Random Blogging

So have you ever seen the little "next blog" button at the top of the screen. Every once in a while I click on it just to see what I get. Sometimes it is nothing special at all, sometimes it is something I wish I had not seen, but every once in a while it is a special little nugget that makes a lasting impression.

This is what I found tonight. This lady apparently follows a friends blog who has a daughter with down's syndrome...

So here is what she said today:"Nella had her four month appointment yesterday.And, amid most of the time where I honestly forget she's different, I am reminded every once and awhile. Like getting ready to go to the doctor and feeling a little flutter inside. Like what if they tell me something. Like what if they rock my world again. Like what if one of those "increased likelihoods" that happen to attach themselves to that sweet little chromosome comes true. But, here's the thing. Once you become a parent...once you start feeling a little funny and you buy that pregnancy test...once you see a pink plus sign...once you know it's not just you anymore...well, you automatically carry around, for the rest of your life, an increased likelihood. To have your heart broken. And it's a constant fear that we struggle to put to rest.And we can choose to be afraid or we can choose to live. And I choose to live. Because an "increased likelihood of having your heart broken" also carries with it an increased likelihood to find yourself the happiest you've ever been in life."

What a wonderful attitude and how true is that. I am trying to remember that last part and the "increased likelihood" to find myself the happiest! Risks seem scary.... Whether in motherhood or with life in general. There is that increased chance that you will fail, but without that risk we have no increased likelihood to become happy and make our lives better. So, I too choose to live. Life is hard, life is scary, and life can be down right unfair sometimes, but life is also so very enjoyable, so very happy, and so WORTH it in the end. Glad I clicked that button for that little reminder...

Father's Day Talk

So I was asked to speak today in church. I always get nervous, but this is something I do enjoy doing. Here is a copy of my talk just in case others wanted to hear the message. It is also a good way to remember what I said.

I asked a friend some advice about giving a talk, and she said, "Speak loudly so that everyone will hear you, speak clearly so that everyone will understand you, and speak briefly so that everyone will like you."

I was asked to speak today on Fathers. Having respect for Fathers as well as our Heavenly Father. I would like to talk about another topic for just a bit and then come back to my original topic. Don’t worry Bishop, I think I know what I am doing here. First lets turn to a well know scripture in Matthew.

Matthew 22

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt ^alove the Lord thy God with all thy ^bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy ^cmind

38 This is the first and great ^acommandment

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt ^alove thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the ^alaw and the prophets.

In his conference address titled “The Love of God” given in the October 2009 President Dieter Uchtdorf said, “Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood.”

My question that I would like you to consider for the remainder of my talk is Why is love so important?

When I first was asked to give a talk on Father’s day, I was a bit nervous. I am not sure that I am worthy to speak on what I feel is such an important topic. All week I have worried about doing the subject justice. Not only do I want to give respect to our earthly fathers, but I want to give respect to our Heavenly Father as well. I do not have many stories to give of our earthly father as I cannot say that I have “that kind of father” with the amazing faith-building stories. I can say that I have an amazing husband and father of my children. One story with that is the very first time that I met him……

STORY ABOUT FIRST MEETING JIM!

He has not let me down on that first thought either. Mostly because every day I can see the love that he has for our children.

Upon researching for this talk, I came across the primary song titled FATHERS I would like to read the words for you now.

The Father of our home leads our Family

With wisdom’s light in all that’s right;

My father’s good to me.

The father of our ward tends with loving care

Each member’s needs with kindly deeds;

Our bishop’s always there.

And now we’ll sing great praise and reverently recall

The Holy One who gave his Son,

The Father of us all.

First, the FATHER OF OUR HOME. The song says that he leads our FAMILY. We have all heard the P’s associated with Fatherhood. Presiding, providing, priesthood, patriarch. These are all important and good words, but one about one very basic word….. LOVE!

Read story in What the Lord Requires of Fathers by Elder Robert L. Backman in September 1981 Ensign.

Ten thousand high school students in Kansas were asked what question they would ask their parents and want a straight answer on. Eighty percent replied: “Do you love me?”

The next most asked question: “If you had to do it all over again, would you have me?”

How vital it is for fathers to give their children a sense of personal worth, to let them know they are loved and needed. We need to love them unconditionally as the Savior loves us, using our time, energies, abilities, understanding, and concern to help them recognize their relationship to their loving Father in Heaven and their divine potential as his children.

Fathers, we need to express our love and approval for them. Too many of us are like the father of the little boy who cried: “You always tell me when you’re disappointed in me. Why don’t you ever tell me when you’re appointed in me?”

