Veteran's Day Assembly

The elementary school was having a Veteran's Day assembly

Several weeks before a member of the PTA asked me if 

I thought that it might be possible for Mike to Skype into

the assembly and talk to the kids.

Mike was glad to be able to do it. So we arranged for it to happen

and I didn't tell Grace, Isaac and Anna about it

...and when it happened they were surprised for sure!

Mike did a great job talking to the kids and fielding a few of their questions.

It just so happened that I had previously sent Mike a t-shirt from the school.

I told him that it might be cool for him to wear it under his uniform

and then surprise the school with it at the end.

Well, let me just say that was a HUGE hit. The kids went absolutely crazy!

Mike was so happy that he could be a part of the assembly and have fun with the kids.

It was pretty cool :)

(Someone took a picture of Mike up on the big screen in front of the elementary school kids at the assembly, and I've asked them a couple of times to send it to me, but oh well...when they do I'll update this post)

Major Dad

We proudly present

Major John Michael Isom!

On Saturday March 16th Mike had a promotion ceremony.

It was very nice and was well attended.

The kids did the pinning on of the new rank

Noah and Dallin did the shoulder boards

Grace did the beret pin

Isaac and Anna did the epaulets

We are so proud of him.

Grandpa Jim came out for a visit and was here for the ceremony too.

He enjoyed spending time with the kids!

and Sasha too :)

Air Show

Last Friday we took the kids to the Air Show. Yes I took my camera with me, but surprisingly we came home with only about 5 pictures. I know I know, that is so not like me...but what can you do.

Because Mike is so awesome we were VIPs and got to go to the VIP tent to have seating and some free refreshment...not to mention that we got VIP parking, that was pretty great!

Next year I think we will go a little earlier and take better advantage of Mike's sweet VIP status :)

We saw some great flying, including the Thunderbirds. 

The kids liked this plane that was flying crazy and kept looking like it was going to crash.

The kids also enjoyed looking at all the planes and helicopters. Here is Anna sitting in one that she thought was just her size.

We all tried a bean bag toss with beer goggles on. The first pair were bad and it was really hard to do, but some of us actually made a bean bag through the hole...the second glasses were a whole different story. The moment I put them on I hated them. They made me want to throw up. The point of it was to illustrate how alcohol can impair your vision...it worked!

I have to say though that the winner of the kid's favorite thing has to go to the pull-up bars (with a close 2nd going to the OceanSpray booth and their free samples.)

Anyway, we stopped by some Air Force recruiters who had some pull-up bars set up and were challenging people to do, well...pull-ups, of course. The kids wanted Mike to do it and win a prize so he jumped up and did 12 or so nice pull-ups for an Air Force lanyard. Yeah he could have done more, but he didn't want to show off too much!

Then all the kids wanted to try. Noah did 8 good pull-ups and won a t-shirt. Grace and Anna both surprised everyone by doing about 5 and 2 respectively and they each got a prize too. Isaac struggled through 1 and talked his way into getting a prize. Dallin tried a couple of times, but couldn't get one. The nice recruiters gave him a poster anyway.

Our friends the Sparks' were there too and most of their kids gave it a try. Then the kids turned on the moms, so I told Nanette that if she would try I would try. 

She couldn't do one, and sadly neither could I. What's even more sad is that these are 2 of the 5 pictures from the day...thanks honey!

All in all, we had a good time and though we thought it might rain on us, it didn't. We plan on going back next year...and taking more pictures.

This will embarrass Mike...but I'm doing it anyway!

Yesterday the D.C. National Guard had it's 2010 Annual Awards and Decorations Ceremony.

Mike was the recipient of the Major General Calvin G. Franklin Leadership Award.

This award recognizes the accomplishments of junior officers in the grade of Major or Captain that demonstrated the highest qualities of leadership in their duty performance.

Pretty cool!

We are so proud of him and glad that others can see what an amazing person he is.

Love you honey

...hope this didn't embarrass you too much :)

Veteran's Day

Mike had the opportunity last Friday to go to the Elementary school for a Veteran's Day Celebration.
Here he is looking good in his uniform, with our elementary age kiddos.

He was able to visit each of the kid's classes and talk to all the kids about his military experience...he was even snagged by the PreK teachers too. Too bad he couldn't hop over to the middle school and visit Noah.

Anyway, they fed him lunch, had patriotic crafts and he was able to be with our kids while the high school ROTC performed. I heard that it was pretty cool.

When he got home he told me all about it and I could tell he had a great time. When the kids got home they told me all about it too and it was obvious to me that they loved it! I'm so glad he got to go.

I'm thankful for his service and all others who serve in the Armed Forces.

Hug a Vet!