72 Hour Emergency Kits

This past week we have been speaking to the girls about BEING PREPARED! So we decided that it was time to beef up our 72hr emergency kits. For those of you who don't know what a 72hr kit is - then you should know that it is everything that you would need to survive for 72hr's. Unfortunately in today's world you never know what could happen so it's important to always be prepared. More importantly though, we have been counseled by our prophet and the president of the United States to do this.

So we took the girls to Cabela's to pick up some emergency items to go inside our individual backpacks. What a learning experience this has been for them. Needless to say, they now know all about emergency blankets, compasses, waterproof matches, hand and foot warmers, and everything else that you can imagine.

We did however, finally decided to upgrade some of our backpacks and lucky for Zack he gets to carry the big one now. ACTUALLY, he won me over on this one because he will be needing it for a 50mile hike that he will be doing this summer with the young men since he got a new calling. He is no longer the ward librarian - BUMMER! He is now the priest advisor for the young men so his ginormous backpack will come in handy even if there is no emergency.

His picture speaks volumes, but he is prepared - ARE YOU?

It's heavier then it looks!

RAQUEL is prepared - ARE YOU?

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT IZZIE!
IZZIE is prepared - ARE YOU?

KEELY is prepared - ARE YOU?

MACKEE is prepared - ARE YOU?

We all hope and pray that no emergencies ever come our way, but regardless it is a reality that we need to be prepared for. It is our jobs as parent to protect our children and keep them safe so if you don't do it for yourself then please do it for them.
If you are not prepared then we challenge you to become prepared!

72 Hour Kit Suggestions

Enough food and water for 3 days

A change of clothes

Cash

Identification card

Emergency blanket

Whistle

Compass

Hand and Feet Warmers

Waterproof Matches

Newspaper or fire starter item

Flashlight & batteries

Pancho

Water Bottle or Canteen

Knife

Rope

Leather Gloves

Small Tarp

Mess Kit

Small portable stove with fuel

Bathroom items (toilet paper, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap)

Diapers / Wipes

Something comforting from home for your children (stuffed animal, color book & crayons, etc.)

Scriptures

It is recommend that you either vacuum seal your items or put them in a Ziploc bag to keep them from getting wet.

Catching Up!

Now that it's February I have finally found the time to post our Christmas Eve / Christmas Day pictures! Celebrating this last Christmas was so much fun because for the first time in eight years we got to stay home and celebrate under our own tree.

This meant new traditions for our family... On Christmas Eve we got to go visit Santa. Sorry no pics - the kids were to scared! Then we came home and played games together and painted our own ornaments. The kids loved this! I also loved it because it's not only way cheaper but it's also more memorable.

Izzie loved painting for the first time!

Keely and her purple Christmas Tree.

It's her favorite color!

Mackee and her angel because she is one!

Mom and her snowman!



Nice job Dad - it was perfect for his lump of coal!



On Christmas Eve we watched a movie together and then sprinkled reindeer food on the front lawn for Santa's reindeer. It was so magical! You should have seen the girl's faces, they were so excited for Santa to come. When the morning time came we all crept downstairs as a family to see what Santa had left for us....









THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE SANTA CHEESE WITH HIS COOKIES!



Staying home this year as a family was WONDERFUL! I am not going to lie... We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves because we didn't have to run from one family to the next. My favorite part though was being able to have Christmas dinner together. Zack made a delicious ham and I made homemade rolls along with plenty of other side dishes. It was so much fun because I got new table linens and dishes and we let the girls eat on them. They were so excited to have the privilege of eating on grown up plates, and I must admit they did a fantastic job of not spilling or breaking anything.