HUGE Update!!

My goodness...time really flies by! Okay David....here is the big update! Hope this makes you happy!!

The week before Thanksgiving, I took the train down to Oregon to spend a week with my grandparents helping them clean out my great-grandmother's condo. She is 94 and was recently moved to group home with 24 hour care. It was a huge project since grandma saved many things over the 94 years of her life! Part of it was like a treasure hunt--opening a box and not exactly knowing what you might find! :) We found quite a few family items such as pictures, quilts, journals, birth and death certificates, bibles etc. which are really special to have and which have helped us in our genealogy. The family drove down on Friday and my mom helped us clean out the condo and pick out the things she wanted to keep. We went back home on Saturday and left the following Tuesday to spend a few extra days with my grandparents before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

During our trips to Oregon, we were introduced to our grandpa's furry friend. This friendly squirrel sits on his back step right outside his back door begging for peanuts. You have to be very careful that it doesn't run inside. Here are some pictures I took on Thanksgiving.

This pic was taken through the window on the back door

Gracie watching the squirrel--notice the peanut on the door!Isn't it cute??

We had a nice Thanksgiving--we made the whole meal including Jacqueline's sweet potato recipe which was a hit! All the kids took a walk with grandma right before dinner and then we came back and sat down to a lovely feast. After dinner, clean up and dessert, we played games and talked. Here are some pictures from our before dinner walk and Thanksgiving meal.

Here are some dinner pictures..... I didn't take very many....

Jonathan thinks his hair looks really good in the following picture
The next morning three kids and my grandma woke up sick. We all thought it must be some kind of food poisoning and we tried to figure out what made everyone sick. Grandpa was convinced it was the sweet potatoes since the Bittner's sent them to us--the mailman must have spit on them! :) Thankfully it was a short illness and everyone was feeling better the next morning. Saturday night as we were packing the van to leave....Gracie fell ill. After much discussion we decided to drive home even though she was sick. She wanted me to sit next to her so I helped her as she threw up about every 10 min. the whole two hour trip home!! We made it home safely and were all thankful to be home! The next morning I fell ill proving it could not have been something we ate! For the next week everyone had their turn--leaving only my mom and grandpa still standing!!

Christmas Decorating

It took a long time to convince the boys to put up our outside Christmas decorations. Once they started--it was completely comical. James loved to help--he loves cords and thought having so many was wonderful! : ) Here is a slide show which tells the story...



19th Century Christmas at the Fort


The following Saturday, Jonathan, Josiah, Daniel and I re-enacted at a Christmas event out at the Fort. We participated in many activities including 19th century dancing and much music! The rest of the family attended a Celtic event in Gig Harbor where David was piping and Esther danced. We all really enjoyed our respective activities. Unfortunately, I don't have many pics from this weekend. :(

Homeless Care Packages

The next Thursday we went to a friends house to help them pack care packages for the homeless. The dad is a police officer and knows many homeless people in his area. He decided to put these together to give him witnessing opportunities. We were very excited to be part of this project. Having many helping hands made the project go by quickly! We also enjoyed fellowship over pizza! : )

Dialtone Movie Premier

After about a year in production Dialtone is finally finished and we attended the premier last Saturday. It was well attended and it was great to see it on the big screen especially since there are many people in it that we personally know! My dad is an extra and so are quiet a few people from our church. Dialtone has also been accepted in the San Antonio Christian Film Festival and we are hoping it places well. If you would like to buy a copy of Dialtone or would like to find out more about it you can check out the website at http://www.dialtonemovie.com/. It makes a wonderful Christmas gift!

Christmas at Fort Steilacoom

After the premiere we headed to Ft. Nisqually to make a short appearance at a Christmas party and then headed over to Ft. Steilacoom for a Civil Era Christmas re-enactment. Jonathan fiddled all evening and David and I participated in the dancing. We had a good number of re-enactors this year and enjoyed our time. Most of the girls wore silk ballgowns and the guys were dressed as soldiers. The room was lit by candlelight and we stayed (for the most part) in first person. Toward the end of the event it started to snow, so we all went outside and took pictures. I didn't have my camera with me but Nona has a few pics on her blog http://missnonaeleanor.wordpress.com/

