A HEART FELT “MERRY CHRISTMAS” FROM THE SCHWARZ 7 TO YOU!!!
Our first family photo the day we met our sons and brothers!
first all siblings picture;) amazed how God gave each instant LOVE!!
A letter can’t even begin to touch on the numerable ways we have seen our God come all the way to us, especially over the last year. It’s what we celebrate at Christmas~ Immanuel: God with US! He has spoken, led, loved, redeemed, moved and revealed not just ‘around us’, but in us too. It has been humbling and a place of awe. Thankfully, since being in such a cool place of seeing God our faith has grown to trust He delights in bringing us along in His love and work in the ‘every day stuff’ too. There are way too many things to catch folks up on, but suffice to say, we are grateful and learning more about ourselves and each other as we’ve gone through this process and grown into a family of 7.
It is fun to shout out highlights for us of the year past! The highest highlight was the trip as to meet our boys in April and travel before meeting them around Ethiopia. IT WAS PHENOMENAL! The people, the sites, the time together, and the stories shared. THEN! 2 months later Andy and I had the privilege to go back and BRING OUR SONS HOME! That was short and sweet, but just a taste of the months that were to come to discovering our boys and our new family of 7. Those times and memories are slowing, but treasured.
I take great delight in being alongside my kids and Andy in what the Lord is doing (and what we’re waiting on Him to do!). I guess you’d say there are stories constantly unfolding around here. So, without further rambling, here are some highlighted moments into some chapters:
Justin: BASKETBALL:loves it, lives it, breathes it~No more soccer except refereeing~added 2nd job at our pool snackbar~become quite the social fella~continues to be a diligent student~loves being the ‘rock star’ big brother to the Jcrew~sports enthusiast~amazed by our trip to Ethiopia and what we take for granted~a real thinker and fun young man
It is fun to shout out highlights for us of the year past! The highest highlight was the trip as to meet our boys in April and travel before meeting them around Ethiopia. IT WAS PHENOMENAL! The people, the sites, the time together, and the stories shared. THEN! 2 months later Andy and I had the privilege to go back and BRING OUR SONS HOME! That was short and sweet, but just a taste of the months that were to come to discovering our boys and our new family of 7. Those times and memories are slowing, but treasured.
I take great delight in being alongside my kids and Andy in what the Lord is doing (and what we’re waiting on Him to do!). I guess you’d say there are stories constantly unfolding around here. So, without further rambling, here are some highlighted moments into some chapters:
Justin: BASKETBALL:loves it, lives it, breathes it~No more soccer except refereeing~added 2nd job at our pool snackbar~become quite the social fella~continues to be a diligent student~loves being the ‘rock star’ big brother to the Jcrew~sports enthusiast~amazed by our trip to Ethiopia and what we take for granted~a real thinker and fun young man
Kaylee Ann: DANCE: pours all her activity energy into lots of dance classes~quite enamored by fashion and design~began a little $ raising effort to help the kids left behind in Africa~great teacher and helper with her brothers~newfound diligence with schoolwork~creative and compassionate young lady
Aliza: SCHOOL: loves it!~amazing adventure for our first time out of the country gal in Africa~amazed at the joys of being a big sister and moving from the ‘baby’ to the middle child!~extravert all around...not a fan of being alone AT ALL~finding a desire for art alongside loving basketball~passionate, energized (always) and sensitive gal
Jacob: LIFE: takes in every minute of it with wonder and joy~compliant and desires to please yet there often is a ‘right’ way to everything~talker about EVERYTHING ~affectionate~loves cars and outside playing~creative and an awesome big brother~fun to watch the shift from needing to be ‘the same’ vs his own being
Jeremiah: CONTENT:lives each day with HAPPY all over it and him~ joyful~ pleasant~ sneak (in the silliest of ways)~ gracious~ funny~ likes to push the limits ~confident ~ peacemaker of the boys~ glad to see this tough guy open up quickly to affection and letting others love him as he was quite content to not be needy
Andy and I: TRUST: Blown away the phenomenal year past~hard adjusting to less time alone and debriefing but finding new ways to enjoy each other in a bigger family~great fun and joy in the activities, conversations and lives of our kiddos~fun having toddlers in the house again~fun watching the relationships of the older ones with the boys~amazed how we are in a place of sometimes learning from our kids (good ouch)~grateful that the LORD forgives, moves and has HIS way in and through us!
Aliza: SCHOOL: loves it!~amazing adventure for our first time out of the country gal in Africa~amazed at the joys of being a big sister and moving from the ‘baby’ to the middle child!~extravert all around...not a fan of being alone AT ALL~finding a desire for art alongside loving basketball~passionate, energized (always) and sensitive gal
Jacob: LIFE: takes in every minute of it with wonder and joy~compliant and desires to please yet there often is a ‘right’ way to everything~talker about EVERYTHING ~affectionate~loves cars and outside playing~creative and an awesome big brother~fun to watch the shift from needing to be ‘the same’ vs his own being
Jeremiah: CONTENT:lives each day with HAPPY all over it and him~ joyful~ pleasant~ sneak (in the silliest of ways)~ gracious~ funny~ likes to push the limits ~confident ~ peacemaker of the boys~ glad to see this tough guy open up quickly to affection and letting others love him as he was quite content to not be needy
Andy and I: TRUST: Blown away the phenomenal year past~hard adjusting to less time alone and debriefing but finding new ways to enjoy each other in a bigger family~great fun and joy in the activities, conversations and lives of our kiddos~fun having toddlers in the house again~fun watching the relationships of the older ones with the boys~amazed how we are in a place of sometimes learning from our kids (good ouch)~grateful that the LORD forgives, moves and has HIS way in and through us!
May Jesus give you a big "squeeze" this Christmas and in 2012!! and...may we all learn to enJOY HIS delight in and for us!
