Bountiful Basket

This was my first experience with Bountiful Baskets. It is a fruit/veggie co-op thingy sweeping the country. Some wonderful friends had family in other areas participating and worked really hard to get it going up here in Spokane. You go to their website www.bountifulbaskets.org find your area, register, and every week you go on and sign up for how ever many baskets you want. Then Saturday morning you go and pick up your basket(s). It is $15 and this is all that I got.

There are green beans in the 3 bags, celery, corn on the cob, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, cantaloupe, oranges, apples, bananas, strawberries, and plums. Not sure that we will go through all of it in 1 week, but WOW look at all that food. It seems that there is something for everyone. Abi is very excited about the strawberries and Tyler is wanting to cut into that cantaloupe right away. We will enjoy some corn on the cob for dinner tonight and now I have salad stuff for work this next week.

Anyway, first experience with Bountiful Baskets, so I thought I would share. If interested go to the website and see if they have a co-op in your area. If they don't, find someone willing to head it up and get it organized in your area because it seems to be well worth it.

In other news, the family is great. Kids are enjoying their summer at home. They are ready for school to start all ready though. I am glad I have kids who love school and learning as much as I do. Tyler has read almost the whole series of Pendragon since Easter when he got the first book in his basket. That is 10 books. He has us all hooked so Jacob and I are working on the series as well. Noah is enjoying getting Percy Jackson read to him. We are on Book 2 of that series. I personally cannot wait for Mockingjay to come out, the 3rd book in the Hunger Games series. A Summer of Books, what can be better.

SYSA Baseball 2010

Baseball Season has been upon us. We sure do enjoy this sport! This was our second year doing baseball through SYSA and I have to say that we are again pleased with the season. The boys had a wonderful time and gained some skill in the last few months. This was Abi's first year in baseball and first time playing an organized sport. She had a blast. Here are some pictures of our teams this year.

Abi's Orange Crushers with Coach Junior and Coach Teresa. As a side note, Coach Junior's father (Gordy Sr.) was Noah's coach last year. It was fun to have that familiarity! Abi LOVED playing baseball. She was very nervous at first, but once she got into it, the smile never left her face. She played T-ball, but the last few games they did coach pitch to get them used to being pitched to. She got a few hits, which I think surprised her more than anyone. She loved being out there with the boys and having fun. It was not unusual to see her dancing around in the outfield though. I guess she still has to prove that she is a girl! LOL.

Noah's Team The Fireballs with Coach Soran. Noah had a blast. His favorite position has been catcher. He just loves getting all the gear on. Noah was in Coach Pitch, but the last few games they always give the boys a chance to pitch and learn that position so they are ready for the higher levels. Noah said his last game he got a chance to pitch and he really liked it. He is a good little baseball player and made some great plays. I saw him get a few grounders and throw the ball to the correct base, even getting a few of them out. It is great to see him gaining confidence and having fun playing around.

Jacob's team was a pretty good little team. They won quite a few of their games (although technically they do not keep score, LOL). He had a blast playing again this year. It was great to see him gaining some skill and confidence in his abilities. He got a few hits. His level is player pitching, so there were sometimes only a few opportunities to actually hit the ball as these guys learn that position. It is a hard skill to learn, but you could see all of their confidence and strength build throughout the games. Most of the time Jacob was walked, which his team attributed to his small strike zone. LOL. He had a great time and made some new friends.

Tyler had a good time as well. He is figuring out his favorite positions and gaining some skill and knowledge in those positions. He likes second base, short stop area. I think he likes being in that action spot. His coach put him in the outfield the first game and you could see the boredom on his face. He really likes the in-field spots. He had a good time as well. His team was lacking a bit in a few areas, but the boys tried their best every game, gave it their all, and most importantly had a great time.

Here is a slideshow of just some random shots throughout the season.

The kids all had a great time. I love that they make it so easy and accessible to everyone. Our games were T/Th and for the most part were all at one big sports complex. I could wander around with the 2 little ones and watch parts of each game. There were a few times when Tyler or Jacob were at a different field, but that was rare and within a short driving distance from the main fields. We had a fun time, but I have to admit that I am okay with it being over. Now back to a good dinner routine and bedtime LOL. Heres to a wonderful 2010 season and we look forward to our 2011 season. PLAY BALL!!!!!!!

Noah's Birthday and Baptism

So I think I say this with every birthday, but I cant believe how big these kids are getting. Feels so weird to think that half the Snook crew is now 8 and baptized. Noah has been so excited for this birthday. He was so excited to be baptized, get his own set of scriptures, and finally be 8.

He requested an ice cream cake and wanted iron man. So we got this ice cream cake and the iron man toys to put on top. He thought it was the best. I am glad that they can still be pleased by simpleness.

His birthday was on a Sunday. He even got to do scripture/prayer in primary on his birthday. That was a planned or special thing just because it was his birthday, it just worked out that way, but he sure thought it was special. When we came home from church, he enjoyed opening his presents.

The kids each love to hand their presents to the birthday boy/girl and wish them a Happy Birthday. Jameson unfortunately still thinks the presents are his and wants to play with them.

