Yummy Quick Dinner Idea

This is a great recipe we had last night. I think Jared's food was gone by the time I finished dishing out the boys. It was yummy, quick, cheap and easy. The hardest part is remembering to prepare it in advance. Most of the ingredients are items you most likely have in the cupboard or fridge as well. So if you would like, give it a try. I found it last week on a crock pot recipe website. I love my crock pot lately. Here it is...

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff
4-5 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 (12 0z) container Sour Cream
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on Low for 4-6 hours or until chicken is tender -I cooked mine on high 3 hours and low the last hour. Then I turned off my crock pot and while it cooled down, the sauce thickened. I also shredded the chicken in the crock pot and let it sit about 15 min. Serve over cooked noodles (we used egg noodles) or rice. Yummy!!!

Hayden and Carson Meeting Snow

So, we enjoyed a fun day in the snow today. We had such a great time. Hayden and Carson have never before been in snow, and we were sick of just watching the view of the snow and decided to go and enjoy it hands on. On the way there, we passed snow along side the road and Hayden kept asking us to pull over so he could feel it. We assured him he would do enough feeling it throughout the day. Carson was not a fan, it didn't help he refused to put on his gloves. He didn't want to have much to do with it, especially after he and I face-planted on the sled. Hayden's favorite thing was making a snow man. We played tackle daddy and had a real Johnson "snow-ball fight." We had a great time. Here are some pics.

I took this picture after a recent storm we had last week. As I waited for the clouds to clear over the mountains to see if it had snowed I saw snow so low I thought it was just really low lying clouds. As the clouds cleared completely, the mountains were covered in snow. It was so beautiful. I felt for a few hours like I was back in Utah.

The rest of the pics are from our snow trip today...

This was after Carson and I fell on the sled -
We have lift off, thanks Hayden -

Crossing The Bar

I loved the song sung at President Hinckley's funeral, here are the lyrics that are so beautiful:

Crossing The Bar

Poem lyrics of Crossing The Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

Fun at the Zoo

So, yesterday Hayden didn't have any school and I desperately needed to get out of the house. We hadn't been to the zoo since right before I had Carson so I decided to take the boys down to San Diego for the day. We had so much fun. Hayden's favorite part was this reptile house. We went back there several times throughout the day. I think we will be taking a trip to the Library to get some books on Reptiles.
This next picture is so disgusting, but I had to post it. WARNING: If you are eating or have a weak stomach, move on.
We visited the monkeys, which of course are incredibly amusing. So, what you think is happening really is happening, only the monkey below ate what he pulled out of his friend.


My little Bugs...
These are some pictures of the kids at the petting zoo...

Family Date Night

Every few weeks we try to do something fun with the family on a Friday night, to make it a little bit more special than the other nights. On these nights, I am usually a lot more lenient on the 7 pm bedtime, and we all just relax and have fun. Well on this Family Date Night, we ran down to the Library and picked up Dumbo, which Hayden and Carson had never seen, and grabbed a Little Ceasar's $5 pizza, (which I think is just the best deal). Voila, that was our Family Date Night and we all had a great time eating pizza and watching Dumbo. My favorite part is still when Mrs. Jumbo gets put in the "crazy elephant" train car and Dumbo goes to visit her there, she rocks him in his trunk and that beautiful song, "Close your eyes" or whatever it is. That part always makes me cry. Anyway, we had fun.

Bumper Sticker

Jared pointed out this bumper sticker we saw the other night that made us just laugh, and I have been laughing ever since, sorry if any of you my dear friends are voting or are in favor of her...

"Monica Lewenski's x-boyfriends wife for President?"

I hope that was as funny to you as it was to us.

Women's Conference

We had our stake women's conference on Saturday and Mary Ellen Edmonds came to speak to us. I took a few notes that I wanted to share. The main topic of her talk was Happiness. I thought, if she can be happy, I have no reason not to be. She is I would guess in her 60's, never been married and has no kids, and she is so happy. She said that we have no reason to not be the happiest people on earth. Here are a few bullet-points of things she talked about...
- How can we each cultivate a Spirit of gladness?
- Something is wrong if we aren't having joy now.
- If we have to stand alone, we must do it.
- If we as women will be united, our strength will be uncalcuable.

Then a member of the stake presidency spoke to us and I loved this analogy he made. He talked about Peter, when he got out of the boat and was trying to go ashore to be beside the Savior, his eyes were looking down at his feet and his focus was not the Savior, he wasn't at first successful on his way to the Savior and he was falling. When children learn to walk they lock eyes with you or whom ever they are walking towards, and they put one foot in front of the other, focused on their target. We need to keep our gaze on the Savior, so we don't sink and fall.

