Fun at the Park

This last weekend we went to a little open house at Raymond Rimkus Park. The kids had so much fun. There was a magician there and I don't quite think the kids got what he was doing but they loved the balloon animals he gave out.
There was even free face painting. Brooklyn knew exactly what she wanted painted on her face and Heath and I couldn't believe how still she sat the entire time! Cade wanted a football but he got the closest thing to it I guess. Once we got home from the park, Brooklyn would go and look at herself in the mirror every couple of minutes and come back saying how cute she looked.

They love playing on this little merry-go-round thing.

This is just a random picture of the kids when we go on our walk. To be honest, our walks are few and far between. It's a little too humid for me. Not to mention this stroller is an absolute BEAST! And to help matters, the other back wheel broke this morning. I think that's supposed to make my walk more challenging and thus more beneficial. Yeah, I think I'll just go by myself next time.

The best wife? I have her!

Chelsea is the best wife out there. She lets me sleep in every weekend and gets up early with the kids. Then to top it off, this morning, I was fast asleep and all of a sudden the kids come in and jump on me and say "daddy wake up. Mom has breakfast for you." Then Chelsea walks in with a hot waffle and an Orange Julius on a tray! So not only does she get up early with the kids and let me sleep, but then she brings me breakfast in bed! I'm not sure what I did to deserve such an incredible person, but whatever it was I sure am glad I did it. I got so lucky, and somehow tricked Chelsea into taking a chance on me. Thanks Chelsea, I love you.

Do you want to dance?

I know I have mentioned before that I have the most prototypical "girl" and "boy" for kids. Brooklyn loves dressing up and looking in the mirror and asking how cute she looks, and Caden loves throwing balls, swinging sticks, and watching football. So to further add to why I think this of my kids I have to relate the following story that took place this morning before church.

Brooklyn had just got her dress on with her new shoes and was swishing it in front of the mirror and was all smiles. She came up to me and asked me if she looked cute, and of course she did so I grabbed her and gave her a big hug and told her she looked beautiful. She then walked out of the bedroom and into the living room where Cade was watching TV. Chelsea and I were still in the bedroom and we heard Brooklyn ask Cade in this sweet little voice, "Hey Cade, do you want to dance with me?" To which Cade immediately responds very curtly and matter of fact, "No. Watching TV."
Chelsea and I just started laughing because it was your typical girl just wanting to impress the boy and the boy not even noticing the attention the girl is seeking! It was pretty cute.

Born to play

This time of year is great. The weather is cooling off, the leaves on the trees are changing, baseball is coming to an end, and football has begun! For those of you that don't know, I LOVE football and there is just something about the fall season that does it for me. Of course I have been watching the games the past few Saturdays (enjoying watching Notre Dame be 0-4 and all the other upsets that are happening), but one thing that has made this year that much more fun is because I have my little boy to watch the games with me. Caden will sit down on the couch with me and stay enthralled with the game for a good amount of time and he loves watching the guys get tackled as well as watching the quarterbacks throw the ball. I must confess, when we are both there on the couch watching the game, it is such a proud moment for me! Who knows what our kids will end up liking to do, but I won't be complaining if it involves a brown oval shaped ball, a helmet, and pads.

Just to show you that I am not exaggerating Caden's love for the best game on earth, this is a picture from Chelsea's cell phone from when we were at the sports store last week getting Brooklyn her soccer outfit. These shoulder pads were at the front of the store, and so I had to put them on Cade. When I went to take them off, he started freaking out so we just left them on and he wore them around the store the entire time we were there, which was about 20-30 minutes. I tried getting the helmet on him too, but he only kept that on long enough to get the picture.

What a great time of year this is!

A Valentine's gift for everyone

Well it is official, we are having a girl! I had to pay up and give Chelsea some ice cream because she guessed it right....again! This is our third child, and Chelsea has guessed the sex correctly of each one...I think she is cheating some how:) We had the ultrasound yesterday and while it wasn't the most informative ultrasound we have ever had (the tech barely even talked to us the whole time and she only showed us the baby for about 2 minutes.) Anyway, she said that "unofficially" the baby looks fine, but we will have to review the results with Chelsea's doctor. So, needless to say, we are pretty excited here.

