A very, very busy summer!!
A disclaimer at the start -- lots of pictures to document the weeks and months (I've worked on it for over 2 weeks, so the longer the time, the bigger it grows)! 😜😬😳
MacArthur Joshua Swart turned 1 year old on June 9th! We didn't get to see him on his birthday (and haven't seen him this summer). 😢 Hopefully soon!
We love you, Buddy!
A birthday cupcake!
Daddy's posting for his little boy's first birthday
A cute picture of the Swart kids this summer in a soda shop!
This kid is so cute and smart! Two stories below his picture to remember from him this summer:
Conversation in June between our 3-1/2 old grandson and his Momma:
Shep: Momma, does he have handles?
Momma: Who?
Shep: Jesus - Does Jesus have handles?
Momma: What do you mean, Buddy?
Shep: When he takes us up there (pointing to the sky)
Momma: Oh, you mean when He raptures us - does He have handles for us to hold on to?
Shep: Yea, so we don't fall off!
Another conversation in September as told by his Daddy:
At family prayer time, we were about to pray for the hurricane victims in the Bahamas:
Shep: The hurricane is God’s legs.
Andy: What, buddy
Carman: Who told you that?
Shep: Daddy! (matter of factly)
Andy:...(??)
Carman: Oh, you mean that “the clouds are the dust of His feet”? (Nahum 1:3)
Shep: Yep! That’s it!
Andy concluded: Parents of littles, take heart. They’re listening! You may have to correct some bad theology along the way, but, they’re listening! 😍😍😍
😂Sure do love this kid!!😂
I helped (for the last time) with VBS at FBC, Galena in June. I've always been a team leader for the 4th and 5th graders. This year was our biggest class (17 enrolled)! Loved it! So thankful for the wonderful 10 years of VBS at Galena and all the souls saved!! Also thankful for my helper the last two years: Lacey Boyes. It was the first year in 4 years that I didn't have grandchildren spend the week and go with me. Sure did miss that!
My Facebook posting for "Father's Day"
Love all these great dads! My Dad, Jeff, Josh, Andy and Jonathan!
One afternoon this summer, I drove up to Pittsburg to hear my Aunt Freda play the piano (and cousin Nancy too) and hear my Uncle Marvin sing. Loved it!
Kipling was 8 months old on June 23rd
Josh and Michelle celebrated 4 years of marriage on June 25th
FINALLY - WORK BEGAN ON OUR RETIREMENT HOME!
Footing was poured on July 3rd
July 4th cutie!! 💓💓
Rachel and Jonathan celebrated their 7th anniversary on July 6th
Jeff and I attended a memorial service in Rogers for one of our missionary heroes, Darlene Carey on July 6th. Avi was spending some time with her NWA grandparents so we had the sweet privilege of taking her out to eat. She's growing into a beautiful young woman! 😍😍
Andy & Carman celebrated their 14th anniversary on July 9th
Jeff and I worked all summer at packing up 10 years of living in the same house!
It was hard to live for 3 months in chaos but we are so glad we had that long to do the job as it was exhausting and we can't imagine trying to do it in a couple of weeks like we have many times over the years.
The middle of July, Jeff joined 7 others from FBC, Galena on their second missionary trip to the Dominican Republic. It was another great week!
On Sunday while there, Jeff preached and celebrated his 66th birthday
While Jeff was gone, I took a break from the packing and spent the week in Conway with Mom. One day Rachel and the kids came over so she could bake cookies as her oven was broken. Loved seeming them!
Rachel's cookie business keeps her very busy and robs her of a lot of sleep (since she has to do the work while the kids are sleeping). What started out as a hobby has turned into quite a business and she does a great job!!
Kipling turned 9 months old on July 23rd - such a cutie!
Avi started to school on August 1st -- her first year in High School!!
Saylor wanted her picture taken that morning as well
August 2nd - the walls are going up
August 3rd -- we had a very successful first Back to School event at FBC, Galena and ministered to over 250 area families!
The registration table gals!
