Our Girl Emma

Emma has turned into quite the beautiful young woman in many ways.  She is a kind hearted girl who gives selflessly all the time.  She loves her brothers and loves to play with them.   At times, she can be found in the shop wanting to work with her brothers.   Her innocence is her crowning virtue, and her love for life rubs off on everyone who comes in contact with her.  If all girls were like this girl, the world would be a wonderful place.

Ben in Everett Washington

This is the home where Ben (Elder Palmer) and his companion are staying, in Everett, Washington. 

Here, Ben and his companion are in the apartment kitchen where his companion ( Elder Wahlquist) has baked two loaves of bread.  Now that's the kind of companion everyone needs.  Pass me another slice Elder Honey.

This is real 'apartment baked' bread, believe it or not.  Sister Snel, who owns the home, said that the bread was really good.  This guy must have taken home economics in school.  Naaa   Or maybe, his mother taught him.

Ben said that he has gained 30 lbs.  You wouldn't know it by looking at him.  Sister Snel told a funny about Ben that I'll have to share.  The ward meets at 8:00am on Sunday morning, so getting ready for church is a rush in the Snel home.  She said that Ben came down from his room all dressed and ready for church, only, he had his green suit coat and his blue pants on.  I don't think he would have cared half as much as everyone else.

Craftsman of the Year Award

Over the past few days Josh and Ammon have built a few gable vents that are unique. They were difficult and required a bit of thinking and skill. I was so pleased with how well they did that I wanted to show all of you. These have a three layered face trim that is 3" thick and 5" wide with a keystone embeded in it.

Josh and Ammon spent three days building two of these massive round vents. These are biggest that we have ever built. They are six feet in diameter. The face is made of 20 individual pieces. Quite a challenge for anyone.


Good job guys!!!

Matthew's Big Day

Everyone knows that every birthday is Matthews birthday.  But when it really is Matthew's birthday, it's really a big day.  Here are some pics from our baby's big day.  He turned eleven on the 1st of Oct.

He was sizing up the challenge.  "These candles are going out on the first blow" he said.  I think he enjoyed the fact that he was in control.

After blowing out the candles he wanted to make sure that this Lemon pie was all his.  Mom made two of them, and he wanted one entire pie just for himself.  So....He licked it.  The whole pie from side to side.

We bought him a "Booger Bag".  Pretty good likeness don't you think?  The bad part is that this bag will probably stay in the family now for the next 10 years.

For the past few weeks Matt had been making large airplanes out of scraps of cardboard.  So we got him a large airplane that would actually fly.  He thought it was pretty cool.

He got a new "family" game, which Emma and Grandma played.  I don't think he even noticed it.  Maybe after the airplane is destroyed he'll be interested in the game.

Who couldn't love this face?  Always a happy boy on a birthday, and the great thing about Matt is that it doesn't even have to be his birthday.

Here you have it.  The fearsome trio.  Matt, Josh and David.  Their airplanes are wound up and they are ready to release.  This is their manly pose.

These two cars are his pride and joy.  They are an RC laser tag game.  Matt said that the one thing we had to get for him was a Mustang RC car.  So he loves his blue Tang'.

Well, Happy Birthday Matt. 
We love you.

Dad's 50th Birthday Party

On Friday the 2nd of Oct. my wonderful extended family honored me with a 50th birthday “funeral”party. Here are some pictures of that wonderful event. First Sam and Adam spray painted my face and hair with a gray-white holloween paint so that I would look like a stiff.

Then they laid me in a coffin that Uncle Kelly and Aunt Rachel made.  It was comfy, but dark inside when they closed it up, although I really couldn't tell because I was blindfolded.

Then they marched me in furneral style while everyone else cried and mourned my loss.  It sounded like a bunch of coyotes screeming, from where I was, locked up inside of the coffin.  I think I would have felt claustrophobic if I weren't blindfolded.

Then Aunt Rachel fixed everything up in preparation for everyone to parade past me for the final viewing.  I lay there just hoping that I was all tucked in and zipped up.

Then everyone walked by.  They were suppose to cry, but all the little kids couldn't help it, they laughed at me, and said how sorry they were that I had died.  Somehow, I don't think they bought it.

There were "flowers" (dried and dying weeds), and pictures of years past, which was kind of fun.  I saw pictures that I've never seen before.

Uncle Kelly played the mortician.  He did a pretty good job of it.  I think he was having more fun than he should have.  But, his time is coming.  He turns 50 in the spring, and you can bet that I'll be ready.

Sam had his fun reading the eulogy, which was a combination of ideas given by several family members.  It was really funny I have to admit.  Sam is good at this sort of thing.  He can be quite a showman.

And then there's mom.  See that smile on her face.  That's because she was taking advantage of a "Kimball Roast."  She told some good stories, including the one about me and her running out in a rain storm in our undies to catch our horse Rocky.

