Summer Months of 2010

As we moved into August and on into September, we enjoyed the DC heat (after braving 32 inches of snow at once in February) and spent a lot of time outdoors watching soccer, playing in "da pooooollll," getting a small getaway to the beach, and sightseeing. Here's a look.


If you can't have an in-ground pool, this is what you get.


C directing traffic.


So, of course, if one has an umbrella, the other must as well. At least C went for Buzz instead of pink.


Little C feet on the Atlantic Shore of Bethany Beach, Delaware.






On the left, K getting rocked by a wave. On the right, C saying he wants to get hit by one too. All boy!


And here is the life. Oversized beach chair, LSU towel, cold drink, PB&J hand-served. Not going to get better than that.


Mo enjoying dinner along the shore.

Click below to see more pics of soccer, a trip to Great Falls Park, the kiddo's summer portraits, and more random pictures from throughout the summer.

Getting Promoted

On the first of August, I was promoted to the rank of Major. The ceremony was presided over by The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force and was held in the Pentagon inside the Hall of Heroes. I was honored to have 17 family members from both my and Kerrie's side of the family come up to DC for the ceremony. They all arrived on Wednesday afternoon and the fun began.

On Thursday morning, we got all 17 through security (though my cousin Kendall almost didn't make it since she decided to ignore the "No Photography" sign) and the ceremony began at 9AM. After the ceremony, we toured the Pentagon and headed over to Pentagon City for lunch. Later that night, we rolled into DC for a night tour of the monuments.

On Friday, the family got introduced to the DC commute by taking the Metro into DC on a Friday morning. All survived. Barely. We then toured the National Archives, went up into the Washington Monument, and strolled along the National Mall. It was then back to our house for a party at our house. On Saturday, most of the family headed back to home but my Pop and cousin Slade went over with us to Arlington National Cemetery and the Air Force Memorial.

It was one heck of a week and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We are very thankful to all of our family members who took the long trip up to see us and share these moments with us.

For more pictures, be sure to check out my family's photo albums on Facebook.

Kerrie's - Promotion & Activities

Kendall's, Slade's, Micah's


The program and rank for the ceremony.


The lovely bride, the girls (C made a nice exit to the back to watch some Veggietales), my Pop, Mom, and Brother.


My good friend Naomi served as the narrator.


Kerrie and the girls putting on my new rank.


Kisses and hugs from my girls.


Center Stage.


Us.


Me with the fam.


The Osborn/Miller Clan. And I know you like K's posing in the front row.


The Gaston/Fields Family.


With my dear cousin and friend Claude. How we miss you!


With a few of my best friends in the Air Force.

Click below to see more pics of baseball, Mo's new car, and more, plus pics and video of Mo's end-of-year concert!

June/July 2010

June and July were tough months for us in more than a few ways. June was a big transition month for us as we all got used to my new job (and longer hours) in the Pentagon. School was also winding down and we had final exams, spring concerts, and the like. Thankfully, we also had time for sushi, baseball, soccer games, and pool trips. We were also preparing for my promotion and the activities that would come with that.

Sadly, in late June, we lost our Uncle Craig. The picture above is our small memorial to him that we left in a restaurant in downtown Gadsden. There are few days that go by that he does not come to mind in some form or fashion. I'll be writing more on him in the coming weeks. We miss you Uncle Bighead!

July was met with more pool time, more soccer, and Big Mo getting a new car--a least new to her--from my good friend Charles. He received the car as a gift from his uncle after his aunt passed away due to cancer. Instead of simply trading it in when it was time for him to get a new car, he continued to pay the car forward by giving "Molly" to Mo. She was just a bit excited!


Sushi time.




Headed to the pool. And the crash.


Here are the knuckleheads acting like the noodle was the roller coaster seat bar. Knuckleheads!


Little people all loaded up for the drive to Alabama to say our farewells to our dear Uncle.


Big I with her grand and greats.

Click below to see more pics of baseball, Mo's new car, and more, plus pics and video of Mo's end-of-year concert!

We're Back--New and Improved

After nearly a year off, the Osborns in NOrthern VirginiA is back online, fresh with a new look and new features.  I hope that I can do a better job of keeping this updated for all the friends and family that have followed it since we started our first blog in 2005.  Since then, these blogs have really become our family photo albums and I have enjoyed putting them together for our family, friends, and us as well.  If you go back to the first DC blog and browse through the years, you can see our little people literally growing up before your eyes. 

We have had a lot happen in the last year.  We sadly lost two of my very dearest family members--my uncle Craig and my cousin Claude.  Both are sorely missed but I am thankful to have had them in my life and for the many things each of them taught me along the way.  I will be posting more on each of them in the coming months.

I have had quite the busy year at work adjusting to life in the Pentagon (as if the one year break in between blog posts was not enough evidence of that) and am getting geared up for another year in the building.  Kerrie has completed essentially all of her coursework for getting her Masters in Special Education and now only has a few more classes to get her certification in Autism and as a Reading Specialist.  Mo is finishing up her junior year and looking at colleges while K is very busy with second grade, Brownie Scouts, and climbing as many trees as possible.  As for C, well . . . he is all boy.  We will just leave it at that.

And now onto the next project--getting this blog up to date.  I have a hard drive full of pictures and videos from the last year that I plan to post every few days until I get caught up, so be sure to check back early and often.  For those that have followed us throughout the years, you will notice a few changes on the blog.  The main change is that, because of Bloggers no rules on the length of posts, some of my longer posts will not appear fully on the main page.  Instead, they will have a "Continue Reading" link that will take you to the full post so be sure to click on that so you don't miss out on any pictures or videos.  If you are a friend on Facebook, I will also be updating some pictures on there but the blog will have many more pictures as well as videos so remember to check out both. 

Until then . . .

Spring Break 2011: First Half - St. Louis

In early December of last year, a conference was scheduled for me to plan and run that would take place the week of April 18th in St. Louis. A few weeks later I find out that, of course, that is right smack dab in the middle of the kiddo's spring break. So of course you know what that means . . . Road Trip! So, piled up we did for our all-night drive on Friday night into Saturday morning and got into St. Louis 850 miles later around mid-day Saturday. After a trip to the commissary and some unpacking, I was ready for work and the rest of the crew was ready to take on St. Louis. Here is what they got into:


Sunday's destination was the St. Louis Zoo. Here are the two guys all nestled up with the flowers. And where is the little guy you ask? You will see a bit later in what would become a continuing theme throughout the week.




C's favorite and him enjoying a ride on "Dat Choo-Choo Train."


K & C were very excited about the baby elephant. They soon found out there were lots of babies at the zoo.


"FISH!"










Checking out the big kitties - who were very sleepy.






Heck if I know.




And . . . . the crash.




So C missed the penguins and the bears but was quite happy to tell me about all the animals he saw when he saw me on Sunday night.

Check out the action from the rest of the week after the jump below.