The Seven Super Snowdens

Crazy Mom and here first century ride!

2011-09-18T09:50:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty sure my kids think I am crazy!! This Saturday I went on a century bike ride! 6.5 hours on a bike seat. We traveled through beautiful farmlands and the temperature was perfect. It went well but by mile 80 I wanted it to be done. By mile 90 I was exhausted and it seemed like there were a lot of hills. It was really hard. Jo Smith, Jolene Nosak and I made it though. We were very compatible with each other and had a lot of fun together.

Austin Received his mission call.

2011-09-18T09:36:00.000-06:00

We are crazy excited in our house this week. Austin's call came on Wednesday and we had the whole family over for the big event. Austin wanted to open it with his family and then take his friends to Tuchanos for dinner and tell them all where he would be going. He has been called to serve in IRELAND/SCOTLAND!!! We were all so surprised but we all think it will be so perfect! Foreign country, English Language, beautiful, modern conveniences, totally different way of life, beautiful, great mission! He was thrilled! I'm so proud as his Mom of his choice to sacrifice two years of his life for this gospel and to being a better way of life to the people of Ireland and Scotland.

Too Much of a Good Thing!

2011-09-11T20:30:00.000-06:00

We were so busy this summer it didn't even seem like a summer! We had a blast but I was exhusted. We just had to go to Lake Powell a week into school. It was beautiful and fun but I felt really tired the whole trip and could have gone home to my little bed at any moment. The rest of the fam on the other hand couldn't get enough of "Fun in the Sun" We did a lot of exploring and wake boarding. Conner got up for the first time and was an instant pro. I got up easily this year and had a great time. Nikki is jumping now and Scott is just a crazy man. The big kids stayed home once again. They are just too busy for us or they figured out how fun it is to stay home alone.

Awakening

2011-08-29T07:45:00.000-06:00

If I want to get in all the training I do everyday I have to wake up at 5:15!! I have never been a morning person and don't know if I will ever become one. It is hard every day but once I am out running, watching the sunrise, it makes me happy! I am always glad I woke up to get in my run! Now if I could only feel that way when I'm lying in bed at 5:15 not wanting to get up! I have to tell myself "You will be glad you did this" Since school started I have been running, climbing...with one set of friends at 5:30 and then at 8:30 I have been biking and hiking. I love it all! I'm in the best shape of my life (which is sad since I'm 44 ) I sure wish I would have figured this exercise thing out a long time ago.

First Day of School! 2011

2011-08-23T22:16:00.000-06:00

This day describes my family to the tee....Went out front to take pictures and Austin wouldn't put down his cereal because it isn't his first day of school. Sidney came home from school telling me how much she hates school and how many days left until summer. Nikki walked through the door singing and telling us what a great day she had. Conner spent all afternoon telling me every minute of every conversation he had with every person he saw at school today. My day was spent...waking at 5:00 and running, cleaning house and sending kids off, going on a bike ride to south fork, getting my hair done, going to lunch with Jennie and then deep cleaning Conners room. It was a great first day of school!!!

FAthers BlessingS and the Start of scHool!

2011-08-22T23:15:00.000-06:00

Tonight was a huge night for the Snowden's. First we finished Austin's mission papers and have sent them off to the bishop. We are hoping the bishop and stake president call him in quickly and he gets his call in the next few weeks. Ahhhhhh so bitter sweet! I'm so excited for this new adventure in our families lives but we will miss him so much!!

Scott also gave all the kids a sweet back to school fathers blessing tonight. Our kids love this night and love hearing all the spirit and heart felt words of their Dad. Scott is a man of few words but the things he blesses them with are important to them and so special. I always give the boys a present of a grocery bag filled with back to school goodies and the girls some sort of momento. This year they got gift cards to jamba juice and subway.

Tomorrow the first day of school is here. I'll miss everyone. It's been a great summer!

Summer..is over and I'm going to catch up on blogging! I promise!

2011-08-17T22:44:00.000-06:00

Summer was crazy, busy! It was fun but now I wish we still had a few weeks to catch up. We played hard all summer and didn't get to do everything we wanted to but had a blast! I need to blog about Yellowstone, Jordanelle, sending in Austin's mission papers, California and dance nationals, our family Jordanelle trip, the heat, and various other things. For now I am posting this so I can remember it all and come tomorrow with some great pictures and posting.

Graduation from Seminary

2011-05-22T21:32:00.000-06:00

Tonight was the first event of the end of the school year season. Austin graduating from seminary. It is all so bitter sweet. As a Mom you begin to see the end of your kids needing you so much and since that is my full time job I don't really like losing it. I am so proud of my Austin though! He has the sweetest spirit about him. He has touched our whole family in so many ways. I want to cherish every moment until he leaves on his mission because I know it is where he should be and it will be so good for him but we are going to miss him so much!!!

Lady GAGA

2011-03-20T14:27:00.000-06:00

Aunt Camie bought Lady Gaga tickets for Sid and Dan forever ago. Well the big night was last night. Sidney was so excited to go to her first concert. She thought it was the best thing ever. Aunt Camie said she only had to hid here eyes 3 times and cover her ears a few times...haha! Good thing she has a great Aunt who will spoil her. She even came home with a GaGa shirt so it was a very good night!