That evening, Jeff had the privilege to lead a vow renewal service for Cliff and Connie McQuillen
Jeff married Cliff and Connie 35 years ago at Heritage Baptist Church in Nevada. They joined FBC, Galena a couple of years ago and it has been fun to renew our friendship! Connie has invited us into their Joplin home for several delicious meals during these last couple of years (and many times during those years we were together in Nevada).
35 years ago, Marty and Eric Barwick stood up with Cliff and Connie and once again did for this vow renewal service. The Barwicks moved from Tulsa, OK to Nevada, Mo., in 1980 to help Jeff and I with the new mission in Nevada and we will forever be grateful for their friendship and support!
A picture of our friends from Nevada/Ft. Scott who came to the service
And one with the "Clary" family! Love them all!
August 6th - more progress!
The week prior to our move, Jeff sadly had to part with two of his beloved earthly possessions. We could not bring our cat, Tiger, to Mom's so it was time to say goodbye.
Thankfully, sweet Sheri Bottero and her husband Chris took him and is providing a loving home for him.
Andy's kids on Facetime....they were so sad that Tiger is no longer with Papa.....
The other possession was Jeff's 2002 Yukon. It has been a wonderful car for Jeff and with many prayers, it carried him 297,000 miles over the past 17 years with very little mechanical problems or accidents. Thank you, Lord!
Aaron and Jenae Polok bought it from him and hopefully it will provide them with a few more miles and memories!
We are so grateful that Mom has given Jeff her car, 2013 Toyota Rav4. Such a blessing!
Jeff ate lunch at least once a week and sometimes more with Aaron, Jenae and Gabe. He will miss those lunch dates! He has been told that little Gabe is still asking, "Where is Papa Jeff?" 💙💙
Saturday, August 17th, we rented two large U-haul trucks to load all our possessions in
So thankful for the 14 men from church who came to help!!
Thank you, Thank you: Aaron, Gary, Harry, Kaehler, Dylan, Mike, Troy, Curt, Fred, Cliff, Walker, Stephen, Jason and Chase!
Sunday, August 18th was a very emotional, bittersweet day as we said goodbye to the wonderful church family at First Baptist. I have devoted a full posting to that day, below this posting, if you are interested.
On Monday, August 19th, Jeff drove one of the large U-haul trucks with a trailer behind it pulling the black car; Aaron drove the other big truck; I drove my car and Jenae (and Gabe) drove their car (Jeff's old car) and we made the 5 hour trip to Conway, AR - thankfully with no problems!! We moved on the hottest day of the year. So very thankful for Aaron and Rob and 3 guys that Jeff hired thru U-Haul to get all of our possessions unloaded into 2 large storage units here in Conway.
That evening, Mom treated all of us to a delicious meal at Marketplace Restaurant. Thank you, thank you, Aaron and Jenae for all your help!!! And also to Rob, Kaye, Mom (and to Leigh Ryan for covering the Polok's expenses)!!
We are so appreciative of Mom allowing us to stay with her during this interim time that our house is being built. She has a very nice 3 bedroom cottage at the Senior Living Facility, Ridgemere.
Very thankful for a bedroom and walk-in closet!! We've gotten all our "stuff" organized and settled in and are enjoying our temporary home. I have also enjoyed eating a few delicious meals with Mom over in the Dining Room at this facility and meeting/visiting with several other really sweet and friendly residents here.
A cool picture of an approaching storm one evening sitting on Mom's back patio
August 20th ..... it's fun to live close now and to be able to see the progress with our own eyes!
10 months old on August 23rd! 💙 Almost ready to walk!!
Our first week in Conway, we accompanied our good friends, Norman and Norma Crass and Rob and Kaye to Murry's Dinner Theater to see Mary Poppins. It was so good!!
Norman made sure the waiter knew that Jeff and Rob both had birthdays near our visit.....they neither one ate the desserts, but the rest of us enjoyed sharing them!
School started in late August for the Texas Swart children. Shep attends Preschool 2 days a week at the school located at the church where Andy pastors.
