SHOCKER ALERT!!!!!!!!!

YES, I'm blogging once again! I know since everyone has either forgotten me or given up on me---- I am still here!
I wanted to share this little video that JJ and Ryan helped create for Lynn. He is giving a presentation tomorrow morning (DEC 2) in SL to the YOUNG COOPERATIVES ( the younger generation of dairy farmers ) They asked him to speak about farm life and his experiences -good and bad-in an effort to encourage them to keep going in such a hard economical time.
So, he's showing this family slideshow 1st, then talking to them.
Listen carefully to the words -Ryan did an excellent job setting pics to the song. Enjoy!

Latest family activites

SHAME ON ME!!!!

Gina's melodrama-front row

Kayson, Saywer and Ella

Haystack fire at 4 in the morning...

Blake & Grandma Betty at the Art Show=awesome pic eh?

Broken water line and the trench we had to dig to find it--argh!!

I Can't believe that it's been 3 months since I've blogged!! Shame on me! There have been lots of things going on that I should have blogged about but haven't; haystack fire, broken water line, Blake's photography pics taking a couple of 1st places at the Art show at BYU Idaho, Gina's Melodrama where she was awesome, a new pics of Kayson, Ella and Sawyer, work-work-work, etc!
Only excuse I have is that I've been working full time for a lady that had knee surgery. Exhausted to say the least. And homesick! I have found that I miss being home making meals, cleaning, running etc. I am grateful that I have been able to be a stay at home mom for 30+ yrs. I feel a deep sense of aching for moms that have to work to help support the home. It's hard being both a mom and career woman. Stress!! Kudos to you girls that have to do it!

I added a few pics today, helped translate a German article for a man I've been helping get a TON of family info off films all summer, do some laundry, deal with a SPLITTING headache and sore mouth from harsh dental work yesterday........ah, time goes so fast..............can't wait for Thanksgiving with the family that can be there! I have so much to be grateful for! Including the job that's making me tired but helping pays those monthly bills.

Grandpa's day with Landon

Landon got to come over the other day, stay overnight and hang out with his grandpa . What a fun little guy! He stayed up late-
slept on the floor (so he could get up when gr-pa did)-
got dressed in his 'barn' clothes-
fed the animals then-
waited for Lynn to call when he was ready for him to come go with him to combine grain. He could hardly wait~~~
Lynn came and got him and he had a blast riding in the truck-needed to dump the load of grain before they could start. Then off they went! Landon was really good and had fun.
Course, he had his 'mug' and a lunch JUST LIKE grandpa! And he wore his mother's old barn hat too! They were hilarious! Kayson----it's your turn next year!! You'll be 5!

PACK ATTACK!!!

Well this fun weekend took alot of pre-preparation getting cows ready, horses ready, homes ready and of course food ready. Here we have Gina and Blaine clipping the cows we were taking to the Tetons for pics. Cate, Landon and JoJo went up for awhile. Cate stayed the whole time and seemed to really enjoy it and wasn't afraid of the cows or Ziva this time.



BJ-a familiar site for me. He and Blake did alot of this over the years!



Cate helping get a cow into the clip shoot. Funny eh?



Now we're on the road to the Tetons!! Chad, Court, Sawyer and Kayson came with Lynn and I in the pickup.


The girls went with Gina and Kyle. You can barely see Brooklyn peeking out behind Ella!

Next come pics of our children with 'their' cows. Seems like Lynn picked cows that have similar personalities as our children.

Here is Gina with our 'little mother' Jersey named Arlene.


Here is Chad with his 'calm and mellow' cow named Larissa.



Janelle with our 'feisty red head' Regina



Blake with 'lanky mellow' Annette



Blaine with his 'strong, sturdy' Honesty (too funny eh?)



