The Big 5

Wynn has been so excited for his birthday this year! He wanted to have an army themed party and I was thrilled I could get so much Army themed stuff from the dollar store! He is obsessed with this USS Missouri Battleship that he got from Grandma and Grandpa Pack and plays with it constantly. When his friends came over they practiced their skills by climbing through obstacles, tug o war, and trying to shoot stationary targets, then moving targets, and finally an all out Nerf war with each other. It was loud and crazy and they had a ton of fun! Wynn is a very patient kind little boy. He is good to raise his hand rather than interrupt if he wants something. He is still very willing to share treats and toys he get with his siblings, sometimes even before he has a chance to use them himself! He usually does his part and doesn't throw fits when he doesn't get what he wants or is asked to do something he doesn't want to. He is kind to everyone who comes around and shows a lot of love. He is still a snuggle bug! At school he is quick to listen and is learning all his letters and starting to grasp how to read. He loves all sports and especially likes to wrestle. He is excited to play pee wee football next fall. We love our Wynn!! Happy Birthday 

Our Family 2016

I loved our family pictures taken this year by my friend Nelli Sudbrock at Sudbrock Family Photography.

Dance Pictures Winter 2016

I took these on a phone so they aren't the greatest.. but these are the costumes and pics from the three different dances Sydney will participate in this year's 'Nutcracker'. Sydney is very excited to get to hide under Mother Ginger's skirt. Wynn pretended to hate it but as you can see he was very interested and watched the girls dance in their fun costumes!

Missionary Examples

In the past few months our kids have been able to say goodbye for now to two of their cousins who left to serve missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I didn't understand the importance for our children to go to their talks, see them leave, and hear about their letters and missions at first, but Andy had a different idea. He commented to me that seeing their cousins serve would help our kids, especially Wynn, start to look forward to serving a mission as well. 

Before the first cousin, Devin, left a few years ago our kids did not understand what a missionary did. When we asked them what missionaries do, their response was "eat our dinner..." since we regularly have them over to share dinner with our family. Going to see their farewell or homecoming was all about a play date with their cousins rather than the missionary who was leaving/returning. Now they understand and are excited to hear about where their cousins are serving and what is happening in their missions. It has been a joy to see them start to pray for their cousins and their success as they teach people about the gospel of Christ. Wynn is excited now and talks about when he serves his mission and what he hopes to do. He is definitely aware now of what it is and that its something he is looking forward to doing.

 I am so grateful for these young family members of ours who are willing to sacrifice years of their lives in the service of the Lord and for Andy's inspiration to make an effort to take our kids to hear them speak, share their letters, and talk to them about their cousin's missions so they can start to set their own mission goals now. When we heard Elder Huntsman speak a few weeks back the spirit was so sweet and strong; my testimony was strengthened just in hearing his words. We look forward to hearing more about their success and growth in the coming months while they are serving the Lord.

Sister Kamilyn Wright is serving in the Birmingham, Alabama mission.

Elder Derek Huntsman is serving in the Taichung, Taiwan mission. 

A busy, busy fall week!

 Last Monday we had a really fun night with the elders over for dinner and carved pumpkins. If you'll notice Andy as usual found a more efficient method and carved his with a skilsaw. The elders were such a help for me in preparing my talk and I was super grateful for that. We always enjoy having them in our home because they bring a special spirit and reminder to keep sharing the gospel with others.

Then this week we got to keep celebrating fall by having our ward Halloween party and visiting the pumpkin patch several different times with the kid's school classes. We are definitely in no shortage of pumpkins around here since we gathered some from the Huntsman's patch and then each kid got one from the different pumpkin patch field trips we went on. Abby loved to find the littlest one and declare it hers since it was "tiny like me!"  She is definitely not eager to get big :)

Sydney and her best friends minus one girl :)

Wynn's preschool buddies - Taylor and Yitso... Wynn and Yitso get along so well. He really missed seeing him over the summer when Yitso was away with his grandparents.

Wynn's other buddy Travis... he has finally found so boys that he gets along with really well and has a lot of fun with. I'm so happy for him to have found his niche and not be always trying to be third wheel with Sydney and her friends!

Whisperings of the Spirit

Today I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting at church. My topic was baptism and I was to draw inspiration from Elder David A. Bednar's talk in April 2015's General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Elder Bednar is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and entitled his talk, "Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins." I was stumped.

