Me and My Five Boys

Dear friends and family,

Season’s greetings from the Packers! We look forward to this time of year when we get to catch up with our favorite people all over the world. We look forward to your cards, letters, and pictures in our mailbox and inboxes, and feel inclined to return the favor. Even though miles and years often separate us, we treasure the memories and associations we share with you, and hope that you and your families are doing well.

2007 has been a year of dreams come true for us. After two great years in San Angelo, Texas, Jeff’s hard work finally landed him the long-sought-after tenure-track teaching job. He is now the German professor at Utah Valley State College (soon to be UVU) in Orem, Utah. This was a blessing we hardly dared hope for—a permanent position close to our extended family. In August we bought a rambler with a basement in Pleasant Grove, just north of Orem at the base of beautiful Mt. Timpanogos. Although the house itself has given us a few more projects than we anticipated, so far we love the location, the neighborhood, the schools, and the community. The last several months have been consumed with settling in to what we hope will be our home for years to come.

Jeff has his work cut out for him, trying to revive and build UVSC’s German program. He is very busy, but happy. He continues to stay in shape by cycling the 6 ½ miles to work and back, weather permitting. In September he reached his goal of 10,000 miles on his bike in five years. In his meager free time Jeff plays with his boys, flies his radio control planes, follows his fantasy football team, and occasionally sits down with a good book.

Adam, who just turned 9, is doing well in 3^rd grade. He misses his friends in Texas, but is very excited about using all his new snow gear. Last spring he was Mr. Consistent on his machine-pitch baseball team, with a .765 batting average. He also enjoyed a couple weeks of swimming lessons again before we moved. Adam earned his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts and is now starting on his Bear. He recently joined the school choir and is looking forward to Christmas performances.

Thanks in part to all-day kindergarten in Texas last year, Ryan, almost 7, is head and shoulders above most of his 1^st grade classmates (academically, not literally!). He brings home beautiful pictures that he has colored after his school work is done. It’s just a good thing he’s not inclined to misbehave when he’s bored. He is a voracious reader and has to be told almost nightly to “put the book away and go to sleep!” Ryan also made good progress in teeball and in swimming lessons this year. He loves sports in general, if you can tear him away from cartoons and computer games.

Jared, 3 ½, has yet to reach his pinnacle of cuteness. He learns new things daily and it’s just fun to watch him figure life out and then tell you all about it. He’s becoming a big boy, and I love the fact that he has pretty much mastered potty training, but hasn’t completely given up naps. Jared is also Mommy’s helper and enjoys doing little chores around the house. (Don’t worry, I know it won’t last.)

Dallin just turned 1, and it’s hard to believe how fast the year has flown. He started walking a few weeks ago and gets around pretty well now, with only a few bumps and bruises. He is still an easy baby with a sweet disposition and lots of smiles, particularly for his brothers who like to entertain him. Dallin loves to explore and get into EVERYTHING, especially things that aren’t toys. This promises to be one of those years when we only decorate the top half of the Christmas tree.

As for me, I thrive on being a stay-at-home mom (except, of course, during those inevitable moments when I feel like I’m going crazy). A friend once told me to cut myself some slack for at least six months after a move, and taking that advice is the wisest thing I’ve done all year. I count it all good when I can just keep up with the basics of home and family. I did take a fun Photoshop class earlier this year, and I still enjoy yoga. At church Jeff and I are now teaching the 3-year-olds, something we are getting better at as we adjust to their attention spans (or lack thereof).

We have felt the Lord watching over our family this year. We know he loves all His children and will bless us as we do His will. May you and your family enjoy His peace this Christmas season and always.

Love,

Harmony, Jeff, Adam, Ryan, Jared, & Dallin Packer

Labels: Christmas, Christmas letter, family, holidays

Jared has lots of curl in his hair when it gets long. It's really cute, but when it gets too long it starts looking a little stringy and we have to cut the curls. The first time I was afraid they wouldn't grow back, but it's easier now that I know I'll see them again in a few months. Here are the before and after pictures of the most recent haircut:

Labels: family, Jared, talents

Making gingerbread houses is one of my favorite childhood Christmas memories. But somewhere in the years since my childhood, my mom lost her recipe and pattern. Last year she finally found them again and made one with my boys at our house before Christmas. I mostly stayed out of the way, but she gave me a copies of the recipe and pattern. This was the first year I tried making one on my own. I baked it and glued it together with the royal icing one night and found half of one section of the roof broken off when I woke up the next morning. My kids almost got blamed for breaking it before I realized what happened. I think I just didn't bake the gingerbread long enough to get it hard enough. After repairs with more icing and an inedible piece of cardboard, we rescued it, decorated it, and used it as a centerpiece for our ward Christmas party. I thought it turned out pretty well, after all. Here's a picture:


About the same time we needed to do the gingerbread house for the ward party, Adam had an assignment in 3rd grade to make a model of an American symbol. He chose to do the Liberty Bell. His teacher said if they made their models out of something edible, the class could eat them after their presentations. So after our gingerbread house, we ended up making a gingerbread Liberty Bell. Jeff was the mastermind behind getting the circular layers of the bell cut to the right diameter to shape the bell. (I was in awe of his math skills, which are usually pale compared to his verbal skills. There's a reason I keep the checkbook in our family.) We only had to smooth it out a little with the icing. There wasn't room for the whole inscription, but we did what we could. Adam did very well on his presentation also, and got an A for the whole project. Here is the finished product. Not bad, huh?

