17 December, 2007

Gingerbread- Graham Cracker House





We finally made our houses. We have been wanting to do them for a very long time and finally were able to on Saturday. I won the family graham cracker house contest, thank you very much. Jared constructed the bases of the homes while we all added our own designs after that. We had a lot of fun. In one of the pics you can see Jared "blow-drying" the houses. The frosting was too thin and not drying fast enough so this helped out a ton. Hayden ate way more candy than was used on the houses, all of them combined. I don't know if you can tell, but when we took pictures of the finished product I told everyone to get in front of the house they made, in one picture Hayden is in front of his, then ever so sneakily, he switched his with Jared's.
We put them up on our Entertainment center and Hayden climbed up there the other day and got one down and ate a bunch of it, "...ain't no mountain high enough..." for that kid! We had fun though.

Gingerbread- Graham Cracker House





We finally made our houses. We have been wanting to do them for a very long time and finally were able to on Saturday. I won the family graham cracker house contest, thank you very much. Jared constructed the bases of the homes while we all added our own designs after that. We had a lot of fun. Hayden ate way more candy than was used on the houses, all of them combined. We put them up on our Entertainment center and Hayden climbed up there the other day and got one down and ate a bunch of it, "...ain't no mountain high enough..." for that kid!

09 December, 2007

Our Gift


Hayden climbed under our tree tonight proclaiming "look I am a Christmas present." I told him to freeze and snatched a picture. Jared and I were cracking up. We love putting our Dish on the Holiday station, Hayden usually takes care of turning off all the house lights and requests a flashlight and we listen to music, with the tree lights on while the boys play. I just love it. I will be so sad when the season is over. I can usually count on Hayden to turn on the Christmas lights first thing when he comes downstairs in the morning and they usually don't go off until we go to bed at night. We drove around tonight looking at lights around town. I love Christmas. As I am looking at the above picture, I am noticing how sad the tree is looking. Carson likes to pull of the lights and even chew on them, yeah, we have to keep a close eye on him when he is downstairs around the tree. He has gotten better than when we first put it up, but looks like I need to do some fixing.

04 December, 2007

Christmas Time

I love this time of year. I read something the other day about a man who in his old age can't remember what he did yesterday (hmmm that sounds familiar to me) but he can tell you what he has done and where he has been every Christmas of his life. I feel the same way. Whenever I think of Christmas I smell hot cidar and cinnamon, I see lights on beautiful evergreens. I see my family and feel happy and content. I feel the excitement of a little child as I think of Christmas morning and the traditions I want to start in my own family.
I hope that I can always remember the true meaning of this time of year, amidst all the hustle and bustle and take more time out to think of our Savior whose birth and life we celebrate. I hope that in an attempt to simplify, we will remember the Christ child, and I especially hope we can teach our two boys the importance of serving over receiving as I know the Savior would want us to do.
One of my favorite things about Christmas is the time set aside, a whole month to think about Christ. The mangers, the giving, the Christmas music that is everywhere, I LOVE the music. As we continue to progress in the season, may we all take time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Keys to a Successful Marriage

I came across these suggestions on a site while editing and I just had to add it to my blog. I thought it was really touching. The address I got the info from is, http://gardenofpraise.com/keys.htm

FOUNDATIONS OF A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE

The following article is from a couple, the result of an accumulation of 78 years of marital experiences, both were widows when they married each other.

