I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas!?

Performing at the Festival of Trees
The BIG Finish!!

Natural born performer!!
Introducing the STAR PERFORMERS!!



Brittanie had so much fun being part of this singing group that when we heard about the winter show we knew we had to find a way to make it work. After changing bus schedules and calling in a few favors Britt was able to make it to all of her practices. Her 1st performance was at the Festival of Trees. This is a big event in Boise and we arranged to come home early from Thanksgiving to be a part of the show. They sing 2 songs, "It's a Marshmellow World in the Winter" and I want a Hippopotomus for Christmas". I love the hippo song and catch myself singing it ALL the time. The kids also performed at a couple retirement centers and then Britt and the Sosa kids from our ward totally brought the house down at our ward talent show! We were very proud of Britt and all that she is learning. What a super STAR!

Gooooallllll!!

Nate attacks the ball!
Taking a break and staying hydrated!

Nates 1st goal shot!

Nathan is LOVING playing soccer. He is on a co-ed team--The Tiger SHARKS. He practices every Tuesday and has played in 3 games so far. Not that anyone is proud of their son, but he has scored 8 goals so far. He scored 4 in his last game on Saturday!

He loves to play and run. His coach is pretty proud of Nathan and that he always goes after the ball. He has had some pretty big kicks and laughed when he kicked it over the goal. Luckily that was in practice but he thought it was cooler that kicking it into the goal. He is all about power kicks!

When Nate scored his 1st goal he ran by me and gave me a big smile and a thumbs up. The mom next to me said "That is a pretty cute smile." And I thought yep, but I'm not sure whose smile is cuter: Nates or his Dad's. Right after he scored I looked at Scott and he had the biggest proud Dad smile on his face. Later we talked and I told Scott that watching Nate play soccer was a treat for him much like my giddy smile when Britt performs at a dance recital!
2 Posts in One week--Mom can you stand it?

Up, Up, and AWAY!

Zach loved watching the Balloons!
Britt was dressed for Alaska in January! She is wearing two pairs of pants!

A very nice man took pity on me and took this picture. After watching me struggle trying to take one of myself and the kids he could tell I needed help! See, people in Boise are SO nice!

Nutritous Breakfast!--You can't see them but Nate's doughnut has gummy worms on top!

The balloon festival has been brought back to Boise!

The best kids in the world, humoring Mom for another picture!
"We're making memories!--Now stop whining and SMILE!"

Boise's Balloon Festival is Back

I was so sad when the balloon festival left Boise shortly after we moved here. SO imagine my surprise and excitement when I heard the announcment that the Festival was back. I immediatly planned to wake the kids up early on Friday and take them into the launch before school. It was fun but a little chaotic. It was run, run, look, look, picture, picture,and sprint back to the car and eat your doughnut on the way! We made it to school just after the tardy bell. But GOOD NEWS. They were not counting tardies the 1st week of school!

Star Stallions back to School!

Nate and his cubby!
Britt has been counting the days until she GETS to go back to school. Yeah, it's here!

The kids did some cute pictures together before Britt got the idea to do rabbit ears behind Nates head. We narrowly avoided a fight by allowing Nate to do bunny ears to Britt. (So FUNNY, both hands are making the ears but poor kid is just too short to see the ones behind her head!)

Check out this rocking outfit! Thanks to Grandma and Aunt Janelle--Britt is totally stylin' in her high top sneakers!

Kindergarten...Here I come. (Maybe?)

Nathan's 1st Day of School

Nathan was very excited to start school. All summer long he could hardly wait. Then when the actual day arrived I could tell he was feeling nervous at breakfast. This is our child who does not do well with change. I thought it might be a rough day. We walked together to school and dropped Brittanie off at her class. She wasn't reluctant at all to go into her classroom. I think she left smoke as she peeled into class in her new twinkle toe shoes. What--Mom who? Not even a kiss goodbye! Then we took Nate around the corner and he started to back pedal. I had Zach in the stroller and used that to corral him. We went into class with him and he was really starting to freak out and say he wanted to go home. Then once he saw his name on this shiny new cubby, he felt a little better. Then it was time to meet on the rug with all the other kids and he started to climb me like a pole but once again I was rescued when Mrs. Hammons called him by name.

