Conner, the Incident, and some great things.

No Mother wants her kid to come in and tell her the neighbor kids are not allowed to play him until you go talk to kids parents.  Conner apparently one day got into a fight with one of the neighbor kids and jumped on top of him and started either choking him ( as the neighbor reported) or pulling his ears ( which is conner's story) neither of which is a good thing.  Conner has always had trouble controlling his temper.  He has the sweetest heart but if you get him mad watch out.  We have been dealing with this at home by sending him to his room until he calms himself down and comes out.  This has been working great.  He knows when he is ready to return to life and be kind again.  He usually comes out and gives hugs and smiles and says he is sorry.  Big Lesson learned for Conner you can not act out in anger physically towards your friends.  Conner sat with Scott as he spoke with the parents and Conner apologized and felt very bad. This was 6 weeks ago and he has been better than ever since this incident. It was hard for both of us to go through but taught valuable lessons!

On a brighter note. This week Conner was invited to a marble party organized by a child in his class.  Ari has a handicapped mother and they have no money ect.  Conner kept telling us all week how important it was that he go to this party because Ari didn't have many friends and he didn't want him to be sad.  Even though it was terribly cold and raining Conner insisted on going to the park that day and meeting Ari.  Ari and Conner were the only two kids that showed up.  I was proud of Conner for caring so much about someone elses feelings! Maybe I'm not failing him after all.

Nikki is 12

One of my least favorite birthdays is when someone turns 12.  They go into YW or YM and it just seems it's a turning point when they aren't your little child anymore they are a teenager.  I love my Teens don't get me wrong but they are that much closer to leaving home and that makes a Mom sad :(.. Nikki has told us she wanted to go to the temple for her 12th birthday since she was 10.  So that's were we went first thing that morning.  Scott baptized her for a few family members and continued with some other names.  It was the greatest thing to be in the temple with Nikki and her loving every moment of it!  She also had a bowling costume party and a huge family party! Then a few days later she told us we hadn't celebrated her birthday as a family.  OH MY so we went to spaghetti factory for family night! My kids are never going to be able to complain that we didn't celebrate them enough on their birthday!

Love You Nikki!  I love that you always want to hang out with me, work with me, get straight A's, take care of your little brother, always smiling and helping out at home! Your friends all love you and you have the kindest heart of anyone I know.

Hawaii

Scott and I spent 9 days in Hawaii thanks to Lynne!  We had a blast tons of food, fun and adventure.  We spent the 9 days with his parents and Cary.  It was good to spend so much time with them and have a chance to reconnect.  My favorite parts of the trip were watching Scott go down for a dive, hiking almost every morning, and taking SUP lessons.  It was hard being away from the kids for so long and the last time we were in Hawaii they were with us but it was still super fun!!

The Vegas trip from *&%#$%^^^%$$#

The day after we got home from Hawaii.  My sissy and I decided to attend my Uncle Tom's funeral in Vegas.  He died of Cancer after a long struggle. My Mom was speaking and we felt strongly we should be there for her.  Well.....

After discovering this was Stephanie's first trip out of the state in 5 years I was actually excited to go with her.  We took off around 1:30 in the Jetta.  We had a tire blow out in Nephi and Scotty had to leave work in Salt Lake and come and save us.  2 and half hours later he had the Denali down to us and we took off again.  The time passed by super fast after that. Steph and I talked and talked.  We made it all the way to the strip to meet my parents for dinner when the Denali stalled and would not start in the center lane of the strip on a Friday night.  Ugh!!  A pregnant Steph and I pushed the car to the side of the road and waited.  My Dad came over and got the car to start and putted to the parking lot.  We then drove it around and it drove just fine.  The next morning I took it to Auto Zone to see if they could tell what was wrong, when I got to the parking lot it stopped working again.  This time for good.  I pushed it over to the Mechanic 3 doors down and asked them to fix it while I was at the funeral.  4 hours later they called and said it was running great!

We decided to take off for home.  We got to Mesquite fine and then........the denali died again on the Virgin River bridge in the dark.  We called 911 and fastened our seat belts and prayed for 15 minutes until the highway patrol showed up!  So Scary!  That was the most frightened I have been in my life but I always still felt a peace around us that we would be OK.  (Just hard to not be afraid watching Semi Trucks in your rear view mirror barely miss you!)

