ready for the 4th!

yesterday, mercy and i had a bit of a dance party after breakfast. hilarious fun! she was very serious about her dancing, but also offered some lovely smiles. here are the results.

baby girl #2 has been having her own little dance party lately. she's had hiccups a lot, too, which is especially fun for andy. it's really starting to hit us that our new baby will be joining the family in about 7 weeks. wow!

we're loving summer in boulder. we had a great date the other night, thanks to our friend shauna. and we're looking forward to soaking up some holiday fun next week with loved ones. happy 4th!

fun with smokey the bear

mercy just returned from the ranger station with andy. we're planning a camping trip and she was thrilled to be included in the fun. she's sporting her smokey the bear pin and creating a masterpiece on her smokey coloring page. the final shot is from a dress-up session earlier this week.

just eight weeks now until baby #2's due date!

pretty blue dress

mercy had a wonderful time at our friends andy & tara's wedding last weekend. here are a few shots of her during the outdoor reception. she's wearing the lovely dress aunt amy made her.

ponytails and potties

mercy's hair is long enough to pull back in a little ponytail now. what a big girl! we've also started the process of potty training. she's had some early success. we'll see if it lasts...

here are some photos from the past few weeks, including andy and me (and my continually growing belly) after andy photographed a wedding.


fun with mom's shoes

hi cute girl.

after a run-in with a snickers bar

multi-tasking with dad

happy us

season of the slide

Mercy is 20 months old now...just three months away from welcoming her new baby sister into the world! We've hits lots of parks so far this spring and Mercy always gravitates toward the slides. She's basically fearless and loves the thrill of flying down any kind of slide. Here's a photo of her in action during our recent visit to Michigan.

p.s.

mercy's much bigger now at 14 months. she's an excellent reminder of how crazy fast life is.

brilliance

God is stirring up change in this life.

Comparing this photo Andy took last fall to the snow-covered cars outside my window tonight, I am reminded that God is constantly at work. He moves around me, in me, and through me. When I actually quiet myself to see and hear Him, I am weighed down by the thought of all the movement I've missed over the years.

But my eyes are lifted up knowing He's invited me to know more of Him right now.
And to be changed by what I know.
And to live believing what He says about who I am in light of who He is.

God is using His word to stir up change in me since I started studying Romans in September. It's uncomfortable and thrilling. It's like breathing Him in for the first time.

And I want more of it more than anything.

fast-forward one year

now that one year and a day have passed since our last post, i thought it might be a good time to say hello again!

zenz life has changed in many beautiful ways since last year. little mercy isabel arrived september 13, 2005 and is blessing her mom and dad in immeasurable ways. she'll be seven months old in just a few days. her current accomplishments are (almost) sitting and eating all kinds of mashed-up veggies. yum.

we have been in boulder since june and are loving life here. we had such a smooth transition when we arrived last summer because of this amazing community. we have walked into God's grace in ways we've never known.

boulder teaches us that we have much to learn. we want to walk through this season with our eyes and ears wide open. we want to live transparently, love deeply, and give abundantly. we want to show mercy how to live outside herself, as we learn to do the same.

perhaps we'll send greetings again...sooner than a year from now.

spring is here

We have been trying to soak up this beautiful weather as much as possible lately. Spring is upon us and we are loving it! In just over two months, we will be packing up our things and heading west to Boulder, CO. We will join a team of people from Indianapolis who are planting a house church network in Boulder, Colorado. The church in Boulder is called Roots Christian Church. The group from Indianapolis has been sent by a church in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indy called Common Ground Christian Church (www.cground.org).

Baby Zenz is growing like a champion. He or she is at 17 weeks in the womb. Yesterday we were able to hear a very healthy heartbeat and lots of movement as our doctor examined baby and me. We are in awe of this little miracle and give God all the glory for what we are experiencing in these days of amazement.

For Andy and Baby Z.,
Betsy