Say NO to Drugs..........

This week was Red Ribbon Week at the kids school and today was "wear as much red as possible" day. Their principal challenged the kids to try and wear more red than him and Caleb came in second out of the whole school. Needless to say, my competitive kid was pretty pleased with himself.

School Pictures

Ashlee Skye 1st Grade.

Caleb Vance 5th Grade

Caleb and Ashlee got their school pictures back today. They both turned out really good. Sydney will get hers from pre-school next week. I can't believe and grown up and cute they are. I love you guys.

Trunk or Treat

We had our Ward Trunk or Treat last night. The kids had soooo much fun. Our activities committee is awesome and they had carnival type booths set up for the kids to win prizes and candy, and there was also a chili cook off. Carl entered a white bean chili but sadly we didn't win. The competition was pretty tough. Ashlee is a fairy princess, Sydney is Snow White. She was upset because she said she has yellow hair and she needs black hair to be Snow White, but she forgot about it once we were there. Caleb was an army guy and he wanted to be called "Army Dude". Carl had a costume change and you can tell what he was by the pictures. Even the flying Nanny dressed up as the Nanny Fairy. It was pouring rain last night so instead of Trunk or Treating, they went from classroom to classroom. People decorated the rooms like they would their trunks and it was actually pretty awesome because it wasn't cold and the lights were on. Tonight we are going out again, but not very long because the kids got plenty of candy last night.

This is the Nanny fairy and our cute friends Pebbles and Bam Bam (aka:Dylen and Max)

Cute little Brooklyn and Syd, Cool guy Carl.

Brando and Caleb and Sydney "cheating" at the donut game.

Ashlee must have played this game at least 4 times, lets just say sugar high. And my sweet girls.

Girls day at the Oakland Temple

Melanie, Carissa and I went to the Oakland Temple today since I had Nanny here to watch Sydney. It is about an hour and a half away because of traffic. however, my friend Carissa made it home in about a hour today. So good job Carissa speed racer. It was so nice to go and really peaceful. It was my first time going during the morning on a weekday so it wasn't busy. Thanks girls for going.

None of our group pics turned out even with my unusually long arm snapping the shot.

The Flying Nanny

Nanny came to see us on Monday and is staying all week. We love when Nan comes to stay. She has already had visits from Sydney in the middle of the night both nights she has been here. Sydney came into my room first and stayed for a while, then suddenly sat straight up and said she had to go back to her room. I was suspicious that she actually remembered that Nan was downstairs and was headed that way. My suspicions were confirmed when she shut my bedroom door behind her so I wouldn't see her headed down the stairs. They have played Barbies and Play dough, and Caleb and Nan have a running Uno challenge going on. I think Caleb is ahead, but Nan is a lot nicer to kids when she is playing games than I am. I am out to WIN!!! So thanks Nanny for coming to play.

Van Allen Harvest Festival

So I have done a pretty good job of avoiding volunteering at the kids school, not because I don't love them but I really don't NEED anything else on my plate. But this year I went to my first Parents Club (PTA) meeting in the 4 years of my kids going there only to be nominated and seconded as the Parents Club secretary. Now I am expected to attend every meeting and take notes. AHHHHH. I also managed to get myself on the committee to help with Harvest Festival this year. So between getting stuff ready and setting up yesterday and this morning, I am pretty excited that it is over. The kids had a great time. Ashlee and Syd wore their costumes and looked so cute. You might notice the lack of photos with Caleb. As soon as we got there he took off to hang out with his friends. I don't know why he would rather be with them than me but that's life (sniff). Yeah for fall and fun Harvest Festivals.

A shout out to Tami the haircut girl.......

Thanks Tami Tam for making such a good impression on my girls. They love you.... maybe a little too much. I found Sydney with a pair of scissors today and a pile of hair. Lucky for her it was Malibu Barbie that fell victim to Syd's latest hair styling efforts. She is getting her pre-school pictures done tomorrow so it would have been awesome if she had actually cut her own hair. We would have had to take a trip to Tami's house for some damage control. Poor Barbie! Sydney thinks she looks beautiful though so I guess that is all that matters.

That is a pretty big pile of hair.

Halloween Pictures from the past..............

Our 1st Halloween in Sacramento.

2 little witches and Wolverine.

Ashlee the fairy princess.

Caleb was a Jedi and Ash was Princess Lea and Syd was Chewbacca. This pic is compliments of Darcie. I can't find the pics with Caleb and Ash.

Our first Halloween in Las Vegas.

4th pic tag

1. Go to pics

2. Upload the 4th pic of the 4th folder

3. Post

4. Your turn

I saw this on Misty's blog and thought it was cool. This is Caleb showing off his mad knee boarding skills this summer behind our boat. He just started knee boarding this summer and he can already do a 360. He is pretty awesome and a brave kid. He will try just about anything Carl asks him to. Next summer he wants to try a head stand on it.

Family night

For family night tonight we took the kids to dinner at In N Out Burger in Manteca then went and walked around the new Bass Pro Shop. Lets just say that Carl and Caleb really liked it. The girls thought it was neat too because of the dead, stuffed animals and there were also live fish in a pond to look at. For those of you in Utah, Bass Pro Shop is very similar to Cabela's. I think I saw enough to last me for a while, but I am sure that Carl will go back. I guess it doesn't matter what we do as long as we're together right?

Eating at In N Out Burger. Carl doesn't realize that this chair will never go in my house.

I want to ride my bicycle........

Sydney can finally peddle by herself!!!!!!!!!!

Roasting Hot dogs and Smarshmellows........

After Caleb's soccer game yesterday we took the kids back out to Woodward to roast hot dogs and "smarshmellows". That is how Sydney says it and it is pretty cute. Both of the girls LOVE camping and fires and anything outside so they were really excited to go. Carl brought his remote control car to drive on the beach. It got a little too close to the water, but luckily it started up again. There are also these plants that the kids call "corn dogs" they love to pull them apart because they crumble and fly away with the breeze. Caleb started our fire for us and it was awesome. I had to work on my sharing time for primary while there was still light and the girls colored with me while Carl and Caleb drove his car. It was a lot of fun just being able to spend time together. I have the greatest family.

CVH's driving the car and me working on sharing time.

Caleb is holding some creepy thing and Syd is playing with a "corn dog".


Caleb started this fire.

Walk for Autism......

Yesterday morning while Carl and Caleb were at the LDS Camporee at Woodward Reservoir, the girls and I went down to MJC to "Walk for Autism" with some some of the girls in the ward. They had tons of fun activities for kids to do. The girls got their faces painted and won little ponies in a ball toss game. Also the staff had lots of free drinks and snacks that sugared the kids up for our 1 mile walk. I don't think "walk" is an appropriate term, more like a stroll. It was crowded so the group was moving pretty slow but it was awesome to see so many people out to raise money and support this cause.

The 5th Ward group.

Our cute friend Dylen.

Syd got a snowman painted on her cheek.

My Cool Husband.......

He are some of my favorite photos of my awesome hubby.

Snowboarding at Bear Valley and Havasu Falls.

Snowboarding in Vail, Co and Backpacking trip with friends.

Words can't describe this photo and Caleb's first backpacking trip.

Wakeboarding Woodward and 4 Generations of Hansens

Top of Mount Whitney and Somewhere in Moab, UT