The "Joys" of Military Life

As with every Summer the military movers get a lot of business.  This year is no different. We have seen our share of moving trucks come and go, however, this year the mover were right outside my window.  Yes our neighbors moved!  It is always hard to say goodbye but it really hit home with the kids having to say goodbye to a good friend.  Maggie was a great friend to Ashlyn.  The kids didn't seem to understand what the goodbyes were all about.  But as for Nicki and I we knew that the chance of us really meeting up again are slim.  There were tears shared among friends and hopes that some day our paths will meet again.  It was a twist of fate that we were neighbors here.  We were friends in Hawaii and last year they became our neighbors.  The girls were always playing together running from one door to the next.  Nothing is sweeter then the laughter of the two girls playing.   I am sure Ashlyn won't remember this time but I think of all the other goodbyes she will remember but of course the military family depends heavily on the memories and hopefully those will be of all the good times and places we have visited.  The pictures are the our farewell outing with Nicki and pictures of the girls.

On the same day, I got word from another military spouse that she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She is of course many miles away and I couldn't be there to comfort her.  It was great to see all the response of military families wishing her well in her journey back to good health.   This made me realize that miles can't separated friends that we meet along the way. 

So yes the military life is hard but we are stronger because of it and we have learned different way to cope.  

Summer Time is going by fast!

Summer is fading fast and we have been out every chance we get.  Monterey never really has a summer. The hottest we have seen here is in the upper 70's and most days can range from 50-60's. So yes we have to keep a sweater handy even in the summer.  However, just 30 minutes away the summers are very warm.  We have recently visited a amusement park in Gilroy where the temperature topped out at 95 degrees.  

Last weekend it was a nice day so all the neighbor got the kids in their swim suits and we have a water fun day out on our front lawn not to mention the last moment BBQ.  We always have to have food ready in this neighborhood.  Lastly we are getting ready for the August.  Ashlyn will start Pre-School in mid-August.  Then we will be enjoying the company of my family soon.  

Big Sur Fires

I know the Big Sur Fires have gotten a lot of attention for the national media. Big Sur is about 20 miles from our house and it very disheartening that this beautiful area is suffering from the blaze. Currently we are not in an evacuation zone but we are feeling the effects of the fires. Daily we watch the black smoke fill our skies, white flumes of smoke bellowing up and watching the natural wildlife of Big Sur search for new home. Our community has seen 4 hawks nesting in our trees and owls perching on lines. From working in the community, I know people who had to leave their home on mandatory evacuations.

We have been fortunate that we have been able to hike the areas that are now engulfed by the flames. I wanted to share some of the pictures from our hike this spring to let you experience the beauty and marvel for Big Sur. Please pray for the fire fighters and national guard that are working day in and out to contain these fires.

4th Of July

We hope that everyone had a great 4th of July.  We got to enjoy beautiful weather here in Monterey.  The neighborhood got together to throw a party which include a bike parade and bounce house which started at 1030 and didn't end until the fireworks ended around 2200.  We have a full day of fun.  Check out Ashlyn riding her bike without training wheels.

I saw a t-shirt yesterday and it made me stop (remember we are Army!!); the front read Got Freedom?  and the back stated "Thank the U.S. Army." It made me take a moment and think while we celebrate the 4th there are hundreds of thousand solider defending our freedom.  Thank you and God Speed.

Vacation 2008

We are happy to announce that we made it through our first non-American vacation.  Of course, the adventure started when we had to get Ashlyn a passport.  She was so proud to show it off to the ticket ladies to get on the airplane.  We have a great trip down to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  We arrived in darkness so Ashlyn didn't see the 3 pools plus the lazy river around the hotel but boy to her surprise the next morning when we woke up.  From then on she was in the pool by 10am each morning and remain there until about 6'ish each night (except for a 2 hour nap -- more like she passed out).  Ashlyn really improved on her swimming.  She will now jump in and swim about 10 feet without any assistance.  This gave Chris and I more time to order food and drinks for the aqua bar and to work on our tan.  We did get to go into the city twice and enjoying shopping and some local site seeing.  Each night at the hotel there was local entertainment.  Ashlyn loved to dance to the music. Everyone on the resort knew her as the "dancing girl."  Lastly, we were able to enjoy some animal life on our resort there were at least 4 iguanas, 2 peacocks and 2 baby peacocks, in addition to the 2 all white peacocks.  There was a few cats that hung out at the pool each day which of course made us miss our four legged creatures here at home.  So we were sad to have to leave beautiful weather and how Ashlyn would say "her new home" but the difficulties in the airport made us happy to finally make it home.  

Enjoy the pictures from our vacation and I highly recommend a nice relaxing vacation to each of you.