suburban hobos

Aren’t they beautiful! I’m about to leave to meet my friend Rachel at Tapas Valencia and I’m going to give her these treats from our garden.

I remembered again tonight to post my Maggie Happy (with a wee little reminder from my husband)! Here are a few things that have made me happy the last few days:
- Megs came to visit! I was so distracted by her wonderful visit that I forgot to write while she was here. We had a [...]

Yesterday I was so very happy to get a surprise day off with David and Eliot! The cooking class got canceled so David, Eliot, and I took the train downtown and had a picnic and then Eliot splashed, crawled and played like crazy in the water in Millennium Park. He loves the water SO much! [...]

Today is “Gotcha Day.” Today it has been one year since that day in April when we met Eliot for the first time and brought him home with us. Today is a very special day. I remember it so clearly: the ride to the adoption agency, the fluttery butterflies in my stomach, the excitement, the [...]

Our Christmas letter was dropped in the mail a few days ago but I know there are always a few people we miss.  So, if you’re interested, you can download our letter (including the first Swanson Christmas photo with Eliot!) here: Swanson Christmas Letter 2009 (PDF).  And if you’d like to send us your Christmas [...]

On Monday Maggie and I had our first appointment at Sunny Ridge Family Center with the social worker who will be conducting our home study.  A home study is basically a series of interviews, applications, and a home visit to determine whether or not you’re fit to be parents.  It’s funny to think that only [...]

This morning a bunch of our friends from Parkview drove in from the suburbs to attend the 11:00 service at New Community and then go for lunch at El Cid.  It was so great to see these folks and catch up with their lives.  Even though we only live 25 miles away, the distance is [...]

We took advantage of the great weather this weekend to spend time at the beach. On Saturday we rode our bikes to the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. I think we decided that this was the best farmers market we’d ever been to; tons of locally grown fruit and veggies, milk, eggs, [...]

I dropped Maggie off at the El stop early on Friday so she could take public transit to the airport.  She’s off to spend a few days with her friend Megs in Calgary.  I leave tomorrow afternoon for Portland where I’ll be staying in a hostel until Wednesday when Maggie and my sister join me.  [...]