I did an exterra race :) !!!

I am very excited that I did my first exterra race. Yes, it was just the swimming portion which was a 1/2 a mile but I had such a great time and am ready to get started training for next year....kind of. I will definately improve my swim time for next year that I am sure of. This year I did the 1/2 mile in 20 minutes, about twice as long as the fastest swimmer. I can still swim while I am pregnant and plan to go 2-3 times a week to keep in shape during the next 4 months. After the baby is born in January I will be working with the same trainer in her fit for life training program and then the trialthlon training group starts in April. I am still going to try and do a couple of fun runs/walks while I can and hopefully the weather will be a little nicer to go on more walks with the kids outside. My new favorite motto is "all you can do is tri" which comes from all the triathloners out there.

pals forever!

pals forever!
Originally uploaded by snyderalaska

Tri training!

Well...I only have a week and a half before I finish with my triathlon training, and then the xterra tri called the Hammerman is upon us. I am on a team (who knew you could be on a team for triathlons?:) ) and am doing the swimming portion of it. The swim is 1/2 a mile, the bike is 14 miles and the run is 4.1 miles. I have decided that extreme mountain biking is not for me! There is sooooo much knowledge involved in when and how to shift gears for certain hills and riding conditions and then just being able to power through the last part of a hill was all to much for me....especially this year. I am currently one week shy of being 5 months pregnant! So all of the tri training has been a big big stretch for me. I am really excited to do it again next year so that I can really train without the worries of pregnancy too:). We also found out on Monday that it is 90% sure a boy! We are very excited and so are the girls because they really wanted this one to be a boy. Our due date is around the 19th of November, which I can hardly believe is only 4 short months away. How our time does pass so quickly!

Swimming!

Emma and Madison just finished swimming lessons today and it was amazing how quickly they picked up swimming. Emma started out not being able to even kick very well and ended with the ability to swim for an extended period of time all by herself!! Madison was very good as well and can almost swim by herself. With a few more times in the pool I think that they both will be great swimmers!! Today as an end of lessons treat, they all got to jump off the diving board and Emma and Madison were of the few that just got up there and jumped!! They both had so much fun and learned a lot, and I really enjoyed seeing them swim.

My garden is looking great so far this summer. It has been relatively cold so far so I am hoping that as summer continues that the weather is a little warmer for good produce #'s. I think that I am getting the hang of greenhouse growing but only time will tell. I have been ventilating better and I didn't plant any peppers in there so hopefully the aphids will stay away!

Home again!

We have made it home and we are so happy to be home! Heidi did a lot of dancing the night we got home she was so happy. It made her a happier kid instantly, she definatly was not ready for that much change and that many new people in her life. Emma and Madison were ready to see and play with their friends. The snow greeted us again as we landed in Anchorage and then the long three hour drive home. Since then it has been in the 40's and the snow seems to be melting now. Camp is really soggy though, so there is lots and lots of mud for the kids to find!!! I am getting my plant stand set up so I can get my seeds planted before it gets too late. I hope that we have a warm summer this year. I would really like to have a great producing garden this time around. I also started my tri-athalon traing yesterday and so far so good. I still have 12 weeks to go, but I am looking forward to to it. The coaches are great and really push you to the max. At the end of this training we will be doing 2 different tri-athalon races so it is really exciting. I was going to do another tri. race but it was full the very first day sign-ups were open, so now I am # 298 on the waiting list and my chances of getting in are slim to none. Better luck next year I guess:)

April Fools!!

It is the start of spring and so far all I have seen in states that normally have spring at this time is snow, sleet, wind, and rain. In Alaska however it is warm and sunny!!! IT is always like this when we go on vacation. In March we were privilaged to see the marriage of Chad's sister Hollie and our new brother-in-law Sean Ford. We then promplty came down with the flu and did nothing for the next 4 days. We were able to see the sights and some friends before we made the long journey back to Montana and into more rain and snow!! Tomorrow is Heidi's first birthday and so we will get a small cupcake for her to destroy and maybe eat! Chad heads back to the reality of work on Friday the 4th of April and the girls and I will travel back the 15th of April. We have been so thankful to see old friends and even meet new ones.

January is over already?!

