Camille and Tanner's wedding

I was able to get my hands on some great pictures from Tanner and Camille's wedding. I just loved them and had to share. Hope you enjoy them too!

Camille and girls smelling her bouquet

 Camille and Tanner

 We miss you Uncle Preston (serving his mission in Singapore)

 Bride and all the nieces, minue Ellie

 Grandma and Grandpa Snyder

 Dave and Rashelle

 Clint and Shauan

 Eldon, Shelli, Chiara and Noelle

 Our happy clan

 Tanner

 Tom and Sharlene

 Lee, Jaclyn, Bree and Drennan

 The Knotts family, Tom, Sharlene, TJ, Calli, Parker and Tessa

 John, Carrie, Brantly, Evelyn

 Lee and Jaclyn

 Paul, Lesa, Heidi, Kaylee, Emma and Janae



Pictures from Christmas as promised

So this year we spent Christmas in Arizona. Since we packed up and loaded about every article of clothing we owned for a family of 6, we couldn't fit Santa's gifts in the car with us. So Santa surprised us with a trip to Disneyland for Christmas. They were so thrilled and so excited. We left Arizona two days after Christmas and headed to Disneyland. Can I just tell you we were insane for going when we did. Not only was it the busiest time of the year to go but every ride was at least an hour wait. The boys didn't like waiting that long and we practically shuffled our way around there. I think we only saw about 25% of the whole park.

The first day we spent in Disneyland and the second in California Adventure. It is hard to tell which one I like the most. I think California Adventure, because it wasn't as crowded when we went.

Our first day we had beautiful weather. T-shirt and pants weather. The second, it rained and we froze. So thank goodness we spent $50 on ponchos because those kept us dry and warm.

So here is a mall recap of our trip. I don't have all the pictures uploaded yet but here are a few.

Day 2 in California Adventure.

 This was in Calfornia Adventure. It felt more like a state fair on a pier. But the big rollar coaster you see is Screamin California. This was Keaton and Andrew's favorite ride. They rode it about 4 times. I voted to stay behind with the two smallest and watch from a distance. Plus, I was pregnant, can't really go on it.

 Autopia, this was a ride that Owen could go on. He loved it. It was our very first ride in Disneyland. Day 1

 The boys got their picture taken on the rollar coaster ride on Screamin California

 Waiting in line for the Toy Story ride. It was pouring down rain and we were all freezing. Luckily Mr. Potato Head kept my kids entertained while we waited for the hour and a half it took us.

 Night we arrived in Disneyland. Our walk to Downtown Disney. It was a long walk but we made it.

 In front of the Disneyland Train station

 The swimming pool at the Hilton was a hit for these boys

 Disneyland was really decked out for Christmas. It was really amazing.

 Jedi training. My boys were really wanting to make it in, but when there are a million little kids wanting the same thing, it makes it tough, so we just watched from the side.

 Trying to pull the sword from the stone

In front of the Cars statue in California Adventure.

When we got back to Arizona we got ready for Camille's wedding. Camille is the youngest girl in the family. It was her turn to get married and she and Tanner were sealed on Jan. 2nd in the Mesa Temple. It was absolutely beautiful. Tanner is such a great guy and Camille is one amazing girl.

The day was perfect, the weather was beautiful and the children did great. It is amazing that it all turned out and worked out as well as it did with a ton of kids running around. But it worked and the day was perfect.

Tanner and Camille with all the Snyder Grandkids outside the temple. I love this picture of Owen, in the bottom right corner just looking up and admiring Camille and Tanner. He was holding Ellie's hand and he was just so gentle with her that day. He is seldom like that.

The reception was at the Wright House. It was so beautiful. It was really breath taking. These pictures really don't do it justice, but it was something else.

 Inside the Wright House

 One of the many quirky faces of Owen

My sweet children before the reception started.

 Ellie and I at the reception

I am not going in order at all here, Christmas was so much fun.I can't remember the last time I spent Christmas with so many people. I think there were about 30 of us total on Christmas morning ripping things open and kids just having a blast.

Acting out and reading the Christmas story. Everyone loved playing their parts

 Notice that Grandpa S. is the angel.

 Keaton and Andrew opening presents

 So after we talked to Uncle Elder Preston, Santa Claus showed up for our Christmas Eve party. Each and every one got a turn to sit on his lap and get our Christmas socks. My boys thought he was so funny. Now this Santa is quite entertaining. He had us all laughing our heads off.

 Owen even sat on his lap

 My nephew Kimball decided to put on his Santa suit too and be his helper. It was the funniest thing I have ever watched. He was just darling.

 Andrew and Santa

 Isn't this the cutest picture I think this is my all time favorite of Owen and Santa

 Ellie, I just love her morning  hair. Christmas morning finding the message with all the disney characters and finding out we got tickets to Disneyland.

 Oh my goodness, can she be any sweeter

 Christmas Evening we went down to see the temple lights. It was my favorite part. Too bad Andrew was in a grumpy mood and woudn't turn around for pictures.

And of course while we were there we took our children to see Madalynn's grave. We invited Great Grandma/pa Ray, and everyone else who wanted to join us. It was a special time for us to talk about heaven and what happens when we die. They were pretty sensitive to it and they were so sweet to clean off her headstone. We miss her. It will be 9 years this year that she passed away. Time sure passes quickly.

More pictures to come. Stay tuned.

Snyder Baby #6

I am not going to lie. I feel old. I feel really old. This is going to be my 6th baby. 6? Can you believe it? I still can't. I still can't believe we are having another baby. But once the sickness hit me, and I mean it hit me hard with this one, I knew that it felt more real. Someone once told me that you know when it's your last, when your body has a harder time being pregnant. Yep, this is it. I guess I can't really say this is it because I really don't know, but right now I feel good saying it.

