Little Surfer Boy!

Since G was a wee lad, he has loved water.  He took infant survival swim classes and has been swimming consistently since he was 14 months old.  He absolutely loves the water.  Although we weren't around water all that much in Colorado so it's hard to gauge exactly how much he really liked water.  Jeff also has talked about how much he has always wanted to surf, and again when we are in water he loves it and plays as much as Gentry but hard to know what that "love" actually looks like since we haven't ever lived by the water.  

After 3 months of living in Costa Rica, I can say without any hesitation that both of my boys have a very deep rooted real LOVE for the water and surfing.  It's like they have been deprived of their one true love and just can't get enough.  If they went surfing every single day, morning, afternoon, and night they would literally never get sick of the salty taste, the crispy dryness of their hair, diving under the waves, the sticky feeling when you get out, sand between their toes and everywhere else for that matter, sitting on their board waiting for the "perfect" wave.  They seriously were both born to be beach boys.  It's their sport, their fun, their hobby, basically it's what their world revolves around right now :)  It's sweet to see how much they both enjoy it naturally.  Jeff isn't forcing G to love what he loves, and G isn't convincing Jeff to love what he loves, they both mutually absolutely love the ocean/surfing and all that comes with it.

I on the other hand would say I have a fond appreciation for the ocean and surfing.  I tend to lean more on the side of safety and annoying mom issues like getting rid of swimmers ear aches (3 to be exact in the last 4 weeks), cuts from surf boards, jelly fish stings, and all that boring stuff that boys on a mission don't really want to take time to acknowledge...we balance each other out.  I definitely don't love it as much as my boys and Molly Paws for that matter, but I do love watching them enjoy something so much together.  It's really sweet to watch them bond over surf boards and waves :)  

I am getting used to walking in on G practicing his surf skills on the furniture :)

Also getting used to Jeff encouraging his habit of furniture surfing :)

Equally getting used to watching Molly Paws swim out with G when he surfs!  I swear that dog is the perfect fit for my little wave loving boy, she loves them just as much as him, and follows him out when he surfs!  So cute and yet watching my son is nerve wracking enough not to mention making sure her floppy ears stay above water!  G is trying to convince us MP needs her own surf board...he might be right :)

Some of G's first lessons

Friends are always found on the beach :)  

I guess the furniture surfing really does help with form

Look at that little wave catcher go!

If you could see his face, he would still be smiling from ear to ear :)

Even missing the wave he smiles :)

First Jelly Fish Sting :( 

Seriously couldn't have a more perfect dog for G, even if she does occasionally chase children on boogie boards or skim boards!  For all those children who have and will experience her pounce, I am truly sorry she just thinks you are playing with her!

A boy, his dog and his board...it's a beautiful thing

G playing with his buddies in the waves, while Jeff surfs in the background with his buddies

Like father like son

Two very cool surfer dudes!

A super cool surfer dog

We are back to a 7 or 7:30 bedtime every night cause this little surfer boy literally wears himself out every day!!  I'm not complaining in the least bit!

At the end of the day, little surfer boys have a beautiful playground that helps their mommas to remember how amazingly blessed they are.  Surfing is good all around for the Swansons :)

Mi Amor es 30!!!

It's only appropriate to shamelessly brag about your husband on special occasions and I think a 30th birthday counts as one of those special occasions.  I'm so thankful that 12 years ago you came into my life and changed it forever.  I love that we got married young, started a family young, and have struggled through life together as we have grown up together.  I love you deeply and love this life we have together.  I truly thank God for you every day.
For your 30th birthday, 30 reasons I love you :)  Love you all the way to Heaven birthday boy!


1.  Your a down right Hottie with a capital H! (Remember it's okay to brag it's your birthday!)

From the strapping young buck I married...

to the gorgeous 30 year old man you are, you are hot and there's no way around it!

2.  You are quite hilarious and never miss a chance to make others laugh.  It's never a dull moment when your around, laughter and smiles fill our house because of you.  In fact even in inappropriate settings I can count on you to make a joke under your breath and make me laugh out loud :)  I truly love laughing with you.

