Merry Christmas from the Summers' Family!

During this Christmas Season, we would like to wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas. We are so grateful for the blessing we have been given through the life, teachings, and atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is such a wonderful time that we can focus on His teachings and example.

We will be thinking about all of you and how blessed we are to have great friends and family this Christmas. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Halloween Outings

The kids are in their rooms organizing, reorganizing, and categorizing their Halloween candy this morning. What else is there to do with it when it's FAST SUNDAY! (Ha! Ha! Ha! I just have to laugh at them!)

Here are pictures of the fun festivities.

Sophie was a very warm "Snow White." She didn't want to wear the warm clothes underneath, but I think she ended up "thanking" us in the long run. Last week when someone had asked her what she was going to be, she said, "a butterfly." When I informed her she didn't have a butterfly costume, she exclaimed matter-of-factly, "Well just go to the store and buy one, Mom!"

Ben was Burger King. . .Rachel was a vet/doctor. . .
Steven was a "stick man". . .(Thanks for the idea, Cherilyn!)Here are the pumpkins. Steven made Mario--all by himself! And Rachel carved out the moon and stars.Sophie made a Kitty Cat and Ben designed and carved his wide-eyed/mouth pumpkin.Here are the costumes Steve and I wore (as a cardinal/pope and Sarah Palin) to our friends' Halloween party Friday night.

Happy Halloween!

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Ringling Bros. Circus

For our last hurrah before school starts this week, we took the kids to the Ringling Bros. Circus. The long circus train has been "parked" along A St. in Auburn all week, so every time we would drive by, the kids would all ask if we were going. So when a friend mentioned there was a 50% off coupon in our Entertainment book, we bought tickets!
Because Sophie has been reading "Olivia Saves the Circus" where Olivia, the pig, uses her imagination as she tells her class that she was in the circus when all of the performers were out with ear infections, she thought she would actually be in the circus. (She said Mommy was going to be the tight-rope walker and Daddy was going to tame the lions.) All weekend long she continually asked, "We're going to the circus, now?!?" (and threw fits when we told her "no.")
There was a meet and greet before the actual show where the kids could dress like clowns, meet the performers and learn about the baby elephant. Sophie and Rachel had fun being clowns.
Steven spent most of the time looking around to make sure none of his buddies saw him there. He wasn't too successful as one cute girl came up and said, "Hi, Steven!"
Ben's wearing the hat that came with the $12 cotton candy. The theme of the circus was "Zing, Zang, Zoom!" and incorporated a magic show with the circus. They "turned" one of the clowns into a tiger.
Sophie didn't like all of the noise at the beginning. She had more fun as the show went on. She especially enjoyed the dancing zebras!
Steve and I were really impressed with the 11 elephants and 12 tigers! That's more than we ever see at the zoo.

What a fun way to end a great summer! We're spending today getting ready for school tomorrow. . .we all slept in a little for one last time! 6:00 am is going to come early tomorrow! :(

Summers' Summer 2009

So, since we've joined Facebook, we've been neglecting our blog. But we thought we'd catch up on a few things we've done this summer. . .

Trip to Idaho/Montana
We took the kids out of school a day early to drive to Idaho and Montana so Steven and his friend, Zac, could attend Cedar Badge, a leadership camp for Boy Scouts, up in the Tetons. While the boys were at camp, we spent time hanging out in Drummond with Tammy's parents. When the camp was over, we all drove down to pick them up and spent some time with Steve's family.

The boys got to experience a taste of rural life by "goin' shootin" (as we say it in Montana) in Grandpa's back yard. We also got to enjoy Grandpa's bbq dinners. . . and Grandma's Abelskivers! Sophie got spoiled playing princesses with Grandma Lacey. Some of the Lacey's neighbors have several farm animals, so the kids had a fun time petting the animals and riding horses.The kids got a kick out of going to Drummond High School where Tammy showed them where she went to school. This hallway is the ENTIRE high school. (Well the hallway that leads to the 8 classrooms, anyway. . .)
We also visited Garnet, an old ghost town near Drummond. The kids had fun exploring the old buildings that still contain some antiques.At the Packer's Sophie had fun playing with all the babies. Steve's sisters both have infants, so Sophie was a "big kid!" She also loved playing with the kitties.

Rachel had a fun time hanging out with her cousin, Mackayla.

Ben and Rachel were supposed to go camping with Steve's sister, Jeni, but when they got all set up at the camp, it started pouring, so they bundled up the wet tents and brought them home. Luckily, Jeni and Nolan have a large living room, so they were able to "go camping" anyway!!!

