The O Chronicles

Dance and Scouts

2010-11-04T21:48:00.006-04:00

It's hard to believe we are well into fall. Where has the time gone? The boys have been busy camping with the boys scouts, including one week at scout camp, white water rafting, beach camping on Assateague Island, and they will soon be visiting the Naval Academy in Annapolis. In the photos below, the boys were ready to head out the door for a week of summer camp. They were clean and well rested before they left. I wish I had a picture from when they came home...

By September school was in full swing. The boys began playing intramural football with some of the other local home school boys. I know they both like it even though they are sore for few days each week and walk with a limp on occasion. Stay tuned for football photos soon.

Not to leave Lily without something to do we were fortunate to have a couple of the big sisters of those football players offer to teach ballet. Lily was SO excited! She couldn't wait to buy her tights and leotard. I don't know how many times I heard her ask if it was time for dance class. Here she is on the first day of dance...September 19, 2010.

"Come on Mom! It's time to go!"

Dance class was a success! Lily is still going strong and loving her dance class with all her friends. It's so cute when she shows us her little routines and she spins around the house.

Fall also brought changes in the scout troop. Nate and Drew had been working very hard on earning quite a few merit badges which were given out at the fall court of honor.

Way to go boys!

One last item of business for Nate to take care of at the end of the court of honor was the official handing over of SPL duties to the newly elected troop member. Nate has a look of relief on his face, don't you think? Now he is ready to tackle his Eagle Scout project. Good job Nate!

It's time for me to download pictures from our trip to the farm and Halloween. Check back later!

New House

2010-10-08T22:22:00.004-04:00

Our new house @ 10 days before closing. This was the day the kids and I enjoyed a fiesta sponsored by our home builder. We had a great dinner and I was able to sample some yummy frozen margaritas. We also met some of our new neighbors.

Papa Harry was able to spare a few days to help with the move and while he was here he put up quite a few ceiling fans. Thanks Dad!

Scott's parents were here to help as well. Thank you! I am so thankful for all the neighbors who helped pack the rental truck, Scott's co-workers who helped unload the truck, and our family who did so much for us during all the craziness.

Gram was able to visit in August. The kids had just started school but we took a few field trips and enjoyed some sites.

We had a nice day at Mt. Vernon. Lily was very busy working on the Adventure Map.

We all enjoyed the Steven Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center. What a cool place!

Well, not all the field trips were totally educational. A ride on the carousel at the mall can bring out the smiles.

Look at those happy faces. Thanks for visiting Mom!

Summer happenings

2010-09-05T23:17:00.009-04:00

Summer went by in a flash. Here are some random photos from our summer of fun.

Trip to the National Zoo. We did see the pandas before Lily came down with a fever and we turned around for home.

Scott is ready to ride ~ sippy cup in tow at the Clifton Park.

Everyone loves a little watermelon.....

Lily at a park in the new neighborhood. You've really grown this summer Lily!

Lily, the waterbug, at the pool in LRR.

Last lunch out together for a while.

Scott and Nate

Drew and Scott

Scott and Lilymei

My, what long legs you have Drew....

Everyone reading library books.....come on....earn those library summer reading program coupon books!

One great man gone, but not forgotten!

2010-08-02T12:40:00.006-04:00

On July 2nd Scott's grandfather, Del passed away at the age of 99 5/6 years! We will all miss him greatly. "Papa" as we all knew him was great role model in all aspects of life. He truly exemplified the Golden Rule. It was hard to not have the family all in the same place, but we were together in spirit and prayer. Thank you to our family and friends that supported our family during this time of sorrow.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

2010-06-11T21:32:00.007-04:00

April was another busy month. The boys worked very hard to nearly complete their schoolwork for the year. In exchange for their hard work Scott and I took the kids to Orlando for some much deserved vacation time. Scott was already going to be in Florida for a conference so we planned to arrive the weekend before his conference and stay a few days longer than his conference. We spent our first full day in Florida at Magic Kingdom. We had such a good time we decided to forgo Hollywood Studios for another day at Magic Kingdom later in the week.

Lilymei was enchanted with the castle. The boys were surprised to enjoy the day as well, riding all the big coasters.

Lilymei with 2 of her favorite characters.....Mickey and Minnie!

At this moment Lily was the happiest I have ever seen. She is captivated by princesses, especially Cinderella. I have a feeling I know who Lily is going to dress up like for Halloween this year!

Oh my goodness! Another Cinderella! This time at Downtown Disney.

Lily making a mask in Epcot's China. We had a great time watching the acrobats and the 360 degree movie in China. We even had a delicious lunch in China. Too bad Lily fell asleep before we had dessert in France!

Who doesn't like hanging out with Goofy and Pluto at Animal Kingdom?

The Tree of Life along with 3 wonderful children.

Last day at Disney with a few more lovable characters.

At least we wore out 2 kids in Florida!

Cherry Blossoms and Easter eggs

2010-05-15T17:32:00.003-04:00

The last day of March my mom flew into town. We had a great week site seeing downtown DC. We toured Arlington Cemetery, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Tidal Basin with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. The weather was perfect for Mom's visit this time, unlike her October visit in which it rained every day. Thanks for visiting Mom!

Look at those blossoms. Just beautiful!

We walked all the way around the tidal basin. We had some great views of the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument behind us. Nate is taller than Gram and me!

The gang from Ohio, our beloved Buckeye state.

Lily acting goofy.

Lily and Gram in front of the tree blooming in our backyard.

Coloring Easter eggs is FUN!

Easter morning in front of St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic church.

Kids dressed up in their Easter best.

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-28T21:19:00.018-04:00

Scott and I really pulled the wool over the boys' eyes this year. Late last summer Scott and I along with our friends from Guam, the Littlefields, began making plans for a March 2010 Spring Break trip. The plan was we would meet at a beach home somewhere in between Virginia and Texas for a week of fun in the sun to remind both families of our time on Guam. The months ticked by and soon we had our reservation set. The best part of the whole planning was the fact our kids didn't know a thing about the trip and the Littlefield children didn't know where they were headed OR that we would be sharing the vacation with them.

As the day to leave neared Scott and I were secretly making lists of what needed to be packed and made arrangements for the newpapers/sales fliers to be picked up while we were gone. We also needed to let the Boy Scout troop and Nate's religious emblem class know that we would be gone, all while the boys were in somewhat close proximity to us.

The day we planned to leave Nate had a scheduled field trip to DC with his Confirmation class to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. After we dropped Nate off at church for the field trip we began the arduous task of packing suitcases on the sly with Lily and Drew still in the house. A couple of times we had to distract Drew, by asking him to help Lily with something (anything) so we could pull out the suitcases from the basement or by sending him outside to change the lightbulbs in the lamppost out front so I could drag the suitcases down the stairs and into the garage for Scott to hide in the van later in the day. It was tough trying to be so sly. Luckily Drew was oblivious since it was a Saturday and one of his two days of the week that he is allowed to play any type of video game.

Finally the time arrived to pick Nate up at church. I thought Drew would think it funny that we would ALL be driving the minute and a half to church so I asked him earlier in the day to try to convince Scott to take us to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Drew dutifully did what I asked and we were ready to go. Once Nate was back to church we packed him in the car and headed out for dinner. Mind you, Scott had to pack the van so nothing looked out of place for an ordinary drive out for dinner. Nothing unusual could be sticking out in plain view! We hadn't eaten at Cracker Barrel since before we moved to our new home so the boys had no idea which way we should have been driving. We were able to make a 5pm mass and then dinner at Cracker Barrel. We had been on the road for about 1/2 hour when something in the back of the van starting making some noise bumping around. Drew glanced back and ....."What are these suitcases doing back here?!" 20 million questions followed. Scott and I clammed up and didn't give a clue as to what was going on. The boys speculated that we were headed to Great Wolf Lodge. As we continued driving late into the night they began calling out city and state names trying to guess where we were headed. Scott and I stayed quiet. Around 2am, which was really 3am because of the time change, we pulled over into a rest stop and tried to sleep. Let's just say....it didn't happen. We promptly drove to a Hampton Inn and slept a few more hours. Now the boys are really curious. Drew still thought we were headed to Atlanta or maybe to Texas. Nate was guessing Louisiana. After nearly 16 hours of driving we made it to our Spring Break 2010 destination: Destin, FL. We were so ready to be out of the van! The Littlefield's were there waiting for us. Scott and I chuckled that we were able to surprise our gang once again.

Lily on the beach our first night.

She couldn't resist playing in the bright white sand.

It was a cool week in Florida; cool enough for jackets.

One day the guys took all the kids except for the little girls and went deep sea fishing. It was a cold, rainy morning but the trip was a success. Not to be left out Lily and I, along with Sheri and her daughter went to the salon and treated ourselves to a pedicure. Lily loved her first "real" nail visit. I think for 3 weeks straight Lily asked everyone in sight if they didn't just love her pink toes.

Ready for some action!

Great catch Nate!

Here is the gang with their take-home catch. Notice Drew's extremely large fish ~ his first ever catch. Way to go Drew!

Sheri and I "worked" on this vacation too. We didn't know if we could finish but we did!

Last day at the beach ~ Lily fell on the way and skinned her knee. She was miserable and didn't play much that day; she cried quite a bit and then promptly fell asleep on me. After awhile the boys dug out a hollow for Lily to rest in.

Drew and the Littlefield boys, playing again....

Kids in front of the beach house ready for fun!

What's so funny guys?

The boys found something to do.

Lily made some new friends.

Lily sharing a bed time story with her "bunk buddy".

While we were in Destin Scott, Nate, Lily and I took a day trip to Pensacola. We visited Pensacola Christian College and met with a few of Nate's ABeka Academy teachers. We walked around the campus a bit before we went over to ABeka Christian Academy, met a few more teachers and took a tour. Nate was really excited to see his online school in person. Scott and I were so happy for him.

Sunset in Destin..... I'm sure we'll be back!

Remember snow?!

2010-04-26T21:06:00.006-04:00

Now that spring is here I thought I would share a few photos of our memorable winter. We have not lived in a location with measurable snow in over 6 years. You can imagine our surprise when the heavens opened (repeatedly) and out came the cold, white, more-often-than-not heavy flakes. I'm thinking back to when we were told that it "almost" never snows more than a few inches a year here in northern Virginia. I'm chuckling now but for those long 3 months we were definitely not laughing.

This photo is what I measured on the deck of our 2nd snow of December. Our first BIG snow.

Scott and the boys were shoveling our drive, along with 3 other neighbors driveways. They had a hard time keeping up. That was some heavy snow!

The snow had stopped but you can see through the deck railing just how much snow was on the trampoline. I'm surprised the trampoline survived the winter. It "bounced" back ~ the kids were on it last week!

Do you think Nate is sick of the snow yet? He doesn't realize he is in for at least 2 more big snowstorms.

After the early February snow once the driveways were cleared the boys took advantage of the large drifts and sledded down the street. It took almost 2 weeks for the snow to be completely cleared from our street.

This photo was taken 7 days after the snowstorm and the mailbox is barely visible. I learned pretty quick that if I didn't start moving that snow from the curb the mail was not going to be delivered at my house. We didn't realize that the snowplow only makes one trip down the street; down the very MIDDLE of the street. Now we really missed our Ohio snow plows that plowed all the way to the curb!

Scott chipping away some of the ice. We needed to get out for the Disney on Ice show. Thank goodness the snow wasn't this weekend. Lily would have been so disappointed.

I can now say that all the snow is really gone. We survived our first winter back! We'll be ready for next year ~ no problem!

Big Changes

2010-04-14T22:14:00.007-04:00

February proved to be a busy month with the ice show, Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year and my birthday. One other day in the month of February turned out to be a special day. February 15 was the day Scott and I took Lilymei to get her hair cut for the first time since we have had her. From the picture below you can see just how long Lilymei's hair had grown.

