Rhi and Benner's summer 2010 trip to Philly!

Philly! Has it been that long?

I guess it has been that long. A couple weeks ago, Rhi and I made our pilgrimage to the city of brotherly love. We visited with friends and family, ran in the Gary Papa Run 4 Your Life prostate cancer run and sweated our butts off for 9 days. (Someone has to do something about that humidity. Sheesh!) Here's a slideshow of our visit, followed by some notes:




- As I mentioned above, we ran in the Gary Papa Run 4 Your Life race, which was wh that at prompted this trip. This race marks the one year anniversary of Gary's death, and we miss him so much. It was a blessing to see Kathy and the boys, and we were honored to cross the finish line with Tucker who completed the whole race! We were very proud and enjoyed that time with him and of course Nathaniel as well who finished on his own. Thanks to everyone who participated and/or donated to the cause. You will be glad to know that the money we raised for the run was matched the morning of the run by Jim Dougherty, and the event raised over $250K for Prostate Cancer research for around 3,000 runners. Gary would be amazed.

Here are some additional highlights:

- We got to see both Chuck and Ray for father's day, which was great. Chuck came over to Jen and Rob's for dinner on Saturday night, and we met up with my dad (and my grandpop and most of the Benner clan for that matter) after the race on Sunday.

- We also got to eat and drink at McShea's a couple times. Man do we miss that place.

- Thanks to Jen, Rob and their incredibly cute boy Aiden for being such excellent hosts! We spent our first few nights in their guest room and it was like staying in quaint B&B with a cute kid and goofy dog running around.

- Joe and Meryl went out to dinner with us, which of course was a wonderful treat. We miss Joe and Meryl, a lot, all the time. They should move to LA. So should you!

- Matt and Jenn Lozano, of the Naylor's Run Lozanos, happened to be out of town while we were in town. Which was a bummer as we didn't get to see them much - but we made lemonade with those lemons when they said we could stay in their house while they were gone. Yay! Free house all to ourselves! It was actually a really nice blessing and we are so thankful for it, and were even more thankful when they came back on our last night and hung out with us. (Which also happened to be the night that USA lost to Ghana, but whatever.)

- We got to see Gwenyth, Rhianwen's mom who brought us some toys made by children in Liberia that had been given to her 30 some years ago. Gwenyth is working on a massive cleaning/clear out project in their house and rediscovered these treasures. The children that Gwenyth met in Liberia didn't have toys so they made their own - an old ovaltine can and wooden spools of thread were repurposed to create a car - see the photos to see what we mean. We got to bring one of the toys home with us and have it proudly displayed in our living room. What an interesting story!

- We got to see Miss Abigail, Greg and Trish's beautiful baby girl --- and of course we saw Greg and Trish! It was nice to just hang out at their place and marvel at all the new things Abigail is doing. She enjoyed putting things in Rhianwen's purse and we may have made it back to the left coast with a puzzle piece or two. She is a doll!

- The Lozano kids are getting bigger and bigger - and more and more grown up! Jamie was going through Vacation Bible School that week and he and the cousins performed a couple of the songs they had recently learned - with much excitement and vigor! Lots of jumping and song all for Jesus. Fun to see!

- We got to see the lovely Chandler and Maureen as well! They are quite the happy and handsome married couple. Maureen made a most scrumptious monkey bread and joined us for a dinner filled with laughter and stories. I always enjoy watching Maureen interact with kids - she is just so good! You'll see her holding a content Abigail. You'll see the moments I captured with just me were pre bed time and I wasn't as lucky:)

- We had a great visit with the Benners and walked through Grandpop and Grandmom's house for the final time since it is up for sale. One cool piece of history includes a servant call box personalized for Mrs. Strawbridge! There is a photo in the slideshow above. Grandmom's garden is thriving and beautiful thanks to her faithful hands and hard work. A nice gift to the new people who will live there.

- We always enjoy seeing our family, our parents (and Benner's brothers) of course but also aunts, uncles, cousins and hearing anecdotes about daily life. Everyone is keeping busy and its great to be able to catch up in person! Aunt Marge, Lia, Dave and the kids, big boy Matthew, Babe and Aunt Janet, Aunt Janet, Steve, Maddie, Regs and Stephen, Uncles Richard, Robert and John....family is a gift!

