Living In The Last Days

I can post multiple quotes from prophets & even recent talks but this post is going to be way too long... I'm just going to get right to the point. We know we are in the last days & we have been told to get out of debt & build a food storage for the past 75 years! While I was at the cannery this week, I learned that only 5-10% of Latter Day Saints have a 1 year supply of Food!!! That is CRAZY! Tyler & I have felt a huge sense of urgency to be prepared for the past 2 years. We started building our food storage the summer of 2008 but then put it off after Caroline was born. I'm happy to say that we are back on track now & have 85% of our long-term supply of food & about 50% of our supply of water. It hasn't been difficult at all & so my intent is to spread the urgency we feel & encouragement to those of you who aren't currently working on your supply. It's difficult to know where to start. I've been asked by a few people to share my food storage list.

Here is our list of basic long-term food storage items. You can use this as an example, or copy it if you’d like. Every family will need to store food & water depending on it's size. I found a food storage calculator online that helped me with this list & I've catered it to our personal preferences. If you need to figure out how much your family needs click here. We have 2 children & together they equal 1 adult, so we are storing an amount for 3 adults & I rouded the amounts up just FYI. Again, these are our preferences & I give some explanation as to why & where to find the most affordable items:

*Water- 500 gallons Total!!! …That’s A-lot right?!

This is if our water supply was disrupted or contaminated. It’s said that water sustains life & is the most important thing to stock up on. You can’t always cook without water (especially the long-term foods) & your body can’t digest food without water. All this includes water for cooking, drinking, & hygiene but let’s face it, if I have to ration water, I’ll probably be real stinky!

So far we’ve managed to store 200 gallons of water. We’ve stored:
(3) 55 Gallons drums –Cheapest place to buy these is at Emergeny Essentials @ $39/each
(2) 15 Gallon drums- found at Macey’s
(1) 5 Gallon- Macey’s …we plan to buy a lot more of these b/c if we ever have to leave our homes, we can take these with us. The 55gal drums will be too heavy to lift.
Water Gallon jugs & water bottles- Every time we shop at Costco we buy a flat of these

*Some important things to know about water: Don’t store directly in the sun (Algae will grow), Don’t store on concrete, it will sweat so you need to place your water drums on wood crates. When storing water, containters must be food grade only. And Don’t store your water near any chemicals… somehow the chemical “flavor” can leach into the water i.e. gasoline

Grains- 900 lbs Total

*Hard Red Wheat- 300 lbs
*Spelt- 50 lbs
*Kamut - 50 lbs
*Barley- 50 lbs
Oatmeal/ Quick Oats- 75 lbs
Cornmeal- 75 lbs
**Flour- 75 lbs
***Rice- 150 lbs
Pasta- 75 lbs

*If you had to go from your diet now to mainly wheat, you would get really sick & have all kinds of digestive issues. That’s why we’ve added these other grains to our food storage. They are higher in nutritive quality & when combined with the wheat, the body can digest it with ease. The best place to purchase the hard red wheat is through the cannery in Lindon. We order Spelt, Kamut, & Barley in bulk from Azure Farms (online- it’s best to find people who want to order things with you so the shipping is cheaper, but its reasonable shipping still).

**Flour typically has a shorter shelf life when stored in bags & buckets that you open and close. When canned (include oxygen absorber), it has a 10+ yr shelf life. You can “check out” a canner from your local cannery for free so you may can @ home instead of at the cannery. It’s so super easy to can, I promise! Call me if need & I’d be happy to help out! The cheapest place to buy flour right now is from Costco.

***If you can the Rice it will last 30+ years & the cheapest place to buy it right now is from Costco also.

Legumes- 180 lbs Total

*Dry Beans (Black Beans, Pinto, White Beans, Lentils)-150 lbs total
Dry Soup Mixes or Canned Beans- 30 lbs

*Cheapest place to buy beans is from the cannery.


*Sugar- 180 lbs Total

**Honey- 45 lbs
***Raw Organic Sugar- 100 lbs
****Agave- 20 lbs
Pure Maple Syrup- 15 lbs

*There are plenty other options for sugar that we’re planning on adding to our food storage b/c lets face it, life is better & sweeter with sugar! So some other kinds of sugar to add: Jam/freezer jam, Jell-O & Pudding, Brown Sugar, Molasses, Stevia

**The most affordable honey I’ve found is from alpinefoodstorage.com This contact is in Highland so you can pick-up your orders & don’t have to pay shipping for any these products if you’re in Utah.

