Picture Perfect

Matt's last week home we were blessed with insanely gorgeous weather. So we took advantage of his time off and the sunshine and spent family time at Balboa park, picnicing by the water, and at Sea World... all the while sipping on frozen lemonades. We could not have asked for a better send-off week than we had.

Family Fotos

Our church, The Rock, has been an awesome source of support for us here in San Diego. Recently some professional photographers that attend our church decided to donate their talents to those of us in the military. Terry met us at our home, spent an hour photographing our little family, and donated the images - all free of charge. Avery wasn't uber-cooperative, but what a fantastic blessing right before Matt's deployment!!!

Aunt Cari Actually Likes Kids! (ok, maybe just Avery)

Aunt Cari came to visit and we had a fabulous girls weekend. Avery just couldn't give her enough kisses!

Photoshopping

I have always wondered how the professional photags make their images look crisp, almost vintage. Found a tutorial online tonight and tried my hand at it... fun!

Sail Away

If you know my dad, you know he's a sailor. My childhood memories include many an afternoon sailing the San Diego bay with my family. Of all the good things my dad has given me, one of them is certainly a love for the open water and a good breeze. Deciding to get a proper sailing education, I recently completed a small boat certfication course. This Sunday was beautiful, so I gathered my handsome deckhand and spent a couple hours practicing my skills! It was a great excuse to break in my new Sperry Topsider sailing shoes - just like the ones my dad wears in all my fondest memories!

500 miles North

With Matt's deployment quickly approaching we took some time for a road trip to visit family up north. In 7 days we hit LA, Elk Grove, Foster City, Fairfield, and San Fransisco. So much fun!

We toured the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield and got to see how the sweet treats are made!Jelly beans are officially Avery's new favorite food group.

Thirty and Thriving

Yesterday Matt transitioned out of his 20s as we celebrated his 30th Birthday!!! He was feeling a bit under the weather, so we kept it low key: a bus tour of the zoo, admiring the San Diego views from Mt. Soledad, and dinner out - complete with lobster mac-n-cheese. Matt and I met just a month before he turned 20 and I feel blessed to have been witness to this 10 year transformation. I am incredibly proud of all he's accomplished up till now and love that we are truly growing older and (hopefully) wiser together!

Daddy Zoo Date

Grandma Kisses

Grandma Laurie visited this week from Nor Cal - the first time she's seen Avery since she was only 1 mo old! We had sooo much fun baking cookies, splashing in rain puddles, learning new sign language, singing, and playing. Avery got to finally meet her Uncle Spencer too! Despite the storms, there was nothing but smiles in our house all week!

With Gma Laurie entertaining Avery all week, I was able to finish a commissioned puppy portrait that I've been working on for a dear friend in AZ. Bonus!

2009 Video!

Our year in review... basically a lot of Avery. :)

2009 from The McNeils on Vimeo.