I said earlier that I do not have “that kind of father.” He was an alcoholic and struggled with a lot of things as I was growing up. Of all the things I am grateful for my father is that he tried really hard. He got himself clean, was baptized into the church, took my family to the temple when we were kids, and tried when I was young to instill a little bit of faith in me. He has since fallen away from the church and we have our issues on communication, but I am grateful to my earthly father for helping me with the basics so that I could grow into the testimony that I have today.

The second verse talked about another Father that we have here on this earth. He is the Father of our Ward. Our Bishop.

In the October 2003 Priesthood Session of conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley gave a talk in which he talked mostly to the Bishops of the church. He stated, “We have more than 18,000 bishops in the Church. Every one is a man who has been called by the spirit of prophecy and revelation and set apart and ordained by the laying on of hands. Every one of them holds the keys of the presidency of his ward. Each is a high priest, the presiding high priest of his ward. Each carries tremendous responsibilities of stewardship. Each stands as a FATHER to his people.”

Here are some of the words President Hinckley used to describe Bishops, “ Counselor, comforter, anchor and strength in times of sorry and trouble, strong with strength that comes from Lord, wise with wisdom that comes from the Lord, open door to hear the cries, strong back to carry the burdens, sensitive heart to judge needs, godly love broad enough and strong enough to encompass even the wrongdoer and the critic, man of patience, willing to listen, striving to understand.” These are some very powerful characteristics. But what I think they have in common is LOVE! How many of us have wonderful stories of Bishops who have LOVED us and cared for us. I can truly say that our bishop loves each one of us and I am grateful for the FATHER OF THIS WARD who leads us and LOVES each one of us.

Describe different bishops in my life. Bishop Beck, Murdock, Nielsen, Crump, Bullough, Steenblik, Smith, Finn.

The last part of that song talked about our Heavenly Father. The Father of us all! We are all children of our Father in Heaven. We were created in His image. Why do we love God? We find the answer in Ist John 4:19 We love him because he first loved us!

Look at all that He has given us. President Uchtdorf states in his conference address “Our Father in Heaven has given us, His children, much more than any mortal mind can comprehend. Under his direction the Great Jehovah created this wondrous world we live in. God the Father watches over us, fills our hearts with breathtaking joy, and brightens our darkest hours with blessed peace” “He offers to His children the promise of a glorious and infinite existence and has provided a way for us to progress in knowledge and glory until we receive a fullness of joy. He has promised us ALL THAT HE HAS.”

Gods love for His children is no respecter of person’s. He does not look on outward appearances. Heavenly Father loves the disciple as much as he loves the sinner. He loves us all… His love is an infinite love that is pure and Holy. We are important to God, not because of the things we do, but because we are HIS children. I believe this statement can be true and should be true of the other 2 Father’s as well. Our bishops towards our Ward family and our earthly Father’s towards his children.

Elder Uchtdorf gave some very inspiring words when he said that “God the Eternal father did not give that first great commandment because He needs us to love Him. His power and glory are not diminished should we disregard, deny, or even defile His name. His influence and dominion extend through time and space independent of our acceptance, approval, or admiration.

No, God does not need us to love Him…. But OH, how we need to Love God!

For what we love determines what we seek.

What we seek determines what we think and do.

What we think and do determines who we are – and who we will become.”

So yes, in talking about Father’s on this Father’s day, I have chosen to also speak on LOVE. I ask again, why is Love such a great commandment… Again, I turn to Elder Uchtdorf who says “When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on a new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden.”

The chorus of that Primary song I referred to early reads:

Fathers are so special with a very special love.

They watch us and protect us.

They guide us and direct us.

Back to our home above.

Father’s do have a very special kind of LOVE don’t they. Our Heavenly Father towards all of His children. The Bishop towards his Ward Family. And a Father here on this earth towards his Children. On this Father’s day, let us Honor all of these Father’s and give them the respect and reverence they deserve, but most importantly, let us all show them the LOVE that we have for them.

HAPPY FATHER's DAY to ALL the wonderful Fathers that I know and love.

Answer to Prayers

We have been very blessed lately with a lot of answers to our "small" prayers. We are gaining testimony everyday of the power of prayer. All these little prayers add up to faith building experiences, whic is so wonderful. Here are just a few examples that I can think of over the last few months for the Snook's.

