A Special Gift For You!

Our Memories of Bud
The Packard Family

DAD- BB Gun & the OK Coral

Trying to give my favorite Buddy story is hard to do because there are so many good ones to choose from. I remember going out with Mom to shop or something and we left all the kids in Kathy’s charge. Apparently Buddy felt that something was unfair and so he went and got Danny’s BB gun and held the whole family at bay. I guess one of the kids escaped and ran up to our neighbors, the McDermed’s and Kit came down and was able to calm Buddy down and get him to surrender his firearm. Needless to say we had a long discussion with Buddy about the authority of the babysitter (Kathy) and his restriction from using the BB gun. Happy Birthday to our youngest gun slinger.

DAD

Mom- So Many Memories


Memory #1

Buddy went out snake hunting one hot summer day with otterpops in one hand and scissors in the other hand to cut the tops off the Otterpops. After finishing his otterpops and as always Buddy found his snake, but this time it was a big rattlesnake. Buddy caught it and held it up with one hand behind its head. It was mad and hissed with its mouth wide open and its fangs fully exposed. Undaunted, Buddy took the scissors in his other hand and snipped off both his fangs! He then unzipped his backpack and stuffed “toothless Joe” inside, hoping at last he would be able to sink his own teeth into the rattler. Later, at home, he told me about his great catch and his desire to eat him. He informed me that the snake was now in his bedroom in the aquarium (the same one that the last snake escaped from!!!). I went upstairs into the bedroom and looked at the snake. I have never seen a more agitated rattlesnake. He was coiled tightly with his head up and his rattle shaking. I told Buddy that he could not keep that snake in the house (I was not going to deny him the opportunity to eat it since his scoutmaster had promised him some time in the past that he would fillet it if he caught one.) I told him that he had to take the snake outside for now thinking he and his brothers would carry the aquarium downstairs and outside. A few minutes later, Benny and Bernie carried the aquarium down the stairs with Buddy following holding the rattlesnake stretched out with both hands. I could not believe that Buddy actually managed to stick his hand in that aquarium with that coiled snake without getting bit!!

Memory #2

The scouts came back from a scout camp calling Buddy the king of the reptiles. He caught the fastest lizards in the desert. Even while bearing his testimony, he reached down and picked up a snake.

Memory #3

Before Buddy was two years old he would put together puzzles like none other. He had a puzzle of the United States that he would put together effortlessly. Later he had about 10-200 piece He Man puzzles. He would put the puzzles together every which way. Very seldom would he put the outer edges together first. Sometimes he would build them by characters, sometimes from one corner out. Sometimes he would even do them upside down. Then he would dump all the puzzle pieces from all 10 puzzles into one big pile. He could pick each piece up and know which puzzle it belong to. I remember a time when a neighbor of Grandma Bennett’s had one of the impossible puzzles that he could not complete. He did not believe Grandma when she said that her grandson could do it. He give it to her and Buddy returned it the next day. Mom.

Memory #4

Buddy was a great athlete and a little monkey. He could climb the light pole and just about anything else. He was a head smaller than all the other boys but could compete with all of them. When he played third base it took every bit of his weight to get the ball to first base. You could see his back leg kick straight in the air after his throw. He was so quick that he could catch a mouse darting across the floor. One day there was a mouse in the kitchen. Buddy got the potholder that is one long strip with a place for your hands on both ends. He put them on his hands (it was longer than he was tall) and then he scared the mouse out into the open. As the mouse darted across the room, hitting the adjacent wall and cutting to the next corner, Buddy took a major league slide across the floor and came up with the mouse between his mitts. He was amazing!!!

Memory #5

Buddy used to take a lizard with him to school about every day when he was in first grade. He used to wear it on his shirt like a pin. Fortunately, his first grade teacher was young and the daughter of a science teacher so she did not mind Buddy’s interest in the little critters. When reading time came, Buddy would put his lizard on the desk, command it to stay, go read, and then come back to his obedient lizard.

