herriman fire {being prepared}

My community focuses a lot on emergency preparedness.  I have no excuse to not be prepared because they have walked me through every single step.  We have small weekly goals, monthly goals and challenges that make being prepared fun.  These people have done an amazing job and I attribute my families preparedness to their hard work.  However, as we learned with this fire, you don't really know what you need or what you will want to have prepared until you are faced with a particular circumstance.  I learned that our 72-hour kits that we have worked so hard to prepare and stock were unnecessary for this disaster.  We went to Tim's parents home where they have food, water and first aid supplies.  However, there were some things I was unprepared to take.  Here is what I learned:

1.  Our children have medications that they need daily, or in case of an emergency.  These were in multiple locations throughout the house and I felt frazzled trying to remember if I had everything they needed.  Therefore, I created a specific medication box for these mandatory items.

2.  I have a ton of memorabilia that was heavy and hard to transport.  Luckily, I had plenty of time to get all these items in my car, but in a real emergency I would have had to walk away from them.  I would have never had enough time.  Therefore, I decided that I needed {most} of my memorabilia in containers that are easily transportable.

3.  I love my snack box.  It was such an awesome thing to be able to grab.  I wasn't sure how long we'd be sitting in the car waiting to leave town, but I was happy to be able to grab these quick snacks just in case.  My kids had been worried and stressed out.  It was nice to be able to offer them a snack in the car.

4.  And you know if you're going to have a snack, you need something to drink.  I was so grateful that it was soccer season and that I kept bottled water stocked in the fridge.  I didn't have time to fill 5 water bottles before we left.

5.  I am so happy that my older kids pick out their own clothes.  They were able to pack their backpacks with clothes, pajamas and everything they needed.  I didn't have time to check their stuff, but was pleasantly surprised to open their backpacks at Grandma's and see that they had everything they needed.  {Of course, I was the one who remembered to grab their toothbrushes}.


That's all.  I was once again reminded that being organized is such a blessing.  If you're interested in a checklist of things we took, here it is.  Computers, Legal Documents File, Memorabilia Containers, Medications Container.  Done.  Seriously, that's all...besides our family and cars.  Experiences like this make you realize that there is very little "stuff" in our life that we actually need!