The Last Half of Our Year

It's been so long since I've updated our blog that I'm not sure anyone checks it anymore. But for you aunts who like to see updated pictures, this blog is for you! And I'll try to do better with posting in the future.

We ran our half marathon, all of us! My Dad, sister Leah and her family all came up for the event. Leah, her husband, Will and I all raced and finished the half marathon. I'm really thankful to have had the opportunity to do one of those rare feats with one of my sisters! I always love having family visit, and it was such a good visit.

Will took a much-needed guys hiking weekend with a friend at the end of August. He found the most beautiful lake he's ever seen, which promises future memories for the family.

In September, we had more family come to visit when one of Will's brothers got married. We squeezed in a couple of birthdays and also had my (Suzanne's) friend, Kendra (from Texas), come up for a visit. As with all visits, it was a whirl-wind trip to fit 'everything' in. The highlight of that trip was our hike, which has been a Schwisow family favorite for years.

In October, the old man turned 30! We had a nice family celebration. Birthday boy said he wanted pies for his birthday, so he got pies.

Fall is my favorite time of year and it is so easy to see God's glory in the fall in the Northwest. We enjoyed picking pumpkins from pumpkin farms in Oregon and New Mexico this year.

And, we had a rockin' Halloween! We all dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz.

November was a big month. We took two trips to New Mexico and celebrated Addison's 2nd birthday. (Sadly, we don't have any great 2nd birthday photos!)

December was busy as always. We had a really nice Christmas holiday this year. We went to an amazing Christmas Concert with the family in early December. We celebrated with Will's family on Christmas Eve and had Christmas Day to make our own memories.

We've been extremely blessed this year. We feel like it has not been the easiest of years, but we know God has been faithful to answer prayer(s) and help us grow. Will is now a nationally certified Paramedic! I, Suzanne, have gotten addicted to couponing and am getting quite good at bargain shopping. Addison is growing like a weed and is such a blessing. She is such a funny little one to have around. We have placed membership at a church where we're starting to feel at home. We're making some new friends from church that are in our life stage and live close demographically, which is a huge blessing. We are excited for the upcoming year! Lord willing, we will be welcoming a new addition to our family in July.

We'll leave you with a few of our favorite pictures over the last half of this year.

Busy Summer

We've had such a wonderfully busy summer!

Will's brother and sister graduated from high school, which always includes fun family activities:

There was a family prom,

a zoo visit,

a fishing trip,

olympic games, a birthday party, and lots of park time!

Everyone in the household has managed to keep up the rigorous running schedule in preparation for the big runs ahead.

We've even managed to keep up with pool time and berry picking.

We were also blessed to have a visit from Suzanne's mom, which included more fun family activities:

A trip to the Japanese Gardens,

a trip to the beach,

and lots of fun and memories made.

We're still on schedule to run our half marathon on August 16th. We can't hardly wait for it to get here. Probably not for the race itself but because Suzanne's Dad, sister and her family will be visiting from New Mexico.

Hope everyone is doing awesome,

The Schwisow's

P.S. It's not an uncommon practice to have a home in Oregon without an air conditioner. Well, you wouldn't hear of that in New Mexico. We happened to be some of those common folk who have purchased our new home with no AC and we survived the sweltering temperatures of 106.

Milestones

Well since a couple of individuals in the Schwisow household have either already turned 30 this year or will soon do so, we've decided to mark these milestones in life by doing something for ourselves to say, "we've still got it." I have decided to run a 1/2 marathon in August and Will will run the Portland Marathon the day before his 30th birthday in October. We're very excited to accomplish these goals, goals we've both talked about and someday hoped we would do. We're very thankful for the health and ability and finally a slower schedule to seek these goals. Also exciting is that my sister, Leah, and her family will be flying up in August to run the 1/2 marathon with us, yes Will will also run the 1/2 marathon as well.

The first month we were in the house, we either had company or traveled for almost the entire month, so we're really enjoying being home in our new home; and, we aren't even close to having it the way we want it. It's so nice to have a home again. We've really enjoyed being able to have family and friends over. Will is loving his garage and yes, working on his jeep again. Addison loves to hang with Daddy in the garage and even said, "Addy jeep!" I caught the first glimpse of selfless love/shocked reality in Will's eyes as you could see he would give her his jeep, but it's his jeep.

Speaking of Addison, she is totally rockin'. Will and I always say what a cool kid she is, but she really is. She had a doctor's appointment last week and all of her measurements stayed in the same percentile except for height; she jumped up to the 85th percentile in height. She's putting so many words together that make up thoughts and you can see her process what you say. She's so fun to watch.

Anyway, we hope all are well! Love and hugs to all!

Agh, the "joys" of home ownership!

We are very happy to say that we are home owners again! On March 31st, we got the keys to the house. We took about a week to try and get as much painting and fixing up as we could do before moving in but ran out of time. We're still in the process of finishing, which should be done in a couple of years or so?? It's so good to own again; Addison is loving the room to run!

Front view of the house

Back yard

Back yard again 

Love this picture! Isn't it ironic?

In our spare time...

Don't worry, there's still some (a lot) left.

She's gonna hate me for this...

...and this!

In her words, "wing, wing!"

A Typical Day

As I was driving home today, it was sunny outside but raining. Apparently, that is a typical spring day in the great Northwest. Life with the Schwisow's has gotten about 20 times less stressful this past month, Will finished the official training program for the Portland Fire Department. We got bored his first few days being done, so we decided to spice things up and buy a house. We've made an offer, that has been accepted, on a house, so hopefully if the "home-buying process" runs it's course smoothly, we'll soon have a home. We are all doing well and enjoying more time as a family. 

I can see your lips moving, but I can't hear the words.

Giddy up Daddy!

Addison is a lover. She opens her mouth to any little boy she encounters.

Faux-hawk, always there.

Always climbing in and sitting in stuff.

Daddy's little fish.

Our little dare devil, who loves to be outside.

Higher Daddy, higher!

Proof, she's got him wrapped.

Holiday Cheer

She's just so beautiful, isn't she? Bruise and all!

My beautiful loves at Zoo Lights! 

Lots of snow this winter!

What do you want for Christmas Daddy?

The pigs never got wrapped, she saw them and it was over.