Boy Scout Summer Camp 2009

Austin and Dan went to Camp Mitigwa this week for Boy Scout Camp- Austin's first experience. Austin worked on leatherwork, swimming and carving merit badges. He finished the leatherwork and carving badges but the weather has not cooperated with the scouts to finish the swimming badge. On Thursday night, Dan and I went to camp for family night. We brought up some sub sandwiches and chips and made banana boats with homemade ice cream for dessert. How to make banana boats- open a banana on one side and carve out a little bit of the banana, then stuff it with whatever you would like- choc chips, nuts, m&ms, raisens, pineapple and top it off with marshmellows. Then wrap it in some foil. 10 min. on one side and turn for 10 more min. You can eat it straight from the banana or with homemade ice cream. (Which is what I had- YUM!!) The following pictures were taken on Family Night.

Dan shooting the breeze with fellow leaders/Austin, Charlie, Kenny

Water or pink lemonade for drink??

Making banana boats- did I say how yummy they were??

One marshmellow for banana, two for me/ a finished boat-ready for the grill

We went to the ampitheater for the program/Austin parading in with other scouts.

At the end of the program, they had the calling out ceremony for the Order of the Arrow. That was pretty cool!!! We empty out of the theater and walk over to an open area that has teepees and they call out the scouts that have accomplished the requirements and were chosen by their fellow scouts for the Order of the Arrow. They will finish the requirements at the Fall Camporee-camp under the stars for a night, silence and service for 24 hours. In order to be chosen you need to have camped for 15 nights, community service hours are just some of the things a scout needs to accomplish. When we got home, Dan pulled out his Order of the Arrow sash and patch. It was a pretty cool evening.

What's Happening?!?!?

So much is happening in the O'B family. Once again a busy year, and we thought last year was busy with 3 weddings and a baby and moving Mom and Greg. Well this year seems to be busy too.

John and Shana- baby girl is due in September. John has "officially" finished the house and had an open house. Check out his blog- 5hoursanight.blogspot.com The ladies and Randa, Shana's mom, are having a baby shower for Shana on July 26th. And Ellie is growing so fast.
Elisha and Ryan- are in the process of fixing and painting their condo for a move sometime this fall. The place is getting too small for what they have planned in the future (hint, hint).
Mom and Greg- the greatest grandparents in the world!! Mom has not lost her touch with babies. And Greg has been busy in his shop making toys for the grandbabies.
Sean Michael- hanging out in Montana fighting the good fight against bad companies and helping the environment.
Mary and Dan- busy summer with Boy Scout camp, swimming, movies, painting various rooms.
Lorna and Patrick- enjoying the summer with their son, Gabe. Patrick is on a golf league and LOVES it.
Sean Patrick and Sarah- Still working on the house, painting, sanding, plumbing and the like. Sarah is on a softball league and LOVES it. Last spring it was a volleyball league.

That pretty much ties up the loose ends on this family.

Rittel's in May and June

Austin graduated from 5th grade. He received an award for the "Fastest Runner" at field day. He is at the top left corner of the group picture.

Next was Brian and Maria's wedding (Dan's brother). Dan, Austin and Forrest (Brian's son) decorated the getaway car. They did a pretty good job, cans on strings and all.

Then Austin turned 11 on June 3rd. We had a birthday/pool party for Austin and Sam (who turned 6 in June as well). Austin is in the water, Sam is on the sea monster and brother Jake is on the turtle. The water was a little cool because we have been getting a lot of rain the first part of June. Then we had pizza and cake. The party was at Mom and Greg's clubhouse.

Marlyn and Ron (Dan's parents) had their 40th wedding anniversary on June 15th. I made them this queen size quilt. I am still working on the pillows to match. Some how I measured wrong, so now I have to go back and do some do-overs. The quilt perfectly matches their curtains in the bedroom.

For the rest of the summer, Austin will be attending Boy Scout camp for the first time in July and I think he is excited about it. Well, at least he is asking alot of questions. Dan and I will be celebrating year 2 anniversary this year in August. And trying to keep up with things and every day life. Take care.

