So just in case you think we're some sort of Stepford Mormon family from that last post...we're not...
Here are the other pictures of us at Temple Square. I will say for the record, though, that there is a powerful spirit at Temple Square. And you feel it the second you step onto the grounds. I've been to Temple Square so many times and it feels like home when I'm there. We wanted to take the boys to Temple Square in preparation for General Conference and to teach them more about the temple. We were really fortunate to have Aunt Annette come along with us for part of the day.
This is how we'd like you to think of us, all the time. Perfect family, being perfect.
But this is really more like it. One kid not paying attention and the other screaming bloody murder to the looks of passers by, Mom and Dad looking weather worn and tired -- because no one likes to sleep at night!
Does the fountain between the South Visitor Center and the Temple have a name? I've always called it the Giant Clam fountain, because that's what it looks like. Anyway, the boys were fascinated with the fountains on Temple Square. I wanted to have a lesson on living water, but I was too busy trying to keep them from falling in, which Jeffy almost did several times at the Seagull Fountain.
James and I at the base of the Salt Lake Temple.
Joseph and James at the same spot. I'm sure are wondering where was Jeffy? He was having none of these pictures.
Except this one. He consented to having his picture taken for about 3 seconds.
On the South-East stairs of the temple I wonder which of our relatives climbed these stairs and entered the temple here?
In the North Visitor Center at the Christus statue.
James at the Christus, right before he scaled the thing...and I mean, climbed up in the arms of Christ. I might have laid an egg at that point, and was very thankful we were not invited to leave Temple Square.
Both boys at The Christus. We could not get Jeffy to turn around for a picture. He's 18 months and clearly has a mind of his own.
The top of the Seagull Fountain. That's the fountain that Jeffy was trying really hard to fall into.
A side relief of the Seagull Fountain. I love the story of the Gulls and the Crickets. I think I would have been devastated to see the crickets eat my hard work and food for the next year. But then to see the gulls come and save everything would have been miraculous.
Inside the Joseph Smith Building. James recognized him right away.
There is an excellent exhibit in the Church History Museum right now about the LDS Church and the Boy Scouts. This neckerchief was given to Pres. David O. McKay, a relative, by a troop from Mississippi. For those of you that want to know. David O's father is David McKay, who is the brother of my third great-grandmother Wilhelmina McKay. They joined the church in the middle of the night in Scotland and then came to America with the Saints. They settled in Huntsville, Utah.
...and to finish up a thought from this last caption...there is also at the Church History Museum a WONDERFUL exhibit of Norman Rockwell's Scouting paintings. I love Norman Rockwell, his talent was so amazing, and I love how he just perfectly captured the American spirit and the spirit of boys. Thankfully, my parents were up at Temple Square the week before and were able to stop in and see this exhibit.
Mom also ran into Uncles Monroe, Barry and Quinn at the Lion House eating lunch the day she was at Temple Square (Dad was at the Church Historian's office doing research). The Uncles were sitting at the table next to her, talking about Huntsville. The only people that talk about Huntsville are people that are from Huntsville. We'll you know, we're McKays and we're all from Huntsville, and we all love it there. They talked to her at length about her Dad, my Grandpa Ernest, who everyone called Bud. Jeffrey is named after him too. Grandpa Bud died early, and I think our family has missed him these many years. He and Grandma were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, so it was especially nice to be there.
This weekend, watching General Conference, we saw the fruits of our visit to Temple Square. James and Jeffy both recognized the Temple and the fountains and were excited (for about 4 seconds each) to see these things on TV. It's important to teach our children the importance of the temple, and it's important to take them to the temple and to have them see us prepare to enter the temples to worship as well.
“When we dedicate a house to the Lord, what we really do is dedicate ourselves to the Lord’s service, with a covenant that we shall use the house in the way He intends that it shall be used” Joseph Fielding Smith
"Then Solomon assembled the eldersof Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion." 1 Kings 8:1
“We are trying to save the living and the dead. The living can have their choice, the dead have not. Millions of them died without the Gospel, without the Priesthood, and without the opportunities that we enjoy. We shall go forth in the name of Israel’s God and attend to the ordinances for them. … We will build temples and officiate therein for those … who would have received the truth if they had had the opportunity” Pres. Brigham Young. (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 404).
“Having in mind the importance of temple work, wouldn’t it be wonderful if every Latter-day Saint home had in the bedroom of each boy and each girl, or on the mantle of the living room, a fairly good-sized picture of a temple which would help them recall, frequently, the purpose of these beautiful edifices” Pres. Spencer W. Kimball. (“The Things of Eternity—Stand We in Jeopardy?” Ensign, Jan. 1977, 7).
