We Survived Hurricane Ike (and a brief update of our life)

Life has definantly been crazy the last couple of months. For those of you who don't know we have recently moved. Dan has been working in Houston, TX since the end of June for Hydril (a GE oil and gas company). It wasn't a move I was really enthusiastic about making since I loved my house in Tyler and the people there too! I had lived in that house for less than 9 months and it was the house of my dreams for this stage in my life (granite countertops, custom kitchen, all brick fireplace, crown molding - it wasn't very large but it was beautiful). I also wasn't very excited about selling another house and moving again in less than one years time. But alas life sometimes presents (or thrusts upon us) interesting opportunities that must be made the most of. So, in short, Dan moved to Houston, I stayed behind for a month to sell a house, when that became unbearable I moved to Houston too, and the house sold three weeks later. The house closed on Aug. 25th and since that time we are officially homeless (we are living at my parent's in Houston while we determine where and what we want to buy - thank goodness we have family here to help us out). I never want to move again - only problem is that I am not sure I want to live in Houston for the rest of my life. I guess I might have one or two more moves in me, but they will have to be years apart from eachother! On August 30th we flew out to Utah with our whole family to attend Ben's (Dan's brother) wedding and to let Dan's family meet Weston for the first time. I will post pictures and write more about this in another post. Upon coming home I was to begin househunting only to be sidetracked by mother nature. Those of you who have never lived through a Hurricane I do not recommend the experience. We were not in a mandatory evacuation zone so we were told to shelter in place. My dad boarded up their closet window and that is where we slept the night the storm hit. Really the only way to discribe our experience is that it was loud and very windy. Luckily my parent's house came through the storm relatively unscathed but many others were not so lucky. Trees are down everywhere (on houses, fences, power lines and across roadways), lots of flooding occurred, and power was out for a long time (and still is for many people even two weeks later). Really the worst part was living without power for four days after the storm. Luckily the Lord blessed this area with unseasonably cool weather during that time period or it would have been utterly miserable. Dan and my dad braved the aftermath of the storm and immediately started helping ward members get trees of of their houses, tarps over holes in roofs, and unblocking driveways. Dan was having the time of his life. He even got two days off of work because of Ike. Now that things are sort of returning to normal I have begun looking at houses again. Only problem is I am discovering a lack of homes that meet my criteria. All the ones I thought would be cute and in my price range got damaged in the hurricane and have been taken off the market. I can probably get a much bigger house here than my last one but without all the upgrades : ( There just isn't a four bedroom, one story, approximately 2200 square foot home here with all the features my last house had. I wish I could just sit and wait for the perfect house to come on the market but I think my parent's would like their house back to themselves sometime soon. Wish me luck as I search these next couple of weeks!

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Help! With Dan being gone for the third summer in a row, I am running out of things to keep myself and the kids entertained. Any ideas or suggestions? Keep in mind that parks are out of the question because of the heat and my house has to remain pretty much spotless in case any prospectus buyers come to take a look. Here is what we have been up to during these hot, hot, hot summer days in East Texas:

Visiting the local splash park once a week:

Swimming when we get a chance (there are only private pools here)

Going to the Discovery Science Place

Eating lots and lots of popsicles

Playing with water guns (we need to get bigger ones!)

Playing Will's V-Smile or pbskids.org

Watching movies

Cleaning the house constantly

Trying to make Weston Smile

With Dan not home in the evenings the days seem to drag, cooking food is not as much fun, and I have less structure during the day. If you have any craft ideas, yummy and easy summer kid friendly recipes, or other activity ideas send them my way. How are all of you spending your summer days? And please PRAY that our house sells soon, keeping it clean is driving me insane!

Weston's Blessing and 2 Month Milestones

Weston just barely turned 2 months old! He is growing way too fast, and I am trying to treasure every moment while he can still be called my little guy. Here are some facts about Weston at this age.

Weston's Two Month Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs. 2 oz.

Length: 23 1/4 inches

Head Circumference: 16 inches

Weston's Two Month Milestones:

1) He truly smiles now (it is so handsome!)

