Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's throughout the world. Heavenly Father has blessed me with an Eternal Father, a great father, a fantastic Dad, grandfather and the father of our children. Any man can be a "Father", but it takes a special man to be a "Dad".
I am grateful for my knowledge that I have an eternal Father in Heaven who loves me unconditionally, who is always aware of me, who gave me an opportunity to come to earth to gain a body, who gave me agency and an opportunity to return and live with him again for eternity.
I was not blessed to know my father growing up but after high school we developed a very special relationship I will always cherish. My Dad was always there for me from the time I was 4 years old, providing for me, teaching me, defending my honor, protecting me, giving me his great big Dad hugs and comforting me when I was sad or hurt. He was the most humble man I have ever known. He holds a special place in my heart. My grandfather helped raise me when I was very young while my mother worked. He took me fishing with him, played with me, made me things using his carpentry skills, and just loved me for who I was. I have been greatly blessed having a husband who loves his children and grandchildren more than himself and cherishes every moment with them. He has taught them skills, the gospel, the importance of respect, honor and to be humble. He helped them with homework, scout projects, took them to daddy daughter activities and so many other things. He has been there in difficult times and fun times.
Thank you to all the fathers and may your day be a very special and peaceful relaxing one!
A Tribute to Fathers . . .
Please, Please, Please . . .
Be ready for what may come your way by having emergency food storage and water storage! It only takes a second for things to change!
I know from personal experience and my children's lives each of our lives are filled with so many things and you feel overwhelmed, family responsibilities, up keep of our homes, friends, caring for loved ones, jobs, church callings, daily personal and family scripture reading, health and health issues, bills, world events and much more. (Oops! Sorry if I just made you feel overwhelmed.) I know you are thinking, all we need is one more thing to worry about. But food and water storage is one of those things that should be at the top of our priorities. Yes, it takes some time and thought but I can promise you it is worth it.
Some say I cannot afford it, but I say you cannot afford not too. If you just purchase a few extra cans or packages or containers of items on sale that your family will eat while grocery shopping, before you know it you will have a month supply, 3 months supply, 6 months supply of food storage. Cut back on things that you really do not need, that are not healthy for your family, like sodas when you go out to eat, or chips and junk food when you go grocery shopping. Take
that money and apply it towards extra cans, packages or containers of food for your food storage. Have a chance jar, when ever you have chance at the end of the day, drop into a jar marked "Food Storage". Use that money when you go grocery shopping to purchase extra food. There are many ways to find money for a few extra cans, packages or containers of food! 
Some say I have no room. I know families you have food storage tucked in places all over their house (under beds, in closets, in cupboards, in side lamp and coffee tables), some keep it in their garage (which is not a good idea, too hot and the food life shelve dismisses faster), some have their food storage tucked under the space/closet under their stairs, and some have special food storage rooms in their basements (love this). If storage is limited, at least store some food and water. Some is better than nothing. Be creative!
Store short term food storage first, canned, packaged or container foods. They are less expensive. Once you have your desired amount, one month three months, six months, then move onto the longer food storage, dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints use to say store the basics first, still a good idea. You can live on them, but it does get a little boring. They say store wheat, whole grains, oats, legumes, beans, and sugar. Also store some multivitamins. Realizing this may be hard for some families, now the church encourages us to store canned, packaged and container foods our family eats, and water. You should still store the basics. store.lds.org has great prices and starter kits on the basics and other items for longer term storage. 
Get the whole family involved. Make food and water storage a family event. Sit down as a family and make a plan, Family Home Evening is a great time to do this. Decide what you need to store and set a goal. When you go grocery shopping take one of the children with you, watch for sales on things your family likes and purchase a few extra cans, packagers or containers of that food. Let the children contribute some of their change to the "Food Storage" change jar. As a family collect plastic and glass bottles, aluminum cans, etc. to recycle and add that money to the change jar. Make this a fun activity for the whole family.
I would rather have food and water storage and not need it,
than have no food and water storage and need it!
1) Antiseptic alcohol wipes (1-2 boxes_
2) Hand sanitizer (2 bottles)
June Monthly Assignment: Paper Supplies
1) Plastic silverware (forks, spoons and knives)--The best place to purchase this is at the big box stores. I find the regular grocery stores are too expensive unless they are on sale during holidays. When we get take out food, like El Pollo or Wendy's chili, we save the plastic silverware they give us and use our regular silverware. We take their plastic silverware and put it in our emergency paper supplies. I have been amazed at how fast this has added up. I keep them in an extra large plastic zip lock bag in a plastic storage container. Remember to store what you will need for each meal for each family member for the number of months you are working towards.
A Surprising Use For Freeze-dried Fruits
NEW NEW NEW WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT
Weekly Assignment: Family Emergency Medical Kits
Many of us have some sort of medical supplies in our homes like
band-aids, alcohol, peroxide, anti-infection creams, pain killers, etc..
