Shout out to some friends we love and miss - an incomplete list.

Naomi: The San Francisco treat!

Christmas Week, Rhianwen and I went up north to San Francisco to see our new niece, Naomi!

We call her "Gnomey," which is why this is one of the gifts we got her for Christmas.

Oh yeah, Sarah and Steve were there too.

We actually didn't really get many good photos of Sarah and Steve... I think that's what baby wranglin' does to you, no time to stop and take a photo. We did get to walk around the city, see some museums, eat good food and do fun things though. Look how pretty San Francisco can be!


OK, one more Gnomey picture.

Visiting with Grandma Holtz in Macedon

Early last December, the Benners made a cold, long trek to Macedon, NY to visit with Rhianwen's Grandma, who recently moved there after living in the same house in Michigan for over 60 years. She is so happy and excited to be living there, especially to be near her daughter Carol and son-in-law Dana, and to be involved in the community at the church Carol is a reverend at, First Baptist Church of Macedon, NY.




While we were in town, Grandma told us about a notable Wegmen's (grocery store) in her town. We were intrigued and wanted to go! Turns out, Wegman's is more like a food amusement park. Here we are at the entrance.





It was really quite impressive - we've never seen anything like it!

We had a lovely time visiting Grandma, Aunt Carol and Uncle Dana and it makes us sad to live to far from our family! We felt right at home at Grandma's and enjoyed working on crossword puzzles together by the Christmas tree with a fire going. We explored the town, had lunch on the canal, attended Aunt Carol's church and didn't want to leave!





Now here's a pretty lady!



It was really quite an enjoyable trip! We miss you, Grandma, Carol and Dana!

Thanksgiving in Wrightwood 2010

This year for Thanksgiving, we went with our friends the Maxwells and the Robins (also a Ryan Robins' brother Seth and his roommate) to a cabin in Wrightwood, a small mountain town in SoCal. Get this: we had snow!


And here we are posing around the fruits of our labor, our briefly before we stuffed our faces with it.


And here we are in the center of charming downtown Wrightwood, where they hosted a Christmas tree lighting.



And here is a nice little video that shows off the cabin we stayed in, shot by Matt Maxwell himself.

My parents' house is on the market

The house that I (Rhianwen) grew up in, is on the market. There were a variety of factors that led my parents to this decision and it's hard to say goodbye to the home I knew for so many years, its amazing to see the transformation its had being prepped to for sale. My parents -- my mom in particular --along with support from many dedicated and generous friends worked long and hard to clean out years of items and memories and have made lots of improvements to the house including another bedroom!

These pictures don't really do the house justice. You have to see it to believe it! I hope the perfect family finds this house and build their own happy memories there.