ANDREA AND BRENT'S VISIT

Fun Day!!! The kids had a good time playing I think. Too bad they can't hang around each other a little more.

Olivia was completely red in the face after holding Jett for two pictures. You can tell, though, she doesn't mind it - she loves him so much!

Victoria was more interested in the cabbage patch doll than the picture taking.

You have to admit, this is a very cute bunch of kids.

Ethan was too sleepy to interact much with anyone. He's such a snugglebunny.

Emily and Jett got on very well together. She was complaining that it hurt her back to hold Ethan and stand up for a long time....I think she realizes it could be worse. I don't know how Andrea lugs him around all the time. He's a TALL kid.

These blue eyes don't show up in pictures. You have GOT TO see them in person. Beautiful.

Andrea and Aunt LaRay (LaRay's shrinking). Just got back from Dr. Bertin - they said her knees were GREAT!

Olivia....what a sweet, polite, and beautiful little girl.

Vanessa is 3 years older than Olivia, but they got along pretty well together.

I have to admit, these kids are as cute as mine. . . . adorable runs in the family.

Emily was trying to get him to look at me and smile, but he was more interested in his "food source" in the kitchen. hahahaha

Brent was a pretty good sport, they stayed a couple of hours and he didn't complain once.

Andrea and LaRay were "freezing" in my house. Nobody gets it except Delores.

Well, we finally got our visit from the Alaskans. I've been waiting to see Jett in person for 9 months and he was worth the wait. What a little (not so little) doll. He is just cute and smiley and sweet and his crystal clear light blue eyes are a knockout. You have to see them in person to understand how charming they are. He just looks straight through you. CUTEY!!!!!

The girls are growing so fast as well. Victoria was going to sing for us, but "she had to eat her food" and never came back to sing. So, next time, we'll have to hear her. I heard she's got a great set of lungs on her. Olivia is just as sweet as I remember her, a grown-up and responsible sister. I told them that the first hugs and kisses they got from me were from Grandma and Grandpa Pack and I swear Olivia teared up. She misses her grandma and grandpa.

Andrea is beautiful, it is easy to see where the kids get it. And Brent was a really good sport, hung out with us "old aunties". LaRay said we have taken the place of Fern and Blanche, she's right. WE are now the "have to visit my elderly aunts" routine for our nieces and nephews. For Pete's sake, I didn't think we'd get there this fast. Oh well.....

Well, that's about it, I just did a blog a couple of days ago, so I don't have anything else to say, but I wanted to share the pictures of our visit (especially with D&D). Have a great day. Love, Helen

LaRay's Birthday!

Here comes the "Birthday Girl". Don't ask me how old. . . . just know she's 7 years older than me........hahahahahhaha

It's not really fair I have to put up with her driving on my Birthday!

Ooo.....Mary Kay Satin Hands. She also got a coffee table book about Pirates of the Caribbean The Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest. Cool book, yummy pictures (drool, drool, and the food isn't even here yet.

Kay took us to Spagetti Mamas for LaRay's Birday. Here we are posing next to the huge scale. Looks like the kind I need to weigh myself on, but didn't dare stand on it. YIKES!

The decor and atmosphere are almost as good as the breadsticks. This is one of the places owned by Sizzling Platter, so Kay probably gets sick of them. He gave LaRay her choice of where to eat for her birthday.

LaRay and I had half and half plates of spagetti with red sauce and mushroom sauce. The mushroom sauce was to die for.....yummy.

Kay just got the bill, poor guy, It's like having two wives to feed.

Do We have to have pictures in a dark Theater? These are the "captain seats". Best seats in the house.

Whoo hoo, 3-D ocean photography and Johnny's wonderful voice. They don't call me "Mother Nature" for nothing.

Oh yea, sea sick. As long as the camera stayed under water, I was okay, but as soon as it broke the surface, I felt like loosing my cookies.


April 28, 2006: It's been a fun week. Sarah signed on her new house this week, and LaRay had ANOTHER birthday. Better than the alternative as they say. We had a good time on Friday. Kay met us at Spagetti Mamas (lots more impressive than the name) and we had a great lunch. The decor is really interesting, but dark (atmostphere) and coming in from a very sunny day, I was completely blind for about 5 minutes. When I finally could see around the place, I noticed how great it was. Really cool things on the walls and the food was very good as well as reasonably priced. Course, poor Kay always gets stuck with the check.

After lunch, LaRay and I went on a little shopping trip to the dollar store and the Cotton Shop, then went back to Jordon Commons to the 3D Movie about the ocean. It was really interesting, but I'd never seen a 3D movie, at least not one with the advances they've made in the last 40 years. I remember paper glasses and things looking like there were three different screens just lined up together. This experience was actually like "being on the ocean bottom" with fish, starfish, sharks, and jelly fish swimming all around you. I tried to reach out a grab a jellyfish, but that didn't work. Whenever we went up top to the surface, though, ugh! I had to shut my eyes. I don't care how many people tell me how much I would enjoy a cruise, I just don't think my stomach could take it. Must be hereditary from dad. Anyway, at the beginning, it was like having the waves come right over your body. Strange - but very interesting, and Johnny's deep wonderful voice as a narrator.

The movie was really great and we had a good time, but on the way home, we had a flat tire, and of course, my cell phone had died. (Figures). Anyway we were close to a gas station, so the birthday girl put air in my tire and we made it another block to a Firestone Tire Store. The guy inside looked like a crook, but in fact, was very nice and fixed my tire for free (even showed me the two sheet rock nails I'd picked up). So it didn't ruin our day too much.

Friday night, Stef and I went to see the DaVinci Code. We both really liked it, and sat in her driveway talking about it for about 1/2 hour after. It really has an interesting subject and as long as you remember it is fictional, just go along for the ride. It was a fun, exciting thriller. I can understand why the Catholics are a bit upset by the way certain groups were depicted in the picture. But, as I know that mormons have and are being portrayed in ways that are completely off the mark, I assume the same was done here to "enhance" the story. Just suspend your brain, let it flow over you, and enjoy a nice movie, making no judgements against any real catholics you know. I did think Ron Howard did a good job, and i didn't find any places in it that I felt were gratuitously sacreligious. I think he even made the last 15 minutes very sweet and respectful. Anyway, to each his own, but I liked it.

Well, Andrea is here this week, so hopefully, we'll get to have lunch and see the kids. All the rest of us are doing well. Sarah and Tom are moving into their new house in West Jordan today. It's really cute, kind of like Stefs only bigger. We'll be helping them on the holiday get things put away. Ethan is growing by leaps and bounds, he's a cutie, 3 months old this Friday. WOW! They grow too fast. Hope everyone is doing well. Have a safe holiday. Love, Helen.