D700 test drive

Yep, it can stay.

a fresh start

Well friends, the cat is out of the bag. Joey is stepping down from the ministry director position at camp and we are setting off on a new adventure. We've been here for almost all of our married lives, yet it has never been monotonous or boring. During these 3.5 years we have:

• lived in a one-room "shack" with no showers, no laundry, and only a hotel room sized fridge
• lived in a cabin with no running water with a family of five raccoons inhabiting the attic (for a short while) 
• grew accustomed to hearing our cat chasing a mouse in the night
• lived in a 400 square foot home for a year, sleeping in the living room when we could no longer share one with our (at the time) 9-month-old 
• lived in a brand-new house trailer 
• lived in a brand-new house trailer without electricity for three weeks
• been snowed in at the top of the hill numerous times
• rearranged our lives for summer camp four times
• became parents
• became parents again
• had a pool, horses, a zipline, and a winter sliding hill at our disposal
• witnessed countless sunsets that set the sky on fire
• witnessed an actual fire just down the hill from our house
• seen deer, eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes, wolves, foxes, badgers, wolverines, woodchucks, turkeys, turkey vultures, etc...
• been blessed to see God working through scores of people, whether they were sliders at the hill, campers during the summer, congregations in churches, summer staff...
• grown closer as a couple as God led us through all of these things.

We are so, so grateful for our time here. It's had it's highs and it's had it's lows, but the lows don't make us despise the time. No, they have shown us just how faithful our great God truly is.  

And now you are probably wondering what we're going to do next. Joey feels that it would be beneficial for him to attend Bible college and grow deeper in his understanding of the Scriptures, and I agree. What he is being led to, we have no idea. All we know is that we truly love our Lord and want to learn His word, to defend His word, to preach His word. Unfortunately we cannot just jump into college, though, because we are unwilling to accumulate the debt it would take at this time. The plan is to work for a year or two while saving up money to fund this next step. It is quite possible that we will never make it to college if God points us some other direction, but for now this is the plan. 

And that's that! If you would like to know more detail about what we're doing, just send me an email using the contact link on the sidebar. I would love to converse more privately with you about these matters. 

this boy's mom

truly doesn't know how blessed she is

and she needs to thank Jesus for these blessings more often.

it's amazing what a week does

on the move with benjamin from Andrea Sawatzky on Vimeo.

this week

bug catching
swing pushing
walk taking
runny noses
sore throats
boycotted naps
learning to walk
un-prompted affection
fear of grasshoppers
fear of swinging
birthday parties
present jealousy
tattle-crying
missing Daddy
seeing my daddy
girl-bonding
wal-mart runs
bargain hunting
DQ milkshakes
McD's iced coffees
decision making
living
learning
loving.

and he walks with me

At long last I have finally captured a good video of Benjamin walking! He's been getting better every day, but today was the day that I officially declared him to be a walker on Facebook. That means it's really official, right?

Without further ado, ENJOY!


benjamin is a toddler! from Andrea Sawatzky on Vimeo.

Picture Proof of Ben's Birthday

to my one-year-old on his birthday

Little Mr. Benjamin,

You are one year old today. A couple days ago we took a four hour drive and you alternated screaming your disapproval at being confined and babbling, giggling, and smiling unabashedly. I handed you a cracker and you spent most of the time turning it back and forth, examining it, and raising it in the air victoriously. When we arrived at our destination, you speed-crawled around the entire house, stopping only to bob your head vigorously and plot a new speedy trajectory. Then you showed us how you are definitely determined by walking around more than usual and climbing on top of a picnic table all by yourself. When I put you down to sleep, you gave me a soft "ba ba ba" and did not make one more peep.

My little bean, I love being your mama. You are feisty and changeable, determined and fun-loving. Your smile is brilliant, and your eyes simply shine. You scream louder than any baby I have ever heard, and you are incredibly talkative. You are not afraid to take on your brother, and you think he is the coolest cat ever.

You're incredibly fond of vegetables, but you're also pretty content to eat whatever we give you. Your favourite thing in the world is to play with cups. Cups in cups. Cups in cups in cups! You are a very methodical thinker. Copying what you see around you comes easy to you, and I excited to see you learn new things as you transition from infancy to toddlerhood. Toddlerhood! How did it come so quickly?!

Benji, I waited and waited for you to come, and one year ago today I got to hold you for the very first time. You were extremely blue when you were born, but oh-so-very alive. You stole our hearts right from the get-go, and you haven't given them back yet.

We love you, Benjamin! Happy birthday!