Brooklyn is especially excited to be having a little sister. She has already gone through 3 names for the baby; Sandra (no idea where that came from), Grandma Pam, and Grandma DeEtte...yeah sorry Brooklyn we aren't going with any of those (no offense Grandmas). However we are accepting ideas for her name. Let us know what all ya'lls favorite girl names are.

Oh and by the way, we were contemplating even getting pregnant, but from past experience we found that this was the only way we could guarantee any type of out of town visitors (except for Adam and Fabiane). So we are taking reservations for around February 15th, the due date, so get flights now...c'mon don't be shy.

Here are the other two pictures that we got from the ultrasound. Sorry they don't really show much.

Volleyball madness (part II)

So it seems that I have taken some smack from one specific Mindy Rasmussen about my volleyball skills. So in response to her comment on my first volleyball post I thought I would post the most recent picture of me as I'm in the middle of my jump serve (Chelsea has amazing photographic skills). Watch out Mindy, I'm coming for you!

Mother-Daughter (plus Caden) Campout

Well, I'm a week late in posting this but the kids and I went camping last Friday. It was supposed to be just Brooklyn and me but Heath ended up being in Austin that weekend for a seminar so Cade joined us. Luckily, my friend, JoEllen was kind enough to take us. It was in Concan, Texas and it was really pretty there.
The kids had a blast. They tried to roast their hot dogs but couldn't wait and ate them cold. Cade thought the fire was pretty cool. Just when I thought they were getting tired they
started chasing each other and wrestling. They were laughing so hard. Cade had a marshmallow (or shmarshmallow as Brooklyn would say) in his hand the whole time. By the end of the wrestling match, the marshmallow had shrunk considerably and his arm had a sticky foam all over it. It was fun to watch them get good and dirty and laugh the entire time. Bed time was a completely different story (for Cade). I won't bore you with the "screaming" details, let's just say that I hope JoEllen got a little sleep.






The kids had fun roasting marshmallows and loved being around the Weatherholtz's.
On Saturday the kids went and played in the river. Most people went down it in tubes which looked really fun but kids enjoyed the shallow parts. I felt like a broken record for about 2 hours, "Cade, don't throw the rocks!" We tried time out and all but it's like the kid can't not throw. It's way too tempting. He even started demonstrating different ways in which it thought it might be okay to throw a rock. "Yike this mom?" I'd say no. "Um, yike this mom?" On and on it went. He was in rock heaven and I was just hoping he didn't give anyone a concussion. All in all we had a really great time and I would love to do it again (minus the screaming part).

Volleyball madness

It has been a little while since we updated our post and not much has happened but I thought I should post anyway (therefore feel free to skip this post if you are short on time).

I am playing in a volleyball league at the health science center here. Brian and Jami Black invited me to play on their team and I warned them about my volleyball skills, or lack there of, but they insisted. Well tonight we had our first game and I'm sure they are rethinking their decision! It really was fun and we actually play sand volleyball, not inside wimpy court volleyball. I had a good time, and I was thinking to myself the whole time how much Jeff and Mindy are missing out (see Jeff, you should have stayed in school longer so you could enjoy the finer things in life).

The residency is going well, and it is definitely keeping me busy. Poor Chelsea, has to be at home all day and evening without me, taking care of our beautiful two kids. Apparently Caden has officially hit the "terrible twos" stage which as we have learned from Brooklyn, seems to run into the terrible threes and fours as well! I have said this before, but we really do have the most stereotypical "boy" and "girl" that you can have. Everything is such a big deal to Brooklyn, and when she doesn't like something she just drags it on and on. Whereas Caden, on the other hand, when he doesn't like something he will just get so mad, throw himself on the floor, scream, and then a little bit later he is up and running around like nothing ever happened. You all know this is true; girls just can't let things go, and boys get mad and get over it! I must say though, no matter how "terrible" the two's are, there sure is nothing better than coming home and throwing the football, or baseball, or golfing in the house, with my kids. I absolutely adore them, and wish I could be home with them more often.

