Dress your dog for Halloween, they won't realize how pathetic you've become.

Happy belated Halloween from Gracie, our pet black widow.

Black Hills Trip, Oct. 2007

Summer of Spam

Greetings one and all. Fall begins tomorrow, bringing summer to a close. It was a beautiful summer, and not particularly eventful for the Swansons. We mainly stuck close to home and juggled work demands as well as activities we all enjoy during the summer, including some day trips.

We spent a weekend in June in Clarissa for our annual Summerfest. This year Summerfest moved from July to June, and had a "Wild West Theme." Doc (aka DAD) was the bank manager in a re-enactment of a bank robbery which took place on Main Street in Clarissa. He was held hostage, but released unharmed. Dad's acting debut was quite a success. We also decorated our annual entry into the parade. I thought the Husqavarna looked quite authentic, but for the first time in many years, the Clarissa Dental Clinic was not honored with a prize in the Summerfest Parade. Here's a picture of our float. I'm sure you'll agree it was prize worthy, pardner.

We've been working on getting to know our little corner of the world a little better, which included a night camping a Myre-Big Island State Park in Albert Lea. Upon arrival with our gear and hounds, we decided to be adventurous and select a hike in campsite. Note to self-special gear is generally required for this activity. The hike to our site was approximately two miles (up hill, both ways...). It was a beautiful campsite, and we were right by the lake.

Mike and I were able to do some fishing, but didn't manage to land anything. Gracie had a difficult time understanding that casting was not an invitation to retrieve the lure at the end of the fishing line.


There was an abundance of wildlife, including some interesting birds. It was a beautiful park and it would be fine to try the campground again, perhaps with a canoe or kayak.



















We also took a day trip to the Spam museum in Austin. It was quite entertaining, well, until my arch enemy Brett Favre appeared decked out in full Spam regalia. He's everywhere, and apparently likes Spam. Which is another thing that he and I do not have in common. I tasted my first Spam at the Spam Museum. It was the honey variety, skewered by a pretzel stick. It had an interesting texture... I couldn't leave well enough alone, however, so we purchased a variety of Spam, including Hot & Spicy, Hickory Smoked, and a single serve packet for the dogs. Axel and Gracie seem to appreciate the delectable goodness of Spam more than I. They are arguably more sophisticated than I am.


Mike's Dad, Jerry, came to visit for a weekend in July. It was good to see him, as he hadn't been to visit since the wedding in 2005. Mike's cousins, Elmer and Diane, also joined us for lunch. It was good to spend time with Mike's family.

We were also able to take in a Twin's game the end of August with my parents and my Aunt Shelley and Uncle Denny. It was awesome. Scott Baker nearly threw a perfect game (drat that Mike Sweeney), but the Twin's were victorious. There are few things as tasty in this world as a dome dog with kraut, onions, ketchup and mustard. Yum!

That pretty well sums up the summer at the Swansons. Fall will bring our second wedding anniversary and a vacation to the Black Hills. Enjoy the wonderful fall weather, and come visit to see the beautiful fall colors unfold in the Minnesota River Valley. You'll have your own welcoming committee.




Love,
Mike, Kristen, Axel & Gracie

Gunflint Vacation: May 29-June 3

Check out the rest of our photos here...

Happy Spring -- Quick Updates

Not much time to write, but Kristen wanted us to post some updates. What we've been up to:

• We installed some pavers and a dog kennel with the help of Axel's Granny, Dawn. It came out very nice -- thanks to Dawn.
  
• We're landscaping around the house, starting with our red pine out back (and our new bird paradise) and the back flower bed. We're also trying, perhaps in a futile effort, to patch some of the pee spots in the back yard.
  
• We bought some new furniture for our living room
• We had the radon mitigation system installed. Yay! No radiation poisoning!
  
• Axel and Gracie got a wireless fence system so now they actually stay in the yard. It's actually helped with their other behavior too -- Axel's not quite as territorial.
• We're going to Gunflint Lodge up north at the end of the month (assuming it doesn't burn down). It sounds like they're getting close to containing the fire now.
• Kristen's folks came down for Mother's day.
  
• We bought our spring plants and flowers for the front of the house.
• Axel's growth finally seems to be waning. Gracie's a little over 45 pounds. I gave Gracie a clipping in April. That seems to have helped the ridiculous amount of shedding...
• Some pictures below... For more, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/swansom

Welcome Becca and Gracie!

This week has brought new additions to our lives. First, Rebecca Catherine Catt, or Beautiful Becca, as she is fondly known, was welcomed by our dear friends Chuck and Brenda Catt on Monday, January 15. Becca wanted to be sure her arrival was not uneventful, and was complete with a helicopter ride. Becca will be staying at St. Mary's Hospital for a few weeks, and Brenda has now been reunited with daddy and daughter. We've attached a link to Becca's care page. Please keep the Catts in your thoughts and prayers, and the wonderful staff at the NICU at St. Mary's for taking such good care of our friends.

Becca's Care Page
Page Name: beautifubecca

Yesterday, Mike and I added young Gracie into the Swanson household. Gracie is a four month old pup with a sweet and mellow personality. We had talked about getting another pup this spring, but she was such a sweet girl we decided not to wait. Gracie is adjusting well to her new home, and is getting along well with Axel. Axel celebrated his first birthday on Friday (not that he knows it). Even as an "adult" his energy and enthusiasm have not waned a bit. He likes having a canine playmate in the house, but isn't as excited about sharing his toys.

Little else on the horizon for us at the moment. Just enjoying winter now that it's here and plotting our next home improvement project. Stay tuned.

Aut Seven

Happy New Year one and all. We hope you've had a wonderful holiday season with joy, hope and fun.

The Swansons have spent most of the holidays in St. Peter. We hosted Christmas Eve dinner with my parents John and Mikey, my brother Matt, uncle Mikkel and Axel's Granny Dawn. We had a great dinner with fruit soup (frukt suppe), sweet potatoes, beef tenderloin, lefse, cheesecake, and asparagus. There were pickled beets and herring for the truly Scandahoovian-but we stopped short of the lutefisk. Since I'm not technically Norwegian and I'm married to a Swede, I decided it wasn't a requirement. We had a wonderful evening eating and laughing. Axel was on his best behavior, and didn't steal anyone's dinner.

Yesterday St. Peter was visited by old man winter who had plenty to say and left us with about seven inches of snow. Axel loves the snow and spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon running around and trying to fetch snowballs. Last night we dropped in at the neighbors, Craig & Julie Bitters, for a New Years party. We received the red carpet treatment by means of a personally snow blown path between our front door and theirs.

2006 was the year of the indoor home improvements and 2007 will be the year of the outdoors. Mike gets the week between Christmas and New Years off, so he decided to paint the bathroom. It looks great and we're just working on getting some of our pictures from the North Shore framed to put on the walls. Now the only room left to be painted is the guest room.

Plans for outside this coming spring include more landscaping and getting a fence erected for Axel. The height of said fence is to be determined, as our furry friend continues to grow and routinely leaps from a standing position to five feet in the air.