Sibling Love

When I capture a picture of our two babes enjoying each other and the sweetness of their sibling relationship, its a treasure.  Recently I got a few, which we will cherish for always and hold dear.  These two are crazy about each other and its so fun to witness.  Greta thinks Hudson is hilarious and he loves to care for and snuggle her as much as possible.  Its sibling love at its finest and we are grateful for the love they share.     

The Last Group of Fall Family Photos

A few more family pictures to share.  These are the ones that didn't make the cut to be the Christmas card photo but I still thought they would be fun to share... 

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From The Swingers

Roy, Emily, Hudson & Greta 

SWINGER FAMILY 2015 UPDATE 

ROY continues to spend lots of late nights at the computer doing homework for his masters degree in agronomy.  Thankfully, graduation is on the horizon.  He coached cross country at ADM again this fall and ran a road race.  He is quite the handy man and impresses us often with what he can fix.  This summer he built Hudson a sandbox.  In August, he gave us all a surprise and was hospitalized for appendicitis.  Working in soybean research for Dupont Pioneer, continues to challenge him professionally as he supports our family.  He loves cheering on the ISU Cyclones and wears the school colors with pride.     

EMILY enjoys her role as a mother of two, yet her time feels full keeping up with the day-to-day tasks at home.  Being part of a Thursday morning co-op, and teaching Hudson 4-year-old preschool at home, has been one of her favorite blessings this year.  She continues to build new relationships by selling Thirty-One bags, being a part of an IF:Table, and tutoring one afternoon a week.  Being the coordinator at church for Operation Christmas Child was an enjoyable ministry opportunity she had this holiday season.  She takes any moment she can find to go for walks, bake, update the family blog, text friends, and “create” gifts and party decorations in her basement space.  

HUDSON John is a typical, busy and energetic 4 1/2 year old boy.  He is a head taller than most other children his age and continues to grow at a quick pace.  He enjoys doing “learning time” with Mommy and always chooses his math work first.  He adores his sister and prefers to make her laugh by being right in her face.  Hudson can often be found “messing, building, and inventing,” with whatever he can get his hands on.  We seem to have a future engineer here.  This summer he spent lots of time in the sand and riding his balance bike around the block.  Farming is his #1 favorite thing, just like his grandpas.    

    

GRETA Alice is our little lady and reminds us often how boys and girls are different.  She is sweet, snuggly, so blond, and giggly.  At 10 months old she finally started taking good naps and sleeping through the night.  We celebrated her first birthday with a “golden pumpkin” theme on November 1st.  At 13 months old she is now walking everywhere, likes to snuggle her baby doll, and bounces anytime she hears music.  People are always telling us she is a happy girl because of the way her blue eyes light up.  A few of her favorite things are being held by Mommy and going for rides in the red wagon. 

the PERFECT christmas tree

On Sunday, November 29th we headed over to Howell's Christmas Tree Farm (where we always get our tree) to pick out the "perfect tree" for our family.  Since we were out of town for Thanksgiving, we were a bit later than in the past, on making our selection.  To our surprise most everything was picked over and the fields were full of either 10 foot tall trees or tiny 3 foot Charlie Brown trees, neither of what felt like a good fit for us.  So, we decided to go for plan B.  We googled other tree farms in the area and headed home for a quick lunch and naps.  Later that afternoon we drove over to Hill's Tree Farm near Minburn and searched the hills high and low until we found one that would work.  The tree is a bit smaller than ones we have had in years past, but it actually fits our living room better and it was less expensive too.  Yeah!  I love the tradition of a real Christmas tree and its especially meaningful now that Hudson is old enough and enjoys the excitement and tradition of it all too.  Yes, it took a bit more effort this year, but we did find the PERFECT Christmas tree.    

  

Thanksgiving 2015

We celebrated Thanksgiving in NW Iowa this year, with my side of the family.  Surprisingly enough, this was Roy's first time attending my extended family Thanksgiving, as we have traditionally celebrated Thanksgiving with the Swingers and Christmas day with the Bomgaars.  After all these years, it was time to switch things up.  :)  My Aunt Amy and Uncle Gene hosted us for dinner and it was a delicious spread of food, to be expected, and a blessed time of catching up and reconnecting.  

   

Mila, Hudson and Beckett sitting at the "kids table" for Thanksgiving dinner.  

The "big boys" enjoyed their time together.

Little Miss Mila, as sweet as can be.  

It was a good chance to take a family photo, so much to be thankful for here.  

We spent a few extra days enjoying life at the farm...

Greta trying out the mini car in Mimi's basement...

We enjoyed free train rides at the Centre Mall.  There was no line so Hudson went 4 times in a row.  

To my surprise Greta wanted in too, and wasn't too concerned about me not being right next to her.  She had the biggest grin and bounced up and down in her seat.  

A trip to Sioux Center wouldn't be complete without a trip to Casey's Bakery.  Greta had her first taste of a donut hole and liked it.  :)  

This would be a pretty classic Greta face in the car...screaming louder is better.  

Operation Christmas Child

This fall I had the opportunity to coordinate Operation Christmas Child at our church.  It is a Samaritan's Purse ministry that I have participated in since my college years and its near and dear to my heart.  The mission of OCC encompasses some of my favorite things...children, gifts, and the world, so it felt like a wonderful opportunity for me to serve.  All it requires is a shoebox and filling it with simple gifts for a child in another country.  At church, we started building momentum and sharing the opportunity mid-October.  When it was all said and done, we collected and delivered 244 boxes on November 20th.  We were just a tiny part of the millions of boxes that were collected this year and are currently being delivered into the hands of precious children.  As expected, Hudson loved being my helper buddy and wanted to participate in every way possible.  Here are a few pictures from our delivery day.  Our prayer is that the children who receive them are deeply blessed and come to know the love of Jesus through these simple gifts this Christmas season.    

Packing and stacking the boxes into the back of our mini van.  

We got to take a look at the big semi, where they were collecting the boxes and getting ready to deliver to the distribution center in Minneapolis.  

The white tags mark the countries where OCC boxes are being delivered this year.  

Its so cool to think about the number of hands that touch the shoeboxes and the miles they travel, before they reach the hand of the recipient.  

Friends from church helped us with the delivery. 

We Love November...

Just a few random pictures to share from the month of November.  We enjoyed lots of beautiful fall days and the wonderful weather was abundant.  We tried to soak in lots of outside play, but had our fair share of inside time too.  Yeah for November!  

There is nothing quite like a giant pile of leaves to jump in.    

Greta enjoyed playing with the mini pumpkins after the pumpkin party.  

We have lots of PJ days around here...

Sunday afternoon hot chocolates from Starbucks make a great Mommy and Hudson date.  

We did lots of exploring in a nearby barren corn field.  

Greta LOVES the red wagon!  

Watching Daddy fix the roof on a lovely Saturday afternoon.  

Snuggles with her baby doll after a tubby...

Hudson is really interested in typing out everyones full names on the computer.  I guess we can count this as an early computer lesson.  

A trip to the library for some new books and playing with different toys is always a win-win.  

More Fall Pics...

My heart is exploding...just in love with these beautiful moments captured.  

Greta's 1 Year Pictures

We got Greta's 1 year pictures and our family pictures taken on Saturday, October 24th.  It was a beautiful fall afternoon to be outside and the colors were glorious.  Here is what our photographer captured or our Greta girl...