Happy Thanksmas!

1.

Thanksmas

The celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas with family that will not be able to be together at Christmas.

Justin and I are so excited to be heading back to good ole Tejas soon! We will have our first Thanksmas with our families and friends who we miss so much. Work has been extra busy, we are very sorry for the delay in posts! 

This week especially has been challenging. We are learning the ropes of owning 1 dog, 1 cat and 1 Houdini dog goat (that be Cali). Cali was a naughty goat and escaped her crate several times this week. We came home several days in a row to ransacked house to find she had ate including but not limited to chocolate cupcakes, compostable forks, foil, Christmas gifts, new boots & clothes, one baby sock, her pumpkin hat, anything from the compost bin, a cardboard box, tax returns, W-2’s and likely our sanity. While this was very upsetting, it was more worrisome that we could of possibly lost our dog. She is a part of our pack and life wouldn't be the same without her. 

On a lighter note, Cali started training two weeks ago and has had some major improvements! She is a anxious little thing and only want her to feel happy and safe. She's almost there! 

Also, Happy Veterans Day to all those who have protected this country, my family, your family and the people in need around the world. May God Bless All the men and women,  who choose to work, fight and protect our countries freedom! Thank you all ♥ We should also thank their families for having the courage to stand by their loved one as they stand up for us! 

We leave you with a few photos of our silly pack: 

Mammacita  in the not so fun Pumpkin Hat 

Rotten Pumpkin Cali

Boootiful Bella 

Love,

The McKenna's 

Yosemite National Park

Happy September everyone!

We hope everyone is enjoying the month and had a nice Labor Day weekend. Connie & I took a mini vacation to Yosemite National Park. This was our first trip here together and we really enjoyed ourselves. The roads leading into the park were windy and mostly positioned on the edge of deep ravines. I had a blast driving!

We were able to bring Bella & Cali with us on a few trails, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Both had grins from ear to ear and were pooped when we got back to the lodge. In total, we hiked about 12 miles the first day, and 5 the next before our long drive home (Traffic was the worst I've ever seen).

Check out the trails we hiked here.

We hiked the following trails:

1st day - Bridalveil falls to base of El Captain to Yosemite Falls and back.

2nd day - Curry Village to Happy Isle to the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls and back down.

A blog post wouldn't be complete without pictures, enjoy!

View from turnout as we entered mountain roads to Yosemite

Photo from Happy Isle bridge

Stream alongside El Captain Bridge

The grandiose El Captain in all its glory.

A deer spotting between the El Captain Bridge & Bridalveil Falls trail.

Bridalveil Falls.

The weather was in the 90's and all blue sky.

Beautiful trees, mountains & skies again.

It's been awhile...

It's been awhile since our last post. Hope everyone has been enjoying 2011 as much as us. San Francisco living is great. We can't complain about the weather, we've actually grown quite fond of watching the fog roll in from our patio at home.

view from our desks

Not to mention we have a great view of Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge from our work desks! Lucky!

We've added a new addition to our Pack McKenna. Bella & Mammacita now have a sister named Cali!! Completely fitting right? Cali is almost 7 months old. She is a Terrier/Hound mix - when she howls she sounds like Chubacca is in the same room. She's been a handful, we forgot how much work a puppy is; but we love her dearly and couldn't see our lives without her.

Taking the dogs to the beach together has been a joy! They want to meet & greet every single dog and human they can. Cali enjoys running ahead and then running back to meet us, while Bella enjoys investigating every smell that comes across her nose.

We are really looking forward to Connie's mom, aunt and cousin's visit - they will be visiting in late September! Don't forget to bring a sweater and your walking shoes!!

Last but not least we'd like to wish Connie's mom Rebecca a speedy recovery!! You have a new lease on life. We love and support you 100% and are so proud of you.

Time to finish up some work and head home to our babies!! We leave you with a few pictures of our recent adventures in the city and hiking. Life is good.

Japantown

San Bruno Mountain Trail - Top of Mountain

Amazing architecture near Civic Center

Legion of Honor on a very foggy evening

Love,
Justin & Connie

Word to yo Motha!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there. We would be lost without ours. There are no words to express how much we love each one of you. Our special moments are what bonds us together, even though we are far you are near in our hearts.

