More Farm Pics

I've been playing around more with the settings on my camera, especially the color modes. Someday I want to take a photography class...for now the farm is my very favorite place for experimenting with picture taking.

Labor Day Weekend

The past few weeks have been so busy, as we have tried to settle into our back to school routine. It has taken me a while, but I am finally getting around to updating my blog. We enjoyed a quick getaway to the farm for Labor Day Weekend. It was nice to enjoy our last "summer fling" before fall really sets in. Of course, we had a super time- lots of football watchin' and just hanging around.

Here are some pictures of our trip:

A morning hike in pajamas

Four wheeler rides

Sunday morning after Saturday boot shopping with Grandpa

A beautiful girl and her dog

My cow girl

Classic Snarr look...shorts with cowboy boots

My blue eyed gal snacking in the front yard on Sunday afternoon

Jordan with Grandma

Mom and Roo

Horse riding lessons with Grandpa



Things I don't have pictures of that I wish I did:

-The pioneer dresses/bonnets that we started sewing for Halloween costumes. Cindy is so kind to me to entertain my crazy ideas I come up with- this one being that the girls could dress up as pioneers since we have been reading the Little House series. And usually our projects include something along the lines of this...I have a big idea but don't have the level of sewing skills needed, so Cindy ends up doing most of it! She is such a good Grandma!

-We got to go to a really fun church picnic. Grandma was in charge of it, and it was all cowboy themed so we fit right in. Grandpa even brought his horse along to give all the kiddies rides. What a big hit that was!

-One evening we had a bonfire....Grandpa Steve got gas on his pants and momentarily caught on fire. Fortunately, he wasn't injured...never a dull moment. The kids can't stop talking about Grandpa on fire! They have witnessed first hand stop, drop and roll. That man has more than nine lives, that is for sure.

-The upstairs bathroom was being remodeled which meant we all had to share the downstairs one...that was no problem, it's just that it doesn't have a lock, and I have witnessed one too many people being walked in on...after I whined about it for a while, Cindy made me a little sign with my picture on it that I could hang on the door when I was occupying the bathroom. It worked perfectly. I'm glad they cater to my "city ways".

We enjoyed our weekend so much. I am so blessed to LOVE my in-laws. It is such fun to spend time together with Steve and Cindy as well as Tod's sister Megan and her family. Thanks everyone for a great time!

He doesn't even like pictures!

Okay, it's no secret that Tod (not Cole!) doesn't really like pictures. He usually makes a face when I bring the camera out, impatiently tolerates family picture sessions, and sticks his nose in the air about all things "blog". So, imagine my surprise when I found these pictures recently taken of Cole...by him!!! They turned out amazing which kind of bugs me even more since I'm the one always trying to figure out the camera! The pictures were taken outside of a local theater where Ashton was performing in a play. Maybe our family has a new photographer....

Regan's First Day

A couple of days after the girls started school, it was Regan's turn to go! She was so ready and so excited. Due to her summer birthday (and after a lot of thought!), we opted to have her attend another year of preschool, this time at the school Jordan attended. She has been so excited to have the same teachers and be in the same classroom that her sister was in a few years back. Regan had carefully selected a back-to-school outfit and has been waiting for several weeks to wear it. She looked so cute.

No tears for this gal when I dropped her off...just a quick wave of the hand. When I picked her up, she told me that lots of the kids were crying, and she was very confused about it. I had to explain to her that not everyone has been to preschool for 3 years! Regan will be a preschool pro by the end of this school year!

Good-Bye Summer, Hello School

I have always LOVED everything about back-to-school time! The school supplies, new clothes, anticipation and excitement all contribute to it being one of my favorite times of the whole year. But my least favorite part is saying good-bye to my girlies again, just knowing that I have to turn them over to someone else for such a huge part of the day. I always miss them so much when summer is over for another year. Of course, we snapped tons of pictures yesterday...I can't believe how grown up these girls look.
Her is my 4th grader... I love 4th graders...my first teaching experience was in 4th grade. I will never forgot those kids.

And here is our 2nd grader. She was so excited and ready to get back.

