Packers Newsletter

Rob had a 5k at his work and they also sponsored a kids 1k. Luke was so excited to do this and would practice in the backyard. They had the kids run around the baseball field at American Express 3 times. He was loving that all of Rob’s co-workers were cheering him on. He did such a good job and only stopped to walk a couple times. He got a little trophy and a t-shirt.

We did two backyard projects this summer. We put in two 4 x 4 raised box gardens and we did an 8 x 8 sandbox. The gardens went in fast and we only had to move one sprinkler!! (I think we have rearranged all of our sprinklers in the backyard at least once.) We have gotten a ton of tomatoes and are overwhelmed by cucumbers, but the kids love it. None of our strawberries have made it inside the house because Sophie eats them all.

The sandbox took a LOT of work. There is a huge 80 year old tree next door that shades half our yard, so we wanted the sandbox under that. The only space to put it was where a 10 x 10 cement pad was that the previous owners used as a dog run. We obviously don’t have a dog so we tore the cement out, but left a one foot border of cement around where the sandbox would go. We found out the cement was 10 inches thick and had rebar in it! It took SO long to break it all up. Nic even broke a sledge hammer trying to pound it out! After that we built the frame and had sand delivered. They dumped it in the street and we had the entire neighborhood playing on the sand pile before we hauled wheelbarrow loads full to the backyard. It has been the place to play since then. The knocks on our door to play in Luke’s sandbox haven’t stopped. It doesn’t matter what hour it is! It is a great toy!

Sophie turned two in June. She is so fun and has grown into such a girly girl. She’s always trying to put on my heels and sneak my makeup. And her toes are always painted pink, her FAVORITE color.  She is talking like crazy! She isn’t the best eater. She’ll eat one or two bites of any meal and be done until the next meal. She is very different than Luke and I because she has a major sweet tooth! I can’t get Luke to eat a popsicle or ice cream, but Sophie will sniff it out and inhale! She loves nursery and all her little friends. She officially doesn’t take naps anymore. Well she hasn’t all summer now. She is a very tired little girl by the end of the day.

Lehi had their annual round up week. It is a huge deal around here. We braved the crowds for the cow stampede down Main Street. Sophie loved all the rodeo princesses and waved to each one. Our ward does a float every year and the primary kids get to walk next to it. These floats are so time consuming and are so amazing and huge. It is a calling I never want!! Our float for the Mini Float parade on Friday night was a Dr. Seuss theme and all the little primary kids were Sneetches. Luke got to ride in a wagon for the 3 miles and I walked beside him. It was 100 degress and I died a little. Luke was great and waved to everyone the whole time. All the adults had spray bottles and we were soaking down the kids. Mom and dad came too, so that was fun for them to see Luke. We went to the big parade on Saturday morning so Luke could sit and watch and it was equally hot, but all the floats throwing candy made up for it.

That afternoon we had the family over for a little swimming party for Sophie. We just had lunch and the kids swam in the pool and played on the slip and slide. We had a gigantic chocolate cake with pink candles. Luke made her a cardboard baby bed that he painted pink and purple and helped me sew a baby pillow for it. He was so proud of himself!

For 4^th of July we went to the Packer family reunion up in Fruit Heights. Rob’s uncle has an amazing yard that is perfect for all of us. There was a little kids parade, a gigantic homemade waterslide, sand pile, and the traditional soft serve ice cream machine. All of the aunts and uncles were reminded of a young Rob when watching Luke go gang busters on the waterslide with no fear. Rob was quite the active little boy.  We had to drag him away from it after 4 hours.  That night we had Mom and Dad and grandpa over for Chinese. Luke has been obsessed with all the fires around here and always wants to watch the news about them. He heard there were lots of places with firework restrictions and bans so he told us he didn’t want to do fireworks this year because it was too dangerous. (His preschool was within a few blocks of one of the fires a few months back.)

For Pioneer day we headed down to mom and dads and had some amazing ribs by Uncle Sam. It started to pour rain and luckily I brought the kids swim suits so they could play in the rain with Bryce. Luke agreed to some fireworks and he and Sophie thought they were great!

We also got to go to the Days of 47 rodeo with Rob's work. We got a little behind the scenes tour and met a bull named "Orange Juice." Luke loved his name and we watched for him until the very, very end for a rider to ride him. Sophie was pretty entertained by it all, surprisingly. She sat there the whole time watching all the cows and horses and cowboys.