Baptism seems like a topic that people are so familiar with and such  basic idea that how could I possibly say anything for twenty minutes that people didn't already know. I wanted to help people realize something new or see something in a different light but had no idea how. I spent the week reviewing and studying the talk and highlighting different aspects as well as other sources, but the week came and went to no avail. Then we were able to have the two elder missionaries serving in our ward over for dinner Friday night, and I happened to mention to them my predicament. They asked if I wanted them to help. OF COURSE! After discussing what I had already studied, they and Andy gave different ideas of places I could look to expand on the topic. I had read other talks; I had read the Bible Dictionary, but it wasn't until I opened True to the Faith and starting reading its expansion on our baptismal covenant and what it really means to keep it that I felt sure. I was amazed at how I suddenly knew this is where the Lord wanted me to take my thoughts. I was no longer unsure and confused but assured and at peace.

I have reflected on this today as well as over the past few months. Never in my life have I noticed so strongly the impressions of the Holy Spirit than I have this past year. Though, I guess it began when we moved to Alaska; it was so hard at first, but I was so sure this is exactly what we were supposed to do. I felt it reiterated to me in my heart over and over again over the first few months. The first time I walked into the birth center where our next two children were born, the feeling was the same.... overwhelming peace and assurance that this was a good path for me. Then when we started to consider leaving Alaska.... talk about kicking against the pricks.... I fought that decision; I wouldn't allow myself to feel the influence of the Spirit. I cried for a week straight. I loved Alaska. I loved the place, the people, how we had grown as a family and I didn't want to leave it. But the Lord had something else in mind and as I opened my heart to truly consider the Lord's will, it was that peace... the reassurance that this was what the Lord wanted me to do that became more clear, even though the sadness didn't leave. It's been easier to hold onto that feeling ever since.

I have had many experiences with the Holy Spirit throughout my life and felt Him testify of the truth of a doctrine or guide me toward a decision, but I guess it seems that I quickly forgot how it felt or His voice sounded. I must have stopped looking to keep feeling His inspiration and just waited for it to rain down on me again. I have never struggled to teach lessons in my life. I have never struggled to write papers. I have never struggled to give a talk or know what to say in a public setting, but lately I find myself stumped. It's as if the sudden flow or words and thoughts that used to come to me without effort now requires time and study every time I need to speak/teach. I've been confused by this, but now am realizing how much gratitude I have for these experiences that have taught me to recognize the Spirit more in my life. I am finally truly coming to be able to sort out His voice from all the others in my head and recognize it enough to stop in my tracks and listen for what I am being asked to do or say.

In preparing my sharing time lessons for Primary this month, its not that I couldn't find enough ideas or didn't feel right about how its suggested I present the lessons, but more that I didn't feel satisfied that just presenting the doctrine was enough. I have found in myself a hunger to know deeply what the people I'm teaching and helping need from me, not from anyone but from me - not just what I could do, but what they need. It hasn't been until I have made several attempts to learn what to teach or say and then felt stuck, anxious or confused and backed up to go a different route, that I eventually, but every time, have finally recognized a sudden and recognizable shift in my mind. It's as if all confusion melts away, all other ideas pale, and suddenly I know what to do and what to say.

It is a great blessing the Lord has been pouring over me to allow me to have these experiences to learn to know the voice of His Spirit and to know what I need to say and do. I consider it a great privilege and feel grateful and joy that He offers the opportunity to teach and serve for Him. I am so happy to get to know Him more and get closer to Him. I know He loves me and all His other children and that there is a place for me and the things I can do on this Earth to help bring them back to Him. I am grateful for this knowledge in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Labor Day Visit

I am very grateful my parents were able to come for a visit over labor day weekend. Our kids adore when they come to visit. I truly admire Grandma Pack for her ability to sit and read or play with the kids for hours. I struggle myself to sit and play with them a lot and she just beams with joy to play with them. I love to hear her laugh and giggle with them and get excited. I am grateful for how much she loves and care for them. They know it too!

My dad has always been the cuddly bear. He loves hugs and always sighs and takes his time when you give him a big hug. Its like he pauses to breathe in the connection or something. That sounds weird, but its true. I have always liked how I felt special when I gave him a hug because it's easy to tell how much it means to him. The kids like his silliness and how he isn't afraid to act like kid like them. They especially loved when he chased them around the park during this last visit. Dad is always sure to make us feel special and important when he visits. I can feel his love.

