About Vacations, Puppies, and Birthdays

Okay, so it's been a couple months and so much to say but not much time to type. Here's a very short summary:

In July we were sent to Triennial Conference by our church in Estes Park, CO. On the way we saw a sign for a store called, "The Screamin' Peach" and underneath noticed the words, "A Waxing Studio" which made us just roar! Not gonna be on our list of places to visit, ever! Overall the trip was peaceful and relaxing, a perfect vacation/conference. Caleb and Sarah braved the high board at the swimming pool. We also saw many friends and family along the two week route, each a blessing in their own way!

After arriving home, we babysat and then adopted a cute little dog named Cookie. She hails as a Pek-a-Poo (half Pekinese and half Poodle) and is already seven years old. She loves to be on our hard floors, no carpets, and sleeps outside by her choice. Mostly she takes naps indoors and plays outside. Perhaps I'll remember to take a picture of her and the kids and put it on the blog next month. She's a blonde, like me!

Steven directed the Junior Camp up at Crystal Springs Bible Camp, while my parents spoiled the kids up good in Bismarck, ND. Both of the concurrent weekends proved fruitful and fun.

Last week my, sniff, baby, sniff sniff, turned a ghastly twelve. I didn't know babies did that! But Caleb is growing inside and out and we are so proud of him. With three friends to spend the night, they played silly games outside and then used much thumb power on a nearly all night marathon of Playstation. They set up two systems so all four could play at one time. Crazy, crazy fun!

This week Steven and I have been sewing backpacking quilts and tarps. Those are ultra-lightweight alternatives to a sleeping bag and tent. It's ugly stuff to manuever but everything has turned out great so far. Imagine sewing slimy salamanders and you kinda get the picture of working with this material. We intend to test them out in the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming over Labor Day Weekend, after the Sunday service, of course!

Officially, by state standards, home education has begun once again. The groans of enjoyment can be heard daily, four times a week in our house. Going over the punctuation rules, did you know I've left out about half of the necessary commas on this letter? They're supposed to be all over the place, evidently!,,,,,,,,,,,Maybe that will make up for it.

Blessings and smiles,

Marcia for the Swann's