We took Lily to the hair salon located in our local gym. Lily LOVED it! Wouldn't you know, a month later Lily's hair was in need of a trim, once again. This time I took her to see Stephanie, my hairdresser. Lily did well but she didn't sit very still this 2nd time around ...that is until the lady in the chair next to her began to get her hair colored. At that moment, Lily sat in complete shock, watching the hairdresser "paint" her client's hair. Lily informed Stephanie that she did not need that done to herself but maybe when she's a little older.

I think this is going to be a once a month habit. Lily's hair is growing so fast now. She looks so different with bangs!

Not to be outdone, Drew also began a tranformation. March 2 we took Drew to the orthodontist for a consultation. We have known for quite some time Drew would need to have a "little" extra work done in his mouth. Drew even tells people that his teeth are "jacked up" - his words!

This close-up shot reveals what we are talking about....

The visit to the ortho proved to be much more than Drew expected. To his utter shock and surprise the technician led him to the chair and the dentist did his magic. Take a closer look...notice the blue bands. Drew can't wait to get scarlet and gray in the fall....

Those first few days were no picnic as anyone who has experienced the distinct pleasure of wearing braces can attest. Drew struggled, that's for sure, but gradually the pain subsided and he learned how best to eat those many tricky foods out there. Drew had recovered completely by the time our spring break trip to Florida arrived. Here he is....enjoying a day at the beach with a smile on his face.

Check back for photos of the last BIG snow, our spring break trip to Florida, and the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Disney ....on......Ice!

2010-02-28T11:22:00.003-05:00

Scott, Lily, and I spent Saturday, February 13th at the Disney on Ice show downtown. Lily is just getting into some of the Disney characters and we thought she might enjoy the show. Lily is excited anytime we say we are going on the train (metro) and she was very willing to get up early to get going. We met quite a few other girls on the train heading the same direction we were.

So much to see and buy ~ it's overwhelming. Lily does state, quite frequently anymore, that she wants any little toy that looks fun. We did indulge her in some popcorn and she was happy.

Excitement before the show.

Lily loved Mickey and all the princesses. She waved freely but was disappointed that she couldn't get onto the ice to say hello.

The show was quite long, for a little one. Lily was starting to get tired about half-way through but there was enough action to keep her entertained.

We even saw the Chinese dragon from Mulan. What a great reminder of Chinese New Year!

After the show, we took the train to Scott's work stop and had lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Lily loved the miso soup until she spilled the whole bowl on herself. The tempura shrimp was a better option for her. Delicious!

Can you guess what Lily has been doing all around the house since the show? She has been "ice-skating" all around, complete with one leg in the air, arms flowing gracefully, and lots of spinning. So cute. Maybe we'll watch Lily in the 2025 winter olympics!

Pinewood Derby Time!

2010-02-22T22:34:00.009-05:00

January 30th was the Pinewood Derby Race Day at St. Andrew's The Apostle, Pack 717. Drew decided to model his car after a block of cheese; complete with holes and painted a bright yellow. The race began a few minutes late with the Tiger Cubs going first. Drew waited in anticipation for the Wolves and Bears to finish their races. Finally the Webelos were called to the track.

Drew, waiting patiently as many of the boys raced ahead of him.

The race is on and Drew is smiling....

The race is over. Drew is looking pretty happy.

Drew receiving his Webelos 3rd place ribbon and the "Most Humorous Design" award from the Pack Leader. Way to Go Drew!!!

It's Official!

About a week after the Pack 717 Derby Race Drew received an email stating that he had qualified to race in the District Pinewood Derby Race. The District Race was held this past weekend, February 20th, at St. Tim's in Chantilly.

Drew is holding his medal for participation in the District Race. Can you tell he isn't quite awake yet?

The competition looked fierce. Drew's car was racing with the other Webelos II's first thing in the morning. After a few adjustments with the weight of the CHEESE it was time to race.

Drew didn't come away with any additional ribbons or trophies at District but he had a great time and that's what it's all about!

It's Elmo!!!

2010-02-08T16:25:00.005-05:00

Lily debated whether to have a Dora cake or an Elmo cake. I didn't think I could pull off a Dora cake of my own making and my friend Valorie is not here to make a picture perfect cake so......I persuaded Lily to accept an Elmo cake. Scott and I did NOT realize just how much red food coloring it takes to make RED frosting. Lily seemed pleased with the end result. Thank Goodness!

We had a little party the day after Lily's birthday. Friends of ours from Guam who now live in the DC area were able to help us celebrate Lily's 3rd birthday.

Lily was so excited to hear the "Happy Birthday" song.

Time to blow out three candles....

Lily chose to wear a traditional Chinese dress for her party. She loves to pose!

"I look tired but I really am excited about my presents. Thank you for my book Aunt Amy, Uncle Mark, Owen and Will!"

Lily with penguin mittens and muff from Gram. Little did we know that Lily would need to wear these so much this winter!

Thank you to everyone who sent Lily a birthday gift. She is so thankful for everything!

Snow Angels on Lily's Birthday

2010-02-02T23:21:00.006-05:00

Our sweet Lilymei celebrated her 3rd birthday on January 8th. What a fun day! Lily woke up excited to see snow falling on her special day. The boys were hoping I would let them have the day off from school. Wasn't it enough to have their own birthday off from school?

All day Lily begged to go outside and play in the snow. When Daddy arrived home from work Lily hurried to put on her cold weather gear. Drew gladly went outside with Lily and Scott to help Lily play in the white powder.

Our little angel had been practicing on the family room rug and what a good job she did making that snow angel. Her wings are in motion...

Scott was able to capture Lily on camera before her snow angel making session. Listen below...

Check back later for pictures of Lily's birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Nate!

2010-01-28T16:17:00.004-05:00

In my haste to put up pictures from Christmas and our big snow I forgot to document Nate's 14th birthday. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care though.....

Here is the birthday boy.....eating pizza on his big day.

Look at that beautiful smile... 14 years old!

A birthday tradition ~ Oreo ice cream cake ~ Yum!

Get ready to blow out those candles.....

Nate wearing his favorite team's colors, thanks to his Aunt Amy. Nate, you had better hide that jersey from your Dad. It might be used to wash the car!

Nate, you are growing into a fine young man. We look forward to what you will accomplish each and every day. You've already grown to the same height as your Mom. We love you so very much! Happy Birthday son!

The Big Snow and Christmas

2010-01-24T21:26:00.003-05:00

What a surprise we had the evening of December 19, 2009. Snow started falling before 9pm. Everyone in the county had made it to the grocery store but me. Scott attempted to pick up milk after work but no milk was to be had. He did bring home 2 tomatoes and a bag of chips. Fortunately for us I had quite a few odds and ends in the pantry to sustain us for a week or so. The kids were so excited to see the snowfall in the morning but their excitement quickly turned to determination and then exhaustion as they worked on clearing 4 driveways on our street. Let's just say it took most of the day to find that asphalt.

Scott and Nate clearing our drive.

Just under 20 inches on our deck about 15 hours after it all began.

Someone has the right idea...stay inside in a warm, cozy house, wearing a Santa hat while the boys are busy shoveling snow.

Christmas week went by all too quickly. With all the snow it was difficult to finish the last bit of Christmas shopping but it all worked out. Less is more, right? By the looks of the pile of gifts below I don't think anyone was going without a present.

Lily had the pleasure of opening the first Christmas gift of the year. Thank you Aunt Kimmy!

Kids dressed to the nines before Christmas Eve Mass.

Beautiful children in front of a beautiful backdrop.

Happy Birthday baby Jesus!

Lilymei's Loot. Yes, there is a princess clock in her pile!

Drew with his prized possessions.

Nate with his pile of goodies.

After opening gifts we had a quiet dinner and a peaceful afternoon. We were not able to be with extended family but we were blessed non-the-less to be together as a family. To top it all off who would have thought we were going to have a white Christmas?

Snow, Santa, & the Christmas Tree

2010-01-16T22:11:00.005-05:00

This year I pulled out the Christmas decorations early. We started decorating the tree right after Thanksgiving. I don't know how much Lily remembered from last year but she really got into the holiday spirit this year.

Lily put quite a few ornaments on the tree. She did really well keeping them on the tree too!

Someone is pretty excited about the holidays....

Isn't Lily looking older?!!

Who gets to put the angel on the tree?

Reach....reach....Daddy needs to help a little.

Lily and Drew met with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the neighborhood community center. Lily had been talking for weeks about what she wanted to tell Santa she wanted for Christmas; a princess clock. We didn't know if she would actually talk to Santa though. To our surprise she ran into Mrs. Claus's arms and then took her turn on Santa's lap. She was so excited. What a picturesque scene...we had our first snowfall that morning.

Drew is ready to get shoveling. The boys made some money shoveling the neighbors driveways. Nate and Drew came to the conclusion that shoveling snow is a lot harder work than mowing lawns. Little did they know that 2 weeks after this snow we would have 22 inches fall in 12 hours. At least the boys had a little practice before the BIG snowstorm!

Lily couldn't wait to get out into the snow and make a "snowmam". I think she would have stayed out until bedtime if I would have let her. Snow in her boots...no big deal!

The makings of the first of 3 snowmen to grace our front yard that day.

Lily, Drew, and Nate with Santa at church.....2 weeks in a row. Who doesn't love seeing Santa once a week?

Check back for more photos from our busy month of December!

Turkey Day in the USA

2010-01-06T10:47:00.004-05:00

We have a lot to be thankful for! This was our first Thanksgiving back in the United States in 3 years. We had grand visions of joining in with family for the holidays once we were back. Scott's work schedule was not optimal this year, therefore we spent the holiday in Virginia with 2 fellow airmen, Alan and Courtney. Scott and I planned a late afternoon dinner. We wanted the opportunity to sleep in and then watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before heading into the kitchen.

Scott and I are a good team in the kitchen. Scott tackles the protein while I attend to most of the sides. This year the kitchen smelled soooo good. We had turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, dinner rolls, cranberries, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin cheesecake, fudge, fruitcake, and wine. We ate good!

Scott and his bird.

This was one of the best turkeys I have ever eaten. My mouth is watering right now!

The O's on Thanksgiving 2009.

Our handsome boys.

The princess with her meal.

Lily sporting her "Everyone is thankful for me!" pj's.

Scott and I are so thankful for our 3 beautiful children!

Lilymei is having a little fun with black olives two days after Thanksgiving. I remember when Nate used to put his olives on his fingers. He doesn't believe me now....nor does he eat olives anymore.

More fun in November

2009-12-29T21:27:00.004-05:00

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

2009-12-23T21:45:00.005-05:00

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

2009-12-06T22:18:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-11-20T22:02:00.005-05:00

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

2009-11-17T17:52:00.005-05:00

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

2009-10-23T12:45:00.005-04:00

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

2009-10-15T19:16:00.004-04:00

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

2009-09-26T21:55:00.003-04:00

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!

2009-09-26T21:32:00.006-04:00

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.

He is 99, what can we say! Shaka Papa Bean.

2009-09-15T20:08:00.005-04:00

Scott's Grandpa, affectionately known as Papa Bean, turns 99 years old this weekend! He recently fell and broke his hip, but not to worry. A new hip joint was inserted last week and he is already up to walking 45 feet with a walker. Papa is not the happiest guy when taken out of his routine. He has complaints about the food, the staff, having to get dressed up everyday, etc., but he really just wants to go home. Sadly he will be in the physical rehab center for his Birthday. We just wanted the rest of the world to know how great it has been to be blessed with a company of your Grandfather for your entire life and you are into your 40s. (not well into the 40s, just barely really).

Happy Birthday Papa, you have made life great, just don't be grumpy if the coffee isn't "just like home".

Who's Excited?!

2009-09-09T09:34:00.003-04:00

Can we say....Lily's just a little excited? It's unfortunate that she won't STAY in her Princess Big Girl bed at night. I know....give it time. I'm just so tired....

In Memory of Grandma

2009-08-27T09:31:00.003-04:00

My dad's mother passed away on Monday, August 24, 2009. She was 92 years young. The funeral is being held today, Thursday, August 27, 2009. Scott, the kids, and I were able to visit with her at the nursing home when we were in Ohio last month. She was having a really good day the day we were there.

