Thanks

At this website you can send a free printed postcard to a soldier stationed overseas to show your appreciation for their service.

These kinds of stories are amazing

This guy lifted a 3-ton excavator off of a 14 year-old boy and held it for 20 minutes, saving the boy's life.

Update: Here's another one, this time involving a Camaro.

Bummer

No BYU Jerusalem Center this year after all.

Sheesh.

I hope these people don't vote.

More here.

Better than TV

Watching the baby kick.

Don't wook at me!

Ice cream juice

Good to the last drop.

Hey Californians

The tables have turned! Mwa ha ha ha! It was a beatiful day in Indiana today--not too hot, not too cold, just nice. (This was the view out our back door this afternoon.)

Brilliant

This guy in Tennessee changed his middle name from "Leroy" to "None of the Above," and now he's running for governor and senator.

Next, a triple lindy with a twist

Yesterday when we were at the pool Ethan decided he was going to do a flip. Now, he doesn't know how to swim unassisted, let alone do a flip, so when he told us his plan, Ginger and I gave each other a look that said "this should be interesting."

We watched him climb out of the pool, wet and be-goggled. He waddled over to the side, took a big breath, and threw himself into the air. He jumped really far, but unfortunately never completed a revolution.

He looked like what a saw would look like if you bent it then threw it in the air. He left the ground bent at the waist, with his arms glued to his sides. He wobbled at the waist until he reached the top of his arc, where he straightened, made a slight twist and landed face first with a very loud flop. He was not hurt, but I don't think he was eager to repeat the performance.

We were all very impressed with his bravery, if not his technique.

Quote of the day

Emma walked into the office this afternoon and announced:

"When I'm not a princess I'm a boy named Ethan."

She looked like she had been thinking about that for a while. Then, as quickly as she had entered, she turned around and walked out, leaving me very confused.

I love my wife

This morning when I was spreading fertilizer on the lawn, I discovered a dead patch of grass in the back near the fence. I lifted up the grass and discovered a squirming mass of pink rodent babies. Gross. I'm not sure if they were mice or gophers or something else. But I am sure they were gross. The parent animals have been digging holes in our yard, so these little babies could not stay. I removed the patch of grass, poured in some fertilizer (poison?) for extra measure, and left the things for the birds to eat.

When I went back into the house I told Ginger. She called her mom to ask her what we should do, and Carla said we should chop off their little pink heads because if we're going to get rid of them, killing them in an instant is the most humane thing to do.

Yuck! Being a responsible husband and provider, I offered to pick them up with a shovel and hurl them as far as humanly possible into the field behind our yard (although when I imagined myself doing it, it was with eyes closed and breath held--yes, I'm a wuss).

Ginger left the room for a couple of minutes. When she returned she said "I did it."

"Did what? Chopped off their heads?"

"Yes."

Like that. She went out into the yard and sent those little animals to heaven with the business end of our family shovel. Because it was the most humane way. Then she put the remains in a trash bag and threw them away.

It made her sad in a motherly kind of way, especially when the little things started squeaking, she said. But she did it. I couldn't have.

So if you find any rodents around your house and need help, now you know whom to call.

Our family in 40 years

Disneyland's Innovention exhibit has a camera that will age you forty years. Emma was asleep in the stroller, so she missed out on the action, but apparently the rest of us will look very grumpy in 40 years:

Our brave little girl

During our trip Emma willingly handled snakes, parrots and fireworks. Maybe she and Audrey are related after all?

Body pillow

More cute cousins

Disneyland

We also went to Disneyland during our trip, where Emma met one of her heroes, Andrew rode on Space Mountain, and Ethan decided his favorite ride is Alice in Wonderland (although he's not sure why).

Remarkably, the kids lasted until 9:30PM, which is a record (by a long shot), and we got to see the fireworks. In the old days, Andrew and Ethan used to fall asleep at Disneyland at three in the afternoon, and they wouldn't wake up until the next morning.

Ariel told Emma she looks like Cinderella. We will be talking about that for a long time around here.

The aftermath:

More cousins!

We had fun with the Riggses and Phans:

Fun with cousins

We saw lots of cousins on our trip...almost all of them! Here are some photos with the Parker and Court cousins:

Sundance

We just got back from two weeks in California and Utah. A fun trip, with lots of memories. Our first stop was Sundance, where the scenery is beautiful:

Date engine

The number one hit in the UK the week I was born was Kung Fu Fighting. If you're younger than 60, you can see what was popular when you were born at this site.

A paperclip and a house

Remember that guy who started with a red paperclip, and wanted to trade up for different items until he received a house? Well, he did it.

Sandstorm

Amazing video of a sandstorm in Iraq.