Spring is here!

At last, in only a few days the buds have opened and we are seeing green on the trees and marvelling at the beautiful colours around us. We are also enjoying temperatures in the upper 70's so the shorts are on and we are beginning to come out of hibernation! Mum and dad have made it back to Glasgow after spending four weeks with us. We enjoyed celebrating Dad's birthday on the 17th of April with one of mum's delicious home made chocolate cakes. Abi now has curtains in her bedroom and shorts and leggings adjusted at the waist thanks to Mum!

There are very few trails or paths for walking near us, in fact most people have large "no trespassing" signs on their land so mum and dad have had to stay on the tarmac whilst out on their daily walks! A lady spied them out walking and pulled over in her car to enquire if they needed any help. LOL! Walking for pleasure is almost an unknown concept here and I am sure they will have been the talk of the neighbourhood. Abi and Matthew have had a great time with their grandparents and enjoyed many "chocolate button walks", stories and magic shows just for the two of them! I have really enjoyed having some time to play the piano again. Andy and I especially enjoyed a day away just ourselves last Saturday. We went to a nearby city of Canton to explore and managed to find some Heinz baked beans and tomato soup and some Branston pickle! There were hob-nobs and little packs of digestives also but you would need to have robbed a bank to pay for them! We had a great day and finished off with a trip to the "movies".

Abigail has been to visit the local elementary school. She has been three times! Two mornings for individual assessments with the Educational Psychologist Liz, and another to be part of the kindergarten class under observation for a few hours. I met with the head teacher and Liz and received great feedback. Abi scored way above average for her age and displayed a learning ability relating to a child nearing age 6 years ( she is 4 and a half years) The school have agreed to let her start in August which we are thrilled about. We are going to continue with a visit to the Christian school as planned just to make sure we have looked at all the options available and can make the right decision for what is best for Abi. She has a screening test to do for them on the 5th of May. The process for early entry at a private school is not nearly as intense as the public school system, which is good for Abi!

Matthew is loving the nice weather and loves to run laps around the whole house outside! He has found a little branch on a tree on the garden to swing on and play at being a monkey! I am thankful for the lovely weather and that he is able to burn off all his energy and as a result fight less with his sister.

Abi and Matthew have really enjoyed exploring a set of "resurrection eggs"which we were given for Easter. These are a dozen colourful eggs in a box each with tiny visual aids which tell the Easter Story. We have also had a great Easter story book Auntie Hazel gave Abi a year or so ago. We have been reading a chapter or so each evening and it has been such a privilege to share the importance of the death and Resurrection of Jesus with our children who are now beginning to take it all in. Seeing the wonder in their faces as we have shared the story has been priceless!
Abi was also part of the Easter church service and performed on the hand bells with some of the other children.

Matthew is gearing himself up for the next hand bell opportunity.

We are also delighted to hear of a new addition to the MMS family here in Coshocton. The Beckwith's who are also here with MAF UK welcomed Naomi Grace into their family on Good Friday. Mother and baby are doing well and we are looking forward to meeting little Naomi soon. Abi has anounced she would like to have sixty babies - all girls! Matthew would just like one - a boy! LOL! Andy and I are too overwhelmed at the thought to comment! : 0)

Wishing you all a fabulous week as we move into May.

love from the Swanson's.

Rolling their decorated eggs.

Birthdays and visitors.

April has seen a mix of many things. We have seen snow, severe thunderstorm alerts, torrential rain, heat waves all within only two weeks! We are enjoying some lovely warm weather at the moment but I can hear thunder as I am writing this blog and believe there is 100% chance of rain tomorrow!

My parents arrived from Scotland on the 29th March and stay till the 26th of April. We are having lots of fun and Andy and I have been able to get out a few evenings ourselves for the first time since we arrived in America. The neighbours are probably wondering who are these two people walking all over the neighbourhood, even with umbrellas at times. Spot the tourists!: 0)

Matthew had his second birthday last year when we were in Ohio on evaluation and Jenny Beckwith from MMS very kindly made a post man pat cake.

Well I this year I had a go at a Formula 1 car with surprising success! We enjoyed celebrating his 3rd birthday here at our house with my folks and some of our American friends. My dad did a little magic show which was really special for everyone and we did the usual pass the parcel ( a new game for Americans), musical bumps etc. Debbie and her daughter Elizabeth and Baby Robert were able to come and stay for a few days from North Carolina.

On the Monday 11th we headed off for Canada for three nights to see Niagara Falls. It takes around six hours drive (add on stops) from Coshocton. MMS were gracious enough to let Andy have a few days of his holiday's a little early so we could take my parents for a short trip. The views of the falls were certainly memorable. After much cooler temperatures in Canada we arrived back in Ohio Thursday evening to a pleasant 22 degrees. Andy went back to work today and we straightened out the house and unpacked. Tomorrow -Saturday - we welcome visitors from Tennessee who are going to stay with us till Monday. Bob Jackson was a US Navy Chaplain in Dunoon when my dad was a pastor there. Him and his wife Nancy were dear friends of my parents and it will be great that they can meet up again after a long time. More baking has gone on today and we now have mum's empire biscuits, flapjack, apricot Madeira cake, and a chocolate cake for Dad's birthday this Sunday. I missed his 65th birthday and retirement party last year due to the volcano leaving us (happily) stranded in Ohio so it is great we can celebrate with him this year - and it's an excuse for more cake! : 0) Abi is performing on the hand bells at church tomorrow evening and Sunday morning at a special Easter service and is very excited about getting to go on the stage! She is a born performer! Abi recently had an assessment at the local school and the Educational Psychologist wishes to see her back again on the 18th of April to continue assessment and view Abi in a classroom situation. We are praying this will go well and Abi will be allowed to attend school this August as she would be in the UK.

We hope you are enjoying Spring! We are just beginning to see daffodils at last though the trees are still pretty bare. It is wonderful seeing how the seasons differ and we feel extremely privileged to be able to be here with MMS in Coshocton.

Thanks for the prayers and support you give us. We hope you enjoy reading our blog.

Love from the Swanson's x