1) BE COMMITTED
to each other and to making the marriage work. A generation or two ago, marriages were stable and divorce was not as widespread as it is today. We believe this was due to the commitment of people entering into the marriage relationship. Divorce should not be an option. There are situations, of course, where there is abuse and infidelity which cannot, and should not be tolerated. Not in every case, but in most cases, if discernment
is used in Key 2, this type of abuse will not be found.
2) CHOOSE THE RIGHT MATE Young people get caught up in the romance and the physical attraction, and they don't consider whether the object of their attraction will help or hinder them in their spiritual development.
Of course, the foundation for choice should have been laid years before. Just because a person falls in "love", doesn't necessarily mean that person you "love" would make a good spouse. Hormones need to be governed by reason. God made us creatures of choice. In fact, our lives are a product of the choices we make.
3)
REMAIN SEXUALLY PURE UNTIL MARRIAGE Your marriage will have a greater chance of successif you do. Young people today who are taking a stand against pre-marital sex are to be applauded.
4)
ACCEPT GOD'S PLAN FOR THE FAMILY Let Christ be the head of the family, and let the husband be the spiritual leader in the family. A loving husband will not be overbearing.
5)
DON'T WITHHOLD LOVE AND AFFECTION or use it as a weapon to get your own way. God has given specific instructions about the physical relationship between husband and wife.
6)
LISTEN TO ONE ANOTHER Keep the lines of communication open. Few things can be more detrimental to a marriage than the refusal of one of the partners to discuss problems. Work it out together if you can, but don't hesitate to get outside help in the form of Christian counseling if it is required.
7) DON'T NEGLECT YOUR SPOUSE while you are raising your children. Long after the children have left home, you will need each other. A loving relationship must be built
while the children are growing up.
8) Money can cause problems so COME TO AN AGREEMENT ABOUT THE HANDLING OF FINANCES. Sometimes this is a joint effort, but sometimes one partner is better equipped to handle the family finances. The other partner needs to defer
to the one with this gift.
9) TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH so that you can enjoy your relationship with one another
for many years.
10) GIVE EACH OTHER ROOM FOR INDIVIDUAL GROWTH and for personal likes and dislikes. One may be a sports fan, the other may not. Not all things have to be shared.
11) BE WILLING TO SAY, "I'M SORRY" when you are wrong. Truly mean it, and try to make improvements.
12) BE WILLING TO FORGIVE when you have been wronged by your spouse.
13) Make every effort to ARRANGE FOR THE WIFE AND MOTHER TO BE IN THE HOME during the years when the children are growing up. A working mother with young children is actually holding down two full time jobs. She has little time nor energy left for her husband at the end of the day.
14) As parents SUPPORT EACH OTHER IN THE DISCIPLINING OF THE CHILDREN. Failure to do so will cause the marriage and the children to suffer.
15) Hold your spouse in high esteem. MAKE POSITIVE REMARKS ABOUT YOUR MATE TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY.


25 November, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving





We hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We still have leftovers, mmmmm. We went with my family and my aunts, uncles, and cousins to Disneyland. We were under the assumption the park is not crowded on Thanksgiving Day, wrong. It was very crowded, but it was still fun. It was the first time we had taken the kids and they were still probably a little bit too young. They were terrified of all the rides actually, all of them. We went on a little boat tour right after going on Peter Pan and Hayden was freaked. I was reminded and surprised at how scary a lot of the little kids rides are. We made the mistake of taking them on Pirates of the Carribean with us. Carson spent some of the time on the ride hiding his head in my arm and the rest of the time reaching for the people in back of us to take him. However, all in all, we had a blast. Here are some photos.

Dancing



A few weeks ago my good friend and old roomie at Ricks called to invite us to Dancing with the Stars with her. We had such a blast. We invited some of our good friends, Heidi and Hyrum. The funnest part for me was before the show began, whoever wanted to went down on the floor and boggied down. It was the first taping I have ever gone to and it was great.

14 November, 2007












One of our favorite things to do on Saturdays is to go and watch Uncle Austy play soccer. Here are some photos of us at his games.


Here are some pictures from Hayden's Thanksgiving Day Feast. His teacher said if, "If you are five minutes late, you will miss the program." She was right. It was short and sweet. They sang a few songs then all said something they were thankful for. Hayden last year was thankful for "Grampa Sunshine at Newport Beach" this year he was thankful for "My Pirate Money." After the program they served lunch. It was really fun. Hayden was a pilgrim. Carson was very proud of his little brother. Well, HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone. We are going to Disneyland and are so excited because we have never taken the kids before. Hayden is so excited, he asks me everyday if it is Thanksgiving yet. He is looking forward to flying like Peter Pan, I sure hope that ride is still there. Anyways, everyone travel safely if you are going someplace.


This is just one of the many places Carson likes to crawl into. He is so little and petite he fits almost anywhere. He was standing next to an average size 9 month old last week at the Senior Center and the baby was as tall as Carson. It was great. He is my little midget and I love it.

