Merry Christmas and happy holidays! As I pause and reflect upon the past year I hope this note finds you happy and healthy.

Lick Brook Falls, Ithaca

Gretchen and I are doing very well, and have had a very eventful year. We have [...]]]> Dear friends and family,

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! As I pause and reflect upon the past year I hope this note finds you happy and healthy.

Lick Brook Falls, Ithaca

Gretchen and I are doing very well, and have had a very eventful year. We have made progress with our studies and research, and have had lots of good visits with friends and family. However, as I pause to think about all the day-to-day events that have somehow already turned into another year, it is clear that the arrival of Eli is the most significant thing for our family this year.

At the beginning of this year, we were still taking classes to prepare for childbirth. Now, somehow, we’re already experiencing the day-to-day wonder and excitement of getting to know our now 9-month old son. Eli is happy, healthy, and curious, and we feel very lucky to welcome him to our family. Since Eli was born, time has flown by, and the events of last January and February seem so long ago that it’s hard to believe that they happened this year. Still, almost each month had an adventure of some sort that we’d like to share, so perhaps it’s best to summarize the year with pictures:

January highlights included prenatal education and our now-traditional trip to stay with friends at the Falls Brook Yurts. Gretchen was on snowshoes this year. She says it’s Ben’s turn to carry Eli in 2012 so she can have her turn on skis.

Yurt!

In February, prenatal education continued with mounting intensity. We put the finishing touches on Eli’s bedroom. Ben got out for a day of ice climbing, but Gretchen elected to stay at home for some reason.

Ice Climbing

Everything changed in mid-March, when Eli was born. We were very happy that Tom and Kristy (Gretchen’s parents) were able to come to Ithaca to help welcome him (and help us adjust to this new parenting lifestyle!)

Welcome Eli!

By May, after additional family visits, it was time to hit the road with Eli, so we went to Seattle to visit Tom and Kristy. Eli was a champ, and the trip went smoothly. We were very happy to introduce Eli to a lot of our friends in the Northwest. Coincidentally, it happened to be the weekend of our college reunion, so we headed down to Tacoma and stopped by the house where we all lived during our senior year.

Where we lived senior year of college

The arrival of summer meant more outside fun for our family – there are lots of neat hikes, swims, and events in the Finger Lakes, and Gretchen and I are hoping to finish our degrees soon, so we may be moving away before many more summers.

Hanging out with the Rivers at the Syracuse Balloon Fest!

July also meant a Heavner get-together in Eastern Maryland. It was hot, but a good time to get together and hang out!

Heavners in Maryland

In August, we capped off a successful summer with a welcomed visit from Kristy while Gretchen completed her annual swim across the lake for Women Swimmin’.

Fun with Eli!

September included a very special visit to GG – Gretchen’s grandmother (and Eli’s great grandmother – thus the name) in LaCrosse, WI. In addition to lots of fun hanging out with Kristy’s family (and seeing the spectacle of OctoberFest!), it was quite a treat to be the photographer for this 4-generation picture:

GG, MorMor, Mom and Ei

October brought a drive to visit our friends Micah and Kate in Burlington (complete with a chilly drive and hike to the top of Mt. Mansfield!), and a pretty awesome lion costume for Eli.

The highest point of Vermont!

In November, Gretchen and Eli headed north to Montreal with Annie to visit our friends Gabi and Camilla. They were pleased to report a wonderful visit catching up with friends and exploring a fun city.

Montreal adventure!

Which brings us to this month, which we’re filling with travel for family visits. As I write, I’m sitting in the living room of our family home in Lubbock Texas, and look forward to our next hop, back to Seattle for Christmas. Along the way, Eli has had his first visit with Santa, which seemed to go well.

Santa!

Looking back at this letter, it becomes a bit more clear to me how the year has gone by so quickly. Though I’ve highlighted our trips and weekend adventures, we’ve also had weekdays full of work and transitions. Eli is enjoying his day care, where among other things, he had the chance to participate in a study of infant mobility. Physical Therapy students at Ithaca are developing a robot which may enable infants who can’t move on their own to explore. Eli helped out as a test subject. His job was to sit on top of the robot and lean towards objects he wanted. The robot sensed his leaning (using a wii balance board), and carried him in the direction he wanted to go. It was lots of fun for the students and for Eli!

Eli drives a robot

We’re obviously not very good at frequently updating this blog, but if you’re interested in seeing more of what we’ve been up to, we upload a lot of pictures to our gallery. Please feel free to have a look around. And let us know how you’re doing, too!

