Swager Life

photo session

2011-05-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our friend Lisa spent a morning with our family and these are some of the beautiful shots she got.

2011-05-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

Family pic on Easter Sunday

silly boys

For Bennett's birthday we went to the pool and he is crazy jumping across the lily pads!

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit for the weekend and we made our first trip to the Butterfly house.

At the Butterfly house they also had a bunch of fresh water and salt water fish tanks. This tank was a particular favorite because it housed Nemo and Dori:)

2011-01-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

We did so many fun things over Christmas and the past few months. These are a few of the highlights from Winnipeg. The weather was actually wonderful - winter wonderful. We were able to go toboganning and skating a couple times and really enjoyed it all!

Michael, Megan, Johnny, Janelle, Greg, Emily, Noah, Bennett and Danica (dad is taking the picture).

Okay, this day was freezing, I forgot about that. We tried to go skating and it was rather frigid. But oh so good to see the gang again:)

All the grandkids (for another month or so, then this picture is outdated again!) - Noah, Sydney, Emily, Danica, Bennett and Tate.

Our visit to Grandpa's firestation. His name changes to "Cap" when we're there:)

Bennett and Tate enjoying the new tent they got from Grandma S. for Christmas

fun in the mud

2010-10-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

We are just havin so much fun this fall. The weather couldn't be cooperating more perfectly. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood and so so they are getting a little more creative with their choice of activies. Behind our row of houses, there is a drain that makes a wonderful "Swim hole". More like a mud hole. Anyway, Tate was dragging his "banket" through it all, while the other kids went for the more full-on approach:)

Preschool!

2010-09-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

He insists that he is not my baby, but how can it be that he is off to preschool already? Well, I guess it is true that it all happens before you know it. He LOVES school is the understatement of the year. He did great and can't wait to go again tomorrow. Tate was all excited for Bennett, but was disappointed when he realized that he wasn't going along:(

2010-07-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

These pictures are all out of order. Suffice it to say, I am not good at computers:) Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter. Just a snapshot of our amazing summer.

Dale and Bennett fishing on the Yellowstone Lake.
One of the most beautiful scenes we encountered.

The happy couple.

Bennett and uncle Evan.

Brotherly love...don't they look like perfect angels??

2010-07-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

Best. Picture. Ever.

All the Swager siblings: Sherwin, Evan, Dale, Denise, Janean, Kim and Janelle

2010-07-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

This has been one of my favorite summers ever. The boys are just at such fun ages! This last month has beeof the perks is that the boys sleep until 8am! I have so many pictures and memories it's hard to share just a few, but I'll try:)n a whirlwind of going to Winnipeg, camping and our big trip out west for Dale's brother Evan's wedding as well as a camping trip in Yellowstone with amazing friends.

Camping in Rock Valley, Iowa.

Evan and Kim's wedding in beautiful Montana

2010-06-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Bennett is part cutie pie and part fish. The water was quite cold this past weekend, but it was hot out and he was going swimming!

Taking a break and going for a walk.

Dad and Tate at the Minnesota zoo.

Danica, Noah and Bennett at the zoo...Emily is taking a break in the stroller.

Tate, along with the rest of us, enjoyed the waterpark...okay, maybe not Grandma:)

2010-04-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

This is one of the cooler days we had earlier this month, but I still couldn't keep my boys inside. Tate has added a ton of new words to his vocabulary and "slide" and "swing" are two that are used often.
Tate is always trying to keep up with the bigger boys in the neighborhood.

Speaking of bigger boys. Bennett all week talked about wanting his little wheels to come off of his bike. So when Dale got home, he took the wheels off and this was his first attempt. It was harder than Bennett was anticipating, but he still doesn't want the little wheels back on.

2010-01-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

um, that's a lot of snow for one front yard. At least we have been able to enjoy it! We have another snow day today.

I have to get back on track with taking more pictures. My two cutie pie nieces were here this weekend and I didn't take one picture! Bad auntie.

2010-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Traditional picture in jammies on Great Grandma's couch.

A growing family as well! Here's everyone...Denise, Tate, Dale, Evan, Sherwin, Janean, Janelle, Bennett and Kim!

Silly boys

2010-01-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

We spent the first part of our Christmas vacation in Winnipeg. This is our family picture by the tree at mom and dad's place. Pete still wants to be a part of our family, can't you tell?

There wasn't a ton of snow in Winnipeg this year, but we managed to get out toboganning for a little bit one morning.

2010-01-10T09:03:00.000-08:00

Tate sitting like such a little man for his first haircut. Had to get all handsome for our trip to see all the aunties, uncles, cousins and Grandparents!

2010-01-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

This is no joke. We came home to this after our Christmas world tour. We had left while there was a tiny bit on the ground. This is insane. The crazy part, is that after this picture was taken, we have an additional 5 inches plus winds that you wouldn't believe, so the drift in front of our house reminds me of a snow fortress. We can't see any of our neighbors houses from the windows. Actually, some of the windows (both kitchen windows) have drifts covering them completely. Dale and I were joking last night that if it would drift like that on all sides, we would almost be able to turn the heat off in the house:)
More pictures to follow....

super heroes

2009-11-25T16:56:00.001-08:00

I had the two cutest super heroes at my house for Halloween! Tate wasn't into the mask at all and Bennett thought that he was supposed to growl and be scary:)

2009-11-17T19:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I realize that this is more of a photo gallery, than a blog...but I guess pictures say a thousand words, right?

Well, as you know Megan and Mike got married last month and I just had to share this awesome picture that the photographer captured before the ceremony.

Tate's birthday

2009-11-10T12:54:00.000-08:00

My baby is 1! Isn't he just the most precious?

Bennett is such a great big brother. This is him stirring up the jello for Tate's party. He really wanted to help, and he did!

Grandma made Tate his very own teddy bear cake. For some reason he knew just what to do with cake! I think it's in his blood:)

oopsies, what happened?

Sticking his tongue out for the camera...

Meg's wedding (oops, a month ago!)

2009-11-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Megan and Mike are married!

10 adults, 6 kids, nobody crying - a true miracle!

One of the most handsome little guys in the world!

Auntie Megan and her adorable nieces and nephews (note Tate's enthusiasm on the far left:)

Aren't all my guys so handsome?

Vegas, Baby!

2009-10-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, 6 of us went on a trip to Las Vegas. Megan thought she was going on a trip with Kalene and Amanda, just the 3 of them. Well, when she got to the airport, Erin was there. I think Megan even shed a tear of joy. She was so excited about the surprise. Little did she know that when she got to her hotel, Todd and I would be waiting for her there as well! It was such a fun weekend. I can't wait to go back again someday!

Camping

2009-10-11T16:53:00.001-07:00

Mom and Dad came down for a weekend camping trip on Labour Day weekend. We had such night weather. Bike rides, fishing, walks and good food just added to the fun weekend.

Summer...ya, I know, a little late:)

2009-10-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

The last weekend of August we made a somewhat quick trip out to Washington to visit Dale's family. We had such a good time. The weather was really nice - 4-wheeling, canoeing and visiting with Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie Denise.

2009-07-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

PICTURES!

2009-05-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

Bennett blowing out the candles of his birthday cake.

The cake I ended up making.

How Tate often wakes up in the morning....with Bennett hopping in the crib!

His first taste of food - rice cereal....yum!

6 months old

2009-04-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 6 months old this week! I can't believe it. I will be posting some pictures next week, as my camera battery is dead at the moment.
We are having a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend I drove up to Winnipeg with Bennett and Tate to spend some time with the fam. The boys did absolutely awesome in the car - they are troopers, that is for sure.
This weekend we are heading up to Minnesota for a quick getaway with my brother and his family...should be fun. Dale is coming along, so it will be a nice family weekend.
So, I know it is lame to chat about the weather, but it was SO HOT here today. We are just having the strangest weather. The thermostat says it is 79 degrees F in my house right now (it was 90 outside). That is definitely too warm. But, out of principle, I can't turn the air conditioning on in April - especially since I'm not pregnant (that was always a good excuse:)
When we get back it will be just about time to start thinking about my other little man turning 3! Anyone have any great cake ideas that don't require a lot of talent?
Anyway, just a brief update. Will post pics soon!

2009-03-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of us lately.

Tate's first time swimming!

Bennett does everything he can to copy exactly what Dale is doing, so here he is with a magazine in hand to read beside daddy.

Brothers.

2009-02-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

Just a few random pictures to update you on the clan over here.

Tate is loving his Bumbo chair. It is really funny because he looks so much older than he is. He is also a major drool machine when he sits up.

