July 2010

Hey Casey and Katie! We went to Germany and didn't stop by....



Just kidding. We (me and the boys plus my parents) went to Leavenworth, WA. It's a cute little Bavarian-themed town north of Yakima.

You know my mom definitely went in here.....

Dad was in charge of making sure Dallin didn't run off....

We even got to hear a yodeler in the middle of town.

It's such a cute town, with beautiful mountains all around. Almost makes me want to start singing, "The hills are alive!!!!"


This month we also went blueberry picking in Naches, WA!!

It was fun at first.... then they got soooooo hot and couldn't go on.....

 Of course, they wanted to EAT them all but I was determined to save enough to make a pie. Soo yummy!

4th of July!

We went with Grandma Sharon to the fairgrounds for the Fourth of July. We found our friends the Morenos and staked out a spot to watch the fireworks... only to find out later a big tree was in the way!! We quickly moved to see the show. We also spent time walking around and chatting. Jon's cousins came by later and joined us.

And we played with Hannah!

And Justin by our vintage shed.

Quotable Sniders

Popsicles = happiness.

Just tired.

Justin is starting his "terrible two" stage, but so far he's only like 1/3 as bad as Dallin was at that age....

Carrie Snider updated her status.

is soooooo relaxed. Thanks Sharon Snider for watching the kids while we had a night away!!!

July 23, 2004.... the day my life changed forever. The day I married the craziest, most hilarious guy on the planet. Thanks to Jon Snider for a wonderful six years.

Carrie Snider updated her status.

loves getting rid of stuff. Dropped off an old sink at the ReStore and took a bunch of cardboard to recycling. Dallin has requested to "go back to recycling with more stuff" later.

Carrie Snider updated her status.

had a weird dream that I was playing a twisted game of Hide from the Zombies Before They Make You Into a Zombie. I hid under a blanket under some guy's legs and was narrowly passed by the zombies. I woke up FEELING like a zombie.

I think 15 weeks is way too early to be getting braxton hicks. Joy oh joy.

Picked 7.5 lbs of fresh blueberries. It was hot, and my kids kept running away, but it was worth it.

Not sure where Jon Snider has been driving, but he had a nail in one tire and a staple in the other! Now wonder the Honda was riding low....

U pick raspberries and blueberries in Yakima--- anyone know if it's going on now and where to go?

Felt like puking during Sunday School yesterday. Thank heavens for the comfy chairs in the mother's room.

Photographing a wedding in Zillah later today... hopefully I won't melt! :)

It's 100 degrees people! Wasn't it like 60 only a few weeks ago?

Leavenworth was cooler than Yakima today.... the sausage and yodeling was pretty good too. :)

I thought 10 bags of mulch was enough to put on our front flower beds.... I was off by about 10 bags! Off to Wally World.....

My parents are coming tomorrow! Yippeeee! I bet $20 my mom will stop in Sunnyside and buy some squeaky cheese.

So thankful for our country.

Maria's Pozole

Have you ever had pozole?

It's a wonderful Mexican soup made with hominy. And lots of other yummy stuff.

We were recently released from serving in our local LDS Spanish Branch (we're in our regular English ward now). We miss it, but we still see our friends from time to time. Another thing I miss is all the wonderful food!

So I'm on a quest to gather some of their recipes. Starting with Maria's Pozole. She was and still is my wonderful, amazing friend. Plus she's a great cook. This is one of her best dishes.

Be prepared--- the recipe below makes enough soup to feed an army. My batch from last week is still going strong and it keeps well. My kids love it, and I lost count as to how many bowls Jon has consumed.

Enjoy!




Maria’s Pozole

3-4 lbs chicken/pork
1 large can hominy
garlic
onion
4 California pods (dried chili)
2 tomatoes
cumin
salt or chicken bullion
cabbage
limes

Boil meat, 2-3 garlic cloves, and half the onion in a large stock pot of water. When meat is almost tender (about 1 hr) drain and add hominy.

*At some point after the meat it cooked, remove meat and shred or cut into bit sized pieces, then return to pot.*

In another small pot, boil 4 deseeded California pods (these are found in the Mexican spice section of a grocery store in the clear bags), and two tomatoes. When tender, pour in blender. Add 2 garlic cloves, the other half of the onion, cumin, and salt or chicken bullion and blend until smooth. Add mixture to large pot with meat. Let cook another 30-40 minutes. Salt or spice to taste.

Serve in bowls and top with chopped cabbage and fresh squeezed lime.

Jon's Little Detour

Jon's gotten lost a few times over the years.

But never for 27 hours.

A few weeks ago Jon went to a multi-stake encampment (Scout Camp). He and three other leaders, along with 19 scouts (including 3 from our Spanish Branch we served in until recently), set out to go on a day hike. It was supposed to take just a few hours and cover a few miles.

Unfortunately, even with a map and GPS, they got off track. At one of the forks in the road, one of the signs is not marked correctly, and so they took the wrong path. By the time they knew where they were, they were too far out to make it safely back. Turning around would have meant hiking in the dark (no flashlights). They had also crossed a river, and some boys had lost their shoes (leaders shared their shoes). So they decided to stay the night near a lake. They started a fire and gathered enough firewood to stoke the fire all night. They had water, but no food, but thankfully they all had each other and prayers for safety.

It was cold. They slept close to the fire, and some of the embers popped out and singed Jon's hiking boots.

Other leaders back at camp sent out search parties, but they didn't find them that night. Thankfully they decided not to call and tell a pregnant wife (me) that Jon was missing. The search party met up with them all the next morning. Besides being hungry and tired, they were fine. Those boys definitely earned a few merit badges!

Jon came home that afternoon, looking quite dirty and run-down. His toes looked like a car ran over them (they had walked around 20 miles on their detour). It was quite an ordeal, but everyone made it home safely.

Here is the story in the Yakima Herald-Republic: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2010/6/26/scouts-hike-turns-into-overnight-in-the-woods.

It's funny to think that I never had to worry about him because I had no knowledge of the incident until it was over. But the entire time Jon was gone at Scout Camp, we prayed at every meal and bedtime that daddy would come home safely. And he did.