The Swarrell Life

If you like slush. We went up to Anthony Lakes with Wade and Amy last Sunday. Mark was up there as well, he's ski patrol so he had to work! The weather was great and we had a nice time hanging around and eating some hot dogs and hamburgers. I didn't bring my snowboard, but Autumn brought her skis. She and Wade took a couple of runs, since it was their last chance this season. Here are some pictures: Our two newest Ski Patrol members, Mark and Wade! Congratulations Guys! Mark is doing his duty: holding his little cousin. Great picture guys! The ladies, in the proverbial "house". Here we have Wade doing what Butkus the bulldog wants to be doing; eating a hamburger. Good doggie! Smooth move Mark. Don't worry, your Dad did it before you did! Yeah, I was there too. Cheesy pic, sheesh!

For the big event, we had 10 people total at the house (I told Autumn we should have bought place settings for twelve, not eight!), plus Trinity! It was great fun to have my Dad and Sue over, along with Autumn's family. It was a tight squeeze, but we made it around the table! Aunt Amy brought a mylar balloon for Trinity, which she absolutely loves. We clip it to here pant leg and when she kicks, it moves, making her kick even more! It is great fun for all of us. Here are some pictures: Imagine her surpise at getting an Easter basket! Oh my! Here she is with her first balloon. There have been others in the house since she was born, but none just for her! Kick, kick, kick! Above is our motley crew. Not to be mistaken for the original Motley Crue: > I guess you can still see them in concert. To give you a frame of reference, I could see them in concert when I was ten. Yeah, that's how old they are. Do you think they ever regret the tattoos? If not, I can regret it for them. By ...

Okay, so there wasn't exactly an overwhelming response to Aaron's contest. In fact, there was only one entry. It reminded me of the macaroni and cheese bake-off that Aaron helped to judge last year. That is how many entries there were: one. But this year the bake-off had FIVE entries. That means good things for the next photo contest. Be sure and enter your guess in the comments! The one and only winning guess as to what Aaron was saying in this photo is: "Yeah...before Autumn had Trinity they were high and tight, now they hang down to about here." Thanks Aunt Carol!

Okay, so I am going to try something new here on the blog. I am instituting a contest. The prize will be determined before the contest ends. The contest goes like this: I will post a photo and you guess what is going on. Leave your best guess in the comments section. The most creative answer will win a prize, or at least bragging rights. I know both of my readers will have GREAT ideas because you guys are smarter than me. So here goes. What am I doing in this picture? I will leave the comments open until Sunday or so, and then I will announce the winner. Please, be creative!

This past weekend we took a road trip to visit family up in the Seattle area--more specifically to let Trinity meet two of her Great Grandmothers. On Friday, we visited Great Grandma Webster who was very excited to introduce Trinity to some of the other residents in her retirement community. We also visited the Blind Alley, where Aaron used to work and Trinity met her Great Aunt Claudia and Uncle Kurt and visited with Aunt Coleen as well. On Saturday, we headed across the Puget Sound to Silverdale to have a wonderful German lunch prepared by Aaron's Oma. Oma even tried to teach Trinity how to roll over! After lunch, Aaron's Oma sang a German lullaby to Trinity, who thanked her Great Oma by gumming her finger! Other 'firsts' for Trinity included eating (okay, drooling) at her first Thai restaurant, her first ferry ride (though she slept through the entire trip!) and her first time being held by a Korean woman in a Vietnamese restaurant (can't seem to find that one in...

And I was strangely okay with it. She didn't even apologize, or even seem to notice that she had done it. It was very strange. Even stranger was the fact that I didn't mind either. Maybe that is because "she" is only four months old...and my daughter! Plus, she's my sweetie!