Who's the Alien?

The object of the game is to identify the alien. I thought it was a no brainer. Just look at Kelly. He was Agent Orange I think. Rachel was the cook, and she fed us well.

We had salad, pizza, and finger foods.
But then Josh, (But-Lur the butler) was a bit strange too.
He would come into the room every so often and anounce that the next course of food was ready, and would give us clues from time to time.

I think that I was the only truly normal one there, but as it turned out I was a weird fish creature with webbed feet and gills, named Speed-o Litener. I had Mary figured out. She was my girlfriend early on, but on one of our dates she morphed into some puffy thing and started going out with Klaus Encouter. I got even. I started going out with Endira DeWorley (Emma). We escaped to the radioactive Bikini Island.

Ammon was an interesting character. Dexter Terrrestrial. He had buttons on his shirt declaring his favorite causes. They read: "Make a friend, kiss a dog," "Stop global warming, eat more ice," "Free Shamu, cage Humans," "Habitat for Bigfoot." As it turned out, he was a trator to human kind siding with the shape shifting, puff-girl Alien.

David was Koushpa Tater, an apparent foreign exchange student from Lithuania. But as it turned out he was not.

Emma was a time traveler making a fortune by telling fortunes.

As it turned out, Mary was the Alien. All of us were strange in one way or another, but, Mary, she was the one.

Mathew was a nerd named, Roon Lite. He didn't fit in, but was in the middle of everything.

I think mom's costume was the best. She was Miss Ariel LeSalt, the bungee jumping, sky diving, wilderness freekshow, alien bounty hunter who had the victims brains sown into her but. Now if that's not suspicious. Just to see her with her hair pulled back, camo's, and sports vest and boots was worth it all.

Thanks Wheelers for a great time. We'll never see you the same again.

Sweet Emma Lee

Daddy's little girl. Not so little any more.

Here she is in the outfit sent by her big sisters

Isn't she lovely?

Emma is her mom's right hand. She fixes meals, helps around the house,

and fills in where ever she is needed.

She goes on daily walks with her mom,

laughs at everyone's stupid jokes, teases her little brothers,

sometimes seriously, and hugs her daddy.

She has a great personality that makes everyone

comfortable around her.

Josh is her hero, she thinks he handsome.

She idolizes William Joseph.

She loves to play the piano, and we love to hear it.

She makes breakfast every morning,

and is headed for bed at 9:00pm, or else!!!

We all dread the day when Emma leaves home.

Maybe I just won't let her go

Boys will be Boys

We gave these mini RC cars to the boys as stocking stuffers for Christmas. They have had more fun with these I think than with anything else. They got the wet mop out the other day and after getting the floor wet they ran their cars over it doing
donuts and all kinds of tricks. In this picture they are racing through the kitchen and dining room. It was really funny to see these four boys running after their cars back and forth across the floor. It doesn't matter how old you are I guess, you can still be a little boy.

A Few Thoughts

The New Year brings a feeling of change as we contemplate the passing of one year into the next. I have seen a few of these come and go, some with great expectations and some with sorrow and longing. But one thing is certain, change is inevitable. It’s not uncommon to try to avoid change. Most of us do not like the unknown very much. The comforts of routine and habit seem more pleasant thoughts. Try as we may to keep things the same we can never escape the steady marching of time, and the mixing of circumstance. Mortality is this way for a reason.

We are to ever look upward and onward, with an unfailing and steady longing for our heavenly home. The journey by it’s very nature has many rivers to forge, valleys to cross and peaks to climb. There are however, enough grassy meadows with cool streams and canapes of shade for needed rest, but the journey must continue. Change must come. The challenge for the fallen creature is to improve, each day, every day.

The question that must be on our minds,

and deep within our hearts is;

How can I come unto Christ today?

For my family I hope, and I pray

for a very good New Year.
May the blessings of Heaven fill your lives,
And gratitude fill your hearts.
Daddy

The Race is On

Here you see the judges struggling between feelings of loyalty and fairness. Tough job.

Enos Griggs spent most of the time watching "Cars" his favorite show. Eliza kept her eye on Enos. She's a cutie, and growing up fast. And Ashley, one of our winners, just enjoyed everything about everything.

We had a good turn out. About 60 people in all

Two of the "Old People."

This is the cheer leading squad. Get off your "____" and cheer.

