The Swarrell Life

The Swarrell Life is one year old as of last Friday, May 15. I can't believe it has been a year already. So here's to us and to you! By the way, here's why it all started:

So there we were, Trinity and I, up and at 'em early on a beautiful Saturday morning in Boise, Idaho. We were off to see Autumn, Angela and Lisa run 13.1 miles. That's exactly one half of a marathon. By the way, it is a real pet peave of mine when people say that they are running in a marathon, only you find out that they are running the 5k race that accompanies a marathon event. Every marathon is 26.2 miles. If you do not run in a race that is 26.2 miles, you have not run a marathon. I have have not run a marathon. But I know what one is. Read more about it here . Okay, I'm done ranting. We drove into Boise from my dad's house and luckily we found a parking spot right in Ann Morrison Park where the finish line is. This Marathon is the 31st Annual Famous Idaho Potato Marathon. It is referred to locally as "the potato race". It was a beautiful day for a stroll, so we tried out the stroller. We had debated the use of the folding stroller since the baby is suppos...

Over the weekend we went to Boise so that Autumn and her running partners could participate in the 31st annual Famous Idaho Potato Marathon (although they were running the half marathon, not the full monty). It was a fun weekend, we were able to see my dad and step mom in Meridian, where there was some good grandparent time to be had. I stayed with my dad while Autumn and her "team" stayed at a hotel near the race course. But before we even arrived, we had an unexpected stop. Well, we expected to stop for coffee. We didn't expect poop everywhere. Autumn was the lucky one that found out it was there. Some folks have all the luck! After some team acrobatics, with me holding while Autumn removed soiled pants, then Autumn holding while I removed soiled diaper, we put Trinity on a blanket in the grass, where she kicked with glee at her new found naked freedom. Babies love to be naked. When does that change? After we had cleaned up our little poop-maker, we were off again to fi...

So these photos are just a few that I liked. The next update should be the half marathon (for those of you still holding your breath, let it out.) In fact, I think that there will be two separate updates for our Boise weekend. There are some great shots of Trinity with her Oma and Opa that should get some of their own air time. Meanwhile, here are some random shots taken between all of our trips recently. This first shot below is probably not even sanitary. Do we know where that cup has been? Oh well, I don't think this will be an isolated incident. Besides, it's coffee. Gotta start 'em early! These next photo is designed to embarrass Trinity when she is older. Even if the blog goes away, I still have these on the hard drive. Sorry kid! I was talking to my Oma on the phone when I discovered that Trinity was hungry. I made sure to let her know that her trying to nurse on me was going to result in two unhappy people, but she tried anyway. That's my girl! The last couple o...

So here we are again, a couple of weeks late...oh well. I suppose it's better late than never, right? Well, maybe and maybe not. But either way, that's the way this story starts. Where was I? Oh yeah, now I remember. It was about two weeks ago... Yeah, that's snow. It was April 30th. That's how we roll here in Baker. I sound like it's okay. But in reality, here is how I feel: Actually, I didn't really mind the snow, it didn't stick and the sheer size of the flakes was pretty impressive. This picture was actually taken in Spokane, Washington. We went there so Autumn could run in Bloomsday . Over 50,000 people run in this 12k event every year. I heard that it is the largest timed run in the country. Don't quote me, I just heard it said, that's all. It could be a lie. But aside from all of that, we went there and saw our good friends and their kids for a nice weekend. Autumn and her friend Angela ran their first race together; they even ran at a faster ...

How lucky Trinity is to have so many 'moms' in her life!

A couple of weeks ago now we went to Seaside, Oregon. I love the salt water, it is the one thing that I miss out here in Eastern Oregon. I miss the smell of the salt. It's wierd maybe, but until I moved here to Baker City, I always lived near the ocean or a body of salt water, except for maybe a few months while I was in the navy. So it was nice to smell the salt air and get out of town for a little. We went there with the Baker Elks Drum and Bugle Corp. It was the Elks State Convention and the Drum Corp always tries to attend these events. We are supported by the Elks and conventions always give us a chance to take a road trip. While we were heading west, Autumn, Trinity and I stopped in Portland to see Autumn's uncle and aunt. They had not seen Trinity yet, except for pictures. It was a nice visit that we don't do enough. After the weekend, my mom and Harry stopped by on their way back from the southwest. They had been traveling for about six weeks and I think they needed...