Emily’s contract with Melissa

Take a look at this little gem we found.

It’s a contract Emily created for Melissa, basically allowing Melissa to be Emily’s slave.

It reads:

“I agree that I who is to sign this paper shall have to be Emily’s secretary until she is to fire me, and once I sign, there shall be no going back and I who signs will do my best to follow Emily’s rules. And I know that I am to wash my hands after every three people.

Owner: Emily Eborn

Signature: _____________

I can’t imagine why the bottom line remained unsigned. It sounds like such a great job.

Page two of the contract is also a great read:

Melissa Abigail Eborn has been released of being my secretary but in two days she shall once again be that worker. There shall be allowance for her to help chose Emily’s clothes, have fun – not teasing Emily  – with her. She shall also be allowed to play with four of her small toys until then.

Owner: Emily Eborn

Person/Melissa: _______________

Again, I can’t imagine why Melissa was hesitant to sign it.

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A big boy now

“Dad, I’m going to school now. I don’t need you to wait for me, so get the heck out of here and stop taking my picture!”

Sam went to his first day of first grade today. That means he’s not a little kid anymore.

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Bang That Finger

If you’ve ever spent more than a couple of hours with my kids, you’ll surely know their little minds are not so little and they are always creating, building, scheming or imagining the next adventure.

Yesterday, while I was busy working, they found an empty produce box we used to bring back groceries from Costco, found some fuzzy pipe cleaners and a pen — then they got to work and created a fun carnival game.

The pipe cleaner was twisted and turned to look like a hammer, the pen was used to label the box and the next thing you know that were busy playing “Bang That Fingr.”

Then they grabbed some sidewalk chalk — that stuff really is the best summertime invention ever! — and ground it into powder, added some water and started painting various parts of the backyard.

Thankfully it’s completely washable.

Sometimes the messes they make are actually breaking things. Usually it’s just something we have to eventually clean up.

Always, though, it’s a snapshot into the way their minds work.

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Return of the Kinseymander

She’s back. And awesome.

I’ll post a few pictures, then when she is awake we’ll let Kinsey type in a long entry detailing her trip to Brazil.

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Sunday picnic in the canyon

Shana and I decided to spend one of our rare Sunday’s together as a family up the canyon having a picnic and doing a little hiking.

It was a fun little trip for everyone. We found a nice spot up City Creek Canyon in Salt Lake. It’s just up the hill from downtown past the Utah State Capitol and pretty secluded.

We packed some PBJs, string cheese, carrots sticks and sugar snap peas.

After eating, we drove up to the top of the canyon and did a little hiking. And by a little hiking, I mean we went up the trail maybe a half mile at the most. The kids like it, but they got kind of tired and the thrill was gone pretty quickly.

We did manage to find a pretty cool bridge over the stream and that was a good turn-around point for the kids.

We saw a deer, several squirrels and all sorts of bugs.

The canyon is actually one of my favorite places to ride a bike. On odd-numbered days the canyon is closed to cars, so a bike nerd like me can climb the canyon and then descend it without worrying about meeting an unexpected car around one of the narrow turns.

From the gate at the bottom to the top is 5.6 miles and about 1,300 feet up. Even better, it’s 5.6 miles and about 1,300 feet down going the other direction.

The canyon is quiet, peaceful and pretty much a hiker/runner/cyclist paradise. No camping, just several picnic sites and a limited-traffic road and it all starts less than a mile from downtown.

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She’s still not dead

Kinsey had access to a phone and a computer last night.

So you know what the first thing she did was? That’s right, she got onto Facebook and updated her status and became ‘friends’ with a few new people that she has met during her trip.

Here’s the message she left for all of her friends to see:

Hello America!! It’s Brazil day 12(?) here and I have computer access!!!
1. I love the beach.
2. I love the people.
3. I love the FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Is anyone missing me at all? I’ve missed all of my favorite people.. I can’t tell you how many times I think of you during the day and how much I talk about you all… (seriously. everyone here is sick of me and my stories.. lol)
5. I’m loving life 🙂

Then she called us and through the really terrible connection we learned she has either 1: Found a handsome young Brazilian boy and eloped, 2: Contracted a serious disease that causes her to have violent farts or 3: she’s having a great time and loves doing what she’s doing.

Seriously, the phone connection was really, really bad.

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Fish heads, fish heads

Melissa has been begging me to take her fishing down at the pond near our house.

I, being the rugged outdoorsy type, came up with plenty of excuses not to go fishing. Until today.

We made a trip to Walmart, picked up a couple of inexpensive fishing poles and some lures and headed off to the pond.

Where we wet a couple of lines, fed some tiny little fishies some bits and pieces of worm and decided it was really hot. So we went and got ice cream.

Funny story about our fishing adventure: Another family was there on the dock fishing at the same time and they were packing up and leaving. They left their worms for us to use and we were glad.

The troutastic scented marshmallows we were trying to use didn’t make the fish even a little tempted.

The worms, on the other hand, sent the hordes of 4-inch long fish into a feeding frenzy.

The best part? Melissa and Sam had absolutely no problems putting the worms on the hooks. They stabbed them over and over to make sure they didn’t fall off.

The only problem is the fish didn’t really do much more than take lots and lots of nibbles. I don’t think they were big enough to actually bite the hooks we were using — which is just fine by me.

So, while we didn’t catch any fish, we caught a few rays and a few memories.

Now, if anyone wants to take my kids fishing, we have two poles and a  stocked fishing pond just a half mile away from the house.

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Charming Children

Emily (to Jared):  “You are an older person.  Kinsey is middle-aged, not you.”

Sam: “Umm, dad?  Can you change my name to ‘Muscle Man’?”

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Kinsey is not dead

Just an update for those concerned. We now know that Kinsey is not dead. According to her Facebook page she checked in and became ‘friends’ with two people sometime this morning. One was from Rio de Janerio  and the other is a kid from Las Vegas also on her service trip.

She didn’t post any pictures or news about what’s going on, though.

We did get an e-mail from the trip leader, though.

I thought of droping a note

we are having too much fun with your kids. they are amazing, full of energy and of a great heart.  I have learned a lot with them.

they work really hard at the worksite and at the church activities.  I have never had a group that were so involved as a group.  they all get a long great and are having a blast. they will load you with great stories when they get back home.  we have a very crazy busy day everyday, but at night when it is time for the evenning activity they are all charged up and ready to go, no complains… don’t forget to ask you kids what is the ‘worksite dance’ 🙂 . I am very greatfull and pround of been a leader of such a great group, your kids are precious I am sure you know it, thanks for letting me have this experience with them.

ate mais

She called us Sunday just before we left for church and shared a few stories. She loves the beans and rice, has pigged out on various meats at the rodizio buffets and he been heavily involved in getting filthy dirty every day while slopping mud and cement on the worksite where she is helping lay bricks and tile. They have moved from the originally planned project to rebuilding homes of some church members that were destroyed in a recent mudslide.

They went to church on Sunday and the young women’s class went from three girls to more than a dozen – most of which couldn’t understand a word the teacher said. Good thing they have a translator with them.

So there you have it, our girl is working hard and making lots of memories and new friends.

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