My Favorite Things Ohio #4

The fact that it takes us less than 5 minutes to walk to church.

We walk up this street

turn the corner

turn it again

and there we are.

Ruby loves to ride her bike and Myers loves riding in the push car.  It is a great Sunday morning walk.  We will definitely miss it.
We have really loved our ward here and the people that we have met.
We will forever be grateful for their kindness and service and their dedication to making us feel welcome and at home.
We have made many great friends here- that we hope to keep in touch with.
I always looked forward to Sundays and the camaraderie that they brought.
(Yes I used the word cameraderie)
Part of my heart will always be here in the Alliance ward...
We will miss it here.

My Favorite Things Ohio #3

Our Movie Theatre.
I love our movie theatre.


















Our whole family can see a movie there for 11 dollars.

That is unheard of.
The best part is- it takes us about 5 minutes to walk there.
On Saturday we went to see Brave.
We loved it.  Ruby got a little scared when the bear came out- but Noni just laughed...  

Ruby in her brave dress...

Noni with his long lost brothers.  I am pretty sure they based these characters on him.  He would make a great quadruplet, and he would be such a cute red head...
But seriously- 11 dollars.
This movie theatre will be dearly missed....

My Favorite Things Ohio #2

 Papa Bear's Pizza.  Seriously THE MOST DELICIOUS PIZZA EVER.
We discovered it just a couple months ago and have been sure to enjoy it as often as we can!
We love it and our love for it only grew when we tried their alfredo sauce pizza.
DELICIOUS.
Bacon, green pepper, mushrooms and alfredo sauce- pure perfection on pizza.  (Though I would add pineapple but that is the one topping they don't offer...)
Even the kids can't seem to get enough!
We will miss Papa Bears when we are gone.  And sadly I think tonight was our last dose of it.  But it was definitely savored and enjoyed.
Especially by shirtless Noni.

And no- I will not admit how many pieces I ate today- I mean it was our last, and I AM pregnant.  I think I have a free pass.

My Favorite Things- Ohio Edition (MFTO) #1

This one should come as no surprise to anyone.
If you know me- you know of my love for Target.

We headed there today to get some special gifts for the kids (for all their hard work during the garage sale).
I haven't been there in a while due to my constant nausea but it sure was nice to walk back into those doors, and be greeted by the workers who recognized us (just kidding).
It felt like home.
I will miss perusing the aisles looking for the sales and the great deals.  Those one of a kind finds that are no where else.  They always have something that I love.
I know they are coming to Canada but I am not convinced they will be the same, in fact I am convinced it won't be nearly as good.  But I will take what I can get.  Hopefully they build in Medicine Hat!!
Until next time Target,  until next time...

Borton

Things have been a little crazy here for the last while and mostly I have been sick- therefore the lack of posts.

This pregnancy is kicking my butt and my only hope is that I will feel better soon. 

I am now 14 weeks- and hoping it is smooth sailing from here on out.

Our time here in Alliance is limited and I want to make the most of the time we have left.

Justin only has 8 work days left.

8 WORK DAYS.

I feel both excited and sad as is to be expected with change.

Being sick has made it easier to leave,  I just need my mom.  And there is the proof that no matter how old you are you always need your mom.

Anyway my plan is to show you my favorite parts of living here in Alliance. 

The things that I want to remember in the years to come.

I hope to be able to show you something each day until we leave.  

There is a lot that I do love.

And I think I am finally feeling good enough to actually go to the places that I love.

While you wait for those thrilling posts I will leave you with a short update.

We headed to Kalahari this weekend with some of our great friends from Ohio- the Wrights.  (We will miss them)  It was a way to celebrate father's day and our anniversary all in one.  We are big Kalahari fans and are even thinking of stopping in at the one in Wisconsin on our way home.  It was a ton of fun and the kids loved it.  Myers fell asleep in the wave pool once again.   And don't worry we kept up the tradition and got ourselves some delicious dippin dots.  Rocky Road and my favorite- Banana Split.  It was a great time and tired us all out, but I want to go back again- I just love it...

I'm still sick.  Did I already mention that?  I just haven't been this sick with any other pregnancy...  I don't know what to do with myself...  I am hoping it gets better soon.  Justin just can't do everything forever.  

We had our first garage sale- it was fun!  

Once again Justin did most of the work- but the great thing about him- he never complains.  We sold almost all of our stuff and everything we didn't sell we left on the side of the curb and put free on our yard sale signs and went to get some ice cream.  When we returned everything was gone- except this lonely chair.  I guess it really was THAT bad.

I have gotten us about half way packed.  That may be a little bit of an overestimation but it makes me feel better.  Now we just need Justin to stay healthy and we will all survive this move.

We are deciding on our route home- we wanted to stop in at Mackinac Island again but decided against it.  It didn't add very much time on to our trip but once you get that far north it is pretty much deserted and it would make for long stretches between hotels.  So we are figuring out our next course of action.  It will be truly snellerific I am sure.    

