Halloween

Ed and Edward were out of town all week (Ed in Denver on business and Edward in San Diego with Grandma & Grandpa Greenfield) so Jennifer, Andrew, Aaron and I all decided to have a Halloween party for family home evening. We ate "monster toes", "ghostly ghoul", carmel apples, and drank various concoctions (ie grave yards). We also played a few games, such as who could eat the donut off the string the fastest (Jennifer won), and bobbing for apples. The kids love bobbing for apples and each did it several times as they dunked their whole head in. Later, the two boys carved their pumpkins. Andrew's was a face, and Aaron's was the profile of a beagle - Dapple I believe - either that or Snoopy.

On Halloween night Ed got home from Denver just in time to take Jennifer to the Evergreen football game so they could watch a few of the young men from our ward play. They then stayed at McKenzie stadium to watch the Union Titans football game (the varsity team was playing the Camas Papermakers) since Union was undefeated. I am happy to report they remained so. Jennifer's friend John stayed after his Evergreen game to hang out with Jennifer during her game. (She didn't have to cheer for this game, so she wasn't busy.) I took Andrew and Aaron to the church building for "Trunk or Treat". This is were everyone goes from car to car (or trunk to trunk) to beg for candy. The boys made a huge haul. Andrew went as Wolfman, and Aaron went as the ultimate Huskie Fan. From there we went to visit with Grandpa Mueller and then over to join Jennifer and Dad at the football game.

Apples, Apples, and more Apples

We were invited to go to Echo, Oregon to the orchard of our friends and pick apples and make fresh apple juice. Several members of our ward went down and we brought back over 500 gallons of freshly squeezed apple juice and at least a ton of golden delicious apples. I have spent the last week trying to find time to can. I have done up at least 21 quarts of apple sauce so far, and I haven't made a dent in the amount of apples our family brought home. Somehow I managed not to get any pictures of the kids actually picking the apples, but here Jennifer, Edward, and some of the other youth that came along are washing the apples in preparation for them being ground to mash. From there the apple mash was loaded into the press, where the juice was literally squished out. It is the best tasting juice around. (Too bad Ed can't enjoy, as he is allergic to uncooked apples.)

Edward and Jennifer also helped bring up boxes of fresh apples from the orchard with the help of Donna and her trusty tractor. I don't think there was a job there that they didn't do. We were all tired and a bit sticky when we were finished.

If you happen to want to come over and help me can, I would love to give you apples to can for yourself. Bring along your own jars and we'll can yours on the spot as well.

We Love Our Scouts!

Last night was Pack Meeting and the night before that was a Court of Honor. At the Pack Meeting Aaron earned 4 more segments and showed us all how smart he is on Scout Trivia while we played "Are You Smarter Than Your Cub Scout?"

At the Court of Honor Andrew was awarded his Tenderfoot and 2nd Class Scout ranks along with the 4 merit badges he earned this summer. Edward was awarded the rank of Life, his World Conservation, and the 8 merit badges he had been working on this last 6 months. Ed as the bishop was dressed in his Scout shirt as well as he awarded some of the Young Mens leaders their Duty to God awards.

Jennifer's Homecoming

We had originally told Jennifer "no school dances," but she talked her father into letting her go to this year's homecoming dance if she went with a "nice mormon boy." She went with her good friend Bret. Dad took her out dress shopping and found this one. All I had to do was to sew sleaves on using the wrap that come with the dress. Her best girl friends came over and helped her get ready with hair and make up. She looked beautiful - as always. Bret made her corsage himself. He is truely a resourceful man.

What is this world coming to?

I must have lost my mind! After 15 years I finally gave in and let the family (Aaron) get a dog! I was setting myself up for it when I decided to take the Cub Scouts to the Humane Society for a tour and to deliver the service projects we made. I told Aaron not to ask for a puppy, but he found one that he just loved. Bayou was a 2 yr old male beagle. He was very cute. After 4 days, Aaron couldn't get Bayou off his mind. He literally sobbed himself to sleep Wednesday night over Bayou. Thursday morning we checked the website to see if Bayou was still at the Humane Society. He was. This is when my resistance started to give. I called to find out just how much Bayou was going for and was told he had been placed in Foster Care due to the fact he had contracted "Kennel Cough."





Saturday, after Aaron's football game Ed drove us to the Oregon Humane Society to have a look around. None of the dogs there struck Aaron's fancy as much as Bayou had. He asked if we could go back over to the Washington Humane Society. When we arrived Bayou was still gone, but they did have a female beagle who is only 18 months old. She has a very sweet temperment. She didn't bark the whole time we were with her, even though the other dogs were going crazy. (She did bay twice, but that was it.) There were 2 other families wanting to look at "Dapple", so Ed said if we were going to do this we had better do it now. (I hate high pressure salesmen.) We signed the papers and then had to wait until Monday to pick her up, as they needed to spay her.

We haven't totally decided if we are keeping the name the Humane Society gave her when she was brought to them as a stray. Other suggestions were: Sophie, Maddie, and Tessie. She needs to be fattened up, as she is a little on the skinny side right now. I'm sure that in a few months we'll probably have to put her on a diet like the rest of the family.

Well, I took Edward to the doctor's office for the final time regarding his leg he broke over a year ago. The doctor x-rayed it and the other leg to compare the growth in both and determined that each leg looked just like the other. The bone graph has filled in nicely and we shouldn't have to worry about that leg again. YEAH!

Last night was a full moon, and it was so bright and beautiful I couldn't help but be impressed. I had to make a quick run to the store last night to get milk and when I went outside it seemed almost like there was a spot light shining down on our house. I love fall weather - the crisp cool air. (I don't really like the wet days, but the clear ones like yesterday day and night are just great.) I would love to see 3 foot snow banks this winter, but I doubt we'll even see 3 inches. We'll be ready to crank up the pellet stove just in case.

I am really new to this and so I hope you will bear with me as I learn to use this site. We have been busy as usual. Aaron has started flag football and luckily only has one practice a week (right after Cub Scouts) and one game each Saturday morning until November 8th. Andrew has quit taekwondo after becoming a brown belt, so my life has become a bit easier. Jennifer keeps us running. She is still doing cheer for Union High School and has either practice, a volleyball game to cheer at, or a football game to cheer at. She has decided to attend the Union Homecoming Dance this Friday so she drug her father to the mall to buy a dress. After several hours she was able to find a dress that with only one or two modifications will be modest enough for her and her dad. (Wish me luck!) Edward is the only one I am homeschooling this year, but the other two boys have informed me that next year they want to come back home. (I'm not sure I'm going to let that happen - I'm sort of looking forward to having everyone back in public totally.)