It was so good to see them and spend time with them. We love and miss you guys.

Ariel and Eric from "The Little Mermaid" musical at the Elgin Opera House

Fall Projects

This fall we have had two big projects. We built Wynn and pirate ship bed complete with fish tank beneath it and "cabin" below... (this is not completely finished!) I'll post a pic when it is completely done and everything is painted. We also built a wall bed for Mom and Dad when they come to visit. That was a fun simple project that I have always wanted to try since some friends of ours in Hawaii had a wall bed in their tiny apartment. Their bedroom transformed into their living room everyday when they put the bed away. I know I've said it before, but I really enjoy our projects together. Its so fun to see what we can accomplish together and try new things. I'm going to try my hardest though to not come up with any new big projects in the near future so we can rest! 

Camping at Anthony

The last week of summer was bitter sweet! My kids were SO DONE with each other .They had been bickering and teasing and whining almost constantly but now we seem so busy since we are back in our routine. We took a few days that last week and went camping at Anthony Lakes with Lindsey and her kids. It was just us moms and the kiddos. We had fun. We did a hike on the second day to hoffer Lakes and swam in Anthony lake after we got back down. Lindsey and I stayed up late after the kids were asleep and freaked ourselves out in the darkness. I was constantly scanning the woods with my headlamp but I am not sure that helped because when some deer did show up, it scared me even more than seeing nothing. I couldn't tell what they were at first and swore a cougar or wolf was staring at me from the trees! Lindsey and our kids are all within a few months of each other in age so the kids all had a buddy to play with and it was lots of fun. They mostly climbed the big rocks nearby and played Paw Patrol. I have never been camping without Andy, much less with kids but I was proud of us for doing it all on our own and getting home in one piece! 

Prearticular Pit surgery

Abby had surgery a month ago to remove her prearticular pit on her ear and ended up with 5 stitches. It got infected every now and then and could cause problems as she got older so we went ahead and had it removed. She was a very good patient. She DID NOT like the IV and as she was coming out of anesthesia kept trying to pull it out, but her stitches are all healed up now and he scar continues to fade. She didn't mess with them much at all after the surgery. It turned out there was a small benign cyst in the base of her pit and that is what caused it in the first place. We are very grateful for the doctor who was so gentle with her and our Heavenly Father's blessings that all went well with her anesthesia. I was most worried about the fact that she had to fast for 12 hours before! 

Nauvoo Family Trip 2016

After the Pack family reunion, we drove up to Nauvoo, Illinois to visit some of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints historical sites. Our first stops included the covered wagon ride with oxen and then another wagon ride around old Nauvoo pulled by horses. Abby was nervous since the oxen were so large! She enjoyed the horse wagon ride more. at one point they stopped and asked everyone to sing "The Wheels on the Wagon" to encourage the horses to go. Abby's favorite song lately has been "The Wheels on the Bus," so she was pretty excited about that. Ever since we have been home, she wants to since "The Wheels on the Wagon" instead of the original version now. It is super cute because she cannot say the word 'Nauvoo' right for 'all around Nauvoo.' Instead Abby says either 'Naboo or the boo.' 

Wynn's favorite place to visit was the blacksmith shop where they made a real horseshoe for us and he got to watch all the steps. I got to sign the Seventies book in the Seventies Hall since I am direct descendant of one of the original seventies, John Pack. If you go to Nauvoo, they have a land records building where they will help you find your ancestry and link you to pioneers who lived in Nauvoo and give you a certificate showing your kinship. The spirit was so strong at the Smith family cemetery where Joseph, Emma, Hyrum, Joseph Sr, and Lucy Mack Smith were buried. As soon as we approached the cemetery I could feel the Spirit come over and feel that this truly was hallowed ground and a great prophet of the Lord's body rested there.

We took one afternoon and drove to Carthage, Illinois to visit Carthage Jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred. Sydney and Andy both enjoyed this place the most. I was not aware of the different rooms in the jail and that it was run by a family who treated the prisoners very well and even invited Joseph and his friends to join them for dinner at their table because they were so kind and well mannered. We visited all the different rooms of the jail including the dungeon room pictured below. I can't imagine all those men crowded into that tiny cell and laying chained to the hard floor. I was not aware that four other men volunteered to go to Carthage Jail with Joseph and the others so they would not be alone. Up until the night before the martyrdom there were eight men including the prophet in the cell at Carthage. The spirit in the room where the prophet was murdered was very peaceful and calm. The significance of the place was obvious due to the solemn and calm feeling there. The original bullet holes are still in the door and the room has been restored to the way it was when the prophet was there. Seeing the whole town of Nauvoo and then making the journey to Carthage really tied it all together and painted such a beautiful picture of the sacrifice and faith these early pioneers had. I gained such a stronger appreciation and love for them as I learned about them and followed their story. Their sacrifice and love for Heavenly Father and His gospel was evident in every part of their lives and in all their stories. I am truly grateful to them and inspired by their examples.

