17 Mile Drive Photos

At the highest point of the drive.

The water rolled in so quickly that he didn't have time to run.

Micah really enjoyed the views and taking it all in I think.

Posing.

Her shell she found on the beach.

Leaving, I thought the trees were pretty along the road.

The Christmas Post

Christmas was wonderful this year. It was the first year Mackenzie could really get excited about everything and experience the "magic" that comes with the holiday. I loved every minute of singing Christmas songs, baking cookies, wrapping gifts, seeing lights, decorating, stuffing stockings, Christmas movies, making memories, sharing the meaning of Christmas with Mackenzie.. it's just the best season overall. I am already looking forward to Christmas season 2012!

I felt silly as Nathaniel informed me of something the other night. I usually make up some elaborate story to tell Mackenzie at bed time although I took the chance to tell her about Christmas a few nights ago. Nathaniel walks in and hears me telling Mackenzie that Jesus Christ was born on that day and we are truly celebrating His birth and he tells me "Oh, His birth wasn't actually on Christmas Day." Apparently I have been living under a rock and just haven't been informed of this, so obviously I went straight to Google because Google knows it all, right? Anyways- went to read on several sites about what Nathaniel told me and felt so embarrassed wondering how I never knew.

Anyways- Christmas Eve and Day were a blast. We went to Candy Cane Lane Christmas Eve night and it's so amazing how the entire neighborhood joins in on this tradition. I would definitely love to be apart of a neighborhood like that one day! It's so festive and fun. We watched Mr. Popper's Penguins and The Grinch, both of which Kenzie had no interest in. She loves her Barney Christmas and that's about it. Micah also accepted one of Nathaniel's random challenges of running up one of the steepest hills in our neighborhood and that was something. I don't think Micah expected it to go as far as it did. Poor guy, he's a sport though. 

Kenzie opened her Christmas jammies before she went to bed as well, something we were all supposed to participate in but did five days ago. She received a call from Santa (Nathaniel) before she went night night also and loved it. She's so cute when she is being bashful. We tracked Santa all day as well and that was fun! 

Christmas morning Mackenzie woke up at 8am and headed to the Christmas tree to see what Santa had brought her. She was not a happy girl but a very sleepy, cranky girl. She had her moment and then we revealed the Play Kitchen Santa brought her and she was suddenly better :). Sweet sweet girl! She explored for a few minutes and we let her open the rest of her gifts. ABC Flashcards, a few books, Dora Stickers, Dora Nail Polish, Clothing. She was so grateful and excited. I don't think she knew what to do with all this excitement. We showed her the stocking Santa filled for her which has M&Ms, Goldfish crackers and Dora bubble bath.. yes my daughter LOVES Dora. (Side note: Mackenzie has a "Dora-dar" and can spot Dora ANYWHERE we go, I am not kidding.. it's the craziest thing.) We let her help us open our gifts to each other also which was fun.. what child doesn't love ripping paper? Nathaniel received Nike Army Boots from his Grandparents, brother David, my mother and I. He loves them so much and is very thankful because now his feet will be able to breathe. Yay for that. Nathaniel surprised me with an electric kettle. It quickly boils up to seven cups of water which is perfect for all my morning hot cocoa and oatmeal. It was so thoughtful of him and I love it. Micah received his stocking surprises in one of Nathaniel's army socks which was funny. He got SLAP energy drink, puff corn, jellybeans, yogurt pretzels and M&M's. He has consumed everything but the M&M's as well. Haha :) He is a teenage boy so it's to be expected.

Mackenzie Christmas Morning

Mackenzie opening a special gift.

Nathaniel opening his boots :)

We also began potty training again today. She is one uninterested girl when it comes to that potty and we have tried several different things. I think it's just going to take time with her. She is getting the concept better each try though. Hopefully tomorrow will have positive results :)!