Carman is homeschooling the girls at "The Swart Acamedy!" 💕💕
Ellie is in 2nd grade
Laine is in 4th Grade
Rachel actually resumed homeschooling Copeland and Eisley during the summer as they took a break in the Spring due to their move to LR. Copeland is now in First Grade and Eisley is in Kindergarten:
Our second week here, we went to Little Rock to spend the day with the McCrary grandkids!
Always a sweet time and such a HUGE blessing to only be 35-40 minutes away from them. We anticipate many more days like this!
The boys love to wrestle with Papa
DeDe enjoys the "quieter" activities - ha - like reading a book
Rachel spent the day on a big cookie order! It was fun to watch her for a few minutes. So much work -- so much creativity -- so much talent!! 😍
It's all a very detailed process (with a delicious and so cute outcome!)
Gideon having fun with a cute piggie that Shelva Jean sent to him from Galena.....
Precious baby boys!
This little guy is the best baby -- he didn't cry all day - is very mobile and happily content
Back in Conway - near Mom's house is Woodland Heights Baptist Church where I worked for 8 years. I never dreamed I would live close again after moving away in 2003. So good to drive by on Sundays and Wednesdays and see the parking lots full!! Great church with a lot of wonderful folks!
August 29th -- brick going up and sheetrock work being done
This will be our master bedroom -- bigger one than we have had in a long time
Living/Kitchen area -- looking toward front entry
Same room looking toward kitchen/master bedroom
Jeff's office
Our home will be small - approximately 1600 sq. ft., but our builder has done a great job (with help from my sister Kaye when we designed the blueprints) in utilizing all the space to make it seem bigger. We will have 3 bedrooms plus an office for Jeff, 2 bathrooms, etc. Our only regret is a very small breakfast nook (and no dining room) but we made that sacrifice so Jeff could have an office. I guess that means I don't have to do a lot of cooking - 😉👍ha!
We were struggling to find a time we could go visit Josh's family in Tennessee as he is working out of state much of September and October. But he called us in a bind last weekend as he had a 24 hour gig in Cincinnati and Michelle was dealing with a huge mess at work -- cyber ransomware had taken over the servers at the medical clinic where she is office manager. Bless her heart -- she knows Satan is hitting hard as she's involved in two small groups and had just finished the powerful study on prayer by Jim Cymbala, "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire." Satan is not happy she is digging deep in her spiritual walk! But she is not going to let him defeat her and thankfully, once the ransom was paid, they are back up and trying to catch up with all the backlog it caused! Such an evil world we live in!
So Jeff and I got to do some grandparenting time with Saylor and Avi and we loved it!
I had to post -- Michelle (Saylor's momma) on the left and Saylor on the right -- they look like twins!! 💓💓
Sunday, we went to church with Michelle, Avi and Saylor (
Josh was in Cincinnati) at The Bridge Fellowship (
Southern Baptist Church). We enjoyed worshiping with them and hearing a great sermon from their Pastor! I wanted to get some pictures that day as we were
"more" dressed up, but it didn't happen 😢.
Josh asked if I would make a roast meal for him and I gladly did on Labor Day. I'm pretty rusty since we had wonderful families feed us every Sunday in Galena and roast was on the menu often
(and it was always SO good!) so I didn't fix it much. When my kids were growing up, I fixed Sunday roast dinner at least twice a month and it was a favorite of Jeff, Josh and Rachel....not so much with Andy
(silly boy!)
This meal also was considered Josh's birthday meal as he will turn 42 on September 9th 💙
On Tuesday, while Josh and Michelle were at work, Avi was in school, and Saylor went to her sitter's, Jeff and I had an enjoyable time doing some sightseeing in Nashville....Grand Ole' Opry, Opry Mills Mall, downtown Nashville, etc.
That night after Saylor's bath and before going to bed, I insisted on a couple of pictures!! It was just hard getting a group picture with everyone going in a hundred different ways during our time there.
Sure love these two girlies!! 💗💗
And their parents! 💓💓
Wednesday was time to head home as Jeff had 3 commitments on Thursday. We made it home just in time to freshen up and head to our Wed. Home Group which was wonderful.
