Christmas 2013 Was Pretty Epic

I knew it was time to time travel again, but I was having trouble remembering where to set the coordinates.  I think we are close to being done.  We really ought to be careful with this time travel thing.  Too much could really mess us up.
Want to see my Christmas pictures now that it's almost Easter and nobody really cares any more?  Awesome.  Here you go! :D

 Santa came!

 Kaleb got a Lego set.

 Zachary got a bigger sleeping bag for his camp outs.

 Despicable Me 2!

 ParaNorman!

 Epic!

 Kaleb got the game he wanted.

 Zach got the game he wanted.

 Kurtis got the new video card he'd been dreaming of.

 Riley got the game he wanted.

 And this really cool item.

 My kids always love cold, hard cash.

 Zach got the cute wolf snow hat he wanted (but that he won't wear to school because he might get made fun of).

 Zach got a new shirt.

 Kaleb got a new shirt and I made him that hat.  It's Naruto's sleeping cap.

 Riley got the raccoon hat.

 And a new shirt.

 All three of them gave each other these pillow things.

 Riley got some speakers for his mp3 player.

And the best was saved for last!

Our XBox broke way back in like July or who really remembers, so Santa brought us a new one.  No, it's not XBox One.  Kurtis said there weren't enough games for it out yet, and he didn't want to get it yet.

We had a pretty good Christmas this year.  A little more extravagant than usual, but that's alright.  Once again, nobody took any pictures of me, but there is video somewhere (maybe).  Kurtis got me a Kindle Fire HDX which was a complete surprise and I was super excited about.  I love it.  Honestly, I still prefer real books, but it's so nice for watching movies and I love not taking my bulky scriptures to church.

Measuring the Marigolds

This week we have a special guest joining us in our Sacrament Meeting Art series.  He's joined us before, but would like to share his art with you again this week.  So here are this week's Sacrament Meeting Art.

Sacrament Meeting Art #14:  March 23, 2014.

I turned to Kaleb today and asked what I should draw today.  He thought about it for a bit and then said, "A caterpillar."  Which immediately made me think of the Inchworm song.  Which is my baby nephew's favorite song that his mom sings to him.  So this picture is dedicated to my little Gus Gus.  When his mom posts pictures and videos of him on facebook, it is the highlight of our family's day.

I know that's a wooly caterpillar and not an inