Christmas Day

Our first Christmas in Monterey was awesome! We had a great time playing games all day and eating way too much. Later, we noticed that half of the Christmas cards we sent out had Christmas spelled wrong (Chrismas), including the ones Misty gave to her teacher coworkers! Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts! We sure did miss being able to see family over the holidays. We hope everyone had a great Christmas, too, and will have a great New Year!

Feeding the Gulls

Check this out! If you stand at Asilomar with an animal cracker outstretched in your hand, the seagulls will come by and snatch it from your hand. It's a little unnerving, though, as they come in large numbers and sometimes have midair fights over who is going to snatch it from your hand. Misty was at the ready with the camera so that we would have the pictures ready for the blog even if it was to show how a disaster unfolded!

Asilomar

One of our favorite spots on the Monterey Penninsula is Asilomar. The beaches there have large rock formations that you can climb on and are spotted by tide pools filled with acquatic life and treasures. Plus, the views from these rocks are awesome!

Jake loves to come along and go for a swim. He is going to be ten years old this spring, but he still acts like a puppy on the beaches. He usually suffers through some joint and muscle pain the next day, but there is no doubt that he thinks it is worth it.

Christmas Update, pt. 4

Me

As for me, I am still working as the Special Agent in Charge of the Monterey CID office, which is probably the easiest job I ever had. I run about four times a week on the beach, where I have encountered pelicans, dolphins, seals, hippies, and have even been soaked by an unexpected wave. Always an adventure. My job causes me to drive around California and Nevada a lot, but I still get plenty of time off to spend with Misty & the kids.
Mom recently came to visit and we had a great time exploring Big Sur, which you can see in the background. I love playing tour guide around here, so everyone is invited to come out, stay with us and see the sights. I am enjoying a much easier routine here than I had in Fort Leavenworth as I am slowing down in my ambitions and taking time to enjoy each day with family.

Well, that's our update for Christmas. My New Year's resolution will be to keep up with this site better. I aspire to do as well with our site as Sheryl does with hers. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

Christmas Update, pt. 3

Misty

As most of you know, Misty started her first teaching job this year as a first grade teacher. Misty has been working very hard as she has to develop lesson plans and learn the ropes of the new school system in her first year of teaching. She often works on school work in the evenings and during the weekends to make sure everything runs smooth for the next lessons. Misty took the job after the school year already started and had to win over parents who were angry that their kids had to change classrooms due to over-enrollment. We all knew she would win them over, and she has, but it was no easy task.

Despite the challenges, Misty manages to achieve balance in her life and take time to take care of the kids and I. Though sometimes they complain, the kids have benefited from having a teacher in the house who carefully scrutinizes all of their homework assignments and performance reviews to ensure they are doing the best they can do.

Misty also played fantasy football with me this season, and handed me a defeat that eliminated me from the competition and now she is a couple games from winning the league. Turns out that I am the real winner, though, as her interest in football has skyrocketed as a result and now she is the one insisting we make time to watch the games on TV. hehehehe....my plan worked perfectly.

Christmas Updates pt. 2

Kyla

Kyla is in the sixth grade, which is Middle School in California. She has seven classes and six different teachers, so it's very much like High School. She is now a little bit taller than her mom and she will probably grow much taller than her soon. When Kyla grows up, she wants to be an OB/GYN doctor so she can spend her days with as many babies as possible. She loves babies!

Kyla loves to play video games, but this Christmas she asked for more clothes than toys. She is now old enough to babysit, so she often watches Casey while Misty & I go out for dinner or go shopping. After thirteen years of marriage, Misty and I finally get to go on dates again!

Christmas Updates

The Christmas Cards are in the mail and I included a note in them to check our site to see what's new with us instead of writing a Christmas letter. So, I thought I would take this time to update everyone on each of us.

Casey

Casey is in the third grade and he loves to play video games on the X-Box and computer. He also loves going to the rocky beaches and exploring while climbing on the rock formations. Casey has started to notice girls and often comes home with a note from girls in his class with their phone numbers, which he proudly shows off, but is too nervous to actually call the girls. "Maybe I will just tell them I lost it, so they don't feel bad," he says.

