Grandpa Great

(From left to right: William Alfred Pettit IV (Will) holding William Alfred Pettit V (Liam), William Alfred Pettit III (Trey), William Alfred Pettit, Jr. (Bill), and William Alfred Pettit, Sr.)

Great-Grandpa Pettit passed away last week, and we shall all miss his wit and wisdom.

I have never been so thankful that we named our son after him as I was at the funeral. He was an amazing man and left behind a legacy that I am proud to pass onto my son. I am thankful that Liam got to know him if only for just a little while.

Although I did not grow up having him as my grandfather, Grandpa Pettit was and is very dear to me. More than grief at his passing, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that he got to be part of my life for so long. I feel I am a better person just for knowing him.

Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have a different perspetive on death than many. I know that death is not the end, just a passage and that life and families continue on forever. I think that if Grandpa could comment on his life and death, he would repeat to us the words of a poem written by his father William Alfred Pettit, Sr.:

Let there be no weeping when I am called to cross the bar.
The Lord has always blessed me as I've traveled long and far.
His angels have attended to protect from major sin.
His Spirit has always strengthened when my courage was growing thin.

He gave me worthy parents who taught me what was right,
and now I go to meet them in a place that's ever bright.
I have no fears of worries as I prepare to meet them then.
I know you soon will join me, and we'll form a family there.

I've taken many a journey when I knew I'd soon return,
but this one will be different as I've further work to do.
And at last when you've completed all that you were sent to do,
I'll be waiting on the other side with a place prepared for you.

Here's the song Will IV wrote to go with Will I's poem.

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Days Like Today

It's days like today that make me love being a mom. With this little boy and his silly smile as a son, who wouldn't want to be a mother!

Liam was especially good today, and I had a blast watching the ducks, eating fruit snacks, and playing soccer with him. We even got to see a REAL police car with a siren, and the police officer even waved at us. I think that might top seeing Mickey Mouse at Disneyland! Add Liam walking into the room with a hose around his waist and explaining that he was a rocket, and the day was completely perfect. Nothing spectacular, but everything special. Just the way I love it.

Happy Birthday Greg

Our good friend, Greg, recently had a birthday, so Will and I threw him a surprise birthday party. (I'm taking the picture, and that little dark round bump near the left bottom corner is Liam's head. Oh and no, that is not our child that Will is holding, that's our friends' (Rob and Lindsey's) little girl Sadie. )

It was a fun Dr. Who themed party. (For those Americans out there (who haven't been influenced by Greg yet), Dr. Who is a British sci-fi T.V. show equivalent to Star Trek in the States minus a lot of the "I am Keptar from the planet Ooptigarn. My ship is damaged and is in need of whobitigoobity and a refractory some scientific word lasar warp engine" and all that mumbo-jumbo. Not that that's bad, I grew up on Star Trek and we ALL know Will did; he even had a Federation uniform at one point. It's just a little harder for Star Trek outsiders to get into. Dr. Who is a little more mainstream. It's been around forever, but has recently been re-done, and Will and I are hooked. It keeps getting better and better as time goes on.)

What Dr. Who party would be complete without a Dalek cake?

Greg also lets us borrow his movies all the time, so as a present, I made him a Tardis DVD carrying case. It turned out much better than I expected.

(If you too are a Whovian and want a Dalek cake or a Tardis bag, I should have the instructions up within the week on my craft blog refugeecrafter.com.)

The Best Daddy in the Whole World

One glorious morning, Will let me sleep in. I awakened to find Will and Liam in the kitchen playing with the play dough. Here are the creatures they created. Apparently Liam requested monsters from
Disney/Pixar's Monster's Inc.(From left to right-Sully, Mike, Waternoose, Ceila, Randall)

Can you see the similarities?



Waternoose is my favorite.