- As always, it was an extremely busy trip in which we crammed in as much as possible, and we were so thankful to get to see all the people that we did. We certainly love all our Philly peeps!

Ray turns 50!!!

Maureen timed her wedding perfectly considering Benner's dad's birthday was just a couple days before. We decided to make our visit a surprise and assemble the family together for a surprise birthday bash on Sunday. Originally it was going to take place during the Narberth music fest, but it was rained out. Thankfully McSheas always has open doors for the Benners and we had the rear portion of restaurant all to ourselves.

Many hands pitched in to make the party a success. Just moments before Ray arrived, we decorated the tables with a "royal theme" for King of Narberth, Ray Benner. The tables were covered with gold cloth, candies (jewels), balloons, candles and pictures of Ray throughout the years. There was a huge birthday cake big enough to feed the entire restaurant and some more to take home.

It's always fun to get together with the Benners. Maddie, Regan and Steven are such cool kids and we enjoy hanging out with them. Ray was a good sport and wore a gaudy crown we got him, fitting for our theme. Chris, Ray, Natalie, Janet, Aunt Marge, Grandpop, Leah, Dave, Aunt Carol, Uncle George, Steve, Grandmom, Babe, Barb, Robert, Will and my parents came too!

Ray, you're an awesome dad and father in law and you're a king everyday to us!!!!!!

Maureen + Chandler = Love!!!

I could not be happier for my dear friend Maureen and her new HUSBAND Chandler Withington! What an incredible couple this pair makes! Benner and I had the pleasure to fly home a couple weeks ago to celebrate Maureen and Chandler and be a part of their wedding. It was an honor. A little crazy....pouring rain and a couple visits to the ER for the the bridesmaids....but it all worked out beautifully in the end!

The day before the wedding Rhi attended to Maureen's pre wedding needs by getting a pedicure and lunch! But then it was all business as they checked off the final items of the to do list and got ready for the rehearsal dinner. Maureen can drive her mini like its nascar if she's running late.

The rehearsal dinner was a sweet night. Chandler shared his love for Maureen in a very emotional and moving speech. My favorite thing about Mo and Chan (!) is how well they compliment each other's personalities. Chandler is a self proclaimed "sap" and toward the end of his discourse we all heard Maureen whisper "wrap it up:)" which was a highlight of the weekend. Chandler's dad who worked for with the Billy Graham ministry talked about what God did in their lives and it was such an awesome testimony to what God can do in the life of someone with an open heart. And Maggianos is delicious.

Despite the rain and a head injury resulting in an ER trip (no, not me this time! Maureen's sister Kristin!--- who by the way is just about the most awesome maid of honor EVER! I seriously think she should consider doing it freelance for cash. Any bride would be lucky to have her.) The wedding day was perfect. The wedding photos came out beautifully I think BECAUSE of the rain and overcast skies. Maureen has NEVER LOOKED SO GORGEOUS IN HER LIFE. I kept finding myself staring at her she looked so incredible! Chandler knows he good he's got it. You can just tell by the way he looks at her! The only real disappointment of the ceremony is that the music system failed and we had to scrap our intensely rehearsed Chris Brown choreography. Sigh.

We all got a chance to boogie at the reception of course. Kristin and her dad both delivered speeches. (I heart Maureen's dad.) From this we learned that Maureen always looks for ways to support and affirm the kids that struggle more in school, that on occasion she likes lollipops for dinner and if Chandler messes up he can win her over with chocolate:)

Let's see, this is getting long so I'll wrap up a few highlights from the night: the band was great, Greg almost ate Benner's face, we got to reconnect with old faces from the past, (Julie and Danielle are preggers!!!) the cake was amazing. (I still wished I had finished Maureen's since she didnt.) And Maureen's creative crafty touches all came together in a most beautiful way. Oh and the candy bar was awesome.

We got to drop the happy couple off at their hotel and had them all to ourselves on the ride there. I'm sure they were thrilled to hang with us:)

Maureen and Chandler, we love you to pieces and are such awesome friends to us. We loved sharing your special day with you. We can't wait to see what God has in store for your lives!!! Congratulations!

The Big Benner Philly Visit of July 2009

We who follow the Benner way of life consider Philadelphia to be our Mecca. Each year, we are compelled to make a lengthy pilgrimage back to the city of brotherly love in order to regain balance, obtain a fresh perspective, and to be made spiritually pure once again.

