Aaron & Alana Swenson

Has it really been a year?

2011-02-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

I was reading a friend's blog. . .one that is beyond inspirational, and I thought I would glance at my last post. I can hardly believe a year has gone by since I last wrote on this blog. So much has happened in the last year that it seems like ten years in one! We are all settled in our new house. I feel beyond blessed to look across the street AND next door and see our wonderful friends/life-time neighbors. How lucky to bring our neighbors with us in a move! I can't imagine making this move without them! Even though our move was not far in distance, it has seemed like a whole new life emerged. I am so grateful for the friends that have embraced our children in our new area. We are surrounded by amazing families who I look forward in getting to know better over the years. I do miss our old home and miss seeing our friends from Major Meadows regularly. I wish we could've brought so many friends with us in the move. I guess that's a lot to ask for!

Life's about change. . .nothing ever stays the same!

2010-01-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

It has been an interesting experience as we are building our new home. It has been a step-by-step process: Step 1. Getting the guts to put a for sale sign up in front of our house. I was mostly nervous about how my young women would respond. Yes, the sign was stolen several times, but we recovered it all but once. Step 2. Showing the house, which wasn't my favorite thing to do. It seemed like realtors would call just as we were sitting down to eat dinner, and they would say, "Can I bring a client to see your house in 15 minutes?" Step 3. Getting offers, counter-offers, and finally accepting an offer on Halloween night. Step 4. Lining up a rental home (thank you KSL.com) and signing to purchase our lot for our new house. Step 5. Inspection and Appraisal which took place while we were in Disneyland. Thank goodness for good friends who happened to have our house key and helped with this step. Step 6. Getting home from Disneyland and packing like crazy so we could move in a week and a half. Step 7. Moving day, the day after Thanksgiving. We had many wonderful friends and family that helped with the moving and cleaning that day. The trampoline moving was my favorite! Step 8. Trying to settle Treson for bed in a new house. This step took nearly two weeks to accomplish! Step 9. Deciding which boxes to unpack and which to haul to my brother Chris' house in Willard. He graciously offered us his third car garage to store our "stuff". Step 10. Meet with builder, meet with another builder, pick a house plan, pick a different house plan, meet with builder and make changes to house plan, and hopefully the next step is beginning the building of our new home. YAY! It has been a journey so far, and I know we are just beginning. We are doing our best to ENJOY the JOURNEY!

2010-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Our Little Farm Boy

2009-07-10T21:43:00.000-07:00

One of Treson's favorite things to do is visit Great-Grandma Lu-Lu and play on the farm. He lights up having so much space to run around, tractors to ride, and animals to play with. I was helping my Grandma with some cleaning when Aaron came in and said, "Come see what our son is doing. . ." I followed Aaron out to where the baby calves are, and sure enough, Treson's whole hand was in the calf's mouth, and he was laughing like crazy! The older cows, who have had experiences with Treson begin to run away when they see Treson coming their way. If I could interpret their "Moo's" I am sure they would be warning one another, "Hey, watch out, here comes that crazy kid again!" I love watching my kids play on the farm. It brings back memories of when I'd run around with my cousins. . .although, I was the prissy one that NEVER would have put my hand in a cow's mouth.

The things they say. . .

2009-04-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last night we enjoyed attending the special needs mutual production at Layton High School. My angel mother is one of the leaders, so over the years we have really looked forward to this event. Today as I was driving Siena and Shelby to gymnastics they were talking about the special people who were part of the production. We talked about peoples' differences and how we are all children of our Heavenly Father. From the back seat Shelby said, "Mom, I used to think that people were born without hands or feet because Jesus ran out of skin." I LOVE the innocence of children. I learn from mine every single day!

Lucky Me!!!!

2009-03-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

I have the best friends ever! Mel arranged for us to be in the studio audience for the show "Good Things Utah". I have wanted to do this for a very long time, but of course, never made it a priority. Becca, Mel, and I had so much fun cheering for fried twinkies and eating orange wedding cake. Spending time with these two amazing friends made me feel so lucky and blessed! We've had some crazy, fun times together, and I look forward to many more to come. We've decided that when we turn 40 we are going on a big vacation. . .maybe Hawaii again. Are we really to the point of planning our 4oth birthday celebration (okay so it's still almost ten years away) but seriously where does the time go? It seems just like yesterday we were playing mafia in Cameron's basement. :) Now we have awesome husbands and beautiful families. How did I get so lucky?

A Man of Many Talents!