Grandma S., the O's, and Papa Harry

Grandma always made the best honey cookies. I remember Grandma making them for me even after I went to college. This past summer I attempted, for the first time, to make her honey cookie recipe. After much trial and error I was able to make some cookies that were edible but I told grandma last month I was going to have to keep trying if I was ever going to be able to make them as well as hers.

Grandpa S. passed away on October 26, 2002 (Drew's 4th birthday). Grandma and Grandpa had 12 children, 52 grandchildren, 81 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great-grandchildren.

What I Did This Summer by Lilymei

2009-08-18T11:42:00.009-04:00

What a summer it's been. My mommy and daddy took me away from all that I remember. Mommy and I saw this double rainbow on our balcony at the PIC before we left Guam. I LOVE the beach!
Mommy and Daddy said we would be traveling far and wide. Boy, they weren't kidding!
I had to eat strange new foods in places Mommy and Daddy used to visit long, long ago.
I met cousins young.....
and old. Otay, not that old!
I did meet a pirate. He is nice and shared his toys with me.
That pirate suggested I get a tattoo. I got a ladybug. It hurt (not) but now I'm a pro. Right now I have a tattoo of flowers on my arm that I got at Macy's this weekend.
I tried to hold (and take home) some of my cousins' birthday presents. Mommy and Daddy wouldn't let me.
What kind of place is this that Daddy took me to? I had to wear a coat, in July! The air show in Dayton was really neat. When the fighter jets flew by I learned how to cover my ears.
I now know that I love to water flowers! Mommy, can you get me a watering can and some flowers, pease!
I didn't bore you with pictures of me getting in and out of my carseat but I did that ALOT! I don't like riding in the car but it helps when Drew or Nate put a movie in for me and I can wear my headphones and ride in style.

One of my favorite parts of summer was eating ice cream! I love it! In this picture I'm eating Graeter's ice cream in Columbus,OH.
Check back later Mommy says. She promised to take pictures of my new big girl bed and my princess sheets. I think she wants to take pictures of our new house too, once I help her put everything away. Maybe Daddy will put pictures on here of my first trip to the Atlantic Ocean when we visited Mike E. in Delaware last weekend.

Hope you all are having a nice summer like me!

Gettin' Settled

2009-08-13T10:33:00.004-04:00

We've been in the house for just over a week and things are finally starting to fall into place. The upstairs level is almost finished. At least we have clothes in the drawers and hanging in the closets. The kitchen is unpacked but I'm sure I will be rearranging some cupboards later on. We still have boxes in the living and dining rooms and LOTS of boxes in the basement. Thank goodness school hasn't started yet or I would really be stressing.

Speaking of school, Nate will be in 8th grade this year. Scott and I have decided to sign him up for the A Beka Academy Home School Video Streaming program. The program looks to be a challenge for him but we know he can handle it. Drew will also be home schooled again this year. Drew will be entering 5th grade and we are going to hit the ground running. I have tentatively set the first day of school to be September 8 but if I can get myself psyched up we may start earlier.

We had our first house guest last night. Our good friend, Mike, who was stationed with us in Guam, was in the DC area last night buying a truck. Scott met up with him on his way home from work. Mike followed Scott to our home for dinner and a night on the futon before he left for Delaware to start his home search at his new base. It was so nice to see a familiar face ~ thanks for stopping by Mike!

Some of you may have noticed Scott is now on Facebook. Scott was the guinea pig for this experiment. If all goes well, I may get on too. I know so many of you out there are on Facebook. I'll admit I'm a little curious but it looks so much more involved than posting to a blog. You'll just have to wait and see if you see my face on Facebook in the next week or so...

Any helpful hints would be appreciated.

Boxes, boxes, everywhere!

2009-08-09T22:42:00.004-04:00

Whew! I think this is the first time in over a week that I have sat down for more than a quick bite to eat! As Scott posted earlier, we did not move into the home we had planned to buy in Woodbridge, VA. After the appraisal came back too low and the bank wouldn't accept it we spent 2 days frantically looking at rental homes until we found one in Clifton, VA we knew would work for us. Last Saturday we took the keys and started cleaning. We officially moved in last week Monday, thanks to our friends, Alan and Sharlene, and also to a co-worker of our realtor, who loaned us air mattresses and linens so we could end our hotel stay and sleep in our "new" home. Hurray!!!

Last week Tuesday we received our "express" pack, which contained some of our basic household items and to the happiness of the boys, the Wii. Luckily, the homeowner left a tv for us to use and the boys were quick to set up their game system.

Thursday we received the rest of our household items; at least what we had with us in Guam. According to the movers, nearly 250 boxes or odd shaped packages, give or take a few dozen were unloaded off the truck. At this point, I can't remember. I just know I signed off on all of them as arriving, intact or not. I have not opened anywhere near half of those said boxes yet but to my knowledge we have only had 2 items broken: a 4 foot tall bookshelf and an oversized, out of date computer monitor.

This week found Scott and the boys trimming trees, mowing the lawn, and pulling out an overgrown shrub. Scott is on a mission to whip this property back into shape. We have found pictures of the home in it's early years and Scott has plans to get the shrubs back to what they used to look like.

We have battled an infestation of bees, enough to scare the first "bee guy" into not coming back! (but the bees are gone now with the help of a more experienced bee guy) and we are currently having issues with our upstairs bedrooms not getting enough AC while we freeze on the main floor and basement. Of course, we expected that since it's been nearly 100 degrees this weekend. We will be seeing the AC repairman Monday morning to take care of that issue. Other than that, we are enjoying being in a house that we can call home (we hope longer than a year, but the owner mentioned that he may try to sell the house next year...) It is so cute to hear Lily say this is her house, and to repeat our address (just the street name at this point) over and over and laugh.

We are waiting for the last shipment of household goods that are currently in storage in Las Vegas. We are not feeling very patient since that shipment has our couches, our piano, a curio cabinet, and Nate's bed, along with a lot of other items I'm sure we have forgotten all about. Because we did not have anything soft to sit on, other than our beds, we purchased a futon today that will have to suffice until our comfy couches make their way to Virginia. Don't feel sorry for Nate, by the way. For the past 3 years he has been sleeping on Drew's bottom bunk bed and he will continue to bunk in Drew's room until his bed arrives and he can move into his own room.

It is time for me to call it a day. Scott and the kids have been asleep for hours and I should be too. We haven't had time to upload the newest photos in the camera so you'll have to enjoy these for now.

Lily and mommy at the beach in Hawaii. Lily asks nearly every day if she can go back to the beach.

Lily with Aunt Kimmy's dog, Izzy. Lily was terrified of Izzy all week until Izzy put a dress on. Lily must have thought she was a new dog the way she was holding her in this photo.

Lily meeting Great-Grandpa for the first time. He had a special doll just for Lily all ready for her.

Moving on up!

2009-08-01T08:50:00.003-04:00

Well we got our new house by God's grace we are sure. Scott woke up at 6 am and drove to the realtor so that he was first in the office. While he was getting the lease signed, no fewer than 4 other people called on the property. We will be getting the keys today to a beautiful 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath home in Clifton, Virginia. Clifton is in Fairfax county near Washington Dulles Airport, so come on out. We are excited because the neighborhood has a great pool, tennis court, basketball court, and playground complex.

Thanks for all of the prayers, pictures out soon.

The O's have landed, finally!

Good lovein, what is going on here!

2009-07-30T21:37:00.005-04:00

Well after we returned to D.C. our life was turned upside down! A day before we were to close on our new home, yes one day, the deal was KILLED. The VA appraiser (name withheld for his safety) decided in his opinion the home was not worth as much as we had offered. The deal was killed immediately and we became homeless. Needless to say a great deal of screaming and crying has taken place since yesterday. After praying about and looking at quite a few places we have found a home to.....RENT! We can not emotionally try to buy another home at this point. We are hoping that our application is accepted tomorrow and we can move in this weekend. The home is located in .... we will tell everyone once we get the acceptance. The new home is however, very nice and in a great community with a pool, tennis courts, bike trails, etc.

Thank you all for your prayers and concerns. Sorry if we have not called you personally, but life has hit us hard brother.

We hope this weekend will be a relaxing one (we deserve it). Thanks to our friends the Hardmans, who saved our bacon by watching the kids while we looked for houses, again!

Still traveling from place to place!

2009-07-25T12:31:00.002-04:00

Well we are still in Ohio. We had a great time at Cedar Pointe Amusement Park with much of our family. A little rain and 70 degree weather never stopped any of us. Lily loved the rides and the boys had a great time experiencing the many huge roller coasters.
We have been spending the last few days at Punderson State Park in a nice cabin on the lake. The boys and Mima went fishing and caught...an anchor line, seaweed (better known as green bass), and the propeller. It was fun, but we had to then go find dinner elsewhere.
We will be heading back to Northern Virginia on Sunday night after a few more stops to visit. We are not looking forward to the long drive again, but are looking forward to moving into our beautiful new home! We miss you all and have had a great time visiting all we could.

Wandering Gypsies!

2009-07-15T11:03:00.006-04:00

We are sorry we haven't updated the blog lately, but what do you really expect from wondering gypsies? We have already hit Ottawa and Grove City, Ohio on our trek up North. The drive from D.C. to Ohio was made even more exciting with Lily saying "Out...Out...Out" before we had left the shadows of the Washington monument. We did however, make it in 12 hours; 4 hours longer than Stephanie our GPS told us it would take. The 4 hours was well spent stopping at Dunkin Donuts and Cracker Barrel.

In Ottawa, we had the chance to introduce Lily to her grandparents on Jean's side. The boys had a great time riding tractors and the such at Papa Harry's. All of the kids quickly made Gram pay up on her offer of milkshakes and cookies. We all enjoyed a morning at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum with Kewpee Hamburgers for lunch.

The visit to Grove City has already been a busy one; bouncing between Mark (Jean's brother) and Kim's (Scott's sister) house has been fun. It has been good to see all of the niece and the nephews. We have already hit COSI, which is a huge kids science museum and the Big Splash water park! Thanks to everyone for their hospitality.

Lily is doing well with our new lifestyle, but doesn't much care for dogs yet:-) She loves to look at them from the distance, but not so much up close and personal.

Miss you all and can't wait to see you sooner or later.

We made it!

2009-07-03T08:40:00.002-04:00

We have made it to D.C. and we have been swimming with the real estate "sharks" here! We have looked at over 20 homes and hopefully today we will make an offer. It is amazing how little you get for so much cash, not fun! Anyway, happy to get to Bolling and signed in. Scott is on leave for a month or so. New car, new house, new job all in a week, don't know if we will make it or not, but having fun trying. Miss everyone and hope to make it to Ohio soon.

Lovin Hawaii & missin Guam!

2009-06-26T03:13:00.006-04:00

Sharks, sharks and more sharks. Nate, Drew and Scott promptly made it to North Shore Shark Adventures on Hawaii's North Shore. The sharks went crazy over the fish pieces being thrown into the water, 3 miles off-shore, mind you. Drew said, "I was so scared seeing the shark fins that I almost cried before I had to get into the cage!" It was an excellent adventure to say the least.
Here is Lily with one of her favorite foods...crab legs, thanks Mima! Red Lobster was great, but Lily was more interested in moving her food.
Here we all are at the famous Matsumoto's Grocery Store for the shave ice. It was excellent with ice cream inside and covered with sweetened condensed milk. Lily kept track of whose turn it was, Mommy, Daddy, Lily, Mommy, Daddy, Lily, Mommy, Lily, Lily, Lily!
Mom and Dad surprised their grandkids by flying out to Honolulu a few days early. The boys and Lily were definitely surprised by them at the airport. Everyone got a Lei upon arrival; thanks Mom and Dad.

We already miss our friends in Guam and the laid back lifestyle. We are excited about the adventure ahead, but nervous about finding a home and new van. We are sure everything will be fine as we have prayed a ton. Thanks to Guam for such a great sendoff. We miss you all so much.

D. C. lookout, here come the O's!!!

We are OUT!

