More Pictures: as requested

Carter Davis Snell

Say hello to your new grandson/nephew/cousin/other relationship. Carter was born Sunday 16 December 2007 at 4:38 am. We were sitting at Applebee's on Saturday night with our friends Hano and Britany. Someone told a funny story and we all laughed. Then Fabiane turned to me and said, "Adam, I think my water just broke!" So I said, "Let's have a baby!" And we went to the hospital and got there at about 8:15 pm. Fabiane was having contractions but they weren't totally regular and she was only dilated to a one. So they put her on some pitosin(sp?) and got her started. By this point they had already given her the epidural and she was feeling fine. Sometime around 3:45 am they checked her and she had reached a 10 so she started pushing. The doctor got there within a few minutes and we had a baby! Carter came out at 6 lbs. 3oz. He has a lot of black hair and is fairly light skinned, although the nurses think that'll change because he has a dark scrotum. Supposedly dark scrotumed boys get darker skin. We're home now and Grandma is with us. Fabiane is sore but happy to have her son. I'm pretty happy too. Enjoy the pictures. I'm sure there'll be many more to come.

Our baby, the Alien... (this is with the night vision function on the camera)

The Air Force's 60th

Yes, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the USAF. So to celebrate, they put on a huge air show at Nellis AFB (close to Las Vegas). Chris, Juan, Whitney, Fabiane and I drove down together and had such a sweet time! I have never seen the Thunderbirds (click on the pictures for a close up) in a live show, not that I remember anyway, and it was awesome. The Air Force Honor Guard performed, they had several WWI and WWII aircraft staging dogfights and bombing raids. They basically showcased, in flight, every major combat aircraft we've had over the years. Of course, the coolest part, bar-non, was the F-22 Raptor:




This thing was incredible! You would not think an airplane could do what it did. I don't even think I can describe it. It performed a loop with about a 50' diameter, reversed its direction so quickly that actually had negative air speed, and ripped through the sky with some of the roaringest engines I've ever heard. It was definitely an incentive for more hard work on my part. Fabiane loved it too. She said she understands even more why we're all so proud to be Americans :). I really do love her. What a great trip.

Me fighting Robin

Halloween Party!! ( I was scary crow from Batman)

It is a litlle bit late, but I thought of letting you guys see that I've emerged with enthusiasm into the Culture, even dressed up for Halloween( I totally loved it), ok, it was a little bit scary, but nothing else would fit me! The company that I work for had a party at the Marriot and we won prizes, I got about 40 dollars and a prize from my supervisor, for "most scary custome." Fun time!!!

Pensacola!

Well, we found out where we're going for pilot training! November 2008 we'll be headed down to Florida to begin JSUPT at Pensacola Naval Air Station. After six weeks we'll transfer to Whiting Field Naval Air Station just an hour away where I'll begin flying the T-34 (see above picture). Yes, that means I'll be training with the Navy. The Air Force sends a few guys to train with the Navy, and visa-versa, every year so that we always have guys to speak each other's language. Is that a good thing for us? Absolutely! We're going to Florida! In fact, it was our first choice. Pensacola is right on the beach and Whiting Field is, again, about an hour away. So we should have a great time. I have heard that Navy training is a lot more relaxed than Air Force training. Supposedly it's just as good flight training, but they put a lot of responsibility for studying and performing on the individual whereas the Air Force has everything structured and ends up using a lot more of your time. The Navy also doesn't try to put a whole lot of stress on the pilot trainees like the Air Force does. I don't know why, maybe they just don't need to weed guys out like the Air Force does. So, overall, we're pretty stoked! For more information on JSUPT go here: http://home.earthlink.net/~kschlappi/kyle.htm (it's outdated but still interesting).

Anyway, before we get to Florida we'll start our Air Force career at Hill AFB in Ogden, UT. I report there on 2 June 07. Basically I'll just be pushing papers for some higher ranking officer in the Ops Support Group. After a month, I go to Pueblo, CO to do Initial Flight Screening. I'll be there for 6 weeks and Fabiane and Carter won't get to join me. It's a very intense program where the Air Force tries to weed people out before they send them to Pilot Training. It's a new program, started last October, and is evidently very tough. One guy from BYU's graduating class of last year already washed out. Apparently the wash out rate is 20%. So it oughta be challenging. The good news is that it will prepare me for JSUPT.

So, after six weeks in Pueblo, I go back to my family at Hill and we're there until November when we transfer to Pensacola. So that's going to be the start of our exotic family adventures. It's fun to know where we're going and when. I'm starting to feel like it's real now. We'll keep you posted on any new info as it comes in.

I will be 28 weeks this thursday!

Wow, Time is going by fast! The baby is growing up and I guess I can say that he likes to sleep during the day and play during the night, So, I hardly sleep now. It is all good! I am enjoying this time very much! It is amazing to feel him moving inside of me and feel him getting stronger and stronger as he kicks me! I love him!