The tow truck towed us into St George where Steph graciously paid for our hotel and we spent the night.  Scotty borrowed a flat bed and a truck and left at 4:00 am to come and get us.  We drove it home and now a week later it is still sitting in my garage waiting to be fixed!  We are selling it as soon as it is!

KISS

Camie bought tickets for her two brothers and Austin to go to the KISS show that just came to town. They really loved the show. Scott and Cary even went as far to say it was the best concert they had ever been to. I think maybe they are just getting old and don't get out enough and the fact that they have always gone to see queer 80's bands in concert.  Anyways Austin said he really enjoyed too.  They saw all sorts of crazy characters and one guy even had the whole gang tatooed on his back for the show.  I thought the boys should of worn their full KISS makeup but they vetoed that idea!

Point Shoe day

One of the most important day of a dancers life is the day they get fitted for their first point shoes.  All three of my girls have had this day and they all remember it well.  Nikki just got her first pair!  We brought 8 little girls to the dance store with their favorite ballet teacher AmyLee.  She spent many hours trying different styles and sizes of shoes for the girls to try.  Nikki found the perfect pair and then wore them around the whole day.  They begin slowly and then work into wearing them more and more.  I still don't know how they stand up on those things but somehow it works and soon they are dancing.

My Homecoming!!!

Ever since they began construction of Timpanogos High I have been excited for my kids to have their school behind our home.  We would watch the football team play, the cheerleaders cheer and the dancers dance! My kids would love Friday nights with pizza, trampoline and watching the games.  I would always tell my kids one day you guys will be over there dancing and playing for Timpanogos!  Little did I realize I would have two teens both performing the same homecoming night! I was more excited for their big night than they were.  Sidney was dancing with TDT and Austin playing with the football team. We lost the game terribly and Austin did not want to take the after game picture he promised me with his sister but he was a great sport and did it for his Mom! I love my teens!

The Dreaded Day

No one in the Snowden household looks forward to school starting.  We must play way to much during the summer! Every year it comes.  This will be a great school year. Conner just started 3rd grade with Miss Jovet. His favorite thing about school is Math. He is a Math genius.  Nikki is a 6th grader this year and has Mr. Shelton. All my kids have had him in sixth grade. He won teacher of the year for Alpine school District last year and is wonderful.  She will have a blast. Sidney starts high school this year. She is on the dance team TDT and gets to be in school with her Senior brother and all his friends! Austin is a senior and I'm really sad about that.  He will have a blast but he doesn't want to grow up any more than i want him too. He is super busy playing football, guitar lessons, piano lessons and tons of friends.  Jess is busy, busy, busy working at Iggy's during the day and teaching at three new studios up North.  She is taking a semester off school to save up money and is tranferring to the U. I miss the kids but like getting back to a schedule and having some "me" time.

Our Spontaneous Lake Powell trip after a late night baptism

My little nephew Ben had his baptism memorial weekend.  We had wanted to go to Lake Powell but thought it was more important to have Ben get baptized and be there. We decided to take off right after.  We had a fun backyard picnic with the family and then went over to the stake center for the 6:30 baptism. No one had opened the church or filled the font so we ended up not having the baptism until 8:30. It was a great baptism. I love seeing kids get baptized.  Afterwards we quickly set out for Powell.
We ended up sleeping in the Price Walmart parking lot that night at 1:00 am.  Conner thought sleeping at Walmart was the coolest thing ever.
We then woke up early and drove into Hite. We had the boat in the water by 10:00 am and stayed on the Lake all day.  We cliff dived, swam, wake boarded, tubed, fished and laughed. We then woke up the next day and started all again.  We drove home late that night. It was a quick 48 hours of fun! I'll bet we will do it again soon!

The Red Rock Relay Run!

Snow to Sun, 30 hours, 186 miles, 8,000 foot decent, 12 people, 2 vans! We did it! Had the best time running with 12 other people to reach a great goal. My van had Susie, Tracy, Nancy, Kristi, Annie the other van had Jocyeln, Sam, Jessi, Craig, Aunt Deb, and Tracy's Uncle.  Her aunt and uncle are 65 and they kicked butt.  I was really proud of them running this relay!  It was really hard at times, hot and cold, dead of night dark and afternoon sun bright, no sleep for two days but so fun to accomplish something so hard and fun. I started the whole race by riding up the Brain Head ski lift and then running down a hiking trail to home.  It was 29 degrees at the top and I was freezing at first but quickly warmed up and ran my heart out! My second run was the hot. 5:00 p.m. on a highway running over the freeway and crossing many streets.  My third run was at 3:20 a.m. with no sleep straight up a giant hill.  Our team worked really hard together and always cheered each other on at every stop.  I now have 12 new friends and have the desire to run better, faster and farther! Go Me!! (Now I just need some of my family to enjoy it as much)

MY LOVE OF APPLE

Yesterday I was at the hair salon getting rid of my grey and Scott deposited a check.  From my hair dressers chair with my phone I was able to pay the mortgage, health insurance, phone bill, transfer money to another account.