This is the last picture we took of Pete before he made his big trek up to Canada. We had Peterbilt for about 6 years and finally came to the realization that we just don't give him the attention, exercise, etc, that he deserves. So Megan (and Mike too!) made the offer to take him. So Pete is now Canadian. We miss him so much, but hear that he is getting a lot of love.

Tate laying on Dale's tummy. He just loves to look around and know what is going on.

And of course, our darling Bennett.

2009-02-01T08:28:00.000-08:00

Well, my least favorite month of the year is over and we survived! I sort of can't believe it is already February, but I am glad, another month closer to spring/summer.
We have been a little cooped up at our house this past week. Tate tested positive for RSV on Tuesday and by Wednesday night, he wasn't doing so hot. Thursday morning he was admitted to the hospital and was such a little trooper. Dale wasn't feeling well himself, hence the lovely face mask:)

Since we have had a lot of time at home, we have been trying to tackle the potty training thing. He just didn't want to sit on it, so I plopped it in front of the tv and lo and behold, it worked! It has now made it's way back to the bathroom, where hopefully it will stay:)

Bennett is a very strong willed child and if gets something in his head, good luck! Anyway, getting him to wear his winter clothing (snow pants, boots, toque, mittens) is a chore. However, since purchasing this little number, he wears it all the time! A friend of ours asked him if he was planning on hunting some "waskily wabbits"...Bennett had no idea what he was talking about and goes on wearing it all the time.

2009-01-09T18:53:00.000-08:00

We are well into January and I am still on Christmas...time flies!
We had a good Christmas in the frigid Winnipeg. Dale was up for about 4 days and the boys and I stayed for a few more days. Mom and dad drove us back down to Iowa on the 29th. It was so nice to spend time with my family. There are 5 little ones now, and one on the way, so it is definitely louder and crazier than ever.

This is a recent pic of my two boys!

Bennett dancing around in the new pajamas he got for Christmas from Gerry and Michelle. They are awesome!

Family pic on Christmas day.

Evelyn, Megan and myself....my sistas! Evelyn is expecting a baby end of May and Megan is getting married in October, so there is so much going on! I am so excited for both of them.

Tate looking thrilled after Bennett opened his Christmas gift and then dumped it on top of him.

We have, as most people have, been reflecting on the past year, anticipating the year ahead and we are just so thankful. We have so many blessings in our lives.

May you all have a wonderful 2009!!!!!

Baby Jesus

2008-12-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

Tate had the priviledge of being the baby Jesus at our church Christmas program tonight. He slept through it and did a great job. Do we have budding actor on our hands:)

picture updates

2008-12-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Bennett has been such a wonderful big brother to Tate. In this pic, he had climbed over him just so that they could "snuggle" together. We just appreciate Bennett so much right now. Tate is extremely easy-going and tolerant of Bennett's well intentions

Bennett wearing a new pair of pj's from Grandpa and Grandma Swager. He giggles everytime he puts them on because he thinks he is wearing Tate's jammers. So cute!

It is that time of year where we must bundle up the kids. How cute is he?

Bennett and Tate

I thought it would be fun to decorate Christmas cookies with Bennett. He did amazingly well. He was very interested in the fun stuff, like licking the spoon....

He was at first thoughtful in how he decorated the cookies...

Then after each cookie he decorated, he would take a taste:)

Tate being his usually contented self

A smile, sort of

Day of Thanks

2008-11-26T22:31:00.000-08:00

So it is Thanksgiving morning and I can't think of anything better to do than to blog about my beautiful boys!
Tate is doing extremely well. We took him to the hospital on Monday to have him weighed because we were just so curious and turns out he was 11lbs, 7oz! We could not believe our eyes. He is growing so fast! I have already had to put away his newborn sleepers and clothes. He has had some accidental smiles in the past, but he is working on the real smiles and I am so excited. He is kicking his legs a lot too.
Bennett is being an awesome big brother. Yesterday they were at daycare together for the morning while I went in to work and Robin said that Bennett was very concerned about Tate's whereabouts all morning. Bennett also went on the potty TWICE at Robin's house. Hmm...just wish that he would do the same for us.
We have a church service this morning and then a Thanksgiving dinner that we are joining in on at church as well. We have so much to be thankful for this year!

Tate, 5 weeks old

Bennett wearing a necklace he made at nursery last week, I think he has slept with it almost every night since.

The first snow man of the season was made last weekend, however, due to some warmer weather this week, he is no more.

Megan and Mike came down for their first visit with Tate. You have no idea how many takes it took to get this picture!

Baptism

2008-11-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a special one for our family. We celebrated the baptism of Tate. Dale's mom and dad flew in from Washington to meet their newest grandson and Janelle's parents made the trip back down as well.

Bennett and Tate with their Grandpa and Grandma Swager

Bennett holding his little brother

Tate wearing his baptismal outfit

Dale, Janelle, Bennett and Tate with Grandpa and Grandma vanLeeuwen

Our latest family picture

2008-11-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

Bennett so far has been a really good big brother. He loves to hold baby Tate and just likes to generally hang out with him.

If I set Tate on the floor, just give it a minute and Bennett will be right there with him, usually cuddling under the blanket.

I just can't stop kissing that little scrunched up face!

Bennett by the pumpkins in front of our house

Our little Curious George. Despite the fact that he wouldn't keep his costume on for Trick or Treating, he was still the cutest little monkey around!

More pics

2008-10-28T22:17:00.001-07:00

Latest Addition

2008-10-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

Tate Jacob was another miracle brought into our lives this week! We are just loving him up.
Stats:
Tuesday, October 21st 3:11pm
8lbs, 0oz
22 inches

Bennett is doing really well with Tate. He loves telling people about "baby Tate."

Dale and I in the delivery room shortly after Tate was born

Tate really happy about his "coming home" outfit:)

Bennett about to land a smooch on Tate

Bennett in the hospital holding Tate. He was loving it.

Fall

2008-09-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Bennett in his big boy bed.

Showing off some new pj's from Grandma

Big smiles after a bath

Me, Bennett and Megan

Me and my sis

Mike and Bennett playing

Petey feels neglected and this is the look I ALWAYS get from him.

Okay, so this was almost a month ago, I might be winning now:)

Uncle Greg was a big hit for Bennett. He would only sleep on his lap or if he tucked him in while they were visiting.

Emily and Danica - cutie patuties!

Danica

Emily and Bennett holding hands

Emily and Bennett riding around with the pumpkins we picked out from Pumpkinland.

Emily and Bennett reading in Bennett's bed together one afternoon.

Dale brought his truck home for the kids to see.

Emily driving Uncle Dale's truck

Bennett acting like he owns the place

We have had a really great September. The weather has been up and down, but mostly we have been able to get outside and enjoy the season. Too bad we haven't any trees in our neighborhood or I would rake some up for Bennett to jump in!

All of our fall stuff has started up again, and I am so glad. I have joined a woman's bible study on Monday mornings, then on Wednesdays we have a playgroup that has actually been meeting quite faithfully all summer long. Then MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) has also had it's first meeting. I am trying to fit all these good things in around my very part time job at the chiropractor clinic, which I quite like.

Megan and Mike came to visit us over the Labor Day weekend. Bennett was totally taken with the both of them. He refused to go to bed unless he had a hug and kiss from both Megan and Mike. Not awkward for Mike at all:) We spent some time walking along our new bike path and just bumming around. We did (thanks to Mary!) get to Sioux Falls with just the adults for shopping and supper. Chili's was a good pick Bud! I miss them so much more after they leave...they should really come more often!

Greg, Julie, Emily and Danica came down last week for a few days visit. It was nice to have someone to play with for Bennett. The highlight for them (and us, I guess) was playing all of Bennett's instruments...for some reason I think the drum is still on top of the fridge:). We went to Pumpkinland briefly and spent the majority of the time hanging out...Bennett was a little under the weather for a couple days, so that was too bad. Dale cleaned up the truck and surprised Emily by taking her for a ride in the semi. She was a little overwhelmed and Greg had to go and ride along, but it was super cute. I am sure that Dale secured his spot in Emily's nighttime prayers for a while yet:)

August Pics

2008-08-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here are some of the pictures that I took while we were in Winnipeg a couple weeks ago.

Dale and I just before the ceremony of Michelle and Gerry's wedding.

Me and the Beautiful Bride Michelle!

Michelle and Gerry while Jason was playing the song he wrote for their wedding.

The famous foursome shot. We now have one of the four of us at each of our weddings.

Me and Bev

Mom and Dad at the wedding.

Love your bib Michelle!

Jimmy and Me:)

THE EIGHT OF US!!!!! Usually we just have a picture of the 4 best friends, but now that we are all married, we thought it would be fitting to include all the spouses. We have all been friends for so long, why didn't we do this before?

