Benners at a monastery

Earlier this month, Benner and I were feeling the need-to-leave-LA itch. It's pretty common: sometimes the city just leaves you feeling slightly irritated. Maybe its just city living, (not that LA really feels like a city but more like lots and lots of strip malls and development), maybe its "the industry," which people out here like to pretend is harder than any other job out there. Whatever it was, we were needing an escape. We also happened to be wanting a marriage conference, so we were lucky when we discovered a marriage retreat at a monastery in the desert the very weekend we were needing to go. We booked the weekend based on a five-sentence description of the retreat. We didn't know what we were getting into, which I think was part of the allure.... adventure!

We arrived on Friday night and wondered for a moment or two if we had the right place. We didn't see other cars and there was no one to be found. We wandered into a building that said "retreat in progress" only to find an empty room with the lights out and complete silence. We saw a doorway with light which we approached as we talked amongst ourselves, ("is this the right place? where is everybody?") and found a room full of people and monks who looked up at us for talking since they were in silence. I thought it was pretty funny.

We have many things to say about this I'm just going to give you the highlights for now:

1) The peace at this place is palpable. Great facility, beautiful grounds, including a pond with a duck we named Leonard. He likes to eat. And you know our love for mid-century modern architecture. Eating in the dining hall and looking out at the mountains through this window was so lovely.







There are turtles on that rock out there.



Leonard!

2) Delicious food. No pictures of this so you'll have to take my word for it. And you don't have to cook or do dishes. Love that.

3) Silence at meal times. Anyone who knows me might think this could be a challenge but it was actually refreshing. Breakfast was entirely in silence and then only part of lunch and dinner. A monk would read something out loud and then you would enjoy your meal in silent meditation.

4) Our little cabin. We dig the windows!



5) We both took a Meyers Briggs test and learned about our personalities. Very insightful! God is pretty creative when he makes people.

6) We watched a RIVETING documentary about called "Messages From Water". Yes this may seem random but it was to illustrate the power of words. Everyone is getting a copy of this documentary for Christmas. You're welcome!

7) My favorite part of the weekend was a talk by Father Francis on Friday night about repentance and confession. Pastor Steve Weed would have dug this guy.

8) What a diverse group of couples! All ages, from all over the place and man were we all different. It was interesting to hear about other people's lives and their thoughts of marriage. Kind of cool that we all left our homes to spend a weekend with total strangers. There were only 7 couples so it was fairly intimate and we got to know each other a bit.

9) Benedictine Mass. We were the only protestants that weekend, but with 6 masses (yes, there were 6!) we learned the drill. Once we figured out how it all worked out- the bowing, the chanting, the silence - we were able to "enter in" and it was a special time of worship for us. Oh and they had a harp, too.

And that wraps up the weekend!

Yummy

This is one of the most delicious meals I ever had, and my husband made it for me!

Man, I sure am blessed.

And hungry.

A Withington Weekend to remember!

We have fallen quite behind with blogging in the busyness of summer, so apologies for the lateness of this post! We're excited to tell you about a wonderful visit we had just a few weeks back by our dear friends Maureen and Chandler. We were thrilled when we heard they were coming for a visit and had all kinds of socal fun with them!

You may remember Maureen and Chandler from their beautiful wedding last October which we told you all about here. Maureen is my oldest friend and a dear one at that, and you can see she was a beautiful bride! Not that you should be surprised. They are such a great couple and we are happy to see them enjoying married life and thriving!

Mo and Chan man came in on a Monday night and stayed with us before hitting the road for SF the next day. After Alcatraz, some golf along the coast and seeing some friends up north, they came back and spent the weekend with us. We hung out at the pool, went out to dinner, hit my favorite Malibu beach spot and then ventured to Six Flags Magic Mountain. All made for a great weekend.

Maureen and I have a mutual friend from highschool who lives just a few minutes from me with her husband and darling little girl, Avery. Avery is such a ham, seriously adorable and constantly entertaining! We got to hang with the whole family that weekend and it was fun reminisincing high school memories and catching up.

Here are some shots from our Withington Weekend:



The marsh we pass on the way to the beach. Can you see the pelicans?


Pausing for a pic.


Cuteness!








Maureen in the back of our Saab convertible! Maureen has always had a thing for convertibles. It seems that nine times out of ten, if I'm in a convertible it belongs to Maureen. But now we own the convertible and she's our passenger!


Here we are at the Americana in Glendale. There was a giant chandelier outside for some reason.

The following Sunday, we were off to Six Flags Magic Mountain.


More cuteness!


We ran into the fresh prince of bel aire! Haha, sorry honey:) Benner is not a fan of this picture.


Are we seriously doing that?

So Maureen and Chandler love roller coasters. Benner as well. Me? Well, I needed some persuasion and I got plenty of it! Maureen and Chandler's preferred method of persuasion was to withhold as many details of these scary ass rides as possible until the very last minute. Which is how I found myself hanging from a harness, facing the ground from 100 feet up as we swooped and dipped and loopdy-looped on large steel machines with names like Goliath and Tatsu and the Vomi-tron.

I don't know how I let myself go on those things. Maureen and Chandler must be especially charming.


This is the one ride I opted out for. It promised a "4D" experience. I didn't care to find out what all those D's stood for, thank you for much, but Maureen, Chandler and Benner seemed to think they were worth it.

During all the long lines, we played rounds of "Spot The Worst Tattoo" and "I Spy An Ill-Advised Hairstyle." We were also entertained by Chandler, who has a funny story for every occasion. Maureen, however, seemed distracted at times by her throbbing need for funnel cake. Thankfully, we were able to locate some on our way out of the park at the end of the day and she was a happy lady.

Aw, man! This post is making me miss you guys. Thanks so much for coming out! Can't wait for our next visit!

Meet our beautiful new niece: Naomi Caitlin!

We are delighted to announce the birth of our beautiful niece, Naomi Caitlin! She arrived on Monday, 8/9/10 (what a fun birthday to have) weighing 7 pouts and 12 ounces. My sister Sarah shared that she is very mellow and cute. The cute goes without saying! Benner and I are a very proud aunt and uncle!

Speaking of proud, I would be remiss to mention that Sarah managed a natural birth despite some complications and pulled it off in 4 hours! AMAZING! God, please let my labor be four hours!



Welcome to the world Naomi! Your Aunt Rhi and Uncle Benner love you already!

The first Lewis Great Grandchild is born!

Just the other week I learned of the exciting news that my cousin had a baby! This the first great grandchild to my late Nain and Tiad (Welsh for Grandma and Grandpa) and I wish they were here to see him! I have not met my cousin Daniel's wife or her kids and it's been a few years since I've seen Daniel but I am so happy for them and look forward to meeting mom Sherri and their new baby boy.

The incredible thing is how much this newborn baby boy - Drake Thomas - looks so much like my Taid. Even at hours old, I can see my Taid's face in him. He was born at 7:18pm on July 22nd, and weighed in at 8 pounds 14 ounces and is 21 inches long.

Welcome to the world Drake!