Luka and Renya!

2011-03-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2011~ These photos are from Nov.- Jan. and include at the very end, our new Schymik, Rosie. She's our adopted 2 yr. old Red Heeler mix, super smart and an athletic over-achiever. She's settled in quickly now, as she's been with us almost 6 weeks. We love her, but I will note that we somehow got the only dog who will not eat up crumbs from the floor!? What?!
Luka got ice skates for Christmas and has got some ice dancing moves down. Opa Don spent a couple of weeks with us for Thanksgiving and then at the end of Jan. we went with our friends to Santa Fe to meet up with Nana and Pappy.

2010-11-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

Renya grew just enough to finally ride her kickbike! She's now in charge of where she wants to go.

Luka's U-5 Real Colorado team, the Raptors, finished up their first season at the end of October. They play 4 v 4 without keepers and already at this age the boys play on all-boy teams and the girls on all-girl teams. Quite different from 1976, when I (Anissa) started soccer.

2010-09-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RENYA!!!!!!!

2010-07-22T11:31:00.001-07:00

We made it through our first camping trip with the kids--just one long night!! We're planning to put up a kids tent next time as well as this one for Henning and I.

So far the summer seems to be one step ahead of us and our desires to travel. Next week is August??? We haven't strayed much from the Rocky Mtn. region, except a weekend in Santa Fe two weeks ago, but have been packing it in on the weekends at the pool and on the trails.

I keep seeing hot and uncomfortable looking pregnant women and feeling delighted that's not where I'm at! The kids can play together and entertain each other, giving Henning and I a little more freedom to not be on high alert all the time...whew! Renya is learning all sorts of new words each day and Luka is getting more and more clever by the minute.

2010-05-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, LUKA!!!
WE CELEBRATED ON SUNDAY WITH A PARTY--17 KIDS, SOCCER AND FUN AT REDSTONE PARK.

2010-03-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

I guess it's been a while since we last posted anything...probably because both Henning and I started new jobs: Henning is now GM of XJet! and I started my own corporate wellness consulting company! Yay! Life has been going about 100 mph for both of us, professionally, and of course, Luka and Renya are living their own busy lives.

They both go to school/daycare 3 days/ week and are learning all sorts of things both good and uh, interesting. Renya learned to pinch by her second day at daycare and now takes a swing at Luka whenever he walks near her!

Henning has been flying a lot as a new pilot has yet to fill his full-time position so we are missing him most of the time. This should be remedied by next month (didn't we hear that last month??)

2010-01-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

Luka and Renya's first visit to Disney World-- Aunt Sandy, Uncle Ben, cousins Alex and Nico; Nana and Pappy, Opa Don and friends Susan and Luc were all down in Florida, too!

2010-01-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! Our Christmas and New Year's celebrations were fun and co-mingled with other families. Henning was fortunate enough to be on-call only and home with us. Luka and Renya loved the Christmas lights and decorations so much, we had to nearly redecorate our tree each day with the ornaments they had removed the day before. A favorite thing for the kids was to take a little walk or drive before bed to see the decorated houses.

2009-11-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Renya finally got a couple of teeth, as you can see...who knew we would have a little vampire in the family!? Poor kid has been teething most of her life, and has little to show for all that pain and suffering.

2009-11-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

2009-10-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

Renya is walking! A better video will follow soon...

2009-09-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Renya, Luka and Anissa went to Wisconsin to visit the Dorschner side of the family in the beginning of September. It was uncharacteristically warm and beautiful the entire week, so we had fun playing at the beach, swimming at Nana & Pappy's house and just getting together with all the cousins.

2009-09-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Renya!
September 6th, 2009, Renya turned 1!

2009-08-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Luka can ride his bike! Henning took the training wheels off and Luka took off!! He's got the turning and stopping down after 2 days of practicing. He is sooo proud! (And we are, too!!)

2009-08-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

In July, we went back to Germany for 16 wonderful days!

2009-06-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

For much of May, we were in Germany visiting the Schymik side of the family. Luka has two like-minded cousins, Tom, nearly 4, and Nels, 7.

Uncle Sean popped over from London for the weekend!

2009-05-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

Happy 3rd Birthday, Luka!!
(When we unpack and recover from jet lag, I'll post the Germany photos.)

Easter brunch at Eloise's house.

Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo

Last snowstorm of the Spring, end of April.

