Lincoln's First Birthday

Time really flies! Lincoln is now one year old. He has moved from a helpless baby into an independent, determined, somewhat naughty little boy. I think he knows way more than he lets on, which is why he gets away with more than he probably should. I guess that is the way it goes with number four.

Here are some shots of the birthday boy:

Brad In Iraq

Here are a few pictures of Brad in Iraq. He says that it is hot; imagine that!

Brad and Sgt. Mines before heading out on a mission.

Brad's view on a helicopter ride.

Here is Brad in front of his office.

Brad seems to be doing well. It looks like he should be coming home in November/December for good. All of us here are praying that everything goes through for this to happen. If not, he should not be back until next spring/summer. Please pray for all of the soldiers with Brad: for their safety, for their health, and for endurance.

Back to School

We got back from the states last Thursday, and the kids started back to school the next day. Clayton started 1st grade this year, and he loves it. His teacher from last year ended up moving up to 1st grade, which was a huge blessing.

The girls also started school last week. They are both in the same classes that they were in last year. Even though they started school a few days late, they both seemed to jump right in.

My mom flew back here with us, and she is here to stay for another 2 weeks. It is so nice having her here; the kids love all of the extra attention, and I love having someone to visit with. As an added bonus, we are getting a lot of cleaning/organizing done!

Summer Fun!

This summer was amazing! The kids and I went to Spokane on Memorial Day, and we came back to Germany on August 27th. We had three months of great fun. There was a Swan family reunion (my mom's side of the family), Brad's sister had a baby, and my brother got married. In between all of that, we went to the pool, we went to Silverwood theme park, and we had a great time with family and cousins. Here are some of the highlights:

The kids and I at our Welcome Home ice cream party at Auntie Heidi's house


Uncle Nate and Clayton at Yellowstone during our family reunion



The kids on the 4th of July out at the lake.



What adorable flower girls! Zoe and Georgia are now expert flower girls with Auntie Lauren's wedding last December and Uncle Nate's wedding in August. I was a little nervous because they had to cross over a stream, but we made it to the end of the night without anyone falling in.


Clayton upholding his ring bearer duties.

Overall, this summer was great. It was really hard to come back to Germany because of all of the wonderful family that we have in Spokane.