Church Christmas Party

The next morning was our church Christmas party. Due to snow and ice, some families were not able to attend and a few came late after it had warmed up some. We had a normal church service and after church each family decorated and set their table. The menu was prime rib and turkey, green beans, roasted poatoes, salad, bread and all kinds of desserts. After people were finished eating, we had a time of family sharing. We shared our music--Jonathan on the violin, David on the pipes, Josiah and I played a duet and the little ones sang a carol. It was really great to see everyone sharing together. After clean up, we did English Country Dancing for a couple hours. By then the snow was coming down again and we left before it was too slick. Even though we left early, we still drove 15mph on the freeway and some people were still sliding on the ice! Thankfully, everyone arrived home safely!

Daniel's Birthday

Daniel turned 9 on Tuesday. He went out to lunch with Mom and Dad and ordered a special dinner of Teriyaki chicken with vegtables and rice and he chose Boiled Cake for dessert. After dinner he decorated a gingerbread train, which I think is all eaten by now!

Notice the beautiful wrapping job? David was proud of his work!

The coat was way too big!!

SNOW!!

It is still snowing as I write this. It snowed all day yesterday and we were supposed to have a couple days break, but....it is back! I think we received about 5 inches of snow--most all came yesterday! The roads are very slick and we are really enjoying being at home, playing games, watching movies etc. We are supposed to have another large storm starting tomorrow night and snow is in the forecast all next week except Christmas. Hopefully, we will still have some on the ground so we can call it a white christmas!

Church Camp 2008

Labor Day weekend we enjoyed another annual church family camp! Everyone had much fun and it passed with few injuries. Each morning started with an early prayer time and then gathering time around the campfire to sing hymns, pray and listen to teaching on the family. The afternoons were filled with many activities: volleyball, kick ball, football, baseball, bike riding, scooter riding, boffing, frisbee, kyaking, beach walking etc! Our dinners were shared--the church supplied the main meal and each family contributed the sides and desserts. After dinner, we all gathered around the campfire for more singing and teaching. When it was dark, we would gather and play 4 on a couch, one up one down and other group games.


On Saturday night, we had a talent show where each family or individual is encouraged to share with everyone their talent. From our family, the kids sang John Cherokee which is a sea shanite we sang a few years ago and brought back because of high demand! Hannah and Grace sang the "Itsy, Bitsy, Spider" which was adorable! The show ended with a short skit led by Sam Young. It was a story about a man who is tempted into a box by a Mr. Hunter (the devil). Many people come to help him out of the box such as a hippie, goth, cult leader, "Jesus has a wonderful plan for your life" minister (me!!!) and another person in a box, but nothing works. A christian man comes (Jonathan) and shares the gospel with Jerry (the man in the box). Jerry realizes his sin and accepts Christ as his Saviour which releases him from the box. It took us much practicing all weekend to put it together....but it was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed it.


Sunday morning we had a semi-normal church service and a few other not camping families, joined us for the day. That evening, we had a cook-off--Esther entered carmel apples and Daniel entered skillet cookies and they both won! I decided to enter at the last minute and made a new recipe. It didn't turn out as it was supposed to but still tasted okay, so I still entered it. I received a few votes, but knew it wasn't a winner! : )


We packed up Monday morning and headed home, tired, happy and full of fun memories!

Busy July

The month of July has come and gone! Here are some highlights:

Saturday, July 12 ~ Mom, Jonathan, David, Esther and James attended the Skagit Highland Games in Mount Vernon. David competed in piping and placed 5th, Esther competed in dancing and placed 1st, 2nd and 4th and was the best dancer overall in her category and won the aggregate trophy!

Monday, July 14 ~ Beginning of Fort Nisqually history camp. Josiah attended I helped. Jonathan and Graydon were also helping with camp and stayed with us for the week which was enjoyed by all!

While at camp, the rest of the Pollock boys went shooting with some friends in the afternoon and we all attended a surprise birthday party for Mr. Allen that evening.

Tuesday, July 15 ~ More camp--we had a really interesting group of kids this year. One of which was a wannabe gang member. During the calligraphy class--writing with feather and ink, this kid was making graffiti! Very strange for a history camp!

