What did you guys do?

We had a great Christmas!  Just a quick run down.  Mom and Dad were in Germany, people were many places, but there were parties to be had!  We had the traditional fun at the Boydens. We went skiing on the streets and enjoyed abundant snow. Thereafter, we waited in great anticipation for the arrival of Sneddies!  We were not disappointed. We played games, drank hobo wine (cold duck), ate fondue in the afternoon, laughed, sang karaoke and celebrated Gabi's two-year birthday. To make the celebrations even more special, we entered into a no-shower pajama covenant.  We also ate the inaugural bacon fondue with a good laugh.  Jannene, Nigel, Jenny, Anneli and David all provided us with cheer and fun.  We still missed all of you.  We hope your holiday was joyous and happy. We love you all!

SD Sneddie Update

Well folks, this is a simple hello and note to let you know we've added an new update to our family's website. Click on Mak-Daddy to the left :). We'll be thinking of all you during this Thanksgiving, likely spend here alone. Possibly Robert and Kei will join, but they've already got plans. So, we'll see.

All in all, despite the continued sickness and boxes from a second move, we're OK. Starting to settle, and hopefully, we'll be fully settled before we know it. Moving is such a pain!!

Love to all.

James, Jubie, Kai, Mak, and Ysella.

Happy Big 50th Birthday, Michael!

We wanted to share with you our Top 50 Reasons to Love this ANCIENT 50-year-old Guy!

Happy Birthday, Michael!

1. Here are some random pictures, most with Michael in them. One though is Bret Wittke, Mary, and me in front of the old rusty Travelall. I thought a picture of the car Michael had to drive around in as a teenager might be a good touch. -Cameron

2. Michael building the most intricate, even realistic models of WWII era tanks and planes. –James

3. Grandmother Baird came to Madison for Jannene's birth; on that day, I asked her to stay in the apartment because I wanted to take Michael alone as I knew after Jannene's birth I would probably never be with you alone again. We took a short nature walk around Eagle Heights; I well remember finding a fuzzy caterpillar which we both looked at and discussed life as an insect -Mom

4. In high school, Michael let his hair grow into a real 'fro and even had a pik. He didn't stick the pik in the back of his hair and wear it, but he could if he wanted to! He had a corduroy jacket and wide tie. . . I thought he was almost cool. . . Look at some old pictures and you will see that Napoleon Dynamite was channeling Michael Sneddon. -Jannene

5. Stories of the Bairds running outside screaming and yelling “Hallelujah” upon hearing the news of Michael’s engagement. –Mary

6. His "SNED" license plate -Jenny

7. TV was a “no-no” in the Sneddon household of the sixties. If you did all your work, kept your room clean, and were well behaved, you were allowed to watch thirty minutes on Friday afternoon with a 12 inch black/white set. You usually chose Yogy Bear or a bear that lived in Yellowstone -- can't remember for certain. -Mom

8. Okay, I remember the day Michael bought his new white Toyota Celica. I thought he was cool and that he had a cool car. Boy was I wrong!!! I also remember the day he left in that car for Houston. Kate and I helped him either wash it or clean it or something before he left. -Cameron

9. Michael and his Swedish crystal. He brought back so much from his mission (12 virgin goblets). -Kate

10. Your favorite toy was a sock-monkey which you called a “Volksmonkey”. Something to do with the VW car, but the reason has now escaped me. -Mom

11. Michael while serving in Sweden was transferred and sent to open a new area around Malmo, Sweden located on the Baltic Sea on the southernmost tip of Sweden. The transfer came in the summer at a time when Malmo was the place to be for Swedes on vacation. As a result his expenses for food, rent, and the move itself were more money than he was then receiving from us. Michael did not tell us of the problem when it occurred. During this period, as we found out later, Michael ate only apples, cabbage, and an occasional sausage. He knew we were sending as much money as we possibly could. -Dad

12. Many a fun backpacking trip, especially this last summer when our families camped together at Green River with Mom and Dad. –Cameron

13. His Jaredite barge. -Kate

14. I don't have that many definitive memories of Michael. I do remember my mom telling lots of stories about him though. One of my favorites was that he bought her a sweater and told her it was her birthday and Christmas present, but that she also had to give him ten dollars (or some other monetary amount). -Anneli

