December/Christmas 2018

We enjoyed a very, very busy December!!  A lot of activity with our church family and also our immediate family.  I was sure hoping for some snow during the month, but that didn't happen 😥

 Our oldest granddaughter, Avianna Skye turned 14 on the 9th!

 Happy Birthday, sweet Avi.  We love you! 💖💖

 Little Mack turned 6 months old on the 9th as well.  Such a cute baby boy with a very pleasant, easy going personality!  We love you too, MacArthur Joshua! 💙

 About the middle of December, we enjoyed a good meal and sweet fellowship at Jim's Steakhouse in Pittsburg with our church staff.  We love them a lot and are so thankful for each of them!

 Some fun Santa pictures that were texted to us:

 

 

 

 

 I loved this picture sent to us--Laine holding hands and praying over the meal with her siblings at a restaurant

 Christmas preparations began for me around Dec. 13th....some deep cleaning; organizing cabinets, pantry, cooking ahead and putting in freezer, etc.  And then ordering a ton of groceries using Walmart's on-line option for my family's visit.  So thankful, I didn't have to physically shop and load all this stuff!  It was enough work to unload it at home and find a place for it all!  

 With the tremendous help of my daughter/daughter-in-laws in sending me links, I was able to order on-line 99% of what I gave the grandkids for Christmas.

 I did shop for the big kids "stockings" (gift bags) and the grandkids' 10 stockings--in that big brown burlap bag.

 On Thursday night, Dec. 20th, Rachel and family arrived! 👏

Kipling's first visit to DeDe and Papa's house! 💙

 Our goofy Gideon 💙

 On Friday, Jeff, Mom and I, along with Rachel's family made a trip to Carthage, MO to visit Precious Moments.  The kids (and Dad's) first visit there

  

 

 The kids loved it!

After Precious Moments, we went to eat and then did the Way of Salvation drive thru light show.  Really good!

 That afternoon, Josh and his family began their journey from Tennessee.  Cutie Saylor before they left the house!

 Saturday, December 22nd, was Jeff and I's 46th Wedding Anniversary.  So thankful for the blessings of the Lord all of these years!

 A picture Jeff has in his office....married 46 years; partners in ministry 44 years! 💓💓

 Also on the 22nd, Saylor Faye turned 8 months old! 💖💖

 Gideon had to have his turn in DeDe's rocking chair (I've had that since I was a child)

 Josh's family spent Saturday with us.  So thankful for each one of these!! 

 Mom came over to see everyone!

 Sunday the 23rd, this precious baby boy turned 2 months old

 Such a cutie! 💙💙

 We loved having a large group of family at church that morning.  Along with our kids/grandkids, Kaye, Rob, Kristen, Ellis, Nora and Owen drove up from NWA for the services that day!

 We ate lunch together at the local Mexican restaurant

 Andy's family went to their own church that morning and then drove up.  We got some family pictures before our big dinner/gift exchange.  Again, thanks to Jonathan's camera and tripod!  3 different poses of the whole family trying to get one with all the littles looking at the camera😍

 

Ten of God's sweetest blessings to us!! 💗💗💗

 

 

 

 

 Mom wasn't there for the above pictures, but we did get one in the house with 10 of her 23 great grandbabies:

 We had the full big Christmas dinner although we did have a huge glitch that day as my main big oven quit working!  That caused some panic, but it all came together:  Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, Grandma's homemade noodles, sweet potato casserole, Josh's green bean casserole, strawberry pretzel salad, relish tray, dressing, Carman's fruit salad, hot rolls, ice cream dessert, Rachel's delicious homemade Christmas cookies, pumpkin pie, etc.  

After dinner, we opened presents!  Avi and Laine handed them out.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Grandma handing out some cash to the greats.....

 Stocking time....

 

 

 A book our sweet friend Clara gave us for the grandkids.  Thanks, Clara!

 Jeff read it to the kids at bedtime.  Lots of laughs.  Such a cute book!

 Even our teenager Avi liked it!

 Josh, Michelle, Saylor and Andy, Carman, Mack went to Joplin where I had hotel rooms for them.  Rachel and family and the other 7 grandkids stayed with us.  These 3 shared a bed (Avi had the couch; Laine and Ellie slept in the recliners, etc.)

 The next day.....we had a few hours together before everyone headed home 😥  Yep, I'm a little bit tired here 😃

 Our sweet friend Leigh brought over these cute, cute bags for each grandchild!  Avi and Saylor had already left before I thought to get a picture.  Thanks, Leigh!

 I thought this was extra cute -- Carman got it for me.  All 10 of our precious Deer names!

 And the kids went together and got me this electronic picture frame.  They are able to add pictures to it from their phones where ever they are!  I already have over 600 pictures that rotate on it.  I LOVE IT!!

 
 
 

 I'm so sad I didn't think to get a picture, while at my house, of the three 2018 newest babies and their parent/my child.

 So later that night after they all left, I begged for a text picture with their child so I could post.  It was an extra special year as each of our children -- in their birth order -- had a baby!!  So neat!

 Josh and family went to Springdale after leaving Galena to spend a couple of days with Michelle's parents.  They texted us Christmas Eve pictures 💗💗

 

 

Andy's family went home for Christmas Eve/Day 💗💗

 Rachel's family went home also. She posted this picture collage of her babies--last year and this year.  Poor Gideon -- just not a fan of Christmas day pictures 💗💗

Jeff and I had a couple of days to do a little straightening of the house, laundry and catching our breath after they all left.  We enjoyed a quiet Christmas day here in Galena.

On Wednesday, we drove down to NWA to stay a few days with Andy's 3 oldest kids while he, Carman and Mack went to Texas.

We took these 3 to Silver Dollar City on Thursday! 

 

 What a fun day we had!!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was Shep's first SDC visit and he loved it!

 

 

 The girls are daredevils!!  They wanted to ride every single scary ride!!

 However, since Jeff nor I would ride the most scary roller coasters, they had to settle for just riding 3 roller coasters.   They will have to ride the other ones when Dad is with them!

 

 All 3 of the kids were so, so good!!

 The lights are just beautiful at SDC!!

 The next day was a restful day and that night was movie and popcorn night.  

 Sat. Dec. 29th was my 65th birthday.  Woah!  How did I ever get that old!?!?!

 The kids and I celebrated by going to see Mary Poppins Returns (Jeff had to return to Galena for church on Sunday)

 Andy, Carman and Mack had a wonderful weekend in Keller, Texas.  I'll post what Andy said on Facebook about the weekend:  

Well, now that it’s official, I’ll let the cat out of the bag!
11-1/2 years ago God led me to plant Metro Church and God is leading Carman and I again! After much prayer, counsel, and a rigorous interview process, I am humbled that I was unanimously voted in as the new Teaching Pastor at The Mount Church in Keller, Texas this morning. There is so much more to this story of how God was doing a million things that we were completely unaware of until recently. This is such a bittersweet season as we are leaving a church and people that we love so much! We are so loved and we love so many here in Northwest Arkansas! We believe God will continue to do great things through Metro Church and know that her best days are ahead of her!
We are very excited about our new church leadership, staff, and family!
There are way too many people to thank for their prayers. It has been amazing to see God answer when we have sought His will in prayer!
Please pray for us to sell our home here in Arkansas quickly and find a house where we’re supposed to live in Texas!

This is a couple of the pictures taken on Sunday....a fun welcome from some of the members (their shirts say, May the Swarts be with You)!

 

So a big change for Andy and his family in 2019.  And there are most probably some big changes for each one of us and 2019 is going to be a very pivotal year in the lives of each of the Swart families and my Mom!  We are trusting the Lord each step of the way!