Ace Ventura's appearance at Tour da Fat was all time and just one of many characters you occasionally bust out :)

3.   You are one of the most humble men I have ever met.  I love that you are quick to genuinely shift focus from yourself to someone else or something else to get out of the spotlight.  Your awesomeness doesn't go unnoticed by me though :)

4.  I love your adventurous spirit and where it leads us in life.  Let's be honest, 90% of the reason we are in Costa Rica right now is because you just couldn't wait any longer :)  You push me to embrace life a little more each day, I love that you bring that out in me.

Where your plans to move to Costa Rica all started!!  I'm glad we took the plunge :)

5.  Your a life long learner.  I am inspired by your constant desire to learn more in life, especially in your career.  I am so proud of how you have followed your artistic ability and created a job that you love and are amazing at.  It encourages me to follow my heart where God leads me.

6. I truly love how Honest you are, even in the tiniest things.  You create safety, trustworthiness, and authentic relationships with people in part because of your gentle honesty.

7.  That you play guitar!  I always say you won me over when we were dating with your guitar, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't one of the reasons you win me over every day :)  Your never hotter than when your behind a guitar!

From serenading me when we first got married with your boy band when we would fight, to watching you play at weddings I love when you sing and strum a guitar :)  Feel free to serenade me any time!

8.  From the time I have met you have been unrelenting Persistant in things you want or believe in.  Including your pursuit of me :)  I have watched you pursue your dreams and goals through hardships, trials, and discouragements; yet you never give up on the things you really believe in.  What a great example for Gentry!

9.  Speaking of Gentry, you are a Great Dad.  You take every opportunity to laugh with him, play with him, love him, guide him, but more than that, you allow Gentry to follow his young little heart to be who God has designed him to be.  You quickly examine your own motives and heart when parenting is pushing your patience, and humbly admit when your wrong.  I treasure the times I have heard you ask Gentry for forgiveness, again what a great example for him to see how to love your children.  I hope someday we have more kiddos that get to call you dad :)

Gentry has always wanted to be just like you from his white Buff hat, to wearing a suit when you did, he loves  being just like dad :)

You have never been a sideline dad, you are always with Gentry in the midst of fun :)

10.  I recently heard you tell someone "Do it.  Do what you love. Follow God, and do what you love"  You are always so Encouraging to those around you and are the first to inspire others to follow their passions and dreams.  I have experienced this first hand and appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Encouraging G on his first day of kindergarten as he cried uncontrollably walking into his class :(

Encouraging me after we left as I cried uncontrollably after leaving my baby at school!!!

11.  I love that you are Young at Heart .  No matter where we are, a playful lightness radiates from you.   Your always up for playing, a game, an activity, and living life to the fullest.  Since we have moved to Jaco I feel like your inner beach boy has awaken and you are even more young at heart than before!  You make life so much fun!

Who's really having more fun here?

Again, who's having more fun here?

12. Leaving your pregnant wife to fight for the freedom of others is nothing short of Courageous.  You rarely speak of your time in Iraq partly because of your humbleness, but partly because few will ever understand the experience of literally risking your life everyday for people you don't even know, for a cause that not everyone agrees with, against true evilness.  I admire you for your sacrifice and am so grateful for all you gave.  Moral Courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition which you showed overseas by not engaging in any unnecessary measures in a war zone.  you were very wise in what you exposed yourself to and ultimately protected yourself from the emotional trauma that has haunted to so many.  Beyond your time overseas I have watched again and again as your exercise moral courage in a very unmoral world.  I find peace in knowing I can trust you to be courageous in whatever trial our family faces.

What a sweet day for our family!!

13.  Those beautiful baby blue eyes!  Your cute smile and twinkly blue eyes got nearly every project deadline extended in college.  Who can say no to those eyes?  Certainly not me!!

I love those blue eyes!!

14.  You are my biggest fan.  Whether it was dropping the bombshell of starting Grad school in a couple of months, starting a new job, contemplating when and if to have more kids, working in Costa Rica, dreaming about what if's, you have always been the one to say go for it.  I have always known if there was something I felt passionate about, you would jump on board simply because it's me.  I am a blessed wife.

