The Swarrell Life

A couple of weeks ago, my grandma died. She had lived a long full life, long enough to out live the great depression, disco, bad hair bands, Y2K (remember that?), and sadly, many of her friends and peers. It was her turn to fly, and she earned her angel's wings for sure. She was a little old lady for as long as I can remember, but was ever active in her church and volunteered at a local hospital for many years. Ham and scalloped potatoes were Easter staples, and sometimes the sweet potatoes with marshmallows cooked on top. She fit more stuff into an 800 square foot house than I can fit into a house double that size. She had the best posture of anyone I have ever seen. She prided herself on that, and rightfully so. I can't sit up straight for two minutes without slouching. She lived to be widowed twice. She lived to see great grandchildren (three of them!). And she held the family together. We will miss you grandma. She was 93 and we miss her. I know it's more a...

It's sort of obvious that this blog is  a running commentary on our life. Lives? Depends upon how you look at it, I guess. I prefer to think of it as one life that includes all four of us. What a tangled web we (will) weave. Last weekend was a good example as I ran a half-marathon on Saturday and Autumn ran the full monte on Sunday. If you didn't get the reference, it means that Autumn went all the way, 26.2 (26.4 actually, but who's counting?) miles to complete her second marathon. Having now run two half-marathons, I can tell you that 26.2 miles is a long way to run. But I digress. Our life is a tangled web, right? Yeah, the half-marathon was on Saturday morning in Baker City, the Marathon was in Boise on Sunday morning. Yeah, we crossed state lines to get it done. That makes it a felony. Okay, it would if what we did was a crime. Crazy kids. Again, I digress. The way it played out, Kal and I had the kids and rolled around Boise in the swagger wagon, chee...

Note from Aaron: I actually posted this last night when we were in Boise, then pulled it because the pictures didn't turn out. Stupid iPad. These pictures were on my phone for some reason. Weirdly enough, I didn't have this phone when these pictures were taken. Who knows how the pictures got there. But the neurologist was amazed at Trinity in person, given what her MRI shows in regards to her brain injury. Like I mention below, our little miracle girl. The ophthalmologist  found some left side peripheral vision loss, but her young age means that it will affect her less than it would someone older. The ophthalmologist was also amazed, saying that she remembers Trinity the first time she saw her. That was over three years ago. Now, on with the show. So here we are in Boise again. Yeah, we come here on a regular basis, but not to the hospital. It has been over three years since Trinity was injured and the memories emotions fade a little more each time we visit one of the spec...

Summer isn't getting any younger either. Football season is upon us and with it, for me at least, comes the urge to sit on the couch for hours and watch others fight fierce battles. But I was reminded that these nice days won't last much longer, so we get to the back yard as much as we can! Teagan has a fondness for baby Emerson. Yes, her name is Emerson, but our kids refer to her as Baby Emerson. I am sure that they'll grow out of it. Hopefully before she does.Either way, Teagan likes kissing on the girls... It turns out that mom didn't like Teagan kissing on her younger daughter...is that judo? Jen's kind of a bad@$$. Okay, unrelated yard pic here. Teagan spraying, Trinity fleeing for her life...but why is Ava taking off her shorts? Ah the unbridled life of a three year old! Child labor laws don't apply to family, so we work 'em hard here, no matter how young they are. Okay, just kidding. But seriously, Teagan's got a t...