Austin....coming to an end.

2011-03-20T14:20:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was all about Austin! Friday night was his last high school battle of the bands. They played so great. It has been so fun to see how much they have improved over this year. It was also the final games of church ball. Our Priest team this year was really good. They won our stake tournament and went to regionals. They made it all the way to the semi finals and then lost! They fought such a hard battle but just couldn't get it done in the end. All these events with Austin are so bitter sweet as we come to an end of his high school life. He is growing into such a great young man and I couldn't be prouder of him :)!

I'm a Sub!

2011-03-20T14:16:00.000-06:00

I've gone back to work. I started substitute teaching and I'm really thinking it's the best job I could have with my vast schooling and experience! I can work when I want, work the kids hours, and get to be with kids all day. It's taking a little adjusting to. My house isn't nearly as clean and organized as I like and I've had to have the kids ride their bikes to several after school events but all in all I think it's my best option for now. We also started cleaning Studio One one night a week. Sid, Nik and Cons all help and we are usually out of there pretty quick. I think it's great the kids can help earn money for their very expensive talent! Austin has been working with Scott a lot lately and I am so thankful that his Daddy can teach him a great trade that he can always use to help support his schooling and maybe even take over our business one day. :) As a family we have been supportive of each other through these past hard times and have grown closer. I LOVE my family!

Sidney's a Queen

2011-03-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

When Jess started doing solo's we went to a lot of competitions that gave out crowns to the winners of dance. Sidney was always wanting one of her crowns. That became less popular or we started going to comps that didn't give away crowns. Well this past weekend Sidney finally won Queen Solo Dancer! She got her crown and wore it proudly.

Basketball Season

2011-03-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

I love the change of seasons and the change of sports!! Basketball is on and with Austin playing J Jazz and Church Ball, Nikki playing J Jazz and church ball and Conner playing his first year of J Jazz we had enough games a week in our family to keep us hopping. Then we tried to add in watching our Cougars and Jazz! Our whole winter has been a Madness. The kids have loved playing ball and we have loved watching them. Austin is a crazy hustler and really fun to watch, Nikki rebounds like crazy and it is so cook to see my daughter play under the basket. She is actually one of the tallest girls in J Jazz. Conner is aggressive and turning into a great shooter. Conner doesn't go anywhere without his ball. He loves going to his brother and sisters games just so he can shoot at time outs and half time. Scotty coached Conners little team and had a blast. We took all the little boys to a Cougar game at the end of the season and had a blast!

Our first time to Phoenix.

2011-03-12T21:41:00.002-07:00

Sidney earned a year long scholarship to LA Dance Magic and really wanted to use it at least once. We decided a few months ago we would travel in the motor home to Phoenix. None of us had ever been there and it would be warm in March. We enjoyed the 80 degree weather, swimming, a spring training game between the Oakland A's and the San Fran Giants, and a 10k race. The girls danced their hearts and legs out! All in all a fast fun trip. The ride home was very long. We left at 6:00 pm and drove until 1:00 am. Once again we stopped at a Walmart to get a few hours of shut eye in. Scott woke up at 5:00 and took off again. We were home be 9:30am.

We all decided it was fun but we never need to go back to Arizona again. Not really a fan of sand, cactuses and brown. No offense to all you retirees who love it there!

Our Church callings!

2011-02-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

Scotty has been in Young Mens since Austin was 12 (6 years) and I have been in Young Womens since Jess was 12 (8 years) We love working with the youth in our ward. I just got a new calling as Stake Assistant Camp Leader. I get to work with Awesome women with such great testimonies and they are so fun too. I love planning and working on camp. Our Theme this year is Recieve the Holy Ghost your constant companion. I have to speak to all the Young Women leaders next week and then speak to the whole stake at camp. That is a little scary but I'm ready to take on the challenge.

Austin and the Battle of the Bands

2011-02-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

Austin's Band No name Needed went to the semi-regionals in Sandy this past Saturday. Wow! It was so fun to see Austin perform on a live stage. He plays non-stop at home but it's hard to tell how good he is getting until we say him perform. His band was did pretty good but Austin rocked! All his practicing is definately paying off in big ways. He got really good comments from all the judges too. We have the video posted on you tube under no name needed 1 and no name needed 2. Check them out!!

Temple Tuesday

2011-02-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Once a month my girlfriends and I are going to the temple! We want to visit a different temple every month and then of course go to lunch. Our first temple was the draper temple. We had taken the kids to the open house but I hadn't gone through a session there. It was beautiful. I love the comfort and strength I feel everytime I go to the temple. Now Scott and I just need to work on getting there once a month also. We also want to take the kids to do baptisms again very soon.

You've been Jimmered! Goodbye Coach Sloan! Tons of games!

2011-02-11T21:24:00.001-07:00

Our family (except Sidney) love to watch and play Sports. Our BYU basketball team is rated number 7 in the nation right now. They have a great player Jimmer Fredette! He is up for the national college player of the year. He is incredible and we got to watch him in person play the number 4 team San Diego State. It was the funnest game I have ever been to. It was also the loudest game I've ever been to. We ended up winning the game and it was so fun!