First dance

Noah, Emily and Bennett

All 4 cousins. Emily looks like she is up to no good:)

Danica in the pool. She is SO content!

Auntie Megan with Bennett and Em. I think Bennett might have had ants in his pants.

Evelyn and Noah, Dad and Bennett going down the big slide at Tinkertown. Hmm...who is having the most fun do you think?

Emily and Bennett in the toy box at Grandma's house

The last ride together of the day, finally, no one was crying or scared! Such cool dudes.

Grandpa was such a good sport riding with Bennett on all the rides!

Jonathan, Evie and Noah on the train

Mom and I enjoying watching from the sidelines

"I No Want It"

2008-08-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

"I no want it"... that is a phrase that has been repeated 1,135,914 times this week in my house...okay, that might be a SLIGHT exaggeration, but that's how it feels. Bennett is learning to talk a lot more these days and I think I am already regretting these teachings.
Tonight I went to put him in bed - yes, in bed! He said "I no want it" about sleeping in the bed, he wants to continue sleeping on the floor. I think 30 seconds later he was sound asleep.

We just got back from another summer trip. This time to Winnipeg. My mom was down in Iowa for a few days and took Bennett and I back with her so we could have a couple extra days in the Peg. Dale joined us on the weekend. I always think we are going to have so much time to do all the visiting we want to do, but it never happens.

Some highlights of our trip:
Tinkertown with Grandma, Grandpa (a big shout out to Grandpa for going on all the rides with the happy little grandson) - if you were there, you would know how big of an exaggeration that really is:), Uncle Johnny, Auntie Evie & Noah
PeterPan at Rainbow Stage
Bennett playing outside with all his cousins
Michelle's wedding - it was so fun and beautiful and I miss them all
Dinner with old friends - well, not OLD, but you know....old:)
LOTS and LOTS of Grandma and Grandpa time for Bennett
SISTERS! (okay, and brother too...hehehe)

Pictures to follow soon...

For now, we are going to enjoy the last weeks of summer (school starts here next week already!), continue to eat fresh veggies from the garden and anticipate new baby in 10 weeks - the countdown is ON!

2008-08-04T10:20:00.001-07:00

For those of you who asked, here is me at 26 weeks, or maybe it was 27...something like that:)

Bennett all dressed up for church yesterday

It isn't summer in Iowa if you aren't eating sweet corn. Bennett LOVES it!

Dale and Bennett brushing their teeth

Bennett really enjoys when I make scotcharoos!

Summer Sunday

2008-07-20T18:24:00.001-07:00

It is more humid in Iowa right now than I recall it being in past years. It feels like if it got any wetter in the air, it would have to rain. Anyway, since it is so hot, we have been spending a ton of time at the pool. We usually just go after Bennett's nap and before supper. Today was no different, except that Dale was home so he got to join us.

Dale and Bennett making the sprinklers go off at the outdoor pool.

Bennett insists on wearing sunglasses at all times these days. Oh, and don't bother trying to fix them when they are on upside down either! That is just how he wants to wear them:)

It looks like he has to pee, but actually he was just posing for the picture.

We get quite a lot of use out of our play ground in the backyard. I pull weeds in the garden while Bennett plays in the sand.

Washington

2008-07-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

We just had another whirlwind week and I will just highlight a few things.

My mom drove down last week Tuesday to stay at our house and babysit Bennett for us while Dale and I flew to Washington for Jodi's wedding (oh yeah, and Brian too:). We flew out with Todd on Wednesday and spent Wednesday/ Thursday in Mount Vernon at Brian's place, then headed to Lynden for the wedding festivities. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we had such a good time. Sunday we went to Seattle (Leslie and Anita joined us) and did some major touristy things. We saw a ton of sites in a short amount of time. My cankles were proof...lol.

Anyway, after many flight delays on the way home, we finally made it back into the wee hours of Monday night. Bennett and Grandma survived their time together and seemed to really be fine. I wasn't worried. Grandma spoiled him and Grandpa joined them here part way into the week. Last night I went to the store with Bennett and he wasn't too happy with me and he was calling out for Grandpa....hmm...wonder why? It was so nice to get away with Dale and not have to fly with Bennett. He isn't the best flyer around.

Brian waiting for pictures to be over-looking pretty spiffy!

Dale and I at the reception

Me and Jodi Lynn - isn't she beautiful?

This was at the end of the night - looking a little sweaty on the dance floor

We ate at a seafood place that encouraged bibs. Todd was not a fan.

Omaha Zoo

2008-06-23T20:21:00.001-07:00

We went to Omaha this past weekend as a family. We woke up really early. By we, I should say me. We ended up leaving later than we had hoped, but we still made it to the zoo by about 9am. As we arrived the animals were just sort of getting going and the first thing we saw were all the giraffes coming to life. Bennett's eyes got huge and he really couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was such a good time. If you are ever in the area, we would love to take you there!

This polar bear was an expert at keeping people entertained. He would just swim and swim and he would go right up to the glass. At one point his snout was about a couple inches from Bennett's. Made me kinda nervous. He was huge!

We took a train ride that went around the whole zoo. This way we saw everything, and besides, Bennett loves trains! It was a steam engine, so we were glad we were sitting towards the back because it was really loud.

These elephants we actually didn't see up close. That was our only regret of the day, as that is Bennett's favorite animal. I took this pic from the train.

I can't tell who is more excited to see the giraffes:)

This was first thing in the morning and it was kind of funny because they were all straining their necks to try and reach the leaves of the trees. You could just see their minds going "if only I had a longer neck!"

This aquarium was quite amazing. Sharks were swimming over our heads.

It was difficult to keep Bennett in his stroller because it was much more fun to ride on daddy's shoulders.

belly shot

2008-06-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Some of you have been asking to see a picture of what I look like. There isn't a whole lot to see yet...this is a picture of me from last week, about 21 weeks pregnant.

Summer has arrived

2008-06-01T19:06:00.001-07:00

Today we for sure realized that summer was here to stay. After naptime we gathered up our swimming stuff and headed for the pool. Sioux Center doesn't have a ton of ammenities, but one thing it does right is the outdoor pool. We got a summer pass last year and definitely used it so we thought we would do the same again this year. I was hoping that Bennett would grow to love the water as much as me and my family love to swim. Turns out, he might! He didn't stray from the zero-depth pool really, but he was doing the back stroke, getting his hair wet and splashing, soI would say, so far we are ahead of last year by a mile!
It is 9pm and I can barely keep my eyes open. For those of you interested, I will be about 20 weeks along this week already, so about half way there! I am starting to show more and more as well. Dale's trucking is picking up again, so we are thankful for that. He likes to keep busy. Our garden is coming along as well. Not much else to update!

2008-05-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks have been busy, but fun. Bennett was spoiled for his 2nd birthday, as usual. The weekend before his birthday Grandpa and Grandma vanLeeuwen came to visit. That weekend we had a small birthday party for Bennett where he had 3 of his friends come over, along with their moms and dads. The kids all did so well and it was a nice time. That week we celebrated Bennett's birthday and the day after his Grandpa and Grandma Swager came to visit. He was overloaded with love and attention and thinks it should be like that all the time:)

This is Bennett and Dalton - they are buddies, too bad he they live an hour apart. Dalton sang happy birthday to Bennett and it was so precious.

This is mini-Dale. He has to wear glasses like dad and his ball cap like dad. He seems to really like his new slide!

Grandpa and Bennett

Bennett opening some birthday gifts.

These were the cupcakes we had at his party.

Bennett just sat there so proudly while everyone sang "happy birthday" to him.

Playing with his new soccer ball. It wasn't that warm outside that day, can you tell?

Grandma pushing him around on his new tricycle

He liked the cupcakes:)

Grandma pushing Bennett on the swing.

Bennett wearing his "George" pajamas he actually got for his birthday last year, but fits into them now.

Grandpa, Dale and Bennett putting together his new Big Wheel.

Dale and Mini Dale

2008-05-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Bennett has turned into a shadow of his father. Dale can not walk anywhere without a little boy following a half step behind him. If Dale is wearing a hat, Bennett must also wear a hat....Bennett also likes to wear his sunglasses, because dad wears glasses.

Bennett is wearing my vest, oh he thinks he is the funniest kid on earth:)

"playing" Wii just like dad

He had to get right in there and "help" dig his sandbox.

He just loves that shovel

Everytime I haul out the camera he turns towards me and "EEZE!!!!" I have a hard time catching him in an action shot.

