Merry Christmas!

The Swinger Family “Top 13” of 2013…

13. In August, we took a trip with Emily’s family to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, to celebrate her mom’s 60th birthday.  It was a beautiful trip!  

12.  Hudson is becoming such a “big boy.”  He has transitioned to a toddler bed, is using the potty, and is talking in complete sentences.  

11.  We celebrated life milestones with the Swingers…Roy’s sister’s wedding, new niece Milly, Grandpa Ells’ 90th birthday, and great aunt Doris’ 100th birthday.   

  

10.  Emily sold lots of Thirty-One bags this year.  She is grateful for new relationships and opportunities that have come through being a part of this company and having her own “business.” 

9.  God blessed us with an abundant fall harvest.  We had combine and semi rides with “Bapa Rog" and “Papa Eds,” lots of produce from our garden (tomatoes, peppers, squash, green beans, onions), and made many batches of homemade applesauce with Emily’s mom during trips to Northwest Iowa.  

8.  Roy & Emily took a belated 5 year anniversary trip to Cancun, Mexico.  Hudson did great at home with his “Nana”  and “Mimi” while we had a blessed and relaxing time together.  We are ready to go back!   

7.  We celebrated Hudson’s 2nd birthday with a “Cooking Party” during the first weekend of February.  Our little man loves to help in the kitchen and eating is one of his favorite things, so it seemed appropriate we celebrate in that way. 

  

6.  We read lots of books this year and each had personal favorites.  Roy finished the “Bible in a year” readings for the 2nd time, Emily was encouraged by Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breath and Hudson fell in love with Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.  

5.  Roy coached Cross Country at ADM again this fall and also completed a half marathon in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in April.  

4.  “Mommy, Daddy Days,” are Hudson’s favorite.  This is when just the three of us are home together.  Family time is a gift!  

3.  Roy accepted a new job with Pioneer, providing a fresh start and a new opportunity.  He will continue doing research, but will now work with soybeans, as a part of their Soybean Trait Integration group.  

2.  Emily loves staying home with Hudson and doing “learning activities” together after nap time.  A memorable quote from Hudson, “Hudson like when Mommy teach Hudson new things.”

1.  Our favorite family fun outings included the Dallas County Fair, Thomas The Train, Patches Pumpkin Patch, Blank Park Zoo, Great Iowa Balloon Classic, Iowa State Fair, and 

Reiman Gardens.         

Check out our blog for frequent updates and pictures…   

     The Swinger Days, www.theswingerdays.blogspot.com

Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!   

Love: Roy, Emily and Hudson Swinger

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

On Monday morning, December 9th, we had a Happy Birthday, Jesus Party at our home.  We have a small space and there was a good sized group, so we were close and cozy.  :)  Getting our hearts ready for the Christmas season with a focus on celebrating Jesus, was our purpose.  We kept it simple…play, story, singing Christmas carols, and decorating cupcakes.  A blessed time was had by all.  Happy Birthday, Jesus!  

Working together to decorate the cupcakes...

Evie, very excited about the birthday party...

I found special plates and napkins for the occasion...

Hudson loved singing Happy Birthday to Jesus...

The whole group, singing together...

Drew, ready to dig in...

Thomas, loving the sweet treat...

The two "big girls" sitting together...

Thomas and Olivia...

Hudson and Thomas giving snuggles to Allison...

Christmas Goodies

This year we invited Farah & Afifa to come over and help us make Christmas goodies.  Just within the past few years making Christmas treats has become a tradition for Roy and I.  We make several things, toss it all in the freezer, and then take it out and share with others during the month of December.  And then making a batch of homemade candy cane ice cream to enjoy with the goodies is even more delicious.  :)  Not sure if everyone knows or not, but Roy is pretty good in the kitchen and seems to enjoy helping bake and cook.  He even initiates different recipes and ideas from time to time.  In Malaysia, where Farah & Afifa are from, they do not make so many "sweets" so they were excited to participate and learn in the process.  Plus, I was very grateful to have their help frosting and decorating all the cut out cookies.  Here are some pictures of what we made this year (sugar cookies, fudge, oreo balls, and peanut butter kiss cookies) and the fun we had along the way...  

silly cousins

We tried to get a "cousin picture" of Hudson, Clara, and Milly when the three of them were together after Thanksgiving.  They are growing and changing all the time so we need to capture these precious moments.  We didn't really get a good one, but what we captured is quite funny, I think. 

