Petty Family 2008 Christmas Gathering

December 28 and 29th, 2007... Christmas at our house included possibly the largest number of "Pettys" ever to gather at the same place. Carol's family were all present except for one nephew and his wife, although their son came with Grampa Bill. There were 26 people... Carol's own little family of 8 (remember the older two sons are married now, and that Carol and Jeanetta "adopted" each other in 1990), plus Carol's 4 brothers and their families, etc - a grand total of _12_ females and _14_ males. If you can name all those present - you can win "FIRST DIBS" on the room for your stay for Thanksgiving 2008. :) All you have to do is be the first to drop me an email with the correct list, and you win !! (So, if you're reading this and haven't tried to name us all... I have one tip for you. Check out the picture below and now give me your best shot at remembering all the names!! )

We typically play a Christmas gift game called "Dirty Santa" which can sometimes end up as a MAJOR all-out tug of war! this year was no different - there were several gifts that were hotly sought after by all attendees. (We even had one who participated in absentia, sending his girlfriend to haggle FOR him. We are considering rewriting the rules for the 2008 version.)

Something new this year was "Petty Party Jeopardy", where the last three females who DARED to become members of the family were selected to choose teams and compete against each other in Petty trivia. Talk about some major haggling! The 2008 version of this game will hope for hosts MUCH more like Pat Sajak and Vanna White! And those two game hosts for 2007 will have to prove they have improved their memory and ability to reason - if they intend to host again in 2008! :)

All in all, the two-day gathering was successful... it HAD to be considered successful if it gathered 26 of Bill and Katherine's "motley crew" all together under the same roof !!

We loved having you all here. It was really a special blessing to Mike, David and I, and you all have an open invitation to come and stay with us for a week or a weekend any time - just be sure to bring your own toothbrush!