May, June, July...

Where does the time go? The school year finished out nicely. We had great trips out to visit with family in OK and NY. Mike ran a grueling marathon in WV. Mike & I got to take a hot air balloon ride! It was incredible. Kids are enjoying summer - camping, swimming, biking, playing...

Here are a few pics. Please come visit soon!

March/April Update

Happy April! Wanted to provide an update on the Naff family. We had a busy March and are enjoying some fine April weather. Goings-on:
-Mike ran the National 1/2 Marathon in DC, finished 114th out of 2637! He is looking forward to the OKC Memorial Marathon at the end of the month.
-We had visitors! My Mom & Dad, as well as Susie, Tanja & Brendan. Thanks for coming!
-Erin had a science fair at school (pic below). She found out that all apples don't have the same number of seeds (even the same kind of apple). After counting seeds we got to bake an apple pie (& eat it, of course!). Pretty good experiment!
-We spent Easter Sunday in NY and had a nice dinner with the Potter family. Looking forward to returning that way in July. Also looking forward to being in Oklahoma late June, right after school lets out here.
-Went to the Kite Festival on The Mall. Tons of kites as expected! It was a bit windy/chilly though. One of my favorites was a huge great white shark kite. The cherry blossoms were pretty spectacular too, however the crowds by the tidal basin were a bit much for me!
-Kids are growing & changing daily. Sean is taking his sweet time learning how to walk; he has started to cruise a bit though.
-Got a webcam & started a Skype account; so if anything wants to give us ring on the computer & chat, please do! It's easy... see skype.com

Have a wonderful rest of your April!

More April pictures:

February in DC

We've been slowly getting out & about and checking out DC somewhat. Had a great time geocaching with the Smith Family. We checked out Lubber's Run (which is a few blocks from our house) - found 3 caches using a GPS. The kids had fun - Timmy even declared he now likes this house better than the one in Charlottesville because we got to go treasure hunting. Never heard of geocaching? Neither had we! You can check it out at: http://www.geocaching.com/

Visited the zoo recently & had a blast. The pandas were very active - the youngest, 2 year old Tai Shan, climbed up & down the trees and did a somersault down a hill! I'm sure we'll be heading back soon.

Had a recent bit of freezing rain (some pics below taken in our backyard). It was a crazy commuting nightmare here. Luckily for me I take the metro! (We are so glad we live closer in to DC!)

Last, but certainly not least, Timmy & Sean turned 5 and 1 (respectively) on Feb 6th. We had a nice birthday party here with friends. Tim is getting to be quite a big fella. Will register him for kindergarten later this month. Sean is really showing his personality. He has been doing his modified crawl since 9 months (kind of like a swimming stroke), but has now added a new means of locomotion-- I think he is training for the luge! There is a video clip below.

Happy February everyone!

January 2008 Already?!

Time flies... and all that... Happy New Year!
We had an eventful last couple of months in 2007. Had a wonderful time spending Thanksgiving in New York with my family and then (rushing back) for the last couple weeks of school. I made it through though. Received my masters degree in Systems Engineering! (So glad it is done!) We made some great friends in Charlottesville and really enjoyed our time there, however we are also glad to move on back to the Coast Guard and a new duty station and new home.
We spent Christmas in Charlottesville and then moved here to Arlington, VA in that time between Christmas and New Year's. That was a little interesting... We were fortunate to find a really awesome place to live. The house is quite huge (by area standards anyhow) and we are on a dead end street with a bike path at the end. Can't wait to have folks come visit! There is so much to do and see here. We've already hit the Natural History Museum and had fun on the Mall. Please come stay or just stop in to say hello!
My new job at Coast Guard Headquarters seems pretty good (I've been there one week). I'm working in the Office of Workforce Forecasting and Analysis. My billet here is for 3.5 years - so who knows what will happen next.
Mike has resumed his running and is training for his next marathon - Boston in April. Erin and Tim have both acclimated extremely well to their new schools (better than we could have hoped for!). Erin is in first grade and we found a preschool for Tim at a nearby church. Both programs seem very good. Timmy is looking forward to attending Kindergarten this fall. Ian and Sean are keeping Mike on his toes.(!) We'll try to start Ian at a county preschool this fall for a few days a week. Sean is still doing his seal-type crawl and has recently learned how to wave. Ian loves Sean so much you've really got to watch him! Poppy is still hanging in there and doing quite well despite showing her age a bit more. Porter is the only one who really misses out here - there isn't a ton of room for her to roam on her own, but she is enjoying spending time out front watching the goings-on from under a big azalea.
Hoping this finds you well and wishing you a healthy, exciting New Year!
Beth