Fun in Georgetown

My mother-in-law, Pat, and I took the kids to Georgetown to get our haircuts and visit with Brad, Damary, and Lisa. After Damary did our hair, we went for a swim in the pool at the apartment and the kids had a blast with Uncle Brad. It was also so good to see my beautiful niece, Lisa, after she had just recently gotten her temporary eye. Thank you so much to all of you, our prayer warriors, who have been praying in her behalf. Please continue to pray for Lisa as she continues to adjust to the changes in her life.

Sheldon and Kalyn with Uncle Brad and Mimi

Kalyn, Lisa, and Sheldon

Our "New" Camper

A wonderful, sweet couple from church gave us their old camper to use for camping trips until we buy a new one someday. It needed a lot of work so Ricky and Paul spent a few Saturdays working on it and the kids helped paint the outside. Ricky put in a small A/C unit in the window and we cleaned the inside out real good. We are excited about the fun family memories we will share in our "hillybilly hotel" as Ricky calls it! :o)

Fresh from the garden

This year we decided to have a smaller garden with mostly tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, purple hull beans, and okra. We've been enjoying the fresh veggies as much as possible. The cucumbers have been plentiful this year so Ricky has been making pickles...yum!! It will be hard to go back to eating store bought veggies once the growing season is over. :o(

The last one is 60 today!!

My parents, aunt, and uncle all turned sixty this year. My mom and Aunt Joni were the first ones to celebrate in February. Actually, my mom was first since she is twenty or so minutes older than her twin! (HA!) Uncle Gary hit the milestone in March and today is my daddy's birthday. My sister and I along with our cousins threw a big surprise 60th party for our parents back in March. It was a rock and rollin' good time for everyone. Many old friends and family members were there to share in the celebration. Our dads were in on the surprise in the beginning, but they had no idea it was actually for them as well. It was wonderful to see them all so surprised...we were so glad we pulled it off! Enjoy the slideshow!!

Happy Birthday Daddy/Granden!! God sure blessed us with you as a father and grandfather. We love you so very much and hope this birthday is a memorable one for years to come!!

Ricky actually let us!

For those of you who know Ricky well, he really does not like cats...not in the slightest bit! He is allergic to them as well so we were all really sad when we had to give Sarge away when Ricky came into our lives. Kalyn and Sheldon had mentioned many times how much they wished we still had Sarge and if we could ever get another cat. Ricky told them several times that if we ever did it would have to stay outside. Well, while the kids were at Disney with their dad last week we were able to find someone to get a cat from...we thought it would be a good surprise for the kids when they got home. Our good friend from church, Linda, told us that her aunt had several cats and she needed to get rid of them before moving to town. Ricky told me I could get several just in case one or two didn't stick around. On Saturday afternoon I went with Linda to get the cats and there were more kittens than cats and it was so hard to pick out which ones to take home because they were all so cute. I finally picked out a mama cat and four kittens with different colors. We took them home and the kids were so surprised to see them in a cage on the front porch when they came home. They've been spending a lot of time outside on the porch with the kittens. We let them out of the cage yesterday to see how they would do...they ran off, climbed trees, and wouldn't come back to us for awhile. Kalyn and Sheldon were really worried, but I assured them that they would likely come back before too long because they know where it is safe and there will be food waiting for them. Sure enough they all came back just before dark and the kids were relieved. Today the mama cat has been gone ever since mid morning, but the kittens have been sticking close to the house. They're much more willing to let us hold and play with them than they were yesterday. We're having so much fun...thank you Ricky for saying yes!!

Happy Father's Day!!

The kids came home from Disney last night just in time to spend Father's Day with Daddy Ricky today. He was really excited to have them home with him which will probably be rare since they normally are with their dad in Pearland. I cooked a big breakfast for us before church and we gave Daddy Ricky his gift...a new fryer. He had been wanting this one ever since he saw it at Bonnie's house a few weeks ago. After church we had hamburgers for lunch here at home with our good friends from church, the Jenkins. They are such sweet people and we feel blessed to know them!

Ricky, thank you for being such a wonderful dad to Kalyn and Sheldon. God really answered my prayers four years ago when I asked for Him to bring a good Christian man into our lives. We are so grateful for you and love you more than you know. Happy Father's Day!!

To my Daddy...I love you! I'm so glad I could be with you earlier this week since I couldn't be with you today. You know how much you mean to me and our family...we love you so very much!!!

Osbourn Reunion 2010

We had our annual reunion at the river last weekend. As usual, there was lots of family to visit with, great food to eat, and fun activities to enjoy. Friday night was the fish fry and BBQ was served for lunch on Saturday. The cousins enjoyed swimming at the slab and playing volleyball in the evenings. A huge water balloon fight was one of the highlights this year...we all had a blast getting each other wet! Ricky and I, along with Caleb and Carie, stayed with the kids both nights in the pop up camper that my parents rented for our families. Of course Kalyn, Sheldon, and Colten loved every minute of it and it actually wasn't too bad at all. In the past years it was really hot, but this year we had a lot of good breeze so it was actually not too bad...we were thankful! The reunion ended on Sunday after our worship service which is always so unique and special to all of us. We are so blessed to have a close-knit family and share the same faith...God has blessed us so richly.

