Ahh, reading again....

One of the things I have missed these past few years in being so busy with life is reading. I have definately not taken enough time to read good books. So, one of the things I have decided to do with some quiet time during the day, besides catching up on numberless projects, is to read more. So, I went to the library and got three books by Jane Kirkpatrick. I love to read historical fiction, especially about pioneering people. I just finished A Sweetness To The Soul. It was wonderful! I highly recommend it. And to all you Twilight fans out there... I know, I know. I'll get to them soon. I'm not sure why I've resisted so far, but they're on my short list.

This was a bittersweet day for me this year. This is the first time in 13 years that Seth has not been in our "first day of school" picture. This is also the first time in 18 years that I am going to be home with no kids during the day because Savanna started preschool and here it's all day, everyday. I have asked her teacher to PLEASE let me volunteer. She is the first one I've sent to preschool because I've always had a hard time letting go knowing that the school will get them soon enough. But, Savanna misses the Kindergarten cutoff by 6 days and she is so ready for something new. She is going to love school! Brooke is a Junior, Kelsey's in 8th, Jacob's in 7th and Gideon's a big 2nd grader. I'm so proud of you guys! It's just hard for me to believe that I've reached this new chapter in my life where my kids are all growing up and leaving. I still feel like a kid myself sometimes. It's exciting and scary, fun and a little sad all at the same time. We also had our annual Family Home Evening where Steve gives a father's blessing to each of the kids before they head out to school and we really missed Seth then. So, in honor of Seth, I wanted to post his very first "first day of school" picture from 13 short years ago. We waited anxiously for the bus to come and I just remember being in tears after I sent him to the bus and turned around to walk back to the house. I feel like that every year with all of the kids on the first day, but then life goes on and we fall into the routine. So, this one's for you, Seth....

We simply cannot believe that summer vacation has come to an end and school is starting again! It literally feels like two weeks ago that I was anticipating high school graduation and how in the world we were really going to get Seth out west in time to start college. The last three months have completely flown by! I thought I would share just a few things that we crammed into our summer before the start of school. Steve and I got our vacation out of the way early with our quick trip out west. Right after we got back Brooke left for a week long high adventure camp called Outdoor Odyssey where she learned skills to help her become a mentor for disadvantaged kids for the school year and for another week of camp with these at risk youth. The very next week she and Kelsey went to Girls' Camp for a week. Soon after that Jacob went to Zion's Camp for a week while Brooke went to many basketball tournaments and games. July was relatively calm and I really enjoyed just being with the kids. Then August came in like a whirlwind with Brooke attending her second full week of Outdoor Odyssey where she camped with her kids - it turned out to be a trying week for her and she realized how much she loves her family and her own siblings aren't really as annoying as they may seem sometimes. Then Jake started football camp, Kelsey volleyball camp and Brooke soccer camp and the Somerset County Fair, which is very time consuming. So, anyway, we tried to fit in some fun stuff before school started and I thought I'd post some of those pictures:

A couple of weeks ago we got a coupon in the mail for six free tickets to an amusement/water park about 80 minutes away, so Steve took the day off and we took Grandma Snyder and we went to DelGrosso's Amusement Park. We started out on the Wiggly Worm.... we had a blast!

Then, Grandma Snyder and I took Jacob, Gideon and Savanna to the Pittsburgh Zoo. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time, but we wondered if the animals were fed sleepy juice because lots of the big animals were sleeping when we went by them.

The kids love the county fair! They just can't wait for it to get here and are sad when it's over. Their pigs didn't win any big awards this year, but they did get some ribbons and the kids did a great job showing them. So, here are my country bumpkins!

Ok, so these are some treasured photos that I felt needed to be shared with the world. This first picture is a nice, demure Snyder family photo taken Thanksgiving 2007. (Front row: Tom, Art, Grandpa Art, Grandma Marion and Steve. Back row: Tom's wife, Jen, Liz, Jennifer, and me, Steve's wife) Looking at this picture you wouldn't suspect anything out of the ordinary, now would you? Well, just give this family a couple minutes of down time and.......

....the look that they have patented, copyrighted and trademarked - THE MONKEY FACE!

The offspring have perfected the look as you can see, but give the parents a little time and coaxing and Voila!....

And if you're really quiet and don't let them know you're watching, you might even catch a couple of them picking through each other's hair looking for a tasty treat. Just kidding, of course! Steve actually says one of the reasons he fell in love with me is that I came the closest to doing the monkey face than anyone he had dated before.