At least that's the line of reasoning we use in order to write the trip off our taxes: We're religiously obligated. But in reality, we just love our friends and family so much that we need to make time for quality visits. That's why we spent a little more than a week in our hometown just a short time ago. Here's a slide show, followed by some selected thoughts.



- We spent our first night at the Lozano compound, (Phil, Rachel, Matt and Jenn, plus all their kids) and they had a little unexpected birthday dinner for Rhianwen, including cake! Later, Joe and Meryl showed up with some cookies. This set the tone for a week-long binge on various sweets. So guiltily delicious.

- We hung out one night in Northern Liberties, and holy cow that place has changed since we were last there (maybe right before we moved to LA, spring of 2008). It's downright gentrified, complete with a mini-outdoor mall equipped with jumbo-tron TV. Funny how fast things develop.

- So many little boys in our lives have grown so fast. Aiden (Jen and Rob's son) is walking and talking. Jude (Phil and Rachel's son) is like a tiny little man. Micah (Jenn and Matt's son) is a completely different little boy than we remember, and with such a funny personality. Matthew (my baby cousin) has gotten huge, and is in love with Rhianwen (he has good taste). We miss all those little guys.

- One of the big reasons for the trip was Gwenyth's 60th birthday, which we threw a party for. It was a very nice, intimate event (Phil and Rachel were gracious enough to lend their home to us for it) with some of Gwenyth's close friends. We were so glad to be there to help celebrate such a wonderful, special mother. We're also thankful to our friends and family who helped us pull it off. We definitely needed their help.

- We spent a night at the Papa's, and were awoken on Sunday morning by the loudest, craziest thunder storm we can remember. It was actually a treat to experience that, as it hasn't rained in LA in months and we don't even remember when it may have thundered. Also a treat: swimming in the pool during the storm with the boys (I couldn't be bothered to change out of my pajamas, for some reason). What wasn't a treat: the storm delayed our flight home by hours, and we were under a lot of stress trying to make sure we would make our connecting flight. We didn't, but we were able to find another one that got us home alright.

Well, that's all. It was a special trip and we loved every minute we got to spend with people. Until the next pilgrimage, we bid Philadelphia adieu.

The Benners welcome Tommy Lozano into the world!

It's a very busy work day as always but I got the most exciting call today and I simply cannot wait to share the news with you! Our most dear and precious friends Phil and Rachel Lozano...

...are parents again!

Thomas Augustine Lozano was born today at approximately 4:15pm, weighing 7 lb, 9 oz. He is in good health, as is Rachel (and assumably Phil), and apparently looks like a cross between his big brothers Jamie and Jude. While we don't have any photos of little Tommy yet, we do have plenty of photos of the rest of the Lozano family. Hopefully posting them will demonstrate to you all how much we love and miss them, and wish desperately that we could have been there for the joyous day of Tommy's birth!

We love you guys and cannot WAIT until we can add pictures of Thomas Augustine to our collection of Lozano photos!

Stan Fran visits Los Angeles, and all is well...

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of hosting one of Rhianwen's oldest friends in LA:

CHRISTINE! WOO! Christine marks our fourth East Coast visitor out in LA (after Jen's parents, Rhi's mom and our unforgettable friend Adam), and she made the trip with her brother Tony (shown here, often referred to as To Fro) and cousin Valerie. As a bonus, Christine's cousin Dave lives in LA too, so it was one big Buglione fest!

We kicked off our time together at the Warner Brothers lot. Rhianwen met up with the Buglione crew at a taping of Ellen DeGeneres taping. Rhi was so thrilled to be hug Christine, in the flesh, in Los Angeles!

Then came Ellen. It was Rhi's first time in the studio as an audience member and she wasn't quite sure what to expect. There was a lot of clapping and dancing, and a lot of energy. There were some great laughs, particularly in the opening act where Ellen had audience members play musical chairs blind folded. No matter how many times she sees it, Rhi still thinks it's fun! The guests that day were Meredith Vierra and Olivia Wilde from "House."