2008-04-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have been TERRIBLE at taking pictures of Bennett lately. I don't think I have any recent ones to post! As I write this, Dale is outside working on our swing/slide/sandbox combo in the backyard. It is coming along and we are hoping to have it completed in time for Bennett's birthday. Yes, his birthday. He will be 2 next week! Crazy eh?
The weather here has been so strange and I am looking forward to some warmer days, but you know Iowa, you have to be careful what you wish for, because before you know it, it will be 100 degrees outside and we will all be complaining about that too!
May is always a very busy month, so we are anticipating a lot of houseguests and events!
Mom and Dad vL are coming here this weekend to celebrate Bennett's birthday with us. We are going to have a little party for him with a few of his friends will be joining us as well. The weekend after that Mom and Dad Swager are coming to Iowa for Evan's Dordt graduation (and of course, to see their grandson:). The 3rd weekend we are hosting Bev, Brian, Carver, Michelle and Gerry for the Canadian long weekend. They all came to visit last April (even though Carver wasn't born yet, he was here:) and we are excited that they are coming again. Finally, the last weekend of the month is our 5th Anniversary and since we are going to have so much going on we are hoping to get away and camp for the weekend.
We have tons to look forward to as you can see!
I am about 15 weeks pregnant now and am starting to get a little tummy...not too bad yet.
Dale is not super busy right now with the trucking, which is fine because it has been rather nuts this past little while.
Thanks for listening, I will be back soon with some pictures:)

news...

2008-04-07T14:14:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of Bennett wearing a t-shirt that he was fairly proud to show off. I don't think he really knows what is going on, but he is loving the attention!

Grandpa and Grandma Spoil Bennett

2008-02-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

Friday evening Grandpa and Grandma van Leeuwen made the 550 mile trek to Sioux Center to spend a short weekend with us. They always come bearing gifts and we always look forward to them. Dale and I get the most excited about the Rye Bread that they nicely added to our freezer. It is the best rye bread ever. Mom bought me the cutest little tea pot and I tell ya, it makes such great tea! Who knew what tea experiences I had been missing out on all these years. The weather was really nice for the time that they were here. It was really sunny and hovering around the freezing mark. Dale and Dad spent a good part of Saturday driving around shopping for a pick up. He didn't know how serious he was about the actual buying of a vehicle, but he said he brought a check, so that was a good sign. Truth be told, none of us actually thought that he would make a purchase, but lo and behold we were wrong!

Here Bennett is showing Grandpa and Grandma how to drive Grandpa's new pick up. Since Grandpa isn't to familiar with all this technology that these "new" vehicles have, Bennett decided to show him the panic button first. It was loud...and funny.

Bennett is showing off his new rain boots that he got from his Grandparents as part of his Valentines Day package. He also got some new gitches (undies) in which we tried on him and he cried (probably didn't help that Dale and I couldn't stop laughing. He looked so cute. He is sitting on the potty for longer periods now, and we are just anticipating the first pee.... look at what our conversations have become.....

Bennett was having a moment to himself and Grandpa's Maple Leafs Hat.

Still Freezing in February

2008-02-10T16:01:00.001-08:00

This is Bennett looking an awful lot like Harry Potter. The glasses are actually an accessory to his Mr. Potato Head, but he insists on wearing the items. He did have the ears in his own ears, but every time he tried to pose for me they fell out:)

Have you ever had something that you were really looking forward to and then when it happens, it is somewhat disappointing? Well, that is sort of how our weekend went. We had been looking forward to this weekend for a LONG time. We had a friend's wedding to go to and so we decided to make a little getaway out of it. The ceremony was going to be about 3 hours away from here, but the reception was only about 1hr 20 minutes away. We made a hotel reservation and the Roetman's happily agreed to have Bennett for a sleepover. Yeah! Well, Saturday morning comes along and Dale comes back into the bedroom in a sweat saying that there is no way he is leaving the house. Turns out, he had been sick most of the night and was not doing well. My first reaction was total disappointment and then I got into the "lets get him better so we can still go mode". I sent him downstairs to sleep while I took care of Bennett and Pete. We eventually got out of the house and we brought Petey to Jill's (his home away from home) and then on to the Roetmans. I decided to go ahead and bring Bennett over there, even if it meant that we picked him up later. This would give Dale a quiet house in which to hopefully start to feel better.
I was realizing that there was no way he was going to make it to the ceremony, as we just didn't have time to get there. I left him to sleep. Then finally around 1:45 I woke him up and much to my surprise he was feeling better. So we packed up our things and headed out to Okoboji. We went to the reception and had a pretty great time. It would have been better if the hotel wouldn't have run out of extra blankets and so we had the temp in the room cranked. It would have also been better had the hotel not mistakenly given us a 5am wake up call. But all in all, we got away and everyone is home safe and soundly. I do feel bad, though, because Mary said Bennett was up at midnight and wouldn't fall back asleep due to coughing. She ended up staying home from church with him and catching a couple naps here and there. Hopefully they all get some sleep tonight!

Here I am with my friend and college roommate, Amanda. We live an hour away from eachother, but don't see one another very often.

Okay, so we don't get dressed up very often, so we thought
we better take a picture.

blah

2008-01-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

So normally I talk about how fast the time goes and I can't believe it is already_____. Well, it is still January and it is still cold and I am ready for spring! There, I said it. We haven't had a ton of things going on this month, but the highlight was that Megan came to visit for almost a week! We shopped, scrapbooked and vegged. I wish we could do that more often!

Here Bennett is helping Dale shovel the driveway with the
new shovel he got for Christmas. Can you remember when
getting a shovel for Christmas was fun? Me neither. Nevertheless,
he loved it!

Doesn't he look like he LOVES his new sweater? Peterbilt (Petey)
had his 5th birthday and we thought he needed something
to keep him warm. I think his sentements were the same:)

This is the smile I get everytime I catch Bennett
doing something he shouldn't....how can you resist?

fun with Bennett

2008-01-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

So I have a funny story about my son, but I didn't have my camera with me, so no pics, sorry!
I get together with 4 other moms and their kids for a playgroup every Wednesday morning.
This past Wednesday we were at my friend Kate's house. She has 3 kids, but the middle one, Teague, is Bennett's little cohort/partner in crime and is part of this little story.
Shawna (another one of my friends) was heading to the bathroom and stopped to look around because the door was shut and she wanted to make sure that nobody was in there before she went in. All of the adults were in the living room, so she knew none of us were in there. But she still hesitated because she heard some noises coming from the bathroom. I suspected that there were kids in there and gave her the nod that she should take a peak.
Sure enough, there is my son and Teague, soaking wet from head to toe. At least Teague stopped and had a look of "uh oh" in his eyes. Not Bennett. Nope. He kept right on splashing in the toilet like nobody's business. The entire roll of toilet paper was stuck to the floor in a big wet paper-mache like mess and our boys were having a hay day.
Kate and I were both trying our best to keep a straight face and explain to our little men why we should NOT play in the toilet while changing their clothes.
Thought you could use a laugh:)

Washington Christmas

2008-01-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

We have made it through all of our travels and are so glad to be home safely.

Despite some major travel delays, our trip to Washington was great. We spent many family, fun-filled hours in the Sioux Falls and Denver airports!

Bringing Bennett to the farm was such a treat. Dale was walking with Bennett down past the cows and Bennett was just "mooing" away. He was a little over-whelmed, but excited. We took him for a ride in the tractor and was laughing away when his mom drove! Why is that funny?

This is Bennett "helping" mom pack.

Dale was showing Bennett the cows.

This is in the backyard at Dale's mom and dad's house.

We all managed to squeeze into the tractor.

Bennett befriended one of the calves...the rest ran back into their little homes.

Christmas in Winnipeg

2007-12-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

So Christmas has been really great so far and we aren't done yet!
We have made it to Winnipeg and back, where we had such a good time. The weather was awesome (if you like snow, that is, and we do:) and the kids did really well together.

Here Bennett is "holding" Carver, Brian and Bev's new little one.

Here is Bennett on his first ever sleigh ride! We were afraid he wasn't going to like it, since in Iowa he wimpered and cried whenever snow touched his boot. However, in front of his cousins, he was tough and actually seemed to really like it!

Emily, Bennett and Noah were all riding the tobaggan together. It seems Bennett's cousins are a little more experienced with the snow, because Bennett kept dragging his boots and the snow would just pile up on him.

Here are the 3 little monkeys! After all the presents were opened, Grandma gave them all a bath and were dressed in new pj's.

This is our tree and Bennett was so proud to pose by it the other day.

