More fun in November

November, like every month we have had back in the states, has proven to be quite busy. Mid-month my dad came to visit. The weather was perfect and we spent an afternoon downtown on the mall. The weekend went too fast but we did get some great photos!

Lilymei and her Papa Harry

The O's next to the Washington Monument.

Could that be THE White House in the background? Yes it is!

This year's Christmas card photo.

Here's our little Ohio State Buckeye cheerleader.

I think Lily is "growing" out of this one.....looking a little snug!

Drew, super excited,

at his November pack meeting.

I can see a real smile here....

and here!

Cake Bake ~ A Touching Tribute

Drew's Cub Scout pack held their annual cake bake in mid November. The theme this year was "Hero's". Drew and Scott thought long and hard and came up with a great idea for their cake. This is a father-son cake bake so no help from Mom in the kitchen.

After quite a bit of work cutting the cake into the appropriate shape and lots of mixing of frosting here is Drew with the finished product.....a dog tag ....a tribute to a personal friend of ours who died in the B52 plane crash on Guam 2 days before we left for China to pick up Lilymei.

Col George Martin, a flight doctor at the Andersen AFB medical group, was a great man. He was a positive role model for all who knew him. (Therefore, the B Pos blood type.) The last thing he said to Scott on the Friday before the plane accident was, "Go get your baby girl from China and I will personally help you with her medical issues." Col Martin was on the B52 for the annual Liberation Day parade fly-over, July 21, 2008. (That's where the social security number came from on the dog tag.) The plane went down before it made it's scheduled fly-over.

Drew's cake won an award at the pack meeting that evening. Here he is receiving his award and telling the rest of his pack who Col Martin was.

Congratulations Drew and Scott! You two did a terrific job! Rest in peace Col Martin. We miss you! Go Bucks!

Halloween 2009

Gosh, I just can't get caught up! At least I got the Halloween pics posted before Christmas.

Halloween day started off cool in temperature but mild enough to let Drew and Lily redeem their Peterson's Ice Cream Birthday certificates (October and January Birthdays this time).

Look at the size of Lilymei's sundae. Yikes!

She is really chowing down. Lily made a good effort but couldn't quite finish the whole thing.

Drew is ready to begin.....

here goes.....but, alas, Drew was not able to finish his sundae either! Good effort though.

After the ice cream sundaes Nate was dropped off at church in order to help set up for the All Saints party that would occur later in the evening. Drew decided he wasn't going to Trick-or-Treat either but attend the party at church. I think he was a little disappointed with his decision. We told him he could do both.

Wouldn't you know.....minutes before we were to head out the door to begin Trick-or-Treating it started to sprinkle. Darn.

Our little cutie in her ladybug costume and ghost earrings was not to be deterred. Lilymei had been practicing what she was to say for days. Mommy's umbrella from many years ago was just what our ladybug needed to get the night rolling.

Oh my! What scary fangs you have little ladybug!

The happy gang after a fun evening. Lily has finally stopped asking if she can trick-or-treat again. I think hiding her pumpkin did the trick!

Birthday Time!

October is a birthday month in the O household. While Gram was here we celebrated Drew's 11th birthday and Gram's ?? birthday.

The gang is ready to dig into a Wegman's white cake.

Drew and Nate opened their birthday gifts from Gram....gift cards for REI. I can see more camping gear in our future.

Lily wasn't left out in the gift receiving. You can see she was extremely excited to find candy and pennies in her bag.

Birthday cupcakes! Who can resist? Not me....chocolate!

Oops! I think Drew has grown a little bit since he last wore this shirt. He dove back into the bag and found his real gift....

a Buckeyes jersey! Oh yeah, just in time for the big game this weekend. Happy birthday Drew! We love you!

Gram makes a visit

Time for more visitors! Yeah! My mom came out to visit us for a few days last month. She was able to spend a week and see us in our "daily" routine. The boys did a few days of school while she was here. We didn't want to get too much behind.

Mom was our 3rd family visitor.

We spent a day downtown visiting the Capitol building and the Library of Congress. It was a miserably cold, wet day outside but we enjoyed our time indoors. We all agreed we can't wait until Spring when we can explore more, in a more desirable temperature. You know, we're still thin-blooded.

The gang at the Library of Congress. What a day we had.....we were all tired by this point.

Lilymei and Gram riding the metro. Lily loves to ride the train.

Is Nate trying to look taller than Gram? It looks like Drew is catching up too! At least Lily is still under 3 feet ~ not for long though.

