Extracurricular Activities

In our family we typically like to keep things pretty simple and do as much together as a family as we can. So, we often avoid a lot of extracurricular activities. This year though we decided to go ahead and sign Julia and Ethan up for two activities.

For Ethan, his friends at school and church all do soccer together. In this league they do not keep score at the games, but it still seems to be somewhat competitive. We tried to get on a team that all the other kids in our neighboring streets are on, but ended up getting placed on another team instead. It has turned out well because Ethan knows most of the kids on this team too and the coach is very kind with the boys and doesn't really care too much about winning. The coach also has a daughter that Julia  is friends with a school so it has provided them with a regular opportunity to play together too. Anyway, Ethan has one or two games per week on Saturdays. And then he has two practices a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. So this is definitely taking up a lot of time. But Ethan is always happy when he gets to go and so maybe it is worth it.











We offered soccer to Julia too, but she declined. Ethan's practices are at the exact same time as a girls team with all of Julia's friends on it, so she sees them there a couple times every week. Seeing that, I was thinking she was going to be bummed that she didn't do soccer, but she hasn't said a word about it. I think it is just less interesting for her. Instead of soccer, we signed her up for horse riding lessons. Her lessons are once per month, two hours per time. We agreed that she could go through December. This last Tuesday was her first time. She loved it! When we got there we found out that it is not really lessons, but open riding time for beginners. So the ranch workers provided Julia with about 10 minutes of direction and then they were just there to help out if she needed it (there were about 10 people there for the open ride, all their first time, and 7 horses and maybe 5 ranch helpers). Julia did great. She started off on a easy horse that pretty much new what to do on its own. But then they put Julia on the stubborn horse. Another girl had been riding the horse prior to Julia and it would just go stand against the wall until a worker came and told it to walk around. It would do that until the worker left to help someone else and then it would go back to standing against the wall. Anyway, when Julia got on him, he tried to do the same thing. But Julia wouldn't allow it at all. She used all the right commands and signals and made sure that horse was doing what she wanted it to do. Her last horse was a faster one and one that didn't like the other horses (it would bite at them if they got too near) and Julia did a great job on that one as well. All of the workers kept on saying how natural Julia was and they had never seen someone (adult or child) pick it up so quickly. At the end they made a special effort to find Julia before she left and tell her that she has a real talent and that she should make sure to come back again and again. Julia was all smiles the whole time. She did say it was hard to walk after, but she is still counting down the days until she gets to go again next month.

Eastern Idaho State Fair

A couple weeks ago we went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair. The fair is in Blackfoot, which is about 20 minutes away from Pocatello. We figured with the drive and the cost of tickets for everyone, it wouldn't really be worth going. However, our home teacher gave us two adult tickets, so we decided to make the trip. I am glad we did because it was a lot of fun. The fair wasn't anywhere near as big as the Puyallup Fair or the state fair that we got to go to when we were living in New York, but it was bigger than the Alaska fair and anything I can remember us going to in Oklahoma.

We started off in the buildings that had all of the vendors. We didn't spend too much time in there, but it was still fun to see all the different things that people had to sell. The boys were facinated by one knife shop that had swords and other weapons to sell too. Ethan almost bought one, but fortunately we were able to talk him out of it. Rebecca and I have been working on letting the children have a little more independence with their money, but we don't want to see them waste it either (the swords were $100). In this building they also had the safety and other public works booths so the children enjoyed meeting Smokey the Bear, learning about railroad safety, and shooting some electronic rifles at targeted animals that would light up if they were "hit". Mentioning Smokey the Bear reminds me of a joke Ethan recently told me: What do Smokey the Bear and Alexander the Great have in common? (See the end of this post for the answer).

After that we took a break for lunch. We packed a pretty big lunch from home so we just found a seat among all of the food vendors to eat. After we ate our own lunch we enjoyed walking around all of the food vendors seeing the different fair foods that they were selling. It smelled really good.



Next came the animals. They had a lot of them to check out and even pet and feed. Our children probably liked the rabbits the best to look at, but their cages were out of reach, so they did not get a chance to pet them. There were a lot of horses and some of them were really huge. Some of the horses wanted to be petted so they would stick their heads out and try to nudge people as they walked by. I was most surprised by the milking cows. They looked a lot different from the milking cows that I have seen in the past. They looked like their body was falling off their bones. I wish I would have gotten a good picture, but the bones for the top part of their front and back legs just really stuck out and then they had a huge belly and udders hanging down from there. It made me feel sad for them, but I am sure they are well taken care of. We also got to hold chicks, feed goats, and pet some sheep.












