Back to the grind....

So, school has begun again and our numbers have decreased again by one. It's so strange to only count four heads now. I've been so used to counting six heads for so many years that it just seems odd. My babies are growing up. Although the kids look relaxed and ready for the day, this was actually a crazy morning. I got up later than I meant to, was running everyone around like crazy, trying to pack lunches and get myself ready for school as well. I took these pictures in about 6 seconds flat! We jumped into the car and off we went. Luckily, I got my act together and mornings have been a bit calmer since.

Last week of summer

This was our last week of summer vacation before starting school. I go back to work tomorrow at the school as a kindergarten teachers' aide. I was hired last year in October and loved it. The kids start school on Tuesday. Back to the grind for all of us.

The last week of the summer is always county fair week for us. For those of you who don't know, the Snyders are pig people. That's pretty much all we do at the fair nowadays (show pigs), but it's a pretty big deal. We have one of the biggest swine shows in PA and Steve and the kids love it. Brooke didn't think she was going to get to show this year having to leave for college, but it turned out that she got one more year in. Steve has turned into quite the expert and we breed, raise and sell showpigs to 4-H kids for the fair. And when I say "we" I mean Steve and the kids because I must admit that I don't have much to do with it. The kids know exactly what goes on in the barn but that's not really my department. Anyway, they had a lot of success again this year. No grand champ this year, but we did have a reserve homegrown champ. And the girls each earned reserve champion showman in their divisions and Gideon got third place showman in his division. Jake didn't enter the showmanship contest since he was on crutches and in his leg brace.

One sad thing that happened this past week was that we had to have our beloved golden retriever, Silver, put to sleep. She was old and had cancer. She had stopped eating and couldn't get up anymore. It was a very sad day for us but we're happy that she's gone to a happier place.

A week in the life...

Ah, yes. A week in the life of a lowly freshman football player. Jacob was to join the ranks of the oh-so-revered JV/Varsity football team by starting camp last Monday. Oh, the horror stories he must have heard because not only was he a little nervous, he was scared out of his wits! He was so scared he could barely eat (and that's saying something for this boy) and he was sure he wasn't going to be able to sleep the night before camp. Well, he was able to sleep and was up bright and early Monday morning. I made him eat at least a banana and off he went to camp. I felt like I was sending my baby off to Kindergarten for the first time because I was a little nervous for him. Needless to say, he survived his first day of camp. He came home exhausted but alive and well, nonetheless. He actually loved it, could talk of practically nothing else all week and joined in the team comraderie by getting a handsome mohawk just to prove that he was part of the team!! Alas, along came Saturday and their first scrimmage of the year. Jacob blew out his knee, and we're waiting to see if it's the dreaded ACL or, hopefully, just the MCL, which would be much easier to deal with. So, after all that, our poor little - I mean, big and tough #54 may be kissing his freshman year of football goodbye. So sad...

Before...Can you smell the fear?:

After...Exhausted but alive:

Phone call from locker room that goes a little like this.
Jake: Hey, Mom. Sooo.. can I get a mohawk? The whole team's doin' it.
Mom: (Pause) Oh, I guess.
Jake: Ok, thanks.

Half hour later, after mohawk has been completed and I pick Jake up.
Jake: Mom, why didn't you remind me about the pig show at the fair on Tuesday?
Mom: Yeah, I know. I thought about that a little too late, too.
Jake: Oh, man. Dad's gonna be mad.

However, Dad was not mad but simply said, "enjoy it for now but it's getting shaved off for the show." So we are "enjoying" the mohawk while it lasts.

Uh oh:

You can say that again:

I LOVE SUMMER!

I really do love summer. I love when everything is in full bloom, the garden is producing and the sun is out in full force. Boy, do I need that Vitamin D recharge after the long, dreary winters of southwestern PA. Steve and the kids planted an amazing garden for us this year and it's doing great. So far, no blight on the tomatoes like last year and we're crossing our fingers on it staying that way. I have been finding and creating new recipes for fresh veggies every day and I haven't gone for a full load of groceries in over a month!! We've just been grabbing milk, eggs, butter, bread and cheese. It's been awesome! We have tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, onions, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli, sweet potatoes, lettuces, spinach, basil, beets, cabbage, watermelon and cantalope. It's amazing how many different recipes you can come up with using these fresh veggies. And our little pear trees are loaded this year so fresh, sweet pears and pear crisp are always on hand. We're eating our own beef, pork and chicken from the freezer. It's my goal to see how inexpensively we can eat for these few months. I love it! I feel so self sufficient.

Not to change the subject or anything, but another thing I love is land. Ever since I was young, I've always gotten butterflies inside when I see a beautiful vista, whether it's a mountain range, valley, meadow, prairie, lake or cornfield. I just love walking out my door and knowing that the 22 acres all around me are mine. I adore the view out all of my windows. The window over my sink frames the most gorgeous, huge maple tree that changes the most spectacular colors in the fall. The other side of the house has a pretty pink flowering crab apple tree that we take a picture of the kids in every year. Several times this summer I have been gazing out a window and someone will say, "What're ya looking at?" I say, "Nothing in particular, just the view." I love that my kids can go out and run, play, ride, explore without ever having to leave home. With the overdevelopment and urban sprawl of cities and towns out across the farmland of our beautiful country, I am so grateful for my little corner of the world that I hope will always stay the way it is. Just a little, old, underdeveloped, beautiful farm.

The view from my back door:

The view from my front door:



My beautiful garden:

My abundant little pear tree:

Our "crabby" kids (haha):

My maple tree in the fall:

Tribute to Brooke

So, we reached another milestone in our lives at the beginning of June when our second child graduated from high school. Time is FLYING by and I just don't know how to slow it down! I vividly remember two years ago at the same time of year trying to wrap my head around the fact that Seth was graduating, and now we've done it again. It seems to be a little bit harder this time because Seth was so ready to fly the coop, see the world, start a new adventure, and we were excited for him. Brooke is not nearly as excited to leave home and she's not one who likes change very much. So, naturally, that makes it harder as a parent to let her go. But, I know this is something she needs and will love even though she is going so far away from home.

So, if you are at all put off by parents bragging about their kids then I suggest you stop reading right now. Brooke is one of the greatest kids we could ask for and one of the hardest working people I know so I'm going to toot her horn, just for a minute. She deserves it.

Brooke had a great senior year. First of all, all of her hard work, on and off the field and court, really paid off and she was a soccer and basketball standout. She was the heart of her soccer team and she scored almost 1,300 points on the basketball court. She loved her coaches and her teammates and appreciated the "family" bonds she developed with them. She's just so fun to watch because she is so intense and competetive and tough. Sometimes we worried that she was so intense that she didn't have enough fun at what she was doing. That's a balance she tried to work on. She got mangled and beaten up so many times out there but she never let it get her down. We heard a comment from someone that Brooke is the toughest athlete, male or female, in our high school for the past couple years. She's always had that competetiveness about her. We couldn't even play Candyland with Brooke because she would get so mad if she didn't win. We tried to work on it then, too. But, I admire her drive and her work ethic.

Brooke held several leadership positions, received many awards, excelled in school and graduated as Valedictorian. She loves chorus and loved playing "Frenchy" in the school musical "Grease" this past spring. She graduated from early morning Seminary (a scripture study class before school every day) and earned her Young Womanhood Recognition Award.

There's a lot more I could say about Brooke and those are wonderful things that Brooke has accomplished, but we would be just as proud of her without any of those accolades because Brooke is just a good person. She has always had a very strong sense of right and wrong and she just shies away from things that aren't good for her. So much so that she cannot sleep if she has done something wrong. We've never had to worry about where Brooke was or when she'd be home. She's never really even had a curfew. Don't get me wrong, she's not perfect. She hardly ever makes her bed, she leaves the bathroom kinda messy, and she's wrecked two of our vehicles (okay, one of them she says a deer ran into her). But, Brooke is a beautiful young woman who brings a wonderful spirit into our home and we will surely miss her this fall when she goes away to college.

#10 - Midfield:

Battle scars:


Brooke received the game ball after making her 1,000th point. Here she is with her coach:

It was so awesome to watch our Freshman and Senior play on the same team for a year:

The big day:

Brooke and Caitlyn have been best friends since 7th grade. They are like two peas in a pod and have literally never had a fight. We are so grateful for Caitlyn and that she has been a true friend to Brooke. Good luck, Cait!!




What a wonderful life you have ahead of you, our little Brookie! Congratulations! And always remember, we love you!!

Summer Vacation!!

We got home a few days ago from our wonderful family vacation. We drove to Montana again this year. I wasn't as excited to drive this year because it seemed to me like we just did it, but it turned out to be great, as usual, and the kids were better than ever for the long trip. We left on a Wednesday morning, drove almost non-stop and got there Thursday evening. I actually love the drive across this great country. The landscapes change, the industries change, the sunsets and sunrises - ahhh. Steve drives all day and I usually take over about 11pm and drive until morning. I love to drive at night. The traffic is so much lighter, the occupants of the suburban so much quieter, and hours of my own choice of radio stations - YESSS! We arrived by the 4th of July and awaited the arrival of the rest my siblings and their families for a wonderful reunion. It always amazes me how you can go for so long without seeing someone and the minute you get back together with them it's like no time at all has passed. We LOVE getting together with family and staying up way too late laughing, talking, teasing and reminiscing. We spent countless hours up at Grandpa Phil's golf course (Sleepy Hollow Golf Course) golfing, mowing, eating, riding carts, fishing, setting off fireworks, weeding, and just plain relaxing. It's the most beautiful spot in the world, as far as we're concerned, and we just don't know what we'll do with ourselves if Grandpa sells the place. It hardly seems right to have to actually pay for a round of golf anywhere else! And my sister and her husband brought their boat over so they could take us for a spin out at Clark Canyon Reservoir. What a beautiful evening that was! When everyone but us left after the holiday we spent the rest of the week relaxing, touring ghost towns, hunting for crystals at Crystal Park, eating at Taco John's (which we love but don't have out here) and hanging out at the golf course. Thanks, everyone, for the great time in Montana! We love you!

Heading out - only 2 hours late. Yay!:

Favorite activity at the golf course:

Boating at Clark Canyon Reservoir:




Waiting for the fireworks:

Exploring Bannack, MT:

Finding crystals at Crystal Park:

Fishing at sunset:

The girls are hard at work:

Uncle Thatcher:

Golf, golf, golf:

Our favorite:

The family:

On The Lord's Errand

Seth has been in Brazil on his mission for over a year now and he's been doing so well. Something he said in one of his last emails made me laugh so I wanted to share it. Here goes:

"Can you believe I will be here for one year on Thurs.? It is passing so fast and I can't believe my mission is already half over. A dude works for 19 yrs. to make it to the mission and now it is almost over for me! Well, tell everyone I said Hi." Not particularly inspiring but cute. Here is some of his last email:

"My mission book. Chapter 1 MTC. Ch. 2 Itaperuna. Ch. 3 Itaparica. Ch. 4 Anchieta. Ch. 5 ??. Yeah, I was transferred again. Actually, me and my companion were transferred together and there will be sisters going to this area. It was a big shock to us. But we had a sweet baptism Saturday. Gilmara was baptized and it was in the ocean again. I baptized 4 awesome ppl here in Anchieta and it was an awesome experience working with a group of ppl. Who knows what will happen next??"

It's just so wonderful to see Seth growing and becoming a more compassionate person who really loves the people of Brazil. What an amazing life experience that we are so happy he is able to have!

Turning over several new leaves...

So... there are many excuses I could start with as I try and explain the fact that I haven't posted anything here since, um, last September. But, as stated in the title of this post, I'm turning over several new leaves in my life and one of those lovely leaves just happens to be making less excuses for things. I would like to be so courageous as to say NO more excuses but I'm not quite there yet. Hence, another leaf is to have more courage. (And I'm not even sure I'm using the word "hence" correctly in the sentence, but it sounds good to me.) So, with that out of the way, I feel ready to begin sharing a little bit of us with you again. I hope you're all still out there and I know some of your blogs have since become accessible to invited readers only. If that happens to be you, please, please, please can you invite me to read your blog. It would be greatly appreciated. :)

And since I don't really know what to start with, for tonight I'm going to post a completely random picture and hopefully I'll have something eloquent and inspiring to blog about tomorrow. I love these gals.