Our Halloween Pictures

So far we have a tradition of sticking to a family costume theme every year. Since we now have little girls it looks like we'll be pretty limited in our options. Steve was a King, I was a Queen and of course we had 2 little princesses

Kiera was pretty excited about the trick or treating. Fun to watch.


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The loot. Too bad Kiera REFUSES to try any candy other than suckers and smarties (that's Kiera for ya)....I guess her poor unfortunate parents will have to dispose of the rest of it for her.


Lydia was fairly oblivious to the entire thing although she does like putting on dresses and spinning around (like Kiera) so she was happy to prance around in her princess dresss. What a little girl!

72 hour kits....FEEL THE GUILT...CHECK YOUR OWN KITS

Yesterday I went to a Preparedness Fair that my stake put on. Ever since General Confrence I've been meaning to go through our 72 hour kits and make sure that nothing was expired etc.. (My goal is to do it every October during Saturday General Confrence) It has been on my to-do-list for a month but I decided I'd better do it before I went to the Preparedness Fair.
First, I don't think I quite have enough water for my family of 4 for 72 hours. Secondly, if you notice the boxed water in the middle is deflated since it leaked everywhere and made things moldy. (Good thing I checked my kits!)



Thanks to my parents who gave us lots of good stuff for our kits a while back.
The large yellow object in the picture is a flashlight/radio that can be powered via adaptor, batteries, or by a hand crank. Also, there is a flashlight that you just have to tip back and forth to create power (yeah for not batteries!). I put the latern in the kit but I just now realized that I've never used it (and don't know how) and it is pretty heaving so it is probably not a good choice for a 72 hour kit. The 100 hour candle is good (and waterproof matches).


Other good stuff from my parents: ponchos (although it hardly EVER rains in So Cal). Survival blankets, and pastic shelters.

Also good to have: hygine items and first aid kit. Don't fort get to include any medications that you can't live without.

This was recent addition to our kits: I made copies of all of our important papers (birth certificates, drivers licences, insurance policies) and put them in a little book. That could come in very handy someday. I still need to add Lydia's birth certificate...


Here is where my 72 hour kits FAIL. This is all of the food that was in my kit... as if that would sustain my family for 72 hours! What's worse is most of it expired in 2007! I can't see my kids munching on the emergency rations even if they were hungry. So, I thought I'd add a can of toddler formula (light weight, nutritious and shelf stable) and I'll add crackers, dried baby cereal, and applesauce.



Lastly, I had these in my kit. I don't think us southern californians really need winter hats or mittens. The blanket I guess is a good thing to have (although bulky), There is a real nifty little toilot paper/rubbing alcohol heat source container that once again I don't think is necessary here. Maybe in it's place I should pack LIFE JACKETS since everybody knows that California is going to fall off into the ocean any day now. Lastly, next to the rubbing alcohol there is a random little gaget that I have NO IDEA what it does (anybody know what it is ?) so if I don't figure it out, I'll chuck it.

Missing from my kits: I need to get diapers, WIPES (A SURVIVAL ITEM) and a change of clothes for my kids. Also a bottle would be handy to have.

After going to my preparedness fair I think it would be a good idea to store gasoline too. If there was a huge earthquake it might be very hard to come by. A car could not only get you places, but it can be a way of staying warm, listening to radio, shelter, etc..

Please feel free to point out anything you see I've forgotten in my kits. Good luck with your own!

Halloween Fun

Every day can be Halloween when you have little girls to like dress-ups. We are always parading around the neighborhood in dress-ups (I think Kiera thinks people are peaking out their windows watching her parade or something).

Oh, I love how Kiera is just a bit scared of the construction-paper witch face that we made that is hanging on our front door. "Kiera, will you go find your sippy cup in the living room please?" ....(hesitation)...."mom there is a *witch* in there!"

Funny Kiera Story:

Today we only got to see Steve for an hour (4pm to 5pm). As a few minutes after Steve left to go back to school Kiera said dramatically, "I wish that I could see my daddy again...just for a moment...I miss him so very much" (for those of you who are not too quick on your princess movie quotes, that was a direct quote from Beauty and the Beast).
Personally Kiera, I'd like to see him for a little more than a moment.

Pumpkin Patch...

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR. I guess for us Californians we have to do extra-autumny things so week can feel the season a bit since there are not leaves changing on the trees. We went to the pumpkin patch twice this week and today we made pumpkin cookies. I have all of my autumn decor up (steve made fun of me because I put it up 2 days before october because I couldn't wait). Kiera loves singing songs about ghosts, witches pumpkins. I love it.

Great News for Us!!!!

We have 2 items of great news:

1. We officially have our husband/daddy back. Yeah for 3rd year dentistry! We actually get to see and spend time with Steve when he is done with school for a few hours almost every night. It is WONDERFUL. I'm so glad my husband is not a doctor or we would still be enduring the hard part...hats off to all you medical student's wives.

2. We got a scholarship from the National Health Service Corps! We got a "congrats" letter today. So what does that mean? It means we pay nothing at all for our last 2 years of dental school, PLUS they give us $1200 a month to live off of. In return, we have to commit to live/work in 1 of the medically underprivileged communities for 2 years. But there are at least a hundred cities to choose from. It is sort of like the military, except I don't have to worry about being separated from my husband or worry about him being in the middle east. It is SAFE and we are TOGETHER which is all I care about. Yippee! We are very excited. So far, cities that look interesting to us include Bakersfield CA and Medford Oregon....but I guess we still have 2 years to decide and their might be other options by then.

Lydia's 1 year pictures

That a lot of cuteness. Too bad the photographer spent the entire time she was actually SMILING trying to get her to hold a lame sign that said "I am 1" right side up. I've learned.