15. Michael and his Acura Legend, the want-to-be babe magnet. He was kind enough to allow me to borrow it once in a while. –James

16. He likes to remind his workers that he is captain of the ship a la Michael Scott from The Office. (Tee-hee.) –Cameron

17. A neighborhood bully often teased you while walking home from school; one day you had had enough, so you took your metal lunch box and smashed it in his face. End of bully. -Mom

18. The Christmas his bride, Jennifer, played Risk against Michael for the first time and BEAT him on his favorite game! -Mary

19. Michael used to build balsa wood planes and hung them from his ceiling in appropriate "fighting positions" and I remember sitting on the top of the bunk bed in the old boy's room one day when we didn't have much to do, and Michael trying to teach me one of his war strategy games with the octagon pieces just so he could play. . . . He must have been desperate for someone to play with!! -Jannene

20. Running a marathon at a Boston-qualifying time -Jenny

21. Do you remember your first really close friend, Lee? He lived in the next apartment complex of Eagle Heights and you two were inseparable. Much to the chagrin of his parent's philosophy, Lee liked to play with guns with you. -Mom

22. Letting me live with him for only $100/month (meals included) when I student taught at Timpview, and then for free when I was engaged. –Mary

23. Michael coming downstairs to check on us when we were engaged. –Luke

24. We were always tight on funds during those years; one Christmas you wanted a radio so you purchased it yourself, wrapped it up and hid it for a Sneddon-style Christmas Treasure Hunt. –Mom

25. Going to Southern Utah and hiking, doing a fun run. -Kate

26. Michael gifting the infamous Sony clock radio to himself, complete with treasure hunt, at Christmas. –James

27. August 2001, Michael, David and I went backpacking in the Winds. We came in over Bears Ears camping at Valentine Lake. We hiked out Valentine the next morning passing a pack of horses going uphill. To this day we're still proud of that accomplishment and love to brag about it. We then hiked up and over Lizard Head and down into Lizard Head Meadows, spending our last night there. We came out crossing the Popo Agie. After coming out, we did the usual hamburger dinner at the Burger Barn watching an early season football game of Oklahoma playing someone else. It was a short trip - only 3 days, and a small group - just Michael, David and myself. We tried in vain to do some fishing - I think one small brookie was all we got. But I will never forget the spectacular views, the cold nights and spending time with some of my favorite brothers. It was perhaps my most favorite trip to the Wind Rivers. -Nathan

28. Having me over for Sunday dinners when I was a lonely freshman at BYU -Jenny

29. Sharing a home with him and Kate. It was one of the more fun periods of my student life. -James

30. Glad I lived with him to get to know him better. -Cameron

31. I often reflect that perhaps little or no TV in your developing years allowed (or caused) you to be more creative. You became a "self-starter", one who set goals and finished them. A prime example of this is earning your Eagle Scout Award. You did it all by yourself, even selecting merit badge counselors that were close enough for you to bike to their home. I am still impressed with that accomplishment. -Mom

32. However, you were not perfect. When in high school, you often counseled your younger siblings to find projects or activities after school because if they came directly home "Mom will put you to work!" And when we wanted to do a family project such as all clean the basement together, you insisted I give you a set assignment and be allowed to leave when your part was finished. Hm..... -Mom

33. The more and more he's becoming a Roy Jr. -Jenny

34. Plaid and patterned shirts. Hairplugs (dubbed “Toothbrush” by one of Kate’s friends). Sorry Michael. The same leaky faucet nose that Dad has, especially when backpacking. Also, the Michael head-nod-bobble. You know what I mean. –Mary

35. Michael's completion of the first Sneddon Marathon. Don't recall what or which, but I think he was the first. –James

36. Also great memories living in Germany with them, serving in the YM presidency, and traveling to Berchtesgaden by train to spend a Saturday afternoon. –Cameron