Tennis Lessons

The night we got back from our trip, we ran into a friend who told us her son was participating in a tennis camp starting the next day. Because tennis is Steve's passion, we couldn't resist signing Steven, Ben, and Rachel up for tennis camp, too. (It doesn't hurt that Ben's two best friends were in the camp with him!!!) They played Tuesday-Friday throughout July and it ended with a tournament with all the surrounding tennis camp teams. They did a great job!!!

Scout Camps
Steven didn't get enough camping at Cedar Badge, so the week after we got back, he headed off to Scout Camp at Camp Pigott. He earned 5 merit badges, so it was a successful camp. Because there weren't many other adults who were able to go with the boys, Steve got to spend the week camping, too. He had a great time with the boys! We really have a good group of deacons right now!

Now that Ben's 11, he got to go on his first overnight camp out, too. Again, Steve got to spend some quality "bonding" time as he camped out with them. The bummer of the trip was when they found out there was a burn ban and couldn't have a campfire to cook their foil dinners and roast marshmallows, etc. Luckily, Bishop Hatch was able to save the day by bringing up a propane stove to cook the dinners!

Day Trips
We've taken a few day trips this summer. As we were experiencing the record-breaking Seattle heat wave, we thought we'd escape the heat by going up to the Ice Caves near Granite Falls. It was so fun playing in the snow in the hot weather. Even Leia, our dog, had a fun time.

We also had fun attending the 4th of July festivities in Auburn. The kids climbed walls, rode horses and played with animals.

Another highlight was going to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. The kids had fun seeing and playing with the animals.

Summer Projects
One of our summer "projects" has been to potty train Sophie. She's starting to get the hang of it. She even went all by herself at the YMCA the other day. We're looking forward to the day when our garage doesn't stink and when we no longer have to carry diapers with us!

Ben's summer projects have been organizing his Pokemon card collection, learning to play trombone (Last year in school, he played trumpet, but he wants to take after his dad and brother and play trombone.) He's also learning how to sew. (Don't you love his swimming attire--he multi-tasks!) He's almost finished making his PJ's.

Music Camp
Last week, Steven participated in a week-long music/band camp in Auburn. He loves playing trombone, so he was thrilled to be able to play all week. On Friday night he played in a concert. (The pictures didn't turn out, though.)

Family Reunion
Last week we drove 51/2 hours to Osoyoos, BC, Canada to attend Steve's mom's family reunion. With the exception of one cousin, all of Steve's grandparents' family attended. Although it was a little chilly (especially after all of our hot Seattle weather) we had a fun time. The kids played in the water and spent time catching up with cousins. The adults sat around and ate! (Actually, we had fun playing in the water, too. ) We rented a boat for a couple of hours so the kids could ride on an innertube and wakeboard. The hotel we stayed at had free rentals of kayaks and canoes, so we took advantage of those, too!
The kids don't go back to school for 3 1/2 more weeks, so we still have lots of time to have more fun!!! Give us a call if you want to come play!

Rachel's Milestones

This was a fun and exciting day in Rachel's life! Today she was baptized and confirmed by her dad. We had a wonderful day. Before and after the baptism, Rachel wore a dress that Grandma Packer had made for her. She was so beautiful! She looked like a princess.

Here is the front view:And the back is just as beautiful (the picture just doesn't do it justice!):Here are Grandma and Grandpa Packer with the kids before the baptism. Sophie's been keeping Grandma and Grandpa busy! She keeps insisting that they play hide and seek with her and jump on the "tram-a-boing" with her.
Rachel wore a vintage baptism dress that my mom had made for me when I was baptized over 30 years ago.
Here I am on my baptism day in the same dress:
Here's Rachel with her proud papa!
The baptismal service was beautiful. There were two other girls baptized, too. Rachel was so excited to be baptized. She wasn't even a little bit nervous to go into the water like I was when I was baptized! She said the water was warm, but the air outside of the font was freezing! She was very grateful for the warm, cozy special "baptism towel" Grandma Lacey had sent to her. Rachel said she felt really good inside the whole day.

After the baptism, we had a little party at our house with all of the people who had attended the baptism. We had all of Rachel's favorite foods--no-bake cookies, brownies, a fruit platter, cream puffs, pound cake with strawberries, as well as Mom and Dad's favorite--"cowboy caviar" salsa and chips.
Here is Rachel (she changed her dress so she could eat!) with a few of her friends:
Rachel, we love you and are so proud of you!