31 October, 2007

Happy Halloween






We had such a fun Halloween. Hayden, Carson and I made Halloween cookies, the boys cut out all the cookies and did such a fabulous job. I went to Bunko, and daddy finished icing and putting sprinkles on them. They looked fabulous.
Hayden had an especially fun Halloween day. He went to school and had a fun parade and went trick-or-treating at all the classrooms at school and got lots of goodies. They grammy took him over to her house where they made even more Halloween cookies. My mom said he ate more than he made, oh well. He came home and napped then we quickly ate dinner then went to the church for Trunk-or-Treating. Hayden's favorite treat was an eyeball bouncy ball. He wouldn't stop talking about it. We had so many fun friends at the church and had a great time. I don't know if you notice in the pictures, but Hayden started off as a Great White Shark and ended up superman, which he had put on under his costume.
Carson had a great time. Somehow he got ahold of a sucker and just was as happy as could be eating the sucker sitting in the wagon.
We had a great day!!!

30 October, 2007

This is Cool...


Stake Cleanup Activity in Fallbrook
Brethren and Sisters of the Vista Stake,

The Stake Presidency extends their profound thanks and humble gratitude to the Saints in the Vista California Stake and their friends and neighbors in the Fallbrook area affected by the catastrophic wildfires.

Over 500 Latter-day Saints congregated today at the Fallbrook Church Building. Every one of the 12 branches and wards of the Vista Stake participated. There were 350 youth joined by 120 adults and 50 full-time missionaries.

Over 1500 LDS Cleaning Buckets were distributed as gifts. Many yards were cleaned and 23 work orders were created for further work which will be performed between now and Saturday.
Seventy-five pizzas were consumed; along with the bounteous pastries, cookies, fruits, cheeses and crackers provided by Stake members.

The Humanitarian Department of the Church donated over 1000 large bottles of drinking water, hundreds of distinctive, bright yellow shirts, 600 dusk masks, gloves, and other equipment plus the 1500 cleaning buckets.

The order, for some these products, was given to the Church last Saturday morning and for the remaining items others on Sunday afternoon. The last big rig rolled into the Fallbrook parking lot at 8 AM on Monday, less than 24 hours after the final request was issued.

It was a wonderful outpouring of assistance, which will not soon be forgotten; either by those who attended or those who accepted your kindnesses.

The Saints of the Vista California Stake acted consistently with their Goal of being a Zion people. God bless you in your faithful endeavors.

29 October, 2007

Helping Out Fire Victims

As each day goes by since the tragic fires, I am hearing of more and more families who have lost homes and most of their possessions. What has taken families a life-time to build has been taken away within a matter of minutes. If there is anyone outside of our area who would like to help out a family but isn't sure what they can do, I would be more than happy to deliver whatever you would like to donate. Hayden's school was asking for us to donate gift cards we may have in our wallets for immediate needs, but cards to Wal-Mart, Target, or anywhere else would be so appreciated to these families. We have written out checks to some and bought clothing and toys for others. If anyone would like to contribute, please let me know I will pass it on.

27 October, 2007

Check out my Slide Show!

Emergency Planning

If you don't already have your own 72-Hr kid, here are some suggestions. I took a quick inventory of our 72- Hour kit and thought I would post the items we had that totally came in handy for us during the fires. Some of the items were totally lifesavers and I was sooooooooo thankful I had taken the time to prepare. Some things I would add or do differently is have more water and grab a stove with ample propane, maybe even have a tent and some sleeping bags ready to go, and I would definitely have clothes ready to go in the tote, this is one of those big old totes you can buy at Target/ Wal- Mart.


