Easter Morning at home - We had a glorious Easter morning.  The girls woke up and colored their Easter eggs,  something they were unable to do during the prior week because they were away for Spring Break.  Then Heather and Jerry came over for breakfast, and we all watched the girls hunt for their Easter baskets.  After church, we came home and relaxed.  Very nice day.

Easter Egg Hunt at Mt. Bethel - Jackie and most of her brothers attended our church's annual Egg Hunt and Jerusalem Market.  Here are pictures of our gang and their friends.  Here are all the pictures I took for the church.  Lovely weather, great light, bright colorful pictures.

John's Dorm Room!  We went to Ole Miss Easter week to see John's digs and bring him home for the holiday.  Here  are some pictures of his sweet setup.

Easter party at the Hoppes.  Jan and Kathy hosted a fun Easter party for the second year in a row. Jackie and Liz and their brothers were treated to a lunch and an egg hunt in their beautifully-landscaped yard. As an added treat, the kids' beloved former teacher Nurse Heather and her husband Jerry were there while in town on a visit. For pictures of last year's party, click here.

Great Day of Service - We were blessed to be a "project" for the 2009 Great Day of Service. On March 28, a group of  friends came over to move a roomful of storage items from the bonus room to the adjacent attic. It was a rough job, because the only access to the attic was through a half-height door - and the room was chock-full of stuff we had collected over the years.  At the end, our "storage room" was turned into a wonderful playroom for our foster kids. Many, many thanks to Stacy and Dianne, Al and Linda, Mark, Ruth and Colin for their loving service. And also to Andy and Jan from Mt. Bethel's Handy Helpers team who made the move possible by modifying and  lighting the attic area so we could use it for storage (and running cable for the girls' TV!).  I wish I'd taken a "before" picture, but many of you saw how bad it was.

Liz and Jackie have started their Spring soccer season.  Here are pictures of their first game, played on March 21 against the Red team.  Sadly, we have had two games so far rained out.

Famous Americans - Jackie's class participated in one of Sope Creek's most popular traditions on February 27, 2009 - the Famous Americans reception. The eighteen students in Mrs. Mac's class portrayed people from all walks of  American life, and from all generations of our history: the "oldest" was born in 1774, and the youngest in 1968. Here are pictures of Mrs. Mac's students, as well as a few others of our friends' kids.  Jackie was Diane Sawyer, and she did a terrific job.

Holton Class of 74 Memories - I have reconnected with my classmates from Holton Arms School in anticipation of our 35th reunion in April.  We have an active Facebook group, and I scanned all of our Senior Year yearbook pictures into this album and also made a video of them.  What a blast from the past.  Yes, that's me in the picture.

Alex celebrated his 5th birthday with a fun party on February 13 at the Play Center in Roswell.  Liz and Jackie were  there, along with most of their brothers and lots of friends. 

Jackie's Basketball Season ended on February 7 with a game and party.  Here is the site for pictures from most of her games.  I also made a video of the season's highlights.

Pictures for Mt. Bethel:  I have taken a number of pictures for our church this winter.  Here they are, if you are interested:  Opening day of Spring sports season, DNow Retreat (Middle/High Chool Students), , Mission Dinner, Contemporary Service February 15, Sunday School classes February 8, 11:00 traditional service on February 8, and pictures taken around the church on January 18.  I also just posted the pictures from last May's Patriotic Concert (Jackie and Liz are in those).

Basketball is back!  Once again. Jackie scored two buckets and had a great time in the first game of the new year.  I  also got to use my new lens which is made to shoot in low light conditions, and the pictures are amazing.  Jackie's friend Kathryn was on the opposing team, so I took a few shots of her as well.

 Jackie's class Christmas party.  The kids made "gingerbread" houses out of milk boxes, graham crackers, and just  about every kind of candy ever made.  Pictures here, and check out the video here.

Mt. Bethel Foster Families Christmas Party - The foster kids and the kids of the foster families enjoyed a fun party with games, crafts, and a visit from The Big Guy at a party on December 13. 

Christmas Day - We had Drew, John and Nana in town for Christmas, and of course the girls were here.  We got some  great pictures, including one of all six that should have been our Christmas card!

Mom's birthday surprise.  Mom couldn't do much for Christmas this year, since she had chemo on the 24th.  But all three of her children and grandson Chris flew in to celebrate her birthday on the 22nd.  She was totally surprised.  See the first picture of all three Packard children taken in six years!