Now we are packing again as we are flying out to Washington VERY early tomorrow morning. We got a nice amount of snow last night and it is so beautiful outside with the sun shining. Bennett is ready to get spoiled by another set of grandparents.
Happy New Year to you all,
Dale, Janelle & Bennett

December travels

2007-12-19T17:47:00.000-08:00

So here we are, less than a week away from Christmas already! We are leaving tomorrow afternoon to drive to Winnipeg for our "vanLeeuwen" Christmas. This should be interesting. The kids are older this year and I think the might really get into it. Should be fun. Hopefully not too cold.
We are only staying for a couple of days and then heading back to Iowa to celebrate Christmas. We don't have any plans, although the neighbours stopped by tonight to invite us to a turkey dinner on Christmas day. I thought that sounded pretty good.
On the 27th we are flying out very early in the morning to head to our "Swager" Christmas. All the kids are planning on being in Sunnyside and that should make a full house by my calculations. Bennett will not be short on attention, that is for sure!
I don't know why we are squeezing so much into such a short period of time, call us crazy.
See you in the new year!
The Swagers,
Dale, Janelle & Bennett

Not much new around here...

2007-11-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

It is getting colder here in Iowa, that is for sure! We still don't have any snow, but that is going to be here before we know it.
A few weeks ago Bennett and I drove to Albertville, Minnesota to meet up with my mom, 2 sisters and nephew. There were many bargains to be had at the outlet mall and Noah and Bennett encountered a few adventures as well. It is so funny to see their different personalities shine through when they are together. They are always having to imitate eachother and play with whatever the other one has their little hands on, doesn't matter what it is.
Dale's parents paid us a visit this past week for American Thanksgiving and I made my very first turkey. I am glad my mother-in-law was there to guide me (and make the gravy!).
We are all nursing our first big colds of the season and I am ready for those to be done! Lying in bed listening to Bennett coughing his little heart out makes me feel so bad for the little guy:(

October

2007-11-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

So I realize it isn't October anymore, but since I haven't blogged in a while, I thought I would start there.

I (Janelle) and Bennett drove to Winnipeg for almost a week because we just HAD to meet our new neice and cousin, Danica. Emily is a proud new sister and Danica is just absolutely precious. We also got to be there for Danica's baptism and so it was definitely a worthwhile trip. The drive went fairly well with Bennett, but he definitely had his meltdowns. Thankfully I was prepared and we made it there and back without much incident at all.

The next week was a week that Dale and I won't soon forget. I received a call in the wee hours of the morning on a Monday from the hospital in Rock Valley, IA (only about 15 minutes from Sioux Center). Dale had been in a serious accident, he was okay, but I should get to the hospital right away. So, at 2:30am I called my dear friend Mary and she was over to my house in less than 10 minutes. I was off to the hospital. Thankfully Dale was okay. He received 4 staples in his head and some minor scrapes and bruises. His truck was completely totalled, almost unrecognizable. It wasn't luck, I am quite certain it was a miracle that Dale was alive and well.

That week was a blur of doctors visits and phone calls with the insurance company, amidst a lot of "what are we going to do now" thoughts.... Then on the friday Dale found out that the company that he was pulling for decided that Dale could no longer work for them. Wow. How much worse could our week go?????

Anyway, we are happy to say that Dale has found another trucking company to work for and we are so excited about our future. Dale will be hauling cattle and hogs and is very much looking forward to a change of pace, as well as a little more physical labor. Actually, as I write this, Dale is off buying a new semi truck. Well, it will be new to us:) We are hoping to get him on the road with it early next week.

Okay, on to Bennett. Well he is full of the dickens. Isn't that the nice way of saying he is really hyper, gets into everything and makes us laugh every day. He is awesome. He got his first haircut this month, got a new cousin and got to go trick or treating. We dressed him up as a cow and at first he was not impressed, not at all. Once he discovered that he would get some candy while dressed up, he was quite okay with the whole thing.

Bennett getting his first haircut. He sat really good in the chair.

This is on our front porch.

Here is our little cow on his way to the Hallelujah party.

Bennett and Kaase with Lollipops at the Hallelujah party. They were
both loving the candy!

Pumpkinland

2007-09-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

Dale, Bennett and I went to check out Pumpkinland on Thursday evening. It was a beautiful fall evening and Bennett had a great time, well mostly. He would feed every animal and wasn't scared by any of them... he just WOULD NOT take a nice picture by all the pumpkins, much to my dismay:(

This was the first animal that Bennett petted and he
wasn't too sure at first, but as you can see, it didn't
take long and it was mom and dad who???

This is the only picture I got of him by all the pumkins
that was him not screaming...

2007-09-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

We have just taken some random pictures of Bennett lately and thought we would share them:
Bennett posing in the awesome shirt and
vest that he got from Michelle and Gerry

This was before church this morning
and I couldn't resist, he thought he
was quite something.

This afternoon we were trying on his
snow pants from last year and it looks
like he should be able to wear them!

up to date

2007-09-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this blog is to bring everyone up to date in our lives and to do so, I am going to have to back track a little, so bear with me!

Over labor day weekend, Megan and Mike came to visit us. It had been a crazy week after the whole stolen car incident, so we were ready to just hang out and go camping! The weather was pretty awesome and we did some bike riding, some eating (okay, a lot of eating!) and sat around some good camp fires!

What??????

2007-08-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

So, apparantly this is what happens to Bennett

when we leave him at Grandma's for the weekend.

They play dress up! I think his aunties and uncles

had something to do with this little crown.... just wait

until we are alone with your children!!! hehehe

random pictures

2007-08-30T19:56:00.001-07:00

Dale and I at Trevor and Margriet's wedding

The beautiful bride and groom.

Bennett and Emily at Grandma's house. They
were pretty funny. Each was quite concerned that
the other might take their snack... no fear, Grandma
has enough snacks to feed the 5 thousand:)

Yes Megan, I do believe dad looks just like
Gazoo from the Flintstones....sorry dad, but
it's true!

Bennett was chasing peacocks at the zoo in Winnipeg

ups and downs

2007-08-29T11:49:00.001-07:00

This past week has been filled with ups and downs for the Swager family. We drove to Winnipeg last Wednesday, where we stayed for a night. Then Dale and I flew to Edmonton from there. It was so great to be away just the two of us, knowing that Bennett was having a great time with Grandpa and Grandma vanLeeuwen. We were able to reconnect with a lot of old college friends and we were just really having a great time....until Dad calls Dale and asks for our license plate number....Yes, our car was stolen right out of their driveway. So, there we were in Edmonton, while mom and dad were trying to make police reports, etc. There was nothing we could do while we were gone, so we just tried to enjoy the rest of our little vacation. Trevor and Margriet's wedding was absolutely beautiful. Margriet was gorgeous as usual, and we had such a great time. We flew back Sunday afternoon. Turns out they found our car, however, it was totalled. The kids that stole it took it for quite the ride apparantly. The front end was completely smashed, the air bags all depleted, the back windshield shattered, and the list goes on. There really aren't words to describe the feeling of being violated and having your "things" stolen. Bennett won't remember the books he once loved were covered in beer and cigarettes, he will forget his favorite CD's and might forget his favorite little dump truck, but Dale and I won't forget too soon.
So mom and dad drove us back to Iowa, as we had no way of getting home....we are now car shopping, which is kind of fun and kind of depressing all at the same time.
So, amidst all the police reports, insurance claims and phone calls, we remain thankful for all that we have. Things could be worse, right?????

Where does the time go?

2007-08-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

So here we are... August 20th (happy bday Sharon!!!) and the kids in Sioux Center will be going back to school on Wednesday! Crazy how fast the summer flew by.

We haven't been camping in about 7 weeks or so... our weekends have just been so busy and the weather too hot to camp. Dale has just finished his softball season, so that will free up our Monday nights. We still have kickball on Tuesday nights for a month or so yet (yes, kickball, the game you stopped playing in 3rd grade!).

Bennett has kept us hopping lately. He is just so incredibly curious and a little too brave for our tastes. We have spent numerous afternoons at the local pool, met friends at the park and kept up with our Wednesday morning playgroup.

This weekend Bennett will be spending at his Grandpa and Grandma vanLeeuwen's house while Dale and I head to Edmonton for a wedding and a little mini-vacation. It will be our first time away from Bennett over night, but we are very much looking forward to a break.

Below are a few recent pics, I will have more next week, stay posted!

Wedded Bliss

2007-07-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

We were in California.. Ripon, to be exact, last week to celebrate Janean's (Dale's sister) wedding to Sherwin Heyboer. Everything went really well. The weather was absolutely perfect. It couldn't have worked out better. Tons of friends and family were there to celebrate. I have now met all the aunts and uncles from both sides of Dale's family, and more of the cousins now too. Below are a few pics... I have so many I couldn't decide which ones to post.

This is our family at the rehearsal dinner. It was
in the backyard of a family that has sort of "adopted"
Sherwin since he has been living in Ripon.