Some days these 2 girls can't stand each other, but they also can't stand to be apart...they really are the best of friends in their own way.

Here is the view from the stroller as we headed up to the school. After getting the girls to their lines, I just watched them and waited until they disappeared into the building. I love them so much. They are incredible people, and I am lucky to be their mom.

When we got home, the little kids ran straight for the forbidden Nintendo DS's...they spent the next hour "playing" them in the chair. The beauty of when older siblings go off to school and have to leave all their cool gadgets at home!

When I picked the girls up after school, they were both overflowing with information and stories from the day. I love when they tell me all their funny tales and experiences. It is almost as good as being there! They were both really excited and happy...although Ashton tells me that she can already tell 4th grade is for older kids because parts of the day were "boring". I had to remind her that parts of my day can be slightly "boring" too (think folding laundry and putting shoes back in the shoe box for what seems like the tenth time!)

I think it is going to be a great year!

Touch the Temple

I can't think of a better place to spend a Saturday than in Nauvoo. Even though we were at the pageant just a couple of weeks ago, we couldn't pass up the chance to head to Nauvoo again, this time for a temple day. In primary, the children have been talking about the opportunity to "touch the temple", and they were very excited to finally be able to do that. Tod and I also love to go to the temple. We also loved playing at pioneer past times, visiting the black smith shop, being in a parade, seeing a show at the cultural hall and just enjoying the spirit of Nauvoo. That place just makes so happy, and my girls love it, too (we are still working on convincing Dad!)

35

Yesterday I turned 35! I can't even believe it. It feels like I am talking about somebody else, but no, I am actually 35. Wow.

My mom talked about our births all the time. Because of this, I know that the night before I was born there was lots of thunder and lightning. I know the heat was almost unbearable, and we had no AC in our house. I know that I was born at 12:14 pm weighing 6 pounds 12 ounces (the biggest baby in the family!) My mom always said she missed her lunch that day. In my great grandma's words, I looked like an "Indian baby" with lots of black hair and red skin. I know that just a couple of days after I was born, my mom suffered the devastating loss of losing her brother in a car accident. My dad always tells me that my birth saved my mama and helped her to heal. I know that my blessing dress was purchased with money that was found in my uncle's wallet. I was a good baby (naturally!) and slept through the night from the beginning.

I'm glad I know these details about my birth. My mom always made our birthdays special and fun. The celebrations were simple but heartfelt. I can picture her up early in our brown and yellow kitchen making cupcakes. Since I was born in the "dog days" of August, my birthday often including swimming, trips to the zoo, barbecues on the patio, ice cream cakes from Baskin Robbins, family vacations and other summer things. Once I spent my b-day at church girls camp which was really fun.

It's hard to believe I've celebrated 35 birthdays. This morning, Tod woke me up early to enjoy a breakfast he had prepared- we got to eat in peace before the rest of the house got up. He also took the day off work, and even though we had nothing special planned, it was so nice just to spend time together. We had gone out to dinner the night before knowing that he and Ashton had a church event on my actual birthday. It actually worked out because me and my other 3 enjoyed a simple hot dog feast! (Tod and Ashton despise hot dogs, while the rest of us enjoy them- strange, I know, especially since I don't really like meat in general!) It was a perfect day...filled with things that my life is full of right now...piano lessons, sports camp, a quick work out at the gym, back to school shopping, making banners, cooking meals, laundry...etc. It was fun to receive some emails, cards and phone calls from friends and family too. A perfect birthday...and oh yes, 35 is looking good!



(I have to share a quick story behind this last picture. My kids had gone over to one of my best friend's houses and for some reason they were discussing me...my "too kind" friend said something to Ashton along the lines of "your mom is so good, I bet there isn't anything that she can't do." To which Ashton replied, "Well, let me think about that and get back to you"- very typical Ashton. A while later Ashton reported to my friend that she didn't think I could hold all 4 of my kids at the same time. Of course, when she told me this story, I had to try just to see if I could. Here are the results...and I can hold all of them, if only for a split second! I'm glad that at least for now, that is the only thing that Ashton thinks I can't do...let's check back with her in a couple of years!)