• We have been looking for a piano to add to our house. It is something that we have been wanting for a very long time. Nothing we have ever sat down and prayed as a family about, but something that is always a prayer in my heart. One night a thought just popped into my head to ask on Facebook if anyone knew anyone getting rid of a piano. That same day I had a friend reply that they had one that they were going to list on Craigslist for free literally the next day. Needless to say, we have a wonderful piano downstairs in our living room as I type.
• Tyler is loving math and really grasps concepts with the piano. They say this goes together. We have wanted to get him into some kind of musical lessons for a while now. Now that we have a piano, we have also found a lady in our church that is giving him lessons.
• Jim texted me at work one day desparate because they could not find Jameson's binkie. He was still very addicted to the darn thing and having a very hard time going down for a nap. I guess the kids and dad looked through the whole house and could not find it. When I got home, Tyler told me that he felt so bad for Jameson that he went and said a prayer to help find the binkie. Apparently, a few minutes later Jacob came up from his bedroom with the binkie in his hand. It had fallen onto one of the bean bag chairs.
• Tyler's 6th grade daycamp adventure to Camp Sweyolakan was scheduled for this last Wednesday. Tuesday was a gorgeous sunny day. Unfortunately, Wednesday we woke up to downpours. On my way to work, I felt so bad for the poor 6th graders I said a little prayer as a was driving. A few hours later, the rain was totally gone. Tyler said that it only drizzled a bit when they first got there, but they were inside for art stuff anyway. By the time they went out to do all the outdoor adventure stuff, the rain was gone. Still cold, but no rain so they were able to enjoy their time at Camp.
• I have been lacking time to do a lot of things lately, one of the most important is reading my scriptures. I have an ipod, so I have been trying to get the scriptures on CD so that I could put them on the Ipod and listen when I have a chance. Sometimes at work when I am going to file for an hour or so, I listen to music on my Ipod. I thought times like these would be perfect for scripture "study" instead. I have looked at the library, with friends, etc. and just have not been able to find any CD's of the scriptures. It has been very frustrating over the last few months of searching. I have had a prayer in my heart that some kind of answer would come. Well, last month, my prayer was answered. I went to a Relief Society Mini-conference. We all little classes all morning that you could pick from. My first class I chose to go to was "Your own personal Liahona" which I felt I needed as I was searching to find that all important scripture study (liahona) time. In her discussion with the class, the teacher mentioned that she had issues of finding time to read her scriptures while working and having young children at home (sound familiar). She was told about how on LDS.org you can download the MP3 files of the scriptures to listen to. She was able to download them all and then burn them to CD and listen in a walkman (giggle inside at the advances in technology). HELLO! Could that be any clearer of a message! The rest of the class was so much more, but that one little sentence was so important for me to hear. I am so grateful that I chose to go so my prayer could be answered. You bet that I went straight home, got the files downloaded, and now enjoy listening to my scripture reading on my Ipod while driving too and from work, during work hours when filing, and sometimes at night after the kiddos are in bed. Makes this one more thing on my list to do each day just a bit easier!

It is amazing how each of these times, I have felt a distinct spirit associated and my testimony on faith has grown bit by bit. We have some "big" prayers we are needing answers to, mostly centered around a career type job for James. I know that these prayers will be answered in time. Will that be now or in 10 years. I dont know, but I know thos prayers will be answered and the perfect opportunity for James will come.

Anyway, I have a solid testimony that prayers are answered. Whether big or small, our prayers (whether spoken or in our hearts) are heard by our Father in Heaven and answered. Just saying!

Baseball and piano

So the SYSA baseball season has officially begun. Abi's first year playing and she has been so excited. Unfortunately her first practice did not go so well and she "got scared" and would not participate. It will take her a while to get used to the idea. Doesnt help that she is the only girl on the team, but somehow I think she might be used to that ;) Noah's first practice was tonight and he had a blast. This will keep us pretty busy, thursday we have 3 practices at the same time at different places. Luckily they are all relatively close and between Jim and I we can work it all out. Cant wait for the games to get going next week. Luckily most of the games are all at the South Hill Sports complex, so Tues and Thurs evenings will be hanging out there for 3 or 4 hours playing baseball.

Tyler had his very first piano lesson today. He is LOVING it. Below is a video of him practicing before bed tonight. He has been very excited to get started on this new skill. It really was his very first piano lesson today and look at what he can do already!!!!

Thats all for tonight. Baseball and piano pretty much sums up our life for a while. It is so great to watch your kids playing and having fun as well as learning new skills and enjoying it.

New Goals

So, the purpose of this blog was originally so that I could document our life raising these 6 crazy rascals. I have been so busy lately that I have kind of left that behind. My new goal for the summer (since I dont have school anymore :0) is to be better about documenting.