Here are the bride and groom with the ringbearer
and flower girl... sorry it's a little blurry.

He just might be the studliest ring bearer I have
ever seen! He is quite proud of himself.

This is the new Swager family.
from left...
Bennett, Dale, Denise, Janelle, Janean, Sherwin,
Mom, Dad and Evan

Summer Fun

2007-07-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you have been to Iowa in the summer time, but it is hot. I don't mean it is nice to play outside kind of hot, or nice to go to the beach kind of hot... what I mean is that it is so hot that you don't even want to step outside, you don't want to go to the beach and you just want to sit inside in your air conditioning. That is what we have just experienced here in Sioux Center. However, throughout the extreme heat we have had some great times.
We went camping with friends at Blue Mound State Park in Luverne, MN...except for getting lost on the bike trails with Bennett during the hottest part of the day, it was a great weekend. I would have to say it is probably our favorite campground to date.
One of my very dearest friends, Jodi, came to visit!!!! It is always so awesome to see her and to catch up in person (goodness knows we rack up the minutes on our cell phones!). Todd (another dear friend from college) and I went to Omaha to pick her up and spent the next couple of days together. Good times. A few days later, Jodi's boyfriend, Brian, flew in to town to meet us all. He is awesome and we were so glad that we could meet him.

(me, Todd & Jodi)
For some reason, unbeknownst to me, we always
feel the need to take pictures of ourselves...

Here we are again... only we enlisted
a photographer:)

Brian and Jodi

Bennett and his friend, Meghan, were playing
in the rocks during their dad's softball game...
aren't they cute sporting their matching
Canada Day t-shirts?

Bennett playing his new drum I bought for
him at my favorite toy store in Winnipeg... Toad Hall.
Hope he enjoyed his time playing with it because the next
day he was using it as a step to climb into his toy box
and his foot went right through it! BOYS!

Where to begin....

2007-06-19T20:06:00.001-07:00

So it has been a while since I have last posted and I guess we have been busy... I am sitting here trying to remember what we have all done in the last little while.

First off we did some camping over the May long weekend. The weather was okay, a little chilly at night, but it was fun. Bennett didn't want to sleep at all during the night, so that was rough on mom and dad! We managed to do some biking and a lot of visiting with friends

After 2 weekends in a row of camping (somehow I managed to not take any of our weekend at Pahoja... oh well) Greg, Julie and Emily came to Iowa for a visit. We had such a good time while they were here and the weather was absolutely perfect. They had bought Emily a new life jacket and she was so proud of it and would not take it off. She was so funny. I usually can't get a good picture of her smiling and this time I got tons... where to begin!

So just before Greg and Julie came I realized that the following week I only had to work on Tuesday morning and then I wouldn't have to work until the next Tuesday morning after that. So Dale wanting to do some serious trucking thought we (Bennett and I) should take a trip to Winnipeg, since we didn't have anything else going on. The Sunday before we are to leave, we get a call saying that Dad (Bennett's Grandpa VL) could get a ride down to Iowa on Monday, if we would want the company for the drive on Tuesday. YES! So, dad arrived on Monday just in time for supper and a trip to the local pool. How awesome to have the company for the drive on Tuesday. Bennett and I spent the bettter part of a week up in Winnipeg and did a ton of visiting! Some of the highlights were seeing uncle George and most of the Brakel uncles and aunties at St. Amant, catching up with friends (Bek, Dawn, Bev, Michelle, Jimmy, and the list goes on and on), spending the majority of the time wtih family and cherishing every moment! Okay, not every moment... there was a moment in a really nice Tai restaurant that won't be cherished, and also in a Gelati shop that won't be cherished... and that list also goes on and on as well:) Sunday we got to celebrate Father's Day with dad (Grandpa) and that was awesome, but we missed celebrating with Dale too....

Okay, that is about it for our travels and visitors so far... here are a few pictures of Bennett with his adopted family. The Roetmans are so near and dear to our hearts. They always know when to call and invite us to dinner, or to invite us over for a fire pit. Lupe is especially loved by Bennett and I am certain the feeling is mutual. We spend a lot of time with Mary and the kids... Lupe, Luis and Chui. The toad is not a member of their family, but a little friend I found in my garden! Thought he was a little large.

So this blog is terribly long, but I had a lot I wanted to share this time. Until next time,

Janelle (& Dale & Bennett)

Tulips

2007-05-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

It was once again Tulip Time in Orange City last weekend. The tulips were pretty much done, but Bennett and I, along with Margriet, managed to find a few that were still in bloom. Bennett had a really great time, but it wasn't because of the tulips... as you can see from the pictures below it was because of pork on a bun, fresh lemonade and mini donuts!

New Beginnings

2007-05-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had the Swager family visiting for another celebration. Denise graduated from Dordt!!!! We are so proud of her and will miss her so much here in Sioux Center. She always made sure to spend time with Bennett and we appreciated that so much.

Bennett got so spoiled for another weekend in a row. He is lucky to have 2 sets of awesome grandparents! Below are some highlights from our weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Future Dordt Grad!

Bennett congratulating his Auntie Denise.

Gotta have the traditional picture in front of the tree.

3 Generations of Swager doing yard work. Too
bad Bennett decided after a while to eat the dirt:)

Break time with Grandma and Grandpa

Happy Birthday Dear Bennett

2007-05-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

Bennett is 1 year old today!!!!! Dale and I can't believe that a year has gone by already. At the same time, we can't imagine our lives without our sweet little guy. This year has brought so many joys with it and below are pictures of the celebration we had this past weekend. We were so lucky to have Grandpa and Grandma vanLeeuwen, Auntie Evelyn and Noah, and Auntie Megan here to help us celebrate. We miss them already!!!

Is this the face of a happy child or what! He demolished the entire cake his Grandma had made for him and ate the majority of it too!

Grandpa & Grandma with their handsome grandsons

Dale helped Bennett open his gifts. This one was a Peterbilt truck and trailer from his uncle Evan.

Bennett knew just what to do when he got on his new pony!

We can't wait to hang this special picture in Bennett's play room. The Roetman family sure outdid themselves this time!

Bennett is winding down at the end of his party by going for a ride in his new dump truck. I think that Noah was enjoying it a little more.

These are Bennett's friends that were at the party (sorry Meghan, I guess you left by this point!)
Kaase VanNiejenhuis (Shawna), Noah DePiero (Evelyn), Bennett (Janelle), and Dalton Flikkema (Amanda)

the boys

2007-04-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time with Evelyn, Jonathan and Noah last weekend! Noah, we miss your smile immensely!
Here are a few pictures of Bennett and Noah together. A couple of times throughout the weekend we were asked if the boys were twins. They don't look too much alike, but they are pretty much exactly the same size. They also both LOVE ICECREAM. Yes, everyone at Blue Bunny was well aware when they were ready for another bite:) And, needless to say, we won't be going out for sushi anytime soon, at least not to the restaurant in Sioux Falls that we love so much.... we left somewhat of an impression.

Dale's birthday, etc.

2007-04-11T19:26:00.001-07:00

We have been so blessed with friends and family coming down to visit us lately and this past weekend was no exception. Bev & Brian, Michelle & Gerry (Janelle's dear friends) came and stayed with us Easter weekend. They were here also to celebrate Dale's 29th birthday. We had such a good time with great friends. We hope they come again.

Bennett has been so funny lately. He is doing things and I am constantly running to grab the camera to capture the moment.

This was Bennett's first "bubble" bath. I might have
put a few too many bubbles in, however Bennett was trying to eat them. Every time he looked up he had a face covered in bubbles. He had an absolute ball.

I had just brought the basket of clean laundry
upstairs when Bennett sort of nose-dived right into the
basket. While he was in there, he thought he should make
the best of the situation and play.

This was something he just mastered yesterday. We were
feeding him supper and his arms went straight up. Now he just
thinks it is the funniest thing.

More Fun Pictures

2007-03-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

These are just a few pictures from the past
couple of days.

Bennett has decided that he is a
big boy now. He no longer will
tolerate eating baby food. This was
his first lasagna dinner and even
though it was quite a mess, he
enjoyed it very much!

We took Bennett to the pool again
this weekend with his Grandpa and
Grandma van Leeuwen. He didn't
enjoy it as much as we hoped he
would, but he didn't cry at all, so I
guess that's all we can ask for.

We bought a bicycle trailer this weekend! We
were so excited to try it out and I can't tell
from the look on Bennett's face if he is excited
or scared:)

Dale being the nice guy that he is pulled the
trailer behind his bike. We actually ended
up biking to Kindermusik and it was a really
good time.

Like I said, we couldn't tell if Bennett was enjoying
himself or not... however this was the result both ways...
he fell asleep! p.s. don't worry, Dale had unbuckled
him part way before I ran and got the camera.