“Truly, the Lord desires that His people be a temple-motivated people. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it” Pres. Howard W. Hunter. (“The Great Symbol of Our Membership,” Ensign, Oct. 1994, 5).
"And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind." Ether 2:3
"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Revelation 21:6
“We have now finished this temple, and some people inquire, what is it for? For many things: that our sealings and ordinances may be performed in a manner that will be acceptable before God and the holy angels; that whatsoever is bound on the earth according to the laws of the eternal priesthood shall be bound in the heavens; that there may be a connecting link between the living and the dead” Pres. John Taylor. (in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Latter-day Prophets Speak [1948], 134).
We were in Utah last week therefore no posts. I just ran out of time and gas to get anything pre-posted as well. This baby is kicking my butt more than I care to admit. Even with the new thyroid meds that have helped me TREMENDOUSLY, kicking my can.
Usually, you know after I go to Utah, I have to have a talk with Utah about Utah. Not this time. Sure there was a plethora of big trucks, copious amounts of big hair but for the most part Utah, you behaved yourself nicely. Thank you.
But I've mentioned before in Utah you can buy your food storage right there in the grocery store. It's nice really. Here in The Land of Enchantment food storage and emergency preparedness might as well be a foreign language. Obviously in the Latter-day Saint community we're trying, but as a whole....nothing.
All of that said made me turn to my friend the Internets to find what I needed. Here is what I found, and there is so much information out there it can make you spin dizzy circles and want to sit and eat chips instead (although, eating chips is always fun).
The question that unexpectedly presented itself was, Package vs. A La Carte?
Some companies offer "package" deals. What this means is they have pre-prepared, just add water meals for sale in three, six and twelve month supplies. They are kind of pricey up front, but you get all of your food taken care of all in one purchase. You also don't have to worry about what to do with a pail of wheat and powdered milk. I will admit, I have no idea how to cook from that kind of scratch. Some of these companies do sell some of their items "a la carte", which means you can buy individual items or certain items by the case. However, there is not much selection for a la carte items on these sites and there are better places to buy a la carte.
The top three sites I found for package deals are:
Daily Bread and Wise Foods will even send you a free sample if you send them an email. We've tried both samples and both were very good. Like I said, the package deals are pricey, but these three companies do offer payment options as well. Finally, buying with a salesman instead of just off the interent could net you some good deals. I'll tell you all the deals we're going with at the end of this post.
If you're looking for a la carte items there are lots of sites out there. For years I've been getting the Be Prepared catalog. They're good, but lately I've been a bit disappointed with their selection and customer service. I wondered if there were similar companies out there, and there are.
These companies do have some "package deals" but for the most part they are a la carte sales. Some of the package deals, for example, from Shelf Reliance, for the most part do not have pre-made meals. They sell quantities of items like pasta, oatmeal, flour, freeze dried fruits/vegies/meats and so on. Be Prepared does have pre-prepared meals, MREs and bulk items as well. Augason and Honeyville both have flours, beans, powdered milks/drinks, baking mixes and so on.
Honeyville also offers gluten free flours. Obviously as a food allergy family I pay attention to what kind of food allergy options companies offer as well. With all of the pre-packaged foods they are peanut free, but are made on equipment that processes peanuts and tree nuts. That's ok for our family, but for some families that wouldn't be ok.
Other things to remember when buying preparedness supplies is to include "non-food" items in your supply. You will need things like toilet paper, soap, medicines, toothpaste, and so on.
So why now have we finally gotten our act together to do this? Well, our fire evacuation adventures over the summer pointed out our deficiencies as a family in the preparedness arena. Also if you haven't noticed, the world is kind of going crazy. I'm not going to say that I think it will all end tomorrow (although those Mayans might have a thing in 2012 if Obama is reelected.). However, things are bad, and not going to get better for a while --- at least that's my opinion. The leaders of the Church have been asking us to get prepared for a long time. Living here in The Atomic City means we're somewhat isolated. Our grocery store has only about 2 days worth of food for the whole town. I don't want to worry about the store shelves if somehow trucks were not able to get to our town.