As you can tell, it’s been a very satisfying year. Although we’re anxious about all the work we need to do next spring, the main thing Gretchen and I feel is very lucky and grateful. I’m sure our next year will be full, too. Among other things, we’re hoping to help Eli figure solid food out a little better than his early efforts!

Haven't quite mastered solid food - yet.

With lots of love and wishes for a happy new year,
Gretchen, Ben, and Eli

Gretchen and I hope this letter finds you having a wonderful holiday season, with time to reflect on the good things that have happened in 2010, and to rest and prepare for 2011.

Our year was full and busy with planned and unplanned adventures, visits with friends and family, and [...]]]> Dear friends and family,

Gretchen and I hope this letter finds you having a wonderful holiday season, with time to reflect on the good things that have happened in 2010, and to rest and prepare for 2011.

Our year was full and busy with planned and unplanned adventures, visits with friends and family, and various health issues. On the balance it was a very good and exciting year, and we’re looking forward to lots of changes in 2011.

Planned family get-togethers included starting the year with Gretchen’s family on Bainbridge Island and visiting them again in September when we were in the Northwest for a friend’s wedding, helping my brother Matt settle in to a new house in Los Alamos (we organized the garage!), visiting my extended family in Maryland, and having a wonderful vacation in Corea, Maine, near Acadia National Park with my parents, brother, sister, and their families. While we were in Maine, we were able to visit with my grandmother and mom’s sister, which we don’t get to do nearly enough. Gretchen was also able to squeeze in a quick trip to the midwest to visit her mom’s family – something we don’t get to do enough of, either!

We were both really happy late in the summer when we passed a significant academic milestone. We both presented our Ph.D. research proposals, and were accepted as Ph.D. candidates. That means that we have demonstrated the ability to formulate acceptable research projects, and have gained the skills to execute the project. Now, all that remains in our Ph.D. programs is to do the work and defend our thesis. We hope to finish our degrees in spring 2012.

Besides the great planned experiences of the year, we also had some big surprises – the most exciting was in July, when we learned that Gretchen is pregnant! Almost immediately, we began plans to remodel a room to be the nursery, hoping to finish the work before winter’s cold came. Unfortunately, our second big surprise delayed those plans when I broke my leg (I was playing capture the flag, and got tackled. Yes, it’s true that adults don’t normally play capture the flag. Yes, it’s also true that it’s not supposed to be a tackling game. Sometimes, games are just too fun!) Next, I got to have some extra, unplanned time with my family in September when my dad had open heart surgery.

Fortunately each of these surprises has turned out well: Gretchen and the baby are doing great, and we’re expecting him to arrive in early March, my leg is mostly healed now, we’ve been able to get the hard part of the remodeling done with help from friends, and though serious, my dad’s surgery went very well – dad is now “as good as new, or maybe better.”

We had a very sad time after Thanksgiving, when we had to put our dog to sleep. We miss Maddy a lot, and have been really grateful to all of our friends who also expressed their love for her. The community of great friends that we have found in Ithaca has been one of the most fantastic parts of our lives again this year.

Even with the various adventures we have had, our friends are the best part of living in Ithaca. Whether brewing beer, celebrating each other’s accomplishments, mourning lost loved pets, or reconnecting on trips, our connections with the people we love are what made our lives particularly wonderful in 2010.

This holiday season, our wish is that you have a life filled with love and community, through good times and bad, throughout the new year (and many more years, too!).

With love,
Gretchen and Ben Heavner

P.S. feel free to sign up for an account on our blog if you’d like to leave any comments! One of our resolutions for the New Year is to update the blog more often with baby pictures and other excitement in 2011!

At the top of Mt. Marcy - the highest point in NY.

Maddy in the snow!

Yurt trip.

Baby!

Ben climbing in Joshua Tree.

Gretchen climbing at Red Rocks, near Las Vegas.

Playing in the snow with the nephews!

Naadir wanted to be buried!

Tie-dye from Aunt Carrie is awesome!

Aven liked her new dolly!

Jaye, Sara, Claire, Peter and Carrie

Naadir and Torsten see Santa!

Fun on the Polar Express!

Ben wishes he had Sunglasses!

We started off our trip by spending a few days with Wendy in Denver. The [...]]]> Ben and I had a wonderful Christmas break that was filled with friends and family! It was a long trip, so this is a long post, with lots of links and links to pictures…

Ben wishes he had Sunglasses!

We started off our trip by spending a few days with Wendy in Denver. The weather was beautiful, and we were able to see some of the places we frequented when we lived in Colorado. We had coffee with Aspen, who I played soccer with when I lived there, and we had a great dinner with Wendy’s parents. Ben got to take a welding class at Club Workshop in Denver. Club Workshop is this cool place where they have any tool imaginable for woodworking, metalworking, and more! You can be a member, or pay by the day. It was cool!

