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.

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...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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.

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.

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!!

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.

Happy Halloween and happy fall!

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.

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.