Wow, you are sooo lucky!!!  I really want one, but I probably won't be getting one anytime soon...  Anyway, I know that Kimmie has one and she takes really amazing pictures with it, so she'll be able to share great tips with you about it, I'm sure.  Enjoy your Rebel!  (And know that I'm jealous... ;))

Top, top, top!!

AWESOME!!! Have you taken any pics with it? Sorry, I have no tips. I've never worked a high end camera before; I'm just here to celebrate. *dishes out chocolate chip cookies to all*

AWESOME! I got a Canon, too but I don't know if it's the same... It's pink... That's all I can really say! Oh and it's low on battery! :)

I would love to get a Nikon Coolpix L120 for an upcoming trip. It's not ridiculously expensive, but it still looks like a good camera. I have to run it by my uncle first (a photographer).

Congratulations! That is so awesome! I have the Rebel XS and I LOVE it. It is the best camera ever! 

 Tips or pointers? I would say if you wanted to learn the controls of the camera and what button makes what happen, look into buying the Canon Rebel XS (or your rebel edition) for Dummies. It is pretty good at explaining the buttons & controls and is more exciting than the manual. :) Other then that, I have one major tip. Don't use the flash unless absolutely necessary (or at family stuff where the lighting isn't always great, but you want to capture the memories)! It is super bright and washes out the subject a lot of the time. Instead, look for natural light. I keep my camera on the no flash setting most of the time. I'm still learning how to shoot in manual, so for now that's where it's at. :) 

We have a Canon *goes and checks* S5 15. I think. The font's hard to read.

Anyway, I think on most Canon cameras, there's a little circular dial-thing where you can change settings. Like Auto, Foliage, Indoor, Flash, Video/Movie/Whatever it's called, and so on. Foliage brings out colour really well and is good for outdoor shots. It's also good for indoor shots but sometimes makes things look bright. I think.

It is official. I am getting the Nikon Coolpix. My uncle has approved. Btw, Robyn, is the Rebel yours or your parents camera? (or both) And is it the XS? (sorry if someone has already asked this)

Oh my gosh! You are sooooooooooo lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love taking pics, but my lil' bro, and sis's camera's are better than mine.

Those are expensive cameras!! We really can't afford them. But i would love on!

Read the instruction manual!  No matter how terrible of an idea that might seem, just do it anyway.  I didn't read my manual until, like, five or six months after I got my camera, and I really didn't know how to use it until then.  

I always use the TV setting, because I think it's the easiest to control without having the camera on auto.  

(I'm in a photoragraphy mood right now, so I'm just going to babble on about cameras; if you know this stuff already, just ignore me) The numbers that are fractions (like 1/60, 1/8, 1/250, etc.) are the shutter speed (so how long the camera's lens is actually viewing the subject.  The larger the fraction (like, 1/4 or something), the longer the shutter speed, and the blurrier the picture; it's nice if you have a tripod or something though, because it lets in a ton of light.  I usually keep my camera at 1/60 because it lets in adequate light, but usually isn't blurry; you just have to hold the camera as steadily as possible.  If you're outside and it's sunny out, you'll need the shutter speed to be really quick so the picture's not washed out by the light (so, like anything higher than 1/100. You'll have to play around with it, because it depends on the weather really).

The setting that says something like F5.0, F11, etc. is the F-stop or the aperture.  I really can't explain what it is, because I don't understand.  The dictionary says it's "an opening, usually circular, that limits the quantity of light that can enter an optical instrument."  But, considering I have no idea how to use it, I always use the TV setting, because it automatically does the aperture for me. :)

The third most important setting is the ISO, which is also for lighting (...everything's for lighting, it seems).  I'm not really sure how the ISO works, but it's not similar to the shutter speed or aperture, because those both change the function of the camera to allow more/less light, while the ISO seems to add fake lighting or something.  I'm not really sure, and please don't repeat what I said, because I really have no idea.  All I know is that the lower the ISO (like, 100), the darker the picture, but the better the quality.  The higher the ISO (such as, 1600), the brighter the picture, but the lower the quality.  High ISO settings make the pictures really grainy or "noisy".  For a couple months, I didn't know that, so I kept my camera set at 1600 because it made my pictures bright (1600 is my camera's highest setting, but I think new Rebels can go higher than that), but then I realized all of my pictures were wicked grainy, which really bothers me now, because, other than that, they're really good pictures.  I keep my ISO at 100/200ish for outdoors, and 400 for indoors now (occasionally higher when the lighting's really bad in the room).  ISO's usually referred to as the film speed on film cameras, if you have one.

And, uhh, those are the most important things to know.  Especially the ISO and shutter speed.  If you get those settings right, you'll never need to use flash (which is annoying, makes people blink, usually drowns out pictures, and tends to spaz out if you use autofocus).  Though I'd recommend using manual focus as much as possible, though, because it's a good thing to know how to do (and besides, autofocus doesn't always work that well).  I keep my white balance setting at auto, simply because I always forget about it and it ruins my pictures.  If you want to take B&W photos, go to the Picture Style settings page and choose monochrome.  

If you have any questions, ask me!  ...because I obviously enjoy talking about this.