we love water.

Okay, so again, we will postpone the infamous Utah pictures. People, need I remind you that it was a 5+ week trip? So, while I'm waiting on a few more images from my folk's computer, I thought I'd play catch up on life in Texas. Okay? Good plan. Ready break.

Well, don't break too long, because I thought I'd show some water pictures with Tillie Mae.

You see, at one point in our marriage, Aaron and I purchased a swimming pool. It is perfect for the weather that we've been experiencing as of late (100 degree +). But, since we've now put grass in, and our yard has become Aaron's baby, he's opted for us not to put the pool back up. So, it sits in our garage---just waiting for us to move to somewhere like Alaska. Nice.

It's okay. We have some nice substitutions for the pool.

Enter the garden hose.

We've decided to combine two things to make a winning experience. Aaron's love of the yard + Matilda's love of spending time with her dad = fun. Every night. You might remember we are in a drought? Well, that is true. But, they allow you to "hand" water in the evenings and mornings, no matter WHAT your watering day is. So, we take full advantage of that.

here she is wearing sunglasses, and loving the look.

Aaron, being a sucker to Matilda's happiness, saw this giraffe pool at Walmart, and decided that she needed to have it. She likes to dangle her hands and arms in the pool, but doesn't really love going ALL the way in.

We first would just strip her down to her diaper (and sometimes remove the diaper when it got too puffy (do you know how big those things can get?!)), and apparently our Puerto Rican neighbors thought it was inappropriate. So, they promptly delivered 7 swimsuits (hand-me-downs) from their 3 yr. old daughter (which, by the way, she is always running around in her underwear, so I don't think they REALLY thought Tillie was too inappropriate. I just like using the word "inappropriate" as often as I can).

Here she is donning one of those. Matilda LOVES to put the suits on and whenever she is ready to go play, she knocks (from the inside, mind you) on the big front door.





What a knuckle head. We like her a lot. And, consequently, we love water too.

The end.

beccabury's big trip.

So, with our frequent fliers (aka Lizzy and Denise), my sister Becca was feeling neglected. She felt that she hadn't spent a lot of quality time in the Lone Star state with her bosom buddy (insert MY name there).

With that, Becca took a little jaunt down to visit. We had fun. We ate hearty (a favorite talent of ours). And, it was great.

Here are a few pictures to show you what we did with all that good time.


Eating at Long Horn Cafe. You probably all recognize the seats by now from ALL of our posts about this place. We love it THAT much. Look at the size of those burgers. Mmmmm...
This was the first trip that Tillie really polished the burgers off. She pretty much ate 1/2 of one. WOW. That's my girl!! You can see her in the picture below grabbing at the loot. She's crazy.


Even though it was still killer hot outside (this trip took place in early August, mind you)... Becca insisted that she needed to show Tillie what bubbles were. So, they had a grand time. I don't know who loved the experience more. Becca or Matilda. They were whoopin' it up.

me. proving I was here? weird.

look at our little zombie. too funny.

These last ones were Becca on her way to the airport. Who looks this good getting onto an airplane? Sheesh. How would it be? I typically go for the hooded sweatshirt look when I embark on a flight. Are we even sisters?

Okay, Becca. Same goes for you. Feel free to come whenever you want, because you TOO have the gift of Tillie's love. She adores you as well. And, I don't think you're a half bad guest. Especially when you cook AND do the dishes. :) Thanks for coming!

lizzy's 6th? visit.

we've lost count. my sister lizzy has come down to texas (in the 3 years we've lived here) six times. we think.

that is nuts. is she a frequent flier or what?!

we had a ton of fun when she came down this time. of course!

what was on the agenda? why, what every 13 year old who is just about to start a new school year would want to do---SHOPPING! :) It was fun to spend the majority of allotted "school clothes money" with the Liz-bert.

I will say this, though. For the first time in my life, I thought, "wow, I must be really old." Why? Because we would be in these teen stores and the music was SO stinkin' loud. The clothes were all tiny, the lights were dim, and I kept thinking, "Man, I gotta get out of this place! And, can we just turn down the volume a few notches??"

See. There's the proof. I'm an official "old fart." Gag. Did I just write that on my blog? Yes. I did. But, I guess it's who I am. Wow.

