We had our Packer family reunion up in Huntsville and spent a couple of days at Pineview Resevoir. It was great fun! Besides a bad case of the flu being passed around we all managed to enjoy ourselves. Here are Ellie, Alysa, and I getting ready to be pulled behind the boat. Alysa wanted slower and Ellie wanted faster, but neither of them like the big waves.As part of our reunion we got to go see my little sister, Lisa, in her ballroom concert. Ellie was the hit of the show. During the really quiet part of Lisa's foxtrot, she yelled "HI Lisa!" The entire audience started laughing. Now Ellie is determined to be a ballroom dancer. She has her partner picked out too. Whitney, better buy Rocco some self tanner and some dancin' shoes!

We took a relly fun trip to the zoo! It was the perfect weather, & Ellie had some of her favorite people with her! Here is Aunt Michelle with her namesake, Ellie Michelle, standing by the cute brown bear.Ellie & Rocco are using the unbrellas to guard themselves from the sprinkles we got. It was great, they cooled it off enough that we weren't toasting and the animals were pretty active.
Ellie got to play with cousin Dalton from Maryland. he was here for almost a month. They seem to have a love/hate relationship, or maybe like brother and sister. She is always excited to have him around!
All of Ellie's cousins were together, which doesn't happen very often. They were very good to act like birds when I asked them to. Caleb is some weird kind of bird!
We had a great time! We miss Ang, Matt, Kirsten, & Dalton now that they have returned home to Maryland. It is one of the highlights of our year when they get to come visit! We love you guys!

Ellie's friend, Aubrey got some new kittens (Cinderella & Belle). Ellie just loves to play with them. Thanks Beth...now we don't have to get Ellie a pet!Surpirse!!!! Adam & Jud are kitty lovers too!

Here is her fishing photo. She got a fishing pole for Father's Day so she can fish with Dad now.

Here is her art photo. She loves art and Michelle made her this cute apron for her art class.

Here is Ellie's ballet photo.

Ellie's Father's Day Photos

We got Ellie's photos taken for Father's Day. It was about time...I am the worst at taking her to get her picture taken. Anyway, they turned out really cute. We got her taken in outfits representing all her favorite things. Take a look...

Birthdays & Bowling

I finally uploaded photos from my camera, so I decided it is time to update our blog. Summer is the time for birthdays in our family, and any excuse we have for a party we will use. My youngest sister, Lisa, turned 20.. Not a teenager any more, I guess that make my parents officially old. (Just kidding Mom & Dad)
We took Ellie bowling for her first time and she absolutely loved it. She even did the strike dance when she bowled a strike...no joke! I guess it was with the help of bumpers and a ramp. Her final score was only three less than mine. I don't know if that says she's really good, or I'm really bad. Both I guess.
The pool at our house opened and we went swimming for Michelle's birthday. Ellie is a swimming machine. She could spend hours in the pool. Especially if her cousins are around. She loves to play with her cousin Alysa.
Ellie loves babies, princesses and polly pockets. She comes up with hilarious names for all of her "kids". Her doll is named Sekah, her frog Nepal, her turtle Lauld, and her dog GingerHonkHonk. In fact, Michelle is pregnant and showed Ellie an ultrasound picture and told her it looks like a turtle. Ellie now calls Michelle's baby Lauld, and is convinced she is not having a baby, but a turtle.

Jud is 30

Well, Jud's birthday was yesterday. He turned 30! He told me he thinks he's growing up now...it's about time! We left Ellie with Amy and went on a date...just the two of us. That was the first in a while. It was fun. We went to dinner and to Spiderman 3. A real, adult movie. I can't remember the last one we saw. Ellie had a great time with her auntie and did not want to go to bed. We all had a fun night.

Jud said he got just what he wanted for for his birthday. A new fishing pole and a fishing license were his favorites. He is planning a fishing trip with Dad this weekend and with Adam next weekend. I hope he catches something good. I love fish!

The new IKEA opeded yesterday in Salt Lake. We are going to head over and check it out today. Hopefully it is not too busy. It should be fun!

It's about time...

I guess it is about time I caught up with the rest of the world. Tons of friends have blogs, so I finally did it. It seems an easier way to keep in contact with friends, family...

I am just signing Ellie up for swimming lessons and an art class. She is so into painting, drawing, etc. She has been begging for a painting class. We are going to take a little rest from ballet and hip-hop and go a different direction. We'll see how it goes.

Jud is training hard for a marathon in September. He goes running across the street at the park and I push Ellie around in her stroller at a much slower pace. It is so nice out right now it makes for a fun evening.

We are going to plant a garden this week also. Jud loves to garden and I love to eat out of the garden. I can't wait until our plants are in full bloom.