Vacation Bible School

We just finished up our final day of VBS today. We had five fun-filled days of crafts, snacks, singing, and most important of all, exploring God's Word.

The first grade "coconuts" earned the most points on Tuesday, so the leaders in our group, including Kyla, had to wear (I mean, were privileged to wear) grass skirts the following day.

All 3 of us made many friends this week, young and old. This is one of Kyla's special friends, Hannah. Hannah was one of about 10 children in our group alone that surrendered their lives to the Lord this week. It was a privilege and honor to see so many children earnestly seeking Christ.

The picture isn't zoomed in very far, but Casey is the cute one in the front row with the green hat. You can click on the pic to enlarge. He was a "gecko" this week and memorized 5 new verses from the Bible. He also learned all of the books of the Old and New Testament through a song which they performed for the parents.

Tonight we performed our VBS program for the parents and then enjoyed some ice cream! It was a great week and I was truly blessed to be a part of it.

My two little buddies

I definitely do not have a green thumb, but apparently my children do. Kyla's gardening project for this summer was to try and grow carrots. I wasn't sure how well they would do in sand, but we mixed in a bag of potting soil and.....voila! Kyla was pretty proud of her carrots, and they were actually quite tasty! We were also able to have a handful of sugar snap peas with dinner the other night from our makeshift garden.

Brandon has been away for a couple of weeks, and sometimes those separations can make Casey a little sad and clingy. To cheer him up one night and help him sleep, I told him that when I get lonely for daddy and can't sleep, I close my eyes and imagine disco ducks jumping over a fence (my little version of counting sheep). You see, Brandon's new fantasy football name for this year is "Disco Ducks". Not only does this name make us laugh, but it also helps us think about dad while he's gone. It kind of turned from a funny idea to a private joke between Casey and I. We laugh everytime we see or hear anything about disco or ducks now. This is a picture of Casey in his bubbly "disco hair".

Lovely Utah

When I downloaded my most recent pictures from our camera, I realized that there were some more Utah pictures on there that I had forgotten about from one of our last days on vacation. This is a four generation picture of my grandma, mom, myself, and Kyla in Zion.

Kyla and Casey explored the hyroglyphs with their great-grandmother and my dad.

This is our literal "family tree". If there are any environmentalists in the crowd, I caution that this image may be disturbing. When my parents first got married, they carved their initials in this tree (KM + LM) up in the Cedar mountains. Years later, the boys and I carved our names in the tree below our parents initials. Brandon's initials were next, and every few years we visit the tree and carve the initials of each new member. Casey's name was added this trip.

Southern Utah Part 2 (The Narrows)

I decided to devote an entire blog posting to my favorite part of the Utah trip, Zion National Park. I have fond memories of Zion as a child, and try to make a trip up there everytime we go to Utah. We decided to hike "The Narrows" which is a natural trail cut into the canyon by the Virgin River. Most parts of the hike are through ankle high up to waist high water, with some dry rocks on the sides in places. We hiked for 5 hours round-trip, and were so proud of our two little troopers. Kyla and Casey didn't complain once and hiked through that water like champs, just as well as the adults. The pictures don't do it justice, but give you a small glimpse into the beauty of Zion.

Here are the boys and Kyla hiking up the narrow canyon.

My boy.

Kyla and Casey in one of the few dry resting spots.

I took this vertical picture to try and show the true beauty of the canyon. The mountain walls go so high up on either side, letting in only a little sunlight in a few places. That is my mom there in the middle. At this point in the hike, we were virtually alone because we had hiked so far in. It was a long, tiring hike, but well worth it!

Southern Utah

This blog posting will probably have to drag on for a while because there is no way I can capture the beauty of Southern Utah with a couple of pictures. We had a very special visit with my parents, my brother Dusty, and my brother Cory. Rather than post a long narrative of what we did during our week long visit, I will just post several pictures with short captions. The quote of the week was from Casey: "When I think that heaven is better than Utah, I get really excited"......I agree.
Here we are visiting the old ghost town in a place called Grafton. My maternal grandma, Carole Beardall, came along with us.

Here I am with my mom and dad in front of the lake near our campsite in Pine Valley.

Brandon using the jet ski to splash all of us on my grandpa's boat on Quail Lake. I had to put the camera away permanently after this photo!

Dusty drove his jet skis all the way from Illinois for all of us to enjoy. Here he is teaching Casey how to ride on Quail Lake.

Casey bonded with my mom's new kitten, Katie. We were very surprised to see how big Abby seemed after playing with such a small kitty all week!

We spent two days and one night "roughing it" at a wonderful campsite up in the Pine Valley Mountains. We took my cousin Tanner along along with us.

