Ice Castles

This past Saturday we drove up to Midway to see the ice castles. Justin's cousin Noelle and her darling family live there and blogged about how cool it was so we thought we'd go see for ourselves. It was pretty awesome and Beck seemed to like it. After touring the castles we explored Midway a little and went to visit the Olpins. They took us to dinner at a super yummy mexican restaurant right across the street from their house. We had so much fun catching up with them and watching Beck taste a lime for the first time. We couldn't stop laughing. On our way home we stopped by Jordan's going away party at Belmont but didn't stay long due to a very sleepy baby. I forget how late single people like to party! It was a fun day also including a morning run for me to babies r' us and Justin was able to go shooting with Jordan one last time before boot camp. Lucky for us, the weather was perfect for a fun day out and about! Saturdays are the best!

Driving into Midway we saw these four giant elk sitting in a field.

Needless to say, Justin thought it was the coolest thing.

Jordan

We are so blessed to live in such a wonderful country. Even with the war in Iraq and many feeling there is no end in sight, there are still so many young people excited to serve. Justin's brother Jordan left last night night for boot camp in San Diego. We are so proud to have a future Marine in our family and pray for his safety and success. GOOD LUCK JORDAN!!!

"light" and food storage

Little Beck is my world. Being a new mom and a stay at home mom is more than a blessing. Even on difficult days, like today, with teething and lack of sleep it is pure bliss because of all the little special moments. Todays special moment happened after nap time. I noticed a couple of days ago that when I get Beck out of his crib, the first thing he does is franticly look up and try to find the light fixture and stare at it until I flip it on. Then he usually smiles. It cracks me up. Today after finding it, still groggy from his nap and satisfied after turning on the light I sat in the glider and said the word "light". He looked up and stared. I did it again and again he looked. He knows the word "light" and I love it! What a wonderful word right?! Light. It seems like such a small thing but it seriously made my day.

4 new teeth coming in on top

On another less exciting note, last sunday we had a combined relief society/priesthood lesson on food storage and financial security. It hit me hard. I walked out to the car after class totally stressed out about how unprepared we are. A list of things we needed ate at my brain all day. A fire escape ladder (we live on the 3rd floor), food, water, first aid kit, 72 hour kits, copied personal documents... just to name a few. So I've decided to start with 72 hour kits and to start building my food storage supply by buying a few extra cans of food every time we get groceries. I went to the store this week and also pulled a few cans from my pantry and stored them in a separate place. If disaster strikes tomorrow we have about 12 cans of green beans and corn to live off! I went through our stuff and found some extra back packs to use for the 72 hour kits but thats as far as I've gotten there... I have a long way to go but I figure I'll just make a list and start collecting things when I can and cross them off. The bishop talked about the importance of not only being prepared for what my family needs but having enough to help others as well. I'll get there. If anybody has any tips on this subject I'd love to hear them!