"Oh, Nathan, there you are! Here is your name tag." Big sigh as he makes his way onto the carpet and sits down...carefully keeping one eye on me to make sure I didn't make a break for it. Now I was doing great until Mrs. Hammons reads that stupid book " The Kissing Hand". I'm watching Nate settle in and feel more comfortable as the story is read and I AM starting to feel ALOT more unsettled. This is my tender baby boy and I'm throwing him into the sharks! I make it through the story barely and he looks at me to way goodbye and I'm trying my hardest to fake a smile and give him an excited thumbs up as Zach and I walk out of the room. Two steps later, I'm wiping my cheeks thinking... Crap, I still have to do this with Zach! I think it gets harder with each child!

Boston Vacation--Part 3

Our new extended family--minus a few

The Scituate Lighthouse

Nancy, John, Catherine, Olivia, and Eva--some of our new favorite cousins!

The whole crew at the 1st Snelder's Family Reunion.
4 generations present!!

Julie S., Julie E. and Nancy. Some of my favorite girls!!

Scott with his brothers and sisters and Scott's grandfathers brother and sister!

Josephine and Tom.

More Scituate Lighthouse--Sorry, I don't know how to put these in order!

Meeting Aunt Helen, Grandpa Johns other sister who couldn't come to the reunion due to health reasons. So we took the party to her and she was worth it! So funny and sassy!

Josephine, Scott, and Tom Snelders.

Our artistic interpretation of a beach picture! Somehow the computer flipped this one and I can't flip it back! Enjoying the sunset on the beach in Scituate.

Scott's not acting! After a short swim in the ocean he is half frozen! Look at the beautiful view behind Scott. This is the beach where our cousins grew up just a block away!

On our tour of Plymouth, we visited this old Mill. It is the 1st mill built in America!

What would a tour of Plymouth be without visiting the Mayflower replica?

Boston Trip (Part 3)

"The final chapter...I Promise!"

Well, here is the rest of our trip in kinda of a jumbled random order. I need to call Julie for blog tutoring skills so I can make my post flow better. But this was the last thing on my list of things I wanted to accomplish today so I'm going to get it done no matter what! We enjoyed so many beautiful places while on the east coast. The beach where Nancy grew up was among one of the most beautiful places we visited. I can't imagine growing up a block from the beach! Nancy's husband John grew up in a town next to Plymouth and so he was our guide when we went there. It was amazing to visit the Old Grist Mill, Plymouth Rock (or pebble), the Mayflower replica, and a Pilgrim cemetary. Thanks so much to John for showing us the sights and being SO patient with this crazy large group of people! The walk to the mill was SO beautiful to me along the creek and through a tunnel. Pretty, Pretty everywhere!! John's kept the touring alive and took us a few days later to tour the Scituate Lighthouse. It was so fun to be inside a lighthouse and I couldn't help but feel kinship toward my fellow Lighthouse keepers from Pete's Dragon! If I would have been alone at the top, you know I would have sang Nora's song, but I held it in so I would embarass Scott!

The reunion we got to attend on Saturday was the driving force behind us making this trip out to Boston. Scott's grandfather was one of four children. All 3 of his siblings are still living and his brother Tom just turned 90 this year. It was a great excuse to get the whole family together. Scott helped Nancy with creating a family pedigree chart so everyone could see how they were related. It was so fun to see people walk in and enjoy filling out their branches of the tree! We are such big believers in the importance of family and it was so FUN to meet distant relatives and find such wonderful, caring, and might I add--Good looking people! ( I can say that because I'm not blood!) Thank you so much to Nancy, Cara, Tom, Vinny and Victoria for taking such great care of us. What wonderful hosts you all are. Cara--thanks for the Yummy doughnuts! Man those were awesome! Nancy and John thank you for opening your home and pool to us night after night! Uncle Tom, thank you for the fresh Lobster dinner (even though I only had steak). I just wished I would have been there to watch them cook! Also thank you for the souvenirs and making us feel so loved and welcome in your home. We can't wait to get you to Boise so we can take you to a game on the blue!!

Dreams DO come true! (Boston Trip part 2)

We got to go to 2 ball games while in Boston!

Watching the pitcher warm up!

Ahhhh, isn't that a beautiful sight!

Scott and I on our tour of Fenway Park

Proud members of Red Sox Nation!!