And just a quick note on our little Noni.

Right now he insists on being called Horton.  Which he pronounces 'Borton'.  But DO NOT call him Borton.

He also will not tolerate ANYONE calling him cute.

If you do decide to call him cute he will answer- 'NOT CUTE- BIG.'

And he will probably growl at you.

Also a bum is now called a bum cracker.  And he likes to lay the smack down on bum crackers.

We are working on his aggressive side.

There is a lot to do here before we leave- but I do hope to fit in lots of fun too.  Ohio will always have a special place in our hearts....  And the fireflies are back- I will miss the fireflies...

DC Finale

To finish off our time in DC we fit in all that we could.
(I thought this funeral home was awesome- farewell bacon.)

We saw the Lincoln Memorial (the reflecting pool was under repair- so no reflecting for us)

Notice Ruby in the front of the photo- what a cute head.

Who knew Lincoln was so BIG in real life?  This is a true to scale sculpture- right?

We saw the Washington monument-  (don't let that water fool you- it is NOT the reflecting pool)


Kim was very disappointed in the disrepair of the reflecting pool.

We saw the White House (front and back)

(Why do I look like such a nerd in this photo?  And why is Noni not looking in ANY of these photos?)

Ruby trying to break in. She didn't get very far before the secret service was on the scene.  (Just kidding- she got all the way in, I couldn't believe it)

And we walked some more.

We made Justin watch the kids most of the time.  He did a pretty good job- If only he could figure out how to hold hands, carry Noni on his back, AND push a stroller.  Next trip I guess...

When we were all done in DC we headed to Georgetown for some cupcakes.  I had been looking forward to them ALL weekend- then we got there and the line looked like this.  (Out the door and ALL the way up the street- a good 2 hour wait)

So we skipped the cupcakes and just got a passing photo.  It is just as good- trust me.

All in all- it was a great time.
My favorite place to visit was the Washington DC temple.
And the Lincoln memorial was a close second.

It was fun spending time with friends and I always love an adventure.
After DC we headed back to NYC- to do a little more exploring!
I love NYC.  There just is nothing like that place.
The traffic was horrendous this time- but we still made sure to enjoy ourselves.
We did a lot of exploring of Long Island as well.
More to come on that in the future!

Washington DC- Sunday

We headed to DC with the Hughes and I am finally getting around to blogging it.  It was a great trip.  My favorite day was Sunday- so I will start there!

We headed to church near the DC temple and ended up going to the spanish ward conference by accident.  It was definitely a little bit of a surprise but they did translate most of it so we still were able to enjoy the meeting.  We were a little bit out of place but no one seemed to care.

The temple was the highlight of the day.

I couldn't believe how big it was- and it was so beautiful!

Ruby, always a true lover of all that is beautiful, loved it and the gardens around it.

The visitor's center was a nice reprieve from the hot hot heat!

 I just think they are so cute chatting with eachother.  I wish I knew what they were saying!

 Ruby admiring all of the flowers.

 And we ended the day with Noni getting his head stuck in the gate.  I mean, it wouldn't be Noni if he didn't do something awesome!

We had a great time there.  It was nice to spend the time with friends and to teach our children a little bit more about the gospel and temples.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday....

Snells + Hughes + DC= Pure Awesomeness

We finally made the much anticipated and frequently rescheduled trip to Washington DC!
I have wanted to travel to DC for years and finally my dreams came true...
It was also great to be able to meet up with good friends along the way!
Mark and Kim met us in DC and we spent 3 awesome days exploring!
We were all looking forward to this trip and after some schedule maneuvering and waiting to get over sicknesses we finally made it happen.
Our first day we had a little bit of a late start.
The traffic was insane and the construction was even crazier, but we finally found a suitable place to park and eat (number one on my list these days!) and were able to do some exploring in the hot hot heat.
But it is DC and there is a beautiful fountain every few feet- that we may or may not have been allowed to wade in- but we did anyway.
That first day was all about wading in the fountains and trying to prevent Justin from getting heat stroke.













Of course Noni found a way to fall in...  But he was cool the rest of the day.  I wanted to jump in myself...

We also learned a few lessons that day- like the fact that we need to limit our sausage intake at the free breakfast at the hotel.  It catches up with you later.
We did a lot of walking the first day.

Stopped in  at a few museums as well!

Ruby learned all about the Wright brothers (who were born in Ohio- hence Ohio is 'the birthplace of aviation)

 And we learned a lot about dinosaurs and diamonds.  It was fun- and the best part- FREE!

It was a long, hot day- filled with friends and fun- so who can complain?

J-ROD

I recently found this in the depths of my blogs that have never been published and thought, if no one else, at least Jared and Jenny would enjoy this blast from the past jem of a post.  So without further adieu I give you Jared Wiebe (the now lawyer), I'm still not sure why this was never published...