Little Carter( yes, that's his name!

Here is the last picture of Carter. I think he is looking more and more like his father ( That means HANDSOME!)

Busy, Busy, and Painful

Sorry, I don't have any pictures to add to the wonderfulness of this post. I don't carry a camera everywhere I go like some of you parents do. At least not yet.
I just figured we should update the blog since the last post came from Brazil. We are now back and in Provo, UT where I am in my last year at BYU and Fabiane is looking for a job to finish off the boring 8-5 work part of life before she becomes a full time mom. The purpose of the title is to express my extreme business (I shouldn't even be indulging in blogging right now) this semester. I have 15 credit hours of some of the most time-intensive classes of my major; I am a TA for American Heritage(20 hours a week), and I am the Group Commander for the Field Training Preparation cadets in AFROTC. I am very excited about the group commander and TA positions and I plan to dedicate a fair amount of time to them. So, I fear for my grades this semester.
The title also expresses Fabiane's experience in the latter half of pregnancy. She is feeling pains all over her body and they only seem to be getting worse as the baby gets larger. Although I sympathize, I am glad that I'm the male in the relationship. I do wish I could do more to help her though. I don't like to see her in pain. Of course, Fabiane being Fabiane, she is still a wonderful wife and a fun person to be with. I do love her.

P.S. Fabiane should be able to post more once we get the Internet up and running at home.

Live from the Motherland

Hey everyone, we have been here in Fabiane's parents' home since last Friday. We stayed in Sao Paulo with one of Fabi's friends for a night before coming here and we will go back there this coming Saturday. We've had a great time here, eating all the foods that we missed, seeing and meeting family, and visiting some cool tourist sites. Fabiane's family have been really good to me, I've really enjoyed it so far. Yesterday Fabiane's cousin invited us over to her house for a churrasco(Brazilian BBQ). Her uncle is a professional Churrasqueiro(one who does Brazilian BBQ's). It was amazing! Their house sits on a hill that overlooks a large portion of the city so I layed out there on a hammock and ate meat for about 4 hours while they sat around drinking beer and eating and we all talked and listened to music. It was awesome.

I Think We're on Our Way

Everyone's in Texas now so we should be on our way to Brazil tonight as long as the flight isn't full. If you don't hear from us for a while you'll know why. If anything goes wrong I'll let ya'll know.

A Little Detour

So, our trip to Brazil was brightened by Brooklyn and Cade! We have been trying to get to Brazil without paying to much so we got standby tickets from a friend who works for Continental. It's been quite the adventure. We finally made it to Houston on the last flight of the day last Friday, but our friend didn't make it from Salt Lake. Since we need him to fly to Brazil, we have had to wait for the weekend. So we rented a car and drove to Heath and Chelsea's house in San Antonio. It's been a lot of fun. We went to the Alamo and the Riverwalk and have had a great time playing around with the kids.

Of course, we are sad that we haven't made it to Brazil yet, and it seems we may have to wait a little longer. So we'll see what happens and keep you posted.

Mother land is about to receive its daugther!

We think that he is so cute already!

Last week we went to the doctor to have a ultrasound and see how everything is with our baby. I almost cried when I saw him, the doctor had a hard time trying to take the pictures , because he would not stay still! It was such a special time to me.

Yep! its a boy!!!!

Adam and I had no preference wether it was a boy or girl. A babyboy is coming our way and we love him so much already. I guess we broke the tradition on Adam's side of the family having a babyboy instead of a babygirl first, but we surely continue the tradition on my side of the family, between sisters and cousins we have not had a girl for more then 8 years now. This is going to be our 6th boy in the a row.

So, I am with Child!

My first 3 months of pregnancy was interesting. I found out that morning sickness can also be afternoon and night sickness. I feel great now, enjoying this precious time so much better.

Exotic?

Yes, we're exotic. I'm pretty much fully European in heritage and Fabiane is African and Native American (from one of those jungle tribes where they heal people by burying bananas). So, the baby, which is a boy, is going to be quite the mix when he's born in December. We're very excited to see how he comes out.

Fabiane is from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She has one older brother and two younger sisters. Her parents joined the LDS church when she was four and she baptized at eight years old. Sometime thereafter the whole family stopped going to church... except for Fabiane. Of course, she credits one of her church leaders for her continued activity, but if you know her, you'll soon realize it is her love for light and truth that has always atracted her to the gospel and to every good choice she's ever made. If I had to choose one thing, I would say that's what I love most about my beautiful wife.

I'm a 23 year-old AFROTC student at Brigham Young University. I recently received my pilot slot, which means that after I graduate in April 2008 I will be sent off to pilot training. I reached these acheivments because I had great parents and awesome brothers and sisters that always kept me going and led me in the right direction. I owe much to the family the Lord blessed me with and I hope to establish a home where such a wonderful family can grow. With our American/Brazilian mix, our future in the Air Force, and our baby on the way, there'll be many exotic adventures. Welcome to our blog!