Yesterday Jerry Sloan, the forever coach of The Utah Jazz resigned. What a great man and coach he has been for the past 20 something years. We will miss you and appreciate all you have done for our community and your team. Coach Ty Corbin has taken over and we are hoping he has as much success or more!

We are very busy with basketball season right now. Austin plays two games on Saturdays, Conner plays one and Nikki plays two. 5 kids games a week is crazy but fun! All the kids are hustlers on the court and very fun for their competitive mom to watch!

A few of Nikki's 6th grade adventures

2011-02-11T21:13:00.001-07:00

All my kids have participated in the NOVA program. It is a drug awareness program put on by the Orem City police department. All the kids had to write a talk about what they would do to stay off drugs. Nikki got picked to read her talk at NOVA graduation. I have to admit I was really impressed with her speech. You easily forget how much your kids are growing up day to day. She is growing into a great young woman.

The next week the 6th grade had a mock trial. Nikki was a defense attorney defending the witch from the Hansel and Gretel story. The parents got to come watch and be a part of the jury! I had to help convict the witch (Nikki wasn't very happy with me) but it was fun to see the kids be a part of this process. Nikki is loving 6th grad and it is going by very quickly!

Family Prayer and Scripture Study and some hard times

2011-01-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

Family Prayer has never really been a problem at the Snowden house. We meet together every night around 9:30 and pray. Everyone has an assigned night so we know when it is our turn. Scipture Study has been OK as a family we have read through the BOM 3.5 times now. Which is really slow. Some nights everyone is just too tired, including me. Some nights everyone is too silly and a lot of nights we have watched general conference talks instead of reading the scriptures. This year we need to try harder to follow the advice of our leaders and be more consistent with our reading. I know it will bring greater blessings to our family and we need to help Austin prepare for his mission!

I just got a new calling to be the Assistant Camp Leader for our Stake. I am really excited and love all the ladies on my board. I have to give a devotional the first morning of camp to all the YW and leaders of the Stake. I am a little nervous about this but have a lot of time to prepare so I'll be fine! :)

We have had a hard couple of years financially in our home. The economy has hit very hard and the construction world has been the recipient of it's wrath. Somehow Scott has found enough work to keep us afloat but our income has been cut to almost 1/3 of what it was. We are really weighing in on me getting a job outside the home. The problem is I have no formal education. (Girls get your education finished :)) If I'm going to work outside the home I want it to at least be helping our family more than hurting it so we are going to start praying and looking at what is our there for me :) The roller coaster of life has us on a slow climb upward now and I can't wait to get to the top again! :)

Austin's Blessing

2011-01-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today we had a very special morning. My Austin received his patriarchal blessing from Orlo McQuewen. The McQuewens were such a sweet couple and invited us into their home and let us know how awesome they thought Austin was and got to know us in the first half an hour. Brother McQuewen then went on to give Austin a very touching special blessing. I was crying through the whole thing of course. Scott and Austin were both very touched by it also. I'm so excited to get it in the mail so we can read it over and over and save it away somewhere very safe for him. All these steps are just helping me realize how grown up he is becoming. And most of all how PROUD I am of the Young Man he is becoming.

The Girls Awesome Studio One Concert

2011-01-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

This year I was so excited for the Benefit Concert. I hadn't seen any of the girls dances since they started learning them. It's always fun to get a peak at the choreography you'll be cheering for all year. It is Nikki's first year on a major company team. She is on Juniors this year. That was another reason I was excited to watch. She did great. I loved all the dances. Usually some of them have to grow on me but I really loved all of them. Sidney's senior team is full of Studio One lifers. It is crazy to see all these girls who have danced together since they were three now in High School and performing like pro's! It's going to be a super fun year!

Do we live in Antarctica??

2011-01-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

It is soooooo freaking cold!! I'm soooooo tired of it! The ground is frozen. The snow from weeks ago is still on the ground and the roads. I can't get up the desire to go and run because ice is still all over the sidewalks. I have a ski pass but I don't want to go up into the cold for the day to ski! All I want to do is snuggle up next to my fire, with my blankie, in my jammies and watch T.V. This is not the best training for all my races I have coming up but I'll just keep enjoying my excuse to be LAZY!!

Conner isn't SPOILED

2011-01-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

The kids are always saying I spoil Conner buy I think everyone in the family is to blame for this. I constantly see the big kids giving in to him and making him feel like he is king of the home. This day at a pool in SLC cracked me up. I know Conner was thinking " Ha Ha once again I've got my brother and sisters right where I want them. I told Conner my New Years goal was to make him more obedient and nicer. He wanted to make sure I had a resolution for every kid. I had to think about that and made one for everyone. Most of them involve spending more time one on one with each of my kids rather it be skiing, lunch or pedi's. Every week I'm going to take a different kid myself.

AUSTIN 18 AND A SENIOR

2011-01-08T15:36:00.003-07:00

Austin turned 18 this month. It's so hard to believe. This could be our last Christmas with him for two years. We are getting him ready for college and he is taking his classes to become an elder. I remember so much about his youth and what a great kid he has always been. I'm excited to see the awesome man he is going to become and I love him so dang much. I better enjoy every minute of him this year!

