The Temple is Finished!

The temple is complete!  We enjoyed taking our children through it and watching their little testimonies grow.  We were able to teach them about the special ordinances we do in the temple and they loved the way they felt.  I asked each of them what they enjoyed most about the temple, this is what they said:

Zanden, "I liked the 12 oxen that hold up the baptismal font"

Alauna, "Rainbows!"

Jocelyn, "The cookies at the end"

... well 2/3 isn't bad!

It's always more fun when you share it with friends!  Have you shared your testimony with a friend lately?

Love, The Packer Family

Our Little Princess Turns 5!

Guess what! Guess what! GUESS WHAT!

I just had the BEST day EVER!!!

Mom said there was a special surprise for me and we had to get ready.

We got our nails painted...

our hair done...

and our faces painted!

Mom made us all tiaras and we got to dress up as princesses!

You should have seen my cake!  Wow! 

I've never seen one so beautiful!  

and I got to lick the candles; 5 in all!

When the surprise arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes!!!

It was princess Belle! In the flesh!

I'm not sure Alauna recognized her...

But I was the happiest girl alive!

 Belle helped me open my presents.  

(I have such great friends!)

 She stayed and played until the very end!

 This is the whole gang.  Friends, presents, cake and a princess!

What more could a girl ask for?

I think the boys would have asked for more...

I told Zanden he should have let me paint his nails...

Oh well, his loss!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOCELYN!

Family Pictures: Take 2

Let's try this again...  

and 3-2-1, action!

...and that's a wrap!  Picture perfect!  Thank you Briar!

Packer Family June 2012

The Manti Pageant

We had the opportunity to go see the Manti Pageant with Tad and Kim this year... so we took it!
It had been at least 13 years since any of us had been.  (It's a given that the kids had never seen it!)
As the show went on, it was the same great production that we had remembered; with my favorite part, the wonderful angel Moroni perched gloriously atop the temple!

At the climax, though, they had a man play Jesus Christ as he visited the Nephites in America.  What I               remember from the past was a beam of light representing Christ's descention as they retold the story.

It was a very beautiful scene, as you can imagine.  "Jesus" called His disciples and blessed the children one by one.  The spirit was definitely overwhelming and, though there were picketers in the back and all around the grounds, they could not drown out that confirming feeling of fire that this is the true church!

Though some will argue, debate, scorn or scoff at us...  I know
that what I feel was not conjured up by a mass "brain-washing" or even by any chemical induced emotion that was conjured up on my own!  What I feel is not of this world.  It is the Holy Spirit, my brother and a member of the godhead, confirming to my soul that it is true.  No amount of rioting will change that.  How grateful I am that I have lived worthy of this witness!

I am so grateful to Joseph Smith; for the man that he was to stand up against great opposition and then to never deny that same witness.  I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon and for the knowledge that I have of it's truth.  How blessed I am for what the Holy Spirit has given me!

I know that, in the course of time, this witness will come to every man, woman and child.  I look forward to that day and pray that I will have stood, like Joseph Smith, firmly proclaiming the witness that I have received as truth!   "Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me!" Job 27:5 

                                                                                                                      Melonie Packer

Summer Fun!

One of my most favorite things to do...

What can beat hot dogs with a view?

I made sure to thank my daddy again, and again...  He likes that.

It was kind of windy, but we didn't mind!

We just made sure to pick the  rocks that wouldn't blow away!

Spalunk!  I sure like that sound!

Strike a pose!

I love my big brother!

What an awesome day!!!