15.  Your are also Gentry's biggest fan.  "Gentry will learn to love who he is and not care what others think of him.  We should consider it a blessing that he knows what he likes"  Wise words from you years ago when I was wanting to tame Gentry's style one day before pre-school.  Not only have you always been supportive but you have encouraged him and stood behind him as he navigates through childhood.

16.  Your a surfer boy :)  You tan, on a board, smiling, loving life...what's not to love?

17.  Your consistant desire to grow in your relationship with God!  Even in hard times in life and when you have struggled, you have always desired to grow and know God more.  You are quick to turn back from selfish ways and seek where you went wrong.  I am daily encouraged by your relentless striving towards Christ.  You don't put on a facade that you are perfect but instead humbly embrace the reality of your falleness and desperately try again daily.  You are great depiction of what it looks like to authentically walk with God.  I admire your heart for the Lord.

18.  Your a Dreamer!  The only thing more refreshing than listening to you dream about life, is how you allow others to dream about life.  Dreaming is something that gives us hope for a new tomorrow. You are so great at drawing out the dreams and aspirations in myself, Gentry, and others, because you yourself are great at dreaming about the future.  Thanks for letting me be a part of your dreams!

19.  Not only do you sing, but your really good at it!

20.  Your always up for a good kiss session!  TMI?  Maybe but I really love that after almost 10 years of marriage your always up for a little make-out session just cause you like kissing me.  Reminds me of all those butterfly feelings I had when we were dating, and I hope we never loose that cause I think it keeps our young love alive.

21.  You are a man full of Faithfulness.  Your walk with God, your marriage, your relationship with Gentry, and your friendships all exhibit your faithfulness.  You are faithful to love and support those around you with no strings attached.    

22.  You are always the first to ask for forgiveness.  I'm outing myself on this one, but I am constantly aware of your readiness to ask for forgiveness in our marriage, even when my devil horns are in plain view!  Your ability to humbly do this time and time again is literally a huge reason we are so in love and happily married almost 10 years later.  I hope someday you can say the same for me, and I'm so sorry I have fallen short in this area.

23.  You are the first to forgive.  In the off chance that I do actually ask for your forgiveness,  I can't tell you how powerful it is when you instantly say you forgive me, kiss me on the forehead, and move on.  Again I pray that someday you can say the same for me.  

24.  Genuine!  What you see is what you get.  While you are kind and loving, you don't shy away from addressing conflict and  promoting authenticity in your relationships.  We live in the facebook world of  and can have surfacey meaningless relationships everyday, yet you value getting to actually know people and engage with them personally.  You appreciate living real life with people, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and aren't afraid to get messy if needed.  Thanks for valuing our humanness.

25.  Your an Artist!  Random but I absolutely adore how you bite the side of your cheek and stink your tongue out just a little bit when you are drawing ;)  I also adore that Gentry does the same exact thing when he is drawing!  Seriously the cutest thing ever :)

26.  I will never get tired of your Hopeless Romantic gestures of loving me.  You know I'm as girl as they come and treasure being romanced.  In all 10 years you have never stopped doing the things that helped make me fall in love with you as a 17 year old girl.  Flowers, dates, sweet notes left around the house, little surprises, thoughtful gifts, or just telling me I'm beautiful like you did this morning after my sweaty walk on the beach with MP with no make-up, crazy hair, and work out clothes.  You are the love of my life and remind me constantly of that by your sweet gestures.

 

27.  You have a unique sense of style and have the ability to pull off crazy colors, retro glasses, crazy long hair, full beards, clean cut and shaven, GQ, backwards hat and jeans, soldier boy, and everything in between.  Basically you rock whatever you pull out of the closet that day.  I think it's because you don't really care, and are confident in just being you.  Whether it's your bright pink board shorts with your long hair and beard, or a button up collard shirt with short hair and your afternoon shadow, you look spankin awesome!  Our sweet little boy follows in your footsteps :)

Looking hot in your fedora and sunglasses

Do we really wonder why he bust out with fashion statements like this?

