FALL

Things are going good for the Benacs here in Temple.  We are loving the cooler weather and the arrival of fall.  A few weeks ago we had some friends from church and school over for a pumpkin carving party and we had a great time.  It is so fun be able to host people at our house.   The most exciting news of late was our little niece Lucy was born in early October! We were able to go up there shortly after the birth and are looking forward to seeing her at Thanksgiving. Emily and Cody are fantastic parents and we have loved being Aunt and Uncle. We also got to go to Boerne for a weekend to watch Dylan play football. He had an awesome senior season and was a great leader for the team.

Hannah's class is busy everyday doing science

 projects and mastering multiplication.  Drew got to spend some time with her class recently playing kickball and checking out the volcano projects they had just finished.  He is constantly amazed at how she does what she does everyday and juggles ten thousand things all at the same time.  There are many so many needy kids at Tyler so keep praying strength and endurance as Hannah heads to work each day.

Drew is getting close to finishing his first semester of me

dical school.  He has dissected the entire body except the head and neck and most recently finished the arms and legs.  He liked this part of the body so much that he is thinking he might be interested in Orthopedic Surgery and is making plans to go watch some surgeries soon.  Meanwhile, he is using study breaks to work on a sail boat he bought from a neighbor for $50!! We are hoping to get it out on Lake Belton in the Spring.

As for the third member or our family, Annie has grown lots since our last post.  She can do lots of cool tricks and even lays on her bed while we eat dinner.  Tragically though, she has started jumping the fence! This is not a good thing.  We have tried lo

ts of remedies to stop this jumping but no luck yet.  We'll keep you posted.  If you have any great ideas for us, please send them our way.

In other news, we recently took off for a weekend getaway to Brenham, Tx to celebrate our one year anniversary and Drew's 24th birthday.  We stayed at an awesome cottage owned by a couple who own some ranch land just outside of town.  We did lots of hanging out, hannah swung her first golf club and we did somo antiquing.  We would highly recommend the place we stayed at so if your looking for a get away, make sure to check out Tara Farms in Brenham.  Here is a picture of the cute little place we stayed...

 Thanks to all for the recent birthday and anniversary wishes.  We are excited about the holidays coming up with our families and want you guys to know that if your passing through Temple on 35, please swing by.  

End of summer

Hi everyone! Well it's official, summer has ended. Tomorrow Hannah will to head to her first day of school and Drew will head back into the world of cadavers and books. All in all though, we have had a great summer. In the last three months we have finished two jobs, started another, started medical school , bought a house, taken some great vacations, and most recently, got a dog!

She was a rescue dog looking for a home that we fell in love with her as soon as we saw her picture in an email. She is extremely smart and well behaved for a puppy. She knows how so sit, come, fetch and even shake! It's been an exciting couple weeks having Annie in the house and she has been a great addition.

In addition to Annie, there have been lots of changes for the Benacs recently. A month ago Drew had his first day of medical school and last week he took his first test. He has really enjoyed getting to know his classmates and the material he is learning. One of his most unique experiences so far has been the weekly dissections in the gross anatomy lab. Tomorrow, for instance, Drew and he classmates will be taking out the heart! Alot of people say that medical school initially is like trying to drink for a fire hose and that has been pretty true this far. He is anxious to get his test grade back this week to see how he did.

While Drew has been pulling his hair out studying all day, Hannah ahs been hard at work in her classroom. Tyler Elementary in Belton seems to be a great place. The teachers are committed to each other and to their students and the the administration runs a tight ship. Hannah seems to be part of a really great team of teachers that has made her transition to a new school this year really smooth. Her classroom is beautifully decorated now and twenty lucky kids will get to spend their first day with the best teacher ever starting tomorrow.

Towards the end of summer we got to spend some great times with friends and family. We have had the Williams visit, Bekah, Dustin and recently spent a weekend a the lake with the Benacs. It was great to see all the boys before they head off to school and we had so much fun in the river, playing games and even skiing on the lake thanks to Taylor and Jon Yarbrough.

Things with us are going great. Temple is a great place with everything we need and it's quickly becomming home. Continue to pray for us as the fall starts, that we would be faithful servants of the Lord at our schools and whereever He would have us go.

Hope everyone is well. If you're ever in the area don't hesitate to stop by, we're 5 minutes off I-35. God Bless

Drew, Hannah and Annie

Hi Everyone! We are still alive and well and we both apologize for taking so long to update! This summer has been busy but very exciting as we move and are starting our life in Temple. We have been here a little over a week and have been in awe at how the Lord has continued to show His faithfulness to us in caring for us, providing for us and blessing us. We are so thankful. Here is a brief summer update....