So baby #6 is going to grace our family with his/her appearance on August 4th. Just a day before our little Ellie turns 2. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that she can have a sister. Two little girls at the tale end to play with one another and just love each other. But if it is a boy, I won't complain either. Just as long as he/she is healthy and strong. That is all I want really.

I am about 13 weeks along and I am starting to feel better. After we came home from Christmas, we have been sick. It all starts with one child and then hops to the next and then it starts all over again. I am ready to see the sun, to feel it on my skin and for all this snow to just melt away. Summer please come quick. Even spring, I would be happy with Spring as well.

Stay tuned for more details and we find out what the gender is. I have tried to talk myself into making it is surprise, but if you know me, then you know I really don't like surprises. I like to have these things planned out and prepared.

Wish us luck! Baby Snyder #6 we already in love with the idea of you coming to our family. 

Is it worth it?

I am debating whether or not to leave the blogging world behind. I am going to do a trial run. If you read this, then please leave a small comment and tell me how I know you. Trying to see if anyone reads this anymore!

Christmas- Part One

 Before I begin, please forgive me for not putting the pictures with this post. For some reason it is not letting me upload them. I will post them when I get it up and running.
This year for Christmas we loaded up a car full of excited kids, presents and everything other kind of excitement we could have packed into our suitcases. This year we went to Arizona for Christmas. We had a great excuse to go down this year, Camille's wedding.  Since there were so many of Lance's siblings that we planning to go for Christmas and since we had to drive the whole 18 hour drive we decided we better make it worth it and go down for more than just the wedding. We got there Saturday night, the 22nd. We celebrated Andrew's birthday with a cake that Grandma had ready for him the minute we walked through the door.
We had a great time! I can't remember the last time I really was excited for a big family trip. Don't get me wrong, I love family get togethers, but I am a home body. I could do without the traveling and just sit perfectly content and let everyone come to us. Well that only happens once in a blue moon. This trip I really didn't worry too much.
Christmas Eve rolled around and we got to talk to Elder Preston Snyder who is currently serving in Singapore. Technology is amazing. Lance and his brothers jimmy rigged the computers so we could skype with Preston as well as all the other families that were in their own homes for Christmas. We could all see each other. It was amazing! Preston looked so happy and he is being well taken care of by Sister Chris. A sweet member of the church over there in Singapore whose life mission is to serve the missionaries. Simply amazing! It was an emotional goodbye and Preston was the braver one to hang up first. So happy to see him. We sure miss him!!!!
Christmas Eve night just after we spoke to Preston, Santa showed up for our Christmas party. This year everyone did pretty good. Chiara, my niece was the only one scared of him so she and her dad hid behind the kitchen table and enjoyed the view from the floor. She eventually worked up the courage to go and sit on his lap realizing that he was a pretty good guy. Everyone got a pair of Christmas socks who sat on his lap. My boys loved that!
Christmas was busy. When you wake up on Christmas morning with a million people there opening gifts and the volume level is at its highest, you know its a good thing. I LOVED it! It was so nice to be with everyone. This year I didn't care about getting anything, in fact I didn't open anything on Christmas morning. I just got to sit back and watch all the kids enjoy the moment. That was worth it for me. Thanks Snyder's for such a great experience. I will always remember it!
So since Santa couldn't carry all the gifts for our children for Christmas down to Arizona we thought Disneyland would be the perfect gift for our kids since they have been asking us literally every night this past year, wondering if we had saved enough pennies to go. Seemed appropriate and so we jumped on it. Two days after Christmas, Disneyland we were bound. The drive was great, not too entertaining. We made it in mid afternoon and we had a fun time showing the kids around. We went swimming and walked around Downtown Disney. A man at our hotel told us it was only a 10 minute walk from the Hilton Hotel where we were staying to Downtown Disney. His time was way off because 30 minutes later our kids are dragging and just really tired. But we survived and had a great time. Being away on vacation does not bring many rested nights for our family. Our kids don't sleep well and Ellie was up all night our last night and it was just enough to make me go mad. Being up all night and then up all day carrying her and walking Disneyland. It was crazy. So this was our first time. They say Disneyland is magical right? I was still looking for that. I guess I didn't get too much out of it. My kids kept crying and complaining about different things and we had to constantly ask ourselves "This is the happiest place on earth right?" Well it was most of the time.
There were way too many people. In fact you couldn't really move around because it was back to back traffic through all the parks. I bet we only saw 25% of Disneyland. I was alittle disappointed that we didn't get to see more. But our kids had a good time. Besides waiting in line for an hour and half for each ride, the rides were pretty good. Some made me really sick. Star Tours was not my most favorite. I really enjoyed Pirates of the Carriabean and so did the kids. Ellie even sat still through it. I was surprised. I really loved Soaring California and the Cars ride was by far my most favorite. It had the longest line of a 3 hour wait. Man the first thing we did when we got to California Adventure was go straight to the fast pass line to get our ticket. It took about an hour in line to get it but it was worth it. I think California Adventure was my most favorite. I am still not sure. Next time we will go off season when there aren't so many people packed into one place. But the kids loved it and that was worth every long line.
Our first day was warm and sunny and our second day was cold and really rainy. We had to buy a lot of ponchos to keep us dry but then it cleared up and that was when we left. We headed back to Arizona to get ready for Aunt Camille's wedding on the 2nd of January. That will be in part two. Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas!

We are headed to Arizona today! Wishing everyone we know and love a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Updates when we get back.