The Happiest Place on Earth

We are taking a super quick trip to the Magic Kingdom next week. Since we are newbies to this, I thought I'd ask advice from some of you seasoned vetrans. Favorite eats? Rides? Shows? Tips and tricks? We fly in on Tuesday morning and fly out Thursday night. We have a 3 day single park pass...do you think we should get park hopper tickets? Is it worth Fast Pass-ing it for a 4 year-old and 2-year old?

Thanks!

General Conference 2013

(I don't often post like this, but mostly I want to remember the thoughts I had today. Plus, I'm trying to be more fearless like this cool girl, also named Al. #UseTheInternetForGood)

General Conference with kids is often an 8 hour bribe session. This year was no exception, although for being so young I was really proud of how well they did. Conference Bingo with treats was key.

There were two talks that spoke to me this go round. The first was Rosemary Wixom's talk on parenting. She spoke on the importance of being present with your children. Put away the iPhone, the TV, the internet and connect with them. This is something I know I can work on, and it was good to hear it and recommit to being a better mother.

The second talk was by one of my favorites, Jeffery R. Holland. You can't help but love him. He brought to life the Bible story of the father who is pleading for the Lord's help to heal his son. "Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief." There were so many great pearls in this talk. Not denying your questions, but putting your faith first, no matter how great or small it is. And the beauty of belief. I've been thinking a lot about this since listening to the podcast that I referenced a few weeks ago. Fiona Givens talked about how in the LDS culture there is a lot of emphasis on knowledge. People stand in testimony meeting and say, "I know________." It is wonderful to know, but how there is also great power in belief. To some it is given to know and to some it is given to believe on their words. In this world there are compelling arguments for both belief and unbelief--and one has to choose the better of the two options. If it were perfectly clear what would be the role of choice and agency?

This all resonated with me. Then to hear Elder Holland talk, which reiterated many of these ideas, was so sweet. For me, there are things that I know. That God loves me and knows me oh so personally, and that He hears and answers my prayers. That Jesus Christ is my Savior and the Atonement is so real it is almost tangible. That Gordon B. Hinckley was a Prophet of God. That following the gospel and living right makes me happy. And then there are a host of things that I believe. It was good to hear someone with authority say that it is okay to just believe, and not know everything right now. Hopefully when I am Elder Holland's age my list of "knows" will be a little longer.  But for now, I am good with belief.

Easter

This year we celebrated the fun and games part of Easter on Saturday. We didn't set out to split the festivities into two days, but that's just the way it worked out with everyone's schedules. It turned out to be a great way to celebrate. We started off with the  Alpine Easter Egg Hunt in the morning. 

Anna loved it. 

It really is beautiful here.

The anticipation

She refused to let go of her Easter bag the entire time. Give up my candy?? No way.

Then we had a little shin-dig at our house. Grandma Sue and Grandpa Paul were the stars of the show with bubbles, egg hunt and dinner. Everyone wins.

 

On Sunday I tried to impress the meaning of Easter on the girls, and soon realized how difficult the concepts of death, resurrection and atonement are for little ones. We got a little help from The Rhyme Bible, and maybe some of it sunk in. If you don't have The Rhyme Bible, and you have children, you should get it. My friend Trudy gave it to me when Ella was a babe, and it's great.  

Podcast worth listening to

If you have an extra hour in the car, folding laundry, washing dishes, going on a walk, may I suggest this podcast.  It is from Radio West, Utah's NPR affiliate. It is a conversation with the authors of "The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life" and I was smitten by it. Maybe it's just where I am at in my life right now, but I have listened to it 2 or 3 times, and would listen again.  You can download it from iTunes really easily or listen online. I'd be interested to know what you think, good or bad. I wonder if it's really good, or if I just was in a place to hear right now. Like when you read a book that is just perfect for you in your current state, and you think it is the best thing ever written so you recommend it to a friend...who only gives it 3 stars on Goodreads. And at first you think they are crazy, but then you go back and read it a few years later and wonder why you loved it so much.

Happy Birthday, Anna!

Anna turned 2! We had a fun little family party--Ella was in charge of most of it. It was a pink themed party. Pink balloons, pink streamers, pink cake and pink attire. We had a bean bag toss which was fun for all ages.  Grandpa Paul was having a bit of a tricky time with his curve ball, and Ella kept gently (and not so gently) encouraging him to just get a little closer.  Chris wowed us all with his hidden talent--maybe it's the long arms, but he's got skills! The above video is perhaps the most disharmonious version of Happy Birthday you've ever heard. We Harman's are not known for our singing ability. But Anna's unscripted "I blow out the candles" makes up for it.

