It's begun!!

The 7 day preparedness challenge I have been waiting for has begun! As of today, we are to do no shopping, eating out, or spending money for the next 7 days. Today's challenge consists of a flood having hit our part of town with everyone being evacuated from their homes. We had one hour from receipt of email to grab our 72 hour kits, and leave home for 5 hours. During the evacuation, one family member was injured, cutting their toe. At the end of the day we are to meet at our pre-arranged family meeting place and return to our home. There we will find that there is no power, the food in the refrigerator is unusable, and the basement is flooded! (One good thing about no basements in Las Vegas!!)We are to cook dinner with no power and use no power for lights or entertainment for the rest of the night. What I have realized so far: I have contractors working at my home today, Ed thought I should tell them they have to use hand hammers and drills and see how they reacted! However, since they are working here today I have had to modify my experience. I will leave home after they leave today, Ed and I will meet up at our pre-arranged meeting place (hope he knows where it is!), then return home. We will be cooking MRE's for dinner using one of our outdoor cooking methods (which I just taught in our Relief Society preparedness group a couple months ago), grabbing our lanterns and flashlights and enjoying a simple evening at home! I have been working to get my preparedness status complete, but realized the other day, I haven't got my backpacks with clothing together yet. Of course, I would be evacuating today with no extra clothing, but other than that, I think we can meet this one no problem! Each day will be a new challenge, check back to see our adventure and maybe picture your family in this same circumstance, how prepared are you???

Tribute (?) from an older sister

During the week that Erin and Chris and their family were in transition preparing to move to WA they spent a few nights at our house. I just found this copy of a school essay in the room Erin and Chris were staying in, which is also the room Steve and Lidia have been staying in while they were here. I'm guessing she found it and left it for him. I got such a kick out of it I just had to share, and thought, oh, I should wait till December and post it at Steve's birthday time, but just can't wait! Erin wrote this for an English class in September 1990, maybe eighth grade? (comments in parentheses are mine)

"My little brother was born on Christmas. He was the best present we got, and sometimes the worst. I can still remember all the crazy things he's done and he's only 5!!

Stevie came home from the hospital in a stocking. he looked so sweet and innocent. Boy, has he changed! He gets this look in his eyes. You can always tell when he's up to something. Stevie is full of trouble and mischief. You never know what he'll do next.

One time he got lost at Disneyland at 10:00 at night!! We were with some friends who had gone with us. My mom was watching my brother and the baby. Stevie wanted a drink of water. He walked halfway across the park before anyone noticed he was gone. Finally after about 45 minutes we found him. When he realized he was lost he was so scared. But that never stopped him from getting lost again!! (For several years, he literally got lost everywhere we went!!)

Stevie has also had many trips to the emergency room. Once he got his foot shut in the car door. The door latched with his foot in it. He had to get stitches. He couldn't walk for about two weeks. (Notice she didn't say that it was her that shut the door with his foot in it??)

But on the other hand, Stevie can also be a big help and a lot of fun. He always tries to help everyone. He also likes to make cookies with me. We put in lots of chocolate chips and decorate them with candy, frosting and spreckles. Usually most of the dough is eaten before the cookies can even be put in the oven.

When Stevie was little we went to the mall with my mom. We always parked on the second floor. Stevie walked right into the mall and stuck his head between the bars of the railing. He couldn't get his head out!! After about ten minutes of pulling and squeezing we finally managed to get his head out. But the next time we went to the mall he did it again!!

Life is never dull with a little brother like mine!!!"

I had such a laugh over those memories!! We miss you Steve, Lidia and Abbey, can't wait till you get home!!!

Memories

A former member of a ward we lived in in Calif. posted these on facebook. Thanks for the memories, but were we really that young once?

This is Erin in a stake primary musical production that I remember had something to do with children around the world, hence the costumes. Ed had just been to Japan on a job and brought back kimonos for Erin and Jennifer, so that is authentic!!

Notice Ed's wardrobe hasn't changed in the last 30 years or so, maybe just a little larger size? And, check out that dark hair, not a gray hair in sight!

Washington!!

We made it to Ephrata last night, after only one minor malfunction, we got lost! After a 40 mile detour we got turned around the right way and made it! Ed, Chris and David are now bringing the motor home back to Vegas and I am staying in WA for a while to help Erin get settled, unpacked, kids registered for school, etc. Their house is very cute, huge yard that sometimes has bunnies hopping around! The Relief Society President came by this morning with a plate of cookies. We are really happy for them in the opportunities that will arise here! David was really sad he couldn't stay with his cousins!

More of Saturday

Last day on the farm

Yesterday was a really fun day for the kids. There are lots of cousins here and new friends they have made, both human and canine, and good old Tillie the buffalo! There was another hayride that only David (from our group) had the courage to go on, but they had a great time and didn't get stuck anywhere. His highlight of the ride was the dead deer with no eyes they came across!! They spent most of the day riding the quad, they could all take turns driving and riding in the fields and at 6 am this morning were up and dressed wanting to know how long till they could get on the quad! Cami finally learned how to do the rope swing with no help, and made friends with her 2nd cousin Kylie who is 5. Both girls dressed in pink, long blonde pigtails, and they are inseperable. The boys have been playing freeze tag for hours on end with their cousin Robert, riding the quad, climbing haystacks in the barn, and even put together a football game in one of the fields! They have been playing outside, running, etc. from dawn to total darkness everyday and having the best time ever. Last night was a closing campfire where lots of family stories and reminiscing about those who have passed away took place. Cami saw a baby deer during the campfire, then soon after fell asleep. Poppa carried her back to the motorhome and I was getting her pj's on her, when she woke up. I told her that today we were going to WA to her new house and she started to cry. I thought maybe she was missing her mom, or wanting to go to her old house in Las Vegas, or something, but when I asked her why she was crying she said, "I don't want to ever leave here, I want to stay here with my cousins and the animals on the farm forever!!!" All in all I think we can call this road trip the most "awesome ever"! We are leaving about noonish today to head to WA.

One more picture

The pioneers fording the stream!