We've decided to get the pre-packaged meals from Wise Food Storage. We're going to buy a three month supply and the special that the salesman is giving us will get us an additional month of food for free. Joseph decided that if I die in a freak asteroid accident he and James should just have some "just add water" meals. My own concerns of what to do with a super-pail of wheat were also prominent in our decision. The other thing that was a deciding factor was that Wise Foods come in mylar pouches of 4 serving meals and then plastic storage buckets. Some companies sell their meals in #10 cans, which for us would have been almost impossible to store. The buckets also stack and are fairly compact. We've already been able to figure out where to squeeze these in the house as well. I'm going to buy some other a la carte items from Augason and Honeyville as well, but I think we're almost set.
In the end, you have to do your homework and decide what's right for your family. The important thing is to do something. If you can't do everything at once, that's ok, just done one thing a month, set a budget, and get started.
We were happy to be able to spend Easter in Vernal, even if it was cloudy, and dreary and it snowed. It was nice.
I will say this though, no matter how hard I try, holidays like this are always a mine field for an allergy family. I'm still learning what is safe and not safe for James and I do worry about coming into contact with things I have not made myself. The family that sat in the pew during the previous ward's sacrament meeting left a candy apocalypse on the floor,that necessitated a time out in the corner out in the foyer for James while Joseph picked up the remnants of the aftermath. Come on people, your kids DO NOT need candy at church, and especially at 9am church. I'm just sayin'.
We had our own egg hunt and basket time after naps and lunch though:
"Hidden" eggs
The Easter basket
The hunt was on. The beauty of plastic eggs is, no messy dyes, no nasty boiled eggs to contend with and we can throw them all away after it's all over. That is of course after we picked out off of the jelly beans from the insides. Next year I'm taking Allyson's suggestion and putting pennies in them. James loves pennies.
Enjoying the spoils of the hunt.....seriously, Spree jelly beans = candy bliss.
Ah, the joys of the pagan aspect of Easter are so fun. :) We still have a package of peeps. However, I don't think James will share them. He is very territorrial when it comes to marshmellow peeps.
Last week we decided to take a vacation from our problems (Bob) and went to Utah. Just to Vernal mind you. I know there are those that live in the Beehive state that fail to realize that there is life beyond the Wasatch Front. I am here to tell you there is; and it's full of big hair, big trucks and big plaster dinosaurs. And it's all good. Never fear, my post-Utah chat, with Utah will be forthcoming. (Previous chats can be read HERE and HERE and HERE.
It's been about 7 months since we were in Utah last. James has grown up a lot in the last few months. And he really started talking during the trip. It made me laugh a bit, as the Ward Busy Body had recently suggested to Joseph that she'd "heard" that we were getting James tested for speech delays. My advice back would be to mind her own business, but...anyway. He has been verbalizing lots lately, and things just started tumbling out of his mouth, usually when I was in the other room, mind you, but tumbling out none the less.
Words and phrases included: Hi Daddy. Uh-oh Daddy, eyes! (As Joseph was cleaning his glasses) Hi Birdies! Hi Fishies! (To Aunt Celia's fish tank) Hands Want Drink Water Sockies pees. (Socks please) Snack. Apple, apple, apple (must mention, actually eating the apple and not just chewing it up and spitting it out) Rice And of course what 2 year old vocabulary would be complete without copious use of the word NO? We've got NO down, pat.
Aunt Celia has lots of little knick-nacks, doo-dads, chach-kees and whatnots around the house. As you can imagine, James was in love with all of them. He had a little circuit he'd do around the house every day talking to everything.
My favorite were the robin's in the bathroom:
HI BIRDIES
Joseph accidentally broke the turtle on the back porch before we could get a picture of that. Then there were the cars in the garage. That's cars INSIDE the house. And Grandma's red car = Lightning McQueen. He spent a lot of time in there patty-caking the cars and telling them "HI".
Grandma also has an organ in the basement. It was a big hit, usually ending in fits of two-year old wailing and gnashing of teeth if he could not play it. I think a piano is in our future. Course a bigger house needs to come first, but I'm not going to dwell on that right now.
Of course the flowers were in bloom everywhere and totally gorgeous. I think tulips might be edging out gerbera daisies as my favorite flowers. They were everywhere in town. The pink and red ones around the Vernal Temple were the prettiest. Pink outside with red insides. These are some from the Natural History museum's garden:
And of course we were able to go to the temple. Yes Vernal has a temple:
They turned the old Vernal Tabernacle into the temple back in the mid-1990s. It's very pretty inside. I like it there, because I don't know anyone, so I feel no pressure to be social with anyone. It's really the way to attend the temple. I came away with the feeling of TRUTH. That's what I learned about TRUTH. It was good, even if I was alone in the session. James decided to be sick that day, so we divided and conquered.
I also made a "run for the border"...twice.
