Fun with Family

We were blessed to have a fun little visit from James' sister Michelle and her family.  The arrived late Tuesday and had to leave first thing Thursday, but we made the most of our short time together.  First, I have to say how impressed I was with how well we got everyone to sleep comfortably in our little house.  Here are some pictures I took of the kids sleeping last night.  I may have turned the light on.  Hey, at least we know they were really sleeping well!  All of mine in one room and all of theirs in one room.

Four little Packards sleeping soundly in an itty bitty room.

Four not so little anymore Hutchings.  This one wasn't such a stretch.

For our one day together we went to Nauvoo and enjoyed a fabulous day together.  We started at the temple.  One of our surrogate grandmothers, Sis. Becker, came and took care of the kids, so we could have just some grown-up time at the temple.  It was great!  

And what is even more impressive is that she took those 8 children on an oxen ride and on a walk to the visitor's center all by herself.  She is amazing!  After we met back up we played on the wagon and had lunch.  We figured the kids wouldn't enjoy anything else until their bellies were full!

We then strolled around and enjoyed the blacksmith shop and walked down to the river where the Saints began their trek west.  Due to lots of heave rains recently the river was nice and high.  The kids had so much fun skipping rocks and seeing how wet they could get before we could stop them!

While walking next to the river we found lots of wildlife, and for anyone who knows these kids you will not be surprised that we literally had to drag them away from the animals to continue our journey.  

Turtles trying to find a dry place to rest.

Baby raccoons.  Wow!

 After our journey near the river it was time for some snacks and games.  So, we took the kids to the Pioneer Play area where they had fun playing games and dressing up.

The older kids really wanted to go make rope, so we did that while the little ones enjoyed more time playing.  They made rope a couple of times, so that each family could take one home.  They also enjoyed some fresh bread baked in an old fashioned fireplace oven, and much more!

Working together to make rope.

During this part of the adventure Hyrum decided that he had had enough and enjoyed an hour nap.  Pretty impressive for adventure time!

And what was Jackson up to this whole time?  He was pushing his stroller around.  I couldn't believe he was still standing by the end of the day!

While we thought our adventures were over, on our way home we were detoured because the flooding took a bridge out.  We remember driving over it on the way and the water was threatening to come onto the road.  Apparently, it was not an idle threat.  We were all grateful for GPS to help get us home!  

It was a great day and a relaxing evening together.  It was sad to say good-bye in the morning, but we know we will see each other again.