The Seven Super Snowdens

Turkey Day

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:19:00 +0000

We had a great Thanksgiving Day! Our family ran in the Turkey run. Sid, Austin, Scott and I ran the 4 mile run. Nikki ran a mile run and Conner ran a half mile. I'm so Thankful to my kids for putting up with my ideas, I'm sure they think are lame, and being such great sports. The kids then went off to play football while Sid and I cleaned house. Sid made all our food we had to take to Grandmas this year. It was great for me. Grandma Stalkers was a blast. Everyone was in a great spirit and we had so much fun just eating, laughing, playing games and watching football. We got home around 9:30 and all went to bed exhausted!

Our Mornings

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Try to wake Conner up
Get a Diet Coke and Fiber One Bar out and eat to wake Mom up
The girls do their hair together in my bathroom
Try to wake Conner up
Austin goes out the backdoor and walks through the gate to High School
Sid's Jr High carpool picks her up
Make Conner get up, he then gets dressed in my room next to the fire
Take Nik and Conner to school by 8:00
Mom goes back to bed! (just kidding)

Wedding Dress Shopping!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:18:00 +0000

This is not "THE" dress but we had a blast today wedding dress shopping! We found the perfect dress at the perfect price after only 2 stores and 2 hours of trying on dresses. Jess looked beautiful in everything she put on. It was so fun to see her so Happy :).. It looks like we are shooting for a March wedding so we need to kick everything into gear! Here is a pic they took on the day they got engaged. Chase proposed to Jess on the top of the tram. It sounds like it was very romantic. We need Jess to post a comment here and tell us all about it...haha! I only got bits and pieces of the story. Anyways we are going to be busy busy busy for the next 3 months to make this happen. It should make the January, Febuary blues stay away!

Our Bucket List!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:23:00 +0000

For the past few months I have been making a List of 50 things I want to do by 50. It has been really great thinking of all the things I want to accomplish. While we were on our road trip I finished it up and helped Scott start a list. I think I'm going to start a blog about it so I can document the things I do as I finish them. Here is a sample of a few of the things on my list.

Run a half marathon

Take kids to New York

Go to Mexico on a service mission

Prepare Austin for a full time mission

Learn to cook bread well

Read the Book of Mormon two times a year

Grow a great garden

Hike Angels Landing!!!...Check that one off

Our 21st anniversary adventure!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:05:00 +0000

Scott came home from work on Saturday early and we headed to the BYU game. On the way to the game I reminded him it was our ammiversary the next day. We have been very tight on money so no presents but I told him we should go on a cheap road trip. So we called Aunt Cam to come stay with our kids and we took off. We drove to Cedar City and bargained a room for 50 bucks! The next morning we woke up and drove to Zion's National Park. I have been wanting to hike Angel's Landing. Scott agreed and we headed up. Wow I didn't realize it was so scary and high. It was only a 5 mile round trip but the whole last mile is straight up with chains. Very cool. After our hike we took highway 89 to Bryce Canyon. We got there really late, so no hiking, but very beautiful. Our kids would have died of boredom on our road trip but for us it was great!

$$$$$

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:07:00 +0000

So money has been very tight these past 6 months. The construction world has come almost to a dead stop. We have at least been lucky enough to find some work in the past month but still are just scraping by. I've always been an avid coupon and sale shopper but lately I've been finding it a challenge. I have been trying to send in at least 50.00 in rebates or free items. The checks are coming in now and it is really fun. Now if we just didn't need the cash I could save it up for some great purse or pair of shoes.

Our biggest expenses right now: Dance, College tuition, the 5 Iphones we pay for, and who could forget the two teenagers and a Mom, that has been in three accidents, insurance bill! Good thing I can keep our food bill down!

Dance Date Asking and Answering

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:56:00 +0000

Austin was asked to Sadies this past week. I think this is at least 15 times now I have had to help come up with an original way to ask or answer a dance ( and it's only child #2). It is getting difficult. Luckily we have the internet.

This time Austin actually came up with his own answer. After his cute date asked him with a bowl of Goldfish and they had died by the next morning :(. He wanted to answer her back by giving her the fish bowl and dead fish back and saying "I'd have to be belly-up not to go to the dance with you!"

We opted on crushing graham crackers like sand and putting swedish fish on the sand belly-up with the same saying!

Our Thespian

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Conner starred in his first play yesterday. He was so excited to be play the old man in their class stone soup play. I had to be there early and sit on the front row and take pics and video. He did such a great job. They had only practiced once and he had to follow along with the play and had many many speaking (reading) parts. He has really become a great reader these past few months! You were awesome!

Sidney recieves her YW award

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:46:00 +0000

Sidney earned her YW award at the ripe old age of 14. Most girls are struggling to get this by the time they graduate. I'm so proud of her for working so hard at all her goals and getting it done so early. She has really grown in the past year. She is a great girl and we love her so much. We rented the racquetball room at Noah's to celebrate with Sid. We had Terriyaki Bowl (her favorite) and played all night while we watched Monday Night Football. Sidney also performed for the first time with Senior Company this past weekend. I was so impressed with her. She fit right in with those girls and looked great! :)

My little brother Mike

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:35:00 +0000

My brother Mike and I were always best friends growing up. We took care of each other and played together everyday! Now we are all grown up and have our own families. He has 4 kids under 6 and I have 5 over 6. He got started a lot later than me on his family but it is really fun to see all his cute kids. Sophie, Gracie, Max and Olivia!