2009-06-18T06:56:00.003-04:00

Well we have checked out of the house and living at the Pacific Island Club downtown. We no longer have a phone and life is crazy. I check out of the base tomorrow morning and then I can truly say that we are on vacation!! We can't wait to see all of the people that we have on our schedule. We are all excited about the big changes ahead. To all of our Guam friends, please keep in touch. Look out for Jean and I joining the facebook revolution. We have finally agreed that it is time and that resistance is futile!
Take care and look out U.S. here come the O's.

48 Hours

2009-06-15T01:35:00.004-04:00

That's right....48 hours until we are officially "homeless" and moved into the hotel. We are granting the boys' wishes and staying at the PIC in downtown Tumon until we fly out next Monday morning. Scott and I would rather stay at the Westin and sleep in the Heavenly Bed but...we are the BEST PARENTS IN THE WORLD and don't forget it Nate and Drew!

Lily is ready to go....crocs on the wrong feet, bag in hand, and hat on. C'mon Mom! Let's go!!!

Everyone is happy on another sunny Guam day!

We are planning to update the blog while we travel. We will be in Hawaii for a week and then off to Washington DC the first week of July. Pray for us while we are traveling and once we arrive in DC. We have one week set aside to buy a van and find the perfect home before we take a road trip back to Ohio to visit family and friends.

Now....time to get packing those suitcases!

What a ride it has been!

2009-06-08T17:09:00.006-04:00

As we are getting ready to leave Guam all I can say is that it has been great! I want to thank everyone that helped us make Guam our home over the last 3 years. Today is the 3 year anniversary of our arrival on Guam. I just thought I would author a post showing what we all looked like 3 years ago. Guam, thanks for the memories and another chapter in our life. When we arrived in June 2006 we were a family of 4, the boys were just that...boys, and I was just a young Captain in the AF. We are now a family of 5, the boys are young men, and I am a young Major in the AF. Jean hasn't aged a day and looks better every morning! We will honestly miss this beautiful place in the sun! Look out DC here we come.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

2009-05-26T02:37:00.004-04:00

I thought I would snap a few pics of Lily wearing her Chinese outfits since it is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. To my dismay, Lilymei has outgrown all of the traditional Asian clothes and shoes I purchased for her while we were in China. Fortunately, the Andersen Officers' Spouses' Club has a gift shop on base that carries lots of Asian items. I tried to stock up on various sizes of clothing for Lily for the next couple of years. Here is a sample of the items I purchased....

Red...

or pink?

Monica, Lilymei loves her outfits from Lily. Thank you!

Lily has a new friend, Nathan, who just came home to his adoptive family from Vietnam right before Easter. He is such a cutie. Nathan's mommy made Lilymei's birthday cake back in January. It looks like Nathan is not too sure of Lily yet. Don't you just love those hats?!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T00:28:00.008-04:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day, not just kicking off the summer season with a big BBQ bash but also by remembering all the men and women who have given (and continue to give) of themselves for you and I to live in a free country.

Scott made it back to the island Saturday, May 23rd ~ his Birthday! We celebrated with a birthday dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, Ban Thai. After mass on Sunday we relaxed at home until it was time for the boys to meet their dive instructors at the pool on Big Navy. The boys were able to complete nearly all of the skills needed to earn their dive certification.

Lily loves to see the water, be it the ocean or a swimming pool; not so much the bathtub though. She's more of a shower girl right now. Anyway, it wasn't long before she had convinced Scott to let her get into the pool, swim suit or not. She LOVED it. The boys took turns splashing with her and showing her how to put her face in the water and blow bubbles. The only way we could get her out of the water, since the boys weren't done with their instructor, was to bring out the McDonalds bag. We knew she worked up an appetite when she ate a whole double cheeseburger and fries!

Monday morning Nate, and Drew met up with their dive instructors and spent the morning and early afternoon down at the Navy pier, completing their 3rd and 4th dives. Scott went along with them and they had a great time. Next Sunday the boys will be going on their first boat dive. Scott is thrilled that the boys are doing so well and enjoying open water diving. Scott tried for 3 years to get me certified. I don't feel so bad for letting him down now that Nate and Drew can go with him. They are already planning some dives for when we are in Hawaii next month.

I don't have any photos of the boys with their dive gear on yet, but here are some photos of them in their favorite environment....

Our crazy child, upside down, mid-air, off the diving board!

The Number 33

2009-05-20T05:42:00.007-04:00

What is 33? No, it's not my age. It's not my favorite number either; that would be 28, in case you're wondering. Let me back up a bit. I have been slowly cooking/baking all of those forgotten grocery items in the back of the pantry. I have to pat myself on the back in the fact that for this move I may actually eat every last item in the cupboards. For some of you that may not sound like a big deal. For me it is really hard to NOT stock up on sale items at the grocery when I am there to pick up bread and milk only. I like to have all kinds of odds and ends on hand that when put together they don't really make up a meal but would sustain us in the event of a typhoon or other natural disaster. Tonight after dinner I thought I would count the number of tea bags I have left to drink. (I know, I do have some obsessive/compulsive tendencies.) The inventory on hand added up to 33 ~ more than I thought, but that's ok. I then went over to the calendar to see how many more mornings I will wake up to on Guam....you guessed it...33! I couldn't have planned it any better if I had tried.

What else have I been doing besides counting tea bags? Not too much the past couple of days. The boys are finished with school~ yeah! The last bit of our personal belongings were packed up and shipped out on Friday. Nate had his Boy Scout Court of Honor on Saturday evening. It was very nice with many boys being recognized for all their hard work. Nate earned 6 merit badges himself. That brings him up to 14 total. Way to go Nate!

Scott left on Sunday morning for a conference in Orlando. While he is there he will be taking a day to fly up to DC to look at base housing on Bolling AFB. He will also be meeting with a realtor and hopefully looking at a few houses. What a whirlwind side trip for Scott. He will make it home on Saturday evening ~ his birthday!

Today the boys gave up some of their "summer" vacation time and they volunteered at the local animal shelter. Nate needed some community service hours for another merit badge he is working on so we headed out after breakfast in our grungy clothes and got to work. Actually, the boys did all the work and Lilymei and I looked at the puppies and kittens. Lily LOVED it! Unfortunately I didn't bring the camera....no pictures this time!

I'll leave with a few photos from the last couple of weeks, mind you the last 2 photos were taken before the house was packed up...the house is so empty now.

Lily eating a pooh shaped cookie. We had to borrow the neighbor's rolling pin to roll out the cookie dough...ours was gone already.

Lily wearing a beautiful spring dress and jacket from our friend Natalee. Thanks Nat!

The boys getting ready to play Wii. Everything in this picture is gone except for the chair and the couch (we are going to try to sell them) AND the boys. We're keeping them too!

Catch Up Photos from March

2009-05-12T04:28:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since we've posted many new so photos so here are some from the end of March. Enjoy!

Nate, front and center, with Boy Scout Troop 20, in front of a B2 bomber. It was so hot that afternoon ~ Lily and I almost melted for the hour we were near the hangar looking at planes.

Family fun at Family Beach, Guam. Our friend, Mike, brought out his jet ski. Lily loved her 2 minute ride. The Philippine Sea is right outside the harbor. We are going to miss our favorite jet ski beach!

Lily and Nate outside the tent at Drew's Cub Scout campout. Lily and I slept in our comfy beds while the boys roughed it on Tarague Beach. Lily and I did make it out for Drew's Rain Gutter Regatta race and campfire lunch.

Here Drew is receiving his many beltloops and pins for all the hard work he completed during the month of March. Drew is one of the most active scouts in his den. Drew's scout master is in the yellow; Drew's den leaders are husband and wife, behind Drew. They are also the couple teaching the boys to dive!

Here is our little "Lil". She's such a sweetie!

May Header

2009-05-07T21:24:00.002-04:00

Echo, Echo

2009-04-28T09:51:00.009-04:00

That is the sound that I hear every day now that 95% of our personal belongings are packed up and out of the house. It's a little sad to think that we won't see our "things" for 2-3 months but it really is refreshing to live a minimalistic life. Poor Lily.....the crib is the only thing left in her room and that's because it doesn't belong to us! Our neighbor has loaned us this crib and when we get settled into our home in DC Lily will get to sleep in her "new" toddler bed. This is how we all felt after 2 days of having the packers here.....

Nate and Drew love the feel of their room now ~ instead of a bunk bed they each have a twin bed on opposite sides of the room. There is one dresser for the two of them to share and one lamp. No clutter, nothing on the walls and only 3 hangers in the closet for each of them. I informed them that we could keep that simple feeling to their new bedrooms by not unpacking all their "stuff" when it does arrive. We'll see how that goes when the time comes.

In other news, the boys swam their last regular swim meet of the season this past Saturday. They did well considering our base pool has been closed on and off for the last 6 months. Scott was busy also this past weekend. He joined his dental group buddies for Guam's Annual Perimeter Relay Run. It was a 48 mile run with individual legs ranging from 1.8 miles to almost 5 miles. Scott and his other 9 teammates each ran 2 legs of the race. Scott's first leg began at 4:30am and his second leg was over in time for him to race over (by car) to the pool by 10:30am to watch the boys swim a couple of their events. Scott's team did very well ~ coming in 12th place out of 40-some teams. Kudos to you, Scott, for getting up and out there and running a good run!

Lily is talking up a storm now. She has been putting more and more words together each day. She is a very busy girl: taking her babies for walks in the stroller; singing her ABC's and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; watching Little People movies over and over and over; and answering ALMOST all questions with "I don't know". She loves to play with the neighbor girls during the day and watch tv at night with all the lights off. She is jealous when I give the boys hugs or kisses and she still loves to be held like a baby. I can't believe it's been 9 months since Lily has been with us. We only have 55 days left on the island and if all goes well our family will get to meet Lily before we reach the "1 year with us" Lilymei Day on July 27th! How crazy is that?

Are you kidding me?

2009-04-21T06:55:00.003-04:00

I feel this sign pretty much sums up life around here over the last day or so. We have the movers arriving in the morning for two days of fun (packing). Jean has done the lions share of the work and I want to thank her for that. If it was not for her I would just unpack clothes at each of the moves and leave the rest in boxes. Lily is a bit confused as pieces of her world disappear, but she is still solid on the fact that we are moving to D.C.
Miss you all! Leaving the island in T-60.
Take care. Scott and his chaotic gang in the Pacific.

It seems real now....

2009-04-18T01:38:00.005-04:00

I know, it's been a while since we've updated. Scott made it home from his pharmacy conference/"man-cation" the night before Easter. Lily was especially happy to see her Daddy home. It was his first time away from her ~ we have been blessed Scott didn't have to leave before this.

Easter was beautiful. The weather was perfect. The Easter egg hunt after mass went better than Saturday morning's egg hunt, and our time together as a family was very nice. We celebrated Easter lunch with our friend Mike and later in the day we had Easter dinner with our neighbors, Nellie and Mike, and their girls. Nellie's friend and her adopted daughter from Guatemala were also there. We sure ate good!

I kept my promise to let the boys have Monday and Tuesday off for Spring Break. I originally suggested that we start back up with our school work. Now I am wishing we had. Scott called me from work on Friday afternoon and told me our household goods are going to be packed up this coming Wednesday!!! Oh my! We had dinner plans with friends Friday night but you can bet before dinner and all day today I have been going through the closets, file cabinets, and toys trying to separate out what we can live without for 3-4 months and what I want to hide from the packers that we will either ship out next month or put in our suitcases and carry back to the states with us.

I really thought we were going to finish school before the packout. The boys have promised me we won't be bringing schoolwork in their backpacks to do on our way to DC. That means a few school books will have to be shipped in our unaccompanied baggage that will leave on May 15th.

The O's touring the HSC-25 squadron. Lily was in the helicopter as much as the boys were.

Two girls at the water park.

St. Patrick's Day!

It's a whirlwind right now so I had best get back to work. Check back later for Easter photos. Oh, if you ask Lily where we are moving she will tell you.....D....C!