Kathy- Night Games
OK… so the pictures I sent are from long, long ago, from a house far far away... These were taken in front of the Provo house we had right before we moved to California. Bud was about 4 years old when we moved, so he may not remember much if anything from it. We had these 2 dogs, Gus and Lady. Dad hated Gus because he would always get out of the backyard and end up in the neighbor’s chickens. Dad had to get him from the pound a number of times (by Mom's request, I am sure!). Well Gus and Lady had puppies and the attached pictures are of us (Kathy, Budddy, Danny, and Aubrey).
Although I don't have many memories of Bud at the Provo house, I do have MANY memories of us in the Santa Clara house. Nature boy, fighting, snakes, lizards, biting through his tongue, cartoons on Saturday morning, telling Bernie to be quite because Mr. Belvedeire was on and we couldn't hear over his whimpering, and the memory I probably remember most with Bud is staying up late to play games. Danny, Aubrey, Buddy and I would stay up late upstairs when we were supposed to be sleeping and play games. Benny would whine and threaten to tell on us if we didn't let him play. Then he would start to lose and get mad. We would have to stop and go to bed because we were certain Dad would come up and scare the tar out of us. There were times that Ben wouldn't play and we would actually finish the game. Of course, I would always win....hahaha we all know that Buddy was serious competition...and he still is!

Happy Birthday Bud!!!

Love,

Kathy

Danny- The Mission

One of the greatest memories I have with Bud is when he came out to North Carolina to see me while I was on my mission. He was so young, as was I, and we had such a good time. We were able to hang out and enjoy getting to know each other better. Before that Buddy was always the little brother and I was always trying to get rid of him but from that point on Buddy became more of a friend than a Brother. Even though I had tried to schedule many appointments, I think we had around 20 scheduled, only one turned out to be home. I think that the appointment was really good and we were able to feel the spirit very strong and the person loved having Bud there. If I remember right Bud was able to play with her pet squirrel. We had a great time and it is a memory I will treasure forever.

Danny

Erin- Refiner's Fire

Well, I know it sounds strange that this would be me "favorite" memory of buddy (Sounds like you died bud!) but I would be lying if I didn't say that Buddy's experiences leading up to marrying Kim were not my best memories. The trials that Buddy faced through the whole Lizzie scenario were really tough. But I saw Buddy handle the entire thing with such poise and humility. I could tell that his greatest desire was to please the Lord at whatever cost. I saw Buddy's countenance change and his heart heal as he realized that Kim was the one and as the Lord confirmed that to him. I really feel that we saw Buddy go through a refiner’s fire and the end result was being able to finally marry his dream girl. That whole experience has made me feel closer to Buddy than I ever was before and I have such a special place in my heart for him. What a great example he is to me and I am so happy he is my brother. Love you Bud. Happy Birthday!

Aubrey- Arizona & Games

One of my most favorite memories of Buddo, is when I would always beat him at California Speed...that's right. Or all of the millions of times I beat him at sudoku because he screwed up somewhere and had to erase the entire thing. Or it could be when there was his 3 month drought of winning anything when he lived with us...Does Skipbo or Rummikub ring a bell? Yeah, that's what I thought.

But on a more serious note, I was just thinking about when I had just moved out to Arizona and Buddy drove out with me so that I could interview for a job. We drove all night (because he had to play basketball...it was a Tuesday) so I could make it to my 9 am interview the next morning. Then we slept the rest of the day in the llama house (seriously, remember all of those llama rugs and posters! And that wierd cat and a mouse poster. That roommate was...well...there are no words to describe her except for...Wow!). I found out that I got the job but didn't need to start for two weeks, so we went to see Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, and then left to go back home that night. The entire way home we looked for a Joshua Tree because I didn't know what they looked like,(yet we never found one even though we drove through Joshua Tree National Forrest. We had to look it up on the internet when we got home...lame). That was a crazy couple of days but lots of fun.

We for sure can't forget anything that has to do with...the Potty Chart!!!!