Tori's Funeral

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:52:00 +0000

This Friday we all attended the funeral of one of Jessi's great friends Tori. her story is below. Jess and other dance friends cried, smiled, laughted and sang as they said goodbye to Tori. She was such a strong example of sacrifice and strength. We are glad she is in a better place "dancing with angels"

Tori's Story

Submitted by Tim Schmanski on Sat, 2009-11-07 00:00.

Tori Schmanski is our beautiful, brilliant, talented and vibrant 16 year old daughter who sustained a ABI (Anoxic Brain Injury) in an automobile accident on Fathers Day, June 19th, 2005. The accident involved Tori, her sister Whitney and two of their cousins. The vehicle they were all in rolled 1.5 times and landed upside down in a canal and everyone except Tori was able to swim out of the vehicle.

Whitney and her cousin were in the back seat of the two door vehicle and both of them distinctly remember being pushed out of the driver's side window and we truly believe it was Tori who saved their lives. This heroic action exemplifies the type of person Tori is. Tori has always focused her attention on helping and supporting others and her life revolved around her friends and family.

Tori was originally in the front passenger seat with her seat belt on and she was eventually removed from the back seat of the submerged vehicle by members of the EMT team after 15-20 minutes. She was then resuscitated and brought back to us during the 10 minute ambulance ride to the local hospital. At the hospital she was immediately stabilized and then Life Flighted to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) at the PCMC (Primary Childrens Medical Center) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tori also had to be resuscitated again during her hour long flight to the PCMC.

Tori has been fighting for her life ever since and has overcome the incredible odds against her survival. The PICU medical staff originally had little faith in Tori surviving from the severe lung damage sustained in the accident but she fought through it and her lungs are fully recovered at this point. They also believed Tori's brain was without oxygen for an estimated 25 minutes and the resulting anoxic brain damage would leave her at best, in a completely vegetative state. But we have personally witnessed incredible and miraculous activity from Tori including fully awake and aware states, responsiveness to sound and sight, body motion, smiling, laughing and crying among other things. Tori seems to demonstrate new improvement and behavior with each passing day.

Brothers......

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:42:00 +0000

When we decided to have another kid the main reason was we wanted a brother for Austin. Conner is a great little brother. He gives Austin just enough trouble to keep him on his toes, and visa versa Austin is a fun ig brother and keeps conner in line. They have a lot of fun messing around and beating each other. They are both great to me and tell me they love me everyday. They even got all dressed up in their football clothes just so I could do a photo shoot with them on a Saturday afternoon!

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:38:00 +0000

WHAT A FUN HALLOWEEN! We thought it was going to be sooo cold and then it turned out to be a perfect night. We started our holiday out with a piano recital starring Austin, Conner and Nikki. They all played perfectly. Austin was such a great sport to dress up and play at the recital with all the little kids. He was a hit. We always have fun dressing up and this year was no different. We headed to the Wilkeys and had chili and treats for dinner before the kids headed out for some trick or treating fun. Every year the Wilkey's set a big fire up in there yard and all the adults sit around and talk to all the parents of the trick or treaters. Lisa makes hot coco for everyone that comes by. Conner and Nikki got a lot of candy this year. Too much!! Austin and Sidney both went to parties and we didn't see them all night. Around 9:00 pm we headed around to see the grandmas and grandpas. Now on to Thanksgiving!

Big and Little Sisters

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:55:00 +0000

This Sunday I told the kids they had to deep clean their rooms. Sidney's room was a mess ( especially her closet) Nikki and Austin quickly cleaned up. Sidney was a little slower with the process. She finally somehow convinced Nikki to "help" her. I found out Sid told Nikki if she cleaned her closet she would give Nikki all her change that was in a shoe box. Nikki worked hard not knowing how much she was working for but wanting to help her big sister out. When all the work was done Nikki happily counted out 14.00 of change while Sidney protested saying she had no idea there was that much money in the box! Too bad for Sidney, she had a very happy little sister. ( actually Nikki ended up only taking about 7.00 because she didn't want to be too unfair)

All the Pretty Girls!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Jessi was a brides maid for the first
time this past August. Shauna got
married to one of Chase's friends
Derek. They got married in the Salt
Lake temple and had a nice
reception at Thanksgiving Point.
They all had a really great day
together and everyone looked
great. We are all so excited for
Shauna and wish them nothing but
happiness.

Nikki's eleventh birthday never ends!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:29:00 +0000

My beautiful, sweet, kind, helpful, smart Nikki turned 11 this past week and what a celebration we had! We started out her birthday eve with a showing of Thriller with all the girls. The next day was her actual birthday and I checked her out for a birthday lunch at Red Robin and some clothes shopping. Friday was a friend of hers birthday and they went to cornbelly's and played all night. Saturday was her friend party at Color-Me-Mine. Monday night we celebrated as a family at Brick Oven. Then last but not least today Wed. her best friend Kirsty and her mom took her to build-a-bear because she had missed her color-me-mine party! No one is better than getting more out of a birthday than Nikki. She is already talking about next years celebration!