Never too old for SANTA

2011-01-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

Moab

2011-01-05T16:54:00.001-07:00

We went to Moab with our great friends the Wilkeys. We had never taken our family there and I have no idea why. We had so much fun. We mountain biked all over. We hiked the arch. We went Jeeping over crazy things. It was so scary but I loved it. Once again we slept in the motor home as a family. We are getting very used to the squishy motor home. We will spend a lot more time in Moab in our near future!

Our Christmas 2010

2011-01-05T16:47:00.001-07:00

As usual we played all Christmas Break! We went to a Jazz game, the nutcracker, festival of the trees, bought Christmas for an angel, saw a few movies and went skiing. Christmas Eve we spent with the Stalker family. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and Jess came down for Christmas Eve and stayed for Christmas morning. It was so good to have the whole family around for a night. We cut way back this Christmas with our spending but you wouldn't of been able to tell by the excitement of the house. I got great deals on Amazon.com and made our dollars really stretch. Austin got an amp he really wanted, Sid and Jess got new iphone 4's, Nikki got a used computer,and Conner got a lot of fun toys. This year Conner figured out the Santa secret and it was really sad. I think we will just keep leaving Santa out and pretending that he came because it is so fun. I don't want to give that all up.

Skiing at Sundance

2011-01-05T16:36:00.001-07:00

This year our whole family got Sundance ski passes. We have already been 4 times! Turns out to be a cheap family activity once you pay for the passes, the ski's, the snowboards, the ski outfits, the lost gloves, the hot hands, the new helmets you feel guilty not buying for the safety of you children and last but least the sundance chili and nachos that taste extra yummy when you come in from the cold. We sure have fun though and everyone is getting really good. It is beautiful up there if it would just warm up a titch!

Cousins

2011-01-05T07:11:00.001-07:00

We went to festival trees again this year with the cousins. The next week we had a huge cousin sleepover with all the Stalker side kids. It was a blast. We cooked, made ginger bread houses, and danced. We hung out at Pirate Island for hours, everyone got a ballon animal and tons of tickets. All the cousins then slept together on the family room floor and watched Kung Fu Panda. The next morning we loaded them all into Grandma's van and took them to Kripsy Kreme in their pajamas. This has become an Aunt Sandi tradition that they all expect when they sleep over at our house. We came home and gathered everyone up and they went home. Now that I have no more little ones in the house I really appreciate those little ones so much more. They are just adorable! Kids, I'm not in a hurry but it makes me excited to be a fun, spoiling grandma!

The New Year!

2011-01-05T07:03:00.001-07:00

Another year has come and gone. 2010 was a pretty good year. We did a ton of stuff as a family together. We all grew emotionally and spiritually through various trails thrown our way. We had some great trips to Moab, Disneyland, and San Franciso. Excited for the new year and all it has to give. Bring it on we are ready to face the good and the bad. ( Hopefully more good times)

Conner, the Incident, and some great things.

2010-11-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-21T19:14:00.001-07:00

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

2010-11-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

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 *&%#$%^^^%$$#

2010-11-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-26T10:51:00.000-06:00

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

2010-09-21T21:51:00.001-06:00

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!!!

2010-09-21T21:44:00.001-06:00

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

2010-09-12T13:56:00.000-06:00

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

2010-09-12T12:35:00.001-06:00

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!

2010-09-12T12:20:00.002-06:00

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

2010-09-02T07:45:00.000-06:00

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

2010-08-22T16:52:00.000-06:00

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

2010-08-22T16:49:00.000-06:00

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

2010-08-22T08:56:00.000-06:00

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

2010-08-22T08:48:00.000-06:00

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!

2010-08-22T08:40:00.000-06:00

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

2010-08-22T08:27:00.000-06:00

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

2010-08-22T08:20:00.000-06:00

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??

2010-08-15T08:27:00.000-06:00

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 :)

2010-07-31T08:53:00.000-06:00

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

2010-07-31T08:31:00.003-06:00

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

2010-07-18T21:42:00.003-06:00

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!

2010-06-16T19:43:00.002-06:00

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

2010-06-16T19:33:00.003-06:00

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

2010-06-16T19:20:00.002-06:00

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!

2010-06-16T19:02:00.002-06:00

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

2010-06-16T18:54:00.002-06:00

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

2010-06-16T18:48:00.004-06:00

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

2010-06-16T18:42:00.003-06:00

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

2010-06-16T18:34:00.002-06:00

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

2010-05-11T21:08:00.003-06:00

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

2010-05-11T20:58:00.002-06:00

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!

2010-05-11T20:50:00.002-06:00

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! :)

Austin and jr. prom

2010-05-11T20:46:00.003-06:00

Austin took Khloe Arledge to Junior Prom. It was her 16th birthday on prom so she was very excited! We had a group of 20 kids to our house for breakfast. They then took all the girls paint balling. The Mom's did not think this was a great idea! They all had so much fun! Prom night was at the Meyers home and then had fun dancing!

