Thanksgiving trip to the zoo

An event that I finally have pictures for from Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving trip to the zoo.

N.Q., Shane, Cami, Sara, Dave, Bela, Lori and Nick

Nathan's favorite parts of the trip to the zoo were the train ride, the chicken fingers, the rhinos, the elephants, assorted fishies, giraffes, the play equipment and the large water-rotating-globe at the entrance of the zoo.

Shane's favorite part of the zoo trip was finally meeting up with his family, taking photos, watching his little guy enjoy the sights, the burger and fries (only food yet that day) and the fact that he now had a brand new snowmobile trailer hooked to his truck out in the zoo parking lot, which was also viewable from the train ride.

Cami's favorites included the seeing of her husband who had travel directly to the zoo from Wyoming, the boys enjoying the 'tiger' ride, the giraffes, fry sauce, the wolf, the eagle and the train ride with the little boy who was SOOO excited to be on the train.

Out of respect for the other individuals in the photo's, I will decline to decide what their favorite parts of the trip were...and hope they tell your at their own blog venue of choice.

The Worst Christmas Gift Ever.

Someone sent me a holiday survey recently about Christmas memories. Questions like: do you use an artificial tree or fresh cut, do you wrap or bag your presents, do you know the names of the reindeer were included on the survey. One question really bugged me. The question was What was your worst gift? This question perplexed me for a several minutes. I couldn't come up with an answer. Are there bad gifts? Gifts that could be classified as WORST gifts?

A gift by definition is this:
1.
something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
2.
the act of giving.
3.
something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned.
4.
a special ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent: the gift of saying the right thing at the right time.

Here is something that you have been given. There is no work, no money, and no forthought in acquiring the item. So it was free...given to you. WHY WOULD YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU COULD CONSIDER A BAD GIFT??

My answer to the question was a rock tumbler, because I never did get to use it. I couldn't run it in the house (too loud and messy) and I didn't want to use it in the garage until summer. By the time it was summer I had moved on to other hobbies, such as horse riding. So I guessed that the rock tumbler was a bad gift, because I wanted one...just not the timing of it.

Then I thought of another expample. My brother was bringing home his fiance to meet the family for Christmas. My sister and I set out to find a nice gift for the fiance, knowing nothing about her except she likes Disney's Goofy and the Utah Jazz. That's it. That's all we had. Being in Wyoming with limited store options for either Utah Jazz items or Goofy items we selected some beautful crystaly pink earrings and a soft knitted pink scarf with sparkles. Christmas came and went with the exchanging of gifts. Months later, as we came to know the soon to be sister...we find out....she HATES pink. So, I figure that the pink earrings and scarf could be Worsts Gifts Ever.

I think really I want to get to point that Christmas is more like what we learn from Dr. Seuss:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. - Dr. Seuss

I have more to add...and it'll have to wait. I have an anxious two year old who has brought me his shoes and his coat and is ready to go. Please excuse any spelling errors...I shall fix them as time allows.

A Pain in the Neck

Not only is it a saying...it's a reality. Let's talk both. Wednesday I had some holiday stress, we don't need to get into it, but there was some tension...plus I had an AWESOMELY hard work out and the baby didn't sleep well. Thursday morning I could hardly move my head. To the right, to the left: both bad. So I went to get a massage done on it, which relieves part of the pain...for now.

Friday morning my husband gets home from the Doctor. We had our blood results done this summer and I was concerned about some of the numbers on his report. So (OF COURSE) 8 months later he goes in a get them checked out. Shane tells me that the Dr. was freaking out about some of the numbers and said that his kidneys were failing him and that he needed to be put on a transplant list right away.

I am woman...so I instantly think of what this will mean for the family. We'll have to move closer to the good hospitals. I'll have to start working, becuase he'll be too weak to do anything. I'm going to have to cancel my plans for getting pregnant again. I better get a will set up and see what our catastophic insurance is going to cover....on and on, right? Isn't that what we do?

THEN HE TELLS ME HE'S KIDDING. HE'S DOING GREAT. AND THAT THE Dr. only needed to take a small biopsy of a wierd skin condition he's had. Oh, and his numbers look fine.

Let me just say that my husband is a pain in my neck...and the pain in my neck is worse again.

Merry Christmas!

Because it's cute, here's our Christmas card this year! And the Christmas letter that shall be accompanying it:

Christmas 2008
Dear Family & Friends!

Another year has SAILED past at lightning speed as I thought that I just finished writing the family newsletter for the year! (Do you get that feeling too?!)

Nathan is an endless ball of GO! GO! GO! He loves being outdoors and helping Daddy stack the wood and is working on the concept of “sharing.” (He uses the words NO, Mine, and Not Share often…okay maybe I’m working on the concept of sharing) Today in church he wanted to “Go see friends.” He has a difficult time sitting still for very long, unless Disney’s Cars movie is playing. Mostly he is full of love, life, and curiosity. He’s a fantastic little speaker and likes to use the phone to call ‘Gampa,’ ‘Gamma’ and A Book (Aunt Brooke). I love listening to him sing songs and do little roll playing with his airplanes and dinosaurs. He loves hide and seek, counting, the alphabet, reading books, riding in his bike trailer and roughhousing with Daddy. If you ask him, his favorite color is Yellow.

Shane is currently having great successes at the Autoplex and continues to vex me with vehicle promises only to sell them days after me getting excited about driving a this (shiny new Volvo) or a that (GMC Envoy). This is good for him, and keeps me in uncluttered machines as I have no time to settle into them. Also, be looking for him on his new Bresnan Cable Commercial if you happen to be in our service area! Shane is fairly sour about the snow situation in Lander, as we have none, and he has three snowmobiles revved and ready to fly at the first snowflake. Oh! And he is free of his church callings right now. He misses his scouts, but is glad to spend quality time with the fam. He is the best Daddy and Husband a family could ask for! His most recent project is feeding the cat face spider that resides in our living room (in a bottle.) He thinks it’s too cruel to put it outside. If you ask him, his favorite color is blue.

I am loving life. My routine consists of a morning exercise, an afternoon chore during nap time, and then an afternoon play date or other excursion. I’m super proud of my muscles…all you have to do is ask and I’ll give you the “gun show.” I have killer quads and pretty decent biceps. The family has been dabbling in Scrabble as of late, and I’m getting pretty saucy there too…just don’t leave me alone with the board, it’s been known to get a little PG-13. I’ve had a few cakes to decorate, and a few photos to take. After two years of Activity day girls, I’m just amazed at how the girls are growing up! And with two years of ward activity committee, I’m amazed that it’s time for my third Christmas Party! If you ask me, my favorite color is green.

Overall we feel very blessed to have wonderful family, friends, and loved ones. We know that our blessings are from on High and hope that the spirit of Christmas finds you safe and sound this holiday season.

Merry Christmas

Love,
Cami Jo, Shane and Nathaniel Quin Petty

My New Year's Resolution....Early.

So my dear sister-in-law AMY mentioned that is was very important that I begin a blog...so I decided that indeed, I would, for my New Year Resolution. And because I'm trying to be efficient here it is a few weeks early!

Welcome to Petty's Place!