December 29, 2008

Fun pictures

Before Christmas we decided it would be fun to have my friend's wife come and take some random pictures for Christmas presents. Ends up being the coldest day ever and all the kids want is a treat and time was running out. But we did manage to get a few good ones in. I thought I would post some so you could see. My sister Rachel and her daughter Ava came and my brother Justin also. We thought they turned out rather fun. Enjoy!
My sister Rachel (youngest), brother Justin (middle) and me (oldest)

My sister Rachel and her daughter Ava

Keaton was so cold but it turned out cute anyways

Someone gave Andrew a sucker and we could not get it out of his mouth to take a picture without him screaming so most of his he has a sucker, what a stinker he was.

My brother with my boys

December 27, 2008

We're back

We made it back to Boise. After a long day of traveling we finally pulled into Boise about midnight last night. We traveled all day long and the most amazing part of it was, the boys did really really well. I couldn't have been more pleased with them. It sure made the day a lot happier. Thanks boys for doing so well. I love you so much!
Let me tell you about our week. What a great week we had in Arizona with the Snyders. We got there last Thursday the 18th of December and greatly anticiapted the arrival of Elder John Snyder who was returning home from his mission in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We had a fun time with friends and family and had a joyous reunion. He had quite a few new faces to come home too He looked worn out from all the traveling but his spirits were high. We really enjoyed listening to all the stories and seeing all the pictures. It was fun to remember the good old mission days as well.
Grandma Snyder had everything planned. That is one thing I love about Lance's family, they plan things. Here is a short re-cap our our weekend, the shortened version-
- great meals every day planned out
- cookie day at Great Grandma Ray's house
- playing non-stop with cousins. I swear I only saw my children a few time while we were there
- demolition projects. Tearing down old houses that needed to come down
- rides to the dump in the huge dump truck with grandpa and all the cousins (this was one of the favorites for the kids)
- eating candy non-stop
- late night conversations with everyone, thanks for the fun times!
- christmas movies
- celebrating Andrew's 2nd birthday ( Happy Birthday Son! We love you so much!)
- Family Christmas party and a surprise visit from Santa Claus
- visiting old friends
- lawn mower rides for the kids. This is a tradition that we do everytime we get together
- Carpenter's Christmas music
- eating lots and lots of oranges
- Essential Oils, I am a firm believer in them. Thanks mom for helping me with that!
- sleepless nights
- Mesa Temple Christmas lights (unbelieveable if you ever get to go)
- relaxing on dad's jade bed
- entertainment non-stop

So there you have it. We had such a fun time. The weather was beautiful and the kids didn't get sick. It was amazing. That was our goal and we made it. Thanks Snyder's for a fun vacation. We can't wait to do it again. We love you all so much. We miss you already. Here is our week in pictures.
Paul and Lesa with their girls Heidi, Kaylee and Emma. They are just the sweetest girls ever.

Clint and Shauna and their kids, Dallin, Daniel, Kimball, Aubrey, Joel and Jacob, the twins.

Lawn mower rides in the back yard. The greatest entertainment in the world for the Sndyer grandchildren

This was our Christmas set up with all the families. Mom had prepared a seperate table for each family where we ate all our meals. It was less stressful and very organized.

Andrew decided to put all the candles on his sandwich instead of his cake for this birthday party at Chucky Cheese

My brother-in-law Eldon with his wife Shelli. They are expecting their first baby girl in Feb. We can't wait to meet Chiara.

The only way Andrew would see Santa was if I went with him. He was so excited to get the candy cane that he was passing out to everyone

Keaton with all of his cousins seeing Santa for the first time. He was so excited to see him.

One Christmas day for our fun activity that we planned for the kids. We had each dad put a Santa hat or reindeer antlers, and the kids got shaving cream and went to work making their dad's look like Santa. It was such a fun thing for the kids to do. Afterwards all of the husbands chased us down for a shaving cream kiss. It got kind of messy. Next time we will use whip cream instead. Don't they look so cute?

Here are all the Snyder boys together

And here are all of us minus two others, Sharlene and Rashelle. We sure missed you guys


We have come home to lots of snow. It is very exciting for us. We love the snow! The boys went out and played in it today. We have about 7-8 inches on the ground and it keeps snowing more and more. It is so pretty. I love this time of year.
Keaotn was so excited to get his 4-wheeler out into the snow for a ride but it wouldn't move very fast.

