Moving on out . . . . .

to the WEST COAST!!!!

It's official - the Little Rock Swearingens will become the San Diego Swearingens this summer!!!

Christopher has accepted a job as Senior Director Biostatistics at a biotech company in La Jolla, CA and begins on August 1.  

 Although we have loved Little Rock and our home, church, friends/family here - we are excited about this new adventure and the opportunities it holds for us.

 In the meantime we have been working overtime packing, putting things in storage and getting ready to put our house on the market.  Look for info on that soon!!!

ice - more ice - and a chocolate fountain

On Sunday evening our church  D-Group was supposed to meet at our home and we came up with an "Oscar-watching" menu.  However, we had to pull the plug because of the ice storm headed our way.  We decided to go ahead with part of our plans - the chocolate fountain.  So messy but so fun and yummy.

 And here's the ice - with a thin layer of snow on top.  Enough to close school for two days. (so far)

8 months old!!!

Our little sweetie is 8 months old!  I am really having a hard time believing it.  

She gave us about a week of pretty sleepless nights trying to get a tooth but it finally popped through last Monday!  Then she got another cold - more sleepless nights.  However, she has been back to her wonderful sleeping/napping self the past two days.

 So determined to get that 8!

 Almost. . . . 

 got it!!!!

 yay!!!

 And then I had to get a pic of her in this sweet coat that Aunt Alissa knitted her for Christmas.  So very adorable!

Bowling

We took a little hiatus from our bowling adventures last year after "Kids Bowl Free" ended.  However, we decided to go this weekend with our friends and had a blast. We look forward to "Kids Bowl Free" starting up again in April!

 Jacob got a spare! . . . and a spin from Daddy.

 Denbigh enjoyed snuggling with Mike and Alicia.

 And all the boys had a great time - and are improving their bowling games.  So thankful for these sweet friends.

quick Nashville trip

Joseph had a teacher-in-service day last Monday so we were able to make a quick weekend trip to Nashville to meet our new nephew! He is precious and we all had a great time snuggling him.

 Denbigh tried out Nana's walker and became a pro quickly.

 Getting all of the kiddos to pose for a picture is like herding cats but a couple of these are good.

 Ava was so sweet to Denbigh this visit.  We look forward to them having some great "girl times" together.

and in the kitchen . . . .

this week we made  - homemade pasta for carbonara,

 fresh sourdough bread,

 and prepped 40 lbs. of organic, boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the freezer.

 We ended up with 13 bags of plain chicken and 6 bags of meals ready for the crock-pot.

Although I had to drive 40 min each way to pick up the chicken (with all 3 kiddos in tow), the price is totally worth it at less than $2 a lb.