After the show, Rhi gave a mini tour of where she works and they all headed out to dinner at one of the best mexican joints known to LA: Don Cuco's! We enjoyed yummy margaritas and muchso queso! And here we are enjoying ourselves:

We had a slight pause in our vist as Rhi and Benner flew home to Philly to be with Benner's family in celebration of GM and GP's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Thankfully Rhi was able to book a super early flight back on Sunday to spend some more quality time with the Buglione posse. After 3 days of sleep deprivation and a 6 hour flight, Rhi was greeted by Dave and Christine with coffee in hand! We swung by Dave's to freshen up before heading to Orange County to visit the acclaimed Aunt Bobbi and Uncle Jack!

It was a great day. We enjoyed the pace of hanging out, touring their "so California" backyard and garden. Notice, if you will, the firepit that Uncle Jack made himself, with his own bare hands:

We even got to pick our own grapefruits from the tree. We stuffed ourselves with the delicious and filling taste of an authentic Italian dinner. We drank wine while Aunt Bobbi's fiesty dogs threatened my sense of security. LOL, no I'm serious. I'm surprised Aunt Bobbi still has all her fingers. Seeing Aunt Bobbi interact with her dogs is something you can't fully describe. You have to experience it for yourself.

Oh, and Aunt Bobbi has a princess-and-the-pea bed. I rightly gave it that name, since it's the height of ten mattresses stacked on top of each other. Which is ironic because Aunt Bobbi is under five feet tall, and seeing her climb up there is like watching someone mount a horse.

That night was Oscar night, so we retired to the sofa for wine and M&M's. Hours later we emerged from the house and faced the hour long drive back to LA. Our motivation: In N Out burger! I couldn't let Christine go back to Philadelphia without tasting the magical, dilectable, satisfying scrumptuousness of an In N Out burger and fries. Also, they gave us hats.

Which may or may not have been a good idea.

Oh Stan Fran, we miss you already and are so happy you came to visit us in the sunny LA. Lots of love and kisses!!!! Mwah!

Back to Philly, again

So a lot of people probably didn't realize it, but Rhi and Benner were back in Philadelphia this past weekend. It was a last minute trip, and a whirlwind one at that. We weren't even in town for a full 40 hours, really. But the purpose of our trip was to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Grandmom and Grandpop Benner. What a remarkable accomplishment! This milestone has us thinking about how you measure 50 years...we'll post more on that later.

Here's a run down of the weekend:
Mike's Aunt Marge picked us up from the airport on Friday and to our delight had a philly soft pretzel and some after dinner candy that Rhi enjoys waiting for us. She is so thoughtful, and man was that pretzel good! Aunt Marge was one of the few people that knew we were coming into town and we tried to keep it a secret as much as possible. From the airport, Will and Aunt Marge took us to the Benner family hang out McShea's where we met up with Ray and Barb (Benner's parents) and brothers Ray and Chris. We enjoyed a gourmet and quite satisfying meal. Mc Shea's is actually owned by a chef who always wanted to open an Irish pub and if you get the chance to hit it up, you should.

We spent the night at Greg and Trish's house-- Greg you will recall was Benner's best man. Tirsh is expecting and it was so exciting for Rhianwen to see her baby bump! (Can you guess who is writing this blog post?) It was so nice to catch up and weren't feeling entirely jet lagged until the next morning when we woke up early to meet Rhi's parents for coffee. It was a brief visit but it was nice to spend time talking face to face. Gwenyth shared about a delightful little 3 year old at her church that she simply adores which was fun to hear about. Rhi had a nice little walk around Borders with her dad and we all got to catch up for a bit before stopping by the Lozano's to say hello. It's amazing how big the kids are getting and we always feel at home at Naylors Run Rd. But it was only a matter of time before they had to run off to celebrate baby Matthew's 2nd birthday.

We got there early and surprised Vince and Janet and got to spend some special time with Matthew while they set up for the party. Then we hid upstairs while everyone trickled in. Few minutes later we emerged and the smile on Benner's grandmom's face (Babe) was priceless. Matthew is such a big little guy and has such hilarious mannerisms that kept us constantly entertained. We can hardly believe that he is already 2 years old and are glad we got to be a part of the celebration.

