Pictures of My Grandbaby

I had the privilege of helping care for Lainey Bug last week. Here are some of my favorite pictures!

Holding her daddy's finger.......

She did not like her bath!

Too precious for words!

Pretty in Pink!

The new Swart family!

Gorgeous in Red!

Mother's Day Weekend

It was one of the most "special" Mother's Day weekends I have ever had!! It had followed a blessed week of being able to stay with my granddaughter, Laine, for 3 days. Rachel met me in Springdale on Friday to spend a couple of hours with her new niece . Then we traveled together to Kansas. Saturday, my Mom came down to spend a couple of days with us. Saturday night, Rachel, Mom and I attended the annual Mother's Day Banquet at First Baptist Church in Galena. What a wonderful event it was!! The theme was "There's No Place Like Home." There were almost 200 women who attended. The food was delicious and served by our men. I was thrilled that my Aunt Freda Hardister and cousin, Holly Viets also joined us for the evening.A wonderful program followed the meal with beautiful specials in song by Kelli Wade and Shay & Shelby Gibson, hilarious videos with Merline and Shirlene and then a touching and convicting message by my daughter, Rachel. Thanks to all who made this evening so memorable!

Sunday morning, Andy, Carman and Laine joined us for worship. Here is great grandma Boore getting her first peek at great granddaughter, Lainey Bug:

Of course, she had to hold her too!

Not only did they honor Mother's in the service, but it was also Baby Dedication Day, which was so neat, since Laine was present (as well as other babies). Here is a pic of the dedication....

After church, Leigh holding Laine.....

Before going to eat lunch at Outback Steakhouse, we came by the house to get some family pictures. Paul & Mary Mooney were going to lunch with us, so they stopped by the house so Paul could take the family picture.

This is a "four" generation picture: Dorothy Boore (great grandma); Debbie Swart (grandma/DeDe); Andy Swart (dad) and baby Laine Swart.

The family that was present (we did miss Josh and Erika and Derek). Hopefully soon, we'll all nine be together!

Andy, Carman and Lainey Bug.....

Good friend, Mary Mooney getting her turn.....

After lunch, we came back to the house and while Mommy and Daddy took a nap, Papa, DeDe, Aunt Rachie and Great Grandma got their share of holding the baby. I took a couple of pics of Lainey with blankets that had been given her. This one was crocheted by a friend of ours, JoAnn Silk and mailed to us from California. So pretty, JoAnn-thank you!

And this one was made by FBC Galena member, Betty Brookshire with the help of her great granddaughter, Aubri. So pretty!

It was sure hard to say goodbye to the family early Sunday evening, but Jeff & I are excited to see them again in a couple of days before we fly to Florida for our vacation.

Thank you, Lord, for my Mother and the godly heritage that she and Dad gave me! And thank you, Lord, for allowing me the blessed privilege and honor to be a mother. I love my kiddos: Josh, Andy & Rachel. I am also thankful for the privilege of being a mother-in-law to 3 great spouses of my kids: Erika, Carman and Derek. And then my heart is full of thanksgiving for allowing me to finally become a grandmother. WOW, God, are you so good to me! Thank you, thank you!!

Lainey Bug has arrived!!

Laine Virgina Swart was born April 26th at 9:00 p.m. to Andy & Carman. She weighed 7 lbs., 6 ozs., and was 19" long. Carman was in labor for about 3 hours and did a wonderful job in delivering her little girl. Both Mom and Baby are doing great!

I know I'm prejudiced, but she is the most beautiful grandchild ever! The happy and blessed family!

Daddy, DeDe and Lainey Bug....

Very proud Papa, Daddy and Miss Laine....

Delighted Grandma's!

The next morning....

Her first hair bow!

And all dressed up. Such a doll!

Couldn't be more happy!

Here is a slideshow of many, many more pictures......and it's just the beginning, blog readers! We do thank you for your congratulations, well wishes, love, and prayers! God has been so very good to the Swart family - and to Him goes all the honor, glory and praise!