28.  Appreciation for the simple life!  I jokingly call you penny pincher, cause in all reality you are, and yet I am learning (emphasis on the learning) to appreciate the fact you really don't need much to make you happy.  I'm thankful you don't need to spend tons of money on yourself to enjoy life.  You are very content in life without filling it up with materialistic junk...I really do appreciate that even if I do call you penny pincher :)

29.  You whistle while you work.  Actually you whistle while you do everything!  You have passed on your whistling ability to Gentry and I have come to love hearing the upbeat happy whistling in the background of life.  You both do it so much you don't even notice that you do, which is really endearing to watch you both.  I think it's a sign of the Joy that exist in your life :)

30.  God put you in my life.   There have been numerous times in the last 10 years of marriage, that I have sat and thought how amazing that I actually get to love you.  God knew my weaknesses, strengths, fears, desires, dreams, and exactly what/who I needed in my life to bring me closer to Him.  You are that person and loving you brings me closer to God everyday, not because your perfect or our marriage is perfect, or our life is perfect, in fact it's quite the opposite.  Sometimes we are both crazy, our life is crazy, and our marriage is hard, yet God uses you in those times to help me seek Him more.  Jeff, in all honesty what more could a wife ask for?  Thank you for pointing me again and again to our Lord and Savior.

Here's to 30 more years of young love, laughter, adventures, and a steadfast growth towards God!  I love you Jeffrey Eric and hope you have a wonderful 30th year! 

Easter in Costa Rica!

Our first Easter in Costa Rica was for lack of a better term, spankin awesome!  In Latin America they have "Semana Santa" which is Holy week.  Jaco was popping at the seams with people traveling from San Jose and inland folks wanting to spend their week off at the beach.  It was the first time since we have lived here I felt like it was actually busy.  The weekend started with an Easter party at our neighbors house.  It was so fun.  The kids dyed Easter eggs, made a craft, and went on an Easter egg hunt.  I'm pretty sure an epic time was had by all.

Some of G's best buds, Thomas and Walker

Hannah quit pretending decorating eggs was for Mikayla, we all know you enjoyed it more than her!

The big kids anxiously waiting for the little kids to finish their Easter egg hunt

It was a bit chaotic at times

Easter eggs by the pool, something we couldn't do in Colorado!

What a sweet group of kiddos!!

Sunday morning we went to another little beach town about 5 min up the hwy and Jeff played worship with a friend for a service that our church uses as an outreach at a local beach club.  First of all that's awesome because my husband is never hotter than when he plays guitar, second that is awesome because the service was at a beach club that was a beautiful setting to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and third it was awesome because we stayed after the service with a couple of our friends and played in the super fun pool for the afternoon :)  In Colorado it's a toss up whether or not there will be snow on the ground for your Easter Sunday, and most Easter's since I have been there it's relatively cold.  This Easter we completely different, we sweated through the service of course, and then hopped in the pool...I'm not gonna lie it was awesome!  Christ has Risen, you are blessed with a healthy family (not to mention a hot hubby), good friends, a beautiful setting, and an afternoon in the pool...seriously not sure if we can ever top that Easter morning again.  (Sidenote: With all the beauty around us, I didn't get one family photo of us on Easter!!!  Are you kidding me???)

Hannah and Mikayla 

Here's the crazy thing, our awesome Easter didn't stop there!  The town we live in is a pretty small town.  Even on the edge of town you are about a 5 min bike ride from the beach.  Life revolves around the beach, so it's not uncommon to head to the beach at sunset or to surf and you run into basically everyone else you know either on the way, at the beach, or on your way home.  It's like Artesia minus the smell of stinky oil or cow manure (or money as some would say), minus football, minus the desert, minus all the orange, minus Sonic (a very big minus in my opinion), minus Wal-mart, minus my family (a ginormous minus), plus a beach, plus humidity, plus a bunch of Tico's, plus about 3x as many dogs running around, plus iron gates and bars around all yards and on windows....okay well it's not really like Artesia at except for it's a small town :)