To culminate our visit, I was able to attend a session in the fully restored Nauvoo temple. This temple has been restored as accurately as possible to the descriptions of the original Nauvoo temple and was beautiful and unique. The decor is true to the time frame when it was built and again was awe inspiring that these pioneers from such humble circumstances sacrificed so much to build this perfect, royal house to the Lord. That night we attended the Nauvoo Old Town Fair and Pageant. Again, the over 1,000 volunteers that give two months of their time to come to Nauvoo with their entire families, practice, learn, and then act and serve was incredible. Whole families stayed in character, were dressed for the time, and assisted with each of the booths at the country fair and then performed in the pageant. Their love and passion for the Nauvoo pioneers story and the gospel showed as they showed people around, answered questions, and made sure everyone was having a good time. 

With the Nauvoo temple in the background and the Mississippi river behind us, they told the story of coming to Nauvoo, building a town, building their temple, losing their prophet, and then eventually being forced to leave their temple and their homes. I still cannot get over how perfect a place Nauvoo is for the analogy of looking to the Lord. The Nauvoo temple sits atop a hill overlooking the Mississippi River. It can be seen from all the homes in old Nauvoo; it can be seen from the riverside. Our hotel was actually across the river in Iowa and on the drive to Nauvoo, each time the trees cleared you could see the temple up on the hill as a beacon of hope and light. At night this effect was especially awe inspiring and so beautiful, I hope I never forget. The picture below of the statue of Joseph and Hyrum on their horses depicts the morning they left for Carthage Jail, 'like a lamb to the slaughter,' said Joseph. He knew they would never return and one last time they paused on the bluff near the partially completed temple and looked out over the city of Nauvoo and the Mississippi River. Joseph commented on how perfect a place Nauvoo was and how much he had loved it and the people there. Standing on the same bluff, my love and testimony of this prophet and the work he sealed with his death grew immensely. I was reminded of the scripture in D&C 135:3, "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it." 

I truly felt the Spirit testify of this truth that day and want to add my testimony to the truth of this scripture and all that the prophet Joseph Smith restored to the earth. As D&C 135 continues, "In the short space of twenty years, he... brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and [was] the means of publishing it on two continents;... sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth;... brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

 4 When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself up to the pretended requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his assassination, he said: “I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me—he was murdered in cold blood.”—The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go—shall it be said to the slaughter? yes, for so it was—he read the following paragraph, near the close of the twelfth chapter of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it:

5 And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I … bid farewell unto the Gentiles; yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood. The testators are now dead, and their testament is in force.

 6 Hyrum Smith was forty-four years old in February, 1844, and Joseph Smith was thirty-eight in December, 1843; and henceforward their names will be classed among the martyrs of religion; and the reader in every nation will be reminded that the Book of Mormon, and this book of Doctrine and Covenants of the church, cost the best blood of the nineteenth century to bring them forth for the salvation of a ruined world; and that if the fire can scathe a green tree for the glory of God, how easy it will burn up the dry trees to purify the vineyard of corruption. They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward. From age to age shall their names go down to posterity as gems for the sanctified.

 7 They were innocent of any crime, as they had often been proved before, and were only confined in jail by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men; and their innocent blood on the floor of Carthage jail is a broad seal affixed to “Mormonism” that cannot be rejected by any court on earth, and their innocent blood on the escutcheon of the State of Illinois, with the broken faith of the State as pledged by the governor, is a witness to the truth of the everlasting gospel that all the world cannot impeach; and their innocent blood on the banner of liberty, and on the magna charta of the United States, is an ambassador for the religion of Jesus Christ, that will touch the hearts of honest men among all nations; and their innocent blood, with the innocent blood of all the martyrs under the altar that John saw, will cry unto the Lord of Hosts till he avenges that blood on the earth. Amen."

I add my testimony to theirs of this truth in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.