2009-03-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

2009-03-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

Luka, as of today, is 2yrs, 10 months old and very, uh, volatile in his behavior to say conservatively. He's witty and bright and sweet one minute and a creature from the underworld the next. He keeps us on our toes! Luka's also becoming a fantastic peewee soccer star, newly outfitted by his cousin, Niko, who passed on his old soccer duds to him.
Renya is always sweet, maybe because she's just 6 months old. We hope this phase never ends. She loves to snuggle and tweak your nose, babble and blow raspberries. She can sit very well but also topples over while reaching too far for toys. Her legs have grown amazingly long and looks like she'll start filling in the weight to complement the new vertical growth.
We ran a race as a family on March 15th with a group from Henning's work (XJet). I pushed the double jogger with the kids, which was much like running with a shopping cart full of groceries. Luckily, I didn't hurt anybody and managed to use the weight of the kids to go fast down the hills! Henning ran so fast he was able to finish the race and come back to find us plowing through the throngs of runners.
Next time we just might leave the kids with a babysitter...

2009-02-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2009-02-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

In Santa Fe, Luka met "Sancho" the white pooch from L.A. who now lives down the road from Nana and Pappy's place. We went sledding and hiking in the mountains and nursed our colds.

2009-01-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

Renya is 4 months old now and so sweet and funny.Luka taught her to roar like a baby lion, since he's the big lion. She loves to sing like a dolphin more than a lion, however.

2009-01-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! We had a quiet Christmas and New Year's Eve in Highlands Ranch. Renya loved watching Luka and Luka loved all his presents. They are both our source of amusement!!

2008-12-08T07:56:00.000-08:00

Last month we went to Santa Barbara for a visit. Renya had a great first airplane flight and Luka still needed to taste the sand to make sure he wasn't missing anything.
Anissa has just decided to take time off from work and school to enjoy Luka and Renya a bit longer.
Henning is still working a lot and catching up on sleep while on the road.

2008-11-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween and happy fall!

2008-10-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Renya is now 5 1/2 weeks old and looks different from every angle as she grows into herself. Luka is on the road to wearing underpants only! Hooray!
We survived the first 4 weeks with Oma's help, for which we will be eternally grateful, and she, worn out for the next 6 months.

2008-09-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Renya Summer Schymik made her debut 9/6/08 at 8.21 p.m. after a quick hard and drug-free labor lasting about 5 hrs. She was 7.9 lbs. and 20 inches. Big enough, I should say.
We are totally in love with our little angel!
She brought Luka a new bike, making her the best sister ever. We're now trying to figure out how to juggle two kids, so bear with us as the blog updates wane from time to time.

2008-08-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

Waiting for Renya...

2008-08-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Renya, Luka's sister...while she could come any day now, we are planning to meet her Sept. 1st! In July we were able to escape the inferno of Denver and spend a couple nights in Winter Park and Keystone.

2008-06-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

Luka turned 2 on May 18th! We had a weekend in Aspen, a week in Milwaukee the usual routines of play, work and school for Luka.

2008-05-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Luka is going to have a sister! She's expected to arrive the first week of September.

Here is Luka trying out some new moves...

2008-04-07T16:14:00.001-07:00

2008-02-05T17:16:00.001-08:00

January took us to Belize for a week. Henning had a birthday, no he's not 26 despite what he'll tell you...he and some friends went indoor skydiving. Luka got a kickbike for Christmas but that proved to be a bit too tall for him and Anissa broke down and bought him a tricycle, which he calls his "cycle." The packer hat and scarf and 1 green boot was Luka's outfit he put on all by himself, honestly.

2007-12-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!! We're lucky to spend today together...our work schedules kick back in tomorrow. So, today we'll celebrate and think of friends and family and marvel at how wonderful life is.
We wish you a happy day!

Either Luka was naughty or Santa was...

Our budding soccer star!

Nana's 39th birthday party in Milwaukee

2007-11-11T11:32:00.002-08:00

Luka was a lion for Halloween, a very scary one too!! He loves to run, dance and make people laugh.

2007-10-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

The boys and their trucks...

Photos below are from our recent trip to Germany to visit friends and family. Luka played with Tom, 2, and Nels, 6, his cousins.

Luka and Papa on the beach at St. Simon's Island, GA

2007-08-07T18:36:00.000-07:00

LUKA'S GOT HIS DANCING SHOES ON...