Our Family Facts

I’m assuming that Lyssa tagged me on this. Either that or there is another Chelsea S. I don’t know that we are all that exciting but here it goes.

Heath Courtney Snell:
-Born December 14, 1978 in Payson, UT
-Was brought home from the hospital in a Christmas stocking
-2nd to oldest of 5, 3 sisters and one brother
-Heath claims that he is the FAVORITE child
-Heath grew up in Mesa, AZ
-He absolutely LOVES sports and can’t wait for Brooklyn to start soccer
-He loves to wrestle with the kids and play “Down, Set, Hut!”
-Heath graduated form ASU with a 4.0 and was 4th in his dental class
-He makes great Brazilian beans and rice

Chelsea Chalon Snell:
-Born June 10, 1978 in Salt Lake City, UT
-Grew up in Tooele, UT
-Middle child of 5, one brother and 4 sisters
-Had my dad as my Seminary Teacher (he was my favorite)
-I used to clog!!! Oh, the memories!
-I was Senior Class Pres and recently planned our 10-year reunion. It’s over!!
-I played soccer in college
-I love talking dental stuff with Heath
-I have so much gray hair

Brooklyn Taisa Snell
-Born July 27, 2003 in Mesa, AZ
-Weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 in. long
-Moved to Denver, CO when she was 10 days old
-Was such a good baby
-She loves to play with little plastic animals
-Brooklyn is incredibly loving and is always giving hugs followed by, “I love you!”
-Her first kiss was Collin Heap
-She has recently become a chatterbox
-She loves to tell Cade that if he doesn’t listen, he is going in timeout
-Loves to look in the mirror and say, "Do I look pretty?" Of course she does!

Heath Caden Snell
-Born April 25, 2005 in Denver, CO
-Weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and was 19 in. long
-Looked like an old man when he was born with lots of crazy hair
-He thinks Brooklyn is hilarious
-Has recently nicknamed himself “Superman” and Brooklyn "Girl Superman"
-Always makes us laugh, even in the way he struts around
-LOVES golf and knows when Tiger is playing
-He has always been very polite
-Loves to swallow food completely whole. Sometimes it looks like it’d hurt
-Calls Brooklyn "Brookie"
-Loves to tackle Brooklyn and wrestle

I have some wonderful kids and an absolutely incredible husband!

First Day of School

Today was Brooklyn's first day of school! We actually weren't able to find her a preschool this year so as Brooklyn says, "we're making our own school." To make it all seem real for her I took her school shopping yesterday. I have a feeling she's going to be a shopper (something Heath has never had to deal with.) Brooklyn knew exactly what she wanted to get. She was excited to get dressed this morning and kept looking in the mirror asking me if she looked pretty.

Brooklyn asked if Cade could come to her class so I got them their own little desk and school supplies and we were off. I think they enjoyed it. Brooklyn at least got something out of it while Cade was too busy being Superman. They thought it was funny to call me "teacher". Cade would correct himself if he said "mom" while he was at his desk. Well, we'll keep you updated, it should be an exciting school year!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Since we have been here in San Antonio we have wanted to go up to a small country town called Fredericksburg. Well this past weekend we finally decided to do it since they had several things planned up around that area for the Labor Day Weekend. We were able to enjoy day trip with our good friends the Simonton's. Thanks for going with us guys!

We started off the adventure by hitting one of the many wineries that are up in this area. No we did not go up there for the free wine tasting; we went up there for the free grape stomp! I know, it sounds so fun. When we read about this on line we were picturing these huge vats of grapes that you could walk around in, all full of crisp grapes that you could walk all over and squish (are you envisioning I Love Lucy, because we were!). So we got to the winery all excited about the big grape stomp, and as we were walking on the grounds there Chelsea says, "there you go Heath. There is your big grape stomp." As I look over there were these tiny little barrels that were barely big enough for my size 11 foot to fit in and they had all been stomped already! Talk about a disappointment!! Well, we decided to make the most of it anyway and jumped on in. I mean c'mon, how many times in your life are you going to be able to do a grape stomp at a winery?