Family Time at Te'ya's Graduation Party

Yes, folks, it is official- Te'ya has graduated from school and is now officially a part of the working world (well, after she takes the bar exam and gets a job). None the less, many people showed up to celebrate this special occasion.

The cake was very chocolately!!!/Sam, Jake and Ellie

Anora and Ter'yn/Ellie and Anora playing with the new toys Aunt Maria brought from G&G's house (remember those toys??)



Uncle Tim, Uncle Bob, Aunt Toni/ Ellie and Aunt Maria eating lunch

Te'ya and Uncle Al/Hey what's going on over there??

What's been happening at the Rittel house.

Austin raced his derby car at the Pinewood Derby as a contestant for the last time. He will be joining Boy Scouts in June when he turns 11.

Austin participated in a dance team for 3,4,5 graders in April. The song they danced to was "Jailhouse Rock." They did a great job.

We have been painting and redoing several rooms over the past year. Here is an update, not everything is done. Owning a house is a revolving project.

Purple bathroom minus the floor. Leaky toilet.

Dan's bathroom with new floor and paint.




My bathroom with new floor and paint. Fish from Mexico.

Kitchen is painted in yellow and green.

new frig/pantry door

Austin said a few lines in the Spring Concert "Bugs." He was the boll weevil. He is the one in the center in brown.

Soon to come are graduation pictures from 5th grade which will be on June 1st.

Mom & Greg's new "love pad"

Elisha & I are holding some of Greg's creations.

I was over at Mom's place for casserole nite and finally took pictures of the place for those who have heard about it and would like to see what it looks like. Casserole nite I think will be becoming an O'Bannon tradition. This is the second one. We meet at Mom's with 2-3 recipes that will freeze well, make enough for 4-5 casseroles that can serve 2-3 people and bake and cook for 2-3 hours. Then drive home with 7-8 casseroles ready for the freezer and to be baked and eatern. How awesome is that!! Some pictures are us doing that in Mom's new BIGGER kitchen with MORE counter space. (Good idea Weesy!)

Mom and & Greg's new pad has a two car garage, everything is on the main level- bedroom, laundry, two bathrooms, study with computers, kitchen, living room and a lovely sunroom that leads to the deck. The basement level has a family room, guest bedroom, bathroom, and Greg's work (play) room. As you can see from the pictures that new furniture was purchased and now they are figuring out what color of paint for some of the rooms. Also part of the perks is a clubhouse with a work out room, a big meeting area with a kitchen and a pool. (WOO HOO as Ellie and Austin say). The clubhouse has been put to some good use for birthdays Christmas celebrations.

bedroom/living room


HUGE kitchen/sunroom

family room/front entry

study

Sean & Sarah's New House!!

Dan, Elisha, Ryan and I were up north over the New Year's and had a chance to have a tour of the new house. Four bedroom, three bathroom, front room, kitchen, famliy room, three car garage, fenced in backyard with a big deck, mud room for washer/dryer. The house was vacant for a year and there was a lot of rose/pink carpet and paint in the house. The bank was nice and replaced the carpet. They plan to move in sometime in February.

Kitchen/Family room with a fireplace, there will be a railing seperating the two with steps

Front room/Looking out the back door onto the deck and backyard.

Master bedroom with bathroom/Basement with a big mess

Sean & Sarah tore down some walls/Crawl space under half the house.
(Sorry about the spots!)

Another pic of crawl space/Sean with the snowblower.

Pictures of the Rittel's

We were at Forrest's birthday celebration and Brian brought Santa hats for pictures. We had pictures taken in the Santa hats. The picture in the background is of Marilyn's father in his military uniform that is hanging over the fireplace.


Forrest, Brian, Maria/ Ron & Marilyn

Yes, this is us.

WOW! What a year!

Hey Everyone! It's Shana here, I just wanted to let you that I have had a wonderful year getting to know all of you more. The boys and I are truly blessed to have the O'Bannons in our life. You have opened your arms and hearts to us with endless amounts of love. I appreciate your generosity, thoughtfulness, the laughter, the tears, the big hugs and mostly for accepting us into your lives. My biggest wish this Holiday season is that it all just continues to grow.....
Thank you for all of your support, you are the greatest family I have ever known, I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I love you all.


