What a weekend!!

Ryan graduated May 16th from Midwest Baptist Seminary with his Masters of Divinity degree. He and Joy have worked very hard for six long years to achieve this. He continued to work and be a good husband and daddy during this time. We all wanted to put together a wonderful celebration for them but it appeared that even Steph wouldn't be able to make it (due to a mandatory work Saturday) let alone any of the other kids. None of us could handle the fact he wouldn't have ANY siblings attending. As we were all discussing this (behind Ryan's back) Pat & I offered to help Ty & Jerilyn get tickets home if they could take off work. They made the arrangements and we let Steph & Joy know. Lo and behold John & Lindsey prayed about it and decided she should come home from Italy to support Ryan! They then made their arrangements (thank you John). We let Joy know but not Steph or Tyler. After a call to Shane to see if he would be able to take off if we helped him get home we didn't tell Steph, Joy or Lindsey about him! Unfortunately we didn't let Shane know he was a surprise soon enough so Tyler knew about him but didn't tell Jerilyn. The timetable had Shane arriving Thursday at 5:30 pm with Lindsey getting in at 7:30. Ty & Jerilyn were to arrive Friday at 2:30 but the weather elves had other ideas and they did not get in until 8 pm. Pat & I got to the point we were afraid to talk to anyone since we needed a scorecard to remember who knew about whom! For those who follow our little family blog the following is the story of our wonderful weekend. A great time was had by all (except Caleb with a head cold) and even Steph was able to get off in time to attend Ryan's graduation. Enjoy!

As mentioned Lindsey had no idea Shane was coming home. We were trying to figure out how best to surprise her when Shane suggested he be the one to 'meet' her at the airport. It was a great idea! She said later that she knew she was tired and that guy looked a lot like Shane but . . . . We stopped on the way home to eat but since it was 4 a.m. in Italy she about fell asleep in her food.

Finally Home

Lindsey flew all the way home from Italy to be a part of Ryan's graduation celebration. She & Ryan would debate for hours - putting the rest of us to sleep! Her flight was only delayed by an hour which is amazing since it arrived in KC from Chicago.

Hugs for Dad
Shane had arrived first a few hours before Lindsey. Here the world travelers are catching up on the way to the car.

Jeff & Steph's surprise (kind of)

Part of the problem with having smart kids is they figure things out! When we asked to borrow Jeff & Steph's surburban they knew we didn't need something that big for Ty & Jerilyn - the only ones they were told about. They weren't sure which of the other two were coming but they were sure glad to see both Shane & Lindsey. Jeff left shortly after to do airport duty for Ty & Jerilyn. The weather was horrible that night with tornado watches and wall clouds all over the place. Ty, Jerilyn & Jackson were diverted to Tulsa and allowed to get off the plane and stretch their legs. I swear Missouri is fighting me on getting Tyler & Jerilyn back here. Over Christmas they arrived during an ice storm!

Joy knew about everyone coming but Shane. We had to have a surprise for her too. She had had a very close call earlier in the day when her car hit water over the road during a storm and she almost lost control. That coupled with exhaustion probably combined for the best reaction of the night!

Ryan's first surprise

Joy arrived a few minutes before Ryan so we were able to get everyone into position before he came upstairs. He said later he was stunned to see Shane & Lindsey. It was your standard O'Donnell understated reaction. We had arranged for Lindsey to give him a bookmark and say that was our gift to him. The background conversations are pretty funny.

Ginos

We had asked a great little Italian place a few doors down to have pre-ordered pizzas ready at 7:30. Of course, Jeff was still waiting
at the airport for Ty, Jerilyn & Jackson to arrive from their weather induced tour of Tulsa so Ryan was only aware of Shane & Lindsey being a surprise.

We let Pat have the camera and he managed to get a shot of ALL of us chewing and looking darned happy about it too!

Can you tell Seth is a ten year old boy?

Lindsey is holding court with her nieces and nephews who haven't seen her since Christmas. I think they will be crushed when she has her own children since she 'belongs' to them now.
Pat visiting at the 'girls' table with Katie and Audrey.

The graduating family with Joy, Ryan and Caleb. Some of Ryan's siblings are a bit concerned about that whole 'halo' thing going on.

We were all making secret phone calls to check on the status of Jeff, Ty & Jerilyn. They arrived toward the end of our dinner (we ordered extra) and managed to slip in while Ryan had gone to the restroom. When he came back and saw Jeff he didn't think anything different was going on until he saw me reach for the camera. This is the point where he sees Tyler & Jerilyn smiling and eating pizza - he realizes all of his siblings have arrived to help celebrate his achievement!

After dinner we all went back to the office to get things set up for the reception on Saturday.

set up

Set up took place the night before. Here we are putting up a 'best wishes' board.
Jackson is on the move - he has just learned how to crawl. I think he also associates Missouri with teaming hordes of people - all of whom are related to him.

Katie doing her Elton John impression.

Lindsey spending quality time with Caleb. He was born after she left for Italy and she has only seen him once before during Christmas.

Lindsey, Katie, Ryan & Shane before dinner.

Graduation

Before graduation we saved waaay too many seats (none of us are accountants) but as I pointed out to Joy - this was a Baptist seminary graduation - they have to forgive us!

In this shot Joy's parents, Randy & Holly Wade are sitting in the front row to your left and Joy is watching for arrivals.
Lindsey has entitled this 'Marching across the stage". Those of you who knew Ryan as a child would remember he was the one always playing 'army'.

Dr. Anderson was one of Ryan's professors. Both he and his wife, Diana, are very involved in the Pilots for Christ chapter we belong to.

