ECSTATIC

This is the cake that Keri made.


This is the cake that Keri made
to surprise Evan.

This is the cake that Keri made
to surprise Evan,
along with his acceptance letter.


This is the cake that Keri made
to surprise Evan,
along with his acceptance letter
to Brigham Young University Idaho.


This is the cake that Keri made
to surprise Evan,
along with his acceptance letter
to Brigham Young University Idaho,
which letter just so happened to make Michael cry when he read it out loud.


This is the cake that Keri made
to surprise Evan,
along with his acceptance letter
to Brigham Young University Idaho,
which letter just so happened to make Michael cry when he read it out loud,
and, for the time being, is making all of Evan's dreams come true.

Congratulations, Evan!
May all your dreams be equally lovely.

P.S.


This is the cake that Keri made
a week ago
that still hasn't been touched by Evan
or anyone else in the family.

Can you say,
"Keri, we just might be a little bit afraid of any cake you made!"

UN-AMERICAN

Just imagine this in navy blue.
It really is super, super cute!

Once upon a time there was a coat that I really, really, super badly wanted to buy.

But it was very expensive.

Then, one day it went on sale.

Still, I decided to wait.

In fact, I did the very un-American thing, and waited until my paycheck came and I actually had the funds for my purchase.

Meanwhile, other Americans went shopping.

And now, my coat is gone. Sold out. No longer available.


Lesson learned: buy on credit. The American way.

IN LOVE

With this guy:

And, with these pictures from the past year:

Some good lovin'.


More good lovin'.


Another (yet far less flattering) possible Christmas card photo.


The boys seeing rice that wasn't burned in the bottom of a pan.
It obviously wasn't my cooking.
Michael has since bought me a rice cooker. With good reason.


My dad.
If only there was Red Mesa dirt under those tires...


My mom.
I love the laid back look on her.
I love her.


The little guy who still likes to hang out with me.



The big guy who still likes me, too.


The family picture in Island Park, Idaho.
Notice the stairs--I mean, what stairs?!
They broke out from under us, mid-picture.


Live long and prosper, Little Red Riding Hood.


A painting done of Michiko by her mother.
Madame M. really is this beautiful. More, actually.


My big boy, who still plays with his hair.


A message from a repentant child;
so worth whatever he did wrong in the first place!


And all of it, worth this.

Happy (Post) Valentine's Day!

HAPPY

I'm at a great age!



Too bad my honey isn't.
Happy Birthday anyway, Honey!

HAVING FUN ON A FRIDAY NIGHT

What did you do for fun on Friday night?

Did you go with your sister to see your brother's dance performance?

Then your brother (and his lovely fiancee) must be on the Folk Dance team, too! So why didn't I see you at the show?

It was an awesome show, especially Colin in Mehkerek, and Amy in everything.

Also, Hopak was back in, so I was back happy!

Sadly, photography wasn't allowed during the show, so you'll just have to take my word on how great the show was. I am such a rule follower. Besides, I take terrible pictures, even in the best of circumstances, so imagine how bad my photography would be under the pressure of being naughty, too!

I did, however, manage to get a few shots of the cool-down, stretching bit that the team put on:

Wow. These guys are fancy-dancy dancers now: a team trainer, and fake hair pieces to boot (or, should I say, to clog shoe...?)!

WISE

Why boring is better:

Excitement can sometimes mean backing up into someone else's car.

Oops.

HAVING FUN ON A FRIDAY NIGHT

What do you do for fun on a Friday night?

Is it your 4th grade son's Science Fair Project?
(Then your project must have been due on Monday, too!)

Joshua wanted to find out which brand of paper towels is the strongest (when comparing Albertson's store brand, Bounty, Brawny, and Viva paper towels).
He placed penny rolls on paper towel strips, and counted the number of rolls each held until they "Let 'er rip!"

First he did a dry run.

Then wet.

What can I say? The boy is brilliant.

Friday night homework is awesome.

And Viva, by the way, is strongest.

RANDOMLY PICTURESQUE. . .AGAIN

More pictures of our /(hopefully) for your enjoyment:

Fish heads, fish heads. . .

Roly-poly fish heads. . .


Fish heads, fish heads. . .


Eat them up,

YUM!!

These were pictures taken on our excursion to Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan. This is where the restauranteers, shop owners, hotels, etc. come to purchase their fish for the day.

Michael was fascinated. I was flabbergasted--I didn't even know so many types of fish existed, let alone were "edible."

My favorite part, though, was the sign we read as we left the market:

Occasional injuries, it seems, are quite acceptable!

RANDOMLY PICTURESQUE. . .

Today's picture comes to us from Island Park, Idaho, summer 2008. More specifically, this picture was taken at Yellowstone National Park last August. We were visiting the park with the entire Vance-clan, and made other (perhaps the less fashion-conscious?) family members laugh when we, the Michael Vance family, all hopped out of the car dressed in plaid shorts. Five-plaid-people was not planned, but it sure made for a pretty picture!
Now that I think of it, this should have been our family picture for those 2008 Christmas cards I never sent out. . .Happy Holidays!

II BORING

Today was much the same as yesterday.

Substitute chiropractor for the orthodontist, and fried potatoes for the chicken, and you pretty much have my day.

What you don't have is this picture (I've decided to post a random pictures until my life gets more exciting):

This was taken after our 2008 Easter Egg hunt.

Every year (5 years running now) we get together with our friends and have an Easter Egg hunt. You can see that our kids are much older than theirs, so the dads make sure to level the "hunting" field. It is very, very entertaining. Very, very not boring. I can hardly wait for April now!

And in closing...today's wittiness (care of Lane): What do you call a lady with one leg shorter than the other?
Eileen.

Ha! Like you've never heard that one before!