Where's

Azalya Dahl's picture

A picture of a 9-month-old Decorah girl has been selected by readers of the Des Moines Register as being "The Cutest Kid in Iowa."

Azalya Dahl is the daughter of Chris Dahl and Vada Bebber of Decorah.  Chris is a chef at Rubaiyat Restaurant, while Vada sells Pampered Chef items.  So it was natural that Azalya's picture was taken with her in a chef hat and in a metallic pot.

Vada entered the picture in the newspaper's on-line contest, which ran for eight days.  "My family was going nuts (during the contest)," says Chris.  He says Azalya's picture wound up getting 1,600 votes--far ahead of the second place picture.

As the winners of the contest, Chris, Vada and Azalya have received a $100 gift certificate to Valley West Mall.  They will also get Azalya's picture published in an upcoming magazine insert in the Des Moines Register.  Chris says the newspaper has told them the insert will be published the end of April or the beginning of May.

The Rubaiyat Restaurant website has a link to the picture of Azalya and to the comments made by the public in the voting for the "Cutest Baby Contest."