2009-02-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

I am amazed with the hidden talents my husband possesses! He has taken up the hobby of photography (runs in his family) and he does amazing work! He has especially taken interest in photographing the Salt Lake Temple. He likes to spend time at Temple Square, and since he works so close, he has the luxury of going there frequently. He is a great guy!

Step Aerobics for Dummies!

2009-01-31T12:43:00.000-08:00

This morning I decided to go to a "Step" class at the gym. I haven't done step aerobics for several years, and I was a little nervous to go to this class, but I decided, "Why not?" Well, the instructor of the class was great! Before the class began she gave a little pep talk, and I felt very comfortable and excited about the class. The first fifteen minutes of the class were awesome! She was doing combinations I was familiar with from my college days of step aerobics. She gave positive feedback to the few of us who were new to her class. Suddenly the class took a turn! The instructor seemed a bit irritated at those of us who weren't "regulars" to her class. Her comments shifted to frustration. She started teaching new steps I had never seen before. She would teach something that seemed tricky to me, and then she would say, "Okay, that's the beginner way of doing it, but this is how we'll be doing it." Yikes! I suddenly had two left feet and my brain was on overload. My confidence diminished, and I wanted to quickly escape! I decided I wasn't a quitter, so I gave it my best effort. As I was tripping over my feet and praying to get out of that class alive, I had a "light bulb moment". I thought of my sweet little girls and how my encouragement and positive words to them can help them in achieving difficult things in life. I also thought about the times I have been less than patient with them, and how their confidence can be deflated in a matter of seconds because of my tone of voice or hint of sarcasm. I am going to work really hard on being the type of mother who encourages in every way and stear clear of the remarks that can be a hindrance to their development and confidence. . .and I am going back to that class next week to give it my all!

Nana's Story

2009-01-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

This morning I received a phone call from my mom. She said, "So, you've gotta hear this one. . ." She proceded to tell me how her ward's young women president called her last night and asked her to speak to the young women about the joy of being a Grandma. She said, "I suddenly felt old!" These moments sneak up on you! Aaron says that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The more toilet paper is used on the roll, the quicker the roll goes. . .So each year that comes often seems to go faster and faster as time goes on. . .I just hope when I'm a Nana, I get to share my experiences of the joy of being a Grandma, and I hope I can be as good of a Nana as my mom is to our children!

A Little Birdie Told Me. . .

2009-01-29T20:48:00.000-08:00

The other day I got home from a youth activity, and I was told that the kids were very good for my mom who was watching them while we were away. It's always nice to get a good report of your children's behavior, so to encourage this behavior again in the future, I praised them and told them how proud I was of them. Siena looked at me and asked, "How did you know we were good?" I said, "Well, a little birdie told me." She quickly replied, "Did the birdie bring treats?" I giggled all night about that one!

Forever Fun Family

2009-01-24T14:28:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, in a young women lesson at church, we were encouraged to name some of our goals and specifically look at things we would like to accomplish within the next five years. One thing I've been thinking about accomplishing is writing a book that will help strengthen homes and families. As I have thought about some stepping stones in reaching this goal, I decided to start a blog with some of my ideas that could maybe. . .someday. . .turn into my finished book. This is a goal that seems out of reach at this point, but I hope by working on it little by little, in five years I can see something worthwhile. My website for this blog is www.foreverfunfamily.blogspot.com. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Blessings...

2009-01-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was so blessed to be with the youth of our ward for a fireside. We watched the new year fireside that was filmed at the conference center a few months ago. It was awesome and I am uplifted from the testimonies shared. The website www.abrandnewyear.lds.org will shed some more light, and the music is super fun!

Deep Thoughts From Siena

2009-01-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today as I was fixing Siena's hair, she looked at me and said, "I wish it was yesterday". I have thought about this small, yet profound, utterance all day today. I also have days where I "wish it was yesterday." Maybe yesterday was an amazing day of joy and accomplishment, such as the day I enjoyed a day of shopping at the mall with all four kids with the biggest mishap being fry sauce slathered all over Treson's pants. Or maybe "yesterday" was a day of a mistake or two that I'd like to "do over." (I have plenty of those moments. . .what mother doesn't?) And, although I sometimes, like Siena, wish it was yesterday, I am focusing on this moment of enjoying the journey of today, and I am completely content with this exact moment which is simply watching my 6 month old, Parker, looking ever-so prideful as he accomplishes the mission of pulling his blue socks off of his feet!

Our New Addition

2008-08-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

Our son, Parker Aaron Swenson, was born June 22, 2008. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. He has brownish hair. He resembles each of his siblings in a way. He is a sweet baby! We are enjoying him!