FBC Women's Retreat 2010

WOW - what a wonderful, wonderful retreat, the gals of First Baptist, Galena, Kansas had this past weekend at the lakehouses in Bella Vista, Arkansas! God gave us the perfect weather, beautiful accomodations and such a sweet time together! Here is the group that went and I've had several who couldn't go already tell me they will be going next year!

Back row (left to right): Rachel Cox; Karri Watkins; Karen Meier; Shayna Gibson & Debbie Swart

Middle Row: Kellie Boyes, Jenae Shoemaker, Leigh Ryan, Angela Owen, Derenda Shoemaker & Janet Gant

Front Row: Randi Wade, Anna Lisa Dunaway, Jessica Hall & Stephanie Moore

A picture of the beautiful, serene lake. The ladies and I were so appreciative of my sister, Kaye & brother-in-law, Rob for allowing us to use their lakehouses for our retreat. Thank you, Sister/Brother!

Of course, we had some good eating too! Here are two of my favorite girls: Leigh Ryan (our wonderful church secretary) and the one who did so much in getting this retreat together and my precious daughter, Rachel......

After dinner, we played a fun game and laughed and laughed. The name of the game is "4 On A Couch". We played it several times Friday night as well as Saturday!

Rachel was our guest speaker for the weekend. She spoke on "Making a Difference with Your Life...Leaving a Lasting Legacy." It was her first time to do something like this and I was very proud of the excellent job she did!! All the gals fell in love with her -- and she with them. Thank you, Rachel Ann, for allowing God to use you in blessing us!

After Rachel spoke, then Kellie had us play another fun game...."What is in your Overnight Bag!" Lots more laughs!

As with almost all women's retreats - there was lots of visiting - till the "wee" hours of the morning.

Saturday morning, Rachel got up early and went down to the dock to spend some time with the Lord in preparation for what she was to share that morning - and to enjoy God's beautiful creation.

After breakfast, Rachel led our second session from Acts 8 encouraging us to live lives that produce 100 fold fruit for the Kingdom of God. Again, she did a wonderful job.

After snacking and more game playing, we all journeyed down to the dock for our last session where I shared with the girls how to make their own picture prayer books and also encouraged them to journal.

We closed the retreat with a time of sharing our hearts. So sweet!!

A group hug picture:

Goodbye, beautiful lake - till next time!

Here is a slideshow of many pictures -- several of the girls contributed to this slideshow so they are not in order.....if you want to see the captions and/or comments, please click on it and open the link to the Picasa album:

Andy's 30th Birthday & Laine's Shower

Rachel & I had made plans to go to NWA on Friday for Laine's baby shower on Saturday. So it was an extra treat when Carman invited us to a surprise 30th birthday party for Andy on Friday night. It was great to see many of the Metro church family again, as well as some of Carman's family and other friends/family. I will only post a few pictures, as the slideshow at the bottom of this posting have all the pictures of the weekend. If you click on it and open it, there are also many captions to explain the pictures.

Happy Birthday, Andrew Ryan -- what a "milestone" year for you -- leaving your twenties and becoming a Daddy!! We love you and are very proud of the man you have become!

Andy's b/day cake with the Cowboy's colors :-)

Laine's baby shower was at MiMi's in Rogers on Saturday. The hostesses had asked that those who would - to bring books to begin Laine's library.......

She received lots and lots of wonderful gifts -- again, the slideshow below will show more of those gifts.

Four generations.... Laine, Carman, Carman's mom, Donna and Donna's Mom (Laine's great grandma).

Debbie and her girls: Rachel, Carman, Laine and Erika.....I love each one of you!

The sweet hostesses -- you all did a superb job - thank you!

Here is the slideshow......click the arrow to get it to start.... or click on it and open the link and you will then be able to see the captions to explain many of the pictures. Thanks again to everyone who blessed our kids with such wonderful gifts!!