I had to take this picture. The wind and snow were blowing pretty hard and he couldn't see well outside. I thought it was a cute picture of him

more 4-wheeling in the snow

We spent the night at my parents house since we really didn't get there until almost 1 a.m. so we crashed at my parents house. The boys were so excited to spend the night there. Since we were going to be going over first thing in the morning for Christmas with the Quinn's we decided it would be kind of fun. Keaton and Andrew were spoiled rotten. They got so many fun things. They loved tearing the paper and the looks on their faces. Keaton asked Santa for a Guitar Hero and his letter was answered. He was so excited. He also got a helmet to wear on his new real 4-wheeler that he got also. Santa was very kind to them this year. Thanks Mom and Dad and everyone else who made it so special for them.
Here he is with helmet and Guitar Hero. He was so excited about both of them. He wouldn't let them go. He thinks he has to wear the helmet when he plays

Christmas with the Quinns

December 22, 2008

Half of the Snyder Clan


On Sunday we decided to try and take picutes of everyone while we were all together and after church was really the only time we could pull it off. So here you have it, half of the Snyder clan. Sharlene and her family and also Rashelle and her family couldn't make it. We missed you! I feel so lucky to belong to such a wonderful family. I love you all!

Welcome home Elder Snyder


We have been in Arizona since Thursday of last week and I must say we are doing really well. The weather has been so beautiful and the the kids are doing really well. We are all happy and having fun with Lance's family. One of the great highlight so far of our vacation was seeing John come home from his mission last Friday. He got in early in the morning so we loaded everyone up and headed to the airport to see him. We had quite the crowd. There were over 30 of us. There were 6 new neices and nephews to meet and two new sisters-in-law. He had quite the welcoming crowd. We hardly recognized him. He was pretty tan and pretty blonde. He had been traveling for 24 hours and was just really tired.
I love seeing missionaries come home. It is the highlight of every missionaries mission. Coming off that plane and seeing your family which you haven't seen for two years is quite the emotional experience.
We are so glad he is home. We have really enjoyed hearing his mission stories, listening to all the amazing experiences and listening to the crazy music. Welcome home John! We sure missed you! Well done thou good and faithful servant!
my niece Heidi with her sunglasses. Isn't she so cute!

My nephew Dallin with the welcoming home sign.
All the Snyder grandkids to welcome him home.

December 11, 2008

Small update

I feel alittle disoriented because I have not been posting much and I have been really busy trying to get everything ready for Christmas and ready before the 18th. We fly out to Arizona on the 18th to see my in-laws for Christmas. Also my brother-n-law gets from from his mission on the 19th so we will make it just in time to see him get home. We also decided to spend Christmas with the Snyders since it has been a few years. It should be fun and I am looking forward to seeing all of them. So here is what we have been up to:

Keaton: He has been anxiously been waiting for Santa Claus. He has been asking me when Santa is going to come and every night we have to tell the story of how Santa delivers all the presents on Christmas eve. He is also very aware that Santa likes to eat cookies and milk so he has been awaiting our cookie making day. He has been getting up several times a night. I swear it is worse than having a newborn in the house. I am desperatly trying anything to help him get back to sleep. Any suggestions? I hear that some aromatherapy will do the trick. Any one have any insight on that? He is still enjoying pre-school. He loves being with his friends and learning new things. I swear he is 3 going on 20. He is too smart for his own good. But we love him and he keeps us on our toes. We are so thankful that he is in our family.

Andrew: He just wants to be with Keaton. Even if that means getting beat on. He is a faithful brother to him and I love him for that. He is sleeping better than Keaton as long as he is in our bed. But lately he has been staying in his own bed until 3-4 in the morning. So I shouldn't complain but after the Holidays are over they are going to have to scream it out. We can't do it any longer. Andrew has no idea who Santa is yet. All he knows is that it must be exciting because Keaton is excited about it. They love listening to Christmas music when we are in the car or the house.
Andrew loves to watch the Incredibles. He loves baseball and football and most of all he LOVES to eat. He is always so hungry and it is hard to keep our cupboards full enough to support his eating habits. He has been coughing quite abit. He sometimes has a harder time getting over colds more than other because of the RSV that he had. It draws it out just alittle longer than needed but he is on the mend. He is still a cuddler and I love that. I miss that about having a little baby around the house. They grow up so fast and become too independent but thankfully Andrew still needs me for a lot of things. He will be turning two on Dec. 22nd. It is hard to believe my baby is turning two. We love you Andrew!

Lance: Lance has been really busy trying to hold down the fort working two jobs. Well three actually. He is working really hard and I love and admire him for that. We have been very blessed to be where we are now in life. Not many people can say that right now. He works hard to provide for us. He is also pretty busy as the Ward Executive Secretary. He loves being with our bishopric. They are great men and they have become pretty good friends. We love our ward! Lance loves playing with our boys. They know when the garage door opens it is play time. They have fun wrestling, playing football and just helping dad with any work project there is going on.

Me: Tiredness is setting in. I am about 22 weeks along and I haven't been feeling the baby too much. I feel small flutters every now and then but it will be coming soon. I haven't been able to feel my babies move until I am further along in the pregnancy. We are having another boy. I have been feeling alittle overwhelmed with this, but we have no choice and we just go forward with faith. I keep telling myself that it gets easier and easier the more kids you have but I am not so sure. Check in with me after the baby comes and I can confirm it or not.
I am staying really busy with the Young Women. I love it! It has been one of the funnest callings I have ever had. I work with some amazing women and the girls are just so much fun. It makes me feel young again sometimes. I am still in the Presidency and loving that.
I am staying pretty busy trying to get everything ready for Christmas by the 18th. We leave to go out of town so there is a rush to get it done early. I love being a stay at home mom, although sometimes I wish I could get out and communicate with older people. It would help me to feel useful I guess. But I am happy to be where I am. I just need to take breaks every now and then but that should be normal right?