A Super Bowl party



A fun day at Inplay




The Girls working on Elisha's wedding preparations!


Another favorite place to play...the mall


Love to read books


and of course dance


Ellie turns 3 and Shrek has birthday wishes for her


Oh, it was Daddy!!!



Jake


Sam


Sweeping the Streets like a pro


Let's all tickle Jake!


The Big, Big, Family!


Daddy loves me this much...


Spring Soccer


Ellie cheers the boys on!







Jakes's 5th Grade Graduation!!!


Sam's 5th Birthday!





Camping up North over the Fourth


Memories...


Uncle Bernie's horses






Great Day at Adventureland!




Not really into golf....YET :)







Jake's 11th Birthday!






A Summer Evening at the Driving Range








Iowa State Fair








Sam's First Day of Kindergarten!




Trying to take a family portrait :)







Fall Soccer








Halloween






Watching Daddy work




The Pumpkin Farm










O'Bannon Pumpkin Party 2008!







A November evening playing doctor






O'Bannon Thanksgiving




Drake Thanksgiving






Picking out the Christmas Tree!!


look out for the snowballs Sam!


and we decorate






I hope you all have a very merry Christmas.
With love, Shana

Turkey Time 2008

This Thanksgiving was on the holiday by request of Mom and we had dinner at Mom and Greg's new place. They have sold the acreage in Old Johnston and have moved to a townhouse on the west side of Johnston. We had to move some boxes to another room because they just moved the weekend before. Dinner was turkey and all the trimmings and several choices of pie for dessert.

Game time before dinner- Ellie w/ Candyland and the boys w/ Sorry.

Dan & Greg setting up the TV for football/ Mom tasting the dressing

They did not have cable yet, so they borrowed a set of rabbit ears from John to get some football games on the TV.

Ellie & John cuddling/Dan & Austin watching football


Mary & Elisha in the kitchen/ Lorna & Gabe

Ellie's try at the camera- she did a pretty good job!!

Then we went over to the Rittel's for another Thanksgiving dinner. I was very full!!

Self portrait/ Mom & Maria in the kitchen

Forrest/Brian & Maria

Gabriel has been baptized!!

On November 9th, Gabriel was baptized. The godfather is Sean Michael who flew in from Montana for the special occasion. For some reason the pictures are a little fuzzy and spotted, sorry about that. It was a chilly morning but our hearts were warm with love for the new member of the family. We had lunch at Biaggi's, a local Italian restaurant and the O'Bannon side met some of the Garcia side.

Mom and Greg tied the knot!!

Mom and Greg got married on October 11th. It was at a church service that Mom wanted to have the wedding part included. This picture is of the whole family minus a couple of the boys (they were with their other family for the weekend.) Then we had dinner at the Greenbriar restaurant in Johnston. Lorna and I gave a toast and the food was delicious. We wish you two many years of happiness and love.

Grandpa turned 88!!

On October 19th, (Grandpa's birthday) we traveled north to Cousin Jean and Mike's house to celebrate the happy occasion. Grandpa had many guests including a couple of neighbors from Arlington. For the pictures, we are standing on the ramp that was built for them. Grandpa received many wonderful gifts. It was a gorgeous fall day (even with the beetles).

Fall time for Cub Scout activites

In October, we were a part of a community service project. The Legion Hall needed some weeding done, paint the parking rails and rake a bunch of leaves. As you can see by the pictures Austin wasn't quite sure if he painted the parking logs or himself more.

Then there was the Halloween Pack Meeting. Austin carried in the colors. The game was to see who could get 6 books to the back of the line the fastest. And Dan is talking to the boys about a skit they were to do based on the book The Snowy Day.

Austin is playing football.

These are some pictures taken before a game a couple of weeks ago over at the Rittel's house. Austin is playing football for a school league and likes it. His position is noise guard. These pictures are from a game that his team won 14-0.