***Costco carries the Raw Organic Sugar now! And I it’s only apx $6 for a 10lb bag.

****Most affordable Agave found at Azure Farms for $33.15/gallon.


Fats & Oils- 50 lbs Total

*Coconut Oil
**Olive Oil
Mayonnaise(rotate)
Peanut Butter (rotate)
Salad Dressing (rotate)

*Coconut oil is the smartest, healthiest fat you could consume! We love it. But if you want the health benefits from coconut oil, you want to only use raw unrefined coconut oil. If it says “expeller” on the bottle it’s refined & flavorless, but it will also say raw or pure. This is EXCELLENT for long-term food storage b/c it’s shelf life can last indefinitely if stored correctly… in a cool/dry & dark place. Azure Farms sells coconut oil for $51.70/ gallon.

**Olive Oil is most affordable through alpinefoodstorage.com (6) 1 Gallon Tins for $125 & it’s shelf life is 15 years! Amazing…


Milk- 225 lbs Total

*Dry Nonfat Milk (powder)
**Dry Chocolate Milk ;o)
Canned Coconut Milk (Rotate in 3 month supply)
Evaporated Milk(Rotate)
Sweetened Condensed Milk- (Rotate)

*You can purchase 25lbs dry milk through the cannery for $35.40. And when Macey’s has their sale, that’s a good time to buy the big buckets from there… They’re having their food storage sale in April sometime.
**Only Macey’s (that I’ve seen) carries the Dry chocolate milk… a must for Tyler & Preston!

*Cooking Essentials

These are your staples for putting meals together with the above ingredients. You can choose whatever you desire. Here’s what we’re storing:
Salt & Pepper
Beef & Chicken Bouillon
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Yeast
Vinegar
Seasoning Salt
Garlic & Onion Powder
Parsley
Cumin
Cinnamon
Vanilla
Dried Onions (buy from the cannery)
Dried Carrots (Cannery)
Dried Apples (Cannery)
This is what I’ve thought of so far… I’m sure there’s more we’ll want

*Alpinefoodstorage.com also sells butter & cheese is a can which sounds both disgusting & utterly Fantastic! These are pricy but worth it! When you don't have these options anymore you'll take what you can get. Also I've seen powdered eggs at Macey's.

This seems overwhelming if you’ve not started yet. But just take each month & focus on a category and then take an inventory every 3 months to see where you’re at. Don’t feel like you need to get it all overnight! If you do, you will create way too much stress for yourself. But be consistent & don’t put it off any longer. Don't wait for a catastrophe to hit to prepare. I hope this helps you. Please leave any suggestions or opinions you may have, I’d love it! If anyone is interested in making a purchase from Azure Farms, let me know b/c I’m planning on making a purchase within the next month. Feel free to come over & check out our supply to get an idea. There is safety in listening to the prophets & they have asked us to do this. It would be easy and more fun to invest your money but it's more important to invest it in your emergency preparedness. When you do this, you are being obedient. And the security you will feel from being prepared & doing what the prophets have asked is worth all the time, effort, & money, I promise.

Caroline

"SWEET CAROLINE! (doo, doo, doo) Good times never seemed so good!!"

I just LOVE you baby girl!! A few things about Caroline at 10 months:

• You have The Bluest, most beautiful eyes!


• The dark hair is slowly starting to fade ;o( A few people have actually asked me if I've colored your hair! NO! But I have had to give you 4 haircuts lil lady. Not including the countless bang trims. You have been blessed with a beautiful head of hair ever since you were born.


• You started crawling in your 9th month & you have the funniest crall I have ever seen! You manage to keep one leg forward in a sitting position & crawl with the other leg. It's too dificult to explain in words, but basically your one leg & both your arms do all the work. It's looks tiring & the one leg that stays in front gets so dry from rubbing on the ground as you crawl. You scoot in circles on your bum too & that is hillarious to watch.


• You suck both your thumbs and they're both so chapped and dry! I'm constantly putting lotion & lavender on them.


• You are so squishy & you have the softest skin. Someone told me today you were a "marshmallow baby". I love to hold & cuddle you & kiss your smooshy cheeks.


• Miss Independent! You refuse to be hand fed by mom & dad. You only prefer that we put the food in front of you on your tray... little stinker. You rub your food through your hair & pretty much get it EVERYWHERE. I'm sorry to tell you that you have that same funny itch in your ears that your Dad gets whenever he eats & you rub your ears the same way Daddy does which cracks us up everytime!