Jameson is getting so big. I cant believe he is 2 now. He is starting to talk more and more each day. I love it when he grabs a book and sits down, turning pages, and just babbles to himself like he is reading himself a book. Too cute!

A new thing he has started in the last week or 2 is to call me "Mo". I think it is adorable. He has been a daddy's boy from day 1 and has said Daddy, Dada, and the many other forms for that wonderful baldy he loves dearly. However, he has not usually called me anything, which I have been okay with. I know he has been around Dad a lot more since birth just because of our life situation right now. I am okay with that. Well, a few weeks ago, he just started calling me "Mo." Today, I came home from work and he was standing in the living room. He turned and beamed and said "Hello Mo!" I just love that little man.

Anyway, my new goal is to try and post something every few days. (I would say everyday, but I dont want to put too much pressure on myself LOL). Raising 6 kids is not always easy, there are some fun times, but a lot of frustrating times as well. I am sure it will not be too hard to come up with stuff to post about. I would also like to be able to remember these little things when the kids are older, so here goes my trial run at some new goals

So I am a total slacker!!!!

I just cant seem to find the time to blog anymore. Sorry guys. Here are some pics to get you up to speed on our life as of late.

We had a rough go of it for a bit with all the little kids catching a pretty harsh case of pneumonia and RSV. Little Jameson above spent 5 days in the hospital. Daniel and Abi (below) spent 1 night in the hospital. James was with Jameson as he was getting discharged while I was with Daniel and Abi in the ER getting admitted.

Daniel and Abi recovered fast and were out of the hospital the next day. I cant really say they enjoyed being in the same room becuase they were sick and in the hospital. LOL. It was one long week, but they all got healthy and are back to their normal selves. I get nervous at any runny nose or cough now, but they are doing well. We have such wonderful church members who helped with childcare, cleaning, and bringing us meals. Not to mention one great Visiting Teacher who took the top half kids a few times as well as gave me a great shoulder to cry on. Thanks to all who helped out. We really do appreciate it.

Other than the hospital stay, nothing too SHOCKING has been going on at the Snook house. We are just hanging out... Bouncing on the trampoline....

Enjoying hot dogs bigger than our heads....

Getting in touch with the ape inside of each of us....

Jumping for joy at the blessings we see each day....

Reaching for the sky at a higher potential in each one of us...

Spending some family time on hikes outdoors...

And enjoying some great bedtime stories....

I very much enjoy peaking at the world through the eyes of these little guys....

As they strap themselves in tight to me...

With working full time, school full time, and some various other duties (like laundry, kids, etc) I am staying very busy. One thing I am very grateful for is a loving family. I enjoy each moment I spend with these kiddos and thank my Heavenly Father every day for the chance to be their mother. I love them all and have learned a lot from each one.

A great, Spirit filled night to remember!

Last night was the Adult session of Stake Conference, which I must admit that I have never gone to before. Yesterday was Abi's birthday and I was totally not planning on going. I admit that even forgot about the meeting. About 6 p.m. I came and checked my facebook account and saw a status update from a friend about being a speaker at the meeting and so on. This reminded me and I began to think, maybe I should go and see what is said. I was wishy-washy for a bit and by 6:45 I decided I should go and threw on a skirt and shirt, and put my hair in a pony. I still even had a Tinker Bell tattoo on my face from Abi's birthday festivities that day. I just felt I needed to be there. Boy am I glad that I decided to go. It is probably the most spiritual meeting I have been to in a very long time.

The theme for the meeting was "one by one." The meeting started off with a member of the stake presidency talking about a recent talk by Elder Eyring that spoke how he wrote down instances where he felt the hand of the Lord in his life. These are mostly small moments we dont even realize when they happen. The meeting went on to talk about how the hand of the Lord has been present in our lives in an individual way?

The meeting then turned to 4 members of the stake who have struggled in some way with some major trials. One was a recent convert who talked about decisions that he has made in his life and he can break them down into his pre-Christ decisions and post-Christ decisions. He talked about his early 20s when he did not "have the influence of Christ" in his life and he made his decisions on his own, for his own good, and to make him happy. He made some pretty rough decisions and actually had a major gambling addiction that was hard to overcome. After he came to know and understand Christ better, his decisions began to change. he started to seek guidance with the Lord rather than make these decisions on his own. he became happier, made better decisions, and was able to change his life.

