babe, bets, and ninja kicks

so mercy has started calling me "bets" and andy "babe" from time to time. she doesn't do it disrespectfully (though i think she's picking up on the fact that we think it's hilarious); we think she's just repeating what we call each other. she also reminds us to "be careful" and "hold hands" when one of us is getting ready to leave the house. the other night, i was told to "be good for all the peoples" before i left for Bible study. always good advice.


the other day, we had a large piece of styrofoam that needed to be disposed of. before doing so, andy invited our fantastic neighbor garret to perform some ninja kicks on it. he happily obliged. they both had a jolly good time obliterating the chunk of styrofoam while the girls looked on with glee.

awesome.

our trip to michigan (or "mishinen" if you're talking with mercy)

we spent a little over a week with andy's family in michigan. we relaxed, played in the snow, visited with old friends, and made lots of memories with our ever-growing extended family. mercy had a blast playing with her cousins. and andy & i just loved seeing each other all day, every day for lots of days in a row.

the newest cousin...miss evangeline susan.

gracie & mercy share a fun moment.

edie's happy because she's with...

...grammy!

for some reason, mercy opens her mouth when she uses scissors. cute.

we made the kids individualized hooded towels. isaac plans to use his as a jedi cloak.

lily and her cute butterfly towel.

we see you, elijah!

m & e

i snapped these shots over the last few weeks. the girls sure are getting cute together.

mercy getting just right the angle for our "eden shoot."

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!