Forget Wheaties, It's All About Rice Cereal

Michael is a big fan :)

My personal favorite (it might just be because of the 1/2 smile and the bib is pretty cute, too)
Some bonding time with DaddyBeautiful :)

To My Dad (Inventor of the World's Best Stuffed Hamburgers...Ever)

Still no long distance… Those of you who would like to avoid all things sappy, please feel free to look at a different post :)

Dad, you are such a good man. You taught me so many good things and I am really indebted to you. You give really great advice. You understand a lot, and I appreciate being able to learn from you. Thank you, Dad, for treating Mom in such a respectful way! I don’t know if you ever realized just how much you were being watched, but I did. You influenced me in such a way that I wanted that same respect from whoever I would end up marrying. Thank you for having so much patience with me. Thank you for seeing the best in your kids and for being such a great Dad! I really loved those Fridays or Mondays you had off when Mike and I were going to school. Besides getting a ride home and the possibility of going to 7-11, it was so much fun being able to spend time with you! I appreciate your sense of humor, your ability to get along with anyone and everyone (including every possible manager of such named 7-11), and your views on politics. You and Mom could disagree entirely in perspectives, but you both treated each other with love and respect. Thank you for being such a great example in how to have a successful marriage and for ingraining so strongly in my mind, by your example, of just how important family is. I appreciate being able to call you (at least I did when I had long distance) and ask for help with car repair, what to do when Rand’s head is bleeding :), and for help when I am sick. You’re the best Dad in the whole world, and to prevent myself from crying, because of remembering airport goodbyes and "Butterfly Kisses" at my wedding, I’ll sign off at this point :) I love you Dad and I admire you. Have a Happy Father’s Day and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Elise has discovered she has a little brother...

This is a three-in-one post, so be sure to check them all

...who she can "play" with - I should clarify, this is her hat :)

Did we move to Mayberry?

We drove to Rigby this weekend for Stampede Days - an apparently non-holiday-celebrating type parade that attracts a lot of people. I can understand why (it was pretty exciting), but they have this Biscuit Bingo drawing, where you pay $10 to cover a particular square of the sidewalk and if a horse drops a "biscuit" on your square, then you can win a lawn mower or big screen tv - yep, we live in the country :) Anyway, it was fun -
his hat doesn't fit him just yet -

Fell asleep within the first five minutes of the parade (maybe we should get a hold of some blaring sirens next time we're having a hard time putting him down for the night...)

this was massive and loud -

for a funeral home -

shook the ground as they walked - but they were amazing (and huge!)!

very old tractor - hilarious!

Broulims - yes, that is a giant, driving shopping cart

Publishing Company Pursues Rand!

No joke! Rand submitted a short story for publication due to an assignment last semester. Today, UPS knocked on our door with a contract from Tate Publishing.

This was Rand's reaction

We were slightly skeptical...

The "sealed" contract (which I'm sure we need to respond to in 24hrs or less)

Here's the very personal letter

They read "Amable" (his submitted piece) and told him they "loved the story" and included their "private line," along with a slight disclaimer that we need to pay close to $4,000 (of course refundable, that is if he sells 5,000 copies). However, worried parents of ours, they will invest $20,000 in it! Best of all, we were promised an amazing 15% of all sales - Wow! What a deal!! (Tio, you should really consider establishing a publishing firm) So, unfortunately, Rand's amazing work will remain unpublished, but it was pretty exciting to find that it was publishable (if that's a word?).

Elise's Reaction (filmed several weeks ago, it just fits - I think at some point she says "Eat dirt"?)

Elise burned her hand on the frying pan this morning and was understandably upset (she's fine, there's no mark, don't worry - hmm, that sounds bad). Later on today, we were making BLT's (so good!) and when we were all done, she said, "Bye, hot! Bye!" Yes, she thinks the frying pan is called "hot." We found a wild rabbit outside (in actuality, it was someone's very large pet rabbit) and Elise was so excited! She kept saying "Bunny eat carrot" and now, longingly looks out the window to discover her little friend with the "ears."

Oh, and I'm extremely slow with posting - we're doing better now, just reporting old news :)

Move Over Disneyland, Rexburg is the Happiest Place on Earth

I don't know what it is about spring, but it seems like my kids (and Rand) have been more sick now than they ever were during the winter - so there's been an onslaught of green goo, sticky faces and fingers (come on Rand, that's gross!), and slobber (Elise is teething - where, I'm not sure, but I figure she has to be since I caught her biting down on our marble nightstand the other day). Cute as they are, it can be quite the mess :) Midterms have arrived and I have become a zombie trying to figure out who in the world Murad II is - really? this is important to my learning the fundamentals of history? Rexburg happens to be the most amazing place in the world - it stays light out until 10pm (crazy!) and I don't think I've ever seen so much green in my life! There's a ton of stuff to do here (for little kids, finally!), so we've been having a lot of fun. Elise is slightly obsessed with the "horsies" - they have an entirely old merry-go-round (complete with very loud cymbals and jukebox thing - I don't know what it is, but boy is the music catchy...) and we cannot go to Porter Park without riding it. Unfortunately, they charge $1 per ride for this entirely old merry-go-round, which means my personal money is slowly dwindling... At least it's going to a good cause, Elise is precious on them. It's the most exciting thing in the world to her and she's full of all sorts of comments - for the first two minutes (it has to be a 5min ride, so they can feel justified in demanding a dollar for it), she's happy as can be. At the end of these two minutes, she starts hysterically crying. When the ride finally ends, she looks up at me and says, "Again? Horsies, again?" I just don't understand... Michael has taken up growling and is absolutely hilarious (I'm determined to catch him on video, but he gets too involved in trying to eat the camera than performing).