Welcoming a new year!

The start of a new week is upon us and the end of a long string of much anticipated holiday gatherings!  The extended Benner family has departed and what remains is fond memories of times together and the Christmas decorations that we are all likely a bit hesitant to take down.  The needles falling from the tree, however, will encourage my readiness to depart with it.

The girls all thoroughly enjoyed the time with family - there was always someone ready to play a game.  Grandma Benner successfully put Alida to sleep for the first time ever- yes, she was so tuckered out she couldn't make it through her new book. Terah also seemed thrilled by all the faces to study and people around adoring her.  She continues to expand her vocabulary!  Here's three short videos to enjoy (the first may be a repeat for those of you on facebook).  She is such a talker (she really loves talking to her daddy!) and the last one makes it appear that we may have another book lover on our hands!







So that we are not too far into the New Year when this gets posted, I'll let some photos speak to some highlights of our Benner holiday gathering.  Among them was several walks (including one at sunset and one in which we found a bounty of oyster mushrooms), gingerbread house and cookie decorating, trim painting at Jonas and Emily's, lots of game playing (including a rekindling of my enjoyment of Rook and learning Spades), and eating many delicious meals together.  It was also really fun to see the two youngest cousins get to know each other.

As much as we loved the time with lots of people around, it felt wonderful too to be just the five of us yesterday afternoon. I got three coupons from Alida for Christmas: one for a family walk, one for cuddling and one for a hair playing session. I cashed in the family walk yesterday afternoon and we took a hike on the mountain path across from our place.  It was sunny, brisk and energizing!  We talked about our hopes for 2016 and now have our plans made for family meetings, family nights, reading nights and Kali/Alida cooking nights. Avery productive walk it was!

I know I mention it in about every blog post but I love watching our three girls together.  Morning cuddle time is especially precious. This picture reminds me of one of me in between my two older sisters. My cheeks were equally impressive.

 In other news our lenten rose is blooming in January, as is our flowering quince.  And it's time to start seeds!  Jason sifted duff yesterday from under an old brush pile with his new handy dandy homemade sifter and then got onions and leeks started, as well as a few ramps. So I guess you could say the growing season is officially underway.  Now with teens in the forecast for tonight, I want to get out today and harvest some parsley, dill and cilantro.  And as we speak there are snowflakes flying around outside. Let's hope some sun comes out later to get the laundry dry that I put out last evening with hopes of it drying today. For now Alida is suggesting I cash in my cuddling coupon and read her a story.