 I am known to be addicted to my phone but I have to stick up for myself and say it does everything.  I read my books on it, stay connected to people via text, phone, facebook, my schedule and to-do lists are there, the days news, I read my scriptures daily because they are always right there, read and send emails, watch youtube, check what movies are playing and when, track my excersize times and improvements, keep my check register and budget, pay bills ect.....IT DOES EVERYTHING BUT BRUSH MY TEETH AND I LOVE IT!

One of my favorite apps is my Kindle.  I have downloaded at least 40 books now and everyone can read them from their phone or itouches.  Just this past weekend we downloaded Mockingjay (the end of a triology we have all been reading) All four of us girls were able to read it at the same time. I read so much more now because I always have my book with me.

My first half Marathon

I ran a half marathon yesterday.  It was really hard and I was really tired all day after but today I feel great and I'm so glad I accomplished that goal.  I'm going to do a few more and then decide if I really want to go after a marathon.  I'm thinking an Olympic Triathalon may be in order if I can figure out swimming!

Austin the Electrician

Austin has been working for Scott a lot lately.  He is actually now a great worker and employee after years of training.  He can't receive his apprentice license until he is 18 but he will apply for that soon and be on his way to becoming an electrician.  This will be a great skill to get him through school or possibly take over our company one day.

Our new Scout

Funny thing happened the other day.  I went to the Scout office to buy a few things for Austin who is now a full fledged Eagle Scout and to buy Conner his FIRST Scout shirt.  Wow it seems like I just bought Austin his shirt and now he is graduated from Scouting and Conner is just starting up.  Conner is all about it so far.  He already earned his Bobcat and loves working on things in his book, too bad we cant get his Eagle right now while he is super highly motivated!  We have the best leaders in our ward too.  They have already had the opportunity to do sooooo many fun things!

The Neighborhood Bathtub

Conner loves our Jacuzzi.  He wants to play in it almost daily.  Especially he and his buddy Easton.  They will play in there for hours.  One day I walked out and they were acting like big boys all sprawled out talking about who likes who and how all the girls love them ect....

I have started calling the jacuzzi, the neighborhood bathtub and I will not be soaking away in it until winter comes.  If you can imagine all the summer play dirt, sweat, "ect" that goes into that tub! We use tons of chlorine but still! Would you be able to relax in water that just hours earlier held these little guys? I don't think so.

This is how it's done girls!

I am the girls camp leader for the our ward.  This past camp was my 4th year.  Every year I plan for 6 months every little detail of camp.  It is a HUGE job to take care of 26 teenage girls and their leaders for a week.  Entertainment, Menus, Crafts, Little dodads and thoughts, Sleeping, Cleaning and Cooking list...ect!  Every year I get teased by my boys, especially Scott (who is a scout leader), about how much effort and time we put into our camp.  This year the boys went to Sand Hollow and I learned how it is done in Boyville!  Take all the boys shopping with you on the way to your campout (cold cereal breakfast, sandwiches lunch, and a can of chili or stew for dinner) EVERYDAY.  Play hard boating, Repelling, Hiking, Bike Riding, Swimming, WEARING SHORTS AND NO SHIRTS ect....( the girls are allowed to Hike), then pull up to some random church parking lot and spend the night.

All kidding aside, the boys had a great time at scout camp. The real reason they camped in the parking lot was a huge dust storm came in and they had to hustle to pack everything up and move away.  I'm so thankful for all the men in our ward who take time off work to spend with these boys.

Clear Creek for Nikki

Austin loved Clear Creek week. Jess tolerated it and Sidney thought it was OK.  I warned Nikki of this when she wanted to sign up to go.  She of course had to try the week away from family and friends at age 11 for herself.  I knew she would get super home sick but I never dreamed she would cry and have anxiety for weeks before the big event.  It was so hard to send her but I knew this would be one of those giant growing times in life we just have to get through.  She cried and I cried getting her off on the bus.  Once she was there she had a better time then Sid or Jess and had many stories to tell.  Most importantly she learned a valuable lesson that she could do hard things and conquer her fears!  This pic is of all her friends that went with her to clear creek.  Kelsie came home after the first day with a broken leg and showed up to welcome the girls back.