Summer Vacation

We have just finished up three back-to-back weeks of great family fun. We spent the first two weeks of our vactation with Brandon's parents and the Ferguson's. It was so great to show our family around the Monterey Peninsula and enjoy some great memories together. Having our nephew and niece (Grant and Sophia) here was the highlight of the trip. It was so special to spend time with them and see them interact with Kyla and Casey. This is the best picture I could get of the four of them.........check out Sheryl's blog for a much better one!

The boys enjoyed a few hours on the sea cod fishing.

This is Sophia and one of her many expressions. She has the most adorable faces and quotes of any two-year-old I have ever met. It was such a joy spending time with her and Grant during this visit.

This is Brandon and his parents at Lover's Point in Pacific Grove.

Pictures of our time in Utah coming soon..........

MORRISSEY!!!

Brandon came to my classroom last week and surprised me with Morrissey (only the most brilliant songwriter and singer ever) concert tickets. I can't remember the last time I was that excited! The surprise involved a whirlwind weekend trip to Phoenix, Arizona. I have to say that the 105 degree heat was not at all what we are used to! After our section in the concert hall was closed, we were upgraded to front row seats! We had fun messing around with Brandon in the hotel room after an exhausting, yet amazing weekend. That was a weekend I will remember for a long time! Boy oh boy does my man love me!

Jake and Abby boy held down the fort while we were gone. Our two old men!

I am truly blessed!

On Mother's Day, I can't help but reflect on how blessed I am as a mother and wife. I live with the three most amazing people and I thank God everyday for allowing me to parent two fantastic kids with a partner that fits me like a glove.

Okay, it's time to brag:

Kyla competed in the special olympics this month and did a great job. She competed in the mile run, long jump, and softball throw. Her teachers were excited to put her in as the runner to represent their school because she's so fast!

Casey was recently accepted into the GATE program for next year. He was assessed with a 3-part test that determined he is in the top 98th percentile in the district for IQ and creative learning. He will be attending a pull-out program every Thursday next year at the middle school along with some other classmates in the district to challenge his special mind.

Last but not least, Brandon made the promotion list for Chief Warrant Officer 3! This is an amazing accomplishment for him at such a young age. He works very hard in his position and is an excellent leader. He will be promoted within the year and I am so proud of him.

My boys!

One Adventure After Another

Last weekend, we had a pretty adventuresome and tiring weekend. On Saturday, we went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA, which is a cross between a zoo, Sea World and Six Flags. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we watched animal shows, rode roller coasters and ate junk food.

Casey made friends with Green Lantern and Flash. We didn't even know Flash was in the picture because he ran into the picture real fast and ran back out without us knowing. Ah, but he's not fast enough to do that and keep his eyes open! Ha!

On Sunday, I rode a bike alongside 12,000 marathon runners for over 26 miles at the Big Sur International Marathon. The route went alongside some beautiful California coastline. I'm sure the runners were comforted by knowing if their heart gave out, I was ready to give them a jumpstart with my fancy jumper cables. The experience did inspire me to make a pledge to actually run the marathon next year, starting with a half marathon in September.

We're back!

Okay, we're back! So, we lost our digital camera on a camping trip to a California reservoir (we think) and we have been chugging away at our weekly routines, so it took us awhile to get back to the blog. First, Casey wanted to show off his black eye. He was playing an aggressive game of dodgeball and a boy accidentally konked heads with Casey. Casey ended up with a shiner and the other boy had a big goose egg on his head.

Since we haven't really done anything noteworthy since buying the replacement digital camera, I thought it would be fun to look back. As you can see below, Casey has always been my little buddy.

"I know you told your Momma that you weren't going to eat this baby mush, but maybe you could eat it for me since us boys have to stick together. Then I can tell your Momma nah-nee-nah-nee-boo-boo."

Here is a family photo from when we were stationed at Fort Leonard Wood.
Misty through her teeth: "Snap the dog gone photo before my boy takes off again and I have a melt down like you have never seen!"

Sorry for the delay!

Dear family and friends,

We apologize for the delay in posting lately. We lost our digital camera recently and have searched high and low to no avail. We didn't know where we lost it so we have been dragging our feet on buying a new one hoping the old one would show up. Well a couple of weeks later, it is still lost. We decided to buy a new one so there should be some new pictures and posts soon!

Fun with the Mendenhalls

We had a wonderful visit with my family this week. We packed a lot of sight seeing into 3 short days! We also had a blast playing games and just enjoying each other's company. I especially enjoyed getting to know know my new sister-in-law, Jenny. She is a fantastic person and a great wife for my baby brother.

At the rocky beach we found several starfish, sea anemones, and urchins. Pete also climbed out to get a closer look at some seals. We had a rare treat and saw two dolphins passing by as we climbed on the rocks.

We took the family to one of our new favorite places, the sand dunes. Kyla showed grandma how much fun it can be to sled down the hill. She forgot to mention how steep the climb is to get back out!