37. The boys were out shopping, in usual late Sneddon fashion, for Christmas. It was Christmas Eve I believe. It was me, Michael, James, and I'm pretty sure Cam was with us. This was years ago--I was probably a young teenager. Michael and James were home for the holidays so it was always fun to be out with the brothers. We were over by Hy-Vee on O Street. I think we were going to the old music store behind Hy-Vee. Anyway, it was late at night, it was dark and the streets and parking lot were slick with ice and snow. We were crossing from one side of the parking lot to another and apparently I had walked "out of line" so to speak. Honestly, I don't remember well what I did or didn't do. What I do remember was Michael grabbing me - HARD - by the back of my arm and scolding me about walking out in front of a car (a car that to this day I still don't remember seeing or remember even being there). It was something that dad would have done - grabbing me and correcting me for doing something wrong. At the time it made me really angry at Michael - and obviously to this day I have not forgotten it. But as the years go by, I now realize that Michael loves his siblings and that this incident was not an act of anger but an act of love. He was looking out for my safety. It made me recall a conversation with David one time while he and I were at BYU together. We were talking about hanging out with Michael - probably while planning the backpacking trip noted above. David said something I'll never forget. He said, in response to something I said about Michael, and why he didn't feel especially close to Michael, "I don't know, Michael always just seemed like a second dad to me." I think that was true for many of us - especially those of us in the younger half of the family. I think of how Michael shared his bedroom with David when David was a baby and how David's statement makes perfect sense from his vantage point. However, for me, Michael has morphed from a definite 2nd father figure to a close friend and brother. –Nathan

38. Michael kept a spotless room and would know if anyone had touched anything. . .I found out where he kept his thin mint girl scout cookies in his drawer (we would buy our own box and hoard them) and occasionally I would borrow one. . . -Jannene

39. Still not terribly coordinated when we play football on thanksgiving… He shocked everyone with his catch for a touchdown a few years back. –Cameron

40. Another favorite memory was the summer of 2000. Cam and "left me" getting married and moving out of the "Log Cabin." So I moved in with Michael for the summer hoping to save some money. Michael and I had signed up for the Top of Utah Marathon, Michael having successfully talked me into trying to run a marathon. We would go running every morning—either up and around the Provo Temple to see Utah Valley and its beauty in the early morning hours, or up Provo Canyon for our long runs. It was with Michael that I became intimately knowledgeable with every step on that trail that goes up the Canyon to Vivian Park. Later that summer, Michael introduced me to his famous training run up Aspen Grove, up the backside of Timpanogos and ultimately to the top. There are few things more enthralling than literally running up and down a mountain. At the end of the summer, we ran the Top of Utah Marathon together. It snowed for most of the first 20 miles. It was so wet and so cold. I tried to hang with Michael as long as I could but by miles 18 or earlier he slowly but surely pulled away. He ended up beating me and winning his age group. I won my age group as well but was still well behind him. I remember mom and dad being there, of Kate and I think Mary being there, Jen Sneddon and the kids were of course there. It is one of my favorite family memories and one of my favorite memories of Michael. To this day, whenever I run around the Provo Temple, up Rock Canyon or Provo Canyon, or hike up Timpanogos, I think of Michael. -Nathan

41. Your clothing in elementary and junior high consisted of Sears' Tough Skins and plain white T- shirts. And your lunch was always bread and cheese, so the kids at school called you Mouse. -Mom

42. His kindness and generous nature lend me money for school books, let me use his lovely car when I needed to grocery shop, living at his house rent free. It was fun living with him as an adult. –Kate

43. Searching for David with Michael and Dad. As many ideas as we could muster for his whereabouts and such, we were always left in wonderment as we simply had no answers, but went forward in calm faith. -James

44. Letting Nigel and me stay there when we visited Europe -Jenny

45. Sitting with you, Mom and Dad at the Winter Quarters Temple Dedication, and of course, being in the same room as President Hinckley, as he conducted and spoke. -Mary

46. Michael worked harder than almost anyone I know to help save for his mission. He used to work downtown at the old Kings Drive Inn. . . I think he even biked there or took a bus and then he worked a second job too. My memory was that he worked at Sears or Wards but that could be wrong. He was dedicated, hardworking and driven to do the things that were good and right even in high school. I used to think of him as the perfect child. He always did was he was supposed to do and never made a mess doing it! Love you Michael –Jannene

47. Probably one of the more generous people I know. –Cameron

48. That fall we received a letter from the mission president telling us that the mission would cost $50 more each month. (Jannene, Robert, James, Katherine, Cameron, Nathan, Mary Alice were living at home and John was about to be born.) We did not know where we would get the money. On a Saturday morning at Thanksgiving time Kathleen and I were talking about how we could find the money, but we could come up with no solution. Kathleen went to the mail box that morning and found a letter containing $50 dollars with a note that this would continue until Michael's mission was complete. –Dad

