Happy New Year! Well, we did end up with a white Christmas after all. We experienced the most snow the area had seen in 40 years. I was surprised that the children weren't out playing in it as much as I did when I was their age. I don't think we even had a snowman in our yard. We did lose Dapple's favorite toy in all that snow and had to wait for it to melt before we could find it again. Today the temp got as high as 47, but had dropped as low as 28 last night. Ed and Jennifer are out camping (or yurtzing) with the Laurel class tonight. Still a bit cold for me.

It's Freezing out there!!!!

We just might end up with a white Christmas after all. All last week the weather men had been predicting a huge snow storm to roll through. Last Monday, Edward's school districts both closed in anticipation. (Nothing ever came.) On Wednesday, church cancelled mutual for fear of the youth driving on ice (that never came). It did snow some on Thursday, but Jennifer, Andrew, and Aaron all had school (Edward still did not). Friday morning we woke up to about an inch of snow and all the schools closed. The temperatures had dropped last week causing the top of the pool to freeze. There was about an inch of ice on most of the pool. Edward took his life in his hands as he set up the camera to catch this shot of him "walking on water."

Yesterday the snow came down in earnest. We had about 5 inches which the kids enjoyed playing in. Dapple loves the snow as well. Last night the freezing rain rolled in and dropped about an inch on top of the snow, causing Bishop to call off church this morning. The snow is once again falling. I'm so glad that we have followed the counsel given to have food storage. We might need it.

Ed got home last night from his 9,000 miles of traveling this week in time to get us all to the mall to have our family photo taken. It had been a few years since we had done that (2004 I think). I hope everyone is doing well as we count down the days to 1) Aaron's 9th birthday, and 2) Christmas.

Time to Celebrate

Well, we finally got around to putting up the Christmas tree and for family home evening last night we decorated Gingerbread House Cookies. Ed has to be out of town again all this week, so we did our FHE as soon as he got home from all of his church meetings (around 7pm). He is heading off to warmer weather, as the temp here this morning was only 23 degrees. The high is supposed to reach a whopping 26. Edward just told me that with the wind-chill factor figured in, it feels like -4 out there. School is still on for the Evergreen School District, so all the kids are at school today with the exception of Edward. Since he is home schooled through the Battleground School District and housed out in Camas he gets to do whatever either one of those districts are doing. Much to his delight, Camas closed school today.

I never got back on to let you know how the Union Titans did in the playoffs. Well, we drove up to the Tacoma Dome on the Friday following Thanksgiving to play the Lakes which was the #2 team in the state. Jennifer decorated up the car and helped drive us north. The Lakes scored first and Jennifer was worried, but no fear the Titans came back to shut them down, and won the game 28 to 7. The #1 Bellevue Wolverines had had a bus accident on the way to their game on Friday, and thus it was postponed until the following Monday. This pushed the championship game to Saturday, December 6th. Once again we drove up to Tacoma, but this time we were not as happy as we drove home. Bellevue proved why they were rated #1. They had mastered the art of deception. I was having a hard time following which player had the football. We are still very proud of the Titan football players. They did well to make it to state. There's always next year.

U-N-I-O-N...On To Victory!

Titans are in the State Semi-finals!!!! If you weren't at the Saturday night game, you missed a great game. Jennifer was a bit worried (as we all were) after the first half, but the Union Titans showed they knew how to play and came back from the half time with a vengeance. With only a minute left to go in the game the score was tied 14-14. The Ferndale Golden Eagles had the ball on the 35 yard line going in. It was 4th down with a yard to go. The Eagles' coach decided to let the time run down to 14 seconds. He called a time out and put in the field goal team. Union then called a time out to ice the kicker. The tension was so high it was incredible. As soon as the ball was hiked, #2 Dex Homer from Union crossed the line and blocked the kick. The ball bounced up into #18 Mitch Saylor's arms, who ran the 65 yards for the winning touch down with 3.3 seconds to go!!! The crowd went wild!!! Jennifer, the ultimate cheerleader, lead the crowd down onto the track so they could swarm the field once the game was officially over. Our boys, who were at home 2 miles away, could hear the roar of the crowd and the jubilation of our band. Friday we'll be up in Tacoma for the Semi-final game against the #3 team from Lakeview. Wish us luck.

Fall in the Great Northwest

Today Aaron had his final football game. The weather cooperated for the first part of the game, but in the end the rain started coming down fast and furious. (I think the boys loved playing in the rain, mud, and cold.) By the time the game was over they were drenched. From there Andrew and Edward joined Aaron, me, and some of the other Cub Scouts in our pack to march in the Veterans Day Parade. Not many of them could make it, so we needed our Den Chiefs to help out.

We carried a flag that measures about 8' x 12'. By the time we got to the end of the parade route I think it weighed at least 10 pounds more with all the water. The rain actually held off until we had passed the final review stand, then the sky opened up and it came down hard. At one point one of the other leaders said, "Slow down boys, the Bishop wants to get a picture." My glasses were so wet and steamy that I couldn't see him at all. I always cry at a parade, but this year was even more moving. As the boys passed the review stands, not only did they salute the Veterans in the grandstands, but they also sang "Its a Grand Ole' Flag." We heard a lot of nice comments from the crowd. I'm so proud of my boys.

I'm So Depressed

I can't believe that so many people fell for the Democrate line this year of vote for us and we will take care of you from craddle to the grave. I can see why the prophets have been warning us to be prepared for tough times ahead. Tuesday, when Aaron got home from school he wanted to make a poster that read, "Vote for John McCain" and go stand out on the corner down by Safeway. This morning he told me that he didn't think he should go to school, as everyone else in his class was "voting" for Obama. I told him that as conservative Republicans, we just had to suck it up and stand firm in our convictions.