Christmas #1 and #2

christmas #1:  

with daddy

santa came early this christmas.  and he brought a bike!! (two actually...one for juliet too)

 a walking puppy

 and he left a note

 juliet cared less about the bike and more about the candy cane

and daddy gave his girls two beautiful princess dresses that he picked out himself!  and georgie has hardly worn anything else since!!




christmas #2:
with ruth

 ever our inspiring artist...ruth:)

check out that spread...all from ruth.  She spoiled us rotten!!

Ruth

Ruth:

 The last time Ruth came over for dinner I made grilled cheese.  She's that kind of guest;)  While I was cooking them off in my own little world I turned around to see she and the girls totally entertaining themselves.  Ruth was letting Georgie put her Barbie make-up all over her face.

 And Juliet did her part on Ruth's sweatshirt.  Ruth's a treasure.  How much we will miss her!!

And one cute photo of ratty hair and fistfuls of oatmeal for good measure;)

xoxo

The Best Christmas Surprise EVER!!

The Best Christmas Surprise EVER!!

For the past several months my brother Adam and I have been scheming up some big plans. 

 We've been planning a surprise for my parents...a BIG surprise!

 Here we all are on Christmas morning just before the big surprise, wearing our Singapore T-shirts from Uncle Bryant.  After the picture was taken I showed my Mom where their ultimate present had been hiding throughout the morning.

They opened a very large, very light weight box to find a simple note that read:

"Let The Games Begin" 

and explained the basic idea of a scavenger hunt 

and gave them their first clue.

While they spent their time hunting for little slips of paper hidden throughout the house,

 the rest of us got dressed up in these:

Green T-shirts that read "Pettey Family Reunion 2012" 

and an image of a cruise liner and a tiny Tinkerbell waving her magic wand.

We were dressed just in time for them to finish their hunt.  

I think they had no idea what to expect.

And, not to brag or anything;), 

but I think we exceeded their expectations!!

"It's A Small World After All!!" we all sang together

"We're taking you on a Disney Cruise!!"

Their were tears!!

And their were hugs!  

I still kind of feel like we hit a home run with this surprise!  We're all so excited for our big trip in February.  And I hope it made my parents feel honored and let them know how special they are to us and how grateful we all are for all the surprises they've given us along the way.  Because its true. We are and they are...special to us.

xoxo

Ash 

If he'd only lost his other one

If he'd only lost his other one he could have sang, "All I Want For Christmas"!

Isaac lost his first front tooth on Christmas Eve;)  He made the tooth fairy come out on Christmas!  

(Papa teased him about that)

And he made 5 whole dollars!

Merry Christmas Big Boy!

A Letter From Sparkle, Our Elf On The Shelf

Dear Merback Family

YOU’RE LEAVING ME TODAY!  HOW EXCITING TO BE ON THE ROAD AGAIN TO YOUR PARK CITY CABIN!  I WILL MISS YOU ALL, EXCEPT FOR YOUR DAD WHO I AM GOING TO STAY HERE TO HANG OUT WITH.  I’LL HIDE SOMEWHERE WHERE I CAN WATCH ALL OF HIS MOVIES!!  I LOVE MOVIES!

IT WAS ANOTHER GREAT YEAR, WATCHING YOU FROM AFAR AND A GREAT MONTH WATCHING YOU CLOSE.  BOY YOU HAVE BOTH GROWN UP SO MUCH.  I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW TALL GEORGIE HAS GOTTEN AND HOW MUCH ISAAC HAS LEARNED.  AND JULIET IS SO CUTE;)  SOME OF MY OTHER ELF FRIENDS WISH THEY WERE ASSIGNED TO YOUR HOUSE BECAUSE THEY THINK MY KIDS ARE SO COOL!!  AND THEY’RE RIGHT.  I SPEND MY MONTH WITH SOME PRETTY COOL KIDS.

ISAAC, YOU ARE SO SMART.  I LOVE WATCHING YOUR FACE WHILE YOU READ.  YOU’RE SO INVOLVED WITH WHAT YOU ARE READING.  KEEP IT UP.  BOOKS ARE THE KEY THAT OPENS UP THE ENTIRE WORLD.  KEEP WRITING YOUR OWN STORIES, TOO.  YOU HAVE STORIES TO TELL.  AND YOU LOVE YOUR SISTERS.  I CAN TELL THAT YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT THEM.  I HOPE THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS STAY CLOSE TO THEM BECAUSE THEY CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIENDS.  YOU ARE ALSO A VERY THOUGHTFUL BOY.  WHEN YOUR MOM WAS SICK, AFTER THE REST OF THE HOUSE HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN THAT SHE EVER FELT BADLY, YOU REMEMBERED AND ASKED HER HOW SHE WAS FEELING THE NEXT DAY.  I WAS VERY IMPRESSED.  7 YEAR OLD BOYS DON’T DO THAT!  BUT YOU DO, ISAAC! 

