celebrating Jesus with the people we love

we had a great Christmas this year with a visit from dad & mimi and dan & carrie. we giggled at home, hiked some nearby trails, ate gelato on pearl street, and sang "silent night" by candlelight. and new year's eve brought the birth of our newest niece, evangeline, who joins isaac, gracie, lily, and elijah at home with mom (amity) and dad (aaron). rejoice! thank you, Jesus, for coming to save us...for the hope we have in you...for the beauty we see here that is the tiniest glimpse of what's to come.

cozy

grandpa and his girls

i love this shot of carrie and eden.

cute grandma and edie.

carrie & dan stay warm...and adorable.

my happy dad. this one really makes me smile.

hiking with our buddies ramin, natalie, and isaiah

mercy and niles party it up at the zenz Christmas brunch.

sweet reunion with cousin wendy and david at the denver airport

happy 2008 from us!

buddies

mercy and eden have started to really hang out. translation: mercy often plants herself in front of eden to sing songs, read books, etc. it's quite precious. they got matching red sweaters from amy for Christmas and then we tie-dyed tops for them on new year's eve with some friends. if sisters are dressed alike, they've got to be tight, right?

mercy teaching eden some Bible stories (thanks, dad & mimi, for the awesome rattle in eden's hands!)

the faces of edie jo

eden, in her four-month-old glory, has been offering up lots of smiles and other fantastic expressions lately. we're totally in love.

warm it up

for Christmas, aunt amy sent everyone in the family a handmade wonder...nose warmers! here we are trying them on.

what is this?

amy's photo-filled tutorial helps.

here aunt carrie...you try.

don't forget eden's!

lovin' the locks

we decided it was time to finally get mercy's hair cut. the mullet has been with us long enough. so the other day, we went to a kids' salon i've been hearing a lot about in the mommy circuit. it's called lollilocks. i must say, we were not disappointed. not by the service, and not by mercy, who held perfectly still for her stylist. too cute. the whole thing. just too cute. here's our little girl...who's growing up so fast.

i came home from coffee with my dear friend julie the other day to find this scene.

oh, the adventures i miss out on when i'm away...

come on, now. you two are fabulous.

the snow is here

it's a winter wonderland here in boulder...and in vail, where we got to spend a few days while andy represented nau at snow daze. we had a great time while andy got the word out about nau. mercy started galloping (or "gallopooping," as she calls it) a lot while we were there. why not?

the fam

the girls

e & me

andy & mercy whoop it up in the nighttime snowfall during a snowboarding rail jam.

this is actually in boulder. we sledded with john, meggan, and ben. (thanks for the photo, meg!)

random photo of mercy and her buddies: groovy, baby, and bear.
mercy and baby have both just gotten their hair done.

no words can describe the level of cuteness i see here.

fun in phoenix

the girls and i got to visit phoenix last month in honor of my grandma (the one and only lill schwertfager!) who passed away october 12, 2007. while we were at aunt june and penny's, we celebrated grandma and my mom (i can't believe she's been gone over nine years now...what an incredible reality she has, living in the full presence of her Savior) with good conversation, yummy Thanksgiving food, and, of course, dancing to some of mom and grandma's favorite grooves. we also got to spend time with uncle bruce and aunt paula, which was so special. here's the photo lowdown:

splashing in an outdoor pool in november! unbeatable!

aunt amy and eden

mercy gets some digital camera instruction from uncle chris.

suzy and penny share a litte eden time.

ryan can't hold back the laughter.

the girls! from left: daphne (the pug), penny, suzy, aunt june, mercy, amy, me, eden, and carrie

cuddling with aunt june

love that dan and carrie.

does it get any sweeter? i don't think so.

umm...adorable.

eden bonds with uncle bruce.

so happy together

yum...pickles with aunt paula!

mercy and aunt carrie check out their work.

mercy can't get enough.

m & e watch the game with the boys.

we love our neighbors

garret and aubrey are very special to us. we're blessed by their friendship and the way they love our kids. it's so fun that they live in the apartment right below us! here are some recent shots of g & a hanging out with m & e.