We had a fantastic end of school and a wonderful send off. We then had about a month before we moved so I babysat for 2 kids and Drew helped coached our school's basketball camp. We tried to do some "Houston things" before we left like go to the symphony in the park, visited the Waterwall, and (my favorite) shop at the biggest flea market in Houston! We also packed and packed some more as well as did as many house projects as we could from our little porch in our apt.    

We were also able to go to Al and Shannon’s wedding in Abilene. The wedding was beautiful and we loved being a part of it and being with family. That same weekend we threw a baby shower for Emily and had a great time! We can’t wait for that little girl to come!              

So we packed our entire apt. and then headed off to Orange Beach Alabama with Hannah’s family for vacation. The best surprise of all was having Luke, Jane, and Tyler meet us in Houston for an Astros game before we left. No one has any idea they were coming and it was a blast to have the whole family together for the night! Thanks Mom and Dad J We loved hanging out at the beach and relaxing right before the big move! Thanks Grandma for an awesome vacation!

We came back and moved the next day! We were so blessed to have friends help us and have been working on the house day and night (literally!) since we arrived! So far we have painted our room, the living room and the kitchen. Put in a new door, put up the porch swing Drew built, tried to get our grass green again (hasn’t worked yet), and much more! Drew’s family came up to help last weekend and it was awesome! We got so much done! We have met a few of our neighbors who are really nice and love our neighborhood! We have enjoyed somewhat getting to know the city and are excited to be here. We were also able to go to a Bible study for med students and residents this week that we really enjoyed. We’ll end with some house pictures! We love you all and can’t wait for you to come visit! 

The new homeowners!

Our new 1106 tiles that we bought at the flea market

Our kitchen in progress…We are painting the cabinets and they have not yet been but on and there is part of the island that Drew is building in the middle. He is quite the handy man!

Us on the porch swing Drew built! We never could have hung it without the help of Drew’s Dad!!

 freshly painted living room J

Rained out!

Hi everybody!  Things with the Benacs are good - especially today (a Tuesday) as we are both home for the day due to severe flooding in the Houston area last night.  Yes, thank you Lord. 

Last week we had some big news when Hannah took a job as the new third grade teacher at Tyler Elementary in Belton (which is just next to Temple).  We are so excited and got to watch the Lord take care of us every step along the way in the job hunting process.  It was long and rigorous at times but Hannah had multiple offers to choose from and really felt that Tyler was the right place for her with lots of opportunities to minister to all types of kids.  To check out Hannah's school go to this link: http://www.bisd.net/tyler/ 

Now the next big decision in front of us will be deciding on a place to live. We have been looking into both apartments and houses, crunching some numbers and praying about the right place to be.  This weekend we are traveling to Temple to look at some houses with a realtor and stay with one of Dr. Williams old classmates Dr. Murdock and his family for the night - again so taken care of.  Please continue to pray for us with this decision.  Regardless of where we live, it looks like we will be moving the week following the July 4th weekend since our lease is up on the 11th.  

At FBBA things are going well.  We have a countdown going on at home for the end of school.  21 days until summer in case you were wondering.  Recently we attended our school's annual fundraiser, The Groovy Gala, and chaperoned the high school Sadie Hawkins dance, skate into the 80's. Both were fun times that called for appropriate dress. 

Looking groooovy!

Skat'n into the 80s

Another highlight for us has been several weekends with family, including a few that have taken place right here in our apartment.  We were in Austin at the end of March for the capital 10K which was a blast.  We ran the six plus miles through downtown with no problems until Drew almost passed out in class later that week due to late onset dehydration.  Guess the days of the college athlete are over.  Over Easter weekend the Williams came to visit and it was so fun to show them our church, our school and where we have lived the last year.  The Benac boys (David and Dylan) came up this past weekend for some hang out time, golfing, and lots of wii.  Thanks to all of you who have made such a special effort to come visit - we have loved having you. 

At Lupe's with the guys

Well that about wraps in up for us.  Thanks for your prayers, please let us know how we can be praying for you.  We have been learning a lot about being patient, waiting on the Lord's timing, and living content in all circumstances.  We love you all!

-Drew and Hannah

It's about time we updated!

Hello Everyone! Sorry it has been so long...