The next speaker was a young mother whose husband is currently deployed in Afghanistan. She talked about the "tender mercies" she has seen. One story was when her children were all sick with fevers and she could not for the life of her find a thermometer. She was overwhelmed with the sickness of 3 kids, alone, missing her companion. She said a quick prayer and asked Heavenly Father for help. Her neighbor called later that afternoon to ask if she could borrow an ingredient to a recipe. She said yes and the neighbor came over to find her bedraggled, tired, and overwhelmed. The neighbor asked if she was okay and she said yes, but the kids were all sick and she was just so frustrated because she could not find a thermometer. The neighbor reached into her coat pocket and withdrew a thermometer and stated "that is so funny. On my way over I put my coat on and reached into my pocket and found this. I dont know how it got there and I was going to put it away when I got home, but here you take it!" How amazing. She spoke on many other "tender mercies" that she has had and continues to have of people hepping and taking care of her while she is working through her trial.

the next speaker spoke on loosing a few people close to him. One a very close friend at work who ended up taking his own life and the confusion that caused. Being so close to someone during the day at work, but not really knowing him. Another loved on he lost was his sister who was a music/band teacher. She died as the bus her group was on lost control and went off the road. She was in the front and tried to step in to correct the bus back on the road, but was unable to and was thrown from the bus. She was much loved by her "family" of students. He talked about the struggle of working through these tragedies and how Christ was by his side to love and support him the whole way.

The last speaker was a young woman who spoke about her few years spent in prison after she caused a fatal car accident. This was an amazing talk on the strength a person can have with Christ by her side. I was so impressed by her attitude towards life and her "never give up" spirit. Many things she said brought me to tears, but I will always remember a scripture she quoted. At one point after the accident she recalls being mad at the Lord for "doing this to her." "Why did you let this happen?" I remember her saying she kept asking God. "I am a good person, why is this happening to me?"

It is so amazing how the Lord works. I do not know why I suddenly decided to go to that meeting, but I am so glad I did. Why? because these are the same questions I have been asking myself lately. "Why are these things happening to me? I am a good person. My family is a good family! My husband and I are so done with these struggles, why cant you just let us get the blessings we want?" These are all questions that have been going through my mind so often over the last few weeks. This last speaker quoted D&C 122:7 "if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son (or daughter), that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be fore thy good." that scripture along with her story and some other things she said really hit home with me.

All of these people spoke of the way the Lord carried them and taught them and helped them or is helping them through these trials. All of these stories helped me to understand where I am in my life and the things I need to do to get out of this "funk" that I am in. I need to look for the tender mercies, open my eyes to the instances when the Lord is present in my life in an individual way. I want to understand more how the Lord has manifested himself to me as an individual. These are the things I need to focus on. So here are just a few that I can think of right now.

Life has been a struggle for us as of late, that is no surprise, but through all the "bad" there has also been good. Our van broke down a few months back. This leaves us with just one car to get us to and from everything, but this car does not fit the whole family. thankfully, my parents have stepped in and they are letting us use their extra car. This car also does not fit the whole family, but between the two cars, we can all get somewhere if need be. For the most part, we only ever have to go in halfsies, except for church and then we take two cars. It is a pain, but it is what it is and for now it is working. Plus, this is such a wonderful blessing for my parents to be able to help us in this way. Without their extra car, we would not be able to make it through this trial at all.

Another "tender mercy" that I know is our neighbor Mary. With 6 kids, you can imagine that we go through milk like there is no tomorrow. Probably 1 gallon or more per day. Mary works for her church collecting donations from local stores for the church's food bank. Well, they always have a bit extra, so for the last month our fridge has never been empty of milk and usually over flowing with 4 or 5 gallons. It comes at a time when we had run out of WIC coupons for the month and other ways to get any milk in our fridge. This is a small thing, but definitely a very BIG thing for our family.

The biggest way I think the Lord has shown me lately that he loves me is through my wondeful husband, James. The previous blog post talks about that in more detail, but to re-iterate, his strength and love through all of this is an awesome example to me. I am continually amazed at his good spirit and attititude towards life. I love his dearly and thank the Lord for making me get up that day 15 years ago and getting my picture taken (when I really did not want to, but felt that I just needed to go). I know why I needed to go know and I am thankful for the Lord in my life and his nudges for me to keep doing the right thing.

there have been so many other little moments that it is hard to name them all. Times when I felt alone and I got a phone call from a friend, or when I had a miscarriage and was having hard time dealing with those emotions, etc. All of these times are experiences that I am grateful for. They have taught me to be stronger, to be closer to others, to be friendlier, or whatever. I am truly grateful for the Hand of the Lord in my life!