March Madness

2007-03-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of our little escape artist being
caught in the act! Petey figured out that in one
spot the drifts were on both sides of the fence
and he took advantage of this opportunity to
escape. He came back a little while later... must
have gotten hungry:) Thankfully all of this snow
is virtually gone. We had a bout of really nice weather
and are all looking forward to spring!

Bennett still sucks his fingers, but he isn't hiding
it as much as he used to:)

His toothy grin is so cute, he just loves his bath!

Bennett and his uncle Evan are good buds now. They
have the same interests--- TRACTORS!!!

Here I thought I would try and take a cute family
picture, however Bennett thought it would be
more fun to try and eat the camera.

March Blizzard

2007-03-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

So, we had a blizzard yesterday! All the
businesses were pretty much closed by noon.
Today (Friday) nothing is open. As you can
see from these pictures, the snow drifts are
quite unbelievable. I have maybe seen this
once before since living in Iowa. Fun!

This is our backyard fence that is 6 ft. tall.

Dale trying to at least get one of the vehicles
out of the garage. I don't think our snow
blower will be able to do much to my side of the
garage. I think we will be borrowing a skid loader.

This drift between our house and the neighbors
is hilarious.

Janelle demonstrating the height of these drifts.
We thought it would be fun to go outside and
"play" in the snow. However, the wind is so
incredibly cold and strong, we could hardly hold
the camera to take these pictures.

This is our back yard again from last night.

Hope you are all safe and warm!

February Pics

2007-02-27T11:59:00.000-08:00

Bennett opening some Valentine's Day gifts
with his auntie Megan!

While Megan and Mike were here, we took
Bennett to the swimming pool. He didn't seem
to enjoy himself as much as we thought he
would... should have had a better nap that day!

For Valentine's Day Bennett's cousin
Noah sent him some musical
instruments. They are so beautiful!
They are definitely his favorite toy right
now because he uses similar ones
at Kindermusik.

Settlers

2007-02-26T17:32:00.000-08:00

How many of you out there are Settlers of Catan players? We are addicted. So are Trevor and Margriet. They are coming over again tonight to play. In fact, we haven't played for a couple of weeks and are itching. It was getting a little ridiculous there for a while.... 2, 3 nights per week. It was becoming an obsession! Okay, not that bad, but we are addicted and loving it!
What else is new... Bennett is teething and that is definitely a hard time. He is not a whiny child and so having him whine for days on end is a little tedious.... we also feel so bad for him because if he is complaining, he must really be in pain. Hopefully those top teeth come through soon.
Hope all is well,
Janelle

Cold

2007-02-06T19:31:00.000-08:00

This is Bennett all bundled up the other day to out.
He manages to think that this is fun:)
We are freezing here in Iowa and are looking very
forward to spring.

2007-01-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

The days are flying by and Bennett is already past the 8 month mark. Where does the time go?
Here are a few pictures of him.... he is crawling everywhere. He and Petey have become the best of friends. The other day Dale was watching them while I was at work and he discovered a new game they had invented. Bennett crawls onto Pete's blanket, then Pete tugs on the blanket and drags Bennett across the living room. We haven't been able to catch it on tape yet, but we will keep you posted. Until then, here are a few recentpictures:

Christmas, New Years and Weather!

2007-01-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

Grandpa with the 3 grandkids in the
firetruck!

Bennett having his first bath in the big tub

New Christmas outfit from Michelle... so cute

3 kids in front of Grandpa and Grandma
van Leeuwen's Christmas tree

So we spent Christmas in Winnipeg this year. The weather was awesome! Can you believe those words? It was so nice. It almost didn't seem like Christmas because normally at night dad is making sure everyone's car is plugged in - not this year! No block heaters necessary. Lovely. Can we order this every year?
We had a really great time even though Janelle and Bennett ended up with the flu. Thankfully Grandpa, Grandma and auntie Megan were there to take care of Bennett. Dale had already headed home on Boxing Day. I guess someone has to work around here:)
We are all home, safe and sound, although Grandma vl had a minor fender bender on the way home....
Play group starts up again tomorrow and hopefully Bennett can shake this cold he has.
Happy New Year's to all!!!!

A Wedding!

2006-12-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

It was an exciting weekend for Janean (Dale's sister). She and
Sherwin got engaged! We are very much looking forward to
a family wedding this summer.

More Bennett Pics

2006-12-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

Just a couple pictures here of Bennett. He is getting
bigger by the day and looking more and more like
a little boy, not a baby. He is so much fun.

A Cold Iowa Day

2006-12-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

It is really cold here today, and it is blustery (I sounds like Winnie the Pooh). The snow didn't amount to anything really, but made me think that we are pretty lucky for it to be Dec.6 and still no real snow on the ground. Hopefully we will have a white Christmas here. I am certain we will have one in Winnipeg!
Today Bennett and I ran a few errands, but mostly we stayed home. A friend was in a bind so we babysat their 2 year old Anthony and he was a lot of fun. Definitely a lot more active than I am used to.
Dale left around 4 am today and is planning on coming home sometime in the morning. It was going to be really out of the way for him to come home to sleep so he will sleep in the truck. He doesn't do that very often, so once in a while isn't too bad.

Thanksgiving in Washington

2006-11-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

We flew to Washington on Thankgiving morning to visit Dale's mom and dad. Janean and her boyfriend Sherwin were also going to be there, so another good reason to go. Bennett did really well on his first plane ride, his second one, not as good, but we all survived. We had another good visit with the Swagers and ate enough food for a month.
We went on a Thanksgiving wine tour while we were there. It was pretty interesting. There are tons of wineries in that area and we visited 5, I think. Bennett had enough after 4, so we stayed in the van for the last one.
Sunday morning it snowed! I haven't seen snow while I was in Washington before, so that was a first. It is funny how different it is there when it snows as opposed to Iowa (or Winnipeg for that matter). Dad thought they might cancel church in the morning and it seemed to me it was only a light dusting, but alas, we had church.
Bennett learned how to sit up on his own while we were in Washington, so that was fun. He still doesn't have any teeth, but I swear I can see white on the bottom!

Grandpa Swager and Bennett

Bennett sitting on his own... kind of a tripod!

Dad, Janean, Sherwin, Janelle & Dale at a winery

November

2006-11-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

Bennett, Auntie Megan and Mike

Grandma & Grandpa VL Mom & Bennett

Grandma feeding Bennett Grandpa reading the Christmas story to Bennett

We have once again enjoyed a couple weekend of guests at our house and Bennett has once again been spoiled. His auntie Megan and her boyfriend Mike were here for 4 days and we really enjoyed their company. Auntie Megan is always spoiling Bennett and he eats up the attention.
Last weekend mom and dad van Leeuwen were here for a VERY short weekend. Grandpa read Bennett some stories and he was so content to listen. He loves books. Grandma fed him and bathed him and also once again spoiled him. We are flying to Washington tomorrow morning to visit Bennett's other Grandparents. He is not going to know what hit him after all this spoiling is over!

Fall Fun

2006-10-31T15:26:00.000-08:00

October has been a great month for us... we have had visitors - friends and family come by our place and that has been wonderful.

Earlier in the month, Dale's grandma and grandpa Swager came to visit (that would be Bennett's great-grandparents). They were on a road trip from Idaho and made a stop in Sioux Center. This was somewhat unexpected for us, but definitely welcomed. Grandpa told us many stories - some that we have all heard before, but it were great to hear again!

A couple of weeks ago it was Parents Weekend at Dordt College, where Evan and Denise both attend, so according to Mom and Dad Swager, there were 5 reasons to come and visit again.
Denise, Mom and Janelle got to attend the play "Arsenic and Old Lace" and had a great time. Dordt usually out does themselves in the theatre department. The men stayed home and babysat.
In a few weeks, we will be making the trip out to Washington to spend time with them for Thanksgiving... we are really looking forward to that!

Finally, here are a couple pictures of our little cutie pie on Halloween. I must say, he was the cutest puppy around!

Tasty Toes

2006-10-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

Bennett has discovered his feet recently and as a teething little boy, why wouldn't you suck on your toes if you could?

Smile!

2006-10-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Bennett has never been accused of being smiley, so I thought I better post this one! Although his uncle Evan had him laughing the other night - yes, Evan will finally hold Bennett - he says Bennett is finally not so wobbly.