6 Years Ago Today...

2009-04-08T06:47:00.006-04:00

Today marks the 6th year anniversary of Scott being commissioned into the Air Force. At the time we lived in Hudson Ohio. Scott was working as a retail pharmacist and owned his own pharmacist staffing business. The hours were grueling. Many nights he was not home to eat dinner with us or say goodnight to the boys. Business kept him on the phone non-stop when he was home. On more than one occasion Scott would work the same store 2 or 3 days in a row 4 hours from home. On those days he would stay overnight in a hotel and come home when the shift was over. That was when Scott decided it was time to make a change.
Our neighbor, then Capt. Bill Sanchez, did Scott's commissioning at Kent State University. We had no idea what we were getting into.
What a young bunch we were in this photo! Our lives were about to change BIG time. We have had a wonderful 6 years, learning so much and traveling the world. We support Scott in his decision. We have really bonded together as a family in the past 6 years. Just think honey, only 14 more years and then you can retire!

March/April Header

2009-04-07T03:26:00.001-04:00

Spring Break

2009-04-07T02:15:00.006-04:00

While the cat is away the mice will play. That may be true but since Scott is off island we have been more like busy beavers. Scott left last Tuesday for San Antonio. He was able to earn nearly 20 hours of CE (continuing education) for his pharmacy license at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition. He had a good time meeting up with several pharmacists he knew from Ohio and Air Force pharmacists he has met in the past 6 years.

The boys and I have been steadily working on schoolwork. Today was officially our last school day until after Easter. We spent part of our day with other homeschooling families on base celebrating with an Easter party. We had a great turnout with lots of delicious food and crafts for all the kids. Surprisingly, after we arrived home from the party and put Lily down for a nap, the boys opened up their history book and were ready for a lesson. Hooray! Now that the school day is done the boys are spending time with friends and I had a few minutes to stretch out on my lounge chair with a book and read before Lily woke up.

Scott and his buddy just arrived in Las Vegas for their yearly "man-cation". Yes, Scott deserves a break. Before his man-cation last year I took a trip with some girl friends to Bali, Indonesia. I'm wondering where I can trek off to this year....

Even though we are on "Spring Break" the boys will continue with their music lessons. Only 3 more lessons left. We will be going through toys, clothes, and boxes the rest of this week too. Scott will be home Saturday evening; Nate is hoping with a suitcase full of Vegas winnings. Lilymei will be participating in her first Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning. Scott will miss that one but he will get to see her hunt for eggs after Easter Sunday mass. Lily will love it I'm sure. She is really getting into all the special holidays we celebrate. Every time she sees a lit candle or a dessert of any kind she yells out "Happy Cake".

Happy Easter everyone!

Texas Land & Cattle, Pharmacists, and Pharmacogenomics!

2009-04-05T21:20:00.003-04:00

Thick slices of signature hickory smoked, pepper-crushed aged sirloin, slow cooked to perfection. Served Medium Rare with Garlic Mashed Potatoes finished off with an adult beverage of my choice that ryhms with "Verona". Yes it was the perfect ending to a long day of CE lectures.
I endured topics as diverese as Managing Diabetes Complications to the Pharmacogenomics Education Program, which was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
I really enjoyed staying in San Antonio knowing that the Cleveland Cavs just pounced on the San Antonio Spurs. In a town that believes there is only one sports team in the universe, it just feels good to be a Cavs Fan!
On my way, in my upgraded to first class seat, tomorrow to Las Vegas with "Jim". We are definately looking to do our part in the Las Vegas Economic Stimulus recovery effort.
Miss everyone on Guam, home after a few days of "doing my part for the economy."

Pharmacists, Rampage, and 6 am Class!

2009-04-03T23:17:00.002-04:00

Well I have had a fairly busy day today. I had a 6 am breakfast CE that seemed to last an hour and a half, oh wait it did. After a full day of classes with a bunch of pharmacists I hit the town with "Jim". He took me to see the San Antonio hockey team, the Rampage! We won 2-0 and had a great time screaming "knock em into the boards!" I still have 2 full days of seminar and then more than hafa adai (half a day) of class on Monday, then look out Vegas here we come!
I know Nate is camping this whole weekend so I hope Jean and the other two goobs are having a good time.

Life back in the U.S.

2009-04-01T21:33:00.002-04:00

The week has just begun and I am already overwhelmed with all of the choices. Choices of everything from restaurants to items in the grocery store. San Antonio has been a great city to visit already, but I do miss Guam and more importantly my family. Thank you to everyone with your congrats on my MBA degree.

I have been shown around town by my buddy "Jim" and his family. Thanks for the great time. I got to see these cool boots in front of a mall today.

Tomorrow I start the American Pharmacist Association (APhA) meeting that I traveled to San Antonio for. Not much else to report, sad to see the closed Starbucks and Krispy Kreme stores, didn't realize the economy was so bad off.

Get Masters Degree ~ Done!

2009-03-30T21:16:00.005-04:00

" Hey everybody, guess what?! My daddy just finished his MBA program. I don't know what that means but Mommy, Nate, and Drew are all excited and so I am too!"

We've had some rough times during this MBA program. It felt like months that Scott was away 1 or 2 nights a week for class (oh yeah, it was months!). Some of us didn't know if we were going to make it!!

But as you can see, we are all smiling; happy to have Scott home, proud of his accomplishment! So what is the graduate doing now.....

just chillin'.

Scott, we know how hard you worked to complete this goal. We missed you all those Monday and Tuesday nights you were in class and those Saturday & Sunday afternoons you spent in your quiet office writing your papers. Your perseverance has paid off. We congratulate you for all your hard work and dedication. Thank you for being a positive role model to us.

We love you!!! Jean, Nate, Drew, and Lilymei

Now sit back and relax at your conference and "down time" in Las Vegas.

Our Newest Promotion, Star Scout!

2009-03-23T08:25:00.003-04:00

Congratulations Nate! Nate has just earned the rank of Star Scout in just over a year. We are so proud of him and impressed with how well he has done.
Keep up the good work Nate, only two more ranks to Eagle Scout!

Nate is going to be busy this weekend with cooking for Drew's Cub Scout Pack. He has been busy earning merit badges and is up to about 14 now.

Congrats again Nate, we are so proud of you.
Love
Mom and Dad
P.S. We just want to say Happy 30th Anniversary to Sam and Gayle (Scott's Parents)!

Cub Scout Project

2009-03-22T00:24:00.006-04:00

This is a cub scout project that Drew has been working on. He decided to build a wooden stool for Lily to use in the bathroom. Since Lily is potty training now, we are in the bathroom a lot, therefore we are washing our hands a lot! Drew's project has really helped Lily enjoy washing up. She's such a big girl now. Lily is going on 4 weeks wearing "big girl pants". Woo-hoo! Way to go Lily!!!

Drew is so proud of his handy work. Scott and I are too! The plan is to paint the stool when we get to DC. I thought it would be cute to have Lilymei's name on it, maybe with some flowers.

Lily loves her new stool. She tried it out several ways.....this way, upside down, on it's side; you get the idea.

March already?!

2009-03-11T20:29:00.008-04:00

Let's get serious here. We are down to our last 3 months on the island. Where did the time go? Scott and I have procrastinated in getting our "Bucket List" written of all the things we want to see and do before it's time to go. Our main focus is on school. As you can see below even Lilymei is studying. No, Lily does not wear glasses now. It looks more like Drew has taken a break from his school work and wants to see if Lily can finish it for him.

Oops! Who put Lily in that basket? It looks like she is upset but she really does like to sit in there. I think she is looking for someone to play hide and seek with her.

Lily loves to wear the boys' mowing hats. She knows Saturdays are mowing days and she will promptly point outside and yell "Mow!" when she sees Scott and the boys getting their gear together. Right now the boys are mowing between 8 and 10 yards a weekend. When we get back to the mainland they are a little worried about how they can make money for their savings accounts.

I thought I would put up a couple of pictures of the boys too. I pulled some photos from 3 years ago. I can't believe how much both of them have grown. Take a look....

Drew, age 7, in Tokyo, Japan June 2006.

Drew, age 10, Guam February 2009

Nate, age 10, Ohio May 2006

Nate, age 13, Guam February 2009

As we stand now, Scott has 3 more weeks of school before he graduates with his MBA degree and the boys have 8 weeks of school left. Hooray! Now, who wants to come over and help me sort through boxes and closets before the movers get here......

Birthday week

2009-03-03T00:03:00.010-05:00

"Who needs water and sun when you can sit in the pool and watch Baby Einstein?"

What a fun week we've had this past week. Saturday, the 28th, was my birthday and Scott and the kids had a fun week planned for me. Early in the week Scott brought home 3 bottles of one of my favorite wines. He had to grab three because there is such a run on that particular wine it is rarely in stock. Scott and I still have 2 bottles left......

On Thursday before dinner Scott walked me into Tiffany & Co. and he and the boys promptly purchased my birthday gift ~ silver entwined Tiffany rings.
WOW! What a gift. Thank you Scott, Nate, Drew, and Lily! Then we had dinner at my favorite restaurant and Scott surprised me by inviting a few of our good friends to join us. To my delight we were able to secure a couple of left-over bottles of the pink champagne that we had sipped on for our Valentine dinner....Banfi Rose Regale. Delicious!

"Party? I love parties!"

On my actual birthday Scott, Drew, and Lilymei took me to Lone Star for dinner. Nate was out with the Boy Scouts bowling, or else he would have been with us. Sunday evening we had friends over for a cookout and cake and ice cream. It was a really nice time. After all the party guests left and the kids were in bed Scott and I headed out for a walk. We were about half-way through our walk when something caught our attention and just across the street from us we saw a 20 foot high flame shoot out from one of the power stations on base. Immediately the whole base was out of power. We shortened our walk and came right home to check on the kids. Everyone was fine, so Scott and I spent the next half hour out on the lawn chairs watching the stars. We even saw a shooting star that streaked across the whole sky! I can't imagine that any of my upcoming birthdays will be like this one, at least as warm as this one unless we take a vacation.

Scott and his sweetie pie!

Check back for more birthday weekend photos. I need to get back to the boys' lessons!

Surprise for the Boys

2009-02-23T21:11:00.005-05:00

Who was fortunate enough to get Friday the 13th off from school/work and spend 2 days at one of the resort hotels in downtown Tumon? That's right ~ we were! Scott and I surprised the boys with reservations to the PIC (Pacific Islands Club) for the night of February 12th. The boys had their music lessons and completed their home school work like normal on that Thursday. When Lilymei woke up from her nap we told the boys to hurry up and pack because "we're outta here"! We had already told Lily but she kept our secret! We arrived at the hotel @ 4pm, checked in, and changed into our swimsuits.

Here the kids are walking down to the new (to us) kiddie pool. We stayed at this resort when we first PCS'd into Guam. The kids would like to stay here again when we leave the island but the beds are just too hard for more than one night's stay.

There are quite a few amenities at the PIC. The first afternoon the boys took part in tug-of-war, the log roll, and water basketball. There are also several water slides to ride, kayaking, snorkeling, and archery, along with many more fun activities.

Scott and Nate are battling it out on the log roll. Drew and Lilymei are watching at a safe distance. Thursday night we walked across the street and had dinner at Tony Roma's. Yum. We were all tired from swimming so we went to bed early. The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast buffet and then it was back to the pool. Lily had a couple of hours in the water before falling asleep on my lap in the shade. The boys took advantage of playing with the ping pong table in the shade during the hottest part of the afternoon before cooling off once more on the water slides.

Here is the little princess. She loved sitting in her own big girl lounge chair after some fun in the sun.

I think the kids look like they had a good time. What do you think? The boys suggested we do this every month until we leave. Hmmm......not a bad idea.

Derby Time

2009-02-16T20:03:00.003-05:00

The last weekend of January 2009 was the Andersen Pack 20 Pinewood Derby Race. Drew built a car to race, as did Nate. Nate, as a boy scout, was able to race his car after the cub scout race since he volunteered to help at the race. Below, you can see Drew's car on the left, Nate's on the right. Both are pretty cool cars, don't you think?

