Autumn is upon us!

Okay, okay so I haven't updated in three months.  I have an excuse, what's yours?  I think pretty much everyone knows we are having a baby due around New Year's so I spent most of the Summer sick, sicker than I have ever experienced before.  This is how we told people:

   

This is how we asked people to guess the sex of the baby
(by asking how we should decorate the nursery):

So it's a BOY due around New Year's and it has been a learning process for me.  I spent a good four month's being sick and still am about once a week.  Currently I am mostly exhausted all the time. So we are at 24 weeks and sometimes I can't wait for him to come and other times I am scared to death.  We cleaned out the room we are using for the nursery, we have bought a dresser, and are still shopping for a crib and car seat.  Everything else I am not worrying about since I will hopefully get things at a baby shower.  I had a rough time finding a doctor we liked, but now love my Midwife.  I also feel great about the hospital we are going to have the baby at.  I am 99% sure I will hire a Doula too (I have found one, but keep wondering if I can just handle things with Ryan and save money).  Plus we have yet to agree on a name!

Other things that went on during the Summer were me attending a day of Young Women's Camp and getting released.  I now do the Sacrament Program which is perfect for me.  Ryan was also released and called as the Young Men's Secretary and a scout leader.  He has a lot on his plate, but I think he enjoys it most of the time.  We went camping while I was sick with our dog.  I have to admit I was crazy for planning this one.  Ryan also had many mountain bike rides and attended Youth Conference.  We also went down to Blanding/Moab for my friends wedding and Arches.  Oh, we also did a couple of day's at Bear Lake with Ryan's brother.

So besides baby news we had Kael for most of the month of August.  I have to admit it was not my cup of tea and was probably the most I struggled with him ever.  Pregnancy hormones, being tired, and having him all day, everyday was tough.  We did as much as I could handle though.  We went to the zoo with cousins, went to the track and exercised most mornings, went to the pool with Dad, went to G & G Peterson's with cousins where we went to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum and got Farr's Ice Cream.  In the middle of August we drove to St. George to pick up the boy's and surprise them all by taking them to Disneyland.  It was fun to tell them about the baby and leave the next morning for California Adventures and Disneyland.

Remember I am 20 weeks prego here.  I'm glad I didn't go on this spinning ride,
but I did love the cars ride.

Can you tell how hot it was?  They loved this ride though!

This was one of my top three rides when I was a kid.  Kael really liked it too:)

Even though it may not look like it we all loved this one!

Downtown Disney curse you!  At least we found a cool bird and learned shortcuts into the park!

Once in a lifetime memory!  The best part was watching the kids enjoy the rides.

These brothers love each other and rarely fight:)

Drew and Evan got chosen for the Jedi academy which was rough on Robby
(until we gave him extra money later).

Still a favorite of Kael's!  

Isn't my Ryan so handsome?  I love him to death!

Overall it was a busy summer for us, but I had to take it easy and still do.  Sometimes I love our little "spud nut" kicking and other times he wakes me or makes me uncomfortable.  We are happy that he will have a cousin born 2 months after him.  We have been in school a few weeks now and I love routine!  The boys love their teachers and classes too.  We went camping this weekend with some of the extended Peterson family and caught fish at Currant Creek Reservoir.  It was a lot easier camping this time around compared to month's ago, but still a little rough.  We are looking forward to our annual Snow Family Conference Camp-out in a few weeks. The boys are also enjoying Piano, Art, and Karate classes.  They are so good at doing chores, reading, homework, etc... everyday!  We have been making Autumn treats, decorating for Fall, and are so happy with the weather cooling down.  Plus we are loving our BYU COUGARS!  We are excited to go to a few games this season, but I tend to enjoy the games more at home.  We also have 11 pumpkins in our garden ready for picking next month.  For now we gear up for the holiday's and getting this ready for this baby boy!

Worry Wort and Zion's

Sometimes I am a huge worrier.  Today I keep worrying about things that are out of my control.  So in an effort to take my mind off those things I am blogging, reading scriptures, etc...  At least tomorrow Ryan and I get to go to Lagoon for a fun break!

So of course I am behind again, mostly because I hate uploading pictures from Ryan's camera.  I just need to use my own so I blog more:)  Since I last blogged I can't possibly think of everything since we were so busy with the end of school.  We had a lot of doctor appointments for all of the boys, field trips, making up homework, Payson temple open house, camp outs, Mother's Day, and whatever else I am forgetting!!!