Casey loves hanging out with his sister, who is really his best friend. He also likes to humor his dad and play catch from time to time. He has a natural talent for throwing both the baseball and the football! I try and encourage him so he can buy me a boat and season tickets to Rams games when he is drafted to their team after winning the Heisman trophy. Casey says he would rather work in a zoo and feed the animals.

Sand Sledding

Man, it has been FOREVER since we updated our blog. Sorry about that, but maybe I can do some catching up. Since winter is fast approaching, we decided to embark in a new Monterey tradition...sand sledding. We packed up the sled, went out to a big sand dune, and went for a ride.




The down side is that once you ride the sled all the way to the bottom, there is only one way back up!

My Little Missionary

The kids and I returned to school today after a much needed two-week break. It went by much too fast, but it's also nice to be back in our routine. Casey took good advantage of being back in school by ministering to his fellow classmates. He told us that at recess he asked one of his friends if he knew about God and heaven. His friend said that he didn't know much about it, so Casey proceeded to tell him a few Bible stories, told him all about heaven, and then ended the conversation by asking his friend if he wanted to go to heaven too. Apparently, he did because he prayed with Casey on the playground. Casey told his friend that he needed to confess his sins, ask for forgiveness, and ask Jesus to be part of his life, which he did. Casey said his friend continued to ask him questions about heaven for the rest of recess, and the afternoon recess as well. He told me that he is excited to go back to school so he can tell someone else about Jesus. My little missionary!

Football & Marshmallows

Well, football season is upon us, so this family descends into a weekly ritual of jerseys, junk food, fantasy football and cheering for the St. Louis Rams (that's right, win or lose....like a true fan.)



Of course, you know there is never any shortage of clowning around here. In an effort to encourage Casey's future NFL Hall of Fame career, I donned my watermelon helmet and demonstrated a proper tackle.



This weekend, we took a trip out to Carmel Beach, started a fire and cooked up some S'mores. Good times.

Hello family and friends!

Hello everyone! This weekend we enjoyed a short trip to the beach and some quality time at home. With everyone being so busy with school and work, we have really been enjoying our time off. Kyla and Casey have been doing great at their new schools, and we are very proud of them. For those of you that don't already know, I was just hired to teach first grade at a small 5 classroom annex across from Casey's school. This is a huge blessing for our family and I am really looking forward to the challenge.

Brandon continues to work hard at his job. When he drove home in his crime scene van the other day, he wouldn't let me take a picture, but I did anyway when he left to go back to work, hehe.

Back To School

Kyla and Casey started school on Monday. It has been an uphill battle trying to get them into the best schools available. God supernaturally blessed this situation, and as we finish up the first week, I am so grateful that everything worked out as it did. Sometimes you have to go through the valley to reach the hilltop, but once you are there, you can look back on how God placed each event as He did, and strengthened our relationship and trust in Him in the process. Kyla and Casey are both doing extremely well, and I will share more details of their school experiences in later posts.

A Visit From Home

We have had a very adventurous couple of weeks here in Monterey. We were so blessed to have Brandon's parents come for a visit, and were able to show them around our new town. One day while they were here, we went whale watching....big mistake. Kyla and I spent most of the trip with our heads hung over the boat. It was not a pleasant "three hour tour", but we did see a couple of humpback whales, and then partook of clam chowder in a bread bowl when we got back to shore (well, everyone but me....uuggghhh). We miss them already, and hope they come back soon for another visit, along with all of our other loved ones!

Is it hot in here, or is it just me?

Along with the rest of the country, we have been experiencing record breaking heat here the last couple of weeks. 80 degrees may not seem hot to you, but for Monterey, it is sweltering (especially when no one here has air conditioning!) Casey has been happy, because for the first time, he was allowed to wear his swimming trunks to the beach. The water was freezing, but he didn't even seem to notice. Daddy even decided to join him in the water (I think they're all crazy).



My idea of fun, on the other hand, is to bury the innocent ones, and try to get seagulls to eat chips off of their heads. I know how to have a good time.



Later in the week, the kids decided it would be a great idea to have a birthday party for their stuffed animal friend....Baby George (these poor kids really need to start school). He turned one-year-old this week. We had oreo pie and busted the pinata. We invited the only other child in the neighborhood to join in the fun. Her parents may not let her come back.