Gratitude

Wow, so I have been thinking a ton lately about all that I am blessed with. Do you ever feel like as a mom that some days you are just trapped. Don't get me wrong, motherhood is like the most amazing and rewarding experience of my life, but some days I just feel trapped, like the world around me doesn't exist and that I am going to lose it. I have also thought about how much I love reading my friends blogs because it makes me feel I am not the only one going through these life experiences. I think blogging was an inspired concept, it is my group therapy...really. You spill your guts out and friends read and comment, giving encouragement, then you can read your friends ups and downs and it makes you feel they are real just like you.
This week I have been noticing the beauty that is around me. It has been raining here this last week. I love the rain, in moderation, I love the rain. I need the sun, but rain is so nice and refreshing. I feel so thankful to live in such a beautiful place. Out of some of the windows in our home, we have a view of the local snow capped mountains and out of Hayden's upstairs window (three stories high) we can just about see the ocean. If one of the hills wasn't in the way, we would have an ocean view. Too often I get caught up (especially lately) in thinking about all the things I want, mainly a house. For some people their trial is that they suffer from depression, maybe they have a hard time getting pregnant, for me my trial right now is that we still haven't been able to purchase our own home and it is killing me. Amongst this and struggling with Hayden's hopefully age-related horrible behavior, by the way, I was told at 4 it gets easier. I was totally expecting the day he turned four, two weeks ago, to be a changing day for us. Then the other day someone said it changes when they are five, ahhh. In the meantime hopefully one of the three books I purchased off Amazon in a desperate search for some answers will help me. I hope they get here quickly. So, as I have been thinking about all of this lately, I have really been looking for answers and help, peace. My prayers lately have consisted of nothing but asking for things. Instead of reading my scriptures the other day I picked up my patriarchal blessing and read through that. In it it tells me to "take frequent opportunities to pour out your heart to your Father in Heaven for all the things you are blessed with, good health, living in a favored land...then as you do this Heavenly Father will bless you with things even without your asking." So, I have turned my focus instead to that of gratitude and I am amazed that such a simple thing has made all the difference. It is so easy sometimes to get caught up in selfishness, and I am guilty of that more than I realize. But today and hopefully from here on out, I am grateful.

I have been tagged, thanks cousin Nicki

Alright, so my cous Nicki tagged me I don't want to be a party pooper (here I go potty talking, it's a good thing Hayden can't read yet or he would probably give me a time out, J/K), so apparently I have to write 10 quirky, weird, random things, facts, habits about myself. So, I am sucking down my pride, hold on, big gulp, and here we go.

1) I have a huge dream of composing a song, words and music. The whole shebang. I have wanted to do this for a very long time, and one of these days I will.
2) Two different times in my life I have trained for a marathon, but both times I had to stop running at about 8 miles due to either my knee or my back going out on me. Running a marathon is still a huge goal for me. Right now I run about 10 miles a week with my running buddies.
3) I have always wanted to learn to clog, ever since I went to Ireland my senior year. I was fascinated with the way they danced. I am waiting until I lose some more flab though because who wants to see a clogger with flab bouncing around? Not me, so I have a little more work to do before working on this one.
4) For about a year, I have been working memorizing The Familiy Proclamation. I have been stuck on the 4th paragraph for about that long, a year. After I memorize this, I want to work on memorizing my patriarchal blessing.
5) This next item would fall under weird, if you haven't already thought some of the above things are weird enough, I am obsessive about keeping lists, files and so forth. I keep an on-going list of what I want my dream house to look like (clipping photos from wherever any time I see something I like), I keep a file with kids games, activities, FHE Lessons, health or church articles, Quotes, websites, cute invitations I receive and on and on. You name it and I probably have a file for it in the file cabinet.
6) Maybe some of you already knew this about me, but I am way cheap. If it is not on sale, I usually won't buy it. This is especially true when it comes to clothing. I NEVER look at regular priced items. Clearance racks are always the place you will find me in a clothing store, target, Wal-Mart- anywhere there is a clearance rack, there will you find me also.
7) Something way quirky about me is my left eye brow. Ever since I started paying attention to my eyebrows, my left eye brow is never tame. The hair at the beginning of my brow fans out and drives me nuts. If I pluck it back to where I get rid of the fanning hair, my eye brows look even more funky because it makes it short. Hayden has this same quirk.
8) Speaking of hair, this one may be too personal but here it goes, for years I have noticed two black hairs that grow side by side on my right forearm. I have to pluck these every few weeks. And even worse, a few months ago I noticed black hairs popping up on my face that I have had to start plucking. Please if you ever notice a black hair on my chin or around my lips, tell me people. I was so embarrassed when I noticed these and wondered how long they had been there. I have tried to tame the black hairs now that I know they are there. I think I am producing too much testosterone, The boys hormones are rubbing off on me in ways I never imagined. A few times I have been tempted to grab the razor in the shower and just shave, but I am pretty sure that would make the situation way out of control.
9) I love hot cocoa. I have a cup of it just about every night. I put the kids in bed, come downstairs and boil my water and sit at the computer. In fact I am waiting for it to boil as I type. So far Stephen's is my very favorite. Hot cocoa makes me feel happy and so warm inside. Mmmm. I totally use food to comfort me, hence my un-forgivable thighs.
10) For the last one, I have a dream of becoming a franchise owner of either a Cafe Rio or In-N-Out, even though I think both are still corporate owned, I still have a dream of running a restaurant or having a coin-op Car Wash Bay, or running a children's singing/music studio.
11) OK, so I am going to add two more, I am terrified of flying. That is probably my greatest fear, even before 9/11, I hated it- but since 9/11 I hate it so much more.
12) I am a terrible house cleaner. It is usually not first on my list of things to do, especially since I started working and blogging. I spend a lot of time on the computer- mainly for my job.
13) Lastly, I know I said only two more, I lied. This last one is a confession- what the heck does i.e. stand for??? Can someone help me out with that one because I use it, but I don't totally know what it stands for, in essence???
14) Last one I promise, blue is my favorite color since it makes me think of the three "men" in my life.