Just enjoying a summer day at home

Kalyn and Sheldon have really been enjoying just being at home since school has been out. One morning they asked me to help them make a tent under the eating bar in the dining room. They wanted to watch a movie and eat their lunch on trays under it...so they did! It brought back memories for me of those days with my sister. I am so thankful to have two wonderful kids who love each other so much!

Weekend with the Williams

Last weekend we took the Williams family to Llano with us. Ricky and Jason wanted to go kayaking on the Llano River and I told Katy we could take the kids to the parade and possibly the rodeo on Saturday night. We all met up at Chick-fil-a(yummy...we miss that place) and headed to Llano from there. After a quick stop at my parents' house to get a few necessities, we finally got to the cabin around 9pm. After we got everything unloaded, all the beds made, etc it was time to TRY to get some sleep! Four out of six kids slept on the floor on mattresses while Jason slept on a bottom bunk, Katy and Deacon (2 yrs) on a small couch made into a bed, Cohen (3months) in his pack and play, and us in a bed on the screened porch! Ricky and I have always loved sleeping out on the porch, but it is hot this time of the year so we were expecting to be pretty sweaty. We put a fan right at the foot of our bed and surprisingly we were actually a little too cool by the middle of the night. Everyone seemed to sleep well so we were ready for a full day on Saturday.

Ricky and I cooked a big country breakfast...scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, and biscuits with gravy. It was all very good!! After breakfast Katy, my mom, and I took all SIX kids to find a good spot in town to watch the parade. I remember as a little girl sitting on the curb in front of the PCA office where my Granny used to work...and that is exactly where the kids sat! It was neat to see history repeating itself. The kids loved the parade and it was fun to see so many people we know in town. After the parade we rode out to Valley Spring for a surprise retirement party for my Aunt Joni. She had just finished her 38th year of teaching. My cousins did a great job decorating the back yard in a luau theme and had delicious finger food for us to enjoy. We left after a nice swim in their big pool to cool off. Jason and Ricky really enjoyed their kayaking venture down the river and their lunch at Cooper's (go figure). We were all exhausted and hot by the time we met up with the guys back at the cabin so we decided to just let the older three kids (Seth, Kalyn, and Sheldon) go to the rodeo with my parents that evening. We also decided it would be best for us to stay at the house instead of at the cabin so we could shower and get a good night's sleep before church the next day. Before we loaded our stuff, we roasted hot dogs with the kids which was lots of fun! They all really enjoyed doing that. We got the three older kids all dressed for the rodeo and off they went while we packed up our stuff and headed to the house. It was N-I-C-E to take a cool shower and relax in the house with good old air conditioning. I don't know how in the world people lived without that in the old days...whew! I was also beginning to not feel well with a sinus infection so that probably made it seem worse for me. Ricky and I really enjoyed getting to know Jason and Katy better while we snacked on yummy homemade cookies and good ole Dr Pepper. My parents and the kids finally made it home around 10:30 and had a great time. It was Seth's first rodeo so it was really fun for Kalyn and Sheldon to introduce him to it! We all were in bed and fast asleep before too long.

Sunday morning came around way too fast. Ricky cooked pancakes and bacon for our breakfast and we all enjoyed every bite. We all got to church just in time for class and we enjoyed introducing our friends to everyone. After worship we ate in the annex for a potluck which is always the best I have ever had. That church is full of GREAT cooks...and many are in my family as well! :o) We are so blessed. It was time to go home after lunch so we said our goodbyes and were on our way.

Jason, Katy, Seth, Kenna, Deacon, and Cohen...we had so much fun getting to know your family! Our kids played so well together and I loved getting my "baby fix" for the whole weekend. Cohen is a sweetheart and such a good baby. We look forward to building our friendship you all!

Mason and Jenna came to stay!

Our good friends came over for some fun on Tuesday night and all day yesterday!! Their momma needed to go be with her grandmother for her surgery and knew they would have more fun with us. :o) As soon as Kevin dropped Mason and Jenna off, we jumped into the pool for a quick swim. By the time we all came inside it was time to get ready for bed. The kids got their jammies on and I fixed their beds on the living room floor so they could all sleep together. High School Musical was the viewing entertainment for the night along with popcorn and pink lemonade for refreshments. Sheldon and Jenna were asleep before long. Mason and Kalyn watched the whole movie and were asleep soon after it was over. Morning came too quickly for me as the kids were all up early! Mickey Mouse pancakes were made for breakfast and enjoyed by all. The day was spent playing outside in the sand and treehouse, playing with dolls, playing various games, and more swimming in the afternoon. The kids and I enjoyed ice cream cones for snack after our swim before we had to get ready for church. We all had a GREAT time...come back soon Mason and Jenna!!

Great buddies ...even Roper too!

Just like sisters!

Enjoying our afternoon snack...ICE CREAM!!

Sweet Jenna

Precious Kalyn

One of Sheldon Blake's many cute faces!

This cute little stinker, Mason, finished his cone too fast!

Another one!

This guy was lurking around the tree in the garden. YIKES!! We really need to get a cat or two to do the dirty work for us!

Whooooo

Several weeks ago we discovered an owl had a nest in a tree right next to our door. The mama owl was flying back and forth several times during the day bringing food to her babies. Ricky and the kids could hear the babies calling for their mama. One day I was hanging clothes on the clothesline and noticed the mama owl was sitting on a tree limb right above me just watching me...it was neat! Ricky says the babies have flown out of the nest now because he can hear them in different trees around the house. I was able to get a picture of the mama owl just the other day...finally!