We were able to go to my favorite Indian restaurant anywhere, Taj Mahal III, in Louisville. They even remembered us! That’s how often we went there!

From Denver, we flew to Durango, where we met up with the rest of the Heavners, along with Jaye and Bob, and their kids with their families. We skied one day at Purgatory – the weather was beautiful, the snow was great, and we paced ourselves and managed to ski the whole day!

Skiing at Purgatory

On December 23, we went on the Polar Express. There is a narrow gauge railway that goes from Durango to Silverton. In the winter, the route is shortened, and Santa visits the train! If you know the story of the Polar Express, then you know how the train ride went. The train arrived, then we boarded. The people working on the train were dressed as chefs (just like the book and movie!), and served us hot chocolate and cookies while the hot chocolate song played.

On Christmas Eve, we flew to Seattle to visit my family. We had a relaxed Christmas day that started with Danish Puff and stockings. Ben and I went for a run (it was cold and slippery, but sunny!), then we had our traditional Christmas day breakfast of eggs benedict and baked grapefruit – then presents! That evening we had a fondue fiesta! Ryan and Corinne came up from Tacoma, and Laura and Chris came over from West Seattle.

We spent Boxing Day in Seattle with mom and Ryan – we took the fairy over for a dim sum lunch, then the traditional Seattle outdoor store tour: REI, Feathered Friends, Second Ascent, and O.R.. We got some good deals on new jackets, and realized that other than that, we don’t really feel like we need much gear these days. That’s one difference between Ithaca and Alaska!

We couldn’t get enough quality Ryan and Corinne time, so went down to Tacoma on Sunday to hang out there. We got to see the new Tacoma Vertical Club that Ryan’s been building for the past few months – it is super awesome. Ben and Ryan bouldered a bit, then we went and got some coffee drinks and looked at shops on Tacoma’s antique row before going to see their super cool T-town loft and getting dinner with Corinne at the not-so-cool as we remembered Rock Pasta.

Cai mans the pumps!

Cai had a busy Tuesday cleaning the house (he’s very in to sweeping, so we got him a broom and dustpan as a present, and he immediately got to work). We interrupted him for a short trip to Battle Point Park. We did a bit of digging under Jason’s supervision, and then went to explore the soccer fields and to track the elusive Killer Bunnies of Bainbridge Island. Fortunately, we made it out of the thickets alive, so we could still participate in one of Jason’s wonderful single malt whisky tastings at the inaugural meeting of the Bainbridge Island Whisky Society, hosted at my parent’s house. Ben reports that the whisky was great. I watched a movie with Tamara and Cai.

Tamara, Jason, and Cai headed out on Wednesday after breakfast, and I slept. I wasn’t feeling well – maybe I got Ben’s hangover for him? He and dad went and watched Avatar while I slept.

I had planned to cook a great dinner of braised short ribs and polenta with goat cheese (since it turned out so well for Ben’s birthday dinner), but in the end, I just gave mom the recipe, and she did all the work (sorry mom!). It was fantastic, but I felt bad since it was supposed to be my turn to cook. Stupid being sick.

On Thursday, we had a morning dash of packing up, saying goodbye, and catching the ferry to Seattle to meet up with Gavin for New Years festivities. Said festivities involved getting The Illustrious S.K.T. from her job, and driving to a cabin just South of Mt. Rainier that E. & L. had rented. We hung out, banged on pots at midnight, watched some 1980′s ski video, and played a “Neverending Story” drinking game before finally calling it a New Year.

Heroically, Gavin and Susan woke up on New Year’s Day and drove us back up to the airport, where we caught our plane and made it home with only minimal security problems caused by the 8 pound cast-iron krunkake griddle that we hoped to transport in Ben’s carry-on bag (we ended up mailing it).

Thanks to all our wonderful friends and family for such a great holiday season, and Happy New Year to you all!

To see the rest of our pictures, go to our gallery!

Well, apparently we can only manage quarterly blog updates. So here goes…

We spent Thanksgiving in Nashville with Bestey, Jim, Kori, Heri, Taariq, and Naadir. We had a ton of fun hanging out and went to the zoo. Our favorite part of zoo [...]]]> It seems we forgot to upload this blog entry at some point….

Well, apparently we can only manage quarterly blog updates. So here goes…

We spent Thanksgiving in Nashville with Bestey, Jim, Kori, Heri, Taariq, and Naadir. We had a ton of fun hanging out and went to the zoo. Our favorite part of zoo was the playground that was big enough for big kids!