Easter 2009

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On Saturday our Ward had a Primary Easter activity which was really nice because they focused on the Savior and what the true meaning of Easter is. We went to four mini classes that taught different things about Jesus like:

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1.) How he was born

2.) How he lived and served others

3.) How he died, what happened to the Earth when He died

and His visit to the Nephites

4.) What happened to him after his death (his resurrection)

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The kids got a small reminder to put in their Easter basket from each of these classes. In one they got a CD of primary songs about Jesus, a bag of homemade playdough to represent the clay that Jesus put in the blind man's eyes to heal him, an egg with a tiny baby Jesus inside representing his birth and another egg with a small message inside that read:

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"Jesus died and was put in a tomb,

A caterpillar goes inside a cocoon,

Jesus was resurrected on the third day,

Just as a butterfly emerges to fly away!"

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"A butterfly coming out of its cocoon can remind us that death is not the end.

Jesus made it possible for all of us to be resurrected one day!"

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The children made and colored a butterfly to go along with that quote.

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It was a really neat activity and I thought they did a good job keeping it simple, spiritual and exciting for the little children.

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Brady's Butterfly:

This is a cute poem:

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If you can't read it, it says:

THE JELLYBEAN PRAYER:

"RED is for the blood He gave

GREEN is for the grass He made

Yellow is for the sun so bright

ORANGE is for the edge of night.

BLACK is for the sins that were made

WHITE is for the grace He gave

PURPLE is for the hour of sorrow

PINK is for the new tomorrow."

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We had a really nice Easter with Chris' family in Burley. We decided to go down on Saturday evening and spend the night so we could go to church together. On Saturday afternoon Brady helped Grandpa plant the garden. They planted peas and onions, but I think it's more like "peas and carrots" because Brady followed Grandpa around all weekend!:

Olivia watched from the sidelines

Later that evening Daddy initiated Brady into his all-time favorite Easter tradition: dying Easter eggs! Since I don't like things that are messy (or that can stain) I let them have at it and of course I stripped Brady right down to his underwear!!! Hey, how cool is it to be a 4 year and hang out with your dad for an hour wearing nothing but Spiderman underwear?!

They did a great job and late that nigth Daddy and the aunties hid the eggs in the livingroom for Brady to find the next morning.

Look what the EASTER BUNNY brought!!!

He didn't even miss these two girls!!! Aunties - Shawnae and Chelsae

Our attempt at a nice Easter picture on a windy day...

Later we joined Grandma Jones at the Rehab facility she's staying at while recovering from knee surgery. We brought all of the fixings and had a nice afternoon visiting.

Here's the last of the pictures from when my mom was visiting.

She took some great pictures of the kids!

My Little Lady in Red!

Lunch and playtime at Old McDonald's ... also known to the world as McDonald's!

Brady got so excited when we went there because we'd been driving by the play place for weeks and he kept asking to go. When Grammie told him we were going to go play and have lunch there you should have seen the look on his face! He lit right up and said, "Oh, I am so happy! This is the best day!" (He was clapping his hands too!)

Doesn't take much to please a 4 year old! Now we have to go to the one in Burley because they have some awesome slides!

Olivia had a great time too. There was a little play area just for little ones like her. She thought she was something else playing inside of the "tree" all by herself!

My little Cowboy and Cowgirl "Horsin' Around!"

And last of all, one random picture from when we played at Centennial park in the canyon just below where we live. Brady was a brave boy and climbed the "rock wall" all by himself!

NEW food storage book!!! Crystal Godfrey is the author of this book and her website

Every Day Food Storage

Is an awesome site that I get tips from regularly!!! Her book is available at Deseret Book and on Amazon.com. Check it out!!!

What I've been up to...


I've had several goals for a while now of things that I wanted to do and I got them done this past week!!! Here's what they were:

1.) Order Food storage from the cannery (hard red wheat, dried black beans, powdered milk to start this month) I'm going to be ordering new items every month from the cannery and also focusing on a few things a month to stock up on for a year's supply.


This month I did "Beginning with the Basics" so I got what I ordered from the cannery. I only got 25 lbs. or wheat and 25 lbs. of beans and 12 #10 cans of powdered milk but the next time I go I'm getting my year's supply. I also got brown short-grain rice from Costco (12 lb. bag)


This month I also focused on getting all of my fats/oils for food storage. I have done a lot of personal research this last year on health and nutrtion and have concluded that I will not include hydrogenated oils in my food storage, meaning I will not be using them in my home. I stay away from as many foods as I can that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils in them.
This means that I'm an avid lable reader and have become pretty informed on what products contain what ingredients etc. What I'm willing to sacrifice and what I'm not.