We plan on taking Micah on the famous 17 Mile Drive tomorrow afternoon. I hear it is one of the most beautiful drives in the United States. Nathaniel is planning on taking him on the Stairway to Heaven as well. All I really know about it is that it's a hike up a very steep mountain. Micah is so excited for it though, he is ready for adventure. We want to go Whale watching and to the Fisherman's Wharf this upcoming week too. Hopefully we will fit it all into our schedule. Nathaniel only has flag duty every morning from 6:40am to 7:30am which is wonderful! I am so grateful that he gets to spend more time with us and have a break. I am sure he is going to start spending a lot of his time reviewing French for his upcoming test next semester. He will do great :)!

We missed our families and friends this week but are so glad they are doing well and got to spend the holiday with one another. 

This week a very sweet woman passed away, Susan Penman. She was a mentor to me from the time she showed up at my house when I was twelve inviting me to join her and the other ladies in Young Women's. She always had time for everyone and was a fantastic leader. She was so sweet to my husband and daughter and I cherish every memory I have of her. I love and miss you Sister Penman and you will always hold a place in my heart.Susan Muncey Penman

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty

GUESS WHAT!

MOMMY DID MY NAILS AND I AM SO HAPPY! 

That's All :)

Running Adventures

I am hurting from today's adventures. We took Micah on a run down to Cannery Row and Lover's Point Park. It was a lot of fun although I am feeling the pain from the hills. Here's a map of our run/walk. 

Cannery Row has a lot of tourist shops, candy stores and restaurants. It's located on the coast of Monterey Bay and is really nice to walk around. It's maybe a mile or mile and a half from Lover's Point Park. The park has a lot of rocks you can climb and Nathaniel and Micah had fun with that. There were a lot of squirrels that wanted attention. They were so cute! One, who we named Tooth, had a tooth probably an inch and a half long that curled. It was pretty creepy. Mackenzie loved feeding the birds and squirrels as long as they stayed at a distance.  

On the way back, Micah and Nathaniel took off running back up the hill home and Kenzie and I took our sweet time. She ended up falling asleep from her long morning. I was so happy when we got back home. I would like to go on the run more though, it is a challenge but I would like to be able to run the whole thing and keep up with my in shape Army husband. 

First Days At Fort Jackson

A few months ago I joined the Army and it has been a blessing; I will summarize my time in the majestic fort Jackson. I left for fort Jackson early on a Monday morning it was very sad to say goodbye to Mackenzie and Marcy knowing that Mackenzie wouldn't understand why I vanished from her life.  I went and stayed the night in a nice hotel in Tampa, Florida. Everyone there and all through basic believes every word their recruiter tells them and feels the need to brag about their MOS.  Unfortunately for all of them, they couldn't comprehend that in fact mine was the best one.  Most of the conversations began the same way those days; You talk to a lot of people from everywhere they always ask, "Where you going and what's your MOS?" I laugh usually... oh- I am this/that or I am EOD.... I am thinking to myself "Explosive ordinance?? Yeah that's awesome.. "I am a water purification specialist"..." need I say more...Anyways- On a tangent best day in basic was when  a kid in front of everyone in the company asked the first sergeant what he thought about his job as a water purification specialist and the DS said, "I could do your FU&* job, put tablets in water, done... your job is the biggest waste of money... well you and the army marching band...  How long did you sign up for solider?" The private says 6 years... First sergeant says, "holy crap!!!! Your screwed..". And i am thinking, "That kid is really regretting his decision right now".

Back on track- Tuesday morning we swore in again and began our full day of traveling to South Carolina.  I flew from Tampa to fort Jackson with a couple of guys, a few I would like and one I would grow to hate.  We arrived in Atlanta and ate our last meal at an expensive restaurant  paid for by uncle Sam. I really hated it and I was very disappointed.  Next we hopped on a bus ride I will never forget. The bus driver played awesome boot leg copies of movies in theater but that was only to distract us from the mortal danger we were in going 90 plus miles in a charter bus on a highway which makes trying to sleep impossible and my heart was racing 180 beats a minute.   By the time we reached Jackson my arm hurt from gripping my sit. I had been up since 4 o clock that morning it was now 10 o clock at night and my day was just beginning.