We left the party to go get ready for the reason we flew in in the first place: To celebrate GM and GP Benner. A party was held at Evviva in Narberth and we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. It has a mix of classic and eclectic art and is really a one of a kind place. All of the immediate family were there and a photographer was busy at work to document it. Rhianwen enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with her three girl cousins: Maddie, Regan and Savannah who are all such sweet, fun and clever girls. The food was excellent and we all got to hear GM and GP's kids reminisce about their childhood. Grandmom and Grandpop Benner have seen a lot in their day. And they've worked tremendously hard-- year after year--in order to build their business and provide for their family. Their work ethic is defined discipline, commitment and perseverance and is to be admired. They have stood by each other through it all, and they are still each other's most precious friend. Grandpop read aloud a sweet poem he wrote for his bride of 50 years and the family showered the couple with gifts. It was a great night.

And no one forgot that the very next day was Savannah's birthday. She was celebrated with a birthday cake of her own, which you'll notice in the pictures. yum.

We work up at 4 am the next morning so that Rhianwen could fly home and spend the day with her friend Christine who was visiting LA. Details to come!




Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Much apologies to our friends that we didn't get to see. We didn't tell you we were in town because there just wasn't enough time. But hey, you can always come out and visit us!

Watching the Eagles Fly, From Cali

"Mike and Rhianwen? Hey, it's Donovan! Tell you what, we're going to go
to the Super Bowl and win it for you two. What do you say to that?"

The Phillies have my love and admiration unconditionally, always. But I'll openly admit that, when it comes to the Eagles, I am the definition of a bandwagon fan. When they are winning, I am rooting for them. The second they lose, it's as if I never loved them in the first place. I can't explain the emotional underpinnings of such a reaction; I don't know why I act that way, I just do.

That doesn't mean that when they're losing, I don't watch their games. I just do it with a bad attitude. "Why is Andy Reid passing right now?" I'll complain to no one in particular (Rhianwen does not really care about my complaints). "How come Sheldon Brown doesn't hit like he used to? I hate this team, always have." Then they'll do something like put up 200 points on a good team and I'll be back on board, acting as though I never left.

All this is to say that in light of how well the Eagles have played as of late, Sunday's game against the Cardinals has me beyond excited. I am of the opinon that, as long as the Eagles play as they have recently, they shouldn't have any trouble. The Cards' defense isn't particularly intimidating and our defense has the talent to bottle them up (or at least get stops). Then it's on to the Super Bowl, hopefully against Pittsburgh and we can enjoy putting that lousy city in its place.

But that complaining spirit is still lingering, for another reason entirely. Specifically, how is that two things I've never seen in my lifetime but have been waiting for (A Phillies World Series win and an Eagles Super Bowl win) might both be happening in the very year Rhi and I move to Los Angeles?

How is this fair?

(Sidenote: We have changed the colors of the blog to green and silver, to reflect our Eagles' fandom. Nice, huh?)

Remember Thanksgiving? It feels like a million days ago already. We're almost a month late posting to our blog about it, but better late than never, right?

So, as the title of this post suggests, we made it back to Philly for Thanksgiving. The circumstances, as we've mentioned previously, were not ideal or necessarily enjoyable. But we took the unexpected trip home as an opportunity to see as many friends and family as possible, and boy did we ever do that.

The easiest way to break this down is day by day, I suppose.

Tuesday, November 25
We landed around 5pm on Tuesday night. Our friend Matt Lozano picked us up and took us to our other friends--and their brother/brother-in-law/next-door neighbor--Phil and Rachel's house, where we were staying. (Jenn, Matt's wife, and the bevy of Lozano children were there as well.) After a hearty dinner, we split the scene for my Grandmother's house, where we chatted up my family for a few hours. Then it was back to Phil and Rachel's, where I stayed up worrying about the eulogy I had to give the next day. Eventually, I fell asleep.

Wednesday, November 26
This was the day of my Grandpop's funeral. It was a sad affair, one which I may not care to relive word-for-word here. But, it was a great ceremony for a great man, one loved by many, and many did show up to show their respect. It was especially cool to see people he played baseball with when he was ten-years-old show up. He will be missed, and by many I didn't even know he had an impact on.

Later that night, I hung out with many of my oldest friends while Rhianwen caught up with her best friend from high school Christine. It was a great blessing to see our friends, even if we had to cram them in one what was one of our only free nights.

Thursday, November 27
THANKSGIVING WOOT WOOT! We kicked the day off by visiting with Chuck and Gwenyth (Rhianwen's parents). It was a pleasant time, and let me tell you, Chuck was in rare form. I knew this man loved puns, but he was whippin' 'em out left and right this day. He cracked himself up so much that Rhianwen did not recognize him for a moment.

