Turlock Christmas Parade

Ashlee, Allison, Mikayla, Alyssa & Landon

Tonight we went to the Turlock Christmas Parade.  My Mom came with my nephews and niece.  Ashlee invited her friend Alyssa and Mikayla invited her friend Allison.  The parade was nice and long.  It lasted about an hour and a half.  The floats were big and most of them were full of lights.  The kids sat along the street and got candy canes, candy, toothbrushes, coupons, etc from the parade participants.  There was one float that had a real camel walking behind it.  All the kids wanted to know where they got the camel.  John told them they got it at Wal Mart in the pet department.  After the parade we took the girls and their friends to Home Town Buffet for dinner, since Chili's was packed.  Sorry the pictures are not great. Our camera is slow and by the time it took the picture the float would be moving past, or the lights would glare in the picture.  And the camel picture didn't come out.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgivng at Danny and Teresa's home in Catheys Valley.  Everything was great.  We enjoy the time we get to spend with family.

The kids opening their pies.   Their pies had special prizes in them for them.

The beautifully decorated table.

 Every year they have some sort of competition.  This year the competition was Ladder Ball. 

Mikayla

Preston

Ashlee

John

Heidi

Libby

 And the winners were: First Place: Sam   Second Place: Libby

Sam won a Costco Gift Card and Movie Tickets.  I won Jamba Juice Gift Cards. 

Thank you for a wonderful day.  Everything was great.

Turkey Cookies

The girls made some Turkey Cookies this morning for a little Thanksgiving treat.

California State Testing Awards

This morning Ashlee was recognized at a school assembly for her high achievements on the California State Test (STAR) that she took in the spring.  She received two awards. One for scoring Advanced in English Language Arts and another for scoring Advanced on the Math portion of the test.  She had a 33 point gain on both portions of the test in comparison to the prior year.  She received two certificates and a medal.

Their school is also ranked as one of the top 10 schools in the state and the 2nd highest school in the county. 

Ashlee with her medal.

Mikayla's 3rd Grade Harvest Party

Today Mikayla's class had their Harvest Party.  The party consisted of four centers:
Gourd Bowling
Cotton Ball Scoop Game
Hand Print Turkey Cards
Turkey Cookies.

All the kids had fun. Here are some pictures from the party.

Gourd Bowling:

Mikayla getting ready to do gourd bowling

Mikayla and Vivien picking up the "bowling pins"

The Cotton Ball Scoop Game

 Hand Print Turkey Thanksgiving Cards:

Mikayla's Hand Print Turkey Card

 Turkey Cookies.  This isn't Mikayla's cookie.  By the time I came inside to take a picture she had already ate her cookie.  Darn it!

Duct Tape Hair Bows

At the girls school carnival their was a booth with hair bows, head bands, masks, etc made out of duct tape.  Now there is a duct tape frenzy going on at school.  Everyone is seeing what they can make out of duct tape.  Ashlee and Mikayla made some hairbows, braclets, wallets and a bow tie for John out of duct tape.  John never knew so many people paid attention to him at church.  The day he wore the duct tape bow tie to church thats all everyone was talking about.  Here are a few of the bows they made.