If you're wondering why I'm staying away from hydrogenated oils then you will have to wait for my more detailed post (I'm starting posts about health on "Wellness Wednesdays!!!") Now aren't you excited? But basically, hydrogenated oils are often rancid and old because they have been processed through a method that chemically changes them from liquids to solids. These are also known as Transfats which can intefere with many of our bodies' functions.


So what am I getting for fats/oils?

• Peanut Butter (natural peanut butter is best but I personally cannot stomache it so this was one product I'm not willing to sacrfice)
• Mayo/Salad Dressings (again, contain transfats, but do not use enough to be willing to sacrifice this from our diet)
• Olive Oil Extra-virgin, first cold-pressed
• Coconut Oil Extra-virgin
• Butter (real butter, not margarine etc. I will do a post about this also)
• Powdered Butter (available through food storage sites, I can give more info if you're curious)
• Spray Oil (I also use olive oil in a diffuser most of the time but for baking I like to use PAM even though it isn't the healthiest)

Toiletries: I also got a year's supply of toothpaste, mouthwash, dishwasher detergent and dish soap. I plan to make all of my cleaners (I'll post about that later).


If you're interested in how much of each product I got/how much you'd need for your family you can email me. Also, the church has it on their website: http://www.providentliving.org/



2.) USE MY FOOD STORAGE EVERY DAY:
This means learning how to use my basic staples for everyday meals. I want to incorporate more rice, beans and whole wheat not only because they are very inexpensive foods but because they are whole foods that are very nutritious for our bodies. The goals I accomplsihed this week for learning how to use my food storage:

• Ground my own wheat (I used my blender but I'm going to order a hand wheat grinder. I want to have a hand-operated one in case of power outages etc. but eventually I'd like to get an electric one as well)

• Make homemade bread (this was a little labor-intensive because I kneaded the bread by hand for about 12 minutes). The bread came out wonderful and the smell of fresh warm bread was heavenly. Brady, Livy and I gobbled up 4 slices right away! Even Chris who HATES whole-grain anything thought it was good! I plan on getting a Kitchen-Aid or Bosch sometime this year. I would use a breadmaker but I don't like the shape of the loaf (I know, weird)

Here's the bread recipe I followed:

Basic Whole Wheat Bread Recipe:
Makes 2 loaves

2 C. warm water
1/3 C. honey
1 T. yeast
1/3 C. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
1/3 C. gluten flour
5-7 C. freshly ground whole wheat flour

Directions:

1.) In a large bowl or in a large mixer (such as a Kitchen Aid or Bosch type) combine the water, yeast and honey. Let sit for a few minutes to give the yeast a chance to start working.

2.) Add the salt, oil, gluten flour and 3 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Continue to add more flour until the dough does not stick to the side of the bowl and does not feel sticky to the touch.

3.) Knead for 4 minutes in a Bosch mixer or 7 to 10 in other mixers or 12 to 15 minutes by hand.

4.) When dough has finished kneading let it rise once until doubled in bulk (unless you are using a Bosch type mixer and in this case you can skip the 1st rising). Punch down dough and divide it into 2 pieces and form into loaves and set in bread pans.

5.) Let it rise in a slightly warm oven (this means that you turn the oven on for just 2 or 3 min. or until you can feel the heat and then turn it off, if it is too hot then it will kill the yeast) for 15 to 25 minutes or until the dough is 1 inch above top of pan.

6.) Turn oven to 350 (without taking bread out) and bake for approx. 30 minutes or until golden brown.

3.) Make Homemade Laundry Detergent

Chris thinks I'm completely crazy (and not normal) for this undertaking but it was suprisingly easy and I plan on continuing this. Here's the recipe:

2 C. borax (20 MuleTeam) 2 C. washing soda (Arm & Hammer)

1 3/4 bars of soap (Fels Naptha, Ivory or other mild soap) grated

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large pot with 1 quart (4 C.) water. Bring to a gentle boil and stir until well dissolved. Pour into a 5-gallon bucket and then pour 2 1/2 gallons of boiling water over the top. Stir well, cover and let sit for 24 hours. Use 1/4 C. per small/medium load and 1/2 C. per large/super load.