Hyrum was the official at the starting gate. He's good at that because his voice carries and he takes no guff. He's explaining to me why I'm getting beat and what I need to do next year.

At this point Michael knew he had it. His car was smokin' everyone. Come on Jonny, we need your fast car next year or those Wheelers will take it again.

Hyrum thought he had it, until he raced against Michael.

The Mom's are the toughest ones to deal with. You had better get that car on there right.

Kelly, the official at the finish line. Now that's a thankless job. Especially when someones mother steps up and threatens you.

JD helped out with the charts. He did a great job for us.

You can see how close some of these races were.

In this picture you have: Hyrum Wheeler top, then Michael, Adam, Nephi.

Derby Awards

This year we had some very nice trophies and medals. The children were especially excited about it. Everyone went away with something.

Josh here with 2nd place Best of Show

Spencer may as well have won the first place everything. He was number one with his medal.


Matthew had a great car, and he did the work on it himself and painted it. Good job Matt.

This is Hunter. He was so thrilled to get his medal, and such a cute kid.

Some were very humble, like Nephi. So thankful to win anything.

Some were even more humble. Ammon won 1st place best of show with his silver streak.
Michael Lyman took the first place race award for the Junior class. This was one happy kid....and so was his mother.

Michael Wheeler took the 1st place race award in the Senior class. He had a very fast car. We are all going to have to get it together if we are going to beat him next year. His car had 3 wheels and an automatic graphite charging system. The graphite fed into the wheels while the car rolled....cool.

Derby Preparation

The thing about this is that once the anouncement has been made that we will begin working on derby cars, Matthew cannot rest until his is completed. Now you must know, he cut out the pieces, and he painted it. He did a great job.

Josh put alot into his car. He started with a block of Cedar and cut out the shape, then he cut out the little pieces for the spoiler and the scoop. he went on-line and found graphics to copy for the decals and traced and made his own. He painted his rims chrome. One sweet car.

Ammon's car is very unique. It just happened. He went to the saw and started cutting angles and little by little it sort of evolved. The silver paint really sets it off. What is it? No one really knows. We just call it the "Silver Streak."

Matt's car before the wheels went on. Good job Buddy.

Now, I think we're ready. We may not have the fastest cars, but we certainly have the coolest.

New Years Eve in Siloam

New Years Eve we got together at Siloam Springs Ward building and played some basketball. We played for three hours straight. The old men; Kelly, Kimball, and Jeff Patterson, Adam, and Matthew formed a team, while the young guys; Ammon, Josh, Nephi, Hyrum, David, Nathan Patterson, Andrew Patterson, and Josh's girlfriend's brother Caleb formed two other teams. We rotated onto the court playing 5 point games, with the winner staying on the court. Out of 8 games, the old men were on the court 6 of them. Yes, we still got it!!

Ammon was hot, hot, hot. You either had to foul him or let him make a point. Uncle Kelly was great too. We really had a great time.










The ladies came too and brought the makings for ham sandwiches. They played games and chit chatted the whole time. Here you see Hyrum completely engrossed in his ham sandwich. "Hey Hy, you've got stuff all over your face."

Adam making the shot of the night. Look at that air time.
And Matthew made a few good shots too.

Working in Redman WA

This is a Taiwanese family that Ben taught in his first area. From left to right; Fay, Elder Palmer, Anna, Gena (mother). The father of the family was out of the country while Ben was teaching them. The two girls and the mother had been reading the B of M and were making progress, but the mother would not commit to anything without her husband. After Ben's transfer he heard from other missionaries that the whole family was attending church and making progress.











Ben wrecked on his bike. He was quite proud of it. So he offers a reconstruction of the "near fatal" crash. I really don't think that the bike actually landed atop the fence like this. Notice the use of the word "fricken" in his vocabulary. He didn't learn that at home.

From the MTC to Washington

Ben here seen in the comfortable surroundings of the MTC dorms.

He said that he really enjoyed his stay there.

He said that the spirit was great.

He even joined the chior.

A snapshot of Mt. St. Helens from the air.

This is Ben's first companion, Elder Logan. These two got along well, but it didn't last long.

He learned right away that you have to take advantage

of every teaching opportunity.

Too Much for Grandma

Mom bought some "Cold Duck" and crackers and cheese just for fun, but grandma was acting kind of strange after drinking it, and Matthew was having a hard time getting it down. Everyone started acting kind of strange and now we're not sure wether it was the real stuff.