49. His fabulous taste in clothes. I love you Michael Happy Birthday, 50 year old dude. You are a wonderful brother. –Kate

50. You are our brother, our uncle, our son, and that’s the best reason to love you! Happy 50th Birthday. -Your Family

Halloween at our place

BOO!  TRICK OR TREAT

Hey family! Trying to show you how fun these can be! Here is an up-date of our Halloween escapades.  It was very warm.  Candy was easy to get and easier to eat. The kids ate it all Saturday and loved it.  If you are wondering what the costumes are, well,  Isaac is a police officer. Yes, we know he has fire fighter stuff on.  Jam is a witch and Gabi is a witch-in-training.  She would not allow anything in her hair.  

Anyhoo

While I am here, let's make a plea for more frivolity in our lives.  We could make everyone smile each day if we posted something silly....I'll get back to you on that one.  But, I issue a challenge.  The post that makes me laugh the loudest, I will send you your favorite candy or treat. Promise.  Even if it is Germany.  Come on Michael bring it on!  Evoke the cheating/competing days of yore.  Think of cheating musical chairs and let's have fun!!!!   That picture of Jam may make you smile and think "Hair where are you going with that girl?"  (generation two) You get the idea.

What do you think?

I have been asked to help with the Baird Reunion next year.  I just realized that some of us have made plans...but we have to think bigger than ourselves.  Is the web corny?  Helpful?  Thanks. (follow the link !)

Hurricane Ike---Our First

Greetings from wind damaged and water soaked southeast Texas!! I guess it only takes a hurricane for us to contribute to the Sned Thread. For FHE tonight, we decided to take pictures and detail our experience for everyone. So here goes.

The hurricane in Eric's words:

The fence fell down. There was a lot of damage. Shingles fell down from the houses or blew from other peoples houses and blew over here at our house. The tree tipped and then we fixed it. And then it was okay, but we didn't put the straps on though, but it was okay. We thought it was going to tip out and rip, but it didn't. I don't know what the green lightening was. We slept in the closet and it was soo...sooo...hot and we had our flashlights on and the lights went off earlier and we thought they'd go off in a while. I wanted the rainbow flashlight. And we played Uno and had cookies and milk. The rain was coming down onto our house and slamming onto our house. It was loud in the closet. The Uno still worked and we listened to the radio and we woke up early in the morning. I was getting itchy but I put back on my shirt and then Kiersten woke up and we all woke up because it was hot and stuff.

We ate breakfast the next day. We sat in the garage and I rode my scooter in the driveway. We were fixing the tree and mom was fixing dinner and then mom was screaming because the power went back on. We thought we wouldn't have power for a long time and we were lucky.

The morning after, dad and I drove around in the grey car and saw a lot of damage. The nice park was wrecked from all the rain and wind. My school was okay though. School was canceled on Friday and I don't have school until Wednesday.

Dad pushing the tree back into place (though I helped too).

Ike from Rachel and Cameron's perspective:

Work closed it's doors around noon Thursday letting everyone go prepare for Ike. I didn't leave until some time after one though because I had to finish a few things that had bar dates over the weekend, and I didn't know when I'd be back.

After filling up the cars with gas, we went to Home Depot that night to buy a few supplies. If we had a truck, we would've purchased wood to cover our windows, but as recent home buyers, we didn't have a large automobile or many of the tools necessary to complete the job. So we hoped for the best and got some thick covering to add to our tarp should we need to cover up a broken window or worse.

Friday was more anticipation as we constantly had the TV on showing the predictions of when and where Ike would make landfall. We were grateful that the trajectories switched from making landfall at Freeport according to Thursday morning's analysis to Galveston or more East and up through downtown Houston. Freeport is almost due South of where we live and a little bit West, which meant that we would've been on the "dirty" side of the hurricane and that the eye would pass right by or even over us. Being in the the eye itself is fine, that is the calm part. But the worst, i.e. strongest winds are right around the wall of the eye which also would've passed over/near us. No thanks.

Luckily, by Friday morning the trajectories changed, and it appeared that Galveston and downtown Houston were the ones that would be hit. Not that we were wishing/praying for others to be in harms way. But we acknowledged the blessing of not being in the main path of Ike anymore, and what's more, to be on the West side, which is typically less powerful.

