"Brazil, here I come!"

This was a great day for Seth and the Snyder family. Seth's mission call came in the mail and we couldn't have been more excited! Seth had been threatening to open it without us there. I think he was pulling my leg, but I wasn't quite sure, so Steve confiscated the letter from the mail and hid it and we didn't tell him it was here until around the time everyone was scheduled to assemble. He laughed and said he knew it, he could tell by the looks on our faces.

So at 5:30, when the girls got home from basketball practice, Grandma Snyder came over and we had Grandpa Phil, Grandma Adele, and Grandma Rebich on the video phone and Seth opened his letter. Seth has been called to the Brazil Rio de Janiero North Mission and he reports to the MTC in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 27th. It seems like a long time, but there also seems like we have a lot to do until then. Seth also has a great job right now and should be able to earn the money for at least half of his mission. (He is making snow for a ski resort from 9p.m. to 9a.m. with overtime).

Rio de Janiero sounds like a pretty dangerous city, so hopefully he won't be right there too much. It's at the very southern tip of his mission. Anyway, there's a lot to prepare for and look forward to and we are all very happy for him. This is something he has looked forward to for a long time and it's amazing how quickly this day has to arrived after I look back on these past years. Seth will be a great missionary!

My angels!

These are just some more snow pictures. The first thing the kids did when they went outside is to fall backwards in the untouched snow and make snow angels. It brought back memories of doing the same thing when I was a kid.

Fun in the Snow!

After a major cold snap last week (school was even cancelled on Friday because of cold temps), the kids were ready to get outside and play in the snow. They were all out of school yesterday, too, so it was a long weekend. The day was beautiful and the snow was perfect and they stayed out for a couple of hours or so. They decided to build a snow hut and I couldn't believe it when three of the big kids could fit inside. Brooke even went out and had a great time.

Gideon's Baptism

There is a post I've been meaning to put on this blog for a couple months now and just seem to forget by the time I finally sit down to the computer. But, anyway, a very important event happened in Gideon's life on November 2nd. He was baptized. He was so excited! It was a wonderful day and Gideon seemed like such a big kid that day. He really is a cutie. He certainly has been a handful at times these past 8 years, but he is a sweetheart with a huge smile and we just love him to death. Great job, Gid!

I realized that I put way too many prim and proper pictures of us on this blog and that really isn't a true representation of the Snyder crew. So, I thought I'd start this new year out by coming clean with the real "us".

Yes, I know, it can be a bit shocking when you really get to know us:

Kinda scary if ya ask me:

This is how Seth cheered on his sister for her basketball games last year:

This is how Kels and Jake normally look, although I make them clean up once in a while:

Silver has a bad habit that we're trying to break her of, but she's very attached to her "stogie":

A few days after Christmas we went out to take some pictures for our Christmas letter. For the last couple of years our Christmas letter has turned into a New Year's letter. What's wrong with that - nothing I say! So, anyway, we found a great spot out in our woods and we kinda liked how these turned out. It turned unseasonably warm in the days after Christmas and got up to around 65 or so. So, we were thrilled to have a little break from the cold and wind, but we had to maneuver around the mud to get into the woods.

Christmas Eve's eve

Wow! What a month it's been so far. I feel like I've been very busy, but I've also been able to enjoy the season.

I love Christmas time! I feel so much joy and anticipation. I'm not big on the commercial aspect of Christmas. I just love the feelings that come along with this beloved holiday. One of the things we did early in the season is watch The Nativity Story. We had never seen it before and it is a lovely film depicting the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus. In this world of turmoil and confusion, I feel so very blessed to know and love our Savior. I'm thankful to be able to teach my children about Him and His life and to have the scriptures as a guide. I can't imagine a life here on earth without a testimony of Him. So, as Christmas approaches we are looking forward to all the usual fun things about Christmas, but we also need to slow down and savor the real reason we celebrate this joyous time.

I know it's been a while since I blogged so here are just a couple of the things that we have been doing this month:

Right after Thanksgiving we began a huge wreath making project. We offered to do a fundraiser on our farm making fresh, live evergreen wreaths from blue spruce trees on our farm. We have a wreath making machine that we bought last year. The fundraiser was for the Choral Boosters and we kind of threw it together last minute because we'd never done it before and we just thought of it. They ended up selling 145 wreaths and I had an order for 18 more. The chorus kids came and helped put wreaths together for three different days. They did a great job and we got them all done and people were very happy. So, it might become and annual thing.

Steve and had a great adventure at the beginning of December where we went to Anaheim, CA for an ACN Convention. We had decided to go as an anniversary trip and Christmas present to each other. It was very quick - Friday to Sunday- but we had a great time and the convention was amazing! We had a bunch of family with us and we just really enjoyed ourselves.

Last Thursday we got our best Christmas present- Seth got home! His best friend from here flew out to meet him and drive home with him. Seth has taken advantage of his first year of college and having a car and had driven our poor, old Taurus all over the west. On his last roadtrip home from Vegas for a friend's baptism, the old car finally gave up the ghost. In fact, he called us about 3 minutes before that last photo was taken as Steve and I were strolling around Hollywood, CA to say they were stranded in Cedar City, UT. Luckily, my brother Thatcher lives there and he was able to help them out. Thatcher went and got them, put them up for the night and loaned them his car to drive back to Rexburg for finals the next day. Thanks, Thatch!!! Then, my dad offered to let us borrow a little pickup he had and wasn't using for Seth to drive home with. We're going to keep it for a while and get it back to them somehow. Brooke's going to have to learn to drive a stick-shift. YIKES!!! But Thanks, DAD!!!!! Needless to say, we are so grateful to have Seth home safe and sound. He's already started the process of getting ready for his mission and says he ready to go.