Fall foliage we haven't seen in a LONG time. The wind was blowing pretty good so I was able to get a nice shot of the American flag unfurled.

I really like the pink and yellow leaves popping out in the middle of all the lush green. It's amazing how different the trees in the back yard are compared to the front yard.

I have lots of updates to be posted so check back soon. Happy Fall!

17 years

This year Scott and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. We were married on a gorgeous fall day ~ October 10, 1992. Every year Scott does an awesome job thinking up creative ways to celebrate. On the Thursday before our anniversary Scott brought home a yummy cake (I am addicted to cake in a bad way). Don't I look happy holding that cake?



Later that evening we started our celebration with a Ruth's Chris dinner. It was delicious! We were so excited to find that they carried our favorite white wine, Conundrum. We haven't had it in years! Our next dinner was at Trummer's on Main on Saturday, our actual anniversary day. The meal was great! Again we were pleasantly surprised to find Conundrum on the wine list. I think I'm starting to like Virgina a little bit...

Scott surprised me with a beautiful necklace and charm of a family of five. I knew Scott would be thrilled with the Keurig coffee pot I snuck in the house for him.

Thanks for 17 happy years honey! Here's to many more!

September brings Family

September was a busy month. Scott and I, along with the kids, were so excited to have guests visit us in our new home. Even though the house wasn't perfect we were happy to entertain. Our first family guests were my brother Mark, sister-in-law Amy, and their 2 sons. We are so glad they made time to stop by on their way home from a trip to Virginia Beach.

Lily felt right at home with them. This photo shows them as they were getting ready to go home. I think Lily wore her cousins out; poor Owen and Will look wiped out! My brother told Lily she could come home with them and she cried when she didn't get to get INTO the car with them to leave. She had her purse and 2 library books with her. What else did she need?

The little ones are looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Lily swiped Will's dalmation puppy. Will was a good sport though, as long as she gave it back before bedtime.

Lily, Owen, Drew, Will, and Nate at the park in downtown Clifton. What a great day! I think all the kids liked climbing around on the trains.

My brother was only here for one day but our next family guests arrived within hours of my brother's departure. Here are Scott's parents, Sam and Gayle, along with our niece and nephew, Hailey and Brayden.

Another nice day! I'm missing that nice weather right now....

Lily was so excited to have cousin Hailey sleep in her room. Lily and Hailey "camped" in their sleeping bags all week.

Reminds me of the verizon wireless coverage bars, don't ya think? Lily's not too happy she's the lowest "bar".

Time to say goodbye..... Thanks for visiting everyone! We can't wait for more family members and friends to stop on by.

First Day of School

Our first day of school was August 31, 2009. Nate started 8th grade using the Abeka Academy videostreaming program (love it so far!) and Drew began 5th grade, doing the same 'ole thing we've always done. Lilymei got into the spirit and wore one of Nate's homeschool t-shirts. She grabbed her colored pencils and notebook and was ready to begin as well.

A happy bunch in the kitchen.

In the family room, with the kitchen in the background.

View of the family room. Notice the futon we purchased since we were tired of sitting on the floor and our couches hadn't arrived yet.

Kids in the front living room. I think they all look pretty happy for the first day of school.

Sitting on the front step. Lily's colored pencils go wherever she goes....

School is going well. We are in the 4th week now and I believe we have a pretty good routine down. Lily has done extremely well in keeping pretty quiet while the boys are working. Nate started off the school year using the living room tv for his lessons but he has moved into his newly remodeled bedroom and is now using Scott's laptop for his lessons. This has allowed Lily access to the tv to watch her favorite tv shows: Dora the Explorer, Ni Hao Kai-Lan, and Little Bear. Drew has been working at the kitchen table for most of his lessons but he also escapes to his room to do his reading.

Let's hope that the rest of the school year goes as well as the first 4 weeks. Time will tell....

3 1/2 months after we last saw our stuff.....it's here!

Here are a few photos of our household goods arriving in early August.

Household goods have arrived ~ August 6th, 2009. (Date stamp on photo is wrong. The camera was still on Guam time!)

Scott and Drew counting 7 crates. Yep! That's what we had when we left Guam.

Kitchen is filling up. Kitchen boxes are always so heavy.....

In the basement....looks like parts of the entertainment center have arrived, along with some Christmas decorations.


We have 4 kitchen chairs and a table. Oh yeah!

View from our back deck.

Lilymei on the deck, checking out her new surroundings. We have lots and lots of trees in the backyard.