We got off the bus and lined up and we were one giant assembly line for the next 3 days.  Paperwork wait wait wait wait paperwork wait wait wait paperwork wait wait wait paperwork. You look around and see all the other kids and judge them on how red neck or hood they look not knowing how close you would become or how much you wished you sacked tapped him before he opened his mouth.  anywho We were asked constantly if we wanted to go home or if we brought anything illegal and were threatened with all kinds of stuff if we were lying and then we lined up and were handed our pt uniforms and were told to form up outside.  By this time it was 3 in the morning we got lectured by the drill sergeants for awhile till finally and 4 o clock in the morning we were allowed to go put our stuff up in our bunks. I think i called marcy i don't know for sure we didn't lose our phones till we got to the real basic. After we dropped our stuff off next to our beds we looked at them said goodbye went downstairs and for half an hours tried to line up in a numerical order. It was embarrassing how bad my group was at lining up in formation numbered from 1 -287 and the drill sergeants were getting pissed off. They aren't really know for their patients.  After that we marched about a quarter mile to ear breakfast and the 287 of us ate in about 15 minutes. I was stilling dieting then from before basic so for the first week i was good about limiting my calories but after that i ate everything i could like it was my last meal and it's still a habit i fight today.  After that we were marched one place to the next waiting for hours at a time to doing medial tasks like hair cuts 3 hours waiting for boots 2 hours waiting for uniforms.. eat.... no talking.... no talking... shut up or else...... if you open you mouths one more time i will make all of you stand up for the next 3 hours..... don't thank me thank your recruiter... sorry?? what??? you saying i am a sorry drill sergeant?? I am a damn good drill sergeant... so on and so forth.  Sometime during that day that never ended went to the doctor hearing checks blood takin dental exrays i really can't remember it all i was so exhausted.  Finally i got to hit my bed for about 4 hours. I was really good about doing pushups even being tired before bed i was mediocre going in to basic but i wasn't when i left. The finally morning their was when they lined us up and you walked around a room the size of a elementary school cafeteria and every 10 paces or so someone stuck you in your right arm left arm right should left shoulder. Swab Prick, Swab Prick... Ohh your bleeding clean that up.. Crap the needle broke got to give you another one.. Finally we grabbed all our stuff we were issued loaded in a truck and waited with very little enthusiasm for the buses to come to finally deliver us to basic.  We didn't know which was worse going there or staying in processing.  Either option for very unpleasant most of decided we rather get smoked by drill sergeant then sit one more second to wait to go get yelled at by drill sergeants so we just wanted to go and get this whole mess over with... 5 hours of waiting and finally get on the bus drill sergeant that would be my drill sergeant for next 3 months told us all to put our faces in our heavy bags we were carrying and shut up and not to look up till he told us to.  I was very unhappy the bus ride was short it was a feeling i would get used to the bus rides were always disappointing in their length.  We get to our little corner of fort jackson that would become my home and then the shark attack began!...!!....!!!!....!!!!!..!!!!!!!

-Nathaniel

Ain't No Party Like a Jammie Party

Anyone in Nathaniel's family knows that he is horrible about waiting until Christmas to give the gifts he bought for others. That's what led to all the Christmas Eve presents (pajamas) being opened five days early. Micah also didn't bring any pajamas with him and has been sleeping in jeans and even though he said he was comfy, I just wanted to make sure he was super comfy cozy. 

Micah and Nathaniel both received Gears of War 3 jammies which is so appropriate since they have been playing many hours since Micah got here. They look SO cute! 

Nathaniel got me cute, comfy pj's too! They are so warm which is wonderful for these Monterey nights. It gets chilly. 

Kenzie has jammies under the tree still from Santa, she will be excited to know Santa came over while she was asleep. I am sure she is going to be sad to miss him! Nathaniel wasn't able to celebrate Kenzie's actual birthday so he got her a little belated present. She is being spoiled this December for sure. We love her though and she has been a good girl. 

I am excited to share with her all that Christmas means and just have a wonderful day with her, Nathaniel and Micah. It's going to be a great day. Five more days!

 Watch Micah open his present.

Watch Nathaniel open his present. 