January started the begining of my life training with my trainer Angie and it has been eye opening, and amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to do this because it was exactly what I needed. I am now working out 5-6 times a week and I am getting full body workouts that really tax me. I have already lost 5 pounds and now as I get my eating to where it needs to be I think that it will come off even faster. Chad is also starting to write his food down in a food diary and working out more consistently.
We are battling the cold weather right now as our temperatures are 15 below zero for a high. As the week goes by it is supposed to get back to above zero, so we can get outside again. Chad has been working on getting the shop cleaned, hanging up metal sheets on the wall, and replacing some old work benches with metal ones. I am spending a lot of time working on my food diary getting all the food facts written down, and trying to get into a better routine for the girls. We are still doing school with Emma, and starting to teach Madison how to write and say the sounds of the alphabet. Heidi is standing by herself and can walk but doesn't want to unless someone is close by to hold on to. She is our destructive child!! She loves to tear everything she can apart, and her favorite thing to do is growl at us. She is a little ball of energy.

We are finally getting the snow that has been eluding us for so long. It's not a lot but we have a little over 12 inches now, and that is plenty for the kids to have fun outside sledding and various other activities! We just about have enough snow to build a snow house to sleep in and the kids are very anxious to do that again this year. Yesterday was the college championship football game where Ohio played against LSU and lost, so it is a sad day for the Snyder household. They did well though for only having 2 starting seniors on the team. I am getting the bindings put on my cross country ski's so that I can get out in the snow for some exercise too! Hope all is well with everyone. bye for now.

Thanksgiving is almost in 1 week!!

I can't believe how the fall has flown by and the winter has crept in on us. We had our first snow last Thursday that has stuck around for more than a day. Our hay tunnels are complete and Emma's birthday has passed us by as well. In our hay tunnel we had over 1400 kids go through which set an all time record for us. They had an amazing time and the staff that worked them enjoyed talking with all the different groups that went through. Emma had a great birthday...we made caramel apples, hit the pinyata, and went through the hay tunnel. She keeps telling everyone now that she is still 5 as if she could lose it or something. It is so cute. Emma is doing school this year and having fun with it. She does well and can sit for about two hours at a time to work on it with me. Madison is trying to work on school as well so I have given her books on shapes and letters for her to do, which makes her feel like a big girl! Heidi is crawling and standing up everywhere. She is constantly moving and does not like it when her mommy leaves her sight at any time. Somewhat frustrating, but can be really cute as well. She can be quite aggressive if you do not feed her food when she wants it, and right now she wants to eat all the time because of a growth spurt!!
Chad and I are working out most mornings and keeping each other in check when it comes to food. We have added more salads and vegetables to our diet and now we are trying to work on healthy snacks and portion control. Please pray for me especially because this year has been a depressing one for me since I gained about 30lbs since Heidi was born , and now to motivate myself to get out there and just start working hard on this has been a slow process. I know what I have needed to do in my head for a long time but to actually put it into practice is proving to be so much harder for me.
In Faith of Christ,
Stephanie for all

The End of Camp is Near

Next week is our last week of camp. We are surprised at how quickly the summer has disappeared. We said goodbye to our last work team on Sunday. There were 24 people from Altoona, PA. Chad has been in charge of taking care of the groups this summer so he has been busy keeping them busy! Each of the groups came over and I cooked Pizza for them and Chad did the salmon/halibut cooking. We had such a good time visiting with each of them (the 3 different groups we had over) and truly appreciate all of the hard work they put in to help camp out with its' projects.
Emma and Madison have been playing hard outside and have developed a beautiful tan! They love playing with their friends Katie, Jordan, Zechari, Audren, and Trent. Their favorite thing to play is some form of princess and Zechari and Trent get to be the lucky boys whom the princesses marry! Thankfully they know they are just pretending!!!
My littlest is trying her hardest to be crawling at 4 months of age. She has gotten up on all 4's today and pushed herself forward, so we will see what happens. She is sleeping wonderfully though. She sleeps about 10-12 hours at night with one feeding at about hour 7 and then she takes 2, 3 hour naps each day. She has been a pretty easy baby, which makes life easier.
My garden is doing ok, I had a huge bug infestation on my tomato plants and I was able to kill them all, but I don't know if my tomato plants will produce much this year because of that. I have been getting lots of lettuce and radishes. My carrots are very sweet and the beets are looking healthy. I also had Holli help me landscape my front yard and it looks absolutely gorgeous now.

summer!

