The Snow Family

We got a double-dose of Goodman fun this summer when we met my family in Yellowstone this summer for our first ever Goodman Family Reunion. My parents and all of my siblings, with the exception of my brother who is on a mission, got to come. It was a bit of a shock for the Missouri clan. They were in the middle of a record-setting heat wave when they came out and they went from nasty hot weather to cold, rainy weather in 24 hours. Still, it was better than the heat and we had a lot of fun. Even Rebecca and Nathan, whose van bit the dust on the drive out, managed to have a good time. This is my favorite picture. My two favorite guys in front of an incredible view. It doesn't even look real...but it is! The kids asked to go back to the "stinky pots" for several weeks afterwards. It would appear that we rarely clean our kids' faces. In front of Old Faithful. We got there just in time and didn't have to wait more than a couple of minutes. Aunt Christy planned ...

I am way behind on posting here. I'm going to try to do a little bit every day to catch up. We'll start with our Missouri trip in June. The kids and I got to stay with my parents for 2 weeks in June while Roger taught at a training in Nebraska. We missed having him there, but managed to have a good time, anyway! The kids' favorite things to do were fish in Grandma and Grandpa's pond, feed the horses in the barn, and of course, ride the horses. Keira thought she was something else. She kept asking Grandpa to let go so she could ride the horse by herself. Grandpa's pond is stocked full of fish. The kids were catching something on nearly every cast....even when the pole was simply a stick, string, and hook. I peeked out the window just in time to see that Keira and Ryder had gone out by themselves and had caught a fish. They had no idea what to do with it when they caught it, but were sure excited, anyway.

Keira went to preschool at Ogden High School this year. This was super cool because this is where Daddy works, which meant that he got to go see her at times. She loved all of her friends and teachers and learned so much. She can write her name all by herself now and teaches us all sorts of fun songs. She is even helping Ryder learn the alphabet.

Ryder has an awesome bike. Unfortunately, it's pink. Roger thinks this is terrible and wants to paint it a manly color. I think pink is the new manly color. I thought that maybe blue training wheels and a blue helmet would help, but Roger pointed out that they are both powder blue and only makes things worse. I hope Ryder will get over the trauma of riding a pink bike. Savanna looks so much like Keira...it's a good thing Keira is a cutie! Savanna and Keira also have similar personalities and characteristics (as babies, anyway). Keira started sleeping through the night at 5 weeks old, Savanna started at 7 weeks. Savanna is incredibly happy and easy going, just like Keira was. We are lucky to have such good kids and we love them all so much. Playing in the fire pit. Savanna at 4 months old.

Roger's birthday was also in April. We had so much fun. One of his favorite memories from a birthday when he was a kid is when his sister, Kathy, made him a Cookie Monster cake. So, to celebrate his 35th birthday, Kathy made him another one. She did a fantastic job and the kids were just as excited as Roger was to eat it.

Ryder turned 3 years old in April. I made him a delicious carrot cake with goat cheese frosting (it tasted much better than it looks) and Ryder couldn't get enough of it. He got cars and a racetrack from Grandma Snow...anyone who knows Ryder knows that he LOVES race cars. He got a skateboard from Grandma and Grandpa Goodman...Ryder also has a love of skateboards. He is quite the daredevil, so I was a little nervous about what would happen with a skateboard. However, he knows the rules and he only sits on it for now when he is outside. He also got some punching "gloves" from the Pearces, which he loves to torment us with. He had a great day and is already counting down to when he turns 4!

Roger took Ryder Skiing before the season ended this year. We were set up a little better than when Keira went. We put a harness on Ryder so that he could ski in front of Roger without getting out of control. He absolutely loved it and did really well. He still talks about skiing in the mountains with daddy. His favorite part of the whole day was when Dad fell down in the snow.

Savanna completed her routine bilirubin test the day we were to be discharged from the hospital. However, rather than getting the news that all is well and going home, we learned that her levels were critically high and that she would need to go straight to NICU. She had a positive Coombs test, which meant that her high levels were a result of a blood incompatibility between me and her. There were a few options on the table to treat her, including doing a blood transfusion. They opted to treat her with as many phototherapy lights as possible and see what happened that night. If her levels didn't go down w/in 12 hours, they would probably do the transfusion. Luckily, her levels dropped out of the critical zone that first night. Her levels have been dropping more slowly now and she remains in NICU. She has been a real trooper during this time. Apparently, most babies hate the phototherapy lights because they can't be held and have to stay in there 24/7 and they cry all day...

Savanna was born on Monday, Jan 24 at 3 PM. She weighed in at 7.13 pounds and was 20.5" long. She is a sweet little girl and rarely cries. Ryder and Keira are so excited to have a little sister. Ryder immediately asks to hold her, but a minute or two later he is done and then doesn't want much to do with her. If she cries then he gets really worried and won't go anywhere near her. Keira is a good big sister and just wants to hold and love on her all of the time.

Roger has been excited to get Keira up on ski's since the day she was born. This year was the big year. He took her up to Powder Mountain and she had a great time. She actually did pretty good. He just kept her on a gentle little hill and she did a great job going down by herself. She was most excited about riding the ski lift. She had fun for a couple of hours and then got cold, so Roger took her to the ski patrol shack and gave her hot chocolate. She can't wait to do it again. She's going to have to fight Ryder to go, though. He is also very excited to give it a go and Roger will probably be taking him up soon, as well.