After that, we found a community garden area. They had a very tiny hay maze and then free vegetables that had come from the garden. Rebecca got a whole bag full of finger potatoes, tomatillos, and peppers.



Then we stopped for a Mother Goose magic show. While waiting we played a few games in a tent next door. Ethan enjoyed a game of checkers with Rebecca. The children loved the magic show. It was just right for their age. But Rebecca fell asleep during it and I had to get up and walk around a bit. It was good, it just seemed to go on for a long time. Her final act was to make a cake. She threw a lot of ingredients into a bowl and then put a cover on it and when she took the cover off it was a bunny. She let all of the children come up one-by-one to pet the bunny, which our children loved.





Last was the craft, art, and awards buildings. The entries in all of the categories were fun to look at. They had huge pumpkins, some great artwork at all different ages, and some neat contests that we have never seen before (like submissions for edible hats). The food entries were not all that appetizing though because they had been sitting out already for almost two weeks.

After the fair we went out to eat at the Pizza Pie Cafe (we had some free coupons for the children's classes and our own that we had got at the Chubbuck Days) to celebrate our finally getting seeds down in our yard. It was a long, fun day!

Answer: They both have the same middle name.

We're Expecting

You may have figured it out from my last post and the comment about 23 grandchildren, but if not, Rebecca and I are expecting our 6th. Rebecca had her first doctor's appointment this week and the baby and Rebecca both seem to be doing great. The baby is due February 20th, so right after Nathanael and Mary-Anne have theirs - we really are not trying to copy them on purpose (they were married three days before us, their oldest son Jacob was born just a couple weeks before our son Elliott, and now this baby due in the same month).

We are excited and will update everyone on the gender in about a month when we have the ultrasound.

Pocatello Marathon

This Saturday Julia, Ethan, Christian, and Elliott ran in the Pocatello Marathon. I was busy with getting our yard ready for sprinklers, so I missed it, but Rebecca said the children had a lot of fun. They signed up for the 1 mile race. The first 100 or so people to sign up got to run for free, so fortunately we got to take advantage of that. Rebecca set them of as partners (Ethan and Christian, Julia and Elliott) and let them run the race all on their own. They reported that they were able to run almost the whole way. When it was over they got pizza, poweraid, steak skewers, and other yummy treats. They came home with new shirts, a medal, and big smiles.




The first couple weeks of school have gone well so far. After school Julia, Ethan, and Christian have often been tired and a little grumpy, but they have been playing well together too. Here are pictures of Ethan and Christian with knight costumes that they worked on one day.





This last week we also saw a double rainbow. It was nice to take a break to check it out. I have been trying to be home as much as possible to get our yard finished. It has been difficult juggling the yard work and my real work at ISU, but luckily the sprinklers and edging get put in on Tuesday, so I only have one more day of yard work left. I don't think I am going to get it all done, but hopefully enough for everything to be put in.



Another fun thing this week, on Friday we watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I saw it listed on the library website and thought it sounded funny, so I put it on hold a few weeks ago. It wasn't that great. I fell asleep during it and Rebecca ended up working on a few projects during it and she missed a lot of it too. But I did think it was a fun idea.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad Swift!!!

Just wanted to wish my parents happy anniversary. Most of you who are reading this know that they are serving a mission in the Philippines right now. They have been out for over a year now and in February they will be coming home. They are setting a great example for our children and Rebecca and I who would also like to serve a mission as a couple once we retire.

Anyway, my parents are both converts to the church. They met through the Air Force when they were both in California. I am grateful for all of the things they have taught me throughout my life. They are wonderful parents and grandparents. Speaking of that, they have 8 children and by the time they get back from their mission and Nathanael and Mary-Anne have their baby, they will have 23 grandchildren!!!

First week of school

Julia, Ethan, and Christian have now completed their first week of school! I interviewed each of them today to find out how the past week went (of course I have been checking in with them all week long, but it was fun to talk to them in an interview style today too).


