First Annual Pumpkin Carving

Living on the West coast is an absolute blessing. When all of you East coast people are shutting up your doors and windows and getting ready for the assaults of winter that are quickly approaching, I will most likely be soaking up some rays by the pool... I know you are totally hating me right now but I have a point, just wait for it. After that little visual, I'm sure it's hard to believe Gary and I really do actually miss when the weather starts to cool, the leaves begin to make their transition into beautiful bursts of color all over the mountain side and pumpkin pie and apple cider become staples in the home. So last week we decided to do something about our craving for fall and headed up the mountain to the sleepy little town of Julian. 

We unfortunately made our journey a week or two too early because we saw nothing but lush green trees all around. But we were not disappointed once we got there and filled our tummies with some amazing caramel apple pie! Yum! Our next stop was at the town mill where we sampled a few kinds of apple cider. Of course we couldn't leave without some to take home.

On our drive back to sunny San Diego we came upon a pumpkin patch. Gary informed me that he had never carved a pumpkin for Halloween so I thought it might be fun for us to go pick our own pumpkin and carve a creation of our own this year. So we stopped and found a nice plump pumpkin and a cute little one too.  Take a look at our masterpiece...

Here is our plump pumpkin. Bagger's not so sure what this big orange thing is doing on his porch.

I let Gary do the honors and make the first incision. I didn't really want to be the one to stick my hands inside that thing and pull out all the guts anyway!

Ewwww look what was in that pumpkin!!! 

...Just kidding...

Here's our little guy. Just wait to see what we do with him!

The artist at work sketching out our masterpiece.

Poor little Bagger had to watch from inside because he would not stop trying to eat Mr. Pumpkin.

I did the carving of the eyes and mouth to bring this creepy thing to life.

Then Gary got to work on the details. 

I did some dental work on him and the final touches. 

And now I am proud to show you our very first Jack-O-Lantern!

The cannibal pumpkin!!!!

I think this might be a hard one to out-do next year.

The Maurer's Visit San Diego!

We were so excited to have Marvin and Kathy, aka Mom and Dad, come out to visit us in San Diego. It was a big deal to have them come see us and we really loved having them in our home. I sincerely love having people come visit us because I get to play tour guide! We were so lucky to have beautiful weather all week for all of our fun adventures. Here are some pictures to sum up the week...

Watching the beautiful west coast sunset on the beach.

Having lunch at a restaurant out on the Pier at Seaport Village.

Bagger even got to have some fun playing at the dog beach on Coronado.

We took a little trip up the road to the Torrey Pines Reserve and had fun hiking on the trails.

We also went to Cabrillo National Park and walked down to the tide pools. 

The previous three pictures were also taken at Cabrillo.

Go Padres!

Having a good time at the game.

Gary loved this golf club that went all the way up the post.

Of course we had to take them to see the La Jolla seals and sea lions.

We also got to have a really nice dinner with Kathy's brother and his wife, David and Janet. The whole week was wonderful. It's always hard to say goodbye but we are looking forward to future visits! Love you mom and dad Maurer!

Gary's Homecoming!!!

For those of you who don't know, Gary was deployed for seven and a half months this year. It was our very first deployment. Needless to say it was pretty rough being away from each other for so long. Throughout those seven months he always used to e-mail me this quote, 


"Absence is to love what wind is to fire.
It extinguishes the small, but enkindles the great."


He was right :) Now that he's back and we are settled into our lives again, I am so happy to share these homecoming pictures with you!

After seven and a half months at sea they are pulling into the San Diego Naval Base once again!

Our good friends from Athens, GA came to welcome Gary home again with me! He was so happy to see them.

What a beautiful and emotional experience. I cannot put into words what this was like. My man is finally home!

After anxiously waiting, we were finally reunited... and it felt SO good.

First Kiss <3

Our happiness has returned!

Little Bagger and missed his daddy!

Deployment pictures are coming soon!!!

Let's get this blogging party started!

Hello everyone!


I have to say I am super excited about starting this blog. First of all let me tell you why I am becoming a blogger... Gary and I really wanted a fun way to share our life experiences with friends and family back in PA and facebook was just not doing it for us.  We want to be able to share pictures, stories, recipes, and all of the crazy things we get to experience as a family of the U.S. Navy with the people we love and miss so dearly. Oh and did I forget to mention that I love to write?! A blog will take care of all of these things for us, so keep in touch, join our blog, and hold on for the ride ahead! 


Lots of Love, 
Alyssa and Gary.... and Bagger too!