Enter new phase: toddler

The joy of making messes. 

Sigh. 

It has come all too soon.

 And on a side note, just when I think Callin is 3 going on 13, he pulls this little stunt and rips up half of the Holy Bible (in Portuguese none the less) and pushes himself back down to toddlerhood all over again. 

ps.  that would be my new tiled kitchen floor; goodbye white tile and daily mopping!

Give Thanks!

It is so wonderful to spend a month focused on all of our blessings.  We have so much to be thankful for.  Our highlights from Thanksgiving include:

that Aunt Deedee came to town...

that we got to go to Dallas and have so much fun...

that we got to spend time with family we love much...

 for beautiful and healthy children...

...and for a really, really great guy who adores all things social (kissing me, connecting with people, conversation, chatting on the phone, reading all my emails, girls night...)  

Do you see what I see?

Curls!!!!  AHHH! Like he needed another reason for me to love him more!

13.1 Miles!

We ran a halfy this weekend! 

It was so awesome running right next to the beach for most of it. 

Here are all the running girls from church:

(and ps if you are having a hard time finding me...look for the scary black smokey ghost that was attacking someone- a mosquito was landing right between my eyes on the picture count "1, 2.."  and on three I just had to get it, and I was holding a black garbage sack/pre race jacket...thanks Lyn!  And since this picture makes me laugh, I am including this one and not the other/non smokey monster picture.)

 I have a pretty awesome fan club! 

Our haunted happenings

Cal was a horseman/cowboy for the second year in a row.  And for the second year in a row he would not go for the rest of the costume: the hat/bandanna/cowboy shirt look.  So he was the Gap shirt boy wearing a horse.  Or in the case of  his Joyschool Halloween parade...nothing.  But I am picking my fights these days.  And seriously, life is way better.  I was a good girl and did wear a costume for 2 parades (Preschool and Joyschool) thank you very much.  



And in case you are wondering, YES, I love my all boy Joyschool class!

T he neighborhood girlie's have been working hard at running/training! But clumsy old me always seems to find that one spot where the sidewalk does NOT align very well. Good thing there was a truck full of groundsman like 3 feet away to watch and get a morning laugh.    



The Monster Dash 10K.  Fun times!  And go Leslee (in green) for getting 1st Place!

And one last scary picture...this has pretty much been the state of my house the past month...BUT things are starting to shape up!  Hopefully much better pictures will be ready to post soon!

Huge thanks to Kim for letting me cook dinner at her house for a straight week!

3rd Annual Fall Dallas Trip

 We love any chance to get to be with family (even if I did catch a little flu bug!)  Cal and Rhett had a great time with their cousins. The highlights were roasting smores out by the lake, the Pumpkin Patch, the BYU football game - as pathetic as it was, and maybe even more pathetic...when the Imodium AD finally showed up!

Can you guess which pumpkin is my favorite?

7 hours sans children- ahh!

Genetics

Can you see it?

Rhett has entered my all time favorite baby age- 9 months!  I love just about EVERYTHING at this age: his darling little sixlet teeth, his perfected doggie crawl, his beautiful blue eyes, his little curls that are coming in, his laugh and excitement, his love for pulling himself up everywhere, his squishy cheeks and double chin.  Oh if I could freeze time!  

just a few more reasons why I heart dougie fresh

Doug has been on a surgery rotation the past month (and has been falling madly in love with the hands on  gore & blood) I might add.  We have had to do a little more of making the most of our Daddy time we do get. 




On a quick dinner/ change-roles-and-be-a-dad- for-30-minutes park break before heading back to the hospital.

 



                                                                                                                           

Doug consented to Rhett and I traveling back to AZ for a quick weekend only a mere 3 weeks of being back home! It was so fun to go and celebrate my sisters 30th b-day and cheer her on at her triathlon.

(Born in 1980 equals a sweet 80's birthday party!)



She did so awesome! 

And hanging out with my mom making this blanket for my new namesake was also a blast!



 And while we were in AZ, Doug took Cal on a trip to Sea World in San Antonio for a little bonding.

 

Rhett's announcement

We do things a little differently in our family.  Rhett fits in great!

my greatest joy

In January I made three goals.  Goal #3 was to enjoy motherhood.  I wanted to try harder at having fun with my kids. Not just fall into the roll of parenting all day long.  That really isn't all that fun.  I am still working at my goal.  But it is very easy to enjoy my full time, every single day job, when my kids look like this...

But let's be honest.  Life is usually a little more like this...

Cal got a little creative with the baby powder while I was putting Rhett to bed.  When I came into get him get ready for bed and saw this mess I gasped and said, "What happened!"  Cal looked at me very seriously and said,  "I don't know who did it."   :) 

I do have the worlds best job!   

we miss you arizona

This was a fun week for the Lewis family. Elder CJ returned from his two year mission in Ghana and Kelvin was sealed in the Temple to our family.  Lindy came to watch Cal and Rhett while we were inside and I am glad she did so we could get this little gem of a picture:  

4th of July

oh dear mom,

 we miss you a lot!

thank you SOOOO much for letting us move in for the summer.

we had so much fun!

Back in the old horse pasture.

The triplet boys are 3 years old and have oh so much fun together!

Viva Las

Cal & Ella's first try at gambling, fun at Circus circus, log ride with Grandpa Smoot.

 

We love cousins camp!

"Swiming is Awesome"

Day 1, day 2, and 1/2 of day 3 looked like this...(but much, much louder and with no mercy on my part.)

Day 4-8 went a little more like this...

We swam the summer away.  I view swimming as a right of passage- you learn to crawl, walk, run...and then swim!  You've got to be able to do it in Arizona, and fast. 

Cal got the nick name 'Nemo' not from his favorite new swim suit, but from his awesome 1 arm stroke.

They ended every class with a cheer, "Swimming is awesome."  I hear that line about 10 times every day now.

Love love love the beach!

The perfect Packard family vacation!

I love that the beach tradition still carries on. 

Something about the sound of the waves, the smell, the wind, the warm sand never get old- vacation after vacation. 

Plus the company cannot be beat!  

Dear Daddy

Thank you for letting us have a wonderful summer in Arizona.   We've had a lot of fun...can you tell?

You may not recognize me because now I have 2 teeth, can sit up all by myself and am in love with any orange or green vegetable that is blended up.

But after 6 weeks in Arizona with  trips to California and Nevada, we are now ready to come home to Texas.   

We love you so much! We'll be home soon!

Love, Cal and Rhtett

ps.  Mom says to make sure the house it nice and clean or she may be extending the trip a little longer....