Easter Monkey

Grandma Laurie sends the best gifts! For Easter this year she surprised Avery with a super cute fuzzy backpack that has a little holder for a fuzzy monkey. As you can see, she loved it! Thanks Grandma Laurie!!!

Nita Turns 60!

Last night I attended a surprise party to celebrate Nita's 60th birthday. The Margaritaville-themed event was held at Doug & Laurie's and, man, it was "bitchin" (in Jerry's words)! Although I missed having my handsome hubs there, I stayed busy snapping photos and being dubbed Miss Martini Mixer - apparently I make a mean pear/pomegranate glass of deliciousness!

Happy Birthday NITA!

And the countdown begins...

Daddy Deployment from The McNeils on Vimeo.

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.