Well there you have it. Not much is going on. We are just trying to survive the holiday season. We have a ward christmas party coming up this weekend and the boys are excited to see Santa there. Check in later for pictures.

December 7, 2008

Dear Sweet Boys

Dear Keaton and Andrew-
Momma loves you so much, but please got to sleep and in your own bed. I am starting to feel uncomfortable at night and it doesn't help when I finally doze off to sleep around midnight and then Keaton you so kindly start crying at the top of the stairs for someone to come to your rescue. What happened? You used to sleep all night long and now you are waking up a couple of times each night. It's either something that you think that hurts, potty breaks, or just someone to lay with, but it is wearing me out. I am so tired of it! I just want to sleep. We made your own little bed at the foot of our bed, just go there and don't wake me up please! Momma loves you!
Andrew, may I suggest getting used to your own bed at night. When we tuck you into bed each night you so calmly lay there and put yourself to sleep but come midnight, righ along with your brother you have to scream until your dad or I have to come and get you. Then my dear sweet boy, I don't understand how you fall asleep half way down the stairs and once we lay you in the middle of our bed you are out like a light. What is going on in that little mind of yours? You are so sweet and if I could sleep all night without you kicking my back, or laying your face right next to mine while you are sleeping or so kindly lay sideways as to take up all the space in our bed. I have to wake up multiple times to re-arrange our sleeping habits. You, like your older brother used to sleep all night too in your own bed without any noise. I loved it! I had never slept so much in my life it was awesome. What happened?
Now with momma feeling big and not able to sleep well at night I need my sleep and my space. So please, don't wake me up. I am storing all my energy for your baby brother who is soon to come.
So please understand that I love you both very much, but PLEASE!PLEASE! GO TO SLEEP!!!

Love,

Mom

December 3, 2008

Christmas time


Christmas time is finally here. We have pretty much set up all we want to do right now. Since we won't be home for Christmas this year I decided not to go all out this year but I did enough to make it feel like it. I wanted to post some pictures of what we have been doing as of late. The boys have been so excited to set it all up and get the lights on. Their favorite is to turn off all the lights expect the christmas ones and just stare at them. We had a lot of fun putting on the decorations on our tree this morning.
I love this time of year. I love everything about Christmas. Celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the smells, the sounds and the food that comes with it all. I LOVE it all!!! It is even more fun when you can experience it through little children. They make it all worth it. Christmas time is really just for them. We are starting some new traditions this year as a family. One, we will have a candy making day. I am in the process of making my boys some Christmas aprons to wear when we make all the yummy things. I really want to make it special for my family. Enjoy our pictures!

December 1, 2008

Thanksgiving in Utah

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Lance's family again. It seems to be the perfect gathering point for everyone, since most of them live in the Provo area. It was a small group this year. We went, Paul and Lesa and their 3 girls, Eldon and his wife Shelli,Dave and Rashelle with their two boys and Lee and Jaclyn came up from Arizona with their little girl Breelynn (9 months) who is just the cutest little girl in the world. Some may say that that is a huge crowd but compared to what it usually is it was a small group.
We had a great time. We had lots of great food that lasted us the whole entire week. I am really sick of Turkey and potatoes and stuffing right now. I can't look at it anymore. It will take us awhile to eat that again. The weather was alittle cold but we still managed to bundle up and play outside. The kids had a great time playing.
Paul and Lesa's kids had had the stomach flu the previous week and they thought it was long gone. Well what is a family vacation without someone getting sick. Both my boys got it and Lance too. I was lucky to not get sick. It is no fun to be on vacation, not in the comfort of your own home to be throwing up and feeling lazy. But we have all recovered and are trying to get back on schedule.
We also managed to go to Temple Square and see the lights. It is not what it used to be. They don't really light up Temple Square anymore. It is more on the outside and around the temple now. They say there are just too many people who come that there is no room to get them in and around Temple Square. But there were some beautiful lights, beautiful Nativity sets and pretty music playing everywhere you went. My boys really enjoyed that.
Now we are back home. We are so happy about that. We have 3 more weeks to rest until we do it all over again, only this time in Arizona. Lance's brother John comes home from his mission in Brazil on the 19th and then we will be there through the the rest of the year. We can't wait!
the kids playing around at Temple Square

My cute neice Breeylnn with her Indian head band on

Every year we follow the tradition of making a pineapple turkey. Its a hit each time

the kids playing around

My sweet Keaton

My sister in law Lesa with her 3 girls

Dave, Rashelle and their 2 boys