We thought that we had summer, it was here and the weather was warm and we played in the sun and the water, and then the rain came, and came, and has never really left and the sun disappeared and we all want it back!! We have been trying to be unselfish and send it to other states that need rain but it is not listening! However the benefits of rain are nice green trees and grass.
My greenhouse is up and my plants are loving it. Next year will be better because I will get lots of manure for it in the fall so the soil will be better as well. My plants were put in the greenhouse a little later than I wanted, but I think that we will still get a good growing season in.
My sister had a wonderful wedding and the three girls and I went down for it. The date was June 22, 2007 and Emma and Madison made the cutest flower girls ever! My dad had told them to walk really slow and they did. It took them a good 4 min. to get down the aisle and the best part about it was they arrived at the end just as the song was ending!
It was fun to visit with all of our cousins and aunts and uncles as well. All of the cousins on my mom's side of the family were there so we of course had to document it well with many photo ops :).
While we were in Montana my mom and I took the girls to the water slides and they had a blast! After 4 hours there they were still wanting to play and go down the slides. It was the perfect day for it because it was 100 degrees outside and the water was cool so it was nice and refreshing.
Now we have been enjoying the company of my sister-in-law. The girls are having lots of fun and we all go on daily walks together. It is always nice to have friends and family around to visit with. I always do enjoy a nice adult conversation every once in a while!!
Heidi is getting big and can roll over now. She is itching to start crawling and moving around. We are working on getting a good nap routine down but she is starting to fight sleep a little bit which is making it hard on mommy:)
I am starting to get my exercising in more as Heidi gets more independent and Chad is doing more as well. We are all eating healthier and making better decisions in that direction, which is the first time that we all are making it a group effort.

beginning again

Well this time that I hope to begin writing in this on a regular weekly basis if not more. We are gearing up for the summer with this coming weekend beginning it all. We will have more than 200 people come to help us clean up the camp and get things ready for all of the campers that are to come. The weather is not supposed to be very nice with lots of rain in the forecast for the week, but we are hopeful that it will change! The girls are spending almost every waking moment outside playing with our next door neighbors. They have 5 children and we have our three so it makes for a lot of fun playing. Heidi is growing and eating and sleeping so we are doing well. She will be 8 weeks old in a few days and I am amazed at how fast time passes. I enjoy cuddling with her and seeing her smile at us. She is a very smiley baby with lots of personality. My garden is halfway planted. Right now I am waiting for Chad to finish my greenhouse and then I can plant the rest of my plants. I am really excited to have one, because it will help our garden grow so much better. We have just not been having extremely warm summers so this year I am hoping to get a lot of veggies to can for the winter!

Let it snow, let it snow!!!

We had another 6 inches of snow fall on last night and it is expected to snow some more!! Today the staff has 5 tube hills that last 2 hours apiece. Chad is plowing the roads because there is a rental group arriving tomorrow and James is on call to plow for a company in town so he is gone doing that, so that makes today is a very busy day for the other three staff members!
We had two moose in our back yard this morning and the mama moose tried to stomp the neighbors dog, luckily the dog was able to get out of the way.
Yesterday, some of my friends and I got together for a tea party. With just four of us we had eleven kids all together, with two more on the way in just a few months!!! We had an enjoyable time together and it is always fun to sit and have tea. We used to have a tea parlor in town that we all met at, but it went out of business so we are left doing at home. It is always nice to have interactions with other young mothers like myself and to trade stories about our experiences.
Chad and I have been rearranging the bedrooms again so that we are ready for the new baby. I have been able to really get rid of the extra clutter that we have by having to go through everything so many times!! The moving has been good for me to get that kind of thing done.

Sleeping in the snow....kind of :)

On Thursday the 28th of December, the girls and I attempted to sleep outside in our makeshift snow house. Everything went smoothly for the girls, but a 6 month pregnant mother was having a hard time finding the right spot to fall asleep in. So the poor girls had to wake up after only three hours of sleeping outside to come inside with their mother for some better sleep! They were both very disappointed and told me that they had been very good and were very warm! Alas it is hard to explain to a 4 year old that mommy is not comfy and cannot make it through the night having to get up every 45 min. to use the bathroom! We are thinking of trying it again another night after we, Chad and I, have made some modifications to the old snow house. For now the girls will have to suffer sleeping in their nice soft warm beds!

catching up!!!

Christmas Eve is upon us, and yesterday we received one foot of snow as a wonderful present from above. The kids have had so much fun going outside and rolling and crawling around in the snow. We even have some nice hills for them to sled down around our house so they can spend a lot of time there with their friends. Chad has spent much of this last week catching up since he was gone for two weeks with his dad in Ohio. Today he has been plowing all the snow! His favorite job. I have been keeping our walk way and patio shoveled and since we have all this new snow the girls and I are going to make a big snow cave to sleep in. This is the only time of year I feel safe sleeping outside in our back yard, so I might as well have fun while we freeze at night :). On Thursday, camps' snow camp will begin. The kids come from Anchorage and surrounding areas as well as from the peninsula to have fun playing in the snow, going to chapels, and spending time with friends. We have two camps; one for the young kids and a camp for the older ones. We wish everyone a merry Christmas and hope that you can cherish the times that you spend with your loved ones.