Some fun facts about our Anna bug:

• She thinks her name is Anna Bug Elise Packer
• Her vocab is serious. On the day of her party she said, "Grandma this is.......those are the candles." Grammer girl??
• She went from being happy go lucky eat anything 18-month-old to an "I don't like that" type of gal
• The other day Kimmy was watching the girls and told Ella that she should work on her manners...and reminded her that Anna was really good at saying please and thank you (she is!) Ella was floored as it sunk in that Anna was good at something that she wasn't. "Where do you think she learned that??" she asked. When I asked Ella about it she explained to me her amazement--"Anna learns everything from me--how did she learn that?!?"
• Anna loves her binkies. I don't ask her if she wants to take a nap, but if she wants to go get her binkies. And she usually happily says yes. (She only gets them when she is in her crib...or if I am being a softy)
•  She is starting to really pretend and play jokes. "I am Sophia. You are Eliza. Ella is our mommy."
• She is happy most of the time.
• When she is upset she says, "I want my mommy/daddy"--mommy if she's with Ryan and daddy if she's with me.
• She is surprisingly good at understanding connections between people. If we are talking about an adult, she will ask about their children, even if she doesn't know them well. "Who were you talking to on the phone?" "Dana" "With Gabby?"
• She says "really really" and "tiny tiny"
• We really really love her.

Nakalele Blowhole

We took one afternoon away from the beach and the pool to go on a Maui adventure. We wanted to go to the bamboo forest, but a few minutes of Anna's happy but LOUD jabbing in the car convinced us that the 2 hour drive was not worth it. So we decided to try out the blowhole on the west side of the island. It was amazing. We hiked down the cliffs to the ocean to see the hole in the lava where the ocean sprayed out. So cool. 

On the hike back up Ella had to pee. I told her she could go behind some rocks. "No. I would rather go somewhere more....polite." That girl. Cracks me up.

We decided to drive around the north side of the island through the Forest Reserve. It was stunningly beautiful. Red sand cliffs with hints of green going straight down into the crashing blue waves. I'd never seen anything like it. The road, however, was a little sketchy. One lane, curvy, no guard rail. Ella kept telling me that her tummy hurt and she really had to go to the bathroom. But you can imagine her disgust at going by the side of the road. "Mom, it would be too stinky. Someone might find it." After a few miles of twists and turns we realized that she was misinterpreting her stomach pain. She was cursed with her mother's motion sickness and yacked into a bag. Poor girl. 

Sickness aside, it was a gorgeous excursion. If you're only going to leave the hotel once, you've got to make it count!

Aloha!

A few weeks ago the stars aligned for us. Ryan was supposed to go to India for a week, but at the last minute his trip got cancelled, leaving him a light week at work. That same week, Doug was going to Hawaii for a conference and wanted someone to mingle with during his down time. We checked out frequent flier tickets, and to our shock we found reasonable tickets. Less than 48 hours after dreaming up this plan we had booked tickets and were headed to Maui. When Janet heard that two of her grandchildren were going to be frolicking on the beach, she couldn't resist and she joined in on the fun. 

We had a great time. Ryan rode his bike, Ella swam in the pool, Anna played in the sand, and I soaked up my children's happiness as I soaked in the sun.  It was a quick trip (4 days) but oh so wonderful. Mahalo, Maui!

Freezer Meals

My little sister Kimmy is back in the Beehive State, and I couldn't be happier. Someone to hang with, play with, work with...and cook with! Kimmy is 7 months pregnant, which means we have 2 months left to get everything ready. I thought it would be fun to make some freezer meals so she can pop one in after a long day of oohing and aahing over her cute babe :) So...if you have any tried and true, fave of faves freezer meals I would LOVE them. Simple, complicated, whatever. Send them my way. {alissa.packer@gmail.com}

Thanks.

Favorite Things Party

My sister-in-law Lauren threw a Favorite Things Party a few months ago. Apparently, they are all the rage. It looked like so much fun that I jumped on the bandwagon and threw my own. It was a blast. I invited friends from my old ward, so it was doubly fun because I hadn't seen most of these people for a while. 