Below, you can see Drew's name: he raced in the fourth lane and his car came in 3rd place. Way to go Drew!!!

Here is the happy cub scout with his car and 3rd place trophy.

Drew's upcoming Scouting events include the Rain Gutter Regatta in March and the Space Derby in April.

In the Thick of It!

2009-02-10T16:15:00.002-05:00

Not much new happening on the beautiful island, but just wanted to touch base with everyone. Jean and the boys are plugging away at school and closing in on the last few months. I have been fairly busy at work, especially getting ready to pass the torch onto the next pharmacist. We have been trying to enjoy the little things like: sunsets, palm trees backlit by the moon, frogs all over the yard, Lily learning...everything, and the boys being boys.
We miss everyone and can't wait to see you all soon. One last note, the boys were finally able to save enough money to purchase their 46" Sharp Aquios LCD tv! I just wanted to say how proud I am of them and their work ethic.
Take care everyone and have a great week, Scott!

Beach in January-Happy New Years-Yet Another Do!

2009-01-30T08:13:00.008-05:00

Well what a week it has been. We started with a day at Ypao Beach here in Guam. The kids loved, loved, loved it and dug a hole in the sand about 2 feet deep. We have decided to try to make it a weekend tradition for the next few months we have left on this beautiful island.

Chinese New Year was a great time and we ate at our local Chinese restaurant-Magnolia's! Lilymei is treated so well each time we go into the restaurant, she is given the VIP treatment. We had roast duck, sweet and sour chicken and crab soup, good stuff.

Here Jean is with her second haircut for the week! Jenna worked with Jean and they decided on an asymmetric cut. Yes that is her ear showing on her right and hair touching her chin on the left. Jean looks so good and she is so happy to have found a hairdresser as wild as she is, Jean you look great!
We are looking for a place in the DC area and are focusing in on the Alexandria area. If anyone has info on the area we would appreciate it. We can't wait to see you all soon.

Time to think about packing our bags!

2009-01-28T04:17:00.015-05:00

It's been an exciting week here in the O household. We have finally heard, after many weeks of sitting on pins and needles, where we will be moving to this summer when it is time for us to PCS (permanent change of station). We have verbal orders to........

Bolling AFB, Washington DC!

Woohoo! We are going to the East Coast. We will get to see sites we've never seen before (except for Scott who visited DC on his senior class trip). We will once again see four seasons and colorful fall leaves. We will be wearing shoes and hats, coats and mittens. We will be driving in the snow and the ice. We will be suffering in the cold and and wondering why the days are so short. WAIT! What are we thinking?!

No, really we are excited; this is a good thing. We have loved our time on Guam and hope to come back some day but it is time for Scott to move forward in his career. Scott will be out of his current field of pharmacy and entering into a new direction, at least for 4 years. Scott's new title will be Chief of Homeland Defense Operations. Scott will be working for the Surgeon General in the Medical Readiness Department. Kudos to Scott for being competitively selected for this position. We're so proud of you!

I think we all have things we are missing and ready to enjoy once again back in the states. I am excited to think of so many homeschool field trips we can partake in ~ really learn firsthand. We have so many restaurants that we miss and can't wait to visit too. Best of all, we have friends who currently live in Alexandria we are excited to see again and family in Ohio who will be able to visit us much more often than they have been able to the past 6 years.

Now I have to ask: who can provide me with all the important details about where to live, where there are good schools (if we should choose to stop homeschooling), and all those other must-know-before-moving-to-DC tidbits? Scott and I would appreciate any information that can help us avoid making a bad decision in our rush to set up our new household.

Mark, Amy, and Kari: We did try to call you several times with our news before we posted but we just couldn't hold it in any longer!

Jean's New Do and the Brown Tree Snake!

2009-01-24T07:21:00.004-05:00

Here Jean is, purposefully looking sad, just before she had her hair cut this week. For those of you that have known Jean for a while you aren't surprised by a new haircut.

Here she is, much happier, and probably about 2 pounds less. Jenna at the hair salon on base did a great job, although Jean may be heading back for a little more "off the top".

We hope all is well back home and miss you all. I thought a little crazy blog about my beautiful wife was long overdue. Take care and we hope to see you all soon, Scott.

Oh, by the way, I finally had a run in with the legendary brown tree snake. Jean and I were out on a walk this evening and it happened. I being the protector of my beautiful maiden jumped to action. I planted my size elevens squarely on his head. The beast did not go down without a fight and several jumps from my 193 pound frame. I am sure some young child riding their new tricycle to church tomorrow will find my kill. (For those of you ready to scream about animal cruelty, the brown tree snake has been credited with killing the islands bird population and we are ordered to kill all the snakes we can. The USDA actually has a multi million dollar operation doing just that, hey maybe they owe me!)

Party, Party, Lily has a Party!

2009-01-21T01:13:00.014-05:00

Sunday afternoon we celebrated Lily's birthday with a party and a few friends over at the house. The weather was overcast and very breezy but no rain fell and the bounce house held.

Here is Lily a few hours before the party admiring her cake. The ladybug on top is a match to the ladybug on her party dress hanging on the chair.

My friend, Valorie, made this cake for Lily. Didn't she do an awesome job?! Everyone at the party just raved about the cake. Thanks so much Valorie!

Lily with her friends, Estella, Ryan, and Caden. Here is a rare shot of all the kids looking. We had a hard time keeping the plates on the table. Just a few seconds more and a big wind came by and blew them all over the front yard. Gotta love those trade winds. Even with the wind the big brothers and the little kids had fun with the bounce house, the trampoline, the slide and bubbles.

Here is our little princess ready to dig into her layer of the cake~the whole ladybug. Of course, our little lady requested a fork so as not to get her fingers dirty. Lily had been practicing blowing out her candles; she was successful at her party. Once we put the ice cream in front of her she was using both spoon and fork to get all the yummy desserts in her mouth at the same time.

Everyone had a great time (I think!) and we feel so blessed to have friends here to help us celebrate our sweet baby girl's birthday.

A Special Birthday Present

2009-01-17T02:41:00.006-05:00

Lily is certainly making up this year for not celebrating her first birthday last year. We went out to eat on her actual birthday ~ January 8th. Birthday presents have been trickling in via the postman this past week. Lily has received some really great gifts ~ THANK YOU everyone!

One special gift that she received was a signed copy of the book Made in China A Story of Adoption. It was written and illustrated by a mother and her daughter (who are from my home state of Ohio!). The illustrator has personally adopted from China herself. Yes, I admit, reading the story made me cry. What a wonderful gift from Lily's Aunt Amy and Uncle Mark. Thank you so much Amy and Mark!!!

For anyone who is curious, this is the book cover. It was written by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Kristin Blackwood.
Stay tuned for more birthday photos and video. We are having a little party on Sunday for Lily, complete with bounce house, a few friends, and a special ladybug cake.

Wednesday's random photos

2009-01-14T08:28:00.003-05:00

Look at those shoes...Lily is two going on twenty!

Proud boys, Nate and Drew and their double ferris wheel from Santa. They actually worked together and built it in an afternoon. It's nice to see them get excited about something that doesn't require batteries or an outlet.

The boys love helping Lilymei ride her bike. She's a big girl now!

Our sweet baby girl turns 2!

2009-01-07T23:32:00.005-05:00

Our precious sweet girl...

brings so much joy to our lives!

Happy 2nd Birthday Lily! We love you!

Talented son, Drew

2009-01-03T00:23:00.004-05:00

The next several posts are videos Scott took of Nate and Drew's Youth Center Music Recital which was held on December 10, 2008. In this video Drew is playing "Greensleeves" accompanied by Nate, on the piano. I know Gram, for one, has been waiting for these videos so sit back, close your eyes (some of the videos are a little shaky~ Scott was balancing the video camera and the other camera while I tried to keep Lily off the stage), and enjoy!

The Creative Juices are Flowing....

2009-01-03T00:12:00.005-05:00

Here Drew and Nate came up with a little extra for the music recital based upon the movie "August Rush". Maybe when Lily gets a little bigger she can play drums for them. She has already been practicing with the boys' music teacher.

The Spider

2009-01-02T23:40:00.006-05:00

This is Drew, in case you can't see him behind the music stand, playing his original piece titled "The Spider". He is accompanied by Nate on piano, and the boys' music teacher, Mr. Garcia, on drums. This was the Christmas recital held December 10, 2008.

Talented son, Nate

2009-01-02T22:35:00.004-05:00

The evening of December 10, 2008 the boys participated in the Youth Center's Musical Recital. Here is Nate playing his rendition of "Canon in D".

Christmas in Paradise!

2009-01-01T07:50:00.008-05:00

Our long awaited Christmas photos:

Jean & Lilymei enjoying Christmas Day.

Lily on her brand new Little Tikes "Whee!", yes that is what she has renamed the slide.

The ladybug dress, Lily always has to show everyone how good it is going to look.

Our wonderful children in front of the Christmas Tree. Lily is still not sure if the tree was supposed to be inside.

Christmas Eve Mass.

Rota walk 2008 was the best of our tour. We are convinced that every year the Colonels all try to one up last year's display. We really enjoyed it and the weather was excellent.

Drew and his buddies performing during Rota walk with the church group.

The Medical Groups display in front of the Commanders house, complete with an ambulance.

Last, but certainly not least, Santa! Lilymei was not excited once she was within arms reach of jolly old St. Nick. We hope everyone had an excellent Christmas and enjoy the new Year!!!

Boonie Bee Update!

2009-01-01T07:41:00.003-05:00

Here are Jean's hands, it is fairly obvious which hand rocked the boonie bees world. I have taken revenge on the bees for my wife. I killed the nest with, what else, boonie bee spray. Jean is feeling better tonight, but is still leery of the crazy pests. Happy New Year to everyone.

The Dreaded Boonie Bee

2008-12-28T19:59:00.005-05:00

I know ~ I haven't posted anything on our Christmas festivities yet. I still need to download the pictures to the computer. The weekend just flew by. We did have a wonderful holiday complete with good food and friends. Stay tuned for photos and all the fabulous details of our last Christmas on Guam.

Today's post has to do with the horrible, nasty, no-good flying creature those of us on Guam refer to as the "boonie bee". I have written about these awful, aggressive bees before (June '08) when I was stung on my wedding ring finger and ultimately had to have all 4 of my wedding bands cut off. Take a closer look at the "boonie bee"...

Notice the yellow band near the back end. That is how we distinguish it from other bees/wasps.

Today I was attempting to tackle my to-do list and knock out a few things before school starts up again. I was outside taking down the Christmas lights when I was stung by the dreaded boonie bee, again on my left hand; this time on my middle finger. Ouch! It hurts so much worse than a regular bee sting. I immediately pulled of my wedding rings (don't want to have a repeat of June). I have taken 2 doses of diphenhydramine, put on the meat tenderizer paste, and applied ice. Right now I can't bend any of my fingers on my left hand and it is swollen about twice its' normal size. If you're lucky I just might put a picture of my hand here later!

Much to my dismay, I think I will need to dig out all of my beautiful flowers in order to get rid of as many of the boonie bees as possible. I knew I was going to have to trim everything down before we moved but I think my time-table has just changed. I hope Lilymei can leave the island without the "pleasure" of a boonie bee sting. The rest of us can't say the same. Does anyone have any bee/wasp spray?

Ho, Ho, Ho

2008-12-22T06:16:00.003-05:00

Even though we don't have the snow or cold weather to remind us that Christmas will soon be here Lilymei is beginning to realize something special is about to happen. St. Nick visited our home earlier in the month and left some goodies in our stockings but since then Lily has resorted to using the stockings as the name implies.

No snow but we do have a few snowmen!

Lily gives this snowman a hug every chance she can. He's just so squishy.

Riding around the neighborhood we can see many inflatable Santa's, snowmen, and other assorted holiday decorations. Lily loves them all and we can hear her in the backseat yelling out "Ho Ho Ho" no matter what she is looking at. By the way, only 3 more days until Christmas!

