Pettijohn Reunion

*I haven't finished writing everything but I wanted to get these up.

14 years ago, I married my sweet husband and became a Pettijohn. On Saturday, the 21st of August, I met a lot more of our family.

Marvin Lee and Ruth May Hestand Pettijohn were married June 18, 1932 in Cyril, Oklahoma. Marvin passed away April 21, 2001.  Ruth passed away April 21, 1995.

Callie, Lucy, and cousin Hazel chillin' on the swing.  They owned that swing the whole time.

David and a sleepy Liza Jane.  Its also a good shot of his beard that he shaved off that night.

David's great uncle Tom and his wife aunt Mary.  Everyone was excited to have her potato salad.  I never got to taste it though.  I'll just have to write her to get the recipe for it. 

Liza and Lucy owning the swing.

Ginger catching some rays.

This is Rich's sister, Mary, introducing her 3 daughters and their families.

Candid shot.  David's dad, Rich, made some yummy wet ribs. 

Here we have David's family.  From left to right bottom row.  Hazel, Nicki, Ginger, Lucy, Me(Amanda), Sue(David's Mom).  Top row left to right.  Matt(just back from a year in Irag and David's brother), Ava, Liza, David, Carson, Callie, Rich(David's Dad), and George.  David's sister, Andrea, and brother, Tony, and their families were not able to make it.  We missed not having them there.

This is Jared Louderback, his mom and David's cousin, Janine Louderback-Smith, her sister and David's cousin,Cindi Louderback-Patty.  They are the daughters of Dorris(Pettijohn) and Don Louderback.  They have both passed away.  Janine and Cindi also have a brother named Eric who was not there.

Audrey Baylous(David's cousin), Ben Elshoff, Aunt Mary Aubuchan, Leslie(David's cousin),Tristan, and Matt Adamson, Lisa(David's cousin),Wil, and Olivia Elshoff, Julia(died),

The siblings, Mary Pettijohn Aubuchan, Margie Pettijohn Dingman, Bob Pettijohn,

Rich Pettijohn(David's dad)

Car repair

We have been having trouble with coolant leaking from somewhere in our suburban.  So today, being pay-day, I thought to call around to auto shops.  Being in a new city I thought, where do I begin.  So I decided to call our trusty home teacher for his opinion, since he is from here. Home teachers are men in our congregation at church that are assigned to come to our home once a month and kind of watch over us.  All members of the congregation have some.  It helps everyone to care and watch out for others.  Anyway, I called one of ours this morning and he happened to have a son-in-law that worked for a Saturn dealership for 17 years but was laid off and was now going to school(aviation mechanic).  So our home teacher called his son-in-law, his son-in-law called me and by 10pm tonight the car was fixed and he probably saved us about $250.  The Suburban had a bad thermostat, water pump, and serpentine belt. 

It was a good day. 

14 Years ago, in a country far away...

...David and I were married.

This was us over 5 years ago. I just like this picture of us. It was at a church Valentine's Day dance in Lincoln, NE.

This is David and I on New Year's Eve of 2009/2010

I love you David! Happy Anniversary!

First Day of School

School started yesterday!

I was just as nervous as all the kids. This year we have 5 in school. Little Lucy started kindergarten and Carson started junior high. They grow up so fast. Our schedule is broken up quite a bit but I am so grateful for buses this year. I would be living out of the car if we didn't have them. Carson catches the bus a little before 7. Callie, George, and Ginger catch theirs at around 8:30. And Lucy has afternoon kindergarten so she catches her bus after lunch. Then Carson comes home around 2:30 and all the other kids at around 3:30.

It was fun to hear about every one's day yesterday.

Carson(7th) was so happy when he got home. He has always adjusted well to new situations. He was probably a little happy because the other kids were still gone. Carson was also glad to tell me that "I" had homework and he didn't. Paperwork, BLAH!

Callie(6th) was excited to tell me about her wonderful teacher. She is excited to have a little more order in her life now.

George(4th) was quiet coming home but he went right to his little bit of homework he had. I have heard a lot of good things about his teacher this year. He always does so well.

Ginger(2nd) greeted me with a big hug as usual. She then walked home talking with the boy that lives next door, who happens to be in her class. Yeah, a boy! Our little social butterfly.

Running for the bus on the first day. We did much better this morning.

Liza gets to watch all the fun. We were working on the word "bus" yesterday. She got it out a couple times.

Our little kindergartner. She takes after her Aunt Gina by eating at a mellower pace, hence she is carrying her lunch with her while walking to the bus stop. She was so so so excited to start school.

A day at the beach

Arriving here in Washington, David was trying to find ways to busy himself without his family here, so he went to craigslist and found a Korean man that wanted lessons in English. They met and decided that David would learn and practice his Korean while Jason(the Korean man's English name) would learn and practice his English. Well they meet once a week and last Saturday we went on a picnic to SunnySide Beach, in the quaint town of Steilacoom, Washington. I met Jason's wife Susie and their 2 year old daughter Emma(their English names). They go home to Korea in December.

I never thought I was so short. Look at how tall Carson is. He still knows who the boss is though. This was taken at the end of the picnic. It was raining and the kids were wet and cold.


We had potato salad, coleslaw, hot dogs, chips, grilled chicken, cantaloupe and strawberries. It was all delicious.

I guess a lot of Korean children, and probably a lot of adults, make the peace sign in pictures.

Now Ginger has NEVER refused a photo moment. Odd! She was covered in sand and wet from walking in the water.

Now the coats were in a box still, so I quickly scrambled around right before we left and found 3 that we took. George being chilled puts one on and wades in the water. Losing his balance he falls in the water getting soaked and cold. We were down to 2 coats now. The pink one is Susie's jacket that she let George use. He survived.

This is Callie's treasure of seaweed. There was a lot there. We were told there are some little crabs there but we found only a few. I think it was the weather. It was fun to search for them though.

See what I mean! Ginger is always ready for the camera. Crazy girl!

Watch out Liza will soak you. I just have to mention that Liza started saying Mama this week. I have tried and tried to get her to say it. She uses it to get things though. She has gotten the words HI, HELLO, and ICE down too. She is growing up too fast. They all are!

Lucy Mae

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Five years ago little Lucy came into our family. We call her Lou Lou at times, which fits her so nicely. She is our little ray of sunshine. Lucy is smart and so ready for kindergarten this fall. Lucy has a way of drawing conclusions when given facts. Just a minute ago she said "Mom I am 5 now. I am. That's because when I was 3 at Grammy's house you said I was 4. So now I am 5." I love to hear her conclusions. In a movie, one of the characters say, "If you were smart, you would stay away from me." Lucy then said, "Mom, I am smart so I will stay away from him."

Her best friend is her big sister Ginger. They play so well together.

We are so blessed to have her in our home.

We love her very much!