THERE....BUT NOT THERE

I love my brother Scott. He is as camera happy as I am, which makes me very grateful. Especially for times like these. As long as I can remember, my Aunt Alice has been a part of my life. Even when they lived in Oceanside before moving to Carlsbad, I can remember the house they lived in. I must have been around 4 years old. Their children were my best friends. We were either there or they were at our house. When we finally lived next to each other all those years growing up, they were over swimming in our pool probably every day during the summer. The beach hardly got visited by all of us (except for Chris and Scott surfing) because the pool was right there and oh so convenient. Plus mom's cookie jar was almost within reach after a good long swim. Those were the days. It's hard to believe that we have all grown up, had children of our own, and only get to see each other at reunion time, conference time, and funeral time. We always think that these golden ones around us are going to be there always. I have finally come to the realization when I see a photo of my dad's brothers and sisters, that they are leaving us one by one. Life is going on and will go on without them. I guess the secret of life is enjoying the journey with the ones you love......while you have them.

My wonderful brother Scott, and my cousin Ruth.

Uncle Von and Aunt Sheila have always been there too.

Shirleen, in the middle, is a true cousin friend.

Michaela and Sara after the funeral. I am so glad that they have each other in Provo. These two are not only the same age, they are kindred spirits.

Grandpa greeting Sara at the viewing. Poor grandma and grandpa didn't even get a chance to change clothes before the viewing. They barely made it there as it was, because of 3 accidents on the road going up. They even stopped and helped with one of them. That's dad for you. I can remember stories about dad stopping to help accident victims from my earliest days. It pays to have a medical background. Scott and Dianna were right there at one of the accidents to help and console while waiting for medical emergency crews to get there.

The WHOLE Floyd & Alice Packard family singing at the funeral.

Sweet Uncle Floyd, surrounded by the most important thing to him.

A sad day for grandchildren.

Lisa, Daphne (Uncle Bob's), David (Uncle Bill's) and Theresa.

One of those pictures that gives me mixed emotions......overwhelming love and frightening realization.

Uncle Floyd is one of the most positive people I know. Right along with my own dad. I am so grateful and blessed that he is a part of my life.

NEVER MIND......

It's Black Friday in Logandale. This morning Kevin and Landon went outside to get a jog in and found that our little bird had died. Good thing that we don't get as attached to animals as we do to our children. I'm sure that little newborn birds are NOT supposed to be eating weiners, but what else could we do. Kevin did his best. I'm just glad that our cat didn't feel the need to get to him when we weren't looking. She could hear it squawking last night and was way too alert looking around for that bird for me not to tell her to leave it alone. Oh well, I guess we're just better parents to people than to birds.

WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!

Every year we end up having baby birds fall out of our big palm trees because of either the wind or their own inability to stay in the nest. I am amazed every year that all of these little birds can even survive the fall. It is a long way down! Well, sure enough we go outside today and find that another little bird has prematurely "flown the coop." This one at least was old enough to have feathers. So, being the bird lover that dad is, he decided to bring it in and nurse it back to health...or at least try to give it some food and water. It drank the water really well, but when it came to giving it food, we weren't sure what to give it. We had one weiner left in the frig (who knows how long THAT'S been there) and Kevin now has a new name. We will from now on be calling him not dad, but Dr. Doolittle. He smashed the weiner up and tried his dangdest to feed that little buckeroo some dinner, without getting bit or nibbled at, but to no avail.....that little bird was hungry! What a trouper dad is. We all have a greater respect for him now. Like Landon said to him, "Dad, you are becoming a mommy!!"

THE CELTICS WON!! (Yeah, it's over)

We are happy because dad is happy! We have been following the NBA finals since the PHX Suns were ousted. Actually, we took a little break until the Spurs were out too. Once they were gone, we enjoyed watching basketball again because we actually didn't care who won as long as it wasn't the Spurs. The Lakers were still in it, but we assumed they would be in it till the end. Kevin has been following the Celtics ever since the 80's when Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, and Kevin McHale were the 3 to watch. Who would have guessed that over 20 years later Garnett, Pierce, and Allen would step up and take their places. I, for one, am glad that it's all over. We are in the thick of All-Star Baseball games, football sign-ups, and having Landon keep up on all news and stats from ESPN. Now we can get back to reading a good book, listening to music in the house, and getting ready to go to the cabin for the 4th of July. Whew!

KIT, CAT, AND KIDS

I dug up some pictures I found taken a few months ago when Connie and the kids were visiting. All of the grandkids love to be outside and especially play around with Kit, our dog, and Cat, our cat (we could never come up with a name and frankly, we didn't care.) The flowers were in bloom too, which is next to impossible in Nevada. The kids loved looking at all the colors. When it's bearable outside, we open the front door and they run! It pays to have a BIG front yard.

Kit has always been so good to just let the kids do whatever to her.

The cat has turned out to be pretty mellow too. The only reason we have her is to catch the mice and scorpions. I'm not really a cat person and most of my kids hate them too. Sorry to offend anyone!

Tibi dressed the kids this day and accidently put Levi's shirt on Eden! We didn't realize it was his, and NOT hers till Connie came home from an errand and let us know.

Playing with the basketball too. You have to do it all before it gets too hot.

Eden has always been the daredevil of the family. She thought it was pretty cool that she could jump off the little flower ledge without falling on her face!

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty! Come play with me." (Whatever) I think our cat is smarter than we give her credit for!

I'm glad I snapped this picture. It's cute but also proves that flowers actually grow in the desert. (ONLY in the shade though!)

(Nice TIGHT shirt Eden!!)

SUMMER CHORES - AARGH!!

Landon's job lately has been to mow the lawn every week. Now that school is out, he is naturally staying up later, which makes getting up later, thus mowing the lawn in the heat of the day. (We DO live in Nevada.) He never really complains about it, probably because he doesn't have that many other chores, besides keeping his room clean and helping me with dinner every now and then. He actually enjoys that one. The funny thing about his mowing the lawn to me is that every time he cuts the grass, he sings at the top of his lungs. I can even hear him from the house, with the windows closed! I think it's so cool! He used to do it without his I-pod, which was even cooler, he would come up with his own music. I suggested one time that he wear his I-pod, since he has one, and that way it would take up the time faster, and he would already have the music there. He didn't think of that one! It's just fun to watch him out there singing away as he is doing his work.