Unemployment and Employment

Our family has had a lot of changes in our employment situations. Rick's job at Groen Brothers Aviation finally came to an end. He watched the company struggle to cover the payroll for about 5 months and wondered if they would make it through this tight financial squeeze. Finally at the end of May, they had to decide to lay off almost all of their employees. They were not able to find financing to cover payroll for April or May. They hope to not have to go completely out of business, but they are very close.

Emily came home from her semester in Jerusalem and had to decide if she was going to go down to work at Philmont Scout Camp for the summer. She had a very hard time making the decision. After arriving home after being away for 4 months, she was not anxious to leave home again one month later. She was also anxious to play her violin more and could not take her nice violin to the primitive living conditions at Philmont. She e-mailed them and said she was not coming. Then she started working planting flowers for Bountiful City, and remembered how hot and tiring that work was and so she e-mailed back and said she was coming. Then she looked at pictures of the tent she would be living in for 3 months and got another job as an assistant server at the Garden Restaurant and so she e-mailed again and said she wasn't coming.

In January, Lee started working at Gregory's Wheat Shop packaging granola to be shipped to grocery stores. It was to be part time and temporary until he went on his mission. He also got a job as a package handler at Fed Ex part time from 10pm to 2am. He is still working both jobs and in between, he is pursuing his first love of playing the guitar.

John had worked at El Matador restaurant bussing dishes for almost 2 years. Also during that time he had worked assisting a neighbor installing window blinds in homes. As he got close to High School graduation and planning to go to Idaho for college, he was offered a job in a machine shop that manufactures asault rifles for the military and police. They said he was most highly recommended by his high school machine shop teacher. They wanted him to start then and get trained part time after school and move to full time in the summer. He told them he would be in college during the summer and so he did not take the job. After we analyzed it, he called them back and told them the exact dates when he would be away at college and when he would be home and available to work. They were happy to hire him.

After a week of Rick being unemployed, he suggested that I look for a full time job, and he would stay home and care for the children and home. I have attended training classes for preparing resumes and searching for employment. I have learned that any experience older than about 10 years is considered unimportant and out of date. My bachelors degree is even considered insignificant. When I talk to people about employment, they suggest entry level jobs which require no skills or education. My brother suggested I go back to school and get a masters degree. He said that the investment in education would be worth it since I have potentially 20 more years in the workforce.
I considered taking a job, but I had no intention of giving up my God given job of being a mother. Rick believed that as long as someone is staying home being parent to the children it doesn't matter who does it. He says that "father as provider and mother as nurturer" are rigid roles. I believe that "father as provider, mother as nurturer" is ideal and while I know that in certain situations, adjustments must be made, this is not a serious enough situation to warrant throwing out the ideal.

Since Rick has been home, I have found that more of our needs are being met. Things are getting repaired that have been waiting for a quite a while. And I have confidence that our needs will continue to be met. We will find a way to meet the family's needs that fulfills us. Maybe that will be a good job for Rick where he is happy, or maybe it will be self employment where the family works together. I think we were put on this earth to be happy, not to suffer it out until we die.

John is a New College Student

We moved John up to Rexburg, Idaho yesterday. We found him an apartment in Sunrise Village apartment 47. It is the lower left apartment of a 4 plex. It should be cool during the summer. His roommate's name is Ian (the same name as Lee's roommate during his freshman year). Also, Ian plays the viola (Marie can celebrate about that). And the books on his bookshelf looked like he was studying Construction Management (the same as John). It looked like a magical match. When we met him, he said he was a 2nd semester freshman. He is on Summer/fall track but started last fall.
We helped John get his I card. On his first try, they said his hair was too long over the ears. Although I had thought about bringing hair cut scissors, I had left them at home. The girl at the I card place said his hair was OK except for over the ears so we left trying to figure out where to get a quick hair cut without him needing a car. Then we remembered the tiny surgical scissors in my purse left over from Lee's time in the hospital. They were definitely sharp enough to cut hair, but were they big enough? We took him up the street toward the Rexburg Temple and then turned east by a big water tank, and while he stood in the gutter by the car, I stood on the sidewalk (so I could reach) and with the wind blowing and the rain soon to start, I cut the hair around his ears. No problem with leaving hair around... it all blew away. It was kind of funny to see everyone's reactions as they drove by and stared. After the hair cut, he used water from the water bottle to "comb" his hair. They were very happy with his hair when he came back less than a half hour later. Mission accomplished.
We showed him around campus, and got him some dining dollars, showed him the computers in the library, and where his class would meet the next day. We bought a few things he needed at Wal-Mart and went to Bajio for dinner and then drove home. It was a very late night before we got home, but it was a very successful trip.