Some of us have limited first-aid kits in our cars and home that we
probably have not checked in months, years. Medications do expire!
If there was a major disaster or emergency situation would you have the proper emergency medical supplies to take care of you, your family and help your neighbors. I would say most of us do not! Right?
The next few weeks we are going to work on our Family Emergency Medical Kit. We have done this before but I am sure there are some of you who did not do it, never completed it and some things need to be replaced due to expiration dates. Some of these items can be found at discount stores and drug stores. Make sure you check the expiration dates before purchasing them, you want them to last for at least a year or more.
Note: Make sure you keep this out of the reach of your young children and explain to the family is your Family Emergency Medical Kit/Supplies. If you need to use an items from it, make sure you replace it right away!
If there was a major disaster or emergency situation would you have the proper emergency medical supplies to take care of you, your family and help your neighbors. I would say most of us do not! Right?
The next few weeks we are going to work on our Family Emergency Medical Kit. We have done this before but I am sure there are some of you who did not do it, never completed it and some things need to be replaced due to expiration dates. Some of these items can be found at discount stores and drug stores. Make sure you check the expiration dates before purchasing them, you want them to last for at least a year or more.
Note: Make sure you keep this out of the reach of your young children and explain to the family is your Family Emergency Medical Kit/Supplies. If you need to use an items from it, make sure you replace it right away!
This week add the following:
1) Antiseptic alcohol wipes (1-2 boxes_
2) Hand sanitizer (2 bottles)
You should now have the following in your Emergency Family Medical Kit: Band-aids (many assorted sizes), hydrogen peroxide, antiseptic/alcohol wipes, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer. Go to the previous June 1st and June 8th postings to see these items we have added.
June Monthly Assignment: Paper Supplies
This is a great time to work on storing paper supplies since most stores
have them on sale due to the many holiday and summer activities,
Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Graduations, Summer BBQ, Labor Day, etc..
Figure out how many paper products you will need for your family for 3 months, 6 months or a year. Remember, there are 3 meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Most of us use large paper plates, small paper plates, paper bowls, paper cups for hot and cold drinks, plastic silverware and napkins. You can also include paper towels.
Here is an example: Lets say you are going to store enough large paper plates for 6 months. That would be about 183 large paper plates per person. If you have 5 people in your family, you would need to store 915 large paper plates for 6 months. But remember, that is only for one meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Multiply the number of meals a day you would use the large paper plates. Do the same thing for the other paper products you need to store.
Watch for sales. Sometimes the sales at regular grocery stores and department stores like Walmart are better than the big box stores. Compare the prices and save!
Figure out how many paper products you will need for your family for 3 months, 6 months or a year. Remember, there are 3 meals, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Most of us use large paper plates, small paper plates, paper bowls, paper cups for hot and cold drinks, plastic silverware and napkins. You can also include paper towels.
Here is an example: Lets say you are going to store enough large paper plates for 6 months. That would be about 183 large paper plates per person. If you have 5 people in your family, you would need to store 915 large paper plates for 6 months. But remember, that is only for one meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Multiply the number of meals a day you would use the large paper plates. Do the same thing for the other paper products you need to store.
Watch for sales. Sometimes the sales at regular grocery stores and department stores like Walmart are better than the big box stores. Compare the prices and save!
This week add the following:
1) Plastic silverware (forks, spoons and knives)--The best place to purchase this is at the big box stores. I find the regular grocery stores are too expensive unless they are on sale during holidays. When we get take out food, like El Pollo or Wendy's chili, we save the plastic silverware they give us and use our regular silverware. We take their plastic silverware and put it in our emergency paper supplies. I have been amazed at how fast this has added up. I keep them in an extra large plastic zip lock bag in a plastic storage container. Remember to store what you will need for each meal for each family member for the number of months you are working towards.
So far you should have paper plates, paper bowls, paper cups and plastic silverware.
Emergency Preparedness Ideas:
A Surprising Use For Freeze-dried Fruits
Click here to learn some great easy ways to use your freeze-dried fruits in cupcakes, cakes and cookies.
Great reasons on why grinding your own wheat and other grains is good. Click here.
Mark your calenders, coming soon!
Carson Ward Emergency Preparedness Fair
Saturday, September 6th
9:00 am to 12:00 pm
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
22721 Main Street, Carson, California USA
Comments: Please
post you comments below. We love to hear about your experiences with
emergency preparedness and food storage. We all learn from each other.
Thank you for your comments.
We have some of the old boy scout mess kits, what I like about them is that they are compact and they are easy to store, one thing though, if you are concern with water usage disposable will be the way to go, but storing a large amount can be a problem if you do not have enough space, I would prefer paper vs. styrofoam (paper can be burn for heat, styrofoam does not give much heat).
ReplyDeleteI love the storing paper instead of Styrofoam because as mentioned above you can burn it for heat and fuel. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas.
ReplyDelete