GEORGIE, YOU REALLY ARE 5 ½!  AND SOMETIMES YOU SEEM LIKE YOU ARE 6!  I’VE RARELY SEEN A CHILD SO HAPPY AND SO COMFORTABLE WITH WHO SHE IS.  YOU REALLY LISTEN TO YOUR HEART, YOUR MIND, YOUR FEELINGS AND AREN’T AFRAID TO SHARE WHAT THEY ARE TELLING YOU.  KEEP LISTENING AND BEING PROUD OF ALL THAT YOU ARE.  I LOVE WATCHING YOU FORGIVE OTHERS.  NOTHING CAN KEEP YOU DOWN FOR LONG.  YOU’RE ALWAYS READY TO LOVE EVERYBODY, NO MATTER WHAT AND YOU’RE ALWAYS READY TO LAUGH.  AND YOU WANT SO MUCH TO BE OF HELP TO YOUR FAMILY.  DON’T WORRY IF SOMETIMES YOU BREAK THINGS.  YOU’LL GET BETTER AS YOU GET OLDER.  JUST KEEP BEING HELPFUL…IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL!   

JULIET, YOU ARE CUTE.  THERE AREN’T MANY BABIES CUTER.  I CAN TELL THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE SMART AND MAYBE EVEN WISE.  TIME WILL TELL.  YOUR FAMILY LOVES YOU.  YOU ARE ONE LUCKY LITTLE GIRL. 

IT’S HARD FOR ME TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOU, KNOWING THAT I WON’T SEE YOU FOR ALMOST AN ENTIRE YEAR.  BUT YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH ME.  ALL YEAR LONG AS I PLAY WITH REINDEER AND PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS I THINK OF MY DECEMBER FAMILY, THE MERBACKS.  I HOPE THAT YOU KNOW THAT AND THINK OF ME FROM TIME TO TIME TOO.  I’LL BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN IN ITALY.  I’VE NEVER BEEN THERE AND SANTA HAS TOLD ME HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE A FAMILY FROM AMERICA THAT GETS TO LIVE IN ITALY FOR A WHILE.  HE SAYS THOSE ARE TWO OF HIS MOST FAVORITE COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD.  I LOVE YOU ALL.  MAY CHRISTMAS BE WITH YOU ALL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR!!  BUON NATALE

    i

  Sparkle

It's Official

We're Moving To 

ITALY!!

I was laying down with the kids one night when Joey came in and quietly but urgently said, "When you get done I need to talk to you."  "Ok" I said.  He immediately changed his mind, "I need to talk to you now."

I got up and went out into the hall.  He was beaming nervously.

"I just got an email saying that our assignment is waiting for me on my office email address...I can't check it here, should I go up to the clinic?"

"YES!!"  Was he really asking me this question? 

He almost literally leapt for his shoes and coat and flew out the door.  I posted something about it on Facebook (of course...I'm such a dork;) and waited for his phone call.  The phone rang once and I picked it up before the ring could even finish.  "Hello?"  I said.

"YES"!!  was all JOey said, followed by a huge giddy giggle!  We talked for a few brief minutes and he headed for home.

I ran into the kids room and literally jumped up and down cheering.  "We found out!!!  We're really moving to ITALY!!"  They jumped out of bed and ran to give me hugs, jumping and giggling themselves.  I grabbed the camera as quickly as I could to capture the moment we'd all been waiting for for almost a year now.  I'm sure the kids were taking their cues from me but here we are just the same, sincerely, totally and completely excited, together!:

So it begins...our Italian adventure.  And it really has begun.  We're studying Italian, reading Italian (okay, Joey is, not the rest of us;), researching travel recommendations, cooking Italian, applying for passports, shopping for new luggage

.....SO IT BEGINS!!!

Georgie

First of all, Georgie is training wheel free...has been for a few weeks now.  And she's pretty proud:

Here she is with the man who helped her with the job, 

and her sister who always tries to steal the show:

 Joey had to push Georgie quite a bit to get her out there initially.  Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday that we were in town over the course of a couple of months he worked with her for a couple of hours.  She was scared, didn't want to do, was happy with her training wheels yada, yada, yada but she actually made the switch fairly easily.  

 She still prefers her scooter but at least she knows she can do it.  I love this picture;)

She also had her Kindergarten program recently.  Sunset has an annual Chili Supper where the Kindergartners sing for entertainment.  It was pretty cute;)

 I had Georgie's hair pulled back in two cute pigtails for the performance, out of her face so that we could see her singing face.  As they marched onto the bleacher/ platform she decided that she wanted l it down.  Okay, whatever, no biggie.  But, in the middle of the performance she starts flipping her hair/head upside down and flinging it back again quickly over and over and over again....I couldn't stop laughing at her...I didn't know if I should be proud at how cute she was or totally embarrassed at how WIERD!!  

This is Georgie's latest hobby:

 She has a Tangled wig with a braid that extends to the back of her knees.  But that's not long enough for her.  She ties scarves, belts, blankets, ribbons, whatever she can find to the end of it so that her hair trails all through the house.  This is her favorite toy.

Lastly, here are a few shots of Georgie's first fall party.  Juliet and I went to hang out and bring cookies.  

YAY for OU!!  (I had no idea that Georgie even knew what OU was!!)