New Bike

Nan and Bubba gave Hoyer a new bike for Christmas! 

 Its just his size and he loves it! 

 Bringing it back from Mui Wo on the ferry!

We go riding often! 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from my family to yours. 

Unto Us A Child Is Born

 We had the honor of being the Holy Family this Christmas. 

Garrett was perfection, wrapped in swaddling clothing and ears…Graham was waiting in the wings in case Garrett got fussy, but he did it! 

Baptism of The Benefield Twins in Hong Kong

The baptism of the twins took place at St. John's Cathedral in Hong Kong. Their brother Charlie was baptized here too, by The Very Reverend Father Mark Rogers.  

The twins wore dresses that their grandparents wore.  Graham wore GG's and Garrett wore Pops. 

We were blessed with friends and family present at the baptism.

From the back: Elvie, Lindsey, Scott, Fr. Mark, Tara

Jenny, Kyle, Graham, Charlie, Garrett, Kathleen and Hoyer

Here is one with Jocelyn on the right. 

How it all gets done:

Bragging Alert- We are going to see the Stones!

Whoop Whoop! They're coming to Hong Kong and we are going! Merry Christmas to us!

A Peachy Playdate

Hoyer and his mate Peachy, who is our neighbor and originally from Australia, had a rocking playdate the other afternoon! 

Baby love and then rock and roll time! 

{clothing optional…}

Beginning to look at lot like Christmas!

 Hoyer's school performance all about Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere. 

He was assigned New Zealand! 

 Meeting Santa! 

Nan is in town! Christmas time is near!

Christmas Tree Hunt

We found the perfect tree at our grocery! 

The only blonde….

Looks like Charlie will be our only blonde baby. 

Twins One Month

My time flies. 

this post is a bit late… the twins are now 6 weeks old. 

Small World

Here I am with a new friend, Sophie. Sophie and I had twins days apart. 

{Here we are at three weeks for me and 5 for her}

Sophie lives in China. 

Sophie's family  is from New Orleans. 

Her mom and my mom went to the same tiny college in IL. 

We war put in touch though mutual friends in New Orleans.  

Small world! 

Jingle Bells

The boys received a Christmas package with jingle bell socks from their great grandmother, BB. Here they are shaking away!

We are heading into Christmas with bells on!

Seven Year Itch

Who would have thought

in seven years, so much would be possible.

 

The Numbers:

In 7 years of marriage,

 We have lived on 3 Continents, 

had 4 Kids, 

11 home moves (not included the 2 my parents did for us in Bham) 

and visited  28 countries, some multiple times.  

Wild. 

Happy Anniversary!

If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart.

People stop me now and often say the same exact thing, "You sure have your hands full!"  I was laughing about this with a friend who was once an expat in HK who is the mother of 5 beautiful children, including twins.  She told me her standard line to that remark is, 

 "If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart." 

What a great way to remember to be thankful.  

Sometimes I want to roll my eyes and agree with the comments, and say, "Yes, this is crazy, it's so hard!" And I want to complain about it. Sometimes I just want to roll my eyes and say, "You have no idea!" And sometimes I just want to ignore the people looking at me like I am crazy.

  But, from now on, every time I hear, "You've got your hands full!" I will be reminded  that my heart is more full and I can then live in a thankful state. 

I will be reminded to be thankful for the gift of life with each comment made by passers by, I can be reminded that my heart doubled in size the moment I saw those two boys on the screen 8 weeks into their life, that my life is busy, but so fulfilled and full of love.  

I will use the comments, (which are mostly innocent and nice, just plentiful...) 

to remind me that I am so blessed and my cup runs over.  

Yes, my hands are full, but so is my heart.

I am thankful today and always for my beautiful family.

Happy Thanksgiving. 

Hoyer's Day Out!

Hoyer got a little one on one Mommy time this week! 

It started with a haircut followed by McDonalads. 

{handsome boy}

 Then we took a trip out the airport  to try out a few careers at the 'Dreams Come True'  museum/park.

{always ready to help those in need! }

He was a Pilot first. 

Then a police man. 

{A HK airport police man specially and yes, this is how they actually dress and these are the {replica}weapons they carry. Obviously HK is not sensitive to guns and children.... 

And lastly, he was an astronaut on the moon! 

{Check out the surface!}

All in all we had a great day!