Here is his take from the fam. He had a great time and cant wait to use the squirt gun. He is very excited about the legos. Him and daddy had a great time (during nap time the next day) putting together the Lego Power Miners and the Mega Blocks Iron Man. Geronimo Stilton is also a huge favorite so he was excited to get 2 books from Mommy.

it is hard to get him to sit still long enough to do anything, but here is one quick shot of him getting ready to blow out his candles. He just couldnt wait to get the iron man toys off of it. One to lick the frosting off and another to play with them. I dont think he ate too much of his cake as he was too busy playing with his new toys.

The next Saturday he finally got to be baptized. He has been so excited to be a big boy like Jacob and Noah and get baptized. Him and James spent some time practicing and he was ready for the big day. Below is a picture of Noah and the other boy who was getting baptized with Noah. He was from a different Ward in our Stake.

We had someone that was just standing there take a picture of all of us. Thus, we have a picture from too far away. Anyway, here is all 8 of us on Noah's big day.

Here is one of all 6 kids. Look at all those cute little people. They make me smile and laugh each and every day. I cannot believe how blessed I am.

Noah and Daddy on the big day.

Noah got to finally open his brand new set of scriptures. This is probably the thing he has been waiting for the most. He wanted a green set of scriptures, so we got him green scriptures with a green tote. He was seen all day Saturday of the baptism and the Sunday following carrying around his scriptures. He is so proud to finally have his own set. Now at night when we do scripture and prayer, he is one of the first to run and get his very own scriptures! Here he is right after (I mean right after) the baptism was over. I barely caught up to him in time to get this shot.

I wanted one of Noah in front of the font. I cannot decide which picture I like better, the one above or the one below. I like the one above because it is totally Noah's personality. I like the fingers pointing up and his cute little bare feet. But, the one below is just so precious as well. Thank you to my awesome photog husband to capture the great spirit of the day!

Anyway, Happy Birthday to our little man Noah! Here are some great things we love about Noah.

• Noah has a wonderful imagination. He loves Legos, building, and creating things. He comes up with some of the funnest, craziest, and most amazing things sometimes.
• Noah is always very cuddly. I can always count on him to sit on my lap and snuggle with me. I miss that in some of the other (older) kids, I will appreciate this fro Noah for as long as it lasts.
• Noah is a funny, crazy little man. He can be a big goof ball at times and make us all laugh.
• Noah comes up with some great stories. He has such a good imagination and can make up some fun stories, games, and songs as he is playing around.
• Noah LOVES to play baseball. He absolutely loves playing catcher and has a great time out there at all his games playing around and enjoying being a part of his team.
• Noah is a great brother! He loves his little brothers Daniel and Jameson and can be seen sharing and playing with them often. He also loves his sister Abigail. It is fun to watch him interact with her and play some kind of family game or doll stuff. He enjoys being one of the "big" boys too and playing around with Jacob and Tyler.
• Noah is full of all kinds of spirit! As much as this gets him in trouble sometimes, it is also very endearing. He always has energy and exuberance to play and have a good time.
• As much as Noah is full of all kinds of spirit, he is also full of a wonderful Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus Christ. His genuine excitement about church and reading scriptures shows his testimony. He is often the one to remind us to do scripture and prayer at night.

I love you Noah. Here is to many more Happy Birthdays! Hope you had a great day and congratulations on the baptism.

Summer happenings

So I promised that I would keep up with my blogging and just have not been able to lately. Somewhat due to laziness, somewhat due to not enough time, and somewhat due to waiting for pics from Jim's camera to get to my computer. We were finally able to culminate the picture transfer so I am buckling down to get some blogging done.

With a non-existent vacation budget, we are spending a lot of the summer doing "free" things. Splash pads, hiking, and playing at parks. The kids are having a great time seeing all the different parks Spokane has to offer. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our summer so far.

Another thing we have tried to do is go hiking every weekend. We have gone to The Bowl and Pitcher at the Spokane River, Camp Caro at Dishman Mica Hills, and while camping we hiked the Liberty Lake trail. These times out in the woods with the kids have been a lot of fun. We have enjoyed the beauty of this world as well as some peace and quiet (in between squeals of delight from the kids). There is just something about being in the woods to keep you grounded and focused on life.

We had the opportunity to go camping last weekend as well. We just went to the Liberty Lake campground and it was only overnight, but it was tons of fun. The kids had a blast getting the fire going, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs, and sleeping in the tent. We went on a hike and saw a turtle, a beaver working on his dam, and a toad. After breaking down camp the second day, we tried to go swimming, unfortunately the wind was so strong that day. While sleeping during the night Jim and I feared that the tent was going to blown down. The side fell in on us quite a few times. We swam for a bit, enough to get pictures, but had to cut it all short due to the wind blowing the sand all over and freezing us out after being wet. It was still fun and the kids had a great time getting dirty, cant really beat that...

So there are some of the things we have been doing so far this summer. We will have more fun stuff with baseball, maybe some trips to the beach, and some more park fun around Spokane.