Sidney makes TDT :)

2010-05-11T20:43:00.002-06:00

Sidney has wanted to be on TDT since she was little watching them oerform from our backyard at football games. It wasn't really a suprise to her Mom when she made it but it was a relief. Another one of her dreams come true! She is going to rock it on the high school dance team. Sid is soooooo excited to be in High School and be involved in all the fun!

Pismo Beach

2010-05-09T21:15:00.003-06:00

Scott drove our family down to Pismo Beach and then he and Sidney had a little father, daughter time and drove home! Scott had to get home to work and Sidney needed to be home for TDT tryouts. As a kid I spent a week almost every summer in Pismo Beach. It was my Aunt Aleta's 70th birthday party so we decided to hang out with them for a few days. We went to the beach every day and rode sleds down the sand dunes. Conner loved the dunes. He could have stayed there all day every day! I missed Scott and Sidney but it was really relaxing and we had a lot of fun visiting with a lot of relatives my kids have never met and I hadn't seen since I was a kid.

San Francisco Day 2

2010-04-18T23:11:00.004-06:00

Day two we took bart into town again and went on the Alcatraz tour. Scotty and I went on this same tour 20 years ago. They have improved it and it was really great. Our kids loved seeing all the cells and hearing all the stories of the inmates and guards. It was hard for them to believe people had to live like that. We then went to the Sour Dough factory and watched them make sour dough into cool animals. We bought a turtle made of dough and ate the whole thing. We spent a little time walking around the Golden gate park but didn't really see anything. It is huge and we got a little lost. Then we split up for the night of Wicked below and the boys baseball game. The next day we drove out to Muir Woods and hiked through the Giant Red Woods! Those were so cool!

San Francisco

2010-04-18T22:59:00.002-06:00

Our family had a blast this past week in San Fran. I think we squeezed a week worth of sights into three short days. Upon our arrival Sunday night in the motor home we drove around the hills of San Fran 10:00 pm to see if we should even attempt to drive into town in the morning! We decided definatley no! We used the Bart transportation system. (Subway) It was fun and got us anywhere we wanted to go. First stop...Pier 49 and Fishermans warf. We watched our fresh crepes be made, had yummy clam chowder, shopped, jumped on a crazy trampoline. We saw the lion seals and a lot of street vendors. Second stop.....got on the double decker red bus for a tour of San fran. The kids loved this. We then got off at the golden gate bridge and walked across it. We watched dolphins from the bridge that looked like tiny fish. The kids all had to spit off the bridge and count. We then ended the day with Hard Rock Cafe and then went to Ghiradelli Square and watched the chocolate being made and ate an enourmous banana split. It was the first dessert our family did not finish! 12 scoops of ice cream, 6 toppings and 4 bananas. YUMMY!!!

Wicked

2010-04-18T22:54:00.002-06:00

Yipee!! I finally got to take the girls to see Wicked. It is my absolute favorite broadway show! I've seen it three times now. I've wanted to take my girls ever since I saw it 5 years ago in New York. We saw it in San Francisco and it was great! The cast was just as good as New York and that is saying a lot! We went to dinner in the city and then while the boys went to an Oakland A's game we went to Wicked! Sid and Nikki loooooved it! We want to see a show at least once a year together. I wish Jess could have seen it too but maybe next time :) She is really busy with school and teaching and Chase. Busy making a great life for herself and I'm so happy for her but still really miss her.

Pinewood Derby

2010-03-30T20:39:00.002-06:00

Conners first Pack Meeting was the pine wood derby. He received his car kit last month and promptly built an awesome car all on his own. He then painted it a little too much (the wheels) so grandpa "helped" him build another one. It was a really nice car. Tonight he put it to the test and raced. His car was not only beautiful it was fast. He ended up taking 3rd place all around and took 1st in his pack. It was a fun night!

One More Dance competition

2010-03-28T16:04:00.002-06:00

Wow I have to say I'm ready for the dance competion season to be over. It seemed like we had so many in a row between Nikki and Sid. Yesterday was the last one until July Nationals. Nikki's little team has really gotten a lot better as the year went on. It is fun to see the progress they make. Sidney did her solo once more and she rocked it. She got an overall high score and a judges best natural talent award. I took tons of pictures and only one of them was on my memory card. So here it is!

The Build a Bear Party

2010-03-28T16:00:00.002-06:00

Wow! I took 14, 7 year olds to the mall for Conners Birthday BY MYSELF! Am I an idiot. Actually all in all they were pretty fun and good. Build a bear did most the work. I took them to the eatery for brownies and chocolate milk afterwards. We lined up on the longest table in the eatery. No cleanup at me house was nice. Conner had the time of his life and that's all it comes down to in the end!

Austin and an Eagle Award

2010-03-21T23:02:00.002-06:00

Austin actually earned and recieved the OK to be given his Eagle months ago. We ended up waiting for a few of his friends so he could have his court of honor with them. It turned out so nice and Austin had a great time. It's fun to have a night all about you and to have a lot of people say a lot of nice things about you! Austin deserves it all. He is a great person and an awesome son. I am beyond lucky to be his MOM! I love you Austin. Thanks for going through all this for me!