Food

Water Bottle (6)
Raisins
Spaghetti (2, 2 lbs together)
Canned Soup (10)
Pretzel Bags (3)
Mac & Cheese (10 servings)
Oatmeal (20)
Cereal Bars (6)
Instant Soup (10)
Halls
Peanut Butter
Pedialyte
Corn
Canned Chicken
72 Hr. MRE food (For 1 Person)

Other
Masks (4)
JR Airborne
Pads/ Tampons
Thermometer
Soap
Wash Cloth
2 Lg. Ziploc Containers
Silverware
Wipes (80)
TP
Plastic Cups
Dish Soap
Laundry Detergent
Can Opener
Chapstick
Sew Kit
50 Latex Gloves
4 C Batteries
8 AA Batteries
Trash Bags
Gas Lighter
Freezer Bags
Aluminum Foil
3 Ponchos
3 Emergency Blankets
Disinfectant Wipes
Paper Plates
Pot for boiling water
Excedrine
Matches
Comb
Phone Numbers
$100 Cash
TV/ Radio
Games and coloring activities for the kids
Vitamin drinks for the kids
Children’s Tylenol

25 October, 2007

Fires





What a week it has been for us. It started off Monday when I showed up to run with my girl's at the church and received a call from one of them telling me she and one of the other running girls had to evacuate their homes at 5:30 that morning due to the fires and that they wouldn't be running that day (one of them actually lost their home in the fire). When the other girls showed up to run we decided the air quality wasn't good to be running in due to the smoke and ash flying around. So, instead we went to Denny's for breakfast and had a great time. I dropped off Hayden at school only to get a call an hour later that they and all the local schools were being evacuated. I frantically rushed in to get him, not sure what to find and I brought him home where we received notice of several other people receiving mandatory evacuations. We offered our home to several people and I started preparing for company. There were some conflicting reports about whether or not our area was supposed to evacuate but we erred on the side of caution, packed up the cars and left to stay with my parents at their condo on the coast. That night was rough, 8 people in a 700 square foot one bedroom condo, and having to stay inside due to the smoke, we decided to go home the following evening. We got home around 6 p.m., and were a little apprehensive due to the police blocking off our street, but he said he was there to prevent others who didn't live in the immediate area from getting into town, which had all been quaranteened. We decided to leave our car packed in case we had to leave in the middle of the night, got settled in the comfort of our home, as much as we could, put the kids in bed and turned on the tv to get updated on the situation. To be assured we were safe at home we also decided to wake up every few hours to check out the windows to be sure no flames were coming near our home. Well at about midnight we were awakened to sirens and search lights. We thought the police were looking for looters and were expecting someone to come running over the hill, freaked out Jared called the police and we were told we were under mandatory evacuation. Seconds later police cars came streaming down the street, sirens and everything else blaring, lights flashing in every direction, they were driving down all the driveways making sure every person was alerted. We quickly grabbed the kids and we left for the condo again.
The following day some friends of ours invited us to stay with them in Riverside County. Along the way we had to drive through a large portion on the freeway that was still smoldering and the smoke was especially strong, due to all the smoke we inhaled Carson wasn't feeling too hot and I decided to take him to Urgent Care when he had a fever of 102.8 and was croupy. We got him meds and took him back to our friends for some shut-eye. Thursday morning we received word that we were one family of very few which received the green light to move back in to our home, for that we were very fortunate. The town is still pretty much locked down due to the polluted water supply. Every street leading into Fallbrook is either taped off or has police men standing watch. The only street open is the one leading to our home and very few others in comparison to the town as a whole and there is no way of getting in unless you show identification and proof of address. We did however manage to sneak my parents in past the national guards tonight for a home cooked meal. Despite the two fires which came near my parents home, as far as we know it was spared.
The "Rice" fire, which included Fallbrook and surrounding areas has burned over 200 structures, all together in the 13 or so fires that were burning in the county, there have been 1500 structures burned, 719,000 square miles, and more than 375,000 people evacuated. The population of San Diego is a little over 1.2 million, so almost a third of the county has been evacuated. The response has been amazing though. At some of the shelters there were more volunteers and supplies than there were evacuated individuals. My friend Karen whose husband is a local firefighter he left Sunday and probably won't be home for another week and a half. The sacrifices they make for our safety has hit home this week and I have so much respect and admiration for the job they do and all the other officials. It has been a horrible tragedy but one that could have been so much worse. We only hope we are at the end. I don't know what I will do if we have to leave again, I suppose we will do it, but I really hope it is over.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. We truly felt buoyed up at this time in our lives.

Our Anniversary




For our anniversary we went on a dinner/ dance San Diego Harbor boat cruise with some of our good friends, Heidi and Hyrum. It was a beautiful night and we had such a blast. Here we are in all our glory!!!