Welcome to the world Quinn Everly Swann!!
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Born December 5th at 3:39pm, 8lbs 1oz, & 20.5in long!
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We’re very smitten, doing well, and can’t wait to introduce her to her big sister & brother soon 🤍
Merry Christmas from our crazy clan to yours 🤍✨
My newest little gal pal… (I’ve decided I’ll keep her!)
Spring things.
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Ft: a spring break adventure to find cherry blossoms, a brand new 4 month old (how!?), and clearly no love around here.
One of my favorite things about God is that He looks at each of us and sees the very best in us and not just the parts that are broken and messy.
In that light, while my dad could be a complicated person, I want to honor the things that are the best parts of him..
Like his love of movies.
He was a cookie, milk, and hamburger connoisseur.
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He loved to introduce someone to something for the first time.
His stories were ones of legends… they were long and always included a few myths along the way.
He was creative.
He believed that good music was always necessary, and he gave me my affinity for rock n’ roll.
He was an extravagant gift giver.
He showed up for people in his own way.
He was a lot of things, but mostly he was my dad. ✨
November 24, 1957 — July 9, 2023
Spending the last little bit of summer soaking it up with these crazies.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Working through the summer looks a lot like juggling these three and my laptop, but in a few weeks it’ll be back to school and my days will look a little more normal, too.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Isn’t that how those seasons in between are? Full of equal parts nostalgia for all that’s been and excitement for all that is to come.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Grateful for August — summer’s own Sunday.
Today kicks off a busy week — two shoots & a wedding all in the next four days. Hello, fall, my old friend!
Soaking up lots of these giggles and snuggles in between!
He was the first dog I’ve ever had. The one you dream about when you’re a little kid who grows up without a dog.
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Our first day together was a doozy… just ask Morgan about the time I, (who never cries!), called in a fit about how I was already a horrible dog owner. Every time I took him out to pee, he’d come right back inside and do it again on the floor! I was *ruining* him already.
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.. until Morgan asked me how much water I had been giving him.
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Turns out puppies should not drink about a gallon of water in very few minutes, *even if they seem thirsty*, and be expected not to pee in the house.
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From then on, we were the best of companions.
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Mack watched us as we started making our house a home. He watched us bring home our babies and rested his head in our laps as we walked through loss. He always greeted our guests with a tail wag and running through their legs. He tolerated each new addition to our family — first Walter, then each kid. He spent his days in the sun and lounging around, unless we were going to a spot where he could swim. He had the best manners and was truly the best dog.
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He was the first dog I ever had and I’m sure he’ll be always be the best boy, too. We miss you already, Mack 🤍✨
Maybe that’s what makes holidays so remarkable — aside from their inherent nostalgia, they are also markers of time passing. They serve as anchor points in our memories.. when we remember very little else about a year of our life, we *just might remember this*.
I’m not a huge Halloween gal. In fact, it was really more my dad’s thing — he hung ghosts in the trees and a light-up in the front yard. But somehow I think his absence is making me feel it all the more.
Losing someone that I’ve had a complicated relationship with has been, well, complicated. I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like exactly, but I do know that it’s strange to long for someone who I spent a lot of time and energy in my life to build up walls against.
… and yet somehow at the intersection of here and now, I am. Longing for what could have been, perhaps “should have been,” and for all that won’t.
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This year at trunk or treat, Reese chose a piece of candy that she knew would’ve been my dad’s favorite. He kept a little tin candy dish buried in his desk that had smarties on the front. Since he died, it’s become her keepsake of him, and she’s been itching to try one of “Bleh’s” favorite things.
So imagine her delight, when in the middle of the parking lot at our church, she pulled out a sleeve of Smarties from a random bin. She ran over to me immediately and couldn’t wait to show me the special candy. Her smile and joy is something that I hope stays seared in my mind, even when I’m old an gray.
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Not your typical Happy Halloween post, I know, but I felt like I should share.
May your holiday be filled with wonder and be another excuse to have a marker in time of the precious, crazy life.
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Happy Halloween from Neverland, with Wendy, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell who really got into character. <3
Chronicling these here as proof that we actually had snow in December this year. Reese woke up saying “DOES THIS MAKE IT CHRISTMAS TIME?!”
Seeing it through their eyes… ultimate joy!
… except for Quinn. Who cried most of the time.
Merry Christmas from us to you 🤍🎄
Hoping your day was full of magic & memories (and a Ravens win 😉)
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