California Dreamin~

(Wow! It has been over a week since I posted these photos here for this post! I am finally getting around to writing about them! I thought my life was suppose to be easier with them all in school;) Why does it suddenly seem I have less time for myself!)


The day before Dean's birthday and with summer winding down we decided to spend a day at the beach...... holding on to summer just a little longer. There was a chill in the air and it was foggy for a good part of the day, but the kids still enjoyed just "hangin out". As I was watching them that day, how comfortable and at home they were rolling in the sand and testing the waters of the cold California coast I realized something. This was our fourth summer spent in California! A very big deal for our family. The longest each of my children have ever lived in one place! The longest before this for the boys was living in Spain for 3 years. We have never spent more than 3 summers somewhere. California is the only home that Faith has any real memory of. She was just shy of turning two when we left England, her first home with us. When we first came to California in the summer of 2005 we really had no clue as to what we were getting into.


We came here on a whim when a good job came up for Dale as he was retiring from the Navy after 21 years. Job searching while overseas was pretty scary so when this job came up we decided to "go for it" just to get settled back in the States. We knew the cost of living in California was high, but it wasn't until we got here that the real shock of it all hit us! Life here in the Golden State definitely has not been easy one! I often joke about the fact that being a Navy wife and enduring long deployments and countless moves was a breeze in comparison to coming to California. We arrived here right in the middle of the big housing boom when homes were literally selling in a matter of minutes of coming out on the market. Little did we know the boom was about to bust just months after buying our home. We were too naive and trusting when it came to the California housing market. We learned our lesson the hard way. Thankfully, we were able to get out of our home a little over a year ago (we are now renting). Even with our big loss we consider it a blessing as we know there are so many other people struggling in the housing market and I really feel for them.


Life here in California has not been an easy one for us! With our housing situation there were times we felt we hit rock bottom..........but we survived it and I know that it is the little things in life that are the most important. So as I watched my kids romp and play on the beach this day in California I kept thinking about everything we have been through in our 4 summers spent here....this place where my children can now call home the longest of any place they have lived. No, we do not plan to stay here and by next summer if everything goes as planned we will be moving on and leaving California behind. But for now we will enjoy all the beauty of California that we have come to love and I know just as all the other places we have lived and called home California will have a special place in our hearts (struggles and all!)..................................

working hard

off to catch some waves............

chasing the seagulls

peaceful moments..........

just chillin! (Faith insisted on wearing this suit of Reed's that he wore when we lived in England. It is way too big on her and it just makes us laugh when she puts it on:)

taking a break

Reed is always finding something

our California gal!

catching some sun

they can do this for hours.................

and hours!

an early message to Dean

I think we spotted a movie star!

Packing up to go

So Long Summer!