2) He loves to hold conversations with his mommy

(he babbles, waits for me to respond, and then babbles back at me - we had a 25 minute conversation like this two days ago)

3) He rolls over from his tummy to his back

4) Sleeps longer stretches during the night (usually 6 to 7 hours)

5) Has slept through the night 3 times

6) Loves to grab hold of mommy's hair and hold on for dear life

7) Loves having his legs pumped like a bicycle

8) Calms down when the family sings "You Are my Sunshine" to him

9) Loves to have the Baby Einstein soft plastic books read to him

10) He loves to snuggle!

On Sunday July 6th, Weston was blessed in sacrament meeting at our church. Dan peformed the ordinance with my father "Papagator", my grandfather Freeman, two of my uncles (Web and Ron), and my cousin Ronnie assisting in the circle. Weston Reed Packer is the name he will be known by on the records of the church and on this earth life and he was blessed with love and kindness, the ability to listen, to be a good example, to have foresight and a discerning spirit, to have joy and peace especially as he listens to the spirit, and to have a kind heart. Weston behaved great during the whole blessing. We were sad that no one from Dan's side of the family was able to be there, but were grateful that we had several members from my extended family there to share this special event with us.

4th of July

I love the 4th of July and this year was no exception (though we didn't even try to top last year's festivities of the family reunion up in Heber with endless soft serve ice cream cones and seeing Brooks and Dunn in concert at Stadium of Fire) . Can it get any better than spending time with family and friends, eating great food, and watching fireworks?! The only downside to the holiday was that we were missing Dan's family and the annual Packer family reunion : ( The day started early with a pancake breakfast/flag raising ceremony/children's parade at our church. Dan and my parents met the kids and I there since they were driving up from Houston that morning. The kids had a blast and loved riding around on their scooters while all the adults cheered. We spent the rest of the day buying fireworks, watching movies, and preparing our dinner of potato salad, baked beans, and hamburgers and hot dogs! At nine o'clock it was finally getting dark enough to start our own firework display and that is where the real excitement began. Cicialy was scared to death of the fireworks screaming and refusing to even watch them, Will got to be grandpa's firework lighting buddy which almost gave me a heartattack every time, and we had to put out a fairly large grass fire, but the fireworks were spectacular and a lot of fun. We loved having Grandma Freeman, Papagator, and Daddy up here in Tyler for the weekend. Next year we will spend the 4th in either Utah or Houston - we can't wait!

Having Fun in the "Hot" San Antonio Sun

Dan and I decided on the spur of the moment to take the family on a much needed vacation two weeks ago. We had not been on a family vacation since going to Disneyland when Will was two and Cici was five months old, so it seemed like a good time. Plus, after hearing their cousin Devri tell them how much she loved going to Sea World three weeks earlier, the kids really wanted to go. Good thing Sea World is only five hours away! We spent three fun filled and very hot days in San Antonio, Texas but at moments asked ourselves if we were crazy for embarking on this adventure with three small children on our own. Did I mention it was hot!

The first day of our trip we spent at Sea World attending all the shows and visiting the shark, penguin, and dolphin exhibits. After only three hours in the park I was more than willing to pay $15 for two souvinour mugs of soda so the family could try and cool off. Poor Weston was such a trooper barely making a peep even though I know he was very uncomfortable from the heat and the sunburn he got on the corner of his left eye where we missed covering him with sunscreen. The shows were amazing, but what was even more fun than watching them was watching Will and Cici's excitement as they watched. That made the whole trip worth it! Dan and I didn't get to go on any of the big roller coasters they have there since we didn't have anyone to watch the kids (which was sad because I love roller coasters), but we were able to take turns going with Will and Cici on the log ride. Will loved it! If the line hadn't been so long we would have done it over and over again. The kids also loved the little kiddie rides their dad went on with them while I fed Weston.


The second day we spent at Sea World's water park where we stayed much cooler than the day before. Before going to the waterpark though we promised the kids they could feed the dolphins, which they say was their favorite part of the whole vacation. The most traumatic experience of the trip happened that evening when we lost Will for about ten minutes. Dan had been playing with the kids in the large rope and net play area while I fed Weston. When I came out to meet up with them, I found Dan frantically looking for Will who had pulled away from his dad's hand and ran away (he had a problem during the vacation insisting that we needed to do what he wanted to do). He had decided that he wanted to play in the sand box area instead of coming to look for me and his baby brother. Luckily we found him pretty quickly, but it scared me to death because of how big the park was and we didn't know which way he went.