In this great extended family shot you see, starting left, Ginny, Theresa, Jake, Brooke, Jessica, Neal, Madison, and Dana. We were so thrilled they were all able to come.

When we left graduation we went to our office just north of the graduation site where we had set up a reception. Shane graced us with his artwork the night before complete with family crest.

Reception

We held a reception for Ryan on the second floor of our office. We will be moving offices in June but the old Kearney opera house
has been great for parties and showers!


Everyone had a great time catching up. Tyler lived with Neal & Theresa for a bit so he enjoyed seeing how the girls, Madison
and Brooke had grown.

See - preachers aren't always serious!

We missed Christy, Alex & John but took a 'partial' family picture.

Garage Dance video

For those of you who have never been fortunate enough to attend a garage dance here is a sample.

Saturday Garage Dance & Sunday play

We often hold family garage dances to celebrate. Nothing special just some decorations, good music (or not) and a chance to have some fun. Pat unbundled the balloons from the reception to decorate the garage and they made my dining room so festive I had to take a picture.
We went with a tacky Wal-Mart Aloha theme since we had already done tasteful earlier. Here Ryan supports a large pinapple wearing his new alumni shirt.

Katie has obviously been watching SaturdayNight Fever without her parents knowing. She was a hoot - when Lindsey, in support of Katie's dancing, said "get down Katie" Katie instantly dropped into the squatting position and continued to dance!! None of the rest of us could - we were laughing too hard.

Noah with his favorite girl. Audrey was ready for bed since it had been a long day.

Obviously it had been a long day for Caleb (he had a horrible cold) and a long six years for Ryan!

SUNDAY - PLAY DAY!!

The following day had all of us just chillin'. We did a lot of front porch sitting, quad runner riding and even fishing. Katie had discovered fishing (we have no idea where from) and armed with her Dora the explorer pink pole outfished everyone else. The bluegill will never be safe in our pond again! Jackson, on the other hand, was a man on the move. Tyler took him for his first quad runner ride (Mommy stayed inside) and he LOVED it. For a child always moving he sat perfectly still and watched everything. We O'Donnells like our wheels!

Caleb and I co-ordinated our clothes!

Notice Daddy taking the picture?

We ended Sunday evening with a brats cook-out and were able to enjoy dinner outside. By now Jackson had pretty much accepted the fact we weren't going to go away and started really enjoying everyone (just obviously not the bite he is in the process of dropping).

Monday - Battlefield & Anderson House

Ryan & Joy left Sunday night. On Monday the rest of us took a day trip to Lexington, Mo - most of which is on the national historic register. We toured the battlefield and the Anderson house. After a wonderful day we took Shane, Ty, Jerilyn & Jackson to the airport for a much better flight back.

Jeff, Shane, Pat & Jackson outside the Anderson house. The weather was beautiful with a breeze which kept everyone comfortable.

"The Guys" are reading one of the posted signs explaining who was where during the battle.
After the tour of the battlefield we walked through the museum and then waited for our tour guide. During this time Lindsey, Jackson & Noah were enjoying each other's company. A few seconds after this shot Noah backed up and went head over heels into the shrubs. Since he had been taunting Lindsey he came up laughing along with everyone else!

Here is our Santa Barbara O'Donnell branch. It was a bit windy on the battlefield.

The battlefield area was on top of a bluff and had lots of grassy alcoves to run down. This shot is of Lindsey & Audrey racing and Noah mid-air. Steph is simply enjoying a day off.

Anderson House

This is a shot of the Anderson House which was used as a field hospital during the battle of Lexington in the Civil War. The other side of the house overlooks where the Missouri River
used to flow directly at the foot of the hill until it changed course and moved further away.

I know I could wax poetic about this shot of Pat & Jackson (Grandfather & grandson) standing in front of the bullet ridden walls of a Civil War home - something along the lines of 'well, son it was like this' but I just loved the baby curve of Jackson's cheek and how both were looking the same way.

We are all on the second floor balcony looking toward the battlefield. We had an excellent guide (far right). I don't know if Jerilyn & Noah discussed their poses beforehand or not!

This is the bluff that overlooks the Missouri River. You can see the river in the distance but it used to run right at the foot of the hill.

Hope you enjoyed our family weekend. Remember to always count your blessings!

Evening sky

Enjoy a spring evening in rural Missouri!

Evening Sun

I took some still shots anyway after the storm. You can see the rainbow to the east of us.

The above shots are of the sun/cloud mix. It looked so pretty to the east.

Here is a shot of our 'stock tank' garden. The tanks are the same color although they look different. We have planted cucumbers, peppers, heritage tomatoes, lettuce, spinach etc. Two hanging baskets are strawberries and one is banana peppers. We also put in some raspberry and blackberry bushes along with a couple of grape vines in our side pasture. We hope to plant some fruit trees this year also.

The fantasy garden has cleaned up pretty well this year and the hostas are doing great! Everything looks better in the spring.

Storm aftermath

We left Noah's game and headed home with a tornado watch in our area of northern Missouri. When we were about ten minutes from home (the Dawn area for you kids) everything changed from a watch to a warning since funnel clouds had been spotted in the air north of Chillicothe. We picked up speed, got home and in the basement. Everything passed to our east with no touchdowns. This video was taken looking southeast at the storm clouds under a full moon. It sounds like a gale force wind but actually just a light breeze (good camera microphone). The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees in minutes. Wish we could send this rain to Santa Barbara!

Best pic of the game!

Note the form on this kid!! This is his SECOND game - obviously between Seth & Noah we've got some good ball players on our hands!

Game Pics

Mr. Walters

Ready and waiting!

Got it! The ball is in Noah's glove and he got the out.

Eyes on the prize!

Contact!