And the Adventures Continue!

Our adventures for June brought us to
... New Jersey and New York ...
a big trip for our 3 month anniversary! Ha!

Erik was in his friend, Davey's wedding (and Davey was in our wedding) ... so Erik flew down to Huntington Beach to spend a day with Davey before they flew out to New Jersey to start getting ready for the wedding. The guys got to see a little bit of New York and even went to Yankee's game. I flew out on Thursday night, so I was able to spend most of the day on Friday with the guys in New Jersey.

Early Saturday morning, Davey and Jess got married! It rained on their wedding day too, but at least their plans were all inside! It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time!

We are so excited they are married and can't wait to have some great adventures together!

... THEN ...
The Benson's took 2 days and 1 night ...
and explored New York!We saw as much as we could see in 2 short days ... it was a fast trip, but we were so excited to have the time together to see and experience a new place!

So awesome!

HAPPY 3 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!

Memorial Day Weekend Adventure!

We took a mini-road trip for Memorial Day weekend to Carmel and Monterey. We camped out of the truck at a park, went mountain biking, had breakfast at a cute cafe in Carmel, saw a movie in Monterey, and LOVED every minute of it!

Our truck ...


Our BBQ ... hot dogs!

The trail!

Almost at the top! (After Julie crashed ... it was an intense trail!)

It was an adventure and we are SO excited for many more! We had an incredible time getting away together for a short break. It was definitely needed!

Benson Adventure #1: HONEYMOON!

Honeymoon: Oahu, Hawaii

The first of many "Benson Adventures"!

We had an incredible time experiencing Oahu! We relaxed by the beach, went to a luau, saw Pearl Harbor, snorkeled at Haunama Bay, and golfed (Julie golfed her first full 18-holes ... we loved it!)!
We spent the whole week enjoying the beauty of Hawaii and smiling in excitement that we were finally married!

We are still in disbelief that we have been married for almost 2 months! We love our home, early mornings, reading on the balcony, and finding new adventures to experience together. We are incredibly blessed and are so excited for many more experiences as a family!

We are MARRIED!!!!

God blessed us with a beautiful rainy day ... even though we were wet, we had an incredible day! We were honored to have our incredible family and friends stand beside us as we became one! We are so blessed by their love and support ... and thank them greatly for toughing out the weather!

We have been married for almost 1 month and we LOVE life together! We are blessed to have found each other and cannot wait to pursue the adventure God has placed before us. We are so excited to walk through life together forever!

Less than 3 Months!

We are so excited for March 21st … and after feeling like it would never come, we can’t believe how close it is!

We have registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond so you can find our registry under Julie Paredes and Erik Benson.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!

Wedding Details!!!

To those who will be coming from afar … we have all the information you will need for making your travel arrangements for your stay in Northern California! Please feel free to contact either of us if you have any further questions! (Information will be updated regularly as plans and reservations are confirmed.)

Wedding Date: March 21st, 2009

We know it is soon, but we hope this information will help make travel arrangements as easy as possible!

Location: The Ranch
Home of Senator H.L. and Barbara Richardson, Grandparents of the Bride
5060 Pathfinder Trail, Placerville, California 95667 (driving directions below)

Hotels:
We have rooms blocked at the Holiday Inn Express in El Dorado Hills
Prices: $109 per night and includes full breakfast, each morning and cookies in the afternoon

**SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Reservations may be made by calling the hotel at 916 358-3100 and asking for the special rate for the Paredes/Benson Wedding.

Online bookings may be made by visiting www.hiexpress.com/eldoradohills; select More Choices, enter dates and in the box indicating Group Booking Code enter PRB. Your special rate will appear and you may proceed with the reservation. *Please note the cutoff date of March 6, 2009. Rate and rooms are subject to availability after this date.

Follow the link below to find more information about what the area has to offer. It is a little further away from the wedding site, but there is a lot more to do and it really is a beautiful town center! http://www.eldoradohillstowncenter.com/

Other Hotels: Best Western Placerville Inn, 6850 Green Leaf Dr, Placerville CA 95667-6228, Phone # (530)622-9100, (approximately 25 min from wedding site)

Directions:
Directions to The Ranch

From Sacramento, Roseville, El Dorado Hills
(From hotel: 24.3 miles, about 39 minutes)
Take US-50 East towards Placerville
Take exit 44A at Missouri Flat Rd
Turn RIGHT onto Missouri Flat Rd (1.7 mi)
Turn LEFT at CA-49/Pleasant Valley Rd
Continue to follow Pleasant Valley Rd (5.2 mi);
At Bucks Bar, the road bears to the right; there is no stop
Bear RIGHT at Bucks Bar Rd (0.7 mi)
Turn LEFT at Springer Rd (0.7 mi)
Travel on Springer for approximately 1.5 miles
Slight RIGHT at Delos Lane (note mailboxes on right)(0.4 mi)
Turn LEFT at Cumberland Trail (0.1 mi)
Turn RIGHT at Pathfinder Trail
The Ranch will be on your left
5060 Pathfinder Trail
Placerville, California 95667

Directions to Holiday Inn Express, El Dorado Hills
4360 Town Center Blvd.
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

From Sacramento Airport (SMF) to Hotel: 38.7 miles, about 42 minutes
Take I-5 South
Take the US-50 East/State Hwy 99 South exit toward Fresno
Continue toward US-East and merge onto US-50 E (25.8 mi)
Take exit 30-A for Latrobe Rd
Turn RIGHT at Latrobe Rd
Turn LEFT at Town Center Blvd

From Los Angeles to Hotel:
Take 1-5 North
Take the exit onto I-5 North toward Stockton/Sacramento (71.5 mi)
Take the I-80 E/US-50 E exit toward S. Lake Tahoe (1.1 mi)
Merge onto US-50 East (25.3 mi)
Take exit 30A for Latrobe Rd
Turn RIGHT at Latrobe Rd
Turn LEFT at Town Center Blvd

We're Getting Married!

On September 13th, 2008, Erik took me to San Francisco for my birthday surprise! Right after we started our drive to the city, he told me we were going to an old army post called Fort Baker. The history of the old fort instantly fascinated me and I was excited to see the old missiles and barracks that bordered the ocean. Erik's seemingly calm and normal demeanor left me completely unsuspecting! Once we arrived at the fort, he drove us up a hill where old barracks and a lighthouse sat on top of a cliff. He then took me up a short trail that led to a cliff with a breathtaking view! We had a 180 degree view of the Pacific Ocean with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. It was there that Erik proposed and gave me the best birthday gift ever! We spent the rest of the day walking through the city in complete exhilaration! We ended the perfect day with a wonderful dinner under the Bay Bridge and a walk down Fisherman's Warf for some ice cream. Now we are so excited to begin planning our lives together as we know God has an incredible plan for us!