Ecco

If you have children, and your children speak, then I am sure you have heard similar things to the story I am about to relate to you. The other night it was time to get for bed, the kids were in the bath so I decided to run up before they were done (don't freak out, they weren't left in the tub alone, Jared was in there with them), and grab their jammies. Well, I came down, the kids got out of the bath and dried off (Hayden streaked through the house like a mad man, his after bath/being naked ritual) then the jammie routine began. As soon as he saw the jammies I had picked out for him, he said "mom, I can't wear those jammies, they make me too sweatie." Well, he is his own heater, even if it has been in the thirties at night lately, I believe him when he says he isn't cold, so I said he could run upstairs and grab another pair of jammies, but to take up the ones I had brought down and to please put them away. His response to my request, "mom, you got those jammies out and it is your responsibility to put them away." Jared and I just started laughing while Hayden tried to do all he could to not laugh himself. I took his hand and we went upstairs together and found a different pair of jammies.
I hear myself in the things he says way too much though, silly kid.

Lesson Learned...

Oft times I am humbled by the wisdom and innocence of my little Hayden. Tonight was one of those times. We were in his room getting him ready for bed and he had a sword he got from SeaWorld today (Grammy and Papa took him for his birthday, I think this is the final last hooray- although he has already started asking when his next birthday is). I told him he could only keep the sword in his room as long as it stayed on his floor and he didn't get out of bed to play with it, he is funny about being able to see where some of his favorite toys are, even if he can't play with them he just wants to know they are there. He thought for a moment then asked, "well how will you know if I get out of my bed?" My response was quick and I was thinking about relaxing on the couch for a few minutes, having the house to myself, so I said "because mommy knows everything, please get into bed." He thought for only a moment then said, "mommy, if you know everything isn't that being prideful?" I was immediately humbled and told him I was sorry and explained to him how I could hear his feet from downstairs when he gets out of bed. He was more satisfied with that answer, as was I.
I was walking through the mall with Carson today when I happened to read the height limit for the children's play area, which is 42'' in the mall. Yesterday Hayden had his 4 year physical and the nurse told us he is 41 1/2''. I never thought the time would come so soon when my little boy is too big for the kid play area. It made me sad to think about how quickly he is growing up. Then I reflect on the poem I put up earlier today about how babies don't keep, and to put everything else aside to enjoy this time with my kids while they are young. They are so precious.

Love This...

" Cleaning and scrubbing can wait for tomorrow,
For babies grow up, I've learned, to my sorrow.
So Quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."
- Author Unknown

Check out my Slide Show!

Happy Birthday Hayden

Wow, we have had a crazy last few weeks. Our Christmas was so great, I can't believe I haven't written since then, but we had a great time at home with the kids. We spent the day at my parents and played with toys all day long. We all got the stomach flu right after Christmas and Jared ended up taking the whole week off due to being sick, so it was actually kind of nice. Hayden started school again last week, hallelujah. We were so excited for that to start again and to get back into our routine. We celebrated Hayden's 4th birthday last week. He had several celebrations. The first was a party at our house about a week ago with some friends. He has been talking about having a party with a pinata for months, so I decided this year I couldn't just get away as I always have with just doing something with the family. So, he insisted on having a Spiderman party and we had a great time. After the party, I can't tell you how many times he came up and hugged my leg and said "thanks so much for my spiderman party." It was very fun for him. His actual birthday was about 5 days after his party, and he was very confused about us celebrating his birthday again. He kept saying, but I already turned four. On his birthday he also kept telling everyone he had gotten taller when he woke up that morning. I think he was expecting a literal change in his size. He went to school and shared cupcakes with all his friends and insisted on Ramen for dinner, I could manage with that. To top it all off, my grandparents were visiting this week from Texas, straying in Newport Beach. So, we saw them several times and had a great time with them. So, off to start a new week.

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!

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.

Check out my Slide Show!

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.

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.

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.

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.