"Oh my" at Tarza Water Park!

2008-12-19T06:01:00.005-05:00

Lilymei has come a long way from the day it took her almost 5 minutes to eat one bite size cracker!

Decorating for Christmas

2008-12-15T00:16:00.004-05:00

" I like hanging things on this tree but why is it in the house?!"

"I'm not so sure about this angel though."

"This is my favorite spot ~ right in front of Santa."

What does 1 and 3 make?

2008-12-09T05:17:00.008-05:00

I knew today would come, even though I was not ready for it. Scott and I are about to embark on something we have never done before. We are now the parents of a ......TEENAGER! I'll admit it....I'm afraid....very afraid.

How can this be? Wasn't it just a few short years ago that our Nate was born on a cold and blustery day in Mayfield Hts, Ohio? Apparently, while I wasn't watching, 13 years have passed since that joyous day. Nate was born 3 days early at 12:04pm on Saturday, December 9th. He weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Today Nate is 104 pounds and 5' 1.5" tall.

Scott surprised Nate by taking the day off from work. In celebration of Nate's big day we let the boys take a break from their home school. Here is Nate with his breakfast request: eggs over-easy, toast, and hot chocolate.

Once Lilymei finished with her PT session we packed up the kids and headed to TARZA, (you know, Guam's water park). Nate was admitted for free (yippee!) and we spent the next four hours playing in the sun, splashing down the water slides, and floating on the lazy river. Lily couldn't walk yet when we were at Tarza for Drew's birthday in October so today she was having so much more fun, pushing the inner tubes around the shallow area, climbing up the stairs (by herself!!!), and yelling at the boys when they went under the waterfalls.

Once we were home and cleaned up we let Nate open his birthday gifts. Here he is with part of his gift from Gram ~ The Princess Bride movie.

After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday and dug into the ice cream cake I made yesterday/today. The story behind the 2 day cake preparation is simple....I bought 2 boxes of ice cream sandwiches on Sunday. Monday evening I started the ice cream cake. I used the first box of sandwiches with no problem. When I opened the 2nd box I noticed each one was completely dried out. Gross! (Mind you, on Guam sometimes we are left with no choice but to eat certain foods that are slightly out of date. Most of the time I don't even check the dating anymore because I would have no food in the house.) Well, these ice cream sandwiches were still in date. Unfortunately, the commissary is closed on Monday so I couldn't return the bad box. No problem; I'll just stop at the shoppette when I drop Nate off at his scout meeting. The good news ~ they had ice cream sandwiches. The bad news ~ I was not going to pay $6 for the box. Oh well, I knew Scott was going to be home this morning so I could make a quick trip back to the commissary and exchange the sandwiches and finish the cake. Nate appreciated it and we all thought it tasted great! Here is the happy teenager.

Nate is a wonderful son. He is so loving to his baby sister. Lily is really bringing out the gentler side of Nate that we haven't seen since Drew was a baby. We are so proud of Nate! Congratulations on reaching your 13th birthday Nate! We love you!

Smiley Face Conjunction

2008-12-04T07:53:00.005-05:00

What a treat for those of us living in the tropics....Guam's December 1st sky with Venus and Jupiter above the crescent moon.

ScubaRoo Trip

2008-12-04T06:34:00.006-05:00

Black Friday found the O's not at the malls shopping for bargains but rather, out on the open water of the Philippine Sea. A couple of months ago Drew had won a gift certificate for 4 people to spend an afternoon out on a ScubaRoo boat trip. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We were at the dock by the appointed time of 1pm. We waited for a few other families and a couple of Japanese tourist groups to arrive. By 1:30 we were on our way. Once we passed through the channel markers we headed out to the front of the boat to catch the breeze and enjoy the ride.

Nate and Drew clearly enjoying their time on the boat. (Don't mind the date on the photo~Scott pulls out the batteries from the underwater camera each time we use it!)

After approximately an hour boat ride we came upon a pod of dolphins. What a surprise! There were nearly 30 dolphins swimming around our boat. It was beautiful! Take a look....

Once everyone had taken as many photos as they wanted the captain turned the boat around and we headed back for the harbor. Time to untie the banana boat! The boys were really excited! Here we are hanging on for dear life.....

After everyone rode the banana boat we pulled into the harbor and dropped anchor. A handful of Japanese tourists were suited up to scuba dive. The rest of us jumped off the back of the boat and snorkeled. The boat crew threw out pieces of hot dog to bring out a few more fish. We spent an hour snorkeling and relaxing on the boat until the divers came back to the surface. We pulled back into the dock by 4:30pm. What a great day! Drew kept reminding us to thank him for taking us along. Thank You Drew!!!

This is a sample of what we saw.....

For those of you who are wondering where Lily was, not to worry. She spent the day with her Nina and Ninu (Carlene and Steve). They played with the neighbor's Little Tikes car, took a ride in the stroller, and had ice cream!

Gobble, Gobble

2008-11-27T06:54:00.007-05:00

That's Lily's newest saying. It was 4 months ago today that our precious baby girl was placed in our arms and there's not a better day to count our blessings than today ~ Thanksgiving Day!

Lily's pj's say "Everyone is thankful for me!" So true sweetie pie! Enjoy your first Thanksgiving day!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day today. The kids let us sleep in ~ thank you! We had a nice breakfast of orange rolls, Nate and Drew's favorite. I frosted the cut-out cookies (turkeys, leaves, and pumpkins) I had made last night while the kids took showers/baths and put on their new Christmas outfits. Scott put the turkey in the oven and we drove over to the base golf course to take a few (ok~ about 50!) photos of the kids for our Christmas card.

Lily did not want to stand still. This is one example.

While Lily went down for her nap, the boys played video games (can it get any better?!) and Scott and I worked together in the kitchen to prepare the rest of our Thanksgiving dinner side dishes. We didn't eat lunch so we snacked on boonie pepper jelly and crackers while we worked. Our menu included: turkey, hash brown casserole, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing, and dinner rolls. For dessert we had pumpkin pie and frosted cookies.

Thank you Scott for making the delicious turkey!

Lily ate her pumpkin pie but she really loved the Cool Whip.

Lily didn't know what to make of all the food but she sure loved digging in with both her spoon and fork. After dinner we spent a little time with our next door neighbors letting the kids play on the trampoline, the swingset, and Lily's new favorite....the Little Tikes car.

We finished off the day with a game of scrabble. Nate almost dethroned the queen of scrabble but ended up coming in at a close second. We left Scott and Drew in our dust.

We reflected on our blessings of the year today and we wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

Where does the time go?

2008-11-21T07:46:00.009-05:00

It seems like that is the question that Scott and I ask each other at least once a week. Just where has the time gone? I can't believe we are less than a week from Thanksgiving. Scott has been very busy with his MBA class ~ only 4 months (21 class periods) left to go! I know he can't wait to be finished. Neither can I ~ it will be nice to see him every Tuesday night again.

The boys and I have been really hitting the books hard with the intent to finish our home school year much earlier than previous years. We anticipate leaving our beautiful island by early June. I am really hoping spring fever doesn't hit us hard so we can have our school year complete before our PCS date. We would all love to have some free time before we fly out.

Lily has been keeping very busy in her own way. She is walking like crazy! She started walking with her physical therapist on Nov. 3rd. By Nov. 5th she was done crawling. At first, to look at her she looked like she was riding a roller coaster with her arms above her head. Then she progressed to the Frankenstein walk ~ arms out in front. Now she is a pro, walking with her arms at her side, up ramps, down the hill in our side yard, and up and down the sidewalk. She is even climbing up the neighbor's slide, which Lily calls the "Whee". Every time Lily looks out the front window or we go outside she yells out "Whee??".

Lily has even mastered walking on the trampoline, while someone is jumping! She loves the trampoline ~ she says "bounce" and she crouches down like she is going to jump. She can't get lift off yet but she's trying!

Mongolian Outfits & More Parties!

2008-11-13T22:29:00.006-05:00

Lily in one of her traditional Mongolian Outfits.

Another Mongolian Outfit.

Mongolian outfit #3, just plain tired of trying on clothes!

Lily, very excited about her presents from the Andersen Home School Group "toddler shower" which was held at our local Chinese restaurant, Magnolia's. Lily is wearing a traditional Chinese dress, complete with hot pink "squeaky" shoes~they squeak when you walk.

Lily admiring the table decorations and beautiful cake from the baby shower November 2nd, given by friends on base and from our church.

Isn't this cake adorable?! Lily's godmother, Carleen, had it made for the shower.

Lily In Costume

2008-11-09T20:37:00.004-05:00

Lily looking wide-eyed at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Waikiki. Note the butter all over her face!

Lily, not so sure about this Trick-or-Treating thing yet. It didn't take long for her to figure it out.

Lily in her OSU Buckeyes cheerleading outfit from Aunt Kimmy. Thanks Aunt Kimmy!

Tarza and Trick-or-Treat~ What a Great Day!

2008-11-05T01:25:00.005-05:00

Halloween was such a treat this year. Scott took the day off of work and we went to the local waterpark, Tarza. This was Lily's first visit and she loved it. After a few hours of fun in the sun Lily took a nap and the rest of us just chilled out until it was time to dress for Trick-or-Treat. The weather was perfect and we all had a great day.

The kids at Tarza, Guam's premier waterpark. Of course the boys were all over the park, riding all the water slides and floating down the lazy river. Lily enjoyed the shallow area but she also rode a couple of water slides (on someone's lap) too. She did great! I guess that means we can visit again. Hurray!

The gang, and a friend, before Trick-or Treating began. Drew was Lance Armstrong (on a day without his yellow jersey). Lily was a butterfly, thanks to Aunt Amy! Nate was a pirate. The boys' friend, Coleman, was Charlie Brown's character, a ghost.

Lily with her loot! The kids received plenty of candy; though not as much as some years. Lily is all about the M & M's and suckers, but she will try anything. The boys each have at least a gallon ziplock bag full of candy. Don't forget, boys, Mom gets all the good chocolate!

Lilymei's Baptism...We are so blessed!

2008-10-30T07:50:00.007-04:00

We had a great day on Sunday as we enjoyed Lilymei's Holy Baptism! It was a beautiful day on Guam and Lilymei was in a great mood. Father Theisen performed the mass along with the help of Nate and Drew as altar servers. Steve and Carleen, Lily's Godparents, joined our family in celebrating this sacrament and great day.

Here are a few pictures of Lilymei with her Godparents and Nate. The last picture is of the North Shore in Hawaii. I thought I did a good job on the photo, probably just the new camera.

We miss you all, thanks for looking.

Double Digits!!

2008-10-29T07:03:00.002-04:00

Scott and I are in amazement. Not in the fact that we have 3 beautiful children. Not in the fact that we are so very blessed. What is amazing to us is that our 'baby boy' is 10 YEARS OLD. Drew was born 10 years ago Sunday, October 26th, at 5:37am. He was 16 days early and he hasn't slowed down once in the past 10 years. At birth, Drew was 21" long and weighed in at 7 pounds, 2.5 ounces. Now Drew is 4' 10" tall and weighs 83 pounds.

Drew was able to spend his birthday afternoon doing something he has wanted to do for a very long time.....play paintball. On Andersen a brand new paintball field opened up just about a month ago. Minimum age to play....10. How old is Drew now?....10! Scott, Drew, and Nate suited up in whatever long-sleeved, long pants old clothes they could find and headed out in the heat of the day for 2 hours of paintball fun in the sun. Lilymei and I stayed back in the air-conditioning, napping (Lily) or lesson planning (Jean). All 3 boys came back excited, exhausted, and extremely bruised! What a wonderful day ~ Drew said he didn't remember having that much fun in a long time.

After the boys all showered, again, Drew was chomping at the bit to open some birthday presents. Below, Drew is holding the movie he received from Gram. We have a rule in our house... you can't watch the movie if you haven't read the book yet. Every night, if possible, I try to read aloud to the boys. Right now, we are reading the 5th Harry Potter book. Looks like Drew will be able to watch his new movie as soon as we finish it.

