HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

THE SWANSON FAMILY WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE A VERY BLESSED AND HAPPY 2011! MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU IN THE COMING YEAR!

P.S. more Christmas pictures to come, visiting family right now.

Christmas Pt. 2 ~ A first for Everything

This year was the first time Lucas or I had ever gone out and checked beaver traps! We took the snowmobiles and found that we had two beavers out of our three traps! They're funny little guys. They were about 50lbs each! Good catch!

Christmas Part 1 - Christmas dinner.

Elk backstrap with Bourbon and Port wine sauce

Scalloped potatoes and Green bean cassarole with bacon & sharp cheddar cheese.

my new Fiesta ware gravy boat (new from my sister, for Lucas and my anniversary).
Then with this meal our dessert was White chocolate cheesecake with blackberry sauce (the blackberries we picked this summer as a family).

We hope and pray everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends celebrating our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ's birth.

I wanted to post this for my mother-in-law.

Computer and Fur!

This is how I found Cora this afternoon! She loves the computer, though she's not suppose to be on it.
Busted!

Our girls love this red fox fur. They carry it all over the house and cuddle with it.

cozy coat

hide-&-seek

the winter hat

my favorite!!

Cora

smiley

coy

thoughtful

Can you see the theme in the pictures? The only real good pictures I can get of her is when she's in a highchair. She doesn't stand still long enough!

Our little Cora is such a bundle of joy! She loves to play and dance and read books and loves her sister, Audy. She's talking way before Audrey did (I think it's because big sister talks all the time and she's trying to keep up). She loves dogs and loves our Ban (Bandit), except when he licks her in the face (not a big fan of face licking). Sunday I was so happy she actually said, momma. My heart melted.

We love our Cora.

Playing in the Snow

Well, you can't play in the snow without eating some.
making a snowball

throwing the snowball at mommy

teaching Audrey how to make a snow angel!

Audrey making a snow angel...

... finished product!

She then proceeded to make a heavenly host of snow angels.

Warming up by the fire, with a cup of warm (hot) chocolate.
All in a days work.

Fun times with Audrey

the cuddle bug (sometimes)

the dancer

kitchen help

camera dodger

I wanted to share some fun pictures of Audrey.

A Thought on Christmas

Our family has been going through the CREC Advent devotions and I wanted to share a thought by Doug Wilson on Christmas.

This is in the application aspect of the devotion.
"Prepare the members of your family to think of Advent and Christmas in very material terms. This is not a season that celebrates vague spiritualities, but rather the season that celebrates God taking on flesh. The instinct to give gifts, to eat chocolate, to cut down a tree in the woods to bring home, is therefore all very healthy and in line with the holiday. Matter enables us to give, and not just to grab."

If anyone would like to add these devotions to your Advent celebrations and preparations you can find them at: http://www.christkirk.com/ , we have found them insightful and such a blessing.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Our biggest tree yet! I picked this tree out while we were bear hunting in the spring! So I really couldn't wait to cut it down. We can't use our front door at all (though we never do anyway).