Odyssey Dance

2010-03-18T08:28:00.002-06:00

The weekend of Odyssey was really fun for me. It was great to have all three girls involved in the same competition. We saw a lot of Jessi and had a great time sleeping over with all the dance girls. We ate at Pizza Factory with a lot of the girls the night before and then watched dancing all the next day. Nikki competed her first solo and did great. Jess choreographed it for her and it was so adorable. Nikki went out there confident and ready for action. They also competed with their teams and Studio One took first in every division they could have. Sidney is fitting in well on the Senior Dance team. She amazing me with her cofidance on stage. You can just tell she looooves to dance.

Ladies Day

2010-03-18T08:22:00.002-06:00

Ladies Day this year was a blast. I finally had a friend in my ski class and I finally got to have Kipper as my teacher. Everyday we went was a beautiful day. There is something so relaxing about skiing in the winter. Riding the lift up to the top of the snowy mountain is so enjoyable. The smog can be upon us at home but up at Sundance it was almost always sunny! I'm improving a lot and I really can say I enjoy skiing now and have been a few times a week all winter. That's the beauty of Sundance. We can leave at 12:00 ski for a few hours and be home before the kids are home from school! My house isn't as spotlessly clean as I would like but I've had a fun winter!

Piano Recital

2010-03-18T08:15:00.002-06:00

Austin and Nikki had their long awaited piano recital. I really don't love piano recitals and neither do they but we feel compelled for some reason to participate. Austin and Nikki practiced their pieces so many times. I had them memorized and were as sick of them as they were...haha! But then we have to get all dressed up on a Saturday afternoon and sit through 30 other kids pounding their way through their songs...just to finally hear the songs from kids that I have heard for the past 3 months! Once they got up to play I was once again a proud mother and so impressed with how far they have come. They are both up to playing as well as I have ever been able to play. I surely hope they keep with it. I know Austin will. He is already telling me he wants to take music classes in college.

LA Dance Magic

2010-03-07T19:55:00.003-07:00

LA Dance Magic was this weekend. Sidney had the time of her life. We arrived in Ogden at 1:00 pm. Sid was in classes until 10:45pm. Then she had a competition the next morning at 7:00 am - 1:00 pm then more classes until 8:00 pm. She is very sore this morning but her passion for dance is strong! I thought Jess was so passionate about dance but now I'm pretty sure Sidney might be ever more obsessed! I had a blast all weekend too. I get a weekend off and just relax scrapbook in my hotel room, went to dinner and the mall with Steph. Scott came up on Saturday and we went to the movie and to dinner. Sidney's team took first in everything and got the top three scores of the whole weekend. We also took little Ellie Smith with us again and we have now agreed that I am her official Dance Mom. She is a sweetie and a blast to bring a long.

The Midnight Movie

2010-03-07T19:45:00.002-07:00

Sidney loves a midnight movie! She and her friends went to Alice in Wonderland this past weekend at 12:03. These are two of her many friends. Annie and Martha! I told her I thought she was crazy for always going to these movies at midnight. She told me it was the only way she could legally stay out past midnight. Haha I should have guessed that was the reason.

Basketball Season

2010-02-28T15:24:00.002-07:00

We have been watching a lot of basketball. Nikki is playing Jr. Jazz and Scott is coaching her. Austin is playing Jr. Jazz and they coach themselves. Austin is also playing church ball. We have been watching BYU who is ranked #13 in the nation right now and the Jazz have come alive the second half of the season and we have really enjoyed watching them play! Right now we are watching the USA play canada for the gold! It is very exciting! Yes! Our family (except sidney) loves sports!

Science Experiments

2010-02-28T15:12:00.002-07:00

The fifth and sixth graders all get a chance to do a science project every year. These are suppose to be a parent (supported) project. Nikki did a great project and I'm proud to say performed all the work on her own. She picked four ways to wash a ketchup stain and then wanted to discover the est way to get the stain out! I've been to a lot of these over the years and love walking around seeing all the great ideas.

Conners Need for Popcorn

2010-02-28T15:06:00.002-07:00

We went to the Harlem Globetrotters game for family night. It was super fun! Big Easy and Flight time were my favorite players on the Amazing Race ( a reality show our family really enjoy) Big Easy was hilarious! Conner has a need for popcorn everywhere we go! He eats it at home and everywhere we go. Check out his sweet skills at eating the family popcorn. NO wonder he ends up with the bucket to himself!

The Cabin and Snowmobiling!

2010-02-28T15:03:00.002-07:00

We had a blast at the Reber family cabin the past two weeks. It is soooo beautiful up there. The kids had a blast snowmobiling and sledding. We even watched the Michael Jackson movie on a projector screen. Wish we could of spent the night there with them but it was fun to bound with the family without phones, tv or computer!

Nikki and 5th grade!

2010-02-21T17:11:00.004-07:00

Nikki is the funnest girl! She is always Happy and always worried about everyone! She follows me around where ever I go and is my little buddy! She has a ton of friends of her own too though. She works really hard, gets straight A's and is a budding athlete! We just finished up watching her in Jr Jazz basketball. Last game she kicked butt and scored 14 points! She is a little hustler and one of the only girls that will get on the floor and fight for the ball! This past week she had to do her first science Project. She washed a ketchup stain out of a t-shirt 4 different ways. We had fun putting this all together! These are a few of her besties. Kirsty Almquist and Kelsie Stonely! She has also been snow boarding a lot and getting really good!