I would like to introduce my first ever guest blogger- You may know him from such bands as J-dog and the Midnight Rhythm Lords, or his more recent highly successful band Serotonin- he is in school to become a lawyer and aspires to one day rid this world of tax evasion- Ladies and Gentlemen please put your hands together for ----- Jared (aka J-rod) Thomas Wiebe.


Like Chermyl indicated my gang name is J-rod, but what she hasn't told you is that this is my first time ever blogging and this experience could be it... I may never blog again. Who knows? But what I do know is that if the counting crows call, answer because they may never call again. What I don't know is anything about blogging. I've read a fews things I thought were blogs but they turned out to be forums. And before that I had always used "Blog" as a substitute curse word. And before THAT... Well, OK, I'd better take you all back to the beginning.

In Junior High I wasn't able to type more than 5 words an hour and I only used one finger per hand. Most kids at that time worked at bettering their typing skills because in computer lab if you could type 5 Words aminute with more than two fingers you could play the graphic intense "Oregon Trial" or the original Sim City... Well I was not into square green graphics or grey boxes with half eaten rainbow apples so I stayed away from computers because at that point what did they really have to offer?

By the way - who would ever chose the stage name "Norman Gentle"? Try "Meat Loaf" or "Stir Fry"

Anyway, by high school computers had color screens and there was a free audio recording program called Cool Edit. With it I recorded my first Band's music (the first band I'll admit I was in). We ran one audio cable all the way up the stairs into the computer room, then added a bunch of messy reverb then recorded a few more vocal tracks over the main track like Buddy Holly. Back to the point - in order to record music on the computer I needed to know how to type ... so now I'm up to 5 words a minute with 2 fingers going on each hand (imagine if I could use three fingers per hand?)

And now I am blogging? I'm on the interwebs. I've decided to only guest blog instead of start my own because I would likely never update it (like I never update facebook).

Justin, Cheryl, and Ruby came to visit us in Rochester Hills, Michigan. They are our best friends and I was so glad to get into school here because we would be close to them. We see them more often than we did when they lived half an hour away in Calgary - that was both of our faults just in case that sounded rude.

Cheryl and I were talking about somehting (she was not being cogent) then Ruby said "Dada" and I said "Ruby do I have a shirt for you!!"



Well I have to go play a game now... maybe I will blog again and maybe the topics will be...

discount teeth whitening
Dog the Bounty Hunter
ShamWow
Dancing with the Stars
two-state solution

Soon the Sniebes will be together again!  Since this post was written- we had Myers, Jared and Jenny have had Silas and Baby (still yet to be named), they have moved back to Alberta and have a real job and a van, we moved to Ohio and are soon to move back to Alberta (we always had a van).  Life moves fast and I am grateful for good friends....

Horton Sure Knew How To Hatch An Egg

We like the book Horton Hatches the Egg- a lot.
It is a definite family favorite.
We have been reading it at night since Ruby was very small and have video of her 'reading' it when she was about 2.  (She obviously couldn't read- but she did have it memorized.)  I've said it before and I will say it again- child prodigy.
Anyway, recently we were watching some old video and there was my sweet little two year old Ruby reciting Horton in her sweet little 2 year old 'accent'.
I could not believe that she was now 4 and a half and 'reading' that same book to Myers- who could now recite all the important parts himself.  Where did the time go?
I made the comment to Justin that I feel like I didn't enjoy our time enough- that I feel like it goes too fast and I wish I could go back and do it all over again- I would be way better at it now.  (I think)
And then Justin said something that was wise beyond his years.
He said, 'You are going to say the same thing in a few years about this time that we are in right now.'
It really got me thinking.
I mean who would have thought Horton could cause such deep thinking.
Is enjoying the moment an unattainable goal?
Is it possible to really grasp the fleeting moments and savor them?
I feel like no matter how hard I try there is no possible way to actually feel like you have done your best and enjoyed every moment like it was meant to be enjoyed.  But I feel like I really WANT to enjoy every moment, yet I go to bed and I feel like the day has just gone- and there was no time to savor it.
Memories are made and forgotten.  Magical moments are swept aside because there is just too much to do, there is always the next thing to check off the to-do list.
So for the one hundred millionth time I vow to enjoy the moment.
To enjoy where my kids are now and not to wish that they were at a different stage.  Things pass by too quickly and apparently there are no do-overs and no time machines.  (who knew?)
I know I can't enjoy every single moment and that there will still be regrets, but I can do better.
Thanks Horton.  (And Dr. Seuss- that man was a genius.)

Because, I mean seriously, who wants to take any moment for granted when you have these cute little faces to enjoy....

And some random wonderful quotes- thank you Pinterest...

“Give your child a compliment and a hug; say, ‘I love you’ more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of ‘what if’ and ‘if only.’ … “Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey and share our love with friends and family. One day, each of us will run out of tomorrows. Let us not put off what is most important.  Pres. Monson

“You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out ... Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value ... The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days.”

~Gordon B. Hinckley~

found here