Rob & Julie Snow Family Blog

I’ve been playing a new game the last few days.

It’s all about reading cues correctly. Cues that occur before Madeleine is about to throw up.

I’m losing.

Our local church ward was recently scouting for talent by holding a ward talent show.  I tried to get a band together for the event but was unsuccessful because of the schedule of the band members.  Last year we had so much fun (See a couple of pictures about it at last year’s talent show).  So Nate and I decided to play the drums for our talent! 

Earlier in the day we set up the drums in the living room (not enough room to have them set up all the time) and I decided to try a self-portrait with the drums. I used three strobes to make this shot.  One camera right with a beauty dish (lighting me and the side of the drums, one camera left (lighting the other side of the drums), and one just slightly camera left with a snoot (this one is only illuminating my face). I took these in the middle of the afternoon and adjusted the exposure to knock out the ambient light (I didn’t really want it to look like I shot it in my small living room).   :)   Ha, am I trying to look cool or what?!

 

This metal label is attached to each of my drums.  I thought it would look cool in a picture.

 

And here are my favorites of Nate!  I didn’t move the lights but changed the exposure to show a little more background.  The moment was fleeting so I took what I could get!

Nate is such a stud and loves it when we get out the drums!  Later that afternoon we set up the drums at the talent show.  Nate and I were scheduled to go first.  We were slightly worried that he would get scared to play in front of everyone.  He had so much fun!  After his first set (about 45 seconds) he told the announcer that he was going to do it again.  His face was so bright when everyone cheered for him!  The only problem is that we forgot our media gear.  No photos and no video.  :(  If anyone at the ward talent show got any shots of him please let us know.

Here is a link to the gallery where family can download the images.

I have finally managed to put together a little video showcasing some of the pictures that were taken during this year’s high adventure camp.  Photos in this slideshow were taken by Brooks Anderson, Tyson Butler, Tyson Green, and Rob Snow. 

If you would like to view the video in HD or download it please visit our web gallery.  Hope you enjoy this.  :)

The other day I decided it was time to clean out and organize my hall closet. In said closet is a variety of items including coats, yoga mats, food storage, games, and color/craft items.

In case any of you are rusty on the proper way to clean a closet, here are my instructions, pictures and all.

1-Take EVERYTHING out of the closet and place on the floor within reach of an 18-month-old and a 3-year-old.

2-Vacuum up 2 dead spiders.

3-Check expiration dates on food before placing them back on the shelves in an organized-by-date manner.

4-Get sick to your stomach because of all the wasted, expired food.

5-Come up with a plan to use 1/2 of the wasted, expired food by the end of the week without literally getting sick to your stomach.

6-Make an oath to never let food (and money) go in the trash again.

7-Take pictures of the fun the kids were having with the coloring/craft items while you were working on the food storage.

 

8-Laugh when your son says he was decorating for a birthday party.

9-Try to get the kids to help you clean up the mess they made.

10-Give up and pick up each and every sticker, piece of paper, and crayon strewn about the entire downstairs by yourself. Note: You may as well skip step #8.

11-Show your husband the pictures to a) prove that you really do work extremely hard raising his crazy children and trying to keep a nice home; and b) show that there really is a reason for your insanity.

12-Finished! Reap the rewards of a non-dangerous closet.

Estimated Time to Completion: Only 3 hours.

Easy as pie.

You know how every once in a while you see your child doing something cute and/or funny and say to yourself, “Hurry! I need a camera!” just hoping beyond hope that they’ll still be doing whatever it is they’re doing by the time you get back and get a picture??

That happened to me a couple of weekends ago at the Woodmansee Family Reunion (Rob’s side of the family) up City Creek Canyon.

I (Julie) ran and got the camera out of the car and luckily, Madeleine was still being as cute as ever. I’m so excited for these photographs! Isn’t my baby girl delicious?! I want to nibble her.