The list:

Mabu dishcloth (also known as Duzi)

Method lavender all-purpose spray

Meyer's dish soap

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory white caramel apple

Notepad mousepad

Trader Joe's Bean Dip

Almond/coconut milk + hot chocolate + pero (drinking it as I type and loving it)

Toilet paper + 100 hour candle + can opener

Old Fashioned Soft Caramel + popcorn

Village Natural's Therapy Body Wash

Clementines

Sourdough yeast starter + Natural Yeast Cookbook

Burt Bees Lip Balm + BabyGanics hand sanitizer

Silicone Spatula

Ribbon that makes presents instantly cute

EOS lip balm + wrapping paper cutter

Items that did not make the list, but would if they could have been procured:

Sonoma Syrup Vanilla Extract

Pirate O's Roasted Tomato and Hazelnut Pesto Sauce

Windex Outdoor Cleaner Kit

Cousins

New Year's Eve 2012

We rung in the New Year  right this time around. A stark contrast to our usual go to bed at 10 and feel kind of lame, but kind of happy you're not going to be tired the next day. No sirree. Not this year. Good friends, fun family, lots of food, movies, fireworks and a sleepover. Happy New Year!

Our Lugano copy. So so good.

The kids feasted on pasta while we ate steak. Totally fair.

A healthy selection of drinks. Thank you Brett.

"Cupcake! Cupcake!" -Ava

These may not look like much, but they were to die for. Literally. They might take a year or two off your life. Totally worth it.

Check out the sparkly shirt. "Happy" is stitched next to the heart. We do it right, I tell you.

 You Tube'd the ball drop at 9:00. Happy New Year! No one's the wiser. I don't think Ella will fall for this one again.

Thanks Stevens, Wrides and Crosbys. Here's to a fantastic 2013!

Christmas 2012

It was a really great year. On Christmas Eve it was a blustery blizzardy mess, but the fact that we were going to have a White Christmas made up for all the inconvenience. Christmas day was perfection--sunny with a fresh blanket of snow.

Ella and Anna are old enough to get excited about Christmas. Anna is obsessed with Nativities. I'm not sure if it was the live Nativity we went to, or seeing the life-sized one on temple square, but she loves playing with each piece, complete with narration "Where Baby Jesus go? Were Baby Jesus Mommy go?" From Santa Ella wanted a Dream Light and Anna simply wanted a treat, although a few days before Christmas she threw a Pillow Pet in there, too. Thank heavens Santa has access to Amazon! 

Brad and Alisha, Doug and Janet and Grandma Packer joined us for Christmas Eve dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, pie...you'd think we had room service on Thanksgiving and were making up for it :) It was delicious and so fun to see everyone. We missed Aaron, Greg and Lauren---maybe next year we'll figure out a way to all be together!

Nutcracker

Ella and Janet went to the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. Janet said that Ella was either totally enthralled or flopped on the seat next to her, bored to tears. Candy and drinks at intermission helped.

                               

Thanksgiving, 2012

yes, I know it is Christmas Day and I am blogging about Thanksgiving. better late than never?

We had a once in a lifetime Thanksgiving this year.  The stars aligned, and somehow Duke was playing in a tournament in the Bahamas, Janet was turning 60, and every single member of the Doug Packer family made it down to Atlantis to celebrate, eat turkey and, most importantly, watch Duke win the Battle for Atlantis.

Watching a Duke game with her grandchildren. I don't know if Janet has ever had more fun.

The kids did surprisingly well during the games. Anna didn't make it all the way through, but close. Those are tired eyes.

We were close to the action. The games were in the converted hotel ballroom. Not a bad seat in the house.

Duke  (then #5) beat #2 Louisville. Of course they did. This was Janet's birthday.

Room service Thanksgiving dinner

We tried to get a family picture. Dress code: Khaki and white. I forgot Ella's dress, my shirt and Anna's dress. Sweet.

I remembered my white pants, but at the last minute wore my khakis. Way to ruin the pic, Alissa. At least Momo, the photographer, had us place our hands naturally, so that pretty much saved the picture.

It was a totally calm, overcast day. Perfect for pictures.

Thanks, Packers, for a great great trip. 

Lauren and Alisha did their blog posts in a more timely manner. And with better pictures. Check 'em out.