Little League Baseball practice started yesterday. Collin was drafted to the Red Sox... which he is totally stoked about, 'cause they're his favorite team.



...and the Bean wanted to play too!!

..ziploc..

What do you think of when you hear the words "South Carolina"? What about the word "ziploc"? Well after this little story you may think of something completely off the wall when you hear any of those words...
On Tuesday, April 1st, Collin and Sara's Grandparents took a trip out east. The company Grandpa works for took them to South Carolina for an annual business trip. I've been back east and its quite an experience; heat, humidity, lots of greenery, and nice beaches. Grandma took to collecting sea shells to bring home to the kids and even talked Grandpa into hiking down a rocky ledge to pick up one very special shell. Friday rolled around and Grandma 'n Grandpa came home to some very excited grand-kids.
"Wait 'til you guys see what I brought you!!" Grandma says, as she hands the kids a Ziploc bag filled with sea shells.
"Cool", they exclaim.
"'Bout killed myself tryin ta' get ya that one" says Grandpa pointing to the special spirally one.
The kids dumped out all the shells and counted them, sorted them, and played with them. When they were done they were good kids and put them all back into the Ziploc bag, but left them sitting on the living room floor.
The next morning Jodi and I were sitting around relaxing and watching some TV. When all of the sudden Jodi turns towards me and says, "Brandon! Did you see that?"
"What?" I ask.
"The bag..." she points to the Ziploc bag still sitting on the floor, "it moved!"
"What?"
"I swear it moved!"
"nah... the shells were probly just settling in there", I say, brushing her off like nothing.
The day goes on and that afternoon I sit down at my computer to do some freelance work (the computer is in the living room as well). Collin is layin' on the floor playing Madden 08 on his PSP. Every so often Collin hops up to show me a great replay on his game. "Dad, Dad, you gotta see this blah blah just ran 80 yards for touchdown" or " Yes! Check out this awesome catch" etc., etc. Then all of the sudden after a few minutes of gameplay i hear a small rustle from a plastic bag on the floor right next to Collin's head. Oh yes, Collin heard it too... Actually, he saw it move! He pops up off the floor faster then a startled grasshopper in the Arizona desert and he's white as a ghost, "I just... I just... there was.. I saw, I saw... something moved in the bag ... and it was black".
My eyes wide and my heart racing a little I bend over to pick up the bag. Looking it over thoroughly, I see nothing suspicious. Nothing at all. I take the bag upstairs and bring everyone around the kitchen counter to help inspect.
"I told you I saw the bag move! I told you!" Jodi shouts.
And Grandma says, "Oh there's nothing in here", as she picks up the bag and walks into the bathroom, where she proceeds to empty it into the sink. She pushes all the shells around and finds nothing. "The only shell in here that could hide anything would be this spirally one right here" She holds up the shell that Grandpa took a hike to retrieve. She flips on the hot water and waits for it to get hot. Once the water is scorching, she puts the shell under the hot water and waits. A few minutes go by... and... then complete panic and commotion come screaming out of the bathroom!
"What? Sara, what?" I ask the terrified child.
"There's something in the shell" she screeches through frightened tears. And I pick her up and hold her while she calms down...

So what was in the shell you ask? Well I'm sure many of you can guess... but this will make it much more fun. If you'd like to see a photo of what was in the shell... CLICK HERE to see what the kids have aptly named "Ziploc" from South Carolina.

I know there's a few of you that will totally dig this... My nephew, Jacob, has a birthday on April 4th and I wanted to paint a groovy painting for him... He plays PeeWee football for the Bingham Miners and he's quite good... So what better gift than a painting of him playin some ball... Here's a couple of shot of the painting process... Enjoy!


Honestly... could you get any cuter than this ...