Here are the past 2 months in a nut shell...in between our weeks of teaching we have gotten to do some fun things on the weekends! In late Jan. we went to a friend's ranch with 3 other married couples to spend the weekend. We had a blast cooking out, relaxing, shooting guns and going on hikes! In February, I (Hannah) was in a wedding in Dallas and the following weekend Drew was asked to speak at Boerne Disciple Now. He did a fantastic job talking to kids about relationships. In March, we found out that Drew was accepted to the four year program in Temple so I got on the job search! I was surprised at a very quickly approaching job fair in Belton and worked to apply and get my resumes ready. The job fair was a good start, although I felt a little lost in the crowd. I will go to another one in April for the Temple area. Please keep that in your prayers!  

We returned on Saturday night from the job fair and Drew left early Sunday morning to go on a camping trip to Big Bend with 12 FBBA boys. His high school has a tradition that the week before Spring Break is set a part for mission trips, internships, college visits, and fun trips! He was asked to be faculty sponsor. He really enjoyed his time and the chance to get to know those guys in a different setting other than the classroom. He was gone all week for that and I was teaching so I asked Mom to come up for a few days and be a special visitor in Mrs. Benac's 3rd grade class! The kids loved her as she read them a story and brought cookies! We were also able to go to a  movie, she went to Bible Study with me and we went on many walks. I loved it and didn't have to brave all 5 nights by myself! Drew came back Friday, we had a few days of rest and then left for Knoxville, TN to visit some high school friends we have kept in touch with. They moved up there this past summer and we loved seeing their life there! We went backpacking in the Smokies for 3 days and it was beautiful! We went up to the Appalachian Trail and back down with great weather except one rainy night. Spring was just starting to come out in Knoxville so we saw a few things blooming. The only downside was that the boys couldn't see the first day of March Madness! There were attempts of texting to get results on the mountain! We got back down and watched a lot of basketball and saw the town in between. It was a wonderful and refreshing break! We are now getting back into school and in our last nine weeks! We are looking forward to running the Capital 10K with family in Austin this weekend, visits from family over the next couples months, and going to Santa Barbara for Bek's graduation! We are thankful for all of you, for your love, support and prayers. 

Psalm 16:7-8 "I will praise the Lord, who counsels me, even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." (Pray our hearts will be open to the Lord's instruction and He will always be set above all else as we seek to walk in His ways) Here are some pictures from our journeys.

Here we are at the ranch with our Sugar Land friends Josh and Elizabeth

Big Bend with the FBBA boys

Us with Brad and Heather about to hit the trial

The Appalachian Trial Shelter, or "AT shelter" if you're a local, where we spent our second night.  Notice the chain link fence to keep out the bears! AHHH - no sightings though

The beautiful smokies - so properly named!

Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009 to everyone! We have been so blessed with a wonderful Christmas break and can not believe we have school again on Monday! We started off the break going to a Shane Barnard/Shane Everett Christmas concert at our church in Houston (look them up on itunes if you don't have any of their music). We loved the way the concert was completely centered around glorifying God and not the artists. It was a great way to start the break as it focused our hearts and minds towards Christ and why He came. I was especially hit by the way the Lord completely humbled himself to become a man...for me and for us. God sent Jesus as the perfect mix of justice and grace so that we might be saved and spend eternity with Him. I'm so thankful for this salvation and that we don't have to try to do it on our own. 

Anyway, after that we headed to Boerne to spend Christmas with the Williams' and the Benac's. All the Williams' family was home this Christmas along with Grandma Shack and the DeZonia family. 

We absolutely loved catching up with everyone, playing games, celebrating Emily's birthday, and exchanging gifts with one another. We also had some great times of reflection as a family about the true meaning of Christmas and we were overwhelmed with thankfulness of the Lord's goodness and of the faithfulness to walk with him that our family's possess and have passed on to us.  

Next we headed to the Benac's to have Christmas and then head off to Colorado. 

We met some family friends up there and stayed in their cabin in southern Colorado. Colorado had just been hit with snow and our timing couldn't have been more perfect as snow was still on the ground but the weather was sunny and 30's. We had a blast playing in the snow: sledding, cross country skiing, snow ball fights, and one day downhill skiing in Telluride. 

We also enjoyed our time in the cabin reading and playing games. Once again we were overwhelmed with gratefulness for the time spent with family and the fun had by all. 

Now we are back and taking down Christmas and preparing for another semester! Hope all is well, we love you!