On day three we found a Mimi's Cafe to have breakfast at (we have missed this since leaving Utah) and then went to visit the Alamo and the Riverwalk. Before going to downtown San Antonio I had explained to the kids that the Alamo was where an important battle in Texas history had taken place. The whole way there they discussed amongst themselves about how they were going to go see a battle take place. They were sorely disappointed when there was no battle nor any soldiers at the Alamo. Instead they chose to fight their own battle with sticks in front of the place. Dan especially found it very interesting and we were glad that we took the couple of hours to visit it before heading home.

( The above picture is the only one we have of the whole family from the trip)

Things I learned while taking three children ages four and under to San Antonio on a family vacation:

1) Soda is worth $15 when you and your children are hot, cranky, and thirsty

2) Make sure you put sunscreen on the corners of babies eyes

3) Theme Parks are fun but even more fun when you go with other family members or friends, so that adults can ride adult rides and kids have other kids to hang out with

4) Now that Sea World is out of the way (which is more fun to do with little kids anyway), I am going back to San Antonio with only Dan to experience the #1 water park in the world Schlitterbahn and Six Flags (maybe the kids can come too, when they are older, much older).

A to Z about me ...

My friend Holly tagged me a couple of weeks ago, and since life has been really crazy lately I am only now getting around to doing it!
A- Attached or Single? Attached to Dan since April 7, 2001 (our first date)
B-Best Friend? Dan
C-Cake or pie? Cake
D-Day of choice? Any holiday and Fridays
E-Essential Item? A slimming pair of jeans
F-Favorite color? Green
G-Gummy bears or worms? Neither ... sour patch kids and peach-Os!
H-Home town? At this exact moment in time it is Tyler, Texas, where I was born (not necessarily raised), but not for long ... (I have also called Provo, Utah, Corvallis, Oregon, Mandeville, Louisiana, Bethel, Connecticut, American Fork, Utah, and Stansbury Park, Utah home)
I-Favorite indulgence? Blue Bell triple chocolate ice cream covered with caramel sauce and Smoothie Skittles
J-January or July? July (The Packer family always has their huge family reunion this month and who doesn't enjoy celebrating the founding of our great nation with yummy summer food, fireworks, family, friends, and fun?!)
K-Kids? William 4, Cicialy 2, Weston 1 and a 1/2 months
L-Life isn't complete without: FAMILY and good FRIENDS!
M-Marriage date? November 16, 2001
N-Number of brothers and sisters? 2 older sisters and 3 younger brothers
O-Oranges or Apples? I really do love all fruit, but I'd have to agree with Holly ... STRAWBERRIES ... and Peaches
P-Phobias? Snakes
Q-Quote? Today's beautiful moments are tomorrow's beautiful memories.
R-Reasons to smile? 3 beautiful children and 1 amazing husband
S-Season of choice? Fall
T-Tag 3 people: Casey, Cori, and anyone else who wants to
U-Unknown fact about me? I used to think David Bowie was really hot
V-Vegetable? Carrots
W-Worst habit? Eating ice cream almost every night after the kids go to bed!
X-Xray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y-Your favorite food? Dan's Strawberry Shortcake
Z-Zodiac sign: Scorpio

Happy Father's Day

Today the kids and I would like to pay tribute to and thank Dan for being such a great Dad!

From Will: "Thank you daddy. I like to play your chess game everyday. You really are handsome and thanks for helping me listen and obey. Hey daddy, I always like going to the Discovery Science Center with you! I like cooking breakfast on Saturday mornings with you for mommy. And daddy, I super duper love you! I am apoligizing for being naughty."

From Cici: "Daddy you are handsome! You help me listen and obey. I love how you help me play computer games like pbskids.org. I love you all morning and all night."

From Weston: "Thanks for holding me and loving me even when I cry all the time. You try so hard to help my tummy feel better and I appreciate that. I love being up in the middle of the night with you. You are the best daddy!"

From Cathie: "Dan, I appreciate all you do for me and the kids. I love how much you love to play with the kids and all the time you spend teaching them to behave better. You are the best Dad a kid could ever want!" We would also like to wish Papagater and Bompa a Happy Father's Day. We love you!