Family Pictures

Cory (with his endless patience) took family pictures for us at Toro Park. I think he did an excellent job!

Adam and Eve reinactment

Left to Right: Cory, Misty, Brandon, Kyla, Casey, mom holding baby Jackson, Jenny and Pete below, grandpa in the tree, and Dusty

Dad and mom with us 4 kids

Fun with the Mendenhall gang

We have been having such a fantastic time with my family this week. I have so many pictures I want to share, but I will just start with a few. Dusty and Cory were able to come in a day or two before the rest of the family and we had a wonderful time hanging out downtown. This is Cannery Row.
We had fun going around to all of the old hang-outs and houses where we used to live as kids and took a few pictures. This is a lake we used to ride our bikes around and eat wild raspberries.

This is my nephew, Jackson. This is the first time that most of us have met him and we love him to pieces. He's the greatest. This is a pic with Jack and uncle Cory. More pictures to come!!

What's up with the Owens'?

Poor Casey had a run-in with a patch of poison oak recently. He's the only boy in 5th grade wearing a tank top in the middle of winter (easy access for applying globs of creme). He's finally starting to show signs of recovery much to our delight! Kyla joined the Seaside Aquatics Club this week and has been impressing us with the skills she is learning. She refuses to let me take a picture of her in a bathing suit and swimming cap (I can't imagine why???), so you'll just have to do without this time!
Brandon and the boys had a long day and decided to take a nap.

Our babies

Charleston

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dancing Owens'

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Look at that smile!

Kyla got her braces off today...finally!!! We decided to have a "braces off" party to celebrate the occasion. We stopped by the PX after school and loaded up on as many hard, gooey, sticky treats as we could find (uugghh... I don't feel so good). Bubble gum was probably the biggest hit of all.
The kids enjoyed their treats and apple-mango cider while we watched Kung Fu Panda. Casey was excited for any excuse to load up on sugar.

Fun with the Folks

We had a wonderful visit with my parents over the Thanksgiving weekend. Here are a few pictures of the fun we had together.

This pic got out of order but this is Brandon at the Carmel River Beach.
We visited the beach in Seaside right after the sun set. Kyla and Casey love their grandma and grandpa!

Casey and grandpa enjoying a walk on the beach.

Casey and my mom played a game to see who could get closest to the water without getting wet!

Carmel River Beach

My parents introduced us to their new hobby, geocaching. If you haven't tried it, you should...it's a blast! We treked all over the peninsula using the handheld GPS to discover hidden treasure. This is a cache that Casey found hidden in the pine needles under a tree.

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

We've been enjoying some nice 80-85 degree weather this week. No one on the peninsula has air conditioning, so everyone pretty much spends their days at the beach when it's this hot. This is the Carmel River Beach where the river runs into the ocean.

The kids are hiking up to the cross on the hill.

School pics for downloading

I will be putting the kids school pictures in Christmas cards next month, but here's a preview. Aren't they beautiful?

Proud parent of an honor roll student

Sorry these pictures are so dark, but this is Kyla showing off her Honor Roll Certificate and Perfect Attendance Award.
Kyla received her awards and bumper sticker from her Vice Principal.

Kyla read her award before enjoying a cookie and punch party to celebrate her achievements. We are so very proud of our daughter!

Here is the token kitty picture of our baby boys.

Big Sur Half Marathon

Brandon and I ran in the Big Sur Half Marathon this morning. We took our camera in the car, but the battery went dead, so here's a picture of us once we got home. It was so much fun and we can't wait to run our next one. I was so proud of myself that I didn't have to stop and use the bathroom halfway though....that was my greatest fear!! We didn't get our official chip time yet, but by Brandon's GPS watch, we did the 13.1 in 2:25. Brandon will be running the full marathon in April....I think I'll just cheer him on from the sideline!

My Mini Politician

I'm always proud of my kids, but I have to say that I have been extra impressed with Casey's quest for knowledge lately. For the past several weeks, he has been very interested in the election coverage and we always spend our morning ride to school in a political discussion....prompted by him. He always has so many questions and wanted to know every detail about what the candidates thought about issues that are important to him. With a dad who is always in danger of going to Iraq at any moment, it's especially important to him for that reason. Casey patiently sat and waited as the electoral votes were counted tonight and jumped for joy when it finally reached 270. More important than who won, he was just proud to be a part of the process. When the message was posted, "Obama Elected President" Casey's exact words were, "we're making history here". I couldn't agree more.

Happy Halloween!

The alien and witch prepare for trick-or-treating.
Kyla had decided earlier in the week that she was too old to trick-or-treat, but changed her mind once she saw how excited "the alien" was.

Daddy decided to sport a glow-in-the-dark necklace and bracelet for the occasion.

What a haul!

This is Skippy Jon's fancy face. He is seriously rocking the bow tie in this picture. This is another one of his many costumes.

Kyla tried on the fancy face too. We had a fun night...Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy Birthday, Kyla!!!

Our baby girl turned 14 this week....that's right, I said "baby girl". I'm having a little trouble cutting the apron strings!
We are so proud of our precious girl! Her main request this year was for a skateboard, so she has been enjoying trying out this new hobby.

Casey dressed up the cats in their fancy halloween costumes. A few scratches and bites later, we finally had the chin strap fastened. What a cute little punkin head (the cat doesn't look half bad either).

Ollie was having none of the costume action, so poor Skip had to model both costumes. What a good sport.