Glutton For Punishment

Well, I took the kids to their weekly poety and art club again yesterday. I'm not sure why I did; I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. When I returned to hear the poems and see the paintings at the end, Casey whispered to me that he had a special poem, and he couldn't wait for me to hear it. We had spent the week at Carmel beach, Asilomar beach, rock climbing, memorizing scripture, practicing handwriting and math, etc., so I was sure that this week, he was going to share some of his weekly experiences, and make me look good in front of the teachers and other parents. Here's the poem:

"The Couch"
I feel the most comfortable on the couch.
I can watch TV on the couch.
I can sleep on the couch.
I can eat popcorn on the couch,
and I can read on my couch.
by Casey

Well, at least everyone knows he can read, even if it is after naps and popcorn breaks (neither of which he has taken part in on our new couch yet by the way)! Here are some pics of the kids at the poetry club....they may be the last ones you see because I might not take them back, hehe.

My Friend is Movies

After a fun-filled week of hiking, biking, a visit to the Museum of Natural History, practicing Spanish, and exploring various parks and beaches, I was feeling like a pretty good mom. That is.....until our weekly visit to the "Poetry and Art Club" put on by the city of Pacific Grove. Having to practically drag Casey to a poetry club should have been a warning sign. He got even with me. The assignment was to write a creative piece about your best friend. After an hour of creative time to write and draw, my dear, precious child proudly walked to the front of the room to read his poem to the class.

"My friend is movies.
I like to watch movies.
I am lazy and watch movies.
When I get home, I will watch more movies.
I will watch more than four movies.
I like movies of any kind.
I really like Walt Disney movies.
By: Casey"

I shouldn't complain.....the boy comes by it naturally. At least he drew a picture of a seal. Maybe he did learn something at the museum after all.



The next day, we visited the Asilomar State Beach, which is one of our new favorite places. You can investigate the seals, crabs, starfish, and other marine life on the rocky beach, then walk on the boardwalk over to the sandy beach area to wade and watch the surfers. We love this place.

Home Sweet Home

The Living Room

We were very busy all of last week and this weekend setting up our new home. Here are a couple of pics of rooms we have finished putting together.

Master Bedroom

Family Room

We really love our new home, though it has been a lot of work putting it all together. Our new address is: 9 Balfour Court, Seaside, CA 93955. Our new home phone number is 831-583-9359. Our new home email is: bowens10@sbcglobal.net, though we still receive email at our Yahoo account, too (kylacasey@yahoo.com) or brandon's work account (brandon.owens@us.army.mil).

After all that work, we went to the beach to unwind with a little Beach Football!

More to come later....

New House Time

We have been extremely busy the last couple of days getting ready to move out of our small hotel room into our big house (2100 square feet!) You may notice the iron wrought bars on the doors and windows as appparently the old lady who used to live in the house before us was a touch paranoid. Still, it certainly gives us that extra secure feeling and even allows us to leave our windows open while we are gone.

It has been very warm for Monterey the last couple of days, with temperatures reaching 79 degrees! After moving stuff around in our house all day, Misty and I adjusted our thermostat to turn the air conditioner on. We were a little worried when only warm air came out of the vents, so I called the landlord who said most people on the penninsula do not have air conditioning because of how cool it normally is and that opening the windows typically cools the house down. So, we ran to the store and bought some industrial strength fans, but we are told that we will not need them very often.


This is our palm tree in our front yard. Its a mini-palm tree, but we like it anyway. We call it, "Little Fella". We'll send more pics of the house when we have our stuff in it.

Well, we won't have an internet connection again until a week from now, so there won't be any more updates until then. However, once that is all set up, we should have a lot to show you so come back then!

A Day At The Beach

We will never get tired of the ocean!

Yesterday, we spent the day at a beach in Seaside and at the Dennis the Menace park. Poor Misty got a really sunburned nose. It stays
about sixty degrees here with a wind, so the coolness can make you forget about sunscreen.









The kids really enjoy sifting through the sand for buried treasures or funny looking beach creatures such as hermit crabs. When sifting through the sand or peering through tide pools, they take great pleasure in making a new discovery that no one else in the family has found before.

After having fun at the beach, we went to a childhood favorite of Misty's - the Dennis the Menace Park! The park features a locomotive for the kids to play on, a rock climbing wall, a bush maze and lots of new friends to meet. Casey has a natural ability to make friends effortlessly and quickly. Misty and I have no idea where he gets that from since we are so natually anti-social.