From there, we went to my Aunt Beth and Uncle Russell's house in Narberth for Dinner Part I. Many of the Benners were there, but unfortunately not all of them could make it. It was a good time regardless, as we all went around the table and said what we were thankful for, ate a lot of delicious food, and then most of the men retired to the front porch to play hacky sack. That last part was a strange, new tradition, but it was fun nonetheless.

Then, it was Dinner Part II, at my Aunt Janet and Uncle Vince's house in Belmont Hills. Though the absence of my Grandpop definitely changed the tone of the holiday, it was an enjoyable night with terrific food. We ate and drank and were even a bit merry at times, particularly when Rhianwen and I handed out our Christmas gifts to everyone (we figured we would save on shipping by packing them for our trip). And then there was Matthew, baby Matthew, my awesome and cute little cousin who I am like 24 years older than. Here he is in action:


After that, we went to McShea's in Narberth. It has been a semi-tradition (at least since turning 21) for all my friends to meet there on Thanksgiving night and pour a few beers on top of the turkey. It was a good showing this year, and we all had a great time. I am thankful for such a large group of friends that I have known for over two decades in some cases, and who feel like brothers to me.

But I must admit, despite all the great food and wonderful family and hilarious friends, getting back to Phil and Rachel's and collapsing into bed was perhaps the best part of the day.

Friday, November 28
As chance would have it, the Chandlers were in town as well! We made last minute plans to meet up for coffee, catch each other up on our lives, etc. etc. So that's what we did! We loved getting to spend even the briefest of moments with Tim and Jenny, and it was amazing to see how grown-up Emme and Zander are. Unfortunately, this seems to be one of the only surviving good photos of the gathering, featuring Rhi and Jenny in a Starbucks.

And it was good to know that there were other people who were shocked about how cold Philly can get too (the Chandlers moved from Philly to St. Augustine, Florida about five years ago). We miss them!

After that, we went to visit with Rhianwen's best friend/college roommate Jen, her husband Rob and adorable son Aiden in Phoenixville. We hung out around their super-nice house, while Rhianwen walked around videotaping everything for later inspiration. (Jen, it turns out, is the svengali of home decoration.) We had lunch and played with the baby, and talked about life and just relaxed. That, I think, is the best part about Jen and Rob: hanging out with them is always just a relaxing time with enjoyable conversation. Rob also was showing off his new prized possession: the cork from the champagne bottle he popped after the Phillies won the World Series. Aiden will inherit that cork someday, I'm sure.

From Phoenixville, it was on to the Shah residence in Newtown Square. The Shahs--Adeel, Seher, Coco and the newest addition Esfandyar--you'll remember, are the family that Rhianwen once part-time nannied. I was just seeing Esfandyar for the first time, and he is one handsome little guy. As for Coco... well, she's a little shy around me. So I chatted with Adeel and Seher while Rhianwen hung out with her in the other room, and Esfandyar napped upstairs. On the one hand, I am terribly saddened because I adore Coco. On the other hand, I understand because I'm just some weird guy in her house she's only met a few times, and she's only three. Good thing Seher and Adeel are such wonderful, enjoyable people, and talking to them was quite fun. And Rhianwen is extremely thankful, because she loves the Shahs and shares a special connection with Coco.

But alas, from thence we departed for the Lozano compound in Havertown, where Jen and Matt were hosting a dinner of steak and salad and pure deliciousness. Three-fourths of an entire Lozano generation were represented, as we ate too much of everything, sipped Pinot Noir and talked and laughed about many things for many hours. I don't think we took any photos of it, because we don't have any, but here is a photo from another night of Joe and Steven (who were there) and cousin Michael (far left, but he wasn't there that night):

Eventually the night tapered off to an end, and we crawled into bed for a much needed rest.

Saturday, November 29
This day, we took SEPTA to Center City with Phil, Rachel and their kids Jamie and Jude. Here is Rhianwen and I with the kids, waiting for the R5, looking like we have a little family of our own.

Our destination: The Comcast Center, which was (and currently still is) hosting a Holiday video show in its lobby. The giant front wall in the atrium, you see, is a humongous LCD screen onto which many things are projected. The building is amazing, the technology is mind-blowing, and the show is a bit underwhelming if you're over the age of ten. Call me crazy, but I think if I'm going to watch a saccharine-coated holiday spectacle, I might choose the Wanamaker's light show for all its cheesiness. Jamie and Jude seemed to like it though.