We were then off to the town of Fredericksburg for some window shopping. Just to give everyone an idea of what this town is like; for those from Colorado it is like Estes Park and for those who are familiar with Utah it is like Park City. Just a fun little town with an old Main Street with little shops that line both sides of the road. We bought Cade and Brooklyn little Cowboy/girl hats for them to enjoy.

After an hour or so we headed off to the small town of Harper, Texas, population 1006! This small Texas town had their annual Frontier Days parade and rodeo. This was probably the highlight of the trip. The town's main street is a state Highway, and for the parade they closed off half of the Highway to allow for the parade precession. The parade was full of beauty queens, old cars, sports teams and the high school band. The kids loved it as there were plenty of people throwing candy and beaded necklaces from their floats! Notice Brooklyn really liked the beads!

From the parade we went to the town park where the rodeo grounds were. Before we claimed our spot in the rodeo arena we had to enjoy the town's local BBQ. At $7 a plate we got some BBQ pork and chicken with beans and potato salad. While the food probably wasn't worth the $7, it was just fun to sit around on the cement pic-nic tables and eat, while we watched the local towns people walk around in their Wranglers and cowboy hats. It was such a fun atmosphere.

The kids found a little playground area there as well, so before the rodeo started they went off over there and I just have to say that our little Cade is quite the ladies man!! (You wouldn't expect anything different though looking at his father!) The picture to the side shows it quite nicely; how Cade goes for the older women. He would ask these girls to help him up the slide and then when he would slide down he would give them his classic "Caden Grin" and tell them thank you. He did this over and over and had those girls wrapped around his little finger! C'mon now, could any of you ladies out there resist a man with guns like these and face like that!

The crowning event of this fun filled day was Harper's own town Rodeo! The kids had such a blast watching the horses and the cows with real life Cowboys! You can see that we dressed our city slickers up for the occasion, and they played it up. The above picture shows Cade, Brooklyn and Bryson Simonton all deeply engaged in the happening of the rodeo arena! The rodeo went for a couple hours and the kids pretty much stayed entertained the entire time.

At one point the announcer came over the PA system and called for all the kids age 12 and under to enter the arena for the "Cow Scrable." Immediately all these kids in their cowboy boots and hats started pouring over the railing and into the arena. We all kind of looked at each other like, 'what is going on?' The we decided to go ahead and put the kids in since they were asking to join in the fun. We didn't really know what was going on, but I lifted Brooklyn over the railing and off she went running to the group of kids that were gathering in the middle of the arena. Then Cade wanted to join in so I lifted him up as well, and he took off running toward the crowd as well. We were a little worried about him since he was running by himself but then his good big sister came out of the crowd and met him about half way to help him the rest of the way. I so tried to get a picture but it was just too dark, and they were too far away for the flash. What the event was all about, for you city slickers like us, is they let 3 little calf's out in the arena and their ears were tagged with something and the kids tried to pull that something from the calf's ear. The whole thing lasted only a couple minutes and then the announcer asked the kids to leave the arena. Well Cade never ran around much to chase the cows, but then all of a sudden from the middle of the arena he just started bawling and walking toward the railing. I went over to the railing and he came over to me and with bright red eyes, and the tears flowing down he said, "the cow bite me." I guess he thought the cows were after him! So the kids continued to scatter out of the arena and Chelsea and I were looking at each other and asking each other where Brooklyn was. Then we hear the announcer say, "Well, it looks like we got one little one that has lost her family." We look clear on the other side of the arena and there is little Brooklyn just kind of looking around like a little lost puppy. So I had to climb over the railing in my shorts and cargo shorts and old navy flip flops and run half way across the arena to get her from this Rodeo Cowboy who had a nice wad of dip in his lower lip! I'm sure everyone in the stands were just rolling their eyes and thinking, "City folk!"

Anyway, it sure was a fun and long day. We left Harper about 10:30 pm and the kids immediately fell asleep in the car. But don't worry, Chelsea is such a good mom that she had packed their pajamas so we put them in those before we left. We didn't get home that night until after midnight. What a great way to spend a Saturday! Here are some other pictures from the rodeo.

Bryson Simonton modeling his new hat

Kids enjoying the calf roping