Anyway, here are some pictures from her stay. It was great. And, Miss Tillie pretty much worships Lizzy. She can do no wrong in her eyes. And, we had a really fun time.

Trip to Boerne. What a cute town.







A "MUST" on our agenda that Lizzy typed up (is she a mini-denise, or what?!). We needed to make cake balls. Bakerella always does a better job. But, ours tasted really good. So, that's all that matters in the end, right?

After Lizzy did her ballet stuff and I worked out, we rewarded ourselves. Lovely. Tillie? Well, she took a great nap, so she was rewarded too. :)


Here we are at Tillie's check up. I felt bad that I had TWO dr. appointments scheduled while Lizzy was here. Darn. But, she is such a good sport and it made me want her to move in FULL time to help with my life's daily tasks. Here they are, posin' it up.

Thanks for coming, Lizbert. It was GREAT to have you. You know that ANYtime you want to come again, we would all support that idea! You are great!

utah is coming, but for now...

this little munchkin just turned 16 months yesterday.

here we are trying to get a few shots of her in her Sunday best. Too bad she is a RUNNING maniac and doesn't like to sit down on blankets I set out for her to pose on. Honestly. Help me, child. hA!

Oh, and I apologize for the "hazy" factor on these photos. Yes, it is THAT humid here right now. And, the second we stepped outside, the humidity clung to the camera lens, thus making everything fuzzy. So, I apologize. I'm not trying to get all fancy pants and learn how to use Photoshop. It's just the humid weather.

Anyway, here are a few more of the crazy girl we love.











what a corker.

we really really like her.
and i mean, a lot!

the 5 weeks in utah... june 2009

Well, again, I'm gonna do a "mothah-load" post. Because, frankly, I like doing this better than the whole "part 1, part 2, etc."---deal.

Remember how we left our house for 5 + weeks this summer? Apparently it is a well known practice for the people of San Antonio, b/c it seems like MANY of the friends and neighbors we have did the SAME thing!?! What?! Who knew? Oh well, when you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

And we had some good times.
Here are the photos to prove it.

-We spent plenty of time in this fun pool of my parents. Best decision ever to put in the pool. And, how much do we love the polka dotted umbrellas?? Lots. Thanks. Tillie LOVED floating around and playing on the little 18" platform my parents added in the shallow end. It was PERFECT for her. And, having SHADE over there too with the umbrellas? Heaven.

-My cousin Lacee and her son, Declan, and my aunt were able to come play for a bit! That was great to see them again! Even though they live only in Cedar City, I hadn't seen them since I got married?! HELLOOooo! Far too long. Why is this the only "good" picture I got??

-Speaking of Cedar City, we drove down to visit my grandparents. They hadn't met little Matilda yet, so we thought it would be a good time to make a little day trip of it.
Matilda, however, didn't love the idea. She proved it by not sleeping ONE WINK the entire trip there AND back!?! Let's just say, we all had to practice patience there in the suburban that day.

Evidence that no nap had been taken. Boo. But, look how great my grandparents look! They are my dad's parents. Too bad Matilda didn't make this Kodak moment very magical.

-Back in Utah County, we were able to have some fun with Kirstin, Aaron's sister, at her new house with her kiddos. Max is 9 months older than Tillie and it is fun with each trip we make, they get to be better friends. Here we are taking advantage of the fact that Kirstin owned a GREAT cherry tree with TONS of delicious cherries. Love it.

Little baby Krieg! Look at what a sweet heart this little boy is. What a darling!
Do you love his little AND1 b-ball shorts? HA!

-While I spent the duration of the trip in Utah, Aaron had multiple externships he went to. One was in Dallas at Baylor. Let's just say the hotel he stayed in was not super nice. It was gross, in fact. He said that had I been with him, we would have definitely left upon seeing the room. But, being a manly man and a "non-complainer", he decided he'd stay.

Well, that was a decision we regretted MAJORLY! Guess who got BED BUGS?!?! GAAAAAGGG! So, poor kid was EATEN alive and SUPER itchy. Who knew bed bugs were a REAL thing? And so awful. It was really really sad to see Aaron itchy and so miserable for so many days afterwards. Here is a shot of his face and all the bumpy rashy awful bite marks!