The first weekend in May we went to Zion's National Park.  I had been there before, but the boy's had not.  The trip was two fold.  We wanted the boys to have a weekend with their grandparents who live in St. George that they don't get to see too often, but we stopped at ZNP on the way.  We also invited Ryan's parent's to come with us.  After Zion's we stayed at our timeshare in St. George and went to see Brian Regan, which was one of our Valentine's Day gifts.   It was fun to get to know more about the Snow and Peterson family history and listen to a book on tape that we all loved.  I do have to add I think you can do more without kids at Zion's as they get worn out quicker.  We also made a quick trip to the tabernacle in Pine Valley, which I have always wanted to visit because the inside ceiling is an up side down ship hull.  Sadly the tabernacle wasn't open.  Now school is out, the boys are at their Mom's for the Summer and we are still keeping busy.

I mostly am doing Young Women things.  Ryan just got released from being Ward Finacial Clerk and gets a new calling today.  We head to Lagoon tomorrow, are going camping this weekend, and then head to Moab/my friend Mikaela's wedding next weekend.  The last weekend in June we head to Bear Lake.  Our weekend's are pretty planned out for the next month or so.  We hope to take a vacation later this summer, but that is still in the works.  I also have some projects I want to do around the house, but I am having a hard time keeping up!

Weeping rock

Family minus Kael at Weeping rock

Waiting for tram, everyone except Ry

The boys loved chatting with Grandpa as they hiked

Love this picture!  We are at the mouth of the Narrows.

Robby decided he was done hiking at this point.

We saw deer, at lot of squirrels that Evan tried to get as close to as possible, and lizards

Emerald pools, but barely any water because of a drought.
Shortly after we got rain all month long and they are having flash floods now.

So happy to be done hiking!  We promise we didn't torture them.
We only did about 4 miles max;)

Robby was the best hiker

Picturesque Zion's.  Ryan's a great photographer!!

Peaking in the windows of the Pine Valley Tabernacle

Brian Regan 

Ryan made me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day

One of about 10 appointments in May

Payson temple, with our ward youth. Ryan, Drew, and I went this time.

The second time around we waited about 1.5 hours to get in.
The best part was when Robby said he felt closer to God inside.
I'm sure Pizza Pie cafe and the BYU creamery didn't hurt either.

Colorado and our Easter

The boys were with their Mom for two weeks and while it was nice to have a break I did get bored.  We were scheduled to pick them up on a Sunday and the boys really wanted to be back for the Nielson Family Easter Party, so we split up the drive.  Ryan and I drove to Denver on a Saturday in hopes of working in the Denver Temple.  We arrived in time to do sealing's (with no other patron's) with 3 workers who were eager to talk to us.  I also almost passed out, several times, which is a first for me in the temple.  We ate at an awesome BBQ place before making it to our BnB about an hour from where we were supposed to pick up the boys in the morning.  It was situated on a pond, which we walked around and saw cranes and fish.  We got up early the next morning, made it in time for the Easter Egg Hunt, and I didn't have to cook.  Since we don't ever have the boys for Easter this is basically what we do for Easter.  They hunt for eggs with candy and money in them and afterwards everyone gets an equal amount of eggs with numbers in them.  The numbers correspond to prizes my Aunt has saved throughout the year.  The boys loved it, but we were all pretty tired after a 10 hour travel day.  

Got bored in the car on the car ride home so I attempted Jamberry's again.
I don't think I am a fan because they always get caught on things and make me itch.

Evan's hiding in the corner.  Can you spot him?

This week Evan also had Hope of America.
While I consider myself very patriotic the traffic and amount of songs
they had was excessive for me.  I loved the flag though. 

 

Birthday Blitz

I forgot to post pictures from Evan's birthday back in December, but we just had birthday parties for Robby and Drew in March.  After four birthday's in four month's I am grateful for a break! Although I am pretty good about journaling I think pictures are even more important for family history and to look back at.  So enjoy all these pictures, there's a lot, especially since Kael came for two weeks.

Robby's birthday, Kael just arrived with crazy hair!

Finding the treasure that Lucky the Leprechaun hid

Drew was all about the gifts!

New suit we bought Kael

Dino puzzle the boys put together

Creepy Leprechaun the boys wanted a picture with on March 17, Robby's birthday

The boys wanted to see the origami exhibit at the BYU MOA

Kael finally got a needed haircut

After 3 hours of Doctor appointments and 2 hours in traffic.  I love this kid!

Kael splashes, Hudley cleans it up

G & G Zobell gave Kael a Looney Tunes DVD.  He sat for 2 hours straight, the longest I have EVER seen!

It had been almost a year since Kael went to the dentist.  Luckily he only had one cavity because he has major anxiety.

Kael loved eating school lunch with Robby!