The Nutcracker Ballet

Make an online slide show at onetruemedia.com

The Nutcracker Ballet is a beautiful Christmas tradition our family has enjoyed for several years. This year is the first time for the twins to see the ballet. They were mesmerized! We were joined again this year by Diane and Alex Francis. We had the best seats in the house so the girls could move around, get close, or get their wiggles out. We could see the orchestra pit and almost touch the ballerinas. The girls were so close they could hear the snow fall and the swish of the toe shoes. During intermission, and thanks to Diane's keen forethought, we had a reserved table with cookies and cocoa (and a glass of wine for the Mom's ) waiting for us. The length of the ballet was just right and we all left the theater bubbling with Christmas Spirit! Alex and Lillian are pros by now at obtaining autographs from the performers. Anna Kate and Ellie Lou admired the giant gingerbread house and each received their own Nutcracker doll to start their collection. Merry Christmas!

Seasons Greetings:
Christmas is a time to focus on all that we have to be grateful for--our families and the solace of friendship. Our family has been blessed with the love of close relatives and neighbors who bring endless joy to our lives. We have had a wonderful year watching our children grow into amazing little people--each one so different and special. We are thankful to God for keeping our family healthy and happy this year.

Much has happened over the past year, so we have some exciting and not-so-exciting events highlighted here in our blog. Please look around the site and catch up on the little things that make us smile every day. We hope you enjoy the photos of our girls---they have really grown up too quickly. We can't imagine a world with out them and look forward to many merry holidays!

Many Blessings,

Darcy & Chris, Lillian, Anna Kate & Ellie Lou

San Antonio Race Weekend

San Antonio Half Marathon 2006...

This was the first race in our Half Marathon series this year. Houston half and Austin half are in Jan. and Feb. We were all pleased with our performances and had a great time together. All the gals (Diane, Lisa, Sharon, Darcy) started out early Saturday a.m., Starbucks in hand, on a beautiful drive --with perfect weather (65-70 degrees)-- from Houston to San Antonio. Lots of uninterrupted girl chatter and a stack of magazines made the drive feel like a quick cab ride across town. (Wait, that may have actually been Diane's driving).

Lisa, Darcy and Margarita

When we reached San Antonio, we grabbed our Race Packets and shopped the sports vendors for goodies. We enjoyed a stroll back along the riverwalk before heading over to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Dinner reservations were at Budros (yum) in celebration of Diane's 29th Birthday (wink wink). A little carb loading and we were all ready for PJ's and a movie in our hotel rooms.

Race morning. Crisp and clear morning. A tiny bit chilly at first, but perfect once we all hit the pavement. This year, the race started at the Alamo and traveled past a couple of missions and into the Alamodome for the finish. Very nice views along the route. It was tough, especially when we all split up, but everyone had a good, strong race with excellent time.

Sharon and Diane --race morning.

Halloween & Pumpkin Patch

Happy Halloween!

I read where Halloween ranks #2 behind Christmas with the most $$ spent on a holiday?? I don't doubt it ...We spent the whole month of October celebrating with decorating, parties, pumpkin patches, pumpkin carving, candy eating, festivals, costumes, and the big night, of course. Whew!

The girls had several opportunities to dress up which they love! Lillian was Hermione from the Harry Potter book series. Anna Kate was a witch at school and a genie on Halloween night. Ellie Lou was a little Lion ballerina. With 3 girls and 7 years of Halloween, dress up, and dance recitals--we had PLENTY of costumes to choose from all month.

Trick or Treating was great. We had perfect weather this Halloween. No rain! All the little spooks met at the Greers' home for dinner and treats before heading out. Thanks so much to Michelle, Doug and Austin for putting it all together.

Lillian and her good friend Alex made a point to hit all 41 houses in the neighborhood. They were moving fast. Anna Kate and Ellie Lou almost made it , but tuckered out before the end of the street. Their candy bags were filled to the brim and they just got tired of lugging it around. Everyone wanted to get back home, dump it all out, and eat it! Mom and Dad had to help sort out the things they shouldn't eat (snickers, kit kats, mounds, etc. wink, wink).

Spring Break Ski Trip

March 2006
Breckenridge, Colorado Ski Vacation with the Francis Family:

Lillie and Alex had great time in ski school. Both were skiing well at the end of the trip. They were not ready to leave the slopes at the end of the trip. We made time to sled, build a snow man and take a sleigh ride to an old miners' cabin for dinner theater!