We love and miss you! Have an amazing day!!

I found this neat application from Polaroid to make any current photos into a Polaroid snapshot. You can check it out and download it by clicking here. Thought I would share my creations.

las fotos de abuelas y las madres hermosas

Love,

Connie & Justin

Celestial Events website live!!

Justin and I owe many thanks to Kathleen Arellano of Celestial Events for all her help planning & executing our wedding so seamlessly.

She listened and understood our concept and wants! Kept our budget in line and gave us all the advise to help plan our special day. Celestial Events made the day unforgettable, perfect and plain fun!!

Thank you for all your hardwork Kathy, it wouldn't of been the same otherwise.

Help me support and spread the word on Celestial Events!! Visit the website buy clicking here.

Bella is so Hollywood :D

See her first motion picture here at Fort Funston in California!

Don't worry she loved every moment of it, even the water!

Enjoy!

Family first!

There is nothing like seeing your family after moving or being away for awhile. We've been so lucky this passed weekend and week to not only have JoAnne come out to California to help us take care of the condo and our babies at the last minute, but also see Jess while in Boston.

Last Saturday, JoAnne flew in to San Fran. We took her to Fort Funston on a hike! It is so nice to have her with us. The next day we to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli factory, and the Muir Woods preserve. We also enjoyed the loaf of sourdough bread we bought at Boudin's. Mmmm Turkey Melts!! They were amazing. Obviously I (Connie) had no part in making them - it was all Justin & JoAnne!

On Tuesday, we flew to Boston for our company's global kickoff. I've never seen so much snow! Pictures to come. We were super lucky to see Jess. She took us to dinner and bowling. We couldn't wait to try candlestick bowling, but were unable to due to the lines! It must really be popular!! It was still well worth the little time we had were able to spend with her.

From there we went back to our hotel and enjoyed the much needed sleep we would need for the remainder of the week. Finally it is Friday, and we can't wait to get home!! Hopefully we will make it out tonight with the snow that came in this morning!!

Also I just learned that my dad (ALFERDO) has been very sick and was in the hospital this week. Please keep him, my mom and my family in your prayers!! He is an amazing man and I know he will get better. Feel better Alfredo, Justin and I love and miss you dearly.

Happy travels and see you in sunny California!!

Love
Justin & Connie

New Year, New Beginnings

My how time has flown by...We can't believe its 2011 already. Justin and I have been extremely busy since the wedding, so we apologize for not updating our blog in so long. We hope to continue to share our new adventures here and hope you all will stay tuned!!

First, many many thanks to those all who attended the wedding! What a beautiful day and way to celebrate. And many thanks for the wonderful well wishes, cards, gifts and gift cards we received. We will be resending some of our thank you cards, I just found out over half of them were stolen from the mail drop box we used.

Since the wedding, Justin and I have traveled to Jamaica for our honeymoon. We enjoyed 10 days of lovely weather and time together. We visited Rick's cafe to see the cliff divers and sunset - we didn't end up seeing the sunset because of the weather, but we did see a group of dolphins playing!! We also trekked our way up Dunn's River falls in a human chain, my the water was cold but well worth the hike to the top. During our last few days there, we saw rain fall every which way it could, trees blown to the side, plants end up on one side of the resort and a roof blow away!! Crazy tropical depressions!! Luckily we made it home before the weather became worse.

In October, I had a chance to travel to California to spend a few days in our California office. It's so beautiful, I fell in love. Shortly after in November, I learned my manager was retiring. She told me I should apply for her position. I did and I got the job!!

Now Justin and I are acclimating to California and both of our new positions. That's right we both got promotions!! Go us! :)

While we miss our families, friends and Texas more than anyone could imagine, we seem to be adjusting to Cali pretty well. On Christmas we went hiking at the Muir Woods National Preserve and on New Years we took Bella to Fort Funston. Fort Funston is a place near the beach were hundreds of dogs run and play off leash!! Bella had the time of her life!! It was so wonderful to see her having so much fun. We couldn't help but enjoy ourselves as well, who wouldn't with beautiful scenery and of course great company :)

New pictures and video coming soon!!

Til next time...signing off from San Fran!! Happy New Years to all!