Look how somber he is in this picture. So sad.

-While in Utah, and when Aaron could be around, we had a little Mini Wood Family Reunion. It was fun doing stuff around the valley. Here are some photos from the two day delight.

are they mother and son, or what?!

me giving it a stab. nice form. good posture. wonderful swing. it's amazing i don't do this more often. don't look too closely, you'll see that there was more MUD than grass where I was. I hit the ground more than the ball.
Whatev. We all have our things... golfing obviously isn't mine. It was still fun.

Can you tell by all the red hair who's siblings these are?? :) I love it!

-Hike (1/2 way, we turned around once it started raining mega) to Horse Tail Falls. Tillie was pretty worn out with no naps, so she decided to snooze on the way up. Man alive, Alpine was a great place to grow up. It is SO beautiful.

the crazy crowd. i have no idea who that weirdo is on the very far left. weird. :)

is this picture too funny? sad, but funny.

We finished off the reunion with a swim in my family's pool. That whole morning we had spent in the Wood's yard doing a little trimming/weeding/you name it. We had worked up a sweat and were ready to eat and relax. It was a good ending to a fun weekend.


-Aaron and Adam (his little bro.) decided to pull a switch-r-ooo on Matilda to see if she knew which one her dad was. She was pretty confused at first, then upset that they had tricked her. Hence the red face and teary eyes. Nice one.


-When Aaron got back to Utah we also decided to do a "Snyder" family reunion of sorts... at the best place on earth= Lake Powell. It seems we got more pictures traveling TO and FROM rather than on the lake, which is odd for us. But, oh well. Here they are:

click on this one to see the sign we were standing by. I laughed pretty hard about that.

let's not notice my lack of make-up. I look super pleasant in all these pictures, I know. But, it's Lake Powell. I think they ban things like MASCARA. It says so in the official Rule Book. I'm certain of it.

Hello, perfect. Warm and glassy smooth. Just how I like it.

Luckily, Aaron and I are on the same TEAM forever, but let's be honest. I couldn't help but be irritated with this nut because he got up on the very FIRST run of the trip, very FIRST try EVER, doing slolem skiing. This is totally unfair because I have tried UNSUCCESSFULLY for approx. 10 years to be a slolem skier. And, never have caught the hang of it. So, it stunk that he seemed to be a natural the FIRST time he ever tried. That was the same for him learning to water ski (got to 30+ mph his first attempt last time we went to LP), and I think it took him only three tries to get the hang of wake boarding. He's pretty much passed me up in his short tenure.

So, I may or may not have been secretly happy when this happened below.

just kidding. It was as fun for me to watch him as it was for him to be out there rippin' it up.
He's a keeper. That's for sure. And, like I said, forever TEAM-MATES, so I can deal.

cutie tillie eating in the trailer. is she darling or what?

-Back in Utah County again. No 4th of July celebration weekend would be complete without taking a trip to the Freedom Festival stuff in Provo. That was fun. We went down with Aaron's parents for a little date and met up with my sisters for a minute. Here we are rendezvousing.

-The actual 4th of July was great. Tillie looked darling. Good food. Good friends and family. Overall, I'd call it a success. Here we are whoopin' it up in our neighbor's back yard. They have a fun evening every year complete with relay races, bocci ball, and delicious food. We stuck around for the food part and then went over to finish the evening with the Woods. The joys of having both families less than 3 minutes away. We get the best of it all.

becca and I doing what we do best... eating. I love how both of us have our eyes closed. weird.

I love this one of Aaron and Matilda. She is such a good little walker!!

Watching the firework display in the backyard at the Wood's. Quite entertaining. I don't know what was better---watching the fireworks or watching Tillie and Max's reactions. It was great.


Then we ended off the night at the Pleasant Grove big firework show. It was BEAUTIFUL. I love fireworks in ALL forms. So fun. Here are some shots to finish off our 5+ week post!

You made it! Success! Finally posted!! Thanks family for a fun few weeks!

ok. then we headed back to Texas the very next day. And then Aaron started back to school the next day. It was jam-packed and a little crazy, but we're glad we did it. We love being with our families.