We made the trip up there every day for about a week so the kids could cheer them on.

Still no news

Actually we do have news...Jennifer was accepted into BYU-Idaho!!!! Yeah!!! We are so proud of her. Now we just have to figure out financing.

Well, Ed has been off work for over a month now. We are still waiting to hear about a job offer. In the meantime, I have been busy working on getting rid of a lot of the fabric I have in my craft room. The kids and I made 12 baby quilts and 4 bigger quilts to donate to Project Linus. In return we will receive a voucher from Disney for 6 one-day passes to a Disney resort. (The kids all want to go to Disney World.) We need to use them by December 15th, so we have some time for Ed to get a job so we can afford to go. It was a fun way for them to see that it takes effort to get to go do something fun. Right now I am in the process of making a new flannel quilt for Ed. I made him one for Christmas, but he decided it was too small (it was a lap quilt) and so now we will have one for our bed. It will keep us really cozy and warm.