Afterwards, we had lunch in the building's cafeteria and took a walk over to City Hall. As unseemly as Philadelphia can sometimes feel--and it often feels that way to me, though I say that with utmost love--I think there are few municipal buildings as powerful as City Hall. Coincidentally, here is Phil and I looking like a gay couple with an adopted child, walking through Dilworth Plaza at City Hall.

From there we caught the R5 back to Havertown. Rhianwen and Rachel decided to go for a walk, and I grabbed a cup of coffee with my dad, swung by and visited my Mom and Grandmom and then back to Phil and Rachel's to get ready for the night ahead.

After some freshening up, we went to visit with Grandmom Benner and the Schmidts since they couldn't make it to Thanksgiving. It was great to spend time with them and hear about all the activities that keep the Schmidt kids busy. We were especially impressed to hear that Madison, our cousin who is not even in high school yet, is being recruited by Johns Hopkins University for one of their programs. She's only thirteen and already she's smarter and going to a better university than me. And of course, our other cousins Regan and Steven were there, but were a bit busy making an elaborate cupcake tableau. Unfortunately, said tableau was not completed and we did not get to eat any of it. As for Uncle Steve and Aunt Janet, they shared tales from their recent trip to Europe. Having written all of that out, I think Rhianwen and I realize the Schmidts lead very exciting lives. We're glad we got to be with them, even for just a short time.

From there, it was on to the annual Papa Thanksgiving party. You see, we did not tell Kathy or Gary that we would be coming home for Thanksgiving. In fact, we told them we were really sorry but couldn't make it. Technically, when we told them that, it was true; my Grandpop hadn't passed away yet and we were planning on spending the holiday out here in LA. But when we found out that we were going to be in town, we decided to make our presence a surprise.

And boy were they surprised. It was one of those moments where you wish you were filming. Gary was wailing, Kathy was screaming, and we were glad we worked so hard to keep the secret.

And from there, Dinner Part III commenced. The Papas do not skimp, my friends, and they had a spread that could clog an artery just by looking at it. We got to spend time with Sonia and Larry, and Kevin and the super-pregnant Penny (who has since had a baby girl, Rory Michele!!!), and two of our favorite guys Nathaniel and Tucker Papa.

From left, Nathaniel, Nathaniel's guitar, Tucker, Rhi and Some Guy on Piano. We love the Papas dearly, and we're so happy we got to surprise them by crashing their party.

And then, since we hadn't gotten a chance to see him during our entire trip, we stopped off and visited with Greg--my best man--at like midnight. We had a beer, chatted about life, how HE AND TRISH ARE HAVING A BABY!!!, and other stuff. Rhianwen bonded with Lucy the dog, we all complained about how Saturday Night Live isn't very good, and then Rhianwen took this weird picture, somehow:

Not quite sure what is going on here, so let's move on.

Sunday, November 30
Our last day in town. We woke up and had coffee, spent our last moments with Jamie and Jude, Phil and Rachel, packed our things and said goodbye. Chuck and Gwenyth were driving us to the airport, but we had a nice time chatting for a while because we were far too early for our flight. But eventually, they had to leave us...

...and we reentered Philadelphia International Airport en route to Los Angeles, where it is warm and sunny, and jeez we can't believe we used to live in weather like that. But, we miss the place regardless. We love you, Philly and all whom dwell within your general region!

Trip to Philly, Pt. 2: Friends and Family

I tend to get stressed out when I have much to do and not enough time to do it. Usually, I'd rather plan as few activities as possible because I figure if you have low expectations, it feels good when you actually accomplish something. Rhianwen, however, has a different take on the matter entirely.

So despite having a fairly packed schedule with Christine's wedding and surrounding activities as it is, we decided to pack in even more with seeing as many people as we could in a very short amount of time. Thank God Rhianwen was there to do all the effort making. (Not that I didn't want to see friends and family to begin with; I'm just lazy.)

First we have the Papas, who we stayed with for part of the trip. Though we didn't get to spend as much time with Gary and Kathy as we would have liked, we did have one fun afternoon of swimming with Nathaniel and Tucker. Here's a brief glimpse.