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.

A White Christmas

We spent the last week in Park City, Utah enjoying time with the Coe family for Christmas! So much fun...

Mid-slope hug.

Before I made him shave off Afghanistan!
We rode horse-drawn sleighs to the lodge for dinner!

Opa and the snow bunny.

Thanks Grandma Callantine for the snowsuit!

Dad taught Avery how to sled!

Opening gifts.

Uncle Casey reading Avery her new books.

Oma trying to avoid the sticky hands from A's first candy cane!

The Christmas Crew.

We also took lots of cute video, but you'll have to stay tuned for the annual McNeil video-card to see it!

Scary Santa

Avery's first picture with the man in red... classic!

Afghan Hike

Some new photos of Matt taken after hiking up a steep mountain near camp. Check out that facial hair!

Thankful

Thanksgiving with our CA family: Pettits & Baranowskis!

Bike ride around Lake Miramar: pre-turkey warmup.The cycle crew (minus Doug, who's taking the pic and Jacob, who's too busy throwing rocks in the lake!)The dinner roll diva.The knife-wielding manly man.The wine enthusiast.All hail the gravy queen.Avery's first turkey dinner. Liked the taters and bread... could care less about the bird."This guy cracks me up!"Jacob's bearded dragon, Darwin.Thanksgiving group kodak moment.