So, if anyone ever wonders how Steve and I ended up with kids with such primate-like qualities, you wouldn't really have to look very far to find the origin. By the way, for any of you who happen to go to church with us, have you noticed how nice and quiet we finally are in church? I finally can sit through an entire sacrament meeting and hear the whole program. YAY! There was many a Sunday that I wondered why I went to church at all since I didn't hear a thing. And I can't remember the last time Steve was actually sitting with us in the congregation since he's always watching us from the stand. Well, anyway, you sure do appreciate being able to pay attention to the speakers when you haven't been able to for a while.

But, back to the subject. I really do feel that my adorable husband possesses quite a talent, along with his whole hilarious family. I love them and thank them for welcoming me into their clan so many years ago. (And I would pick the bugs out of any of their hair, anytime!)

Seth finally sent me some pictures. This is one thing he's certainly enjoying: free all-you-can-golf! Grandpa Phil built his own 3 par golf course in Dillon, MT called Sleepy Hollow Golf Course. It's a beautiful and challenging little course nestled in the foothills of Dillon under the big sky with the mountains in the distance. Needless to say, we love to visit and it's about the only time we get to golf anymore. So, Seth is working a little at the club house and around the course. He's also the produce clerk at Safeway in town. So, I guess all the training on our produce farm is coming in handy after all. Thanks, Dad and Mom, for keeping our boy and spoiling him a little. These are pictures of Seth and Grandpa Phil golfing and a view from the club house porch.

These are some of the things we've been doing this summer. The county fair is in one week and everyone around here, except for me, is pig crazy. This is Brooke and Sassy. This year we only have six pigs, instead of the usual eight, with Seth being gone. Jacob has Sassy and Lucy, Kelsey has Kip and LaFawnda, and Brooke is the proud owner of Susan and Buford. We've had two grand champs in the last few years so keep your fingers crossed!


This is Kelsey lovingly grooming LaFawnda using, yes, my clippers! It's a great mystery how a pair of clippers gets misplaced almost every year during fair time and I have to buy a new set to cut the boys' hair.


This is monkey boy bouncing on his favorite tree branch.


Jacob is overseeing the clipping of the pigs.


Savanna has managed to stay in very good shape this summer with her bicycling regimen!

We are so grateful to have cousins close - 2 hours away. As our kids get older and we all get busier, we don't get together as much as we would like to anymore. But we love you, Tom and Jen. They came to see Seth before he left for college. Here are the kids with Sadie, Sam, Luke and Logan. We adore our cousins. We have had a lot of great times together! Thanks, guys!

Two cute girls! When I was expecting Savanna, I used to think about what she would look like. Would she have blonde curly hair like Kelsey did or dark wavy hair like Brooke, or maybe a mixture? Sometimes she looks just like Kelsey and sometimes she looks totally like Brooke did at that age, but Kelsey and Brooke don't look a thing alike. It's funny how our kids don't look alike but they all resemble each other in some way.

The beginning of the summer was very busy with sports. Jacob played Little League and played catcher and pitcher. This was only his second year and he did a great job. Next year he moves on to Junior Legion. Gideon loves soccer and he's always been the tallest one on his team. He thinks he might try little league next year, though. They have to choose one or the other because we just can't do everything. Kelsey also played softball and Brooke played basketball, but I didn't get any good pictures of them.

Recently, Brooke decided she wanted something new done with her long hair. She decided to donate to Locks of Love, so she got 10" cut off and layers and it looks really cute. Don't ask me why she's holding her nose in the first picture!

It's hard to know where to begin when starting something new and personal like this, so it just seems logical to find a recent meaningful event in your life. To us that would be the graduation of our firstborn and his quick exit to college. We were so excited when Seth was accepted to Brigham Young University - Idaho. Then, we were less excited to receive a letter saying they were placing him in the Summer-Fall semesters (BYU-I has a three track system to allow more students to attend). That would mean he had to begin classes on June 4th (5 days after graduation). At first Seth didn't think he could do it. He wanted to work at his job all summer and earn plenty of money for college. But, the more we prayed and talked about it, the more we realized that it was a good thing and the Lord obviously has a plan for Seth. So, he graduated from high school on May 30th and he and his dad and I got in the car the next morning and we drove to Rexburg. We attended orientation on Monday and Seth started college on Wednesday. We found it to be a great adventure and, as of now, Seth has a block of school under his belt, is spending his seven week break living with Grandpa Phil and Grandma Adele in Montana and is looking forward to his fall semester at BYU-I. We miss him, but we know he's doing what he's supposed to be doing and is in the right place. And Grandma Adele is in seventh heaven!

I'm so excited to be beginning a blog. I have had so much fun looking at other people's blogs that I finally just couldn't resist. It really is a great way to see friends and family where we usually wouldn't because we live so far away from most everyone. So, anyway, here we are - the Snyder Family.