Boston Trip--(Part 2)

Ok, SO I know I said I would break our trip into 2 parts but there will be 3. Since the Red Sox are such a big part of our lives I felt like we owe it to the Bo-Sox to devote this post to them. Scott has been a Red Sox fan since he was born..pretty much. His grandfather John grew up in Boston and enriched a love for the greatest baseball team on the planet in his Son. The boys grew up cheering for the Red Sox ever since they could speak. And now as tradition goes the boys are passing on this passion to their kids. Even Brittanie knows "Yeah Red Sox....BOOOO Yankee's!!"

We were thrilled when we found out that Scott's cousins in Boston were arranging a reunion and that we would get to come to Boston to meet them. Not only did they plan a reunion but they planned alot of activities to entertain us while we were in town. A huge thank you to Vinny and Victoria for hooking us up with tickets to the game, a tour of Fenway Park, and a tour through downtown Boston. It was SO much fun!!

We got caught in an unbelievable rain storm in the middle of our tour of Boston. We started making our way back to the ballpark and to get some dinner before the game and it started raining like I've never seen! We made it into a souvenir shop next to Fenway before it really started to pour. I had fought the whole day to save my hair by walking around with a sack above my head and now this! Damp hair and the possiblity of the game getting rained out--I started feeling despair. After about 45 minutes the rain suddenly stopped! Victoria got a new shirt that John Paul helped her pick out while we waited and we went on the have a perfect night for watching baseball.

Didn't I mention we went to see the Red Sox twice? Yeah, this so wouldn't have happened if we had taken any of our kids and that is why this is a story I must tell. Our 1st day in Boston we arrived about 3:30 and checked into our hotel. Then after a walk on the beach and gathering sea shells we started talking about what we should to that night. We were traveling with Scott's brother Craig and his wife Julie...and did I mention we had NO kids with us? It was about 6 :15 when we spontaneously decided to head into downtown Boston and see if we could get into the game that started at 7:00. By 6:25 we were in the car and on our way to find the train station. (This is the part that would never happen with kids!) What a night! We caught the train and rode with some pretty interesting people! We ran into some sister missionaries and while visiting with them got asked by a woman " What is this a freakin' Mormon convention?" She was obviously a little tipsy and headed to the game as well but turned out to be pretty helpful. She gave us a few tips on finding tickets. Once we were outside the stadium we parted ways. (Sigh of relief!) We ended up getting standing room only tickets for $20 since it was already the 3rd inning. We enjoyed a Fenway Frank for dinner and stood behind the seats on the 1st base line. We had great views and after a few innings people started to leave and we got GREAT seats! This game was Also amazing. We watched the Red Sox beat Cleveland Indians--literally! There was a fight in the 7th inning that cleared both dugouts! It was a "Wicked Pissah" of a game! (That is Boston talk for "Really Awesome".) We had a blast!! I will never sing Neil Diamonds "Sweet Caroline" without thinking of my Boston experience!

As a side note: After the game we rode several trains literally packed in like sardines to get back to our car. The idea of personal space was non exhistent! But that's not the funny part of the story. After we make it back to our stop we are walking up the stairs away from the train when we hear a shrill voice screaming "We know you! We know YOU!!!" As we all slowly turn around we find our fellow Red Soxs fans from the earlier train ride. Yep that woman and her husband were there and they remembered us! I guess she wasn't as plastered as I thought!

Our Big Summer vacation (Part 1)

Visting the Sacred Grove in Palmyra.
The Palmyra temple--So beautiful!

Touring the Sacred Grove with my Sweetie!

Visiting Niagra Falls with all the other tourists!

Touring upstate New York.

So our adventure began July 31st. We drove our kids to Pocatello to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen while we got the vacation of a lifetime to go to New York and Boston without any kids. My sister Janelle and my niece Tyler took Zach and we can't thank our family enough for taking care of our kids so we could go on this trip!! SO Thank You, THANK YOU everyone!

Since it is late and I have been wanting to post this trip for weeks I have had to break it into 2 parts because I don't know how to add more pictures to this post...it's is getting late so just humor me...Did I mention it is late? ( I just edited what I've typed so far and this could be a really funny post! So pardon any rambleing!)