The beauty of it being a small town and laid back lifestyle is that every thing seems to just naturally happen.  We don't really plan weeks in advance to have dinner with friends or head to the beach with G's buddies, it just happens, cause we are all so close and life just feels simpler here.  In the States, we would literally have to get out our calendar to fit our friends into our crazy schedule...what's that about?  I am not missing that piece of our lives back home at all, in fact I absolutely LOVE the laid back lifestyle we are settling into.  All that to say, we ended up having a bonfire on the beach in front of some friends house the evening of Easter.  It was super fun.  Tons of people were there, we roasted hot dogs, the boys surfed (I do not surf when children are around because I do not want innocent blood on my hands...or board), kids ran around screaming throwing sand, splashing in the ocean, MP was barking from being tied up (she still occasionally tramples kids when she gets excited, so we have her on a tight leash in a very literal sense), and basically it was just an awesome time had by all.  (I had more pictures and Jeff deleted some!! Gasp, I know, he got an earful from me about the importance of never deleting pictures without my approval, I'm still recovering from that one!)

Cute girls!

Scott pulled a Baywatch when I was taking a picture of the sunset.  :)

Hanging out by the bonfire next to the beach...ahhhh this is the life :)

You would think that would be the end to our super awesome fun Easter Sunday...but it wasn't.  The last piece wasn't really that fun for Jeff or the lady who was trying to get her cat down from the roof, but for G, MP, the lady's daughter the night guard sitting across the street, and myself...it was down right funny and entertaining :)  On our way home from the beach we walked by this lady and her daughter trying to coax their cat off the roof.  Obviously we couldn't keep walking and not help so G, MP, and I stood off to the side as Jeff tried to help the cat down.  First off it was funny because the daughter was laughing, I feel like she opened the door for an opportunity to laugh at this comical situation, I really appreciate her for that.  The mom just kept talking to the cat in this really high squeaky voice, as if the cat would magically jump into her arms just by the sound of her voice.  Jeff asked if she had a ladder he could get on.  She brought one out a short little ladder with a pillow and put the pillow on top of the ladder and started climbing and was trying to step on the pillow on top of the ladder to give her a little more height...mmm hmmm.  Jeff was holding her hand telling her she should get down cause it wasn't stable to stand on a pillow, she kept trying and was literally wobbling all over the place letting out little gasp and squeals as she tried to balance.  At one point Jeff just let go of her hand and grabbed her waist because it was ridiculously unstable.  She finally grabbed his hands which were still around her waist in hopes that she wouldn't fall off and break something and said "This pillow can't be on here, it's too unstable"...yes, yes your right, we all saw that one coming.  Then Jeff tried his luck (minus the pillow top for instability).  Even Jeff wasn't quite tall enough so the lady handed Jeff the pillow to hold up to the roof in hopes that the cat would eagerly crawl onto the pillow and Jeff could lower the cat down...as you can imagine that did not happen!  After about 5 min of the lady squeaking in that really high voice calling the cat, Jeff holding the pillow above his head unable to see anything, and that cat matching the pitch of the lady's voice with meow's, Jeff climbed down the ladder and told the lady they needed to get a taller ladder to be able to actually get the cat down.

We figured she might have to call someone of ask a neighbor but instead she went inside and brings out a monstrous ladder...hello did you not think that would have been helpful 10 minutes ago when we started this whole almost dying fiasco on the tiny ladder with a pillow on top?  It was at this point I'm pretty sure my giggles had taken over because the whole ordeal was so hilarious.  Jeff was super sweet and helpful while I was girlishly giggling and snapping a couple of pics (sorry babe, someday you will thank me when we have a plethora of ridiculous pictures to look through and laugh about the stories associated with them).  Thankfully after the big ladder was up it took one high pitched call and the cat came to her master, who handed the cat down to Jeff, who held the cat away from Molly who was frantically wanting to chase Miss Kitty.  The night guard across the street gave a little clap and mumbled some words that I think meant he was glad the cat was down, although the bump on the log never even offered to help, at least I offered my smile, laughter, and picture taking ability right?  Any-hoo I thought it was a perfect funny evening occurrence to our awesome Easter Sunday.

Christ bridged the gap by his death and resurrection for all of all of mankind,  on a smaller scale Jeff bridged the gap with a pillow for a lost kitten...what a perfect metaphor to end our Easter celebration :)

I think this might have been a point we were all at a loss to know what to do :)