2007-07-13T09:19:00.001-07:00

L

As you can see, Luka is learning to read! A true prodigy. Oma and Opa came to visit from Germany and we were able to show them some lovely mountain trails. Luka has been running, literally, since just after his first birthday. He tends to crash and burn often, as you can see his latest battle with the ground from a hike on Monday.

2007-05-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKA!!!

Luka turned 1 on May 18th! He's now an international traveler as well, having been to Mexico to see the Pacific Ocean, eat some sand and flirt with the senoritas.

2007-03-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

Luka's first flight in the yellow banana

It's Spring! and we've been our usual busy selves: Anissa with a new job at Littleton Hospital, Henning at XJet and Luka at his daycare/ school 3-4 days per week. We were able to take a mini-vacation a couple of weeks ago in Santa Fe, NM, where Luka, Henning and Anissa hit the trails and caught up on beautiful sunshine and fresh air. At just over 10 months now, Luka walks with the help of furniture and other things, says "no-no" and shakes his head; says "Mama" and mostly "dadadada" and "bababbabbba".

Nana, Pappy & Luka

2007-01-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

Luka is mobile! He can walk with his little cart and scoot around now on his bottom, in his modified crawl. He's a bit older than 8 months and we apparently should have purchased gates already. He's pretty quick and very proud of himself too!

2007-01-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We had a quiet, snowed-in holiday this year, not what we had planned on but it turned out to be perfect nonetheless. We wish you all as much fun in your days to come as Luka has in his each day!

2006-12-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

Just to hold you over until the Christmas pictures...
Luka isn't crawling yet, but rather looks like he's swimming on the ground. He insists that we 'walk him around' while he holds our fingers and walks himself wherever he wants to go. He knows what he wants! He is so fun and giggly and talks a lot in his own secret language (must be German...).

2006-11-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

Below are Luka's 'first cold' pics...even a bit under the weather he tried to be as cheery as possible.

2006-10-30T19:34:00.000-08:00

5 1/2 months old...Luka likes pears, bananas and Mama's milkshakes.

Opa Don, Anissa, Great Grandma Dorschner & Luka.

Luka has a sister named Inky who is just 2 weeks older than he is.

2006-09-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Luka turns 4 months old!
A trip to Wisconsin the 3rd week of August gave Luka his first airplane flight and boat trip. We've discovered that he loves flying--especially being lifted high into the air (don't let go!). It makes him giggle like crazy.
Luka talks a lot now, and speaks louder when he feels you're not listening. If you haven't seen him in the flesh, you're missing out!

Opa Don & 3 Grandsons: Alex, 8; Niko, 3; Luka, 3 months.

Hiking in September with Luka's friend, Giovanni, and his Dad, John.

2006-08-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Geez we've been busy...Luka turns 3 months old next Friday the 18th of August!

2006-07-05T13:14:00.001-07:00

Luka is especially cute in the morning, when Mama and Papa are still trying to convince Luka to close his eyes (please!) for just a few more minutes...
He giggles and smiles and makes sweet faces one minute and in the next makes this particularly silly one!

He's starting to lose his hair, making room for blonde locks-? He's had a busy few weeks watching the World Cup and visiting with more grandparents and Great Grandma Nichye.

2006-06-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

Luka is growing, as expected, right? but really, he seems to have a deeper voice, more spunk in his eyes and ever longer legs each day. We love to watch him do just about anything, all day long

Papa is back at work and trying to stay awake at the office and in the cockpit, but thanks to his new espresso maker, he can still stay up all night!!

Mama sleeps as much as she can because she knows Luka always has a trick or two up his sleeve, mostly in the form of poopy diapers or cries for hunger.

The days pass so quickly we can barely remember which one it is or was...but here are some recent photos of Luka.

2006-05-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

3 days old vs. 9 days old...

2006-05-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

2006-05-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family,

We are proud to present Luka Schymik to you, but we are even more honored to now show the world to Luka.
Luka wanted to try coming out the hard way - sideways (wonder who he got that trait from?), but it didn't quite work. So, after two days of labor, the doctors decided to help him out and make another opening for him. He was born on May 18th 2006 at 9:47 in the evening by Cesarean, measuring 20 inches long and 7 pounds, 14.4 ounces, and happy to take his first breaths - and Mama was even happier he was finally outside of her belly.

2006-05-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

OUR BABY SHOWER CAKE, FROM LINDA SHORT

2006-04-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

Luka's on his way