Sweet Saylor before Momma took her to the sitters the morning we left! She sure is a cutie and lots of fun!
Hopefully, we can see our Tennessee family more now that Jeff has retired! Just wish that road wasn't so long.....and that I40 was not such a bear to drive!! Whew -- a million semi's, at least!! 😳
Now it's time to see the Texas Swart family.....hopefully in October and/or November!
Mom and I rode to Little Rock last week with Kaye to pick up some cookies that Rachel made for Rob's birthday and then we ate together. I'm going to copy and paste what I wrote on Facebook....
(will paste below pic)
Right after taking this picture, Rachel and I learned a valuable lesson....Mom and Kaye has gone on to the car when we finished eating/taking the picture and I was helping Rachel get the kids in her van. An older vehicle pulled up behind Rach’s van (blocking her) and asked Rachel if they could borrow her phone. Rachel saw that the woman was very pregnant and said yes but to let her get the car started as its 100 degrees today. I said that I would let them use mine....so I went to the passenger side and asked what number she wanted me to dial and then I dialed it and handed my phone to her but noticed at that time that the male driver had a phone in his hand that he was messing with?? And I felt very uneasy... From the number I dialed, a recording came on - about it being a non-working #. The gal hung up and redialed and got the same recording. So I took my phone and whispered to Rachel to get in her car and lock the doors. Thankfully the couple did pull away. But afterwards, we really think they blocked Rachel and intended to steal her phone seeing she had the kids and would be distracted (or it could have even been a greater evil intent--trafficking, etc. 😖). I was standing in the doorway of their vehicle so it would have been hard to take off with my phone....and they would have regretted it—as mine is old and won’t hold a charge. Lesson learned—say NO—and beware of your surroundings!! Thank you Lord for your protection!
Jeff greatly enjoyed a "
long" day trip to Oxford, Mississippi last Saturday/early Sunday morning with 8 other guys to see the Ole Miss/Arkansas game. Hogs didn't win, but the guys still had a fun time.
Kaye had Rachel make some really cute cookies for the guys' travels/Rob's birthday:
Kaye texted Rachel a picture of Rob's golf bag that she use to create this one 😍
Love the way Rachel gave "texture" to the footballs!
Eating lunch on their way at the famous Rendenzous Restaurant in Memphis
At the game....it was hot!!
Today (
Sept. 8th), we joined Antioch Baptist Church here in Conway where we were members for the almost 8 years that we lived here before (
1996-2003) and Jeff served on staff during part of that time.
Mom also joined today
We have many great friends in this church and love the Pastor and wife, Jason and Toya Aultman and the Staff and their families. Jason and Toya were JBC students (
boyfriend/girlfriend) when Jeff was Dean of Students of JBC in Jacksonville, Texas in 1986. Jason didn't have ministry as a career goal, but Jeff convinced him to come to Craft Baptist Church in Jacksonville as part time student pastor (
Jeff was Sr. Pastor). He came.....and the rest is history. Jason now has his Doctor's Degree and pastors one of our largest BMA churches. Very proud of him and already thankful for him as our Pastor!
When we first met them 💗
Now with two great kids:
Today......
We are excited to renew many old friendships and make many new ones.
We are once again enjoying the large Calvary's Promise Sunday School Class (over 80 in attendance on this Sunday) and their excellent teacher, Larry Martin. We were active members of this same class when we lived here years ago.
We also love the Small Group we are attending on Wednesday evenings in the home of our dear friends, Paul and Glo Jensen. Paul does a great job facilitating us as well. There are over 25 people who attend and we are sure enjoying the sweet fellowship and wonderful discussion!
For a couple of months, we will just enjoy being a "
church member" but soon, we will find our places of service and fully engage in areas of ministry that God has gifted us in our local church and in the community.
🌞A GREAT SUMMER - FULL OF MEMORIES!🌞
BUT NOW I'M READY FOR FALL 🍁🍁, COOLER TEMPS AND THE COMPLETION OF OUR RETIREMENT HOME! 💗💗