I know, I know! I live in New Mexico. One of the only things we have going for us here is REALLY, REALLY good food. But, there is no Taco Bell in The Atomic City and sometimes I miss it. There was a Taco Bell on the main drag thru town, right there, begging me to drive thru. So I did. Crunchy tacos never tasted so good. Not even kidding people. I think I could live off of crunchy tacos forever. Somethings never change about me.
The other thing I did in Vernal was watch A LOT of TV. The parents-in-law do not have satellite or cable, just regular tv. Which as you can imagine is bad and good. Bad because we are in a news blackout and good because there are other digital channels that I can watch. One called Antenna TV played re-runs all day. Yes, I watched The Partridge Family every day. I also caught a few episodes of The Monkees. It was made-for-TV band heaven. I also watched a totally good BNL concert on The Cool TV. And if you were wondering, yes, I would buy you a real green dress because I'm cruel. The TV watching was good for me though. It seriously is just a way for me to mentally unwind. And it also helps that there are plenty of people willing to play with the baby while I take a vacation from my problems. :) Thank you Grandma and Aunt Celia.
We also had a nice Easter and some other good adventures, which are for the next post or two....
While at Grandma's house we got to eat the fruits of her garden. And what good fruits they were too....
It would have been perfect had we had some Bulgarian sirene cheese, which is just feta cheese, but better.
Sweet Baby James also loved Grandma's tomatoes. Observe the following situation:
The coast seems to be clear....
So I think I'll just help myself to a little taste...
And hope I get away with it...
And the truth of the story is this. Sweet Baby James LURVES him some tomatoes, carrots or celery. None of those typical kid foods like french fries, nuggets, candies or "fruit" snacks will he eat...none I tell you, not even one! Which is something I'm very thankful for.
You have to feel totally sorry for local news readers and reporters. I'm sure when they went to journalism school they all had hopes and dreams of being the next Woodward and Bernstien or Walter Cronkite. I'm sure none of them envisioned reporting on the opening of nail salons, the latest in Justin Bieber mall wear or traffic construction.
Then you watch the local news out of Salt Lake City and you really, really feel sorry for these poor people. I'm sure no one fights to get on the jello beat or to cover the start of the corn maze season in Utah County.
And here is where I will say, ABC 4 News, your 4-Warn weather is the best. No, I'm serious, the BEST. 4-Warn, gee, I wonder who came up with that?! Brilliant, just brilliant!
Then you watch the KBYU news. It's college kids learning how to be news anchors and news readers and sports casters and weather forecasters...and it just hurts to watch the girl doing the weather say "UM" about 1000 times and it hurts even more to see the boy doing the sports report almost break out into jazz hands, and it hurts even more than that when he throws it back to the news desk and there is a very long and uncomfortable pause and then watching the male anchor say, "Thank you so much that report was SOOOOOOOOO GREAT!" (Soooo great, you'resuch aspecial spirit)But what really was the worst, the cheesiest, the very thing that made your mouth gape open then laugh out loud was when the female anchor asked the reporter after talking about "UTAH'S NEWEST DINOSAUR SPECIES", "Why does Utah have all the MEANdinosaurs?" as if it was a personal slight to her brilliantly quaffed bouffant and sparkly teeth.
All Joseph could say was, "Well, you don't need a microwave to pour that cheese on your chips."
The Atomic Mom reporting....now back to you in the studio.
I came to you again. Somehow I just cannot stop going back to the Beehive State two, three, even four times a year (see also 2007, which was actually 5 times).
When I come to Utah usually we make a stop in Salt Lake City, which is a whole lotta crazy packed into not a lot of space. We didn't this time, we just didn't. And you know what, it turned out very much OK.
I realized that my issues with you Utah, are really issues with the Wasatch Front. So perhaps in the future I'll start writing the Wasatch Front the letters instead of the whole of you, Utah. Vernal is quite nice, in fact, it's very, very nice. And calm, and very country, but not so much that you feel like you've been abandoned on the high prairie and will die of loneliness. There is even a Walmart in Vernal, and as crazy as that sounds, when you have no Super-Big-Boxed-Mega-Store to shop at you feel a tiny surge of glee when you can do all your shopping in one place that does not look like the aftermath of a English football riot.
However, I will say this, despite the lack of talking on cell phones while driving, crazy driving, big hair with bad highlights and a scrapbook store on every corner there were some things that I need to discuss with you Eastern Utah.