Julia: She was really excited for school all summer long; however, after the back to school night the Friday before the start of school she seemed a little nervous about it. She came home the first day of school though and said that it was way funner than she was expecting. She really likes her teacher. She said that she is patient and gives the students lots of chances. Julia also seems to like that her teacher is pretty short - Julia said her teacher is only three inches taller than her. So far her favorite things to do at school have been making the Idaho state seal for history and writing about her treasures for a report (things that are meaningful to her). She has done a rough draft, had someone review it, and now she is making the revisions. She said that she is also really good at jump rope this year. Her least favorite part about school so far has been multiplication. Her goal this year is to get on Mrs. Price's (her teacher) second honor roll. Julia said that no one has ever made it to the second honor roll. To get on the honor roll you have to get 350 points from reading books (they do the AR point system for books) and reading at a 6th grade level. That should be no problem for Julia. She is already reading at that level and in a good month can do 100 AR points. As a second goal she would like to become quicker at multiplication.



Ethan: He was pretty excited for school all summer long. He said he was most excited for library because he likes to get new books to read. Lately his favorite books have been the Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary. He said his teacher is "nice" and "okay". He has been really happy that she hasn't given out any homework yet, but I am guessing that will change soon. He also likes Free Fridays, in which they get to do whatever they want for about an hour during the day. He tried to grab Battleship to play with his friend, but someone else got it first. He is also really happy that he gets to be in class with his "best friend" and they even get to sit at the same table together. He said his least favorite part about school so far have been the spiders. I guess he has seen a few at recess. He also said that he is worried about "code red". I guess they have had some talks and done some drills for school intruders. His goal for this year is to not get his name on the board. As a second goal he would also like to read through the full Harry Potter series again this year.



Christian: About half way through the summer break he was saying he didn't want to go back to school and he wasn't looking forward to that. That seemed to be his opinion up until back to school night. After he got to see his classroom and meet his teacher, his attitude completely changed. He was then really excited to start school. All weekend he was saying "I can't wait until Monday." During my interview with him he said he was most excited about all of the arts and crafts he would get to do (cutting, gluing, and drawing). Recess and lunch have been his favorite parts about school so far though. At recess he likes being able to pick to play whatever games he wants. He said he has always picked to play this game where there are monsters, weapons, and black vines. The black vines try to suck them underground where the cavemen and giant worms are. If he gets to the highest place of the playground then they can't reach him there. But lots of the playground is "breaky" (not for real, but in his imaginary game) so he has to keep moving around otherwise he will fall. He said he mostly plays it with two other boys in his class, but sometimes he plays it by himself. In class his favorite thing to do is play with magform type building sets. He has only been able to do that once so far - you get to do it once you have finished all of your other work. He said his least favorite part about school so far is reading, because all of the books in his class are short and boring. He likes his teacher and says that she tells a lot of jokes. His goal for this year is to read the first Harry Potter book all on his own.



Elliott has been going through a transition too, now that he is the oldest at home every school day. I can tell that he has been enjoying that time. Julia, Ethan, and Christian came home pretty worn out and grumpy every day last week. Also, Agnes has been showing a little bit of an attitude with her terrible twos. So it was Elliott that has been getting me and Rebecca through these long days. He has been extra polite and gives lots of compliments. He also has been good at sharing and just trying to make others happy. For example, a couple times this week has has come up behind me and started rubbing my back. Today he told me to close my eyes and he snuck a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that he got from the Bishop's office into my pocket (they get to pick out two candies from his office each week, so he made sure to get one of his for me). He gets to do reading lessons and the illustrated Book of Mormon with Rebecca every day. His reading lessons have been going well. He has now made it through the first 4 of 100 lessons, so no real reading skill development yet, but I have seen him looking at books much more often this past week. He said that he really likes to play (blocks, cars, etc.) with Rebecca while Julia, Ethan, and Christian are away. He said that his goal for this year is to write his own book.

Escape Tunnel Somewhere in the House

After Ethan and Christian's baths I found a layer of dirt at the bottom of the tub. I am wondering if they are trying to smuggle out the dirt from an escape tunnel they must be digging in one of their bedrooms.



Really, a lot of our post-bath tubs end up looking like this. Our yard is still all dirt and the boys just can't resist getting as much of it on them as possible. The other day they were flinging dirt clumps at each other and one day I caught Ethan just rubbing dirt in his hair. Elliott is probably the worst though. He loves to just sit down in the dirt and slide his bottom around everywhere.

Hopefully just a couple more weeks and we can finally put the grass seed down. I will have to upload some pictures soon of all of the yard projects that we have been doing.