A Childs Love...

Angela was relaxing on the floor when Tucker gave her a hug. I had to take a couple picts.

Pre-School Graduation

I had no clue that someone could graduate from pre-school, but Carson did it. They put on a good show of the things the kids learned and did during the year. Then he received his 'diploma' and a flower to give to Angela.

It was pretty fun.

Preschool for Carson

Carson attended preschool with Miss Heather for the past few months; here are a few class pictures taken at the end of the year.

He graduated from his few months of preschool on Thursday night. He went up and got his diploma! He's now ready for Pre-K in the fall. It really was a good experience to get him (and me) started in the routine of going to school!

Riding with the Snakes of the Nevada Desert

For my birthday, my sister and father took me for a dirtbike ride (no, they aren't the snakes that the title refers to). On the ride, we saw some really cool snakes!

This Western Diamondback Rattlesnake spooked Teresa while we were looking at some petroglyphs.

This Desert King Snake was enjoying the beautiful weather. It was laying in the middle of the trail, getting some sun.

This season I've been searching for snakes, but this is the first time I've actually been able to see some. It was pretty exciting.

Wildflowers of the Nevada Desert

For a very brief period each year, the Nevada Desert springs into life. Wildflowers bloom, then wither within days.

These are some of the pictures that Teresa and I took.

Boys Playing in Boxes, Again

Anytime there is a box on the ground, the kids climb in. The packaging for our water storage bags / boxes was lying on the floor, so Carson dumped his cars in, then climbed in with Tucker.

They had a great time playing with the cars.

Emergency Water Storage

For a long time, we've wanted to have a decent water supply in case of an emergency. We just never did it. So when Bishop Mueller encouraged the Ward to focus on preparedness this year, we we're excited for the extra motivation.

This month, the focus is water storage -- with the goal for everyone to have one weeks worth of water for their family.

We purchased heavy-duty food-grade mylar storage bags and storage boxes from http://beprepared.com/. This was the 100 gallon boxed water set (http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_KW%20S500_A_name_E_100-Gallon+Boxed+Water+Kit). We liked this kit since it stores easily, provides safe long term storage (we hope), and can be drained and collapsed down if we ever move.

We filled the bags with purified water from a Pur three stage water filter on the bathtub faucet. We then measured and added a little bit of household bleach to help keep the water safe.

Due to some shipping and QA errors at the Emergency Essentials company, we ended with 24 5-gallon storage bags / boxes. Carson was a huge help in filling them.

That shelving unit is storing 147 gallons of water (1200 lbs!)-- enough to last our family for a little over a month.

It is nice to know we are at least a little better prepared.