Oh boy

When Jeff gets home from work he always plays with Austin. He usually changes his diaper if he gets wet while he is home. This is how Austin usually ends up dressed after Jeff changes him. I guess I can't complain since he got that way through Jeff helping me.

100 Hygiene Kits Completed

I think the title pretty much explains it all. The Hygiene Kit service project I put together turned out better than I expected. We collected enough toiletry items to make 100 kits. The actual assembling of the kits took place on Saturday. Great Harvest donated some refreshments for us and we got a great turnout. I invited a journalist from the local newspaper to come but we finished the kits in 15 minutes, before he could get there. We did a phone interview and the photographer came just in time to get a picture of the last kits being packed into boxes. I can't believe how much we were able to accomplish in a week. I had a few people ask me when I was planning to do another service project. I hadn't thought about it but I might put another one together in a few months. Maybe we can get some fabric donated and make some quilts for the Humanitarian aid program. Thank you to everyone who participated and helped collect items and spread the word. Here is a copy of the article that was in the Journal Courier.

CONGREGATION CREATES HYGIENE KITS FOR HAITI
What started as a plan to put together 25 hygiene kits to help victims of the Haiti earthquake grew four times as large Saturday in West Lafayette.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in West Lafayette quickly assembled 100 hygiene kits Saturday. Each kit contains two hand towels, two bars of soap, a tube of toothpaste, four toothbrushes and a comb. The items were donated by church members and neighbors.

The national church "has already sent thousands of these kits to Haiti," said church member Brielle Kennington, who organized the local effort. The kits will be sent to the church's regional facility in Indianapolis. Church officials will either send them to Haiti or store them to use in a future emergency, she said.

Church member Andrea Davis helped organize the event.

"I actually served as a missionary in the Dominican Republic about 10 years ago," Davis said. "While the atmosphere in the Dominican Republic was very poor, I was always told it was 10 times worse in Haiti," Davis said.

After seeing the aftermath of the quake, she said, "I just wanted to help out."

Numerous charitable organizations have stressed that people wishing to help the Haiti relief effort should donate money rather than goods.

"Sometimes it's easier for people to give items than it is to give money," Kennington said.

Major Nelson De La Vergne is with the Salvation Army Lafayette. He agreed that monetary donations are better right now because of shipping difficulties in Haiti. If people want to help by donating items, De La Vergne suggested people give to local food pantries and other charities that help local residents.

"As all this money is going to Haiti, local charities aren't getting it," De La Vergne said.

"They're going to be hurting later on."

Hygiene Kits for Hatians

In light of the recent earthquake that devastated the nation of Haiti, the West Lafayette Relief Society is collecting items that will be used to assemble hygiene kits. The items needed are listed above with a picture. All donations need to be dropped off at 2809 Horizon dr. apt 3 West Lafayette IN 47906 no latter than this Friday afternoon. If you would like to participate but are unable to purchase items for the kits you can come to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3224 Jasper Street, West Lafayette IN from 9-11 a.m. to help assemble the kits. Please spread the word so we can get as many people involved as possible. If you have any questions feel free to leave me a comment. I can also be reached by email, briellekennington@gmail.com

So Close

Austin likes to get his face close to mine and babble like he is talking to me. I have conversations with him that way and he is always very serious about our discussions. He recently discovered his eyes and eyelashes. At first I thought he had something in his eye but I looked and he just wants to feel his eye and lashes. He poked himself today a little so I'm hoping that he won't continue to try to touch his eye. He is just so funny.

Christmas eve & Christmas Morning

On Christmas eve we opened presents that were from the siblings. Dad also read the Night Before Christmas. On Christmas morning we waited at the top of the stairs so Dad could check to see if Santa came. Austin went right up to his horse the GG and Pap- Pap got him. He spent most of the rest of the trip on the horse. It was so nice to be with family for the Holidays.

Kendra's Senior Christmas Ball

While we were visiting Pennsylvania we were able to see Kendra off when she went to the Christmas ball. Her date came with a dozen beautiful pink roses. Kendra looked georgeous but I think her date got more than he bargained for. He got to meet about 14 members of our family all at once. I think he handled it like a champ.

Sledding in PA

I decided to post pictures from our Christmas trip in pieces. It was a two week trip for us so there were a lot of things happening. We drove 12 hours on December 21st and got to GG and Pap Paps at 7:00. Austin was an angel the entire trip. He didn't cry once. He spent most of his time reading books to himself out loud. He can't really read but he likes to babble and then stop and turn the page, babble some more and then stop and turn the page. It was really cute. The roads were also great on the way. An hour after we got in Jenne` and Jace got there. My Mom picked them up from the airport. About a half hour later Alycia, Nick, Blake, Sydney and Trey got there. It was a full house but we had a good time. We spent most of our time playing games and watching movies. We also went outside to play in the snow. We went sledding with Austin for the first time. He seemed to like it but he didn't want to stay out in the cold for very long. Blake and Nick stayed out the longest. They stayed out until it got dark. I never got really excited about sledding but it was really fun to watch and take pictures.