John's Eagle Project

John completed his Eagle project during May. The service he performed was to collect clothing, food, and hygiene items to be sent to help people in the Philippines. About 12 people helped pass out flyers to our neighborhood telling people about his project and asking for donated items or money to help cover shipping costs. One week later he and seven other scouts and leaders collected the donated items. After our family and friends sorted the donated items, we were able to pack 3 boxes, 21" x 22" x 23", with about 125 pounds of supplies per box. We were able to put together over 30 hygiene kits that had a washcloth, toothpaste and toothbrush, and soap as well as shampoos and lotions. For clothing, we sent shoes and light weight clothing. The food that we sent was canned meats. He shipped the 3 boxes which cost $390 to ship all the boxes. They are scheduled to arrive in the port of Manila on June 10th, 2008. Completing this project will not only bless people's lives in the Philippines but also was a good leadership experience for me. It was good to see how willing people are to help others.
Congratulations on completing your project. We are proud of your scouting acheivements.

Sidewalk Chalk

Main Street has a sidewalk chalk festival every year (or more?) I've noticed it a couple times, but didn't think much about who actually drew/painted them.
This year my mom, Angela, and Julianna went and created two of the pictures. Later in the week (the day before it rained) JP and I went to look at the fun artwork.
Here is a picture of the one Angela and Mom did. It's from a Bill Peet book, "Cock-a-Doodle-Dudley." I think he's pretty cute.

And Julianna took inspiration from Peanuts. Which was also one of my first successful ventures into the world of drawing. Good shapes. Unfortunately she ran out of red chalk. But you get the drift. I think they did a great job!

Visit our Blog for more pictures of the sidewalk chalk on main street!

Marie's fun concert

Marie will be playing a fun concert this weekend. It's movie music! Highly energetic recognizable, and some that's just absolutely gorgeous. For more info including a list of pieces, prices and event time and location go to the Salt Lake Symphony website. I would love to see all of you there. It's going to be a fun time, and it's also my last concert of the season. So let's have a party!

Julianna's Jr. High Band Concert

Julianna will play in the Junior High's final Band concert of the year this Tuesday Night, May 13th at 7:00 at Woods Cross High. It should be a very enjoyable concert because they will play songs from Movies and very recognizable stuff. Julianna will play in both the 8th and 9th grade bands. We hope you can come.

John's Lacrosse game

Last night John played his first Varsity Lacrosse game for Woods Cross High. This year is his first year to play Lacrosse, and he was put on the JV team. He likes the sport, and has always enjoyed going to all the practices. He plays Center Middi. After each team scores a goal, it is Center Middi that faces off at the center of the field to see which team will get possesion of the ball. That part of the game (for those who don't know lacrosse) is like basketball's jump ball, but the players are down in a tripod stance, shoulder to shoulder, with the baseball type ball on the ground between them, fighting to see who can get the ball into their net at the end of their stick. The first time I saw John play, I was surprised to see him playing there but he does it well.
Yesterday's game was the first playoff game of the championship. Woods Cross was the first seed so they were playing at home against the Box Elder Bees.
Not only was it John's first Varsity game, and an exciting first play off game, it was also John's first time to score. He was so happy after scoring that goal. His smile covered his whole face. We were very proud of him and we look forward to watching him play more games during this final tournament.
The next games are Saturday Morning May 9th at home, and Wednesday evening at Mountain Crest High School. If they make it to the finals, the game will be Saturday May 16th at Park City.