Wednesday, July 16 ~ I stayed home and Jonathan went in my place. Jonathan was responsible for one of the troublemakers. He had to follow him around and keep him in line. This camp usually isn't that difficult. I felt sorry for the kids who were there to learn and are not used to a "school" environment!

Thursday, July 17 ~ Last day we helped with camp and everything seemed to go better. The "gangster" child did not show up--I guess he didn't like people telling him what to do--pretty sad.

After camp we packed the van and headed to Portland, arriving at our destination around 10:30pm.

Friday, July 18 ~ The boys went berry picking with our grandparents. Mom and Dad had meetings with important people about my grandparents estate so I stayed at my grandparents house with the rest of the girls.

Later, the most of the family headed to the community college(venue for the Portland Highland Games) to set up our booth. When they arrived back home, dinner was ready including a fresh marionberry cobbler!

Saturday, July 19 ~ Portland Highland Games

Morning was very cool, but the afternoon warmed up nicely--enough to make some of us crispy!! The protocol is pretty much the same as the Tacoma games. The difference being the size and distance between the main field and the clan tents and athletics. Here are some pics from the games. (Photos taken by various Pollock children)

Sunday, July 20 ~ We went to church as usual. David and Josiah went to the air show with the Langfords after church.

Hannah lost her second tooth--she lost the first on Tuesday! At this rate she should be toothless by the end of August!

Our computer died--thankfully, we were able to save all our info off the hard drive. So, for most of the week we were without a computer! Thankfully, Mom recently purchased a laptop for her personal use, but now shares it with all of us!

Saturday and Sunday, July 27 & 28 ~ Seattle Highland Games in Enumclaw

Special post about these games coming soon!

July 28 - Aug 1 ~ I worked at Fort Nisqually where I am emplyed during the summer. I had never worked a whole week before which was a new experience! I enjoy interpreting and love to meet tourists from all over, but was thankful for Saturday when I could spend family time again!

Four of these days, Esther attended a history themed day camp there and Jonathan and David came to assist. Everyone had a great week!

Hopefully, our summer will slow down just a bit. What has happened to the "lazy days of summer?"

Tacoma Highland Games

We arrived at Frontier Park around 7:30 and unloaded all of our stuff. Everyone helped set up our clan tent and put everything in order.

The piping and dancing events started around 8:30. David played around 9:05 and Esther was supposed to dance somewhere between 9-9:15. Of course, both events were in different areas--completely on the opposite sides of the park!

David went over a bit early to tune his pipes and start warming up. In the "piping" area you have about 20 or so other pipers warming up plus competition going on all around you. It can be quite an interesting sound! He played very well and placed 1st and 2nd. His second judge told him he should be playing in the next level!

Esther competed in three dances and placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd! A friend and fellow dance student from her studio, Colby Allen, placed 1st, 1st and 2nd. She received the trophy for the overall best dancer in that age category. We were all very excited for them! They have worked very hard and it has all paid off!

Dancing ended around noon when the main events started. All the clans gathered together and marched around on the parade ground while the MC announced each clan and thanked them for being there. Then came the singing of the National Anthem and a bunch of speeches which we didn't wait around for because we were all standing in the hot sun and we didn't want to fry! The afternoon hours are pretty much down time. We all hung out at the Pollock tent and tried to stay cool. Mom and David went shopping for some piping supplies and tried to find a chanter for Daniel. They came back with strawberry lemonades for everyone to share.

The day ended with closing ceremonies and massed bands. All four pipe bands played together at once! What a sound! : ) We quickly packed up all our stuff and headed home. Our grandmother and Uncle Jeff had come up for a visit, so to beat the heat, we met them at Dairy Queen for dinner and an opportunity to cool off.
Here is a slide show of additional pictures from the games.

Coming Soon.....

Highland Games up-date coming soon!

Highland Dance Recital

Saturday, Esther and Hannah had their highland dance recital. They both did very well! Esther participated in three dances and Hannah did one. Grace also came up at the end and bowed with the rest of the girls. She is not currently taking lessons, but loves to dance and is looking forward to starting lessons in the fall. After the dance program, each girl received their awards for the year. Esther received the Most Improved Dancer award which was voted on by all the fellow dancers. It was quite a surprise--none of us knew she was chosen! Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!