*Can add a couple drops of a nice mild essential oil to the detergent and mix well for a nice aroma. Mine smells fresh and clean without using any essential oils. Texture of detergent will be a runny/gelled texture. Mix before using. Fine for High Efficency Washing Machines; leaves no residue on machines or clothing.

Why MAKE your own laundry soap?

1 load of laundry normally costs me = 0.15 cents (my brand-name detergent is $8.99 and washes 64 loads)

1 load of laundry using homemade detergent costs me = cents (total cost of 1 batch is $ and washes 128 loads when using 1/4 C. and 64 loads when using 1/2 C.)

• bar soap $0.35 per bar, so $0.61 per batch ($4.90 10 batches)
• borax $0.42 per batch ($3.36 enough 8 batches)
• washing soda $0.37 per batch($2.97, enough for 8 batches)

Total $1.14 per batch = $0.0089 cents per load (less than 1/2 cent per 128 loads using 1/4 C.) and $0.0178 cents per load (per 64 loads using 1/2 C.)

I can wash 1024 loads of laundry (using 1/4 C.) and 512 loads of laundry (using 1/2 C.) for $11.23 which is $2.24 cents more than what it would cost me to wash ONLY 64 loads when I buy namebrand detergent!!! That is AMAZING!!!!

Other uses for Borax: (all on box)

• Laundry booster
• Deoderizing odors from trash, mattresses, pet urine, sour milk, refrigerators
• First Aid: in eyes and when something has been ingested
• Cleaner: porcelain, hard water stains, washing delicates and baby clothes by hand, fiberglass, fine china, himidifiers and toilet bowls.

Other Uses for Arm and Hammer Washing Soda: (all on box)

• Cleaner:cooking grease, oils and crayon. Safe on walls, countertops, refrigerators, appliances, tile, sinks, tub/shower and toilet.
• Unclogging drains
• Increases detergent cleaning power
• Neutralizes and eliminates odors

ZOO BOISE:

These pictures are in reverse from what we did that day but I'm not going to take the time to re-arrange them. While we were in Boise we went to the Zoo, which I have to say I was pretty impressed with. It had a lot more animals than I thought it would have and there were lots of interactive things for the kids to do there. Not bad for a small zoo with an admission price of $6.75 for adults and $4.00 for kids!

Our First Trip To The Zoo!!!

Brady driving the Safari Jeep

The highlight for me were the giraffes. I've always thought that giraffes are such awesome animals and to watch them walk with their lanky gait is really fun. Brady thought they were pretty cool but he has a short attention span! He just ran from one thing to another (creating at one point a little scare as we lost him for about 10 minutes!)

The African area with Lions, zebras and giraffes is a new addition to the zoo and they did a really nice job with the displays and animal areas. We were able to see the lions both from an indoor viewing area and around the side outdoors. We weren't sure but we thought that this female looked pregnant.

Brady in a little Tiki hut

Entering Africa!

The Zebra slide was such a highlight of the day! Brady and Tally had fun taking turns with the other children for a trip down the giraffe's neck!

Life size Eagle's nest

This was the jungle slide. When the kids climbed to the top they were right next to the monkeys, who unfortunately were looking a little depressed that day! Most of the animals were a bit on the sleepy side (we went right after lunchtime)

A gigantic Ostrich Egg - I don't think that's what the momma ostrich was expecting!

Brady, such BIG ears you have!!!

This is a gigantic example of the mud houses that some animals that live in the desert make

The Kamodo Dragon!!!

Brady the tortoise

Standing inside of an example of the largest clam

This poor guy is real - his name is Walter! I'd be depressed if that were my name too!

Tally and Brady infront of the life-size replica of the tiger they just saw

A Tiger's skull is 10 times bigger than the skull of a domestic housecat

Chris met his twin (oh, I mean friend!)

Tally and "Aunt Sandy" roar like Lions!

And Olivia was there too!!! Not many pics of here because she was riding in my front carrier the whole time having a great time!!! She kept laughing, dancing and kicking her legs!!!

The Great White Elephant - I spent most of my time trying to get a smile out of these two!!! You'd think they weren't hvaing fun but they just didn't "have time" for pictures!

Inside the tunnel....

Inside the skylight domes where they could pop up and see the little prarie dogs. This was to replicate their underground homes.