Fall trips to Park City

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:05:00 +0000

Every fall since the kids were tiny and we could afford it, we have gone to Park City on a fall trip. We play at the Alpine Slide and enjoy the fall colors. We always end up on Main Street in Park City eating at the Pizza and Noodle Company. Yummy Yummy! They have the best cheesy garlic bread you will ever taste! We also always have to end the day with a little outlet shopping and of course.....a carmel apple from the "Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory"

Biking up South Fork

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:08:00 +0000

I have discovered a LOVE of road biking. Out of the three tri sports I really like biking the best. It doesn't hurt my feet like running and I'm not fearful of drowning. Nothing is more fun than biking up the mountain knowing you get to come down at the end. It reminds me of all the hard work in life we do to enjoy the ride! The Southfork ride is 13 miles up from our front door. It was a little cold this October afternoon but so fun. I'm glad I talked my better half into going with me today. It was a great cheap date (until we ended up going to Magelbys for dinner when we got down) Good thing I burned so many calories. That Magelbys carrot cake is sooo tasty!

Conference Camping

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:03:00 +0000

We have made a tradition of going camping over conference weekend. We really enjoy each other all weekend and listen to a lot of conference. We played football and motorcycled. It rained hard all night and we did not get the best night of sleep but it was really fun! I am surprised at how much our kids love camping. Everyone of them, except Jess ( who is really busy with her fiance) including Sidney loves to camp and always wants to go. We heard a lot of great talks but the one all my kids really remember and enjoyed was Elder Hollands testimony of the Book of Mormon. He bore a very strong testimony and it was a blessing to hear. We drove home Sunday during the morning session and after big breakfast.

Ozzy and the JV football team!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Watching Austin this year has been so fun! He plays starting Defensive Corner. He works really hard at 3 hour practices everyday. He has football games on Thursday and Friday. He got an interception in the endzone last game. We have waited years for him to be able to play football in our backyard and now he does. We have a gate to the football field in our backyard. We love living right behind the high school. They are great neighbors and we love that our kids can walk right out the door and get to school every morning!

First Day of School!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:08:00 +0000

The first day of school is always exciting but never looked forward to in the Snowden household. It always seems like the summer is much too short! This year was no different. I have to say now that it has happened I am liking the more scheduled lifestyle. We gave fathers blessings on the Thursday before school started and gave everyone a little gift. So far Conner has Mrs. Christensen and likes her, Nikki has Ms. Lunt and loves her, Sidney loves 9th grade and Austin is enjoying High School. Everyone of them can't wait until summer is here again! :)

Conner and Football

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:11:00 +0000

Little kid tackle football is the cutest thing I have ever watched. I love football and really have enjoyed watching Conner learn the game. They actually run plays and hold lines and work really hard. He has practice every Mon. Tues. and Friday for two hours. Then on Saturday they play games. Conner comes home wet and sweaty after every game and practice. He loves playing and is always excited to go to practice. Last game he landed on a fumbled ball at the end of the game and this week he sacked the quarterback on the last play of the game. On the way home he told me that he was the reason his team always won. Is it good to have such confidence at a young age? I just went with it and said " Yep you and your team are the reason you always win!" He was happy with that.

Austin Homecoming :)

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Homecoming 2009 was Austin's first big boys choice dance. He asked a cute girl named Shannon Tuttle by hanging a pinata in her yard and putting a message in it. She answered him by sending him on acrazy scavenger hunt which ended with her answer inside her decorated locker. After much pestering by Austin's Sisters and Mother...haha, he was ready to go. They took the girls to a tumbling gym and then to the park for games and lunch. Lisa and I set up Dinner for the kids in her backyard. She had twinkle lights hung and we had the little kids serve them. The kids seemed to really enjoy the non stress of having a nice dinner outside. It was so fun to see all these rowdy boys who are at my house all the time become perfect gentlemen and treat their dates very well. They spent a few hours at the dance. Austin showed up only 13 minutes past curfew. I had waited up for him and all I got for my efforts was "It was fun Mom. I'm tired I'll tell you about it in the morning" When Jess would come home from date dances she would tell my who was there, who had cute dresses, who went with who and everything they did! BOYS just don't understand a Mom's need to know all the details..haha!

Nikki's first Duo

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Nikki finally got to do an extra performance. Jess choreographed a Duo for her and Lexi. She had so much fun practicing with Jess and perforning at 4 different competitions. I was a proud Momma and loved watching them perform!

Our California Trip!

noreply@blogger.com (sandi snowden) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:29:00 +0000

We had so much fun on our trip to California. We were there to watch Sidney compete at LA Dance Magic Nationals but had a lot of fun doing other things. We rented a house and had grandma and grandpa, Rick and Erin, our whole family and Chase stay with us. We did Disneyland, Hollywood, Sea World, the beach, and an Angels game! We had a swimming pool at our home and swam every spare minute! Disney wasn't crowded at all and we did not wait in any lines.