After going to the store one last time (though not necessary as we had a lot of provisions, but we had the time, so why not make sure) and picking up the yard and house for any loose items, the waiting game began.

We took this picture of the sunset.

It was amazing to feel the wind come from the Northeast, but see the entire cloud formation generally moving North, while the clouds themselves were rapidly moving in a South Southeast direction. Essentially, they were swirling in a circle like you see the entire hurricane formation do from space and we were on the West side of things. It was a sight to behold.

And here was the more ominous view facing Southwest towards Galveston and the coast

.

After taking some pictures we went inside to put Kiersten down and wait for the inevitable. At around 8:00 p.m. we lost power. This was a little earlier than expected since it wasn't raining, lightning, or generally stormy where we were. But, we are part of an extensive grid in the Houston metro area, and a failure in one location can cause systemic failure. By that time, Ike was just off the shore of Galveston. We switched our flashlights on and decided to play Uno in the dark. We each won a game, and decide we should just go to bed. Eric went down first and Rachel and I stayed up to make some final preparations. We then went to bed around 10:30 in the master bedroom closet except for me. I wanted to listen to the radio and keep up to date on the formations. So I took the crank-radio Mom and Dad gave us a few years back and went to another bedroom with fewer window surface area, laid down, listened, and waited.

The wind and rain started pelting us around midnight, but wasn't terrible. It reminded me of a few severe thunderstorms in Nebraska while growing up. After catnapping for 45 minutes or so, I woke up around 12:30 to more pounding and started listening to the radio again. After going up and down the stairs a few times to check the rooms/windows and look out at what I could see, I decided to check on everyone in the closet. Rachel and I then got up and repeated my previous walk through the house. We then both went into the other bedroom to listen to the radio, especially because the closet was so hot by now. After hearing the intensity of the storm increase, we both decided it was time to stay in the closet. So we went into the hot closet, and tried to sleep some. I still had the radio on, listening through an earpiece to not disturb Kiersten or Eric. Rachel fell back asleep meanwhile. I couldn't/didn't want to.

Eventually, 4 o'clock came around and I noticed that the storm intensity increased again. By now though, the eye was approaching or already at downtown Houston. Since we live almost due west of downtown, we were at the closest spot to the eye that we would get, which meant it would be the most intense portion of the hurricane for us. I could tell with the increased pounding the windows and walls were taking. I got out of the closet to check on things and noticed our front tree was bent almost at 35 degree angle and the light pole across the street was shaking like mad. By 5 am, Kiersten woke up followed by Eric. We all awoke as a family and just listened to the pounding the house was taking. We could hear something moving around on the roof, which I assumed was the satellite dish being torn off the roof. I went up into the attic to see if there was any leaking, but thankfully couldn't find any.

By 6:30 a.m. most of us had fallen asleep again and didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m. The storm was still going on outside but it wasn't as bad now. By 9 or 10, it had largely subsided with just some rain remaining. We made it through the night without any of our windows breaking. Our tree survived but was at a 40 degree angle from the ground. We found a few shingles in our yard but didn't know where they came from. Our roof looked fine from all angles, though I haven't been able to go on top of the roof to be for sure. Eric and I drove around the neighborhood to see how things looked. Overall, not bad at all. Fences were leaning or knocked down, a few trees broken with most leaning, and only a few roofs with noticeable portions of shingles missing.

To my great surprise, my satellite dish was still attached to the roof, but I discovered what was flapping around and making the noise on the roof. This part of the satellite was found on our lawn.

I am amazed that the wind tore this off, as well as severed four cables, but that the dish remained attached to the roof. Wow.

We spent the day cleaning up the yard some, but mostly speaking with our neighbors, and

sitting in the drive way reading or playing since it was much cooler outside than inside. By 6 pm, we were very blessed to have the power come back on. A miracle considering our provider has 2.3 million customers with 2.1 million without power. They were anticipating up to 3 weeks for some areas to be without power. I thought we would at least have a few days, but it ended up not even being 24 hours. Although, Sunday morning we lost power again, but it came back by 3 pm. We went to church for sacrament meeting. It was good to see some of the members and discover that most were in fine shape. We expected to help out some with clean up though the stakes down nearer the coast were hardest hit.

All in all, we feel very blessed and protected. Lastly, a picture of our Cabbage Patch Doll.