Another High School Dance

2010-02-21T16:51:00.006-07:00

Austin went to the Bargain Ball with Jordan Honeycutt. I have no pictures of this but.....the Monday after the dance we had balloons and a pizza on our front porch! We girls were so excited but Austin was at work. We waited patiently for him to get home ( trying to cheat a few times to figure out who had asked him) He finally walked through the door and we all attacked with YAY!! You got asked to another dance! He said Oh My I just did all this I'm going to take a shower. He didn't even try to see who had asked him! We girls were all in shock! He finally got out of the shower and was happy when he found out it was Emma from our stake that had asked him. They went cross country skiing and to subway for the day date. Then they ate dinner at Emma's and went to the dance! Austin had a really great time!

Free Money?

2010-02-16T21:01:00.003-07:00

Sidney has been waiting months to get her own Debit Card. It finally came today in the mail. She is so excited to spend money with her new card. We don't think she understands fully that she has to have money in her account to spend money. She thinks money will magically appear in her account. It is sure to be a great learning experience!
Austin has been working for Scott like crazy! Scott has more work than he can handle right now and Austin is a great help, earning a lot of money and earning a great skill. He wants to buy yet another guitar and is working away to earn the money!

The Olympics

2010-02-16T20:54:00.002-07:00

Our family loves watching the Olympics! Every event so far has been exciting. The stories behind all these young men and women who fight so hard to go for the gold is inspiring and makes you want to do better! We have especially liked the ski and snowboarding events. When the Olympics came to Salt Lake in 2002 we took all the kids to the ski jump. It was just so neat to be a part of this great event. I was 8 months pregnant with Conner and I remember praying for a week that he wouldn't come early because I didn't want to miss our chance to go to the Olympics. This year we actually knew someone who raced in the speed skiing. Sidney's friend Ellies cousin is Steven Nyman. I also do aerobics with his Mom Becky! It was really fun to cheer him on last night!

Elementary Sluff Days

2010-01-31T06:23:00.002-07:00

Thursday morning I woke up and thought "I don't want to be home alone today" Who better to spend the day with than Nikki and Conner. When they woke up I asked them if they wanted to have a sluff day with me! :) We called Scotty and he came home too. We all went to Sundance for the day. It was a blast! We really shouldn't have so much fun out of school because we are sending them the wrong message! :O Scotty even called in to the school and told the secretary the kids were sick, sick of school that is! We all got a huge laugh attack out of that. It was a great day and I'm going to let the little ones have a few more "sluff" days before it becomes too hard. Once they hit Jr High it's really hard to miss school. So sorry Sid and Austin!

Hard Emotional Week but THANKFUL

2010-01-31T06:09:00.003-07:00

This week for personal reasons was one of the hardest weeks I've faced. A few days this week I just wanted to hide away in my room, with my covers over my head and cry. I proved to myself I'm stronger than that. I have a great husband, family, friends and soooooo much to be thankful for. We have been living a life I used to dream of as a girl and I am so blessed and lucky to have the family I have. We had adult Stake Conference last night and I really am so happy we went. I love President Facer and President Hughes. The messages they gave last night were things I really needed to hear. Thank You for the gospel and my Father in Heaven who know how much we can endure and let's us endure it to show us WE ARE STRONG!

Back to School for Mom

2010-01-26T19:18:00.002-07:00

Now that my baby Conner is in school all day I decided I would try out school again. I was in nursing school when I got pregnant with Jess and we decided we would work hard to get Scott through school first. I always thought I would go back to school earlier but got busy being a SAHM. I LOVE being a stay at home Mom and wouldn't change a thing. Now that my kids don't need me as much physically I decided to take two classes online and try it out. I also started a BOM class on campus. I keep missing it though. I don't think at this time in life I am ready to be on campus but the online classes are really fun.

Sidney Can Dance

2010-01-26T19:11:00.002-07:00

Sidney just competed in Canyon View Jr. High "So you think we can dance" competition. She won the whole competition. It was so fun to see her perform in front of a filled auditorium of her peers and rock it! She showed so much confidence on stage. I was so proud and happy for her. Sidney has a sparkle about her that makes everyone happy around her and I love it! We celebrated the win with our favorite treat...."McDonalds hot fudge sundaes."

Jacuzzi Sundays

2010-01-18T14:17:00.002-07:00

Almost every winter Sunday night our family gets in the Jacuzzi together. We talk and laugh and relax from a week of activities. It is becoming one of my favorite times of the week. When we have fresh snow we play truth or dare. Which I want no part of because it involves getting out of the Jacuzzi and running around in the snow or making a snow angel in your swim suit....Brrrrrr! I always say truth. A few weeks ago Sidney asked me my truth question " Mom, have you ever cheated on Dad?" Only my Sidney in the Jacuzzi with the whole family would ask such an inappropriate question. We all died laughing and luckily I could truthfully answer. "NO"

Our family night services

2010-01-18T14:07:00.003-07:00

One of our New Years goals is to do more acts of service this next year for family night. I feel now that my kids are older we are really able to help and get a lot accomplished. This week we made blankets for project Linus. They were the same blankets we made last year for Austins Eagle project so it was pretty simple. We are also going to earn our free day at Disneyland for finishing them so it was actually a service with a great reward.

