Well, the play finished itself off finely and Caleb loved being the River Rat #2. His uncle Dave surprised him with a shirt from Lansing, IA that officially proclaims him as a Mississippi River Rat for all to see!

I'm still avidly scrapbookking...hopefully, even a bit tonight at a friend's house, who is equally addicted.

Caleb gets to be in a play this weekend! He stars as one of the River Rats in Tom Sawyer. They only rehearse for this one week and then put on two performances; it's quite the rigorous schedule for elementary kids but nice in the fact that it doesn't interrupt regular life for weeks on end. Wish him well - break a leg Caleb!

One of my favorite pictures of Steven and I, although circa 2001. We never did order prints of this one because it isn't quite in focus. 

Well, all,

We actually stayed home for a week! Life is better just for that. Two friends have died in the last two weeks. That's rough. In our town, there have been four deaths (five if you count the one in a nursing home that used to live here) in just four weeks. That's 1% of our population. Can you imagine that? Steven performed two of the funerals and hasn't been bored; that's for sure! We're doing okay with it all but our hearts have certainly been putting in overtime.

My parents got to leave for Mexico this morning! Hurray for them! Mom won a contest at work with her stellar performance this past year. Don't get sunburned down there :)

A few weeks ago, I entered the DQ Blizzard Apprentice contest but didn't win. I was shocked too. ha ha. Anyways, if you vote for one of the five finalists, they will give you a coupon for a free blizzard treat! Everybody loves something free, don't ya? I put the info at the bottom of this e-mail instead of pictures. You do have to join their club but they don't bombard you with e-mails (one a month about) and do give things away or send coupons as a trade off.

Speaking of which, I'm finally getting some more pictures developed and we got back the professional ones from JCPenney and School. If you want any, just let me know and i"ll stick them in your Christmas card or mail them or something.

New topic. The church here generously gave to us during Pastor Appreciation and we bought the kids each a new bike. Maybe next time I can show you what they look like. They can drive faster and jump higher and turn sharper, etc, etc. Just like with new tennis shoes! Caleb wanted one that looked cool and had double handlebars and could jump with shocks. Sarah wanted one with a pretty seat and streamers and that played music while she drove. They both found what they were looking for! Unbelievable!

I'm trying to think of more cool things to tell you but things have basically been normal around here. I guess I'll quit blabbin then. Oh, one more thing: If I started writing this on a blog (on the internet) instead of sending it to you, would you be able/willling to see it there? Please respond either way so I can choose. I'm new to the whole blog writing deal but maybe I can do both. Who knows? Just let me know what you prefer or are able to do. Thanks!

Love,

Marcia for the Swann's



~~Mrs. Swann~~
Romans 15:13

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