Rachel played a special number; "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof.  So I decided to get out and do the dance to go with it.  The kids started screaming and clapping.  I guess they've never seen a dead man dance.

 Several of my brothers and sisters came to the front and told stories and poked at me.  It was all in fun.  Melanie, Beth, Sam, Adam, Hyrum, and grandma, and Rachel of course.

Hyrum thought he was pretty funny.  He did say some nice things about me though.  Thanks Hy for being a bud when it really matters.

Then out came the birthday cake.  50 candles on a 6" lemon tart.  It looked dangerous.  I made my wish, and blew.  But three candles remained lit.  I wished for even more attention, and as you can see, after the candles were out and lights came on, they left me, all alone, just me and my coffin while they all rushed to the food tables.  Oh well, you get a chance to be a star for short moment, and then it's over.  All-in-all I guess turning 50 wasn't all that bad.  What the heck, I can still take Jonny on in speedball any day.

I would like to thank my kind benefactor for throwing a party for me.  Here she is in her black veil.  She had all the girls wear one of these, and everyone was dressed in black

And I'd like to thank all of the family for showing up to my funeral.  I hope I have as good a turn out when I really kick it.  Hey, maybe if we have black balloons and finger food?  That should bring them out.

Branson Vacation with the Wheelers

We went to Branson the first week of September and stayed for three days.
This is the nice little place we stayed in. Occupancy was limited to eight people. Let's see, we had Kelly, Rachel, Bekah, Mary, Nephi, Kimball, Brenda, Ammon, Josh, Emma, David and Matt. That's, uh, yea eight. It was a really nice place and we enjoyed the stay.


Mom and Rachel fixing the food. Mom kept the kitchen looking great, and Rachel kept the food coming. Dad did help out with breakfast one morning. He cooked the pancakes. It was nice to have a kitchen and place to eat instead of a tight cramped hotel room or noisy expensive restaurants.

Bekah, and her man Jacob. We were really impressed with this guy. He seems to be a very fine young man. He gets along with everyone and loves a good time. We didn't see much of him in Branson, but what we did see impressed us. Good job Bekah.

Here we are outside of the Dolly Pardon Stampede. Well, it was a good show. Inside is an arena where they do a show that includes a lot of horses, and they feed you while you watch the show. One rider came toward us in a dead run and stopped so suddenly in front of us that the horse kicked up sand from the arena onto our plates and food. When you're hungry, you do what you have to. We brushed off the sand and ate it anyway.

This place is called the House of Mirrors. You can get lost in here. We played around in this place for a while until the boys started running into the walls on purpose and sounding like a bunch of wild animals, and scared off the newcomers. It was fun, but not worth the money.

Back at the ranch, the boys enjoyed being served their breakfast in bed. They were on vacation and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Here's a video of them being served, and not even the pressure of the camera could make them embarrassed. But, when Josh had to get up in front of everyone in his boxers, the tables turned.

Silver Dollar City

The first week of September we went with the Wheelers to Branson, MO. We had a really great time. We spent a day at Silver Dollar City, where it rained all morning, but the clouds gave way to sunshine and it made a perfect day.

Ok, Dad’s a man. So Wild Fire was no problem. So, like a man he decided to make mom go on this ride first to see what she was like when she got off. She seemed fine, so dad went on it. Already sick from the Barn Swing, this was the last nail in the coffin. Dad was seeing double and running into walls the rest of the day.

Yes, dad looks happy here, but it was all a front to cover up the fact that he was scared to death. But he couldn't let Bekah know that. "Come on Uncle Kimball, come sit with me in the front. The front is awesome." I ALMOST DIED.

This is Matt sitting in front of a poster of a dance hall girl–which embarrassed him–as we waited to see an old west bar and dance hall girl show. Inside, dad played the roll of a dummy–something that mom said he did very well–and had a great time acting like an idiot
At first, this was the only ride we could get Matthew to go on. He was very picky about what he would ride. We finally talked him into an old coaster called Thunderation. He did twice, but that was it for the coasters for him. Ammon and Nephi here with their guns in hand, and Josh and David in the back. On this ride the object was to score points at you road through a mine. Ammon outscored all of us every time. Each time we came to the end of the ride the controller would ask if we wanted to go through again, because no one was lined up to go on the ride. We did in three times I think.
And here you have to two old guys. You’ll never see them with this much hair again. Dad always enjoys spending time with Kelly. He’s always full of laughs and has a joke about almost anything. He fun to be with because everyone else’s fun is more important to him than his own.
This is at the hat shop. Everyone put on a hat or a wig and posed for the picture. I think the shop attendant was getting irritated with us. From left to right–Bekah, Ammon, David, Nephi, Emma, Matthew, Josh, Mary and Kelly.

This ride is called the Giant Barn Swing. Dad got on this ride to prove to everyone that he’s not afraid of anything. He was sick the rest of the day. This ride was unreal. The teenagers went on this again, and again. Some of them didn’t want to, but couldn’t be seen as the wooses.