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Mackenzie's 2nd Birthday

December 16, 2009

Happy Birthday to my sweet, precious girl! We had a blast celebrating her special day and it's not over yet. 

Birthday Breakfast

On the 15th, we celebrated early because the Army gave Nathan CQ duty today from 8am Friday until 8am Saturday. Lame. We made the most of it though. We had lunch at our favorite place in Monterey, Dynasty Restaurant. Kenzie loves their rice and the carrots in the salad. We then went to Dennis the Menace Park and no one was there so we had this huge park all to ourselves which was fun. Mackenzie went down, I think, every slide there. She ran, jumped, climbed and all those other fun things kids do at the park. She always has fun. 

We headed to Jump-N-Around next to jump! They were just opening and no one else was there, the manager actually ended up leaving us alone there while he ran errands. It was so much fun!! She wore herself out jumping and rolling around. She ended up climbing up this pretty big wall all by herself too! We were so proud of her and she was proud of her accomplishment. It's the little things :). 

Today, her actual birthday, I woke her up singing Happy Birthday and she loved feeling so special. We spent the morning singing and dancing to Glee music and Chipmunk Christmas music. She had happy face pancakes for breakfast with chocolate and maple syrup (yummy!). She has skyped with her Mammaw and is just having so much fun. She got to take an early bubble bath and play with bath toys, color in her Sesame Street coloring book and sing with Barney's Christmas episode. It's a good day and it's only 11:40am. 

I am most excited to take her to the airport tonight to pick up Uncle Micah. She is going to be SOOO happy to 1. See Micah and 2. See Airplanes! It's going to be a happy day. Whenever I get the car back I am going to take her shopping and to see the Ocean. 

 Check out my youtube for videos of birthday fun :)

I let her redecorate our tree :)

Jingle Bells

 Mackenzie being silly and dancing to Christmas music this morning. 

So Far, So Good

We LOVE Monterey! The weather is ideal for Nathaniel and I, everything is within walking distance and we are just so completely happy. Nathaniel has been buried in French everything, although I think he has learned enough to start enjoying it. I am so impressed by how he well he has learned the language in such a short time. I took two years of French in high school and I think his class covered everything I learned in two weeks. It's a crazy pace of study but he's been handling it without complaint. He recently joined his company's basketball team and I can't wait to cheer him on at his games. 

Mackenzie will be two on Friday. If you ask her, she is turning three. She has her mind made up that she is going to skip over being a two year old. I love her and all the silly things she says and does. She loves to joke around with us, dance and sing. I always say she's my little entertainer. Some of her current toddler loves are Bubba (her rainbow colored caterpillar who she named herself), Justin Bieber's song "Baby", Glee's mash up of "Someone Like you/Rumor Has it" (she knows all the words and mocks their dance moves), everything Christmas, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, singing her ABC's, counting to ten, Skyping with whoever will listen to her or watch her dance, pretending to put Mommy or Daddy to bed (giving us covers, a buddy and saying our prayers), swinging at the park, all animals, coloring.. the list really does go on and on now that I'm starting to type it all out. Her dislikes are going night night, whenever her coloring isn't what she wants it to be, her hands being sticky and Quest Diagnostics. I love her, so so much. I love when she willingly wants to snuggle us so sweetly and give us hugs and kisses. They are the best. I could not ask for a more precious girl.

Army life is definitely different than civilian life although it's growing on me. I am grateful for all the opportunities our family has and will be given throughout the next several years. I'm excited to find out where our First Duty Station will be, so much anticipation to find out where and how long we will be there. I hope it's close to family and friends. I have missed being able to see everyone we love and sharing our lives with them. Skype has been a lifesaver. My brother in law will be visiting over the holiday and we are excited to have him here for a little bit. We plan to enjoy the break and have much needed family time.

Our camera charger went missing so we ordered another and will be able to take videos and pictures again soon. The camera phone pictures aren't that great but they do for now. I'm not that great with keeping up with blogs although now that we are so far from everyone I hope I can keep this one updated. We hope everyone is doing well and can't wait until we get to visit our hometowns again.. Hopefully sometime next year :)