The girls loved the Can Can girl at the cabin.

Thank you Diane, Scott , and Alex for joining us. Miss the snow already.

Somerville Lake Tent Camping

What a great weekend. Lillie's school has a "fall break" , so we took advantage of the extra time and went tent camping at Rocky Creek park on Somerville Lake with our good friends, the Overbys. Bravely choosing a "primitive" campsite, we had chili and cornbread, hot dogs and s'mores-- all cooked on the open fire! We pitched our tents lakeside and had a blast skipping rocks, and collecting kindling for the fire. We all slept great in our sleeping bags --even baby Ashlyn!

The weather was perfect. What a blessing. We even survived a late night visit from a skunk! Thanks to Chris's superb rock throwing talent, we were able to chase him out of our camp trash bag just in time. Phew! We awoke refreshed and ready for slow brewed coffee, breakfast tacos, and a nature hike.

We weren't completely roughin' it, however; we had to chuckle at the all the kids perched on the beautiful lake shore staring at the portable DVD player! But don't worry, it didn't take long for them to figure out the better view.

Thank you Lisa, Landon, Dylan, Megan and Ashlyn for another memorable family adventure!

Triathlon Season

Lillian Places 3rd in Kids Tri

Isn't she awesome?!? Swim, bike, run. What a powerhouse. We're so proud of her. Waking up at 0'dark thirty, diving into ice cold water followed by a heart pumping bike ride , finishing with a jelly-legged sprint!


USA sanctioned triathlons begin at age 7 and what a career beginning for Lillie! She started the season late at the end of the kid tri series of races, but quickly improved her time with each race. Her last one was a 3rd place win. How cool are those sunglasses???!!

Lillie will continue her year round swim team training with Fleet (remember she placed 4th in breaststroke at the Allstars Invitational!!). She also gets in a track run with mom and dad each week. Anna Kate and Ellie Lou are also running the track.


And like daughter, like father...Chris enjoyed competing in another year of triathlons with his all girl fan club--the only thing that would make him smile after swimming ice cold water. It was a fun season; however, Lillie keeps asking Daddy why he doesn't ever get to stand on the podium after his races??? :)

Summer 2006

The Benwell family summer began with the end of school. Yahoo! What a busy month for the Benwell girls. School is finally out for the summer. The twins are 4 years old and will enter into PreK next fall. Lillie will be in 2nd grade--can you believe it? She turned 7 in April. She's growing too fast.
We had some very exciting end of year awards. Lillie received an award for Punctuality (which is an award that really should have gone to me or my carpool partner, Diane). Lillie was never late to class!

We are most proud of an award she received for Accelerated Reading. She won a gold level award given to the 1st and 2nd graders-- Lillie, a first grader, amongst the few 2nd graders at that level!! This is quite an accomplishment. She read lots of books over the year and passed tests on each to earn points. Way to go, Lillie! Next year should be even better --she's addicted to the Harry Potter series now!

Lillian is also keeping up with guitar lessons. Earlier in the year, she performed Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" in her school talent show and was fantastic! Bravo!



Anna Kate and Ellie Lou have finished up their first year at ballet with a recital in June. What beautiful little ballerinas! AK is on the left and EL on the right in each ballet photo. They look totally different to us, but I'm told I need to let others know who is who in the photos.

Summer League swim team has kept us busy every weekend this summer. All three girls are on the team this year. Lillie has already qualified for the All Stars Invitational in backstroke and breaststroke. She is sooooo fast! We are so proud of her (pink goggles on head).

Anna Kate and Ellie Lou are also doing great! They're the youngest on the team. So cute. They improve with every practice and swim meet. We have such fun cheering them on. Go WhiteSharks!

















In June, we took a family beach vacation to Grand Cayman Island. The girls had a blast. The water was beautiful and all three girls spent their days swimming and snorkeling, catching crabs and collecting seashells.


We were lucky to have MiMi and PaPa along with us. The grandparents got to spend lots of time with the kids and we got to enjoy some umbrella drinks and sunshine.
(Mimi and Papa Poolside and Beachside)
We learned to plan ahead on these types of trips by signing the girls up for the hotel "Kids Club" or "Kids Night Out" which is a fantastic babysitting program where the kids get to participate in all kinds of events while the adults go out and enjoy the island. Wish we could have stayed longer!

Chris found time to squeeze a little more relaxation into his summer...he and his fellow anglers, David Bently, Tommy Lynch, Vince Amalfi, fished the South Platte River in Colorado.