So I have to admit, I have only made it to week 8, but my family emergency binder has already come in handy a number of times. We recently moved, but had put majority of our belongings in storage for a few months. Having my Emergency Binder has been so nice for finding copies of birth certificates, the kids shot records, etc... I know that this is a big project, but I think that everyone needs one of these. You just never know when disaster is going to strike and in a moments notice you could loose everything. Last summer a tornado ripped through our old neighborhood and completely destroyed several homes. I remember thinking OVER & OVER again, "that could have been US". The tornado did in fact effect us personally because we still owned our home and had it rented out at the time. The tornado ripped a huge portion of the roof right off the house. Luckily the tenants were safely in the basement at the time. That experience was proof to me that no one is exempt from a disaster effecting their family!!
As soon as we get all moved into our new house and I FIND all of my documents etc... I am going to GET TO WORK on finishing my Emergency Binder, I wouldn't want to be caught with out it if another disaster comes our way!!
BrittanyFAMILY EMERGENCY BINDER INSTRUCTIONS-(All of this info is from a very dedicated "Emergency Preparedness Coordinator" in my
ward(church) back in Kansas City)
If you had to suddenly leave your home due to impending natural disaster, and had only a few minutes to gather everything you would need, including important papers, family history, and treasured pictures, how long would it take you?
Vital financial records should be kept in a safe place. Copies of these documents should be available for taking with you if you have to leave your home in an emergency. As an alternative, you could scan these documents into your computer and take a disc or flash drive instead of paper copies.
This year, we are going to assemble a Vital Records Binder that will contain the important information you would need and want to take with you. We will do it week by week through a small task each week—“…by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”
Week 1-Locate or purchase a 2” binder with 50 - 100 plastic page protectors. Purchase tabbed dividers, if desired, to divide the book into sections. Store the Ward Emergency Plan in the binder.
Week 2-Locate birth certificates for all family members. Make copies and put in binder.
Week 3-Locate Social Security cards for all family members. Make copies and put in binder.
Week 4-Make copies of driver’s licenses and put in binder.
Week 5-Make copies of passports and put in binder.
Week 6-Make copies of important phone numbers and addresses and put in binder. Include family, friends, doctors, dentist, business and other important numbers.
Week 7-Scan non-digital photos and burn all digital photos to a CD or flash drive. Put in one of the sheet protectors in the binder.
Week 8-Copy family history records to a cd or flash drive and put in binder.
Week 9- Locate voter cards, make copies, and put in binder.
Week 10-: Locate three years of tax returns, make copies, and put in binder, or copy tax files to a CD and store the tax software with the tax files in the binder.
Week 11-Locate recent investment statements, one for each account including 401K, make copies, and put in binder.
Week 12-If you use electronic money management programs such as Quicken or Microsoft Money, copy data files to CD and put cd for software program in binder.
Week 13-Locate your most recent bank statements, make copies, and put in binder
Week 14-Locate credit card statements, make copies, and put in binder—or alternatively, make copies of front and back of all credit cards.
Week 15- Locate loan payoff papers, make copies, and put in binder.
Locate recent Social Security Statement, make copies, and put in binder.
Week 16-1. Locate all car titles and registrations, make copies, and put in binder.
2. Locate auto loan papers, make copies, and put in binder.
3. Make copy of recent auto insurance statement and put in binder.
4. Locate copy of any extended warranties, make a copy, and put in binder.
Week 17-Locate all Life insurance policies, make copies, and put in binder. Make a copy of your wills and put in binder. If you have a trust, make a copy and put in binder.
Week 18-Make copies of:
Marriage License (Divorce/custody papers)
Citizenship Papers
Military Records
Prepaid Burial contracts
Adoption Papers
Week 19-Prepare list of medications for each family member.
Make copies of any important medical or dental records and put in binder.
Make copies of all health and dental insurance cards, both sides, and put in binder
Make copy of living will and put in binder.
Locate all Immunization Records, make copies, and put in binder.
Week 20-Make copies of any professional licenses and put in binder.
Make copies of any important business papers and put in binder.
Make copy of updated resume and put in binder (includes job and education dates that may be difficult to remember.
Make copies of company benefits statements and put in binder.
Make copies of degrees and professional licenses and put in binder.
Week 21-Locate recent house payment statement, make copy, and put in binder.
Locate homeowner’s insurance policy, make copy, and put in binder.
Locate all recent utility bills including cell phone, make copies, and put in binder
Conduct a home inventory, print and put in binder.
Take a video or pictures of all items in your home, burn to CD and put in binder. binder
I decided to get a little creative in the kitchen this morning. My kids really wanted pancakes, so I pulled out my moms homemade pancake recipe, then I noticed a can of pumpkin in the cupboard and thought... "ummm, that could be YUMMY in the pancakes." Now I'm sure that there are TONS of pumpkin pancake recipes out there and I am probably not being all that original, but hey they were still good!
So here are some confessions about my life (one's generally not shared on my blogs;)
Stephanie from the blog, 
I recieved an email today from a friend asking for help for her best friends daughter. This friends baby girl has a liver disease and this family is in need of help!!! You can check out her blog at...