Then the next day Lynn and his 'boys' went on a horse trip up to Pine Creek. Beautiful scenery and fun time had by all (except maybe by Ziva-she wasn't sure about the whole thing)




Then, while the guys with up in the hills, we girls took the kids to Tauphas Park for a picnic and playground. Then we were SUPPOSED to go to Rexburg for us to all have hair treatments done. WELL, they wouldn't let little baby Sawyer come in with us. Wanted to know if we brought someone to watch him. Are you kidding me? A 3 mth old baby who isn't going to touch a thing!!!! ARGH! We were all pretty upset about that. So we did what all ticked off girls do-------went out and got something sweet. We went to the 'Cocoa Bean' and had awesome cupcakes and frozen lemonade- a far cry from a new 'do'. We were going to take before and after pics so the girl took our 'after' pic for us...we shouldn't have been so smiley eh? Enjoyed being together tho. Doesn't Sawyer just look like a little trouble maker to you?? Yeah, right, sweet as can be is more like it! Their loss..............


I had a wonderful 1st Pack Family Reunion and I'm grateful to each of my children for trying so hard to pull it all together so we could have a memorable time. I wanted this Reunion pretty bad and I'm very lucky to have had Gina pitch in and help so much with the 'hotel', food, organizing etc etc.(Kinda the pits to be the only one here to help me) And to each of our children for coming so far so we can be together: Chad, Courtney and family, Janelle and Ryan- all from Utah. Blake home from Rexburg while in the middle of college classes and Blaine who was able to come home on leave from the marines in San Diego. Thank kids I love you all so much.

Fabulous Family Weekend X 2!!

We had a fabulous weekend with ALL of my 7 grandchildren and ALMOST all of my children! Chad and Courtney blessed little baby Sawyer on Sunday and we were all there except BJ (that, of course, is in San Diego at Camp Pendelton). We had a really interesting visit to the 'Bean Museum' on the BYU Provo campus. Would recommend it to every one of any age!!! The kids call it the 'Dead Animal Zoo'. IT was awesome-thousands of all types of animals, fish, insects, birds etc that are stuffed (taxidermy). Maybe Gina took some pics of this......?

Then we barbqued at Chad and Courtney's-yummy! Visited in the evening, put kids to bed and crashed ourselves as church was at 9 am!

Sawyer was a little doll! He was so good during his blessing! He looks adorable doesn't he? And he LOVES his grandma Cindy! He smiled and cooed at me every time I got the chance to hold him! Loved it. He seriously looked at me like he was listening to everything I was telling him. My goodness he's cute. I don't think we got a pic of the two of us though :(( Kayson and Ella had a blast with Cate, Landon, JoJo and Brooklyn. Then added to the fun were Courtney's family and all the fun cousins that came with them. We hung out and ate brunch food-yummy again and we planned an absolutely great family weekend in July---surprise to come-can't wait! look for a mid July post!!!!!!

Then----------BJ calls us at Chad's to tell us he was given an award!! It is a Civilian award from the company that builds the LW155 Howitzer Weapon. Awesome eh? And rare! He had recommended some improvements he thought they could make to improve the performance of the Howitzer. They checked into his ideas-loved them and then implemented them. See if you can read the certificate--cool eh? We're proud of you Blaine! Another fun event to happen this weekend.

Then, as all good things do, they come to an end. We loaded up our 2 cars and headed home to Idaho. Boo Hoo! Tons of fun in 48 hours! Phew!! That was a wonderful weekend-thanks guys!! (Sorry I swiped your pics--if you have better quality can I borrow them??)

MY Marine On This Memorial Day!

As Janelle said last year::::
Memorial Day is usually a great holiday weekend for all of us. People make big plans like camping, hiking, boating, family barbecues and vacations out of town. While we fill our weekend up with fun and sun, please keep in mind those that are reserving the holiday for someone they have lost. Let us give our weekend prayers to all of those mourning the loss of a loved one due to the wars that surround us. Remember that while you're out there boating and bbq-ing, there are soldiers on foreign soil in turmoil, protecting your freedoms. Let us try to reach out to someone in need this weekend...and let us never forget those who are brave enough to serve our country, willingly. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Love you Lance Corporal Blaine Pack!! You are our hero! You're efforts to keep us safe here in Idaho, Iraq, Afghanistan, and everywhere else lets us sleep in peace at night. I pray for your India unit as they serve in Afghanistan right now. They are your friends that you toured Iraq with and I know you worry about them too.

YOUR SERVICE
YOUR SACRIFICE
OUR THANKS!!