Pettey Family Reunion 2012

Disney Cruise 2012

We even had matching t-shirts!

    

On February 12th we all boarded the Disney Wonder Cruise ship in matching green T-shirts.  

The cruise started off right, with a dance party:

I feel pretty sure that our family owned the main dance floor!

 BIG kids on our shoulders (I took my turn.)

 Hands up, singing, hips moving!!

 And more kids on our shoulders.

 When the party was over we headed down to the kids club to check it out:

Disney knows what they're doing.  Lots of computers for lots of computer games.  

More to come!

xoxo

Ashley

Utah: Family

the greatest part of vacationing, for me, is the spending time with family part. i love just talking and being with people that share my history. i love being with people that, when you're with them, a huge part of you is home. those words describe exactly the way i felt on this night that the following images are from. i'm used to feeling this way when i'm with my immediate family because i see them somewhat regularly. but i almost never see the mccann cousins anymore. i didn't know how much i missed them until we were all together again. seeing my children playing with their children brought a familiarity, a smile to my face that i hadn't anticipated. i expected being happy to see everyone but i hadn't anticipated how deeply i would feel it. it made me wish that we all lived in texas again...all of us together. so that our children could be close and play as we had. its sad that we all have to grow up and go our own way.

generation 3...double third cousins;)

boys being boys

gorgeous abby and greg

my gorgeous jinny, barbie and precious moments coloring companion extraordinaire!, a happy me, and richard who always made me feel beautiful.

sarah the beautiful and wise and richard

smiling faces

don't they look carefree! soak it up kiddos, soak it up!

i love you guys!

Its About Time: Utah

it's been over 2 months now since our visit to utah. summer is at a close and its about time i wrapped up the journaling of it all. as i sift through these images i find myself wishing i was back there, running the mountains and breathing the pine trees. utah is home to me. 130 innsbruck strasse is my "happy place". i hope it will be the same for isaac and georgie when they are my age...and even for my grandkids. i hope that they can go there and find me when i am gone, just like i find gran. can you tell i'm feeling sentimental?! i just got off the phone with my mom and am listening to some melancholy contemporary folk music by william fitzsimmons. thanks for the recommendation jason. music always sets the mood for me. should i now go into a sunday school lesson about how bad music sets the mood for bad things as well? i think that would be fitting!

anyway, instead of categorizing this trip into days, i thought i would try genres. i'm starting with hikes and outside play days. being outside in the yard and on the trails behind my parents house is my favorite part of being there. to say the least, park city is aesthetically satisfying.

enjoy the satisfaction:

tromping the hiking trail behind the house

the down hill has this effect on everyone!

piggy back ride necessary on the return trip...jackets too. it was cooold!

who wouldn't want to have this as there back yard

looks like they could be the parents. i know g and isaac would prefer it!

this is his kinda territory.

i didn't get a shot of isaac climbing the huge steep mountain behind the house. and i could shoot myself for it. he was so proud and did it over and over again. it might even have been the highlight of his trip. and that's sayin' a lot when we got lagoon coming up!

MerBACKs in Action!!

"Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual,

cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.”

A New Sister!

This is Lizzy.  

Lizzy has been in our family (our extended Merback Family) for about 3 years now.  Doesn't she look just so snug in the middle in that picture! But yesterday it became official!  Not that we NEED some authority to tell us who we love, who we don't, who is ours, and who isn't but it sure does make it seem more permanent, make one feel more committed, more accepted and more a part of us.   Lizzy was adopted yesterday.  JOey officially comes from a family of 5, has two sisters, I have two sisters-in-law and the kids now have 5 aunts.  Woo-Hoo!  The more the merrier!  Especially when more means Lizzy!  Welcome to the family Lizzy.  I/We love you so very much and look forward to watching you grow, learn, decide, experience and love.

*to be sealed on July 28 in Reno, NV

"Lets Go Fly A Kite"