Stained glass pictures - while shooting the Christmas Carols concert at church on a sunny late afternoon, I took pictures of the light from the stained glass windows playing on the white pillars in the church.  I thought it looked cool.

Christmas Concert - Pictures from Jackie and Liz' participation in our church's Christmas Carols concert on December 7.  The girls had to dress up and they looked great.

Tea party - Liz, Jackie and their friend Sophie had a "tea party" in our dining room using demitasse cups from Miel's  collection.  They were very careful to extend their pinkies!

Jackie's first basketball game.  Jackie is playing on a team at Mt. Bethel.  She played her first-ever basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 6, and she scored two baskets!  I will be shooting her games as the season progresses.

Thanksgiving pictures - We spent Thanksgiving in Charlottesville at Frank's Mom's home. Brother Steve was there  with his family, too. We have pictures of everyone hanging out together, enjoying Nana's amazing Thanksgiving feast, and celebrating Amy's birthday on Friday.

Jekyll Island is finally here!  Jackie went off at 5:15 this morning Dec. 3 (ugh) on a 3-day field trip with her class.  The scene was buzzing with excited 5th-graders and their tired parents. We hope they have fun, learn a lot, and stay safe. 

Hanging of the Greens - Mt. Bethel held a special service on Sunday, November 30, to celebrate the start of the Advent season and help decorate the church.  Here are a few pictures of the girls and our friends at the service.  All my pictures for the church are here, and here's the video they made of them.

Video of the week - check out our video Christmas card, care of elfyourself.com.  There wasw only room for 5 characters, so Blizzard has to represent herself and Gopher.  Don't skip this one.

New feature!  We now have video versons of some of our photo albums, with music included.  Look on the left for the latest, and see more in each SmugMug album.

Personal ponies - The girls joined their brothers on a visit to a horse farm in nearby Canton last Saturday, November  8.  The ponies are too small to ride, but they were great fun to brush, walk, feed, and generally enjoy.  The clear crisp day and the beautiful Fall foliage just added to the charm.  Pictures here, video here.

Oktoberfest - Liz, Jackie, and Jackie's classmate Katherine went to the Fall Festival at Jackie's school on Octiber 11.  They enjoyed rides, and food, and live music.  The highlight of the day was when Jackie's class took a turn in the dunking tank.  Check out the video, too.

I have done quite a few photo shoots for Mt. Bethel this Fall.  The Habitat for Humanity road race on October 4, the iPraise Halloween event (Jackie was at that one), and the Trunk or Treat party on Haloween night.  I also took some pictures for the church on the opening day of Fall Sports.

Our family participated in Mt. Bethel's Great Day of Service on October 25.  We spent the morning cleaning up the  yard of an older church member, and visiting with the couple. 

Soccer season!  Here are some pictures of the Fall soccer season.  The girls both played great, and their team, the Infernos, won more than they lost this season!  Jackie even had several assists, and Liz turned out to be an eager Keeper.  Here is a short video with highlights from the season.  On opening day for Fall sports, I also took some pictures for the church. 

Weekend visitors.  Jesus came over Friday night, and then we had longtime friend Alexis over on Saturday.  Here are a few shots from the weekend of August 22.

Pool Party!  The Cornerstone community held a fun pool party on August 17, and I got some great pictures of Liz,  Jackie and their brothers. 

 First day of school - Pictures of all four kids as they headed off for the first day of school on August 11.

Now we are Six - We welcomed the girls' twin brothers, Alberto and Miguel (age 7) into our home in early August.   Here they are playing in the yard.  They were with us for about a month.

Drew and John - Here are pictures from a couple of visits by Drew and John in July.  We also have the annual  birthday picture with Blizzard.  Check out the pix from every year of her life here.

Birthday party for the dogs - Liz and Jackie went all out for Blizzard's 8th birthday.  They decorated the table, made party hats, and even made special doggie-birthday cakes.  Here are the pix.

Chasing flies - The girls and a couple of their friends spent a July evening catching fireflies in the yard.  This album  also has some pictures of our July 4th sparklers.

Our subdivision holds a kids' parade every July Fourth, and it passes right by the end of our street. In 2008, Jackie rode in the parade with friends, and Lizbeth watched on the sidelines with us.

Pictures from January - June, 2008 have now been moved to the archive