Delight in Everything

So I found an old photo of Bri and I just wanted to have fun with the processing. Enjoy! (I promise the original photo is not that interesting.)

Here are some photos that I have been meaning to blog for a while now. Enjoy.


Brianna riding a horse at a birthday party.


Ty falling asleep on the floor with his head on his teddy bear after a hard day of canning food storage.


Brianna performing at her music recital.


Here is my most recent picture of Auntie Maren.

Arick and Brianna had the opportunity to attend basketball camp a while back and they had a great time, Arick especially. Hopefully they can do this again next year.

This year we have been focusing on following the counsel of our Church leaders to be prepared for adversity (you can read more about it here at www.providentliving.org). We have put together 72 hour kits (we assembled ours using this guide from Red Cross) , we have 3 months of basic pantry staples on hand, and have put a side a small amount of cash for emergencies. Included in the food storage is what you see in the photo below. We purchased things like flour, wheat, sugar, beans, and rice in bulk and packaged them in cans which are cheap and pest free. The kids had a great time helping us fill the cans, label them and sort them.

Here is a blog with some great recipes using common food storage items: http://everydayfoodstorage.blogspot.com/

My happiness has just increased 10 fold. I just found out that Trader Joe's is coming to Nashville! I absolutely adore this store (http://www.traderjoes.com/) and I really look forward to eating healthier foods at a reasonable cost. Woohoo! Leave a comment and tell me your favorite products from Trader Joe's so I can add it to my shopping list.

If you open a package of Oreos and find only the chocolate wafer cookies with the stuffing licked clean, then you can bet that Ella has found your cookie stash.

I forgot to share this story with you all and I want to remember it, so here it is.

A scene at Gigi and Grandpa Craig's house in the spring. Before you read this, you must understand that we eat dinner there almost every Sunday. They serve yummy food and usually buy a fancy dessert. Well Craig has always joked with the kids that he slaved over the dessert in a hot kitchen for hours. The kids all know it is a joke and we all laugh.

(Grandpa Craig) "Arick, look at this cake that I spent all day making. It is seven layers and it is called a layer cake."

(Arick) "You should call it a liar cake."

So here is a little story thanks to Brianna that made me chuckle.

A conversation in the car with Brianna.

(Brianna) "Mom, can I have corn starch, corn syrup and red food coloring?"

(Me) "Why?"

(Brianna) "So I can make [fox] blood?"

(Me, thoroughly confused) "Brianna, you do realize that doesn't make real fox blood?"

(Brianna) "Mooooooooooom!, I don't mean F-O-X blood, I mean F-A-U-X blood."

(Me) Ha-ha-haa-haaaaaa

(Me, after getting some air in my lungs again) "Brianna, F-A-U-X sound like FO, it is French and means fake"

(Brianna) "Well can I make some? I want to freak out Arick."

(Me) "No"