sola gracia

Greetings and Merry Christmas! Here is our humble little update for the year! Joe continues to work for NxGen in Whitefish as Vice President of the I.T. department. What a blessing to have a job in these difficult times! Kelly continues to stay at home with the little ones and has begun the venture in home schooling this year. Nilla turned eleven this winter and is in the fifth grade. It was a big transition from the elementary school to the middle school in Whitefish, but she adjusted quickly. She is enjoying piano lessons and looks forward to expanding her skills as an artist. Isaac turned five and began Kindergarten at home. He and Abigail are enjoying Bible Study Fellowship with mom this year. Abigail turned four in the spring and is now learning alongside her brother at home with mom.
Our adventures this year were of the traveling kind. Early in February led Kelly and the little ones to eastern Montana as her grandpa Engstrom had heart trouble. Then in March, Kelly’s grandma Hiatt died unexpectedly and that led Joe and Kelly to drive the two day trip to Oklahoma. In April we traveled as a family to Billings, MT for Joe’s mom’s family Easter gathering and great-grandma Ruth’s 80th birthday. When July came around, we loaded the van to the max with all five of us plus Joe’s parents and headed for Wisconsin. There we celebrated Joe’s Uncle Dick and Aunt Linda’s 50th wedding anniversary with all of the Swenson clan. On the trip home we stopped in eastern Montana to visit the Engstrom family. In September, we were visited by Aunt Erin Engstrom. In October, Kelly took the kids back out to eastern Montana and then traveled on to Iowa with her aunt and uncle for medical treatment. Lastly, we had a surprise visit from Kelly’s brothers for her birthday in December.
Overall, it has been a big year full of travel and we are ready to plant our feet at home for the next five years at least. May the chill of the season bring your hearts ever closer to the warming hearth of the Lord’s unfailing love!
~Joe & Kelly Swenson