For dinner Sunday night we took Drew out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Al Dente, located in the Hyatt Hotel, downtown Tumon. We invited Lilymei's godparents to join us. We had a nice dinner. Drew was able to eat his all-time favorite food ~ pizza from the brick oven. He was surprised with a double portion of chocolate cake for dessert, complete with candle and birthday singing.

Drew is such a wonderful, loving son and brother. We are so proud of him. Congratulations on your 10th birthday Drew! We love you!

Our new First Class Scout!

2008-10-27T10:21:00.006-04:00

We had a busy weekend and now we have lots of news and photos to share. Even though I should be in bed sleeping by now I wanted to get Nate's update on the blog. Saturday evening was the BSA Court of Honor. Since the last Court of Honor Nate has earned 2 ranks; Second Class and First Class. Yippee! Nate has been working very hard to earn his ranks along with 4 more Merit Badges and we are so proud of him.

Andersen's Boy Scouts have unofficially adopted Lilymei as one of their own and she is the proud owner of a Pack 20/Troop 20 t-shirt with hot pink lettering. She loves it! She wore it Saturday night~ it was the cutest thing! She also clapped for each and every boy receiving their awards.

Lilymei with her Boy Scout/Cub Scout t-shirt on. Of course she wears a matching pink bow!

Nate receiving his recruiter patch from his Scout Leader, Tom. Way to go Nate!

Lilymei after our family photo shoot on Friday afternoon. I don't think she smiled for the photographer but she always smiles at home! Thank you Christine for the beautiful dress!

Check back soon....we have lots of photos to share from Sunday....Drew's 10th birthday and Lilymei's baptism.

Can we exhale yet?

2008-10-23T09:23:00.005-04:00

"I love these apricots Mom! Can I have some more?"

Where has the week gone? It seems like I just unpacked the suitcases.....oh yeah....I just did! Actually, I haven't even put the suitcases away yet, but in my defense, in order to do that I have to pull off our mattress and box spring and gently place those large suitcases under the bed frame. I can't wait until we have a "little" bit more room.

On the bright side Lilymei has had a couple more "firsts" this week:

She will no longer lay nicely when I am changing her diaper. She squirms like crazy!

She will attempt to stand on her head like her loving brother Drew taught her to!

She will show her "frown" or "smile" face on demand! Too cute if I do say so myself.

She will "Patty Cake" all the hand motions over and over and she is learning "Itsy Bitsy Spider" now too.

and last of all but most exciting......

Lily can stand alone and she took 5 steps all by herself!!! She is so proud of herself as are we. It won't be long now before she is running~I know....look out.

Tomorrow we are having a family photo taken. Poor Lily is suffering from her first cold (with us) and Drew has some sort of impetigo on his chin. I wonder if we can have all of our faults airbrushed out of the picture. Maybe I should reschedule but I just wanted to have it done on base and not have to drive "all the way down town" to have it done. We'll wing it and see what happens.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I took Lilymei to the pediatrician the day after we arrived home from Hawaii to have her spots looked at. Even though the spots were healing up nicely I just wanted another set of eyes to take a peek at them. Lilymei's doctor feels that she did indeed have a mild case of the chicken pox. At least she had them before Halloween. I would hate to think of how many more children would have been exposed had those spots come out 3 weeks later!

MRI Results

2008-10-17T01:12:00.004-04:00

We made it home safely from Hawaii last night. We were all so glad to be in our own beds. Lily did wake up at 3:30am, 5:30am, and then was up for good by 7:15am. That's ok. Scott was already up getting ready for work, and I couldn't sleep anymore myself.

We did meet with the neurologist on Tuesday to discuss the results of the MRI. We have GREAT news! Lily does not have hydrocephalus! She does have ventriculomegaly (enlarged ventricles) but she is not having any problems with increased pressure in her head. Lily's body is taking care of any excess cerebral spinal fluid that is roaming around inside her skull on its own. The neurologist also talked about her subdural bleeds. Neither one is currently bleeding. The doctor does not expect her to have any problems with them. He did stress that she could have more bleeds if she falls and hits her head since the blood vessels are stretched between her brain and the skull. Overall though, she is very healthy. She is making tremendous strides in catching up in all areas of her development. We do not have to do ANYTHING medically for her. God is good! The neurologist suggested that she continue to be monitored by her pediatrician more often than the yearly well-baby visits and we will continue with her weekly physical therapy sessions to get her walking as soon as possible. We thought we might have to go back to Hawaii in 6 months for another MRI or even move back stateside for more medical care but the doctor said no. We are free to roam around the world as much as we would like. (I know all of our family in Ohio is not happy to hear that part.) We are just so thankful that all is well with everyone in the family. Thank you for all your prayers!

Last, but not least, we would like to thank Letty and Marlon for taking care of the boys for us while we were off island. We felt so much better knowing everything was ok with the boys so we could concentrate on Lily and Scott. Many thank-you's Letty and Marlon!!

What's Up?

2008-10-14T04:13:00.012-04:00

"Get your running shoes on... we've got a lot of stuff to catch up on!"

Sorry we haven't updated lately. We have been having trouble with the internet in our hotel room. So, what have we been up to the last 3 days? On Friday, our anniversary, we went to the Pearl Harbor NEX. There we purchased a new stroller for Lily (finally!). For lunch we went to Anna Miller's where we couldn't help but have a slice of one of their 31 kinds of pie. Lily was too busy eating her french fries to try a bite. Friday night we went to Bandito's Cantina for a Mexican dinner. Lilymei had lots of interesting things to look at on the walls and ceiling to keep her entertained until her Spanish rice and cheese quesadilla came. She loved the rice...surprise, surprise!

Saturday we slept late (until @9am) and then had a leisurely breakfast. We packed up Lilymei's new stroller and headed to the Honolulu Zoo. Lily's first visit to the ZOO! It was very warm but the zoo had lots of shade trees along the paths. Lilymei loved the animals. Her favorites included the monkeys, the giraffes, and the birds. After the zoo we walked the Waikiki beach up to the Outrigger Hotel where we had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants~ Duke's.

"Just hanging around at the zoo playground."

Sunday morning after church we packed up the van and headed towards the North Shore. Lilymei fell asleep while Scott was driving. Sneaky Mom and Dad pulled over at the Dole Plantation and Scott ran in and bought us each a Dole Whip ice cream cone. As Lily would have said it if she were awake when we ate it....YUM! We drove a little bit longer until we arrived in the little town of Haleiwa. Lily woke up as we pulled into town so we stopped for lunch at Kua'aina Sandwich Shop~home of the world's best hamburger. We can tell Lilymei is almost 2~she took ONE bite of her hamburger and refused to eat any more. She looked pretty sad when we parked the van at the North Shore and she signed the word "eat" and Scott said NO. Those big dark eyes were starting to tear up. We walked down to the beach where Lilymei did not want to get into the water. She lifted her legs so as to not get sand on them. Eventually, she did sit on the beach towel and played with some shells.

Monday morning I had my hair cut and colored. Then we did a little bit of shopping on base. We let Lily take an early nap and for dinner tonight we went to Ruth's Chris for dinner. Delicious!!! Lily loved the cut up bananas and strawberries that were brought out for her before her meal arrived. She loved the calamari appetizer and the butter off of her slice of bread. She then had the veal ravioli for her main entree. Lily was tickled pink when her vanilla ice cream came out for dessert. She did so well throughout the whole meal. We couldn't ask for her to be any better. She's mastered this fine dining gig!

Tuesday morning we meet with the neurologist to go over Lilymei's MRI results. Please pray that all goes well. As far as the bug bites go....we did have them looked at again. We're still not sure what they are but they're slowly healing up and Lily is not itching them any longer. Poor baby.

16 Happy Years!

2008-10-10T22:08:00.006-04:00

The date on today's post says October 11th; the reason being, the computer is still on Guam time. :-) Actually, here in Hawaii, we are 20 hours behind Guam time so it is still Friday, October 10th. October 10th is a special day for Scott and I. 16 years ago today, I married my BEST friend. Scott is a wonderful husband. I can't imagine life without him. He does so much for me. I treasure what we have together.

Honey, thank you for sharing the past 16 years with me as my husband. I hope you know how much I love you, always and forever; we are one.

I love you Scott! Happy Anniversary!!

MRI and Chicken Pox

2008-10-10T03:35:00.006-04:00

Our first full day in Hawaii included a visit to the Tripler Army Medical Center. Lilymei had a health and wellness visit. She has really grown over the past month. Lily now weighs 25 pounds and is almost 33 inches long. Once again, she did NOT like the doctor visit. She cries every time she is put on the scale, has anyone (in the doctor's office) look inside her mouth or ears, or sees a stethoscope. We met with a pediatrician to discuss what we were hoping to find out from the MRI. After that meeting we went to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) and spoke with the sedation nurse. She explained exactly what would be happening in order to sedate Lilymei for the procedure. We left feeling well informed, excited to finally get a better idea of what is going on inside our sweet Lily's head.

After the doctor visit we headed down to Waikiki for lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp House. We had a great lunch and then decided to do a little shopping. Our first stop was Lenscrafters where I picked out a new set of glasses. We had an hour to kill before my glasses would be done so we walked into Macy's where we purchased a few things for Lily and me. It was at this time that we noticed Lily had a few bug bites. She had one on her hand and a couple on her legs. By the time we got back to our housing I counted 15 "bites". Scott gave her a dose of benadryl and we hoped for the best.

This morning we needed to be on the road by 6:45am in order to beat the "rush" to Tripler. I'm not kidding! The parking lots are packed by 8:00am. I've never been in such a large medical facility. During the night, Lily must have been itching her spots because some of them looked larger and were starting to ooze. She was crying by the time we drove the 15 minutes from Hickam to Tripler. We showed the nurses in PICU. We also showed them to the doctor who would be doing the MRI. I'll let you know how that issue was resolved in a minute.

Lily cried, once again, when the nurse checked her vital signs. She was very scared when her IV was put in but she didn't require pre-sedation. We wrapped her up like a papoose with one arm out and she stayed still enough for the needle to go right in. Yeah!!! Scott and I walked down to the MRI room with Lily and stayed with her until she was out. We had just enough time to grab a bite to eat and then it was time to wait for her to come out. Lily was waking up when they rolled her out to the waiting room and by the time we got back to the PICU she was pretty coherent. She wanted all the gizmos and gadgets off right away. We didn't have to wait too long before they released us.

We asked again, what to do about all those bug bites. While we were in the hospital more bumps were surfacing. We ultimately decided that since we were already in the hospital we would just stop off at the pediatric unit and see a doctor. We were escorted to an isolation room because of her "unknown skin condition". The nurse assistant thought it looked like chicken pox. Great!!! Chicken pox within a day of arriving on Hawaii! Just 2 weeks ago Lilymei had a varicella vaccination. When the doctor came in he thought the spots were just bug bites. He said that since the spots were mostly on exposed skin on her legs and feet and not on the rest of her body, for the most part, that it was not chicken pox. Whew! We went back to Hickam with hydrocortisone and more benadryl. Since Lily loves to put lotion on she loved having the hydrocortisone rubbed in. We will see how she does overnight and if things don't look better we will be going right back to the doctor.

We have been talking to Nate and Drew each night. They are doing well; enjoying their time at Letty and Marlon's home. I hear they have been working very hard to get their school work done so when their friends get home they can play the Wii. Maybe they are hoping we won't be home on time so they can stay a little bit longer with their friends.

We made it to Hono!

2008-10-08T12:45:00.003-04:00

Lilymei and Jean both did great on the flight over to Honolulu. We grabbed a quick bite to eat last night at Panda Express, yes I know how bad orange chicken is, but I had a double portion! We are just getting ready to head out for our doctor appts. this morning. Nate and Drew are doing great at our friends house, it probably seems like vacation to them.

We received great news that our friends William and Susan will be traveling in the next few weeks to Ethiopia to pick up their new son, congratulations!

We will try to post as much as possible, miss you all. Scott, Jean , and Lilymei