"Oh, Mexico"

Thank you James Taylor. We have looked forward to the annual Packard Rocky Point trip for 2 years now since we were unable to attend last year. (Still very sore subject.) We had a wonderful time! Cal was leery of the sand for the first 10 minutes and didn't want to stand in it, but after that he was in heaven!

(Cal was sporting the pink Little Mermaid swim diapers!)

More on Pearland

To answer the many questions- we are buying the house in Texas. We signed the papers today! We loved Pearland! (Yep, Pear like the fruit.) It was so great to get to know the town better/meet people in the ward before we have to move there. We had a great trip and are so glad we had Mom Lewis and Doug's sister Lauren join us to share their opinions with us.

We enjoyed seeing the medical district down town that will be Doug's home for the next 4 years:

The Houston Temple was beautiful although it is about 1 1/2 hours away. (I had no idea how HUGE Houston is.)

Callin with his cousins Kayla and Ella at the temple.

And here are some more shots of the house.

looking in from the front door

living room (on the left) with a joint dining room (below)

The loft will serve as my preschool room. The wood floors will be great for spills!

It needs a little work- but we could not be happier with it!

Celebrations

I love May and the excitement of summer it brings! Here are some of the latest reasons to celebrate: 1. Surprise dinners! (Yes I felt like a DORK walking through the parking lot and into the restaurant like this.) Thank you to Doug for a wonderful birthday and to those of you who may have contributed to the memory book he made. What a priceless treasure!
2. MEMORIAL DAY at the Packard Ranch
3. THE TRIPLETS ARE 1! (An early celebration for Cal.)
Cousin Jack-jack

The oldest of the three- Brody
4. Devouring a personal sized cake all by yourself! Does life get any better?

He started out careful and dainty and ended slightly obsessed.

5. Nakedness- now all clean

6. We found a WONDERFUL house in Pearland last weekend! Here is our future home: (more details to follow later.)

A Day with Callin

Hi my name is Callin. Mom says that the past month I have turned into a big boy. What does she expect, I am turning one in 19 days. (Try and not forget.)
I am very creative- I find other uses for such boring things such as toilet paper,
garbages (they are perfect to push around or to knock over),
measuring cups,
and baby wipes. I am also really good about getting IN things. I love cars,

laundry baskets,
(I am still working on getting out though),

cupboards,

ovens (my mom uses the top, I get the bottom)

and my late bumbo seat. (My mom hid it in the pantry but I can find anything, especially if it is connected to a power cord or close to one.)
My mom says that I am crazy. I say that I am high energy and very smart.

After all that dirt and germs, I never forget my favorite time of day- bath time!

12 Volumes

I passed a big milestone in my life yesterday...after 3 1/2 years of working on Doug's mission books I am done. Some of you will remember that I was given the pictures and letters (all organized in 24 Ziploc bags - 1 per month) for my bridal shower by my mother in law. It came with an agreement, I could only marry Doug IF I would scrapbook his mission. I had no idea what a daunting task it was that I agreed to. I know that they will sit on a shelf or in a box for many years to come- but at least I finally have that weight off me. I hate those "to do" items that feel like a sin you are carrying around! Well, it is done...the weight is gone...and if any one is extremely interested in Fortaleza, Brazil---come on over!

Our African Momma's

We wish our long lost mothers a wonderful Mothers Day.

Sorry we could not be with either of you.

Thank you for your love and your service!

Mom Lewis & Kelvin. She has been in Mozambique for the past 7 weeks working on Kelvin's adoption. After 5 years, still no end is in sight....yet! All prayers are welcome on their behalf.
Mom Packard-who is currently on loan to the missionaries of Mozambique. I hope they know how lucky they are!

Graduation at Last

After 2 years of Tuesday nights, 1 month of intense summer-school, and a year full of internet classes, Annie finally has completed her Masters in Education at SUU. Annie is happy knowing that she will never have to take a college class again and I am happy that Annie can never use the excuse that she has to study or write a paper - ever again. The ironic thing about her graduation is that this was actually the first time that she ever stepped foot on the actual SUU campus. All of it was done up in Spanish Fork or via the internet.

The actual graduation ceremony was nice - the 5 min that I actually watched. Callin had a hard time holding still as you might imagine. About 5 seconds before the orchestra began their piece, Callin fell on the seats in front of him and let a loud cry that echoed throughout the rest of the arena. That is when he was banished. So while Annie had to sit through a rather long graduation ceremony, I got to play with Cal outside on the grass. Not so bad after all.

Is Annie shrinking or is the gown just too big?

Someday Cal...Someday

Picture perfect afternoon!

After a big traffic delay in Phoenix, we finally arrived in St. George at 2 am only to get up 3 and half hours later to get to Cedar City in time. Needless to say, there was no shower time for me - Can you tell?