Hudson took his job of holding Milly very seriously.  Milly started off screaming but warmed up quickly.  Clara is enjoying the snuggle time with her cousin Hudson.    

I'm pretty sure here Hudson is talking to Milly and telling her it is going to be ok.  Sweet boy!  

Hudson and Milly are ready to roll for the picture and Clara, not so much interested.  

Hudson, talking to Milly again and Clara asking for more Cheerios.  

Hudson with his "cheese smile," Milly is chillin', and Clara is out of here.  

I look forward to watching these beautiful children grow up together.  Having cousins close in age is such a gift.  We are thankful for the growing Swinger family and how God has blessed us.  

lefse

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we gathered at Ed and Sue's for an afternoon of making lefse.  Lefse is a traditional potato bread from Norway.  I would describe it as basically a tortilla, but with a different taste.  Sue's grandmother immigrated from Norway so naturally lefse was a common staple they had in their home.  The lefse making tradition, along with the original rolling pin from Norway, has been passed on through Ells and Inga, and now on to us.  Ells has many memories of making lefse with Inga and his mother-in-law, who would have a knack for getting it rolled out just right and would remind everyone that you don't want it "too tin" or "too tick."  Ells is excited to pass down the skills and the tradition to the next generations.  Today we usually only make lefse around Thanksgiving and Christmas time, so its certainly a treat.  Sue had prepared all the dough before we came, so we basically just needed to roll it, cook it, and eat it.  :)  Below are some pictures of the process.  It was delicious and we all got to take some home to enjoy afterwards.  The only problem was that it didn't last long enough and disappeared within a couple of days, at our house at least.  A good excuse to make some more, I guess.     

Separating the balls of dough and then rolling it out with the special rolling pin are the first two steps.  

   

The key to the rolling is not to get it "too tin" or "too tick" according to Great Grandma. 

Cooking the lefse on the special griddle.  

Ells supervising to make sure I was cooking it just right.  

 

After Hudson woke from his nap he wanted to help with the process as well.  

Holding the "lefse stick" was his favorite part.  

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Roy's family again this year.  We gathered at Louise's home with several of the Snyder family.  Roy had a work, but we still had plenty of time to celebrate, and eat.  :)  Hudson wasn't a huge fan of any of the side dishes, but he did gobble up the turkey cookie that Margaret made.  Our whole Swinger family was together, including our new niece Milly, so that made for a memorable Thanksgiving.  We have much to be thankful for, today and always.  

This is my favorite picture from the day.  Uncle Jacy is teaching Hudson how to play Candy Crush….a perfect thing for an uncle to get him started with.  :)  As you can clearly see, Hudson is thrilled.  :)  

Hudson and I made this turkey hat on Thanksgiving morning.

the perfect tree...

On Wednesday, November 27th, we headed to Howell's Tree Farm to pick out our Christmas tree.  This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions that Roy and I have established.  Searching for just the right tree takes some patience, but it always seems worth it because we find the "perfect one" in the end.  This year Farah and Afifa joined in the fun and assisted throughout the entire process, from picking out the tree to decorating it with lights and ornaments.  I think Roy was somewhat happy that he got "out" of helping to decorate the tree this year.  :)     

Farah is ready to go!  

Hudson playing "peak-a-boo" behind the Christmas trees.  

"Come on guys, I think the perfect tree is this way.  Follow me!"  

A family photo in front of our tree.   

Just having fun...

Hudson and I rode on the wagon behind the "little tractor" to watch the man to cut down our tree.  As anticipated, Hudson thought the chain saw was loud and covered his ears.  

He watched their every move as they shook the needles out, wrapped it up, and then tied it on top of the van.    

Ready to head home for decorating.  

We are so grateful for Farah and Afifa and the blessing of their friendship.  More pictures to come of our latest "Christmas activity" with them.  :)  

H, G, & J

On Tuesday, November 26th the Wurpts family came for a quick overnight stay.  We had been looking forward to their visit for a few weeks and getting Hudson, Grayson, and Jayden together to play.  Even though they live several hours away, we hope the boys can grow up being friends and making memories together.  I captured a few photos of them during their "jam session" in Hudson's room right before they left.  Love them!

Hudson, Grayson, and Jayden making music together.  I should have captured a video, I think they even found a steady beat.  :)    

 Jayden turned one a few days before they came.    

3 precious boys…many answers to prayer…3 adorable faces…countless gifts from God…4 grateful parents