We are making Humanitarian Kits tonight for the people in Haiti. I was just going to donate some money but realized buying the supplies and having my children put these together would mean so much more to them. I spent $60 to make 10 humantarian kits.

Smart Shopping

2010-01-17T13:38:00.002-07:00

I have been coupon shopping for years now but this year we really need the savings. My shopping trip a few days ago for 21.32 was one of my best. The kids were even excited when I showed them all the food.
4 gallons of milk
2 half gallons chocolate milk
5 capri suns
4 loaves wheat bread
2 jars of tostita salsa
2 bags of tostidos
1 jar rasberry jam
8 bags of nabisco cookies
1 gallon orange juice
2 50 count Dixie plates
2 toaster pastries
5 easy mac
2 pringles

You can see why my kids were so excited. It is all high processed bad for you food but heck I feed a million teenager at my home and they love this stuff! I don't recieve the newspaper this is all done with rebates, online coupons and shopping the sales.

Temple Time

2010-01-17T12:55:00.002-07:00

Last night we took Austin and Sidney to the temple with us to babtize their great grandparents and Scott grandparents Andy and Velma. It was really neat! We had to wait a long time but the kids said they didn't mind. We all loved grandpa and greandpa.

Austin's Birthday and Sadie's

2010-01-03T16:51:00.003-07:00

Austin turned 17 this past month and he was not happy about it! Austin is involved in soooo many different things it is hard to keep up with this boy. He is the most chill never in a hurry kid you will ever meet yet seems to get more done than almost anyone I know. This past year he has taken up piano and guitar lessons again. He also plays the Bass and electric guitars. He plays basketball with the priests and his Jr. Jazz team, he snowboards with his buddies, gets great grades and still finds time to play with his little brothers and sisters. He took Nikki and Sidney snowboarding yesterday and they loved it! He has the same group of 10 friends he has had since he was little and it is so fun to see them grow up. He also had fun at his Sadie Hawkins dance the Friday night before his birthday. On his birthday the boys all sluffed the second half of school and went snowboarding again. We tagged along with the Wilkeys!

GOODBYE TO 2010!

2010-01-03T16:36:00.002-07:00

Goodbye and Good Riddins.... I know you have to go through struggles to make the good times great but I am really ready to be rid of 2009! I am usually a pretty positive person but looking back it is really hard to see too many things to love about the 2009's! It should be easy for the 2010's to be better than ever! New Years day I felt a huge feeling of relief and joy. It is funny how just knowing it was a new year has made a huge difference in my attitude. I am feeling good. I am so thankful to my friends. family and especially my Heavenly Father who have helped lift me up many times when I have been down this past year! I am so grateful for new days, weeks, months and years. Always a fresh start and I feel Heavenly Father planned it that way so we could always know that no matter what we go through we can start again fresh and move on. So here's to new beginnings and a better than ever new year!!

Vegas at Christmas Time

2010-01-03T16:31:00.002-07:00

Grandma Snowden was so sweet and booked us a few nights in her condo in Vegas with her Worldmard points. We had so much fun. We swam, played games, wathched movies and just spent a lot of quality time together as a family. I will say that Vegas in the winter is not as warm as I thought. The pools were super heated but I only swam once. Conner was an animal though...he loved the pools.

Christmas Day!

2010-01-03T16:20:00.002-07:00

Christmas this year was really a hard day for me but so fun for all the kids as usual. We have been really struggling with the economy and construction. Not a lot of money but we still made Christmas great for the kids. Scott and I gave each other a picture of a mountain bike ( we hope to buy sometime after we pay for Jessi's wedding)! The hard part for me was being without Jess and not really having her a part of our family anymore. She only came down for 2 hours on Christmas morning to open her presents and then left. In fact that is all we saw of her all of Christmas Break. We all miss her but she is spreading her wings and doesn't need her family right now. Her Mommy just needs to come to better terms with it. It has been a really hard year for me dealing with the fact that we have lost her for awhile. After Jess left the entire Snowden clan showed up two hours early for dinner and that was a little stressful for me too. I like to have everything ready and clean when we have guest over and we were in a mess with dinner barely started. It turned out to be really fun though. Everyone pitched in and we all had a blast just hanging out!

The Days before Christmas

2010-01-03T16:10:00.002-07:00

We were so busy the week of Christmas. All of it was a blast! Monday night we went to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point. We usually go to the Festival of Lights in Mapleton with the Schramm family but Nikki and Conner had the stomach flu so we just drove through as a family. I must say the Mapleton ones are far better. We had the Stalker family Christmas party on Wed. and then on Christmas Eve we stayed home as a family. Us girls cooked all night and the boys played video games. We opened our secret people presents and then Santa ( aka grandpa Ron) came over for a visit. This year we all piled into our bed and watched "The Nativity" It was about an hour long but my kids really liked it. It really helped bring the true meaning of the day to our family. Scott and I have this Santa thing figured out. We were actually in bed by 1:00 am this year! :)