We flew from SLC to Buffalo, New York on Saturday. The next day we crossed the border and visited Niagra Falls. It was beautiful. Then it was back across the border. It took us twice as long to cross the border than actual time spent looking at the falls! No kidding!! Then we drove a about an hour and a half to Palmyra, New York. We met up with Scott's other brother John and his family. It was SO fun to see our nieces and nephews. It had been 2 years for me and I can't believe how much they have each grown and changed. John Paul may be 13 inches taller than me but can still carry him--barely!

While in Palmyra we got to tour all the sites of where the Mormon church got it's beginning. Itwas amazing to tour the Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was published and hear the history of how much was sacrificed so that that we can have this book. I loved going to the Joseph Smith home. The home is 80 percent original and boy did it smell original!! I also loved going to the Martin Harris farm and hearing stories from the missionaries living there. It was an experience I will never forget. When we got home I was on a car trip with Britt a few weeks later and she was keeping me awake while we were driving. So I decided to tell her how our church was started. I must have gotten lost in my own stories but after I had talked for about 15 minutes I realized she was FAST asleep. Huh, I guess it's alot more exhilerating once you have walked in these sacred places. I love that our testimonies never have to stop growing.

Catching the Summer Wave Snelders Style

Nate shows Mom that with Jared's help surfing is easy!
Britt couldn't wait for her turn to catch a wave.

OH, I got it,wait...Nope, I don't! But every time I fell I did it with style!

Scott is showing off his new found wake surfing skills!

Zach learned to love his life jacket and didn't complain until the end of the trip! What a little trooper!

The hum of the boats motor helped Zach take a nice long nap! Ahh, peace and quiet for all!

Kayden (Nates new 10 year old friend--who is a bug and lizard expert) caught this lizard at the campground and let Nate take turns holding it. The kids all loved "Geekie" and were sad when they had to release him back into the wild.

With a smile on her face, shirt on backwards, and that awesome hair; it is obvious that Britt got the best night sleep on our campout. I guess 80 degrees is her perfect sleeping temperature!

Owyhee Reservoir

We have some awesome friends in Star! The Cheney's invited us to go camping and boating this weekend and we didn't want to miss this opportunity! We drove Friday evening about and hour and a half to Owyhee Reservoir in eastern Oregon. It was a beautiful area that neither Scott or I had ever seen before. We love going discovering new places.

However once we arrived at our camp spot and were deciding where to pitch our tent the kids heard a rattlesnake. Sad to say this time it was NOT their imaginations. Some other adults came over and crushed the snakes head with a rock and then the camp host came over to "finish" the snake off...with a shovel. SO we decided to put our tent as far from the sagebrush as possible!! Luckily that was the only rattlesnake we saw.

Stacie and Jared have a son that is 10 and this kid is an animal expert! He told me so much about lizards and snakes and bugs it nearly made my head spin. He had caught a little lizard earlier in the day before we arrived and named him "Geekie". I was surprised when Nate asked to hold him. He did great as long as the Geekie held still, if the lizard so much as flinched Nate was ready to throw him on the ground. Luckily Geekie was very cooperative. Nate and I also visited the kids that took the rattlesnake body and touched the belly of the snake. We were surprised to find the body still reacted to touch even when it's head was 50 yards away in the sagebrush! Ahh, you gotta love Nature!

After playing cards for a bit we were all exhausted and Britt and Nate were SO excited to sleep in the tent. I didn't realize how warm it would be at night and packed everyone nice warm pj's. By morning it cooled off to maybe 72 degree's. Even little Zach woke up with sweat down his back.

Soon were packed up and ready to hit the lake. First we found a nice cove and anchored down for swimming and lunch. Man, what better way to spend a hot summer day! After lunch it was time to start lessons. This was our second time trying wake surfing and we found some of us and faster learners (Scott) and others (Nat). I drank alot of lake water on my first turn. I got up nearly every time but only stayed up for about 20 seconds! Then Scott has to make me look bad by popping up and surfing on his 2nd attempt! He did great. He got into the "sweet spot" and even had enough confidence to let go of the rope. I should get the "perseverence award" because I tried ALOT! My coaches, Stacie and Jared, say I'm getting better and I could tell I was getting it toward the end of the day. But if I stop now then hopefully we can squeeze another invitation out of the to go boating before the summer is over. So really, sucking at this sport is really for the benefit of my family! HUGE Thank you to the Cheney's for a very FUN and memorable trip to Owhyee! What a blast!