Labels: Christmas, food, holidays, talents

We celebrated Adam's 9th birthday back in November. We were in Cedar City with my family for Thanksgiving, so he got to have a party with cousins this year. It was also the week of the BYU vs. Utah football game, so he requested a BYU football cake for his party. I'm not much of a cake decorator, but with some help from Aunt Tasha, I thought this turned out to be one of my better efforts.

Labels: Adam, birthdays, family, Ryan

I was one of the lucky ones who had my name drawn at random to receive tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert with the King's Singers. There were more than 1 million requests for tickets at www.lds.org, and only about 85,000 tickets available, so that makes my odds, what, about 1 in 11? And if you consider that everyone who requested tickets could get up to 8, that makes the odds more like 1 in 94. I'm not the type of person who wins things all the time, but if I could pick something to win, this would be it. We attended Friday night and it was fantastic! We got the boys' favorite babysitter for the evening, then drove to Salt Lake where we met Jeff's parents, aunt and uncle, and a couple of good friends on Temple Square. We made it to our seats in time--if you don't, you could lose them to standbys--and sat down to enjoy an hour-and-a-half of beautifully performed Christmas music.

If you like choral music, which I do, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir can't be beat. Their music never fails to uplift me. Everything they do is excellent. But then to add the the King's Singers, one of the most talented vocal groups I've ever heard, and excellent vocal musicians in their own right--well, it was incredible. My vocabulary and my reviewing skills just don't do it justice. Although it is really difficult to choose, I think my favorite numbers were the King's Singers a capella versions of "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow." "The Twelve Days of Christmas," my least favorite Christmas song, was even enjoyable, with some fun choreography by the University of Utah Dance Department. The concert was filmed for future broadcast on PBS television, so be sure to look for it next December. I'll be purchasing the DVD too when it comes out, something I don't normally feel the need to do. It was just that good. I've been feeling a little swamped by the various pressures of the holidays, and I've struggled to feel the spirit of the season. This concert broke through some of the cloud for me. And I don't think I'll be able to stand to listen to FM100 Christmas music for the rest of the year. Sappy, secular Christmas music--ugh.

Labels: music, reviews

I think I'd better not leave my blog on the sour note of the last post for too long. The kids survived me "losing it" with them and I got over it too. I'm sure it will happen again, but for now things are good.

Last Saturday and Sunday Jeff's parents took the three older boys so we could do some Christmas shopping without them. It was wonderful! If Grandma and Grandpa are agreeable, I could make this a December tradition. :-) The boys had tons of fun, even if they did miss most of Saturday morning cartoons. (Which was fine with me--they aren't what they used to be.) Grandma had crafts for them to make and they got to go sledding and out for pizza and to see some Christmas lights. We got a lot done--it almost made shopping bearable for me. We got stuck in IKEA for a couple hours--that is quite the store--but escaped eventually and actually bought a few things to put under the tree. We're not done, but putting a big dent in it all at once and having Jeff there to help make decisions was really nice. We also got to go to the Saturday night and Sunday sessions of stake conference with only one kid--that is almost heaven!

Early this week I sat down and wrote out everything I could think of that I need or want to do in December. (A few things were put off to the January list, thank goodness.) I just knew I wouldn't make it through the month with my sanity intact if I didn't get myself organized. I made sure I put some service things on there, because it's the season of giving after all, and I've been feeling the need to make sure I'm not just focusing on me and mine. After I wrote down everything, I divided up all the tasks into which week in December I am going to try to get them done--1, 2, 3, or 4. Now I'm slowly plowing my way through the Week 1 tasks. Well, I have been anyway--blogging is not officially on the list. Call me neurotic, but it's the way I function. Does anyone else have to do things like this to survive? No, I don't usually finish everything on the list, and I do plenty of things that never get on the list (unless I add them after the fact, which I've been known to do, just so I can cross them off :-), but the list at least gives me the illusion that I have a handle on it all.

Even though I roll my eyes when stores start putting out Christmas stuff the day after Halloween, it occurred to me today that I would be better off if I too started preparing for Christmas that early, at least mentally. I know, a little late for this year. It's not like I let it sneak up on me. I had good intentions of getting my Christmas cards mailed before the end of November, for instance. But somehow it always gets away from me and I find myself feeling unprepared and rushed, just when I want to be savoring the joys of the season and focusing on the spiritual importance of what it's all about. It doesn't help that our anniversary and three of our four kids birthdays are between Halloween and Christmas too. But then it could be argued that we did that to ourselves. Oh well. It all makes for a very busy and very happy time of year. And if you don't get a Christmas letter from us until Valentine's Day, you'll know why.

Labels: Christmas, holidays