T-Bones, Haircuts & a Fun Run

It's been so long since our last posting, I bet most haven't even seen Misty's new hair-do! Here is a pic of Misty and the kids right before we went on a 1.5 mile fun run with the kids at the school that Misty & Casey go to. Kyla rocked out on her mp3 player as we finished the run in 12 minutes, 11 seconds as a family. Later, they had a raffle drawing and I won a $15 gift certificate to Chili's and Misty won a baseball lunchbox! How could one family be so lucky?

The other day, we decided to go by the Commissary and each pick out something to throw on the barbque grill. Casey insisted on picking out a huge $10 t-bone steak, and I couldn't decide between a pork steak and a t-bone, so I let him get it, thinking that I could get my pork steak and help him finish off the t-bone. (yup, that's how I think) Unfortunately for me, Casey ate the entire steak! Here is a pic of him finishing off the last bite! This from a guy who usually doesn't even finish a PB&J!



The weather here has been beautiful! We have been enjoying getting out in the sunshine. Jake loves to go to the beach with us. In this pic, he is getting impatient with me because he wants me to throw the football in the water so he can go after it. He acts like a puppy at the beach.

Casey's Birthday

Okay, so it's been awhile since I last updated so maybe I will just put up three posts all at once to catch up. Too bad I can't back date them or something to make it seem like I am better at keeping up with this than I am.

Casey had a great 9th birthday! We had a little party at home and then went to a mall in Santa Clara, CA, that had a Build-A-Bear Workshop and Casey and Kyla built bears. The mall was one of the biggest malls I have ever been to, and we had a great time.

Casey was very greatful to everyone who sent him birthday money. He ended up with $70, which is a huge amount for a 9 year old. He added $5 from his allowance and bought a Lego Star Wars set that he had been admiring for a long time, but didn't think he would ever afford with his allowance. He is just like his dad & grandpa, his money tends to burn a hole in his pocket!

Kyla & Casey worked together for several hours (while Misty and I went out on a date) and completed the kit, which had several hundred pieces. Its really amazing how well they work together. Since Kyla is such a great babysitter, Misty and I went out for a Mexican dinner and bowling.

Casey is working on his surfer boy hairdo, but it's getting a little out of control. He wanted to see if he could still grow little blond curls like he had when he was a baby. Poor Casey had to miss some school this week (and so did I!!) due to a horrible rash all over his body. He's healing up pretty well now though. From boy...........

To MAN!!!

Kyla is now officially about 1 inch taller than I am and wears a full size bigger shoes. She got a cute little teddy bear from her friend Xavier for Valentine's Day. She has been enjoying middle school and her progress reports show what a great student she is.

My favorite people enjoying some fun in the sun.

Bonding

Without family and friends close by to lean on, we have really been bonding and enjoying some quality family time here in Monterey. Every weekend is a new adventure for the four of us, and we have been enjoying each other's company very much. One of our new favorite activities is tennis. (Of course I forgot to take the camera, so you get a "sit on the couch" picture....another favorite Owens family activity). We aren't that great......yet.......but we sure enjoy the time together learning a new skill (the tennis I mean, not the sitting...). It's so much fun having Kyla and Casey at the age where we can do fun things like that.

Well, I had a request to post a picture of my new Fantasy Football trophy on the blog. I am not one to dissappoint my fans, so here it is.....in all its glory. Pretty snazzy, huh? I'm egotistical enough to brag that I beat my husband (#1 football fanatic), my one and only (and favorite) brother-in-law (another football freak), not to mention several other manly men. Not bad for a girl. I plan to rub it in their faces every chance I get! Watch out for next year boys....I'm already getting all studied up!

Into the New Year

The big news in our house is that Kyla now has braces. At first she thought it would be really cool to have braces, but then she got them put on. Now, she realizes its a little uncomfortable, but she still has the prettiest silver smile I ever saw. She has to wear them for the next year and a half. At least now they have these cool colors you can add to them every time she goes in for an appointment. The dog gone things should play mp3's with as much as they cost!


As for Casey, he was watching TV this morning and has come up with a new career idea. He saw John Walsh on a commercial and now thinks it would be great to work for the Center of "Missing and Exploded Children". He says he doesn't know what it is, but it sounds cool!

Over the last month, I had more time off than I knew what to do with and I was glad to get back to the grind. That is, until I went back to the grind. When is my next vacation? Well, at least it's NFL playoff weekend and my plan to transform Misty into a football fanatic worked to such perfection that we are both counting down the minutes to kickoff.

While mom was here, she taught us how to play canasta and now we play it just about every free chance we have. The problem is that Misty is a little bit better at it than I am and we are both learning what a poor loser I can be. Any canasta wizards out there need to email me their tips because my pride is on the line. I have already had to fake sneeze, fake choke, and even had a fake seizure to mess up all the cards on the table when things were looking bad. I'm running out of material!