Nikki's first triathalon

We are proud to announce every Snowden girl has completed a tri now.  I really want my kids to learn the love of a great workout and wanting to keep their bodies healthy and happy!  We are an energetic bunch and there is no better way to get the energy our than a great workout!  Nikki ran a mile, biked 3 miles and then swam 300 meters.  She loved it and we all loved cheering her on.  Great Job Nikki!  Next year Women of Steele with us!!

Football season is upon us??

Last night was austins scrimmage game! His first game is this Friday. He just went through "heck"week and hated it. I was so glad for him last night when he went off to a party with all his friends. Waking up for foot all every morning at 7:00 am sucks, having to go back at 3-6 sucks even worse but.... Having football for a straight week from 8am - 9pm is really really SUCKY! Even though Austin is small he works somhard to be a great contributing member of the team. I'm so excited for him. The booster club (which I'm a part of) put together a big luau for the football boys and their families last night. It was so fun. I think everyone enjoyed the night together. I am getting to know tons of new friends through football and I love it.
Conner has started football practices also. He goes 4 times a week. He loves it and is tackling even the biggest kids! He is playing for a mini Viking team right now but always wears his timber wolf jersey to practice. I think it makes the kids want to tackle him more for having a rivalries jersey on. I told conner this and he said he doesn't care he is still going to be a twolf. He then had me buy him a twolf tshirt last night to wear under his jersey! Crazy stubborn kid is going to get into soooooo much trouble one day!

Hard things are just Hard :)

Sidney attended OYA this past week.  The adventurous side of EFY.  I can't say she loved it but she faced a lot of things that were hard for her and took them on full speed.  I couldn't be prouder of her.  She went there all alone and had to make a lot of new friends.  She is a little shy when it comes to this and she said she did a great job.  She faced many fears and did scary hard things everyday.  I've got to post her pictures ASAP when this dang computer will let me.  She spent a day in the pouring rain, slept with bugs and strangers for 4 nights and had a 8 hour bus ride there and back.  She came back saying she never wanted to do it again and wanted to come home after the first day BUT said she was so glad she did it and will never forget all the things that happened that week.  Isn't that what our life is all about? Going through the hard ships to learn and grow and then being thankful for those challneges!  Love You Sidney! You're my Hero and I look up to you in so many ways!!

scotty's B-day

Why can't pictures download on my Blog! Sad day I want to put up my cute pics. I have the most thoughtful husband around. I know I have blogged about his 6 days of Scott before but I really can't get over what a sweet idea it was to come up with and the fact that he takes care of everything himself. I am as surprised as the kids to find out what is next.
Well this year we surprised him with his own scavenger hunt. The kids got together and made it up themselves. They really got revenge on him too. He has sent them on some pretty wild chases looking for their gifts in the past years. Scott was looking high and low, asking for help, and seeming all together lost on some of the clues. He had a blast and so did the kids. In the end he found a great present thought up by Austin

Afterwards we rode our bikes to Magelbys Fresh (Kneaders is 10 times better in price and taste we all decided). We then packed up and took the kids to see SALT. Conner and Nikki went to see DECPICABLE ME for the second time. ( LOved LoVed that Movie) Salt was OK.

AfTer the Movie we decided to run the Provo River. Actually our River has a Few exciting Moments. It was a blast. Then we created CulDeSac Fire with Strawberry Shortcake and Rootbeer Floats and Most of the Family came over.

IT WAS A GREAT BIRTHDAY!!!

Catch up time Again!! National Champs SODC and Sid

Sidney attended LA Dance Magic Nationals is Irvine CA last week! Our family tagged along to play and watch her dance. She informed me the first day that "I am not a part of your family vacation. I am here to dance and that is all I'm going to think about!" HAHA that is certainly what she did. Not only was she only one of two dancers to receive a National Year Long Scholarship in the TEEN division! (The hardest division to win) Her team won nationals! They ended bringing home over $3000.00! It was a great weekend for Sidney! She said she had the time of her life! I love the things dance has given to my girls. They learn dedication, hard work, team work and passion for something they love!! They always have 10 or so best girl friends to help them through the rough times and have confidence that they can do hard things! I hope my girls keep their love of dance through life! :)

Sid's first trip on a plane without us!

