Some Cool Links

I highly recommend taking 7 minutes to watch the trailer for the upcoming PBS documentary, "The Mormons." You can view it at http://www.pbs.org/mormons/ .

Also, for all the latest news on Mitt Romney, check out mittreport.com.

ramblings on march madness

for as long as i can remember (probably 1993), i have loved march madness and college basketball. i was an avid ACC fan growing up. i attended numerous BYU basketball games my freshman year. i watched march madness in lieu of attending class. things have changed. maybe it's just me, but college basketball isn't as interesting as it used to be. i have two theories, and i would love to hear if anyone else's interest has waned over the last few years.

theory one: the quality of college basketball has declined, due mainly to players' early exit into the NBA (i have never liked the NBA). players no longer develop as much as they used playing four years, so teams have less chemistry and players who are selfishly trying to get their draft stock to increase. when was the last time a group of seniors led their team to the NCAA championship? probably the terps in '02.

theory 2: the game hasn't changed, i have. i watch a lot of soccer lately. i am so desperate to watch it that i have started following the mexican league (thanks to the latino channels we get, i can also watch a big european club game almost every saturday). the flow of soccer is pretty slow at times, and only a few goals are scored. basketball on the other hand is up and down all of the time, and players almost score at will. another thing i can't stand is all the commercials, but any sport but soccer has that problem.

anywho, i still love playing basketball, but things just haven't been the same this year for me and march madness. then again, i am in last place in a pool with my friends.

Spring in Our Step

temps and spirits are high in east georgia. winter (all two weeks of it) has gone and we have been enjoying seemingly perfect weather for the lat few weeks. this means more walks and time outside with Pasha and Rosie, something they are both happy about.

besides class, i am planning some activities at the law school on study abroad programs and careers in international law. i am also playing with some guys on an indoor soccer team.





katie has kept busy with genealogy and organizing the names she has amassed over the last few years. part of the difficulty is due to the fact that many of her ancestors from the 1800's had 12-13 children. yikes. katie has also enjoyed participating in a few book clubs this semester. one is through the church, and the other is with some friends we have at law school. i am humbled on a daily basis with many things katie does, and reading is no exception. i think she has read more in a month than i have read in a lifetime. yikes again.


since the last blog, things besides temperatures have also changed. the biggest news is that i found a great job working for a firm in buckhead. we are really happy about the changes that await in the coming months. we have been busy looking into buying a house and finding other ways to divulge our newly found income. it looks like we will settle down in alpharetta or roswell, but we have yet to find a home we really like.









Rosie is growing like crazy. she has so much energy. she kicks all of the time; grunts, moans, and coos as well. she is still entertained by pasha, and pasha is now resigned to being the jester of the house. rosie is also mad about food. we are experimenting with various vegetables and fruit, and all the things you would think she would like, she doesn.t and vice versa. she loves sweet potatoes, squash, and the like. she has problems with apples and bananas. go figure. katie continues to speak to her in italian, and that makes things really fun (e.g., it took me a while to think of the word for squash as the only word that came to mind was zucca). katie told me of one mom who voiced some concern that her communication skills have gone to pot since she had her baby since all she says is goo goo ga ga. katie has had the exact opposite effect and has improved her communication since Rosie's birth. again, how does such a woman put up with me?

we are looking forward to visiting grandparents in the coming weeks, as well as a trip to DC for Taylor's wedding. School is almost over. Just two months until graduation. yikes #3.

Winter Wonderlandz Part II

After a long drive from Athens, we finally got to Kentucky for some relaxation and holiday festivities. Grandpa Little arrived back from Australia the ext day and Rosie was so happy to see him. We had a great time eating, going for walks, and enjoying the holidays with friends and family (Including Great-Grandparents Mary and Frank, Annette, the Simmons, the Thomases, the Krebs, the Turners...the list goes on and on).








Rosie also enjoyed getting to know her Uncle Tyler, and she was never disturbed during a nap thanks to his new digital drum set. Briant also enjoyed having uncle Tyler around as he was the only one who would play gamecube with him. Remarkably, Rosie had the most presents, much to Briant's dismay.


Pasha also had a wonderful time. Peanut stayed on the farm while Travis and Summer were in Cali, and she followed Pasha around everywhere. They played all the time (unless they were tired in which case they slept together too), whether it was swimming in the pond, tugging the platypus, or whatever, they were together. It was really fun to see P-Nut bring out Pasha's puppy spirit. They had a great time, and we had a great time watching.






Rosie was a little overwhelmed with all the travel (she despises her car seat), but she loved spending time with everyone. She especially loved all the dogs on the farm, and if she plays with Moose (the basset hound), it's a guaranteed laugh. Most of all, she enjoyed seeing the cougars and dawgs win their bowl games.

Winter Wonderlandz

After I finished finals, we flew the coupe to Marietta to chill with Mil and Fil. Also, there were 17 other people at my parent's house, including 9 other grandchildren. In this rare footage, all 10 grandchildren of G&G Mildenhall are found in one single room. Everyone survived, and some even had a good time. We seriously had 20 people in that house. After some quick math, I realized that is 10 people per bathroom. Youza. We did have a great time playing games, all sorts, and eating/making food, and doing some last minute Christmas shopping. It was great to see everyone, and Rosie was happy to meet all her cousins.



We did encounter so cooler weather. Precautions were taken.




After seeing everyone in Marietta, we came back to Athens for a doctor's appointment, and then left for Kentucky the next day. From Kentucky, we also went to Illinois for a few days. We were in the car a lot this winter break. Pasha did well as always, even though he was crowded by my clubs. Rosie, on the other hand, has a lot she could learn from her brother. We made numerous stops to dispose of various wastes, feed, and calm her down. She has made vast improvements, but not without a lot of practice and effort.

Fall Festivities

Apologies for not posting in such a long time. The delay is unpardonable, and we hope it doesn't happen again. School, family, and church have kept us busy the last while, a trend that is likely to repeat itself over the next decades. These pictures are from a post I didn't finish before Thanksgiving.

Rosie and Pasha keep us thoroughly entertained. We are happy to report that they get along very well (maybe because they don't have to share any toys?). In fact, if we are ever in a jam and need to cheer Rosie up, we play a game with Pasha that gets her giggling every time (yes, she giggles now). Here are the highlights from some of the more entertaining moments of the past few months.



Halloween was a blast. We had a lot of trick-or-treaters, and Rosie and Pasha were no exception. Pasha looks sad to be a pumpkin, but he was just jealous that Rosie looked so cute (thanks to Ben and Jill for the outfit).



















Rosie is stylin, and she won't get cataracts either. Weather here has been unseasonably warm, so we have enjoyed playing in the backyard and daily walks. Rosie comes along too, either in the stroller or baby carrier. We are still trying to figure out what she likes better.




















Rosie tries to help dad with school, but to no avail. Last semester was a challenge. Home was so much more fun than school. How could one resist such cuteness? Only one more semester though.































In short, life is a lot more fun with Rosie.

Life with a new sister

Well, these last two weeks have been rather exhausting in this puppy's world. Mom and Dad were gone a whole lot, but luckily Grandma and Grandpa Little were here to entertain me. When Mom and Dad came back they had a surprise for me: it was a new sister.

She isn't as fury as I was when I was a puppy, but she whines and eats just as much. There are good things about having a sister like going on walks together. Her skin also tastes really good when I lick her. We can all fit in mom and dad's bed, so all in all it isn't too bad having a new sister.