Thoughts On Preparedness

I was talking to my friend Marjorie the other day about how glad that I am that we have been taught to prepare. She is teaching a class on preparedness, and asked me to write my feelings down about it. It was hard. I wish I was an eloquent writer, and could express my feelings really well. I am not. But I feel so strongly about this. I wish I could just tell people to take it seriously- do what you can now, because you just never know when you'll need it. Anyways, here's what I came up with.
 

For years I have heard about preparedness. Preparing temporally and well as spiritually. I have always made an effort to work on these. I have never had a years supply, or even close. We have not had the financial ability to do that yet. But we do have at least a good three months supply. As I have gathered our items, I have sometimes wondered if I would ever even use this stuff, or if it would just go to waste. I have never been in any type of natural disaster. That always happens to someone else, in some far away place. Not us. But I have a testimony of following the prophets, and have tried to follow their counsel. I have gathered items, little by little, and eventually our supply has built up. We have also tried to follow the prophets counsel to get or stay out of debt. It has not been easy, and we have had to make many sacrifices, but we have been blessed to be able to do it. Well, there was no hurricane, earthquake, or tornado. But my husband recently lost his job. It is not a natural disaster. But it could be a financial disaster. I have friends ask, "What are you guys going to do?" or "How are you going to make it?" I am not always sure how to answer that question, because we have no idea how everything will work out. What I do know though, is that I am so grateful that we have followed the counsel of our church leaders to prepare. I am so comforted knowing that we have food to feed our family for quite awhile. I am also so grateful to not have debt. This experience would be much more difficult if we had the weight of debt to add to the normal stress of unemployment. In the Doctrine and Covenants 38:30 it tells us that if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. Of course, like any normal person dealing with unemployment, I worry. A lot. But I do not fear. I feel peace. We have prepared. We have done our best, and I know Heavenly Father will bless us. The time for our family to prepare for this challenge has passed. The test has come- it is here. And thankfully, we are ok. I am so grateful for living prophets who lead and direct us. If we follow their counsel, we will be blessed.

Thanksgiving

We had a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night. I had a turkey that I wanted to cook, and I had all of the fixings, so I decided that it was time. It was amazing- everything actually turned out! I made up my own stuffing from scratch, made my own gravy, and we also had mashed potatoes (thank you Kent), candied yams, rolls, the whole spread. YUMMY. We even had a table cloth, and no pots or pans on the table. I went all out! :) When I put the table cloth on, Reed asked why I was putting that paper thing on the table. It was cloth, and I guess he needs to see a table cloth more often so it is not such a shock to him. Even more shocking for our family, there was NO PLASTIC DISHES! How nice that the kids are kind of old enough that I would dare try glass. Hooray! The only thing that could have made it better was to have family there too.

I did make some rookie mistakes with my turkey, but it was still very good. This is what I wanted it to look like-



This is what it actually looked like. YIKES!



I was supposed to cook it breast side up, and I thought I was. After it was cooked, I started cutting it, and it literally was breaking into two pieces. Kent showed me that I had it breast side down. I couldn't tell the difference. I also cooked it with the giblets inside the whole time. I found out that you are supposed to take them out first?

BUT, it was very good, despite how horrible it looked. Turkey anyone? :)

I realize that I have so much to be thankful for. It is amazing that when I stop to look, I can see all of the good things that are happening in our lives, and how much we have to be grateful for. Yes, this time isn't easy, but I know that everything will work out for our family. For that, I give thanks.

Draper Temple Open House

Last Saturday night our family was able to attend the Draper Temple open house. It was such a great experience, and the temple was so beautiful.

Because of lack of parking, they have you meet at a chapel, watch a short video presentation, and then they have you ride a bus to the temple. The organization was amazing, and everything ran so smoothly. It was a silent tour, so you just walked around the different parts of the temple, and saw all of the different rooms. There were a ton of people, probably because it was Saturday evening. It was long, and I was so proud of the kids. We were gone for 3 hours, start to finish. They were amazing, and they were so reverent. It was hard for me, much less a child. At the end of the tour, we ended up in the celestial room, where they spoke for just a moment. It was so neat to be able to take the kids inside the temple, and let them see the beauty of it, and feel the spirit that was there. They got it. They recognized the spirit, and it was very neat.

After the tour, they have you go to an adjacent chapel for refreshments and the opportunity to ask questions. That is where this picture was taken. It was a great evening. If any of you have the opportunity to go, do it. It was wonderful.

Hoop Dreams

Our Saturdays this past month, have been filled with Jr Jazz basketball. It has been very entertaining, occasionally frustrating, and so much fun! The kids have all really enjoyed playing basketball, and Kent and I look forward to their games.

Player profile: Camille Miles

Height: Way taller than all of the other second graders

Strengths: She is a hustler. When she is out there, she is running, and wants to be in the action.

Nickname: Rebounding Machine

Camille is much more aggressive that I expected. She seems to really have fun, and is old enough to get the game a little. She is a lefty like her Mom. They don't have very many kids on her team, so she plays most of the game. She gets a good work out.

Player profile: McCray Miles

Height: WAY taller than all of the other Kindergarten kids- and he is gaining on his coach

Strengths: Desire, hustle, and rebounding

Nickname: Spicy

A couple of weeks ago, McCray scored 18 points, and 16 rebounds in his game. He had a great game. We found the secret to his success- spice. Before the game he said "I need something spicy. That is what makes me run fast." I had some Binaca type of breath spray in my purse, so I gave him some shots of "spice". And what do you know, it worked. We tried it again last week, and it wasn't quite as effective. If it really WAS the secret, Kent and I would buy stock in the company.

Player profile: Reed Miles

Height: Just about right

Strengths: Capable, aware of everything but the game, loves his uniform Nickname: Typical 4 year old

Note the picture below. What is missing? All of the other players! They are all down at the other end, playing basketball. Reed is often by himself, in his own little game.  

 Reed can do really well. One game he made 4 baskets. But he is just a typical 4 yr old boy. He'll do it when he wants to. Otherwise, he'll be finding all sorts of interesting things to check out around the gym.  

 And Miss Morgan is our little cheerleader. As long as she has her Fufu in tow, she doesn't mind the games at all.

 

Our VIP

McCray was the VIP person today at school. He got to make a poster about himself, and then he presented it to his class. They all got to ask him questions, and I think that he liked it. Because his birthday is in August, they celebrated his half birthday today. He got to hand out life savers for treats to all of the kids. They all seemed to like it. I think his favorite part of all was that his Dad got to be there. When Kent and I walked in, he got the biggest smile when he saw his Dad. I guess there are some benefits to being unemployed. You get to attend your kids events that normally you would miss because of work. We had fun, and are so grateful for McCray. He is such a great little boy, and a good example to the kids in his class, and all of us.