What is it with all of the recreational vehicles? Seriously? Do we all have to have a 5th Wheel, a mega truck and a boat parked on the street? The only other thing that you could improve on was that "farm" smell that seemed to be overwhelming at times. Not even kidding....Old MacDonald you were a bit ripe this time around.
So there you have it, my last letter to you this year Utah. I'm sure we'll meet again, soon than we know. Till then take care of these guys for me, K?
And you thought I was home all this time posting on this blog and doing my thing. WRONG! We were in Utah, for my niece's wedding that didn't happen. Which is ok, because in the end it's better to not marry the wrong person. I happen to be an expert in dating the wrong guy and then marrying the right guy. Seriously, I need to write a book, or get a show. Maybe Oprah has room for me on her new TV network. I'll call my show or my book The Spinster's Corner: How Not to End Up Miserable
Random cute picture that has nothing to do with this post, other than it's James and his cousin Nephi in a very cute moment.
But now on to serious things....Ok, Utah, it's time for us to have a talk again. On my last visit I noticed some things. On this visit, I noticed some more things...
First, you are still talking on your cell phones waaaaay too much. Especially when you drive. And let's talk about your driving habits: FAIL! Not even kidding. To quote Joseph, "I'm going to drive in the far right lane on the freeway. I'd like to have only one side of the doors ripped off the car." Seriously people, New York City, in the rain, at rush hour is better than the I-15 at any time of the day. And I say that, having driven both. Oh and another thing in regards to driving. It's best not to flip the bird while in your suit and tie, on your way to church on Sunday morning. I'm just sayin!
Second, BYU Students. I realize Summer term is the best term on campus. Quiet, not-very-big crowds, no lines in the Cougar Cheat Eat. I totally get it, as I once was where you are now. I cherished my summers at BYU. But, I could do without the dirty looks when our family, moving en masse, is on campus. Let's have some perspective -- we were not nearly as annoying as the EFY groups or the Freshmen Y groups. We were almost reverent when compared to those groups.
James and the Barker girls reverently walking thru campus. Examples all!! haha!
Third -- Dear Monte L Bean Life Science Museum: Your taxidermied birds totally freaked me out. Not only were most of them not perched (they were just on their backs, all dead and gone) the lack of eyes was FREAKY! I'm not kidding. All of the birds just had cotton in the eye sockets. It was like revenge of the zombie birds. And let's just say dead fish in jars --- eeeewww! However the crocodile skin was cool.
Fourth -- I am not in love with your mosquitoes, Utah. However, hand sanitizer is great at getting the bites from said mosquitoes to not itch.
Ok, lest you think I've changed my name to Wendy Whiner, I have not. There were some good things to be found in the Beehive State.
One -- An excellent haircut for not a lot of money. Seriously people, I do not know what is wrong with the Frissures in New Mexico, but they are a tragic lot. Fantastic Sams, 45 mins, a 20 year old hair prodigy and $21 later...I have a good hair cut. Now if I could just preserve this moment forever.
Two -- IKEA. Even though the IKEA in Draper is totally picked over and crazyland, it was good. I got some nice new dish towels, a funky-frog-catch-the-food-because-your-child-likes-to-feed-himself-bib thingy, some other dishes for James and a nice big cup of Lingnonberry punch!! Mama LURVES her some Lingnonberry punch!
Frog-bib-thingy with accompanying dishes
New dish towels. I think I am in love with this color scheme. Now to convince Joseph the house needs to be painted this way...not really, the thought of painting makes me cry
Smaska dishes
Three -- and probably, the most important...we got to see the Barkers. We have not seen their family in six years. They all grew up! Laura and Renae totally swooped in, and with the help of Marian took Baby James from me all day. It was weird and nice all at the same time. Believe me, if the scientists at the Lab would get on it, and get that Star Trek transporter made, I'd totally hire them as my babysitters. I love those kids though, LOVE them! It was hard to say good-bye.
Playing with cousins at the park
Joseph and his sister Alisa
Finally, it's good to be home. We drove and drove and drove and drove -- all over Disneyland (no Howard we did not go to Disneyland for reals). James was good though, very good, for one so young and full of pip and vinegar as he is.
So now we're home -- the house didn't burn down (seriously fire burning right up the road today and it's very smelly), the car seat needs to be cleaned out and I am more tired that I need to be. I'm not sure where to start on all that which needs to be done. We've been off our schedule for about 3 weeks now. So, if anyone can come over and boss me around that would be great.
Former high school civics teacher, turned Hausfrau and mother of the year to my offspring. Arizona, New Mexico, Berlin, Bulgaria, BYU. Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you bring me a pan of enchiladas we can be friends.
