The Petit Family Fourth of July

I hope you guys all had a great Independence Day. Every year, as I mentioned on Thursday, the Petit clan has a big barbecue at my parents’ house, and they’ve hosted it there for as long as I can remember. And as promised, I’ve got a lot of photos of the big event. For those of you who aren’t, y’know, related to me, I appreciate your indulging me with all these family photos today. But we’re a close-knit group, and we live for this sort of thing.

As always, things started early. The past month has been eaten up by a huge kitchen renovation, and the new granite countertops were installed the day before, so as I’m sure you can imagine, there was a lot to do. Fortunately, my brother-in-law, Will, was on the case. We’ve had a few different tents for the last several years to provide a little shade. A couple of weeks ago, Will began examining all the bits and pieces we have built up and started to design a super-mega-ultra tent, which kept us nice and shady all day long. Here he is, with several others putting up the tent on top of the bars.

The new kitchen was the big thing, though. If you saw the way this room looked on June 1 as compared to this photo, you’d be astonished at how different it is. There used to be a big brick oven column, hanging cabinets, blue wallpaper, a lower laminate countertop… just take it from me, it’s a major change.

Or, if you just can’t take my word for it, you can look at my Kitchen Renovation Flickr Album.

Patti and Jonathan’s sons, Lance and Jonathan Jr., eagerly await their turn to jump in the pool:

Gaye and Will try to figure out if little Joseph likes hamburgers:

Then he got passed to my cousin Jennifer for a more traditional meal. Aunt Wanda, this is probably the closest you’ll come to seeing this sort of thing for a long time.

Uncle Todd’s whole family was there: (clockwise from left) Ben, Todd, Jeremiah, Kati and Sandie.

And almost as important as the family: Uncle Todd and Uncle Kent brought the stuff for their homemade ice cream. It simply would not be one of our barbecues without homemade ice cream.

Then: THE FOOD HITS THE TABLE! My grandmother, Uncle Wally, Aunt Aimee and our former pastor and family friend Father John:

My brother Chip and sister-in-law Kayla:

Uncle Myron was ready in case his grandchildren came after him with their water pistols again.

But it was his son Alex who caught the brunt of his wrath!

Chip and Kayla brought their dog, Barker, with them.

And Barker immediately made friends with just about everyone.

Nobody had more fun than my cousin Phillip:

Except maybe my cousin Chase:

A few of us jumped in the pool:

And others needed a little help.

In the end, though, everyone had a great time.

Not enough for you? You can find more pictures in my Friends and Family Flickr Album. Hope you all had a fantastic Fourth of July, my friends! Come back tomorrow for the next 2 in 1 Showcase episode, a focus on Mike Mignola and Hellboy!