I guess he made it.

If you were astute enough to recognize the change to the blog banner, you will have realized that this is the defining moment where we officially welcome Miles into the Elmer family. After a 3 month trial period where he had to endure all sorts of obstacles to be considered vigorous and strong enough to be considered an Elmer such as the "laundry basket on the head" challenge which he passed with flying colors, or the "roll off the couch" obstacle which he again completed so flawlessly that we have unanimously decided to accept him as a True-Blue Elmer. Needless to say most of his challenges were overseen and carried out by his now two year old older sibling Bennett who also had to endure the same "hazing" process as did Miles and so he felt that he could carry it out without parental approval. So, Miles, because of your bravery in facing such daunting challenges and overcoming them with grace, poise, and sheer determinacy, we have awarded you a spot on the official blog banner. Congratulations and watch out for Bennett, he still thinks that the testing needs to continue.

In other news, last tuesday we decided to drive all night down to Floyd's Knobs, IN for thanksgiving to be with the Porters. However, a few hours before we were supposed to leave, Porter thought it would be a great idea to throw a bungee cord around our indoor fire sprinklers and they promptly went of drenching everything in our living room with gallons of water and fire suppressant. The TV, Couches, Chairs, Books, DVD player and all of Dad's games where soaked not to mention the 3" of water soaking the carpet and draining down to the Management office below us. Amanda grabbed the kids and bolted to tell management who came up and began the clean up process. Luckily most of the books, games, and couches could be dried out, but the managers said that the chemical that comes out with the water isn't great and we'd probably have to throw everything out. So what's a family to do when their apartment is soaked to the bone and their much needed vacation is looming just hours away? We just spread things out in the dry areas of our house and left them to dry while we made the 18 hour drive to Kentuckiana. We had a great Thanksgiving visit with the Porters launching rockets, eating turkey, and watching Brad propose to Jessica.

Since I only have 17 days left of class and deadlines for my projects are looming, Amanda decided to stay with the kids so that I could get my work done without having to feel guilty about coming home late. I guess she didn't realize that she and the kids are my anchor in this crazy world of academia and how much I rely on their presence to keep me sane, but hopefully I can get my work done and stay focused. Well, day two down and 17 more to go. I hope I make it. I love you Amanda.