• You eat a ton... sometimes to the point of throwing up so we have to manage what you eat. But most of the time you let us know you're done by clamping your mouth shut & turning up your head.


• You Love Preston. When he gets down on the ground with you, you wrestle him & give him big open mouth kisses. He takes All your toys away from you & puts them up high so you can't reach them but you still love him ;o) You Love Mommy. Everytime I leave the room you cry. And if you can, you follow me from room-to-room. You love Daddy too! You always greet him with Big smiles when he comes home from work & they melt his heart.


• You clap your hands & open your mouth real big! It's the cutest thing. Anytime we say "yay" you start clapping.


• You Growl A lot! And grunt and make other noises that don't sound like they should be coming from a little lady. You're the most "talkative" in the car & you make a lot of other strange noises that are really funny to listen to. Your favorite thing to say is "DA DA" and you growl as you say it! We repeat you & you repeat us as well ...again and again ;o)


• You also say "Mom" & "Ma Ma" You usually say this when your hungry. I am still nursing you!! But I'm looking forward to being done in a couple months.


• You stick out your tongue all the time and make funny noises with it. You're such a funny little thing. So playful & full of so much personality.


• You're bottom two teeth are barely starting to come up but haven't broke through yet... Any day now!


• So far we've given you the nick-name "Care Bear" And Daddy has given you the Most annoying nickname of all... it's hardly a nickname, more like a sound effect but would be spelt something like this, "Zaboozee".


• Every bit of you is teeny-tiny. From your cute botton nose to your round chubby toes. You're a petite little munchkin & we love it!
  
• You love to be sung to. Here's one we sing often:
  
  "Makin' up a song about Caroline. She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pall of mine! She's as cute as a button in the eyes of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Car-ol-ine!" -From the movie Coraline

We Love you Care Bear!!

(I will post Preston's update next week since the last post was all about his potty training)

POTTY POWER!!

Tyler & I have been anxiously waiting for this day to come! Preston is finally potty trained... woot woot!! I want to shout it to the world, I'm so proud of him! Life just got a little easier now that my 3 year old is out of diapers. We are over joyed & Preston loves wearing his big kid underpants ;o) On two different occasions he told strangers, "I got Buzz Wightyear big kid underwears!"

So here's how we did it:

I talked to family & friends with boys to get any tips & ideas that would work. I've read a lot about making sure to start potty training when your child is ready & to watch for certain signs. He was showing a few of the signs so we decided to just go for it! Before we actually started we checked out books at the library about potty training & also a movie called "Potty Power". They totally motivated him but I warn you... if you decide to check out this movie, it is seriously annoying & you will have all the songs stuck in your head. The next week, I took Preston to the dollar store. My sister-in-law Traci & my friend Angela both suggested the dollar store prizes as potty incentives. When we were at the store Preston couldn't believe I was letting him get whatever he wanted. The look on his face was total excitement, it was cute. I arranged the prizes & treats on a poster board I set them on display...

It totally worked! I have to thank Traci & Angela!! We had a rough start at first b/c Preston had to grasp the concept, but he caught on quick and after a week he is totally potty trained & doing it all by his self! "Wike a big kid!"

My Birthday Surprise

When I woke up the morning of my birthday (last tuesday) this is what I saw when I went downstairs... streamers & balloons everywhere ;o)

Tyler woke up at 5:30am to decorate the downstairs before he left for work. I was so surprised, I loved it! I thought it was so cute & sweet of him to do this for me. My husband is so awesome.



It was a great day. Ty came home from work at 12pm, took care of the kids so I could paint & also take a much needed nap. He also took me out to dinner. It was a fabulous birthday b/c my husband made it so special for me ;o)

tick-tock tick-tock...

Is it just me? Or does time seem to be draaagging? We are ready for warmer weather. This aching, yearning for spring reminds me of songs by Janine Brady (Brite music) from my childhood... "Mr Sunshine... all day long you make the earth shine bright with your warm glow" & "Pitter-patter splash n' splatter little rain drops... can the sky be crying cuz the suns not there". The months January & February are tough months when your living in Utah. But despite being cooped up indoors we've managed to do some fun things this winter. Here are a "few" moments that I managed to capture in the last season.

Playin with cousin "Owee"

Caroline is eating solids now & lovin those beats! They really bring out the eyes ;o)

Bubble baths with big brother!!

Bubbles-a new discovery

taste test...

bubble mess...

LOL!

I LOVE my two little loves