life
H A P P Y F A M I LY
Favorite sports to play: Karate, golf, basketball, baseball and swimming. Favorite sports to watch: Gator football and basketball! Pets: Murphy, the adorable and smart Jack Russell terrier. Favorite vacation: We went to Hawaii last summer and that will be hard to beat. What makes our kids laugh: Everything, the sillier the better! Why we love living in Gainesville: Gainesville is Shellie’s hometown. We love the small town feel and that we are close to family. It offers everything from great schools, familyoriented communities and a variety of entertainment options. We feel very fortunate to call Gainesville home. Favorite day trip: BEACH!
PHOTOS BY PATRICIA BISHOP PHOTOGRAPHY
The McSwain Family { Chris, Shellie, Emma (11) and Liam (9) }
Occupation(s): Shellie is a kindergarten teacher at Meadowbrook Elementary and Chris is the Purchasing Manager at Idaho Timber Corporation. Favorite family meal: A unanimous vote for sushi, with Mom’s mac and cheese a close second. Favorite date spot: Wandering around downtown Gainesville and finding places we haven’t discovered yet. Our family is most like: A circus! Most of the time, things are happening everywhere. It is somewhat chaotic on a strict time schedule with elements
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of danger, but always entertaining and very worthwhile when it is all said and done. Movie in our DVD player right now: Any “Avengers” movie. The kids’ favorite books: Emma – The “Harry Potter” books are still my all-time favorite. I am currently loving “The Land of Stories” series. Liam – I love anything with superheroes, but “The Amulet” series is what I am reading right now and I really like it. Mommy and Daddy’s favorite TV show: “Game of Thrones.” Websites we love for the kids: Chesskid.com and Animaljam.com.
GIGGLEMAG.COM | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
Favorite picnic spot: We love picnics at Possum Creek Park! We can ride skateboards and scooters at the skate park, go on a nature hike, climb on the playground, or play in the field and Murphy can hang out with his puppy pack at the dog park. Favorite family activity: “Just Dance” tournaments and bike rides. First word you think of when we say “family”: Fun! Something that we want our children to have that we didn’t have growing up: Chris always wanted a hover board … that would be cool. Three words that describe our family: Dedicated, happy and supportive. Anything else you want us to know about your family? We are very blessed to have great family support nearby that we lean on often. Raising a family is more than a fulltime job. With hectic schedules and more tasks than time, we don’t know what we would do without them. ✽