Long Time Comin'

Hello my old friends! It's been awhile. A LONNNNG while. I am not as computer literate as most of you so I have not blogged in quite some time. Now that I have figured out a bit of the picture thing on the laptop, I will try to blog more often. Let's face it, blogs-pictures=boring. (Yes, I'm the kind of gal that looked at the pictures in books instead of reading them.)

The above picture was taken at the St. Louis Cardinals Stadium this past June. The Cards have been my favorite team since I was in the 4th grade, however; I had never been to a game until this time. It worked out great because Nate's favorite team is the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are in the American League and the Cards are in the National League, so they rarely ever play each other. Just so happened they played in St Louis last year so we took the opportunity to make it a mini vacation for our 12th anniversary. The Cards won so it was a great trip!! Actually everything about the trip was so great that we bought tickets and booked the same hotel to go back this June. CAN'T WAIT!!

The "Swaffer Clan"

You know how hard it is to get family pictures taken? Especially if the family doesn't live together? Heidi and Stephen were out in California for college this year but while they were home for Christmas break, we decided to get some snapshots of all the kids and grandkids for Mom and Dad Swaffer. Not an ideal setting, but we all happened to be there at the same time and Mom Hoffert had her camera on-hand to grab a few shots.

The Runners

Nathan has been running for a while now and has recruited a few other people. This was the 5K Demon Dash in Washington. Nate finished 2nd in his age division and 4th overall. Ryan ran for the first time and finished in 30 minutes and 7 seconds. #217 in the background is Gabe. He has become Nate's running partner. This was also his first 5K. He got first place in his age division and finished 8th overall. They push each other pretty hard and they are both crazy enough to run for miles just because they want to. Glad it's them and not me!

Homeowners Finally

After 12 years of marriage, we finally bought a house. But not just A house. THE house. We had prayed for many years about purchasing a home but nothing worked out. We just kept waiting and looking and praying. And what do ya know? TA DA! We found a house that we both love. God gave us the perfect house for us. We've been here almost a year and love it a little more all the time.

I know it's been a long time comin' with this blog update. Like I said, I will TRY to do better. Not making any promises here.

The Blues Are Gone!!

In February, our landlord finally agreed to have someone come in and replace the toilet and the floor around it in the main bathroom. Andy, the construction man, said when he tried to remove the stool, his foot went through the floor. It was quite the disgusting job, but I was so thankful to get it done. Our house was originally a school, and then built onto to make it a home. It still had the original ***UGLY*** blue stool and sink, right along with the horrific pink plastic tile walls. The landlord would not allow us to tear off the tiles, but in the end, the sink had to be replaced as well. Bummer, huh? NO MORE BLUE!!! I was told there is a special paint that can be used to cover the tiles and then regular bath paint will adhere to them without scraping right off. Lord willing, I will eventually get to paint over the nasty pink. But for now, I am so thankful to be able to use the downstairs bathroom, without the possibility of falling through the floor when you sit on the toilet. :-)

The new sink even has room to set things on the edges. Can't wait to paint in here. Any color suggestions?

Hawkeye Wrestling Meet

For Valentine's Day every year, our church has a banquet. Once again this year, Nate had to work. Another couple in our church had invited us to go to the Hawkeye Wrestling Meet that same night. They later decided to go to the banquet since Nate couldn't go, and then they asked if I wanted the tickets to the meet. They had gotten them for free so just passed them onto us. The boys were so excited and to top it off, a neighbor boy Ryan's age got to go with us. We enjoed the meet and then went to McDonald's for supper and ice cream afterward. (That was my favorite part of the night.) :-)

Ryan and Russell

Mom and Reed
Coaching staff Tom and Terry Brands

Ouch....

Hawkeyes Win.....BIG....49 to 0

We had a great evening. Thanks Steve and Kelly!

A Snow Day

This morning we awoke to several inches of snow. Nathan has had to work quite a bit as of late and today is the only full day he will have off until next week sometime. He and the boys have been looking forward to spending some time together. They had planned to drive to Iowa City and go to the Field House, to play basketball.
With that in mind, the boys got up and started their day. After breakfast, Reed asked Ryan to go out to the garage and shoot hoops. Ryan's reply was 'I can't bud, I got to do school.' (Sounds as though he may need a bit of work on his grammar:) I then called the boys into the kitchen and explained that the public schools were once again having a snow day. So..... Mama decided that we were taking one too. Wow! If you could have seen Ryan's face!! You know the expression...the one that a kid gets when he opens a gift at Christmas and he actually got what he wanted...yep, that was the one on Ryan's face.

Nathan and I spent some time shoveling our very long driveway. It was great exercise, but I am afraid I will be sore come tomorrow morning. It was great to build a memory of us working along side one another. Being partners. I would rather have been mowing the yard, but if we had been, we couldn't have been taking a snow day, huh?

The snow kept falling and Nathan was a bit worried about driving on the roads. So he decided to take the boys into town instead. They spent the evening at Uncle Zach's with him and the cousins.

I got to stay home and CLEAN the house. It's so much easier to do that when I am the only one here. So dishes are done. Laundry is done, folded and put away. Bathrooms are scrubbed, floors are swept. Light bulbs are replaced. Candles are burning. Ahhh.

And then the guys get home.... I hadn't even had the chance to sit down and enjoy it. Not to worry. They all headed off to bed and I am now curled up on the couch figuring out how to blog from my BlackBerry for the first time!

I love snow days! Although, I would rather not have to make them up later!

Skate Shoot

In October, Sarah met us in town to get a few shots of the family. It was a beautiful day and the boys brought their skateboards along. I had worked all morning so after changing in our van and slapping on some make-up, I met them on the square. We started out in an alley and it seemed to work really well. Love having Sarah do our pics. She is very creative, not to mention she is one of very few that can make Nathan smile for a camera!!! Thanks sis.

Preaching Jubilee

Nate broke the bungee run. 3 Times!!!

Nate did a backflip and Reed did a front flip.
Grandpa Hoffert and Ryan jousting

Nate getting a kiss from the clown (that would be ME!!!)

little brother-Stephen Thomas

We have had a wonderful weekend at MABC! Saturday was our bus carnival and I clowned again this year. Sunday was our first Friend and Family day. It was wonderful to get up and go to church at 10!!!!!! I was thrilled to have Crystal Rae come spend the weekend with us and go to church with us. This was the first time our church people have been able to enjoy the carnival and our family did just that.

Monday evening Dr. Clarence Sexton preached. Pastor Brown ended up preaching the second service due to flight problems for Brother Bobby Roberson. His sermon called "Mush the Bag" was a big hit! Guest preachers were so happy to hear him speak. Brother Bobby arrived in time for the Tuesday morning service. We then had a huge meal for all those that came. The teens are at the mall ice skating and everyone will return in time for the evening service at 7. Can't wait to hear what God has for us tonight!!