There are actually too many memories that I absolutely love that has to do with Buddy. I really miss him a lot and I am so glad he was able to live with Brandon and me for a few months. I wished that we lived closer so that we could be together more frequently. I suppose it's a good thing that Brandon and Buddy live away from the family. The two of them would smoke everybody else at "It Came to Pass" with their cheatings and super fast Mercy reactions. So really, we're just saving the family from utter humiliation.

We both hope you have a wonderful birthday and that this year brings many blessings for you and Kim. We love you, Bud! Happy Birthday!

Love,

Aubrey and Brandon

Benny- Rattlesnake

I think the most memorable memory I have of Buddy is when he caught a fairly young rattlesnake and kept it for a day in one of our aquariums outside. I remember he tried to milk the snake (that means he tried to get the venom out by having it bite a jar with fabric over the top). Mom had a cow when she found out! I also remember him somehow cutting off the rattle, but that may have been another rattlesnake...I can't remember. Happy Birthday Bud! Wow, one more year till the big 3-0!!!

Jackie- The Wake-up Call

Ok...this one needs to be told in person to make it better. But here it goes. One of my favorite memories of Buddy was the routine of waking him up for seminary. Benny and I couldn't drive yet and needed a ride. Since Buddy was home (pre-mish) Mom and Dad didn't want to get up to do this task. Usually it was me who'd wake him up.
The look on his face was always funny. When he got downstairs, he'd fumble through the basket of keys and after a few tries he'd have to turn on the light in the entryway to find the right set of keys for the red truck. Needless to say, Benny and I were always in the truck waiting for him to come. Buddy, usually shirtless, would open the door and plop in the driver's seat, wipe his face and sigh...kinda how Rich does it. (Buddy can demonstrate for you.) He'd turn the car on. The Beastie Boys or Dr. Dre would always scare us because the night before he was blasting his music and never turned it down. I can't remember if he even turned it down or not. Because it was 6 in the morning, it was still dark for most of the school year. Bud would then turn on the headlights to the car and the reflection off the crappy garage door would blind him. He'd sigh again but this time louder. And then we'd leave and go to seminary. Happy Birthday Bud!- Jackie

Jake- The Canyon & Good Music

Buddy was always in the canyon, and when he was, there was a following of younger siblings. I remember finding snakes, lizards, and all types of different things to feed his pets. When we were not looking for animals we were looking for golf balls and tennis balls. I have seriously never seen someone hit one house so many times with a golf ball. Then there is the b.b. gun, all the pidgins that would fall from a tree or the power line. It was constant entertainment. But on top of all things, Buddy listened to metallica. His favorite band and my favorite band. So thanks Buddy for all the good times growing up. being mean or not Buddy was the coolest. Happy birthday Buddy – Jake

Rich- Snake in a Bag

I remember when we used to go into the canyon and catch snakes, and u caught one and clipped its fangs and put it in a backpack and gave it to me. You said, “If it rattles, then it will probably try an bite you so don’t make it mad”. HAHAHA- Rich


Jamie (?)- The Canyon

My favorite memory with bud was when we would go into the canyon and find snakes. I would almost pee my pants every time we found one but it was the best.

Donna- Lizards

Buddy was the greatest with the Lizards. I remember one time when he put his alligator lizard on my chest while I was sleeping. I woke up to him staring at me nose to nose. He also had a lizard tree in the house. It was a rubber tree where he used to keep his lizards. He would just look them sternly in the eye and tell them to stay…and they would. Have a happy Birthday. Love, Donna

Stacy- The Surprise

One of my favorite Buddy stories is one time I was helping Dianna do laundry one day and upon doing the 14th load of clothes, I picked up a arm full of clothes and much to my surprise there was George the lizard, about two and a half feet of him staring at me just as surprised as I was! Needless to say my heart jumped out of my chest. For the first time in my life I screamed like a girl! All I could think of was yelling BUDDDDDYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! Poor George probably had a mini lizard heart attack! Love ya Buddy, Stacy