Daily Grind

2006-09-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

There is not a whole lot going on in Sioux Center these days, although it is a very distinctive time of year here. The combines are out in full force, the weather is cooling off considerably and it is my favorite time of year.
We are all keeping busy and doing well. Dale is quite busy with trucking. Next weekend he and his brother, Evan, will be heading to Montana with cattle and hopefully not getting on eachother's nerves. Dale is very much used to being alone in the truck (excpet for Petey of course), but is excited to have company for a change.
I (Janelle) have joined a few groups and am enjoying staying at home very much. A few girls from church invited me to join their playgroup on Wednesday mornings. Although Bennett doesn't "play" yet, it is a nice morning out, that is for sure. Today I started M.O.P.S. (moms of pre-schoolers). It was a fairly big step out of my comfort zone to go, but I enjoyed the first meeting. It is a great way to meet other moms. They meet twice a month, so that will be a welcome addition to our routine!
Bennett... let me see.... he is rolling over both ways now, loving that excersaucer, and teething. We are not so much liking the teething, but this is a stage we must go through... over and over until there are actually teeth! That is what I would like to see, actual teeth... that would make it all worth while. He weighs in at 14lbs, 25 1/2 inches long..... doing great.
That is us right now, normal and routined....

Winnipeg again

2006-09-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Noah

Evelyn, Jonathan & Noah

Noah & Bennett laughing at Grandpa

Grandpa with the 2 boys

So made a road trip to Winnipeg again this past weekend. Evelyn was going to do her profession of faith and Noah was being baptized - two great reasons to make the trip we thought. We left Friday morning and drove during the day... Dale thought he had never seen North Dakota in day light! We arrived at mom and dad's in time for supper (good planning on our part we thought). Saturday we took the 3 grandkids to get pictures taken at Sears... turned out pretty well and made Grandma happy:) Evelyn, Noah, Janelle, Bennett and Dale went to Cosco and it was so funny because Dale said "Do you want me to just take the boys home so you two (Evie and Janelle) can just get the rest of the shopping done and it would be a lot faster?" Well before he even had the entire sentence out of his mouth, Evelyn and I were like "YES". I sort of think he wished he hadn't volunteered this idea, because we took him up on it so fast.... He did great. He brought them back to mom and dad's without a hitch and shopping was a lot of fun for the girls!
Sunday was a great day. The church service was really nice and Noah was a hit as always. That boy is so funny, he has this contagious smile and laugh and you just can't help but love the kid.
Sunday night my friends paid us a visit. It is always so nice to see everyone, too bad we live so far away....
Monday morning the whole fam (minus Megan and Jonathan) went out for breakfast and saw us off again. We made it home in good time, Bennett was a born traveller! We had a great visit and looks like we will make the trip again at Christmas time.

Chicago and Back again

2006-08-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

We have had an eventful past week. We left Wednesday morning on our trek to cousin Robyn's wedding in Chicago. We made it to Fulton, IL late afternoon and spent an evening/night at college friends Doug and Mindy's house. Their little guy is about 2 weeks older than Bennett, so it was really fun to finally meet Luke!
Thursday we headed into Chicago and found our hotel right away. It was a lot nicer than we were expecting... you never know what you are going to get with Priceline, but we were very excited! We had the afternoon to kill, so we took a cab downtown and went to the John Hancock observatory. Not exactly Janelle's idea of a good time since she is quite scared of heights and it was very high. However, it made Dale's day, so it was worth it. Then we had dinner plans with more college friends, Jeremy and Dalida. They really did a good job and we had such a nice time with them.
Friday we went to Navy Pier - a little too touristy for us, but it was fun to see. Then off to Shedd's Aquarium. That was a good place to go... we didn't get to the museums that we wanted to, I guess we will have to go back! Friday evening we spent at Robyn's place. It was relaxing and fun to see the fam. Bennett was once again a hit.
Saturday was the wedding and it was beautiful! Robyn was a gorgeous bride... we are so glad we went. That night we were adventurous and had our hotel make us dinner reservations. We ended up at an authentic Greek restaurant (the whole time we had lines from a Big Fat Greek Wedding running through our minds!). It was really fun to try something different. Sunday we made the 9 hour trip back to Iowa. We only had to stop twice, so that wasn't bad.... Bennett was born to travel!
The pictures are of Bennett and Luke - we told them they were going to be roommates at Dordt someday..... Dale washing windows at the John Hancock building.... everyone at the wedding that was related to Robyn.

Bennett Pictures

2006-08-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to say today.... here a bunch of pictures of Bennett - most of them from the last few weeks. He was 12lbs this past week and it 3 months old today!

dogs days of summer

2006-08-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

We have been having a fairly quiet week. Dale has been recovering from his Septoplasty surgery - they rebuilt and reshaped his septum. This was done on Friday and he finally went back to work today (Thursday). Janean was here from Thursday until Monday, so it was nice to have her help. She kept Janelle company in the waiting room at the hospital and also helped take care of Bennett. Dale was pretty much out of it for the rest of Friday and Saturday he was in and out of bed all day. Wednesday (yesterday) Dale had his splints removed from his nose and it wasn't the most pleasant experience, except now he can breath again!!!!
Tomorrow Megan and Mom and Dad come down for the weekend. Megan, Dale and Janelle are all going to the Rascal Flatts concert while Grandpa and Grandma babysit.
We have been trying to avoid the "Great Outdoors" these days because it is so ridiculously hot and humid in Iowa.

decisions, decisions....

2006-07-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

It has been a long week and we are all a little tired. I (Janelle) have been enjoying my summer very much staying home and taking care of Bennett, along with keeping the house together. We both would love for me to be able to quit my job and stay home with Bennett all the time. There are of course a lot of concerns about money and all that, but after a lot of thought and prayer, we decided to take the plunge. I put in my resignation at work, which was really hard for me, on Thursday afternoon. I have made a lot of friends at work and really liked what I did there, but really think we have made the right decision (even though I didn't sleep a wink Thursday night after the fact). I am learning a bookkeeping program and will be taking over doing Dale's books for Swager Trucking and am also learning to organize our personal life on there as well.
That's our news for now!

Our Summer Travels

2006-07-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am finally updating our blog. It has been a busier summer than we anticipated, but it has all been great fun.

We went camping for a weekend at Scharnberg Park, close to Spencer, Iowa, with Mark and Amanda. The weather was really nice and we managed to go swimming for a little while before the wind storm came upon us. That was okay though, we were all ready to retire to our campers and take a little nap anyway. Bennett did really well camping, he didn't sleep through the nights, but he didn't do much complaining!
Derek and Kari's wedding was in Albert Lea, MN on July 1st (leave it to Jimmy to get married on Canada Day!!!) It was a great wedding and we had so much fun. Bev, Michelle and I were all groomsmen for Derek. It was a blast seeing everyone again.

While we were in Winnipeg (just Bennett and Janelle went, Dale went back home to work), Mom, Evelyn, Julie and Janelle and kids went to Pine Ridge Hollow for lunch and then for a walk through Bird's Hill Park. There was quite a proud Grandma on our hands:)

Okay, so I think that brings us up-to-date. We are having a quiet week of softball games, dr.appointments, helping a friend roof their house, etc.

Baptism and Beyond

2006-06-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Dale has taken to dressing Bennett like a little farmer... that's okay as long as he doesn't start dressing him like a truck driver!

Bennett did really well at his baptism... he didn't cry or anything, we were so proud. All of our families left on Sunday and Monday, it was so quiet around here, we didn't quite know what to do with ourselves.
This past weekend we took Bennett on his first camping experience. I will get some pictures up soon, it was a good time. Not much else new here....until next time.

Does this outfit make me look big?

2006-05-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here is Bennett just before church yesterday. What a stud!
We have survived the first 2 weeks and so far things are going really well. This coming Sunday we are going to be celebrating his baptism and have a lot of family coming to share this with us.
Grandma and Grandpa Swager are flying in on Wednesday. They are eager to meet Bennett I hear. Then on Friday Grandma and Grandpa van Leeuwen are coming with Bennett's auntie Megan, uncle Greg and Auntie Julie along with his cousin Emily. Should be a fun weekend!

2006-05-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

IT'S ANOTHER BOY!!!!

Noah Jonathan was born to Evelyn and Jonathan early this morning. Bennett is very excited to have another cousin.

2006-05-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

This has been a week to remember! Bennett Dale Swager was born on Sunday afternoon May 7, 2006. He was almost 3 weeks early, so he was somewhat of a surprise. He weighed 6lbs, 11 ounces and was 21 inches long.
We are all home now and learning to adjust to the new life and the new surroundings. We are all a little tired, but are coping quite well. Grandma and Grandpa van Leeuwen got here Monday afternoon and left, sadly, this afternoon.
The first pic is of Bennett getting ready to come home from the hospital. He is wrapped in a blanket that was made for his daddy by his great grandma Van Foeken.

Bennett....
He is quite little and everything seems so large on him, like this hat:)