August 02 Greenleaf Post

Hello,

Sorry we are a bit late with this. We have been on the go constantly for a while. We had a fantastic week in the mountains with Lareen's family for our annual family campout during the week of the 4th of July. Two weeks later we went to Bear Lake for the week with the Packer clan. We only get together every other year so it's always fun to see everyone and see all of the changes and how the little ones have grown. We went to Bear Lake with my family 2 years ago and it was fun, but we had some difficulties (due mostly to Lareen still recovering from Emma's birth, housing conditions and the heat). Anyway, this year was sooooooo much better. We had a fantastic time, housing was better, the weather was more forgiving and Lareen felt soooooooo much better.

The week we returned I had a trip to Maryland to my company's new office out there. The highlight was going down to Mount Vernon and reading the final 2 chapters of "The Real George Washington" while sitting at Mount Vernon. It was a special experience for me and rekindled my love for that great man.

I flew home from there to run up to Scout camp to take my turn with them and finish out the week up in McCall. I took Jarom with my and we had a great time. It was so fun to see how excited Jarom was to become a scout. He was able to take part in a lot of the activities, in fact he even did many of the Merit Badge requirements with the older boys. The highlight was the honor trail at the end of the week when we hiked a trail in the dark and had different stops where staff members stated a part of the Scout Law (you know "a Scout is trustworthy, loyal" etc.) and would discuss what their part meant. It was neat and Jarom thought it was really cool. After that when we were home and he'd do something unscoutlike I'd remind him of the Scout Law and he'd shape up.

We returned on Saturday and left Sunday after church for a week in Las Vegas. I had a trade show to attend and brought the family. We stayed at Ceasar's Palace and had a really good time. Lareen and the kid's mostly played in the pool all day while I worked. We also had the opportunity to spend a couple of very enjoyable evenings with Lareen's Aunt and Uncle who live down there. They took us wake boarding on Lake Mead and we had dinner on the boat next to Hoover Dam. Wow, that was fantastic. The highlight was that we were down there my nephew Sam Packer's wedding in the Las Vegas temple.

Last but not least, upon returning from Vegas I turned around and went to Ohio for business and was able to see my brother Kent's family and the wonderful church history sites in Kirtland Ohio. I had never seen Kent's home and it was fantastic. What a great back yard - leading right into the forest.

Our garden is fantastic, it has miraculously survived all of our running around. We are eating all of our meals from it and Lareen is starting to can. Life is good and we are happy. The kids are ecstatic to be going back to school. Hannah is excited for her birthday tomorrow, she turns 6! Lareen and I are decorating her room for her birthday. We painted one of her walls a different color (something Lareen has wanted to do in all of our homes). We also painted a line (about chair rail heighth) of flowers and grass (like a meadow). We finished that at midnight last night. Now Lareen has to sew the curtains, I have to paint a little shelf and cut and mount the chair rail (that will go beneath the flowers) tonight for the Birthday unveiling. We have decided that instead of toys for birthdays we will try to do things that mean something and that will create memories. In the end we will also spend very little $ thanks to the fact that much of the paint was donated by our good friends the Vlaanderens who have a painting business.

Our love to all of you,

The Brian Packer Family