 

 

 

 

(Image found at http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11610973)

We reserved a great campsite at Sunrise Campground above Bear Lake for this Friday night, but are unable to use it now. Because of the cancellation fee, it’s not really worth going through the effort to get a refund and we get charged extra if we no-show.

ANYBODY WANT IT??

First come, first serve.

Rob’s started a tradition in our family called birthday week. You know how you get kind of pampered and given some slack when it’s your birthday? Well, Rob’s decided to extend the pampering and slack for an entire week. I’m sure he started this because it allows him to get away with more without getting flack from me, but I’m starting to catch on and take advantage of it myself. It’s great!

This is what my birthday week entailed:

• Going to Lagoon without the kiddies. I’ve been wanting to do this for years now. It was the perfect, fun day.
• Unfortunately, the next morning I got sick and was in bed for the next 2 days. This meant I missed my family get-together at Cowabunga Bay where we were supposed to celebrate my birthday. Sad!
• Since I missed the party, my mom and sisters surprised me with take-out and a night in watching the SYTYCD finale. My mom made my requested chocolate cream pie and I opened presents. It was great doing something with just the girls. I might have to make that an annual event.
• I’ve been eyeing airfare to Pennsylvania for a long time now. My grandmother lives there and although she sends the kids birthday and Christmas gifts, she’s never met them or Rob. I caught the fare at $99 and Rob said I could grab it!! It was my birthday week, after all. You have no idea how happy this made me! We’re going the end of October.  
• Nate, Rob, and Madeleine made me an awesome card with Spiderman inside.
• I got to sleep in.
• Rob helped me color my hair.
• I requested a quiet night in with Rob after the kids went to bed. I rented a chick-flick and ordered THE BEST gyros from University Broiler and Grill. It was very nice.
• I got a free Coldstone.
• Had a party with Rob’s family celebrating mine and his brother’s birthday. The dinner was great and so were the gifts.
• I got a lot of Happy Birthday wishes from friends and family. It made me really happy.

Thanks everyone!! Can’t wait ‘til next year!!

Rob and I have quite a few friends who also happen to be into photography. One of those friends is Andrea of Photography by Annie. Rob and Annie grew up together in the same ward and school.

Since it’s almost impossible to take your own family portrait, we thought it would be a fun idea to swap services with Andrea. We all got dressed up and met at the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District to take each other’s portraits. After we traded the files, we each took a shot editing all the pictures. You can see Andrea’s edited versions on the webpage we linked to above.

As a side note: This was a great spot for pictures. Rob and I could take pictures there all day and the kids had fun exploring.

So here are some of the pictures Andrea took of our family. A couple more are here.

And here are some of the pictures we took of Andrea’s family.

 

Thanks, Andrea!!!

My hair can get a little shaggy when I let it grow too long.  In that shaggy state it is not uncommon for me to experience a little bed-head on Saturday mornings.  Some times this lasts in to the afternoon before I finally get around to showering.   Yesterday, while Julie was cutting my hair, Nate noticed my bed-head and asked…..  get ready for this….. he asked if I had some pee in my hair that was making it stick up!  Wow, I’m not sure how that train of thought came to fruition. 

Nate’s alter ego, Spiderman is very active in our home.  Sometimes I get to team up with him to fight the imaginary bad guys that have infiltrated our home and sometimes I get to be the super-strong bad guy.  I think I make a really good bad guy!  Nate usually wins by using his super strong muscles.  :)  Nate has two pairs of Spiderman pajamas that get much more use during the day than at night.  If he could wear them everyday and all day long I know he would.

In the last couple of months Nate has finally started to like music.  In the past, Nate always asked me to turn off the music.  If I showed reluctance, he would take matters into his own hands and turn it off himself.  As you can imagine this was very stressful for a guy that likes music as much as I do.  What changed then?  Earlier this summer we took the kids to the Ogden Arts Festival where some live music was being played.  We sat down near the old fountain and listened to the music for a while.  The band wasn’t too bad and Nate was completely enthralled by the experience.  He liked the guy playing the guitar the most and asked if he could learn to play the “loud” guitar when he gets big.  So this was really exciting.  Now Nate loves to listen to music on one condition.  It must be “fast” music with electric guitar!  Some of his favorites right now are Aerosmith and Relient K.

Just the other evening Nate and I were chilling downstairs.  Madeleine was asleep and Julie was out doing some fun stuff on her own.  Nate randomly announced that he had a baby in his belly.  Smiling, I asked why he thought he had a baby in his belly.  With all the confidence in the world he stated that he knew he had a baby in his belly because his belly was big.  :)  I explained that only mommy’s could have babies.  I think that conversation is just going to get more and more detailed as time goes on.  Ha. 

One of Nate’s classic laughing looks.  This is the laugh that is totally infections!  :)

Here is a shot with Nate and me.  I love that kid so much.  I look back on what we have done together so far and also look forward to all the thing’s will do together.  Our family rocks.

I am one proud father.  Stay tuned for a similar post about little Madeleine.  She has also surprised me a little as of late.  :)  All these photos can be found in this gallery on our website.

After my (Julie) horrible post yesterday I thought I better do something lighthearted and fun. Here’s a list of my favorite things (instead of Oprah’s). Unfortunately, I won’t be giving any of this stuff away to any of you. Sorry :)

 

Anything Aveeno

 

Dreyer’s Smore Ice Cream

 

Real Simple Magazine

 

Simply Orange Juice

 

Ann Taylor Loft Cami

 

 

Streetwise City Maps

 

Joovy Caboose Stroller

 

Arrow Fitted White Dress Shirt

 

Nutella

 

MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer

 

These are just a few of my favorite products. I have more, so maybe I’ll do a second edition sometime. Or maybe a LEAST favorite product post.

I (Julie) like dogs. Generally. Kind of. I grew up with dogs my whole life. So, so many dogs. It seems our family was always rotating one into our home. Most of the dogs ended up being terrible and were taken back to the Humane Society. Our favorite dogs died.

I love the idea of “a boy and his dog.” I can see Nate needing one someday. It just has to be the right dog. Loving, playful, sweet, doesn’t shed much, not too big, and cute. Like a beagle.

Something exactly like the poor little dog I killed today.

I pulled out of our street going the speed limit with the two little kids in the backseat. A gray cat darted in front of me and I swerved slightly to avoid it. A couple of seconds after feeling relieved, I hit something else. I pulled over to the side of the road and looked. At first I thought it was a cat. I felt bad, but there are strays around here so I wasn’t too worried. But it was still moving. What was I going to do?

A lady who was driving behind me also pulled over and got a blanket out of her car to put over the animal. When I got over to them I saw that it was the cutest little white beagle with a collar and tags. By that time the poor little thing had died. The scene was a little graphic and I was glad it was mostly covered. The lady carried it over to the sidewalk. I’m so glad she was there because I’m not sure I could have done that without vomiting.

I knocked at the house I thought the dog had run from and a nice couple opened the door. I asked them if they have a little white dog. They said yes, smiling. I had to tell them I had just hit it and it had died. The husband ran outside to go get it and the wife broke down, crying frantically. She said her boys were going to be heartbroken.

Turns out, the lady who helped me was a friend of the family and was able to help console. My kids were still in the car not knowing what was happening, luckily. I had to get back to them so I repeatedly apologized as I walked away. I’m going to take some cookies or something to them tomorrow and apologize again. I don’t know what else can be done.

I know it’s not my fault, but I still feel terrible. 

I have such great memories of fixing my bike as a kid.  It seemed that there was always something that needed to be tweaked.  I needed to change a flat, my seat was crooked, or took off and replaced whatever for fun.  Back in May we needed to change the seat height on Nate's bike so we grabbed a box of wrenches and went out back.  To say the kids enjoyed working on the bike is an enormous understatement.  They worked on it forever and as you can see they had a blast.  :)  The kids are amazing and Julie and I love them so much.  There are a few more images in the photo gallery for May if you want to check them out.