Family Pic!

I can finally post our family picture! I've been waiting for my Mom to get the card I sent her with this picture on front and didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Since we're all living in different cities now and it's so rare that my Mom has all five of us kids together, I thought we better get a family picture while we were all in town. We were racing sundown but were able to get a few good ones. Our cousin, Stephanie, was so great and patient with all of us. I was able to set up the shot and hand over the camera to her to snap away. They turned out great! Nothing has really changed since we were kids posing on the exact same bench at the McNay. One of us was always blinking, moving, sneezing, griping, etc. Ah, the joys of a big family! Here's my favorite from the session. I hope Mom likes it!

Winter Wineland 2009!

We had so much fun this weekend in Sonoma Valley for the annual Winter Wineland. There was a group of 15 of us that all went in one van both days (so nicely driven by Brian, our Designated Driver for the weekend ;) We toured 7 different wineries each day! I think that was a record for Karl & me! When we're wine tasting on our own, alot of times we're on bikes and only make it to maybe three. The special deal with Winter Wineland is that they pair food with the wine they're tasting for the day. We had some yummy little apps and even desserts paired with some of the dessert wines and ports at the end. Yum! Julie's Dad is in the wine making business and took us to their warehouse where they make the wine and bottle it. It was super cool to see how tedious the whole process is. He sells his grapes to Clos Du Bois, a well know winery in the area and also served in alot of bars and restaurants. I can't say what my favorite wine of the weekend was but I feel like most of my favorites were Zins. Acorn winery was a surprise and actually had a great 2005 Zin but I could just be remembering that one because it was the last stop of the weekend. Some of the views from different winery grounds were amazing. The vines have no grapes and no leaves at this time of year. They are just bare vines neatly lined up row after row. It's pretty interesting watching the vines change all through the seasons. We got some great pics too....

Welcome Baby Jenna!

And Congrats Steve & Amanda! I'm just now going through my pictures from my visit. Already 2 weeks old now, Jenna was born on December 30th. She came early just so I could see her before heading back to SF! Perfect timing little lady! I did manage to get a few good shots during my visit and below are my favorites. I love how she's all curled up and snuggly in these. I'm thinking she looks alot like her Mama. Enjoy!