My little Marshmallow turned ONE

This was a typical snow-kid-turns-one birthday party. I LOVE going all out for their first birthday parties. We were exited to feel settled in our home and we have a fantastic tree in our backyard to hang things from...
I remembered how fun Ellie's luau was when she turned one (indoors, and in February, yes...) BUT...this time we could do it outside and invite the whole world if we wanted to!! :)

It was an absolutely perfect June day...perfect temp and a slight breeze. Everyone stayed outside for the entire party, other than to come in and fill their plates. Griff woke from a nap, had his dinner, and then everyone showed up around 5:00. We had luau/Hawaiian beach music playing outside, drinks on a surf board which was on top of two large speakers, and tables setup all over the yard. The kids played with the many beachballs floating around the yard, they rolled down and then ran up our hill, and they enjoyed lots of food and treats, and good ol' bounce house!!! The mai tais were a hit as well as the yummy "luau punch" for the kiddos.

Griffin: I love having a son. I have loved loved loved the light, brightness, smiles, cuddles, and laughter you've brought into our home these past 12 months. I can't wait to continue to see how you become a part of our family. You are precious. Your cheeks and your flat head (soon to be gone) are precious trademarks of our studly son. Your blue eyes shock EVERYONE that looks at you. They are striking. I pray, frequently, that you will grow to be a warrior for yourself, your God, and your family someday. You are my sweet little dude and I love you bud! Happy Birthday!!

What an incredible weekend this was! Memorial Day in Goshen, VA @ Rockbridge YL camp...just like the olden days. What fun! Ryan and I were both pumped at the offer for him to speak at the camp, and we were even more pumped to be back in the YL world...with our kids. It was just as fantastic as we thought it would be. :) Seeing old friends, eating in the dining hall (with 3 precious children in tow), telling stories to the girls about things we used to do, watching our 6 year old go down the ZIP LINE, walking the grounds of a sacred place. Both Ryan and I have many many memories there!!!

I have to say, however, that driving 8 hours each way was NOT a pretty sight. I don't want to forget that I literally was a flight attendant in our mini van, barely sitting in the passenger seat in the front. It was bizarre, crazy, busy, a little annoying, and exhausting- yes. But I don't want to wish these times away because there WILL come a day that our kids put on headphones or hold cell phones and may not want my attention. Wow...weird thought. :(

BEST picture of the weekend...my kids totally loving the YL dining hall...how stinkin cool?!!
It was literally impossible to get all of the kids to smile at the camera AND the gnats were out of control...oh well...a REAL moment!!
This was the girls' first YL club experience...hilarious! Needless to say, there was a lot of dancing, jumping, & singing involved. But they loved the worship. :)




It was so neat for Chris and Don Baumann to meet our kids and spend time with them. Such a delight to be with them for the weekend!!

Spring and Easter...such a treat!

Griff officially has, and has always had, the strangest crawl. I can't quite capture it on camera, yet I think this is a pretty good shot. He moves and he moves fast...gotta love my little dude!!

Spring lovin

Daddy/Daughter Dance. Unfortunately, poor El was super sick...
only to find out she had throat infection and
ear infection the next day. Poor girl
couldn'tdance it up like she wanted.
But they did look lovely and it WAS a good evening!

Ummm yeah, not sure that my daughters will be the gals
that are told they have "good rhythm." Dance party with the
Preston cousins was SO funny...and man we could tell who had the
moves and who did NOT. hehe.

Lines of the Week

Emma: mommy, what's that green tree?"

Me: It's fresh rosemary Emma, something u put in food 2 make it taste good!

Emma: "oh GREAT, is it gonna be in Uncle Dave's cake tonight?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ellie: Mommy, do you know why I don't want to get married?

Me: Nope, no clue El. Why not?

El: Because I don't want to change my name and become someone other than Ellie Kate Snow!

Me (in my head): You're DARN right girl!
Me (outa my mouth): Oh peanut, you'll love the man SO much, someday really far from now, that you won't even care to give up your last name. It'll be so neat! And you'll still always be in our family!

El: (In tears by now)...but I just don't WANT that to happen mom.

Me: (in my head)...I'll remind her of this when she's 20 and asking to get married, like I did to my parents. Eek.

Happy March

I'm excited to enter into this new season in our new home. I can't wait to open the windows, open the screen doors, and explore our new neighborhood with the kids. We moved in in October, worked worked worked, and now that things are finally starting to feel like normal, we can ENJOY.

It's been a good winter, truly. Doing school with Ellie has made it fly by; our days are not boring. I asked her the other day if she's happy she stayed home for school this year and she confidently said yes. I asked her why and she said "Well because I get to hang out with YOU everyday mom." GREAT with me! I asked her what she DIDN'T like about it and she said "nothing. It's perfect." I was worried that she was getting a little bored with our routine, but I guess not. She IS around kids all the time though...I haven't ostracized her from humainty, haha. She has done soccer, swimming, and now she's doing gymnastics. That all gives her chances to be around her pals. What I've loved most about having her home though is that I've had (and continue to have) so many opportunities to teach her how to love and serve her family. There's something to be said for that, ya know? We've had ample chances to talk about (and live out) how we properly treat our "annoying sister." We've had lots and lots of conversations about helping around the house and why that's important. She's been able to be involved in the day-in-day-out memories of Griffin's first year of life. We've gotten to have somewhat regular times reading the Bible together.

And... I got to be here when she slipped and said "Oh my god." It broke my heart. Just a few days ago she was really excited about something and said it. When I confronted her about what she said her response was, "it's just an expression mom!" So sad. She didn't get it. She had heard someone else use it as just an expression, therefore thought it was ok. But that allowed me to talk to her about how GOD is not an expression but a name. And why God's name is holy and respectable. Unfortunately, she said it again the following 3 days. THAT led us into talking about self control and reading James 3 together. It was fun to translate James 3 into 6 year old layman terms...she got it. HeHe. We've been doing well since then. I'm sure this is just the first of us talking about our tongues and what comes out of our mouths. ugh.

Emma has been as precious as ever. She LOVED her winter session of swim classes and was ecstatic when we started a new session this week. She loves singing the "alligator song" at the end, and jumping off the wall. It's pretty funny listening to her explain it to other people, too. Half of what she says is just mumble jumble because she's so excited. She's been enjoying her dates with Nana and Daddy's milkshakes too. Griff makes me smile ALL the time. I sooo look forward to him waking up in the morning and going in to see those legs a kickin' and that smile on his face. Man he rocks!