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!!!

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.

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.

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

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!!!