Sidney worked hard and earned enough money to travel to Kansas City MO. She left on a Friday afternoon and stayed until late Sunday night! She had a blast there and danced her heart out. She ended up winning a scholarship to Nationals which was very nice! She traveled with ROSIE and LINDSAY and her Mom. She is already working hard to earn more money for the next trip!

WoRking OUt

Susie and I have been trying new things. And trying to push ourselves. We have started biking up the canyon again. We want to do the Alpine Loop in the next few weeks. We started hiking too. We are going to run the RED ROCK run. It is 188 miles in 24 hours with a 12 people relay!! cRAZY I know!! Susie is a great partner for me! We seem to push each other just right!

SNOW CANYON HIKING

NOthings better than a spur of the moment trip out of town. It hasn't been warm enough here so we packed up and headed South for the weekend! We had a blast in ST. George. We swam, layed in the sun, laughed and Hiked through Snow canyon! I love trapping our family together for a Weekend away from home.

5th/6th grade kickball tournament champs!

One of the most EXCITING days of the year is the WINDSOR kick ball tournament. It is sooooo much fun to watch. We now have two champions in our family! Austin's "SHARK" team won when he was in 6th grade and now Nikki's team "EXTREME SPAINARDS" won this year! I think Jess played in a championship game too.

Field Day for Nikki and Conner

This year for field day Nik and Cons danced. Each grade took a different Era and did a dance from that time. Conner did the twist and Nikki danced THRILLER. It was really fun to watch all the kids. Great idea Windsor! They then ran all the races and had a big water fight. I love the kids school. I have been involved in the PTA here since Jess was in Kindergarten. 14 years now. I was PTA president three years and have help almost every other position or helped on every commitee since then! GO WILDCATS!!

Sidney teaches Thriller to the whole 5th grade at Windsor

Brave Sidney took on her first choreographing and teaching job to 70, inexperienced, 5th grade dancers. I was so proud of the way she took charge of those kids and they actually listened to her and learned the dance. They looked great on performance day! Sid didn't get to see them because she was off GETTING HER BRACES OFF! Finally after 2 years and 3 months they came off. Her smile is beautiful!! Great Job Sidney!

Nikki's triathalon

Nikki is my first kid that actually asked me if she could do a tri! Jess did one with us but wasn't ever really that excited about it. Sid has done three now and is always glad she finished when she is done. She even took third place in the 15-18 year old division this year! But it's always me talking her into it. Nikki was really excited for her tri and wants to do another one. She took 11th place out of 24 kids. I thought that was great for her first time. She had to run 1 mile, bike 3 miles and swim 250 meters. Way to go Nikki!

The Two High Schoolers

Sidney is so excited to now be called a Sophmore. Austin and Sidney are dream teens I have to say! I love them, I love their friends, I love that they still hang with our family all the time, and that they make it so easy to be a Mom! I love all their activities, dating, sports, dance, ym yw, jobs! It's all a blast! They have always been best buddies and now they get to face high school together! Austin's last year of school. Only 18 months and he'll be on his mission. Wow. I'm already fretting that. I'm not ready to lose another kids :( . They must grow up and you just sit back and hope you taught them enough as a Mom and they half listened....haha!

The Baptism

Right up there with one of the best days of a Mom's life was Austin baptizing Conner. So cool to see both my boys in white and having Conner be Austin's first baptism. Conner took it all very seriously. By the time we got to the baptism room he was nothing but smiles! He even tried to be really good all day Saturday! :) Stephanie gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost and then Scott confirmed him the next day! I can hardly believe my little boy is growing up so fast!

Austin's first Gig

Austin played at the "battle of the bands" friday night. I'd like to say it was great to see him perform but....we missed it! Ugh I thought it was at 7:30 but when we got there Austin had already played his three songs. We enjoyed watching everyone else though! I came home and found it all on you tube! So here are the fake pictures I stole of facebook to make it look as though I saw the whole thing. Here's hoping that wasn't his first and last show!

Allanna's Wedding!

Our niece Allanna married Cory Junck this past weekend. The wedding and reception were so much fun. All the families mingled and had a blast together. We ate danced and celebrated a fun happy day! We all love Cory and he has fit into our family wonderfully. He was an only child and so he loves being around family and playing with the kids. Austin especially loves the fact that Cory now shows up to all the Snowden family functions. He is a great baseball player, singer and in the Army with Allanna. That is how they meet. It is super fun to add to the family! :)