The Best Two Years

Yesterday was the long awaited day for Seth. Luckily, his flight out of Pittsburgh didn't leave until afternoon, so we had a nice, relaxed morning. The kids stayed home from school to be with Seth and say their goodbyes. We took Gideon and Savanna with us to the airport and were pleasantly surprised when we found out we could have passes to go to the gate with Seth. And, as simple as that, he was off!

In this age of cell phones and instant communication, it was tough to not know where he was along the way. But, no news is good news and by this morning, he would have made it to Brazil.
We can't wait to hear from him by email as soon as he's able!

Give us a call if you would like his address. One of the last things he said was, "Give everyone my address!" We are so proud of him and know he's going to have The Best Two Years!

A Memorable Weekend

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It began with a farewell program at church for Seth. There were many family and friends there and it was a very uplifting sacrament meeting. After church Seth was set apart as a missionary and we ran home to take some pictures and get lunch ready. Everyone came over and we had lunch and then sat around visiting all afternoon. It was a wonderful day.

Seth and cousin, Logan Snyder. Logan and Gideon look like twins and we all get them mixed up, even we moms:

This picture is significant because Kelsey has a cell phone. An hour previous to this picture she did not have a cell phone. We had an elaborate "handing over of the cell phone" ceremony in the car on the way home from church and Kelsey inherited Seth's much coveted hand-me-down:

The Lemons and Tom and Jen Snyder:

Grandpa Art, Grandma Marion, Sam, Steve, and Aunt Jen:

Seth and the cousins:

Dave and Patsy Lemons, who became like family to us when they served a mission out here a couple of years ago, surprised us and flew out from Idaho Falls:

Then on Monday, we went to a picnic planned by Grandma Snyder at the community grove. The food was great, the kids and some of the adults played a softball game and we took lots of pictures. Then, we went home to pack Seth up for Brazil.

The whole Snyder crew:

Seth with Grandma and Grandpa Snyder:

Kayla, Kelsey, Sadie, Brooke, Carly and Savanna:

Luke, Jake, Sam, Seth, Logan and Gideon:

The only cousins missing from the Snyder side were Sara, who lives in Utah with her husband Jonathan, and Jenna who goes to Southern Virginia University and stayed down there for the summer to work.

We also missed having Grandpa Phil and Grandma Adele here, but it just didn't work out for them to come this time. Fortunately, they got to have Seth live with them while he was out west for college and they got to see him a lot and really get to know him.

First soccer game!

Savanna was so excited to play soccer this year for the first time. She kept begging to go and her practices kept getting cancelled due to bad weather. So her little team ended up having one practice before their first game. Talk about on the job training! So, here she is with her team, the Blue Jays.

She kept telling us she was nervous, so I guess the fingers in the mouth are a sign of the nerves: She turned out to be a pretty awesome defender, so she was put in front of the goal for two quarters. Then she ended up scoring 2 of their 3 goals. Go Vannie!! Hopefully she'll take after Brooke on the soccer field.

This is once of Vannie's best friends from school.

Prom 2009

We can't believe it's prom time again! That means the school year's almost over. Goodness, it's gone by too fast again. Brooke was on the prom committee this year and had a great time planning and decorating for prom. It turned out really nice. Here Brooke is waiting for her date to arrive:

It's hard to find modest prom dresses out here in the east, so we found Brooke's dress on the internet and she looked so beautiful! Brooke's friend, Randy, came down from State College to be her date. He's a great guy and they had a really nice time.Here at our school they have a Grand March before the prom in the auditorium to a standing room only crowd. Everyone is announced and they walk out on stage, down the steps and up the aisles. It's a nice tradition.Brooke and her two gal pals, Joanna and Caitlyn.

These are the girls who work at the Ice Cream Station in town.

After prom Brooke and Randy and a bunch of friends came back to our house and we made a fire. They played on the trampoline and roasted marshmallows and laughed and laughed. I could hear them from in the house. Kelsey and Jacob hung out with them, too. Everyone left at 1a.m. I just love having kids at the house and I love the sound of laughter. It makes me smile.

The Temple

This was a day that we, as parents, had long awaited - going to the temple with our first child. It was a quiet day at the temple and we felt so at peace.

For those of you who are not familiar with the temple, I would like to offer a bit of insight. Prior to going on a mission, a young man or woman goes to the temple to take part in special ordinances. These are ordinances much like baptism and confirmation. The temple we are closest to is the Washington, DC Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is one of nearly 200 temples throughout the world. Temples differ from regular Church houses of worship. They are unique in purpose and like temples of old, are not used for regular worship, but for special purposes. They are set apart from the world in their holiness and peace.

For the most part, temples are all about the eternal nature of man and our earthly and eternal family relationships. As part of God’s eternal family, parents are partners with God in fulfilling His purposes for His children. This makes the family the most important institution on earth and for eternity.

A man and woman who come to the House of the Lord to be married are joined not only by authority of the law of the land until death, but also, through the eternal priesthood of God which binds them for eternity. This is very important to us.

Prior to the dedication of a temple, the Church invites the public to tour the building and enjoy its beauty and serenity. But when it is dedicated it becomes so sacred to us that only members of the Church in good standing enter.

This is to preserve the holiness of the temple and keep it free from the negative influences of the world. We so appreciate the peace we feel when we attend the temple.

Guys and Dolls!

A couple of weeks ago, three of the kids were in our school's annual musical "Guys and Dolls". That musical was one I was not familiar with and when we tried to watch the DVD of the Frank Sinatra version, we all fell asleep. So, we were worried that it was going to be boring. Boy, were we wrong! It was awesome and all the kids involved did a great job! We thoroughly enjoyed it. Out of our three kids, Jake had the biggest parts and he did tons of dancing which cracked us up but he did a great job. We love to see the kids in these kinds of things just as much as their sporting events.

Brooke has been in "The Music Man", "The Sound of Music", and she and Kelsey were in "Beauty and the Beast" last year. What a great thing for kids to be a part of. We have a wonderful music program in our school and are grateful the kids can be a part of it along with all of their other activities.