Batt speaks some arabic and plays some soccer

Well, its been a few weeks since the last blog - things have been pretty quiet lately with Justin being so focused on school. We do have good news to report in that area though - Justin passed the first major test with flying colors and a compliment from his teacher!

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is one of Justin's homework assignments (all that writing is his!)

One thing we have been spending quite a bit of time doing is attending Justin's soccer games a few times per week. He is on the Marine Corps soccer team (in the league there is 1 marine corps team, one navy team, a few air force, and a few army teams). Tonight the Marines came back from being down 3-1 at the half to end the game and go into overtime. After all the penalty kicks, the Marines came away with the win, making their current record 3-0.

Here is Hunter enjoying the game. (yes, that is a GORGEOUS view of the bay behind the field) (and yes, we need jackets in mid-August, Monterey is THAT awesome :o)

And here is Justin about to make his penalty kick...

That's all for now!

Power-Wheel Buddies

Just thought I'd post a picture and a video of Hunter and his buddy Brandon on their power-wheels. This is pretty much what they do all afternoon, every day. They'll ride for a few minutes, switch bikes, ride for a few minutes, switch, etc...

Batts Eat Some Garlic -

Another fabulous thing about Monterey - we are about 40 minutes away from Gilroy, the garlic capitol of the world! On Saturday we had the pleasure of attending the 31st annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.

In this tent, they were having a garlic chicken stir-fry cook-off... the smell was seriously amazing!!

This booth had lots of samples to try - we had garlic bbq sauce, garlic horse radish, and best (and maybe weirdest) of all, garlic jelly! The jelly was surprisingly sweet, and can be used many different ways, including as a finishing glaze for chicken.

Another amazing and unexpected treat - garlic ice cream! It was vanilla and roasted garlic, and again, surprisingly sweet and delicious!!

Of course, we had to check out the rides as well. Our good friends (and lucky for us, our next door neighbors as well!) Joined us at the festival. Here in a teacup are Hunter, Kaitlyn, and Brandon....

Probably my favorite food at the festival - beer battered garlic fries... these were not just garlic fries, these were GARLIC fries! All those white dots you see in the picture below - straight up garlic - amazing!!!

Hunter wasn't overly thrilled with all the garlic, but he did enjoy a lovely fruit smoothie!







And lastly, mushrooms! Garlic marinated mushrooms...mmmmm

And garlic stuffed mushrooms!!

It was a very fun day (not to mention extremely tasty!!)

Inside the Batt House

Here are some pictures of the downstairs in our new house...

Little Batt goes 4-Wheeling

Hunter's 4th Birthday came a little early this year - in 4-wheeler form. It is still really difficult, and a lot of hard work for Hunter to ride a regular bike, so we decided to go for a vehicle that would provide him with some fun, freedom and SPEED! Last night we came back outside after dinner for a little more riding, and as Hunter was coming down the hill he was yelling "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!" - I think its a hit :o)

We have a dirt hill at the back of the house which provides perfect power-wheels terrain:

Needless to say, this is what we will be doing every afternoon for the foreseeable future :o)

Charley Joins the Batt Family

Before the movers ever came we went out in search of a canine addition to our family. We found Charley, a sweet little guy who was rescued in Northern California on May 8. He was found on the side of the road with barbed wire around his neck, taken to the San Jose shelter, and scheduled to be put to sleep the next morning. Luckily a wonderful lady with a Yorkie rescue snatched him up that evening and took him in. He is a super sweet, extremely mellow dog - a wonderful addition to our family!

All Settled In

It has been one month since we left Camp Pendleton - time to catch up on the blog! After a little old fashioned fit-throwing, we were able to secure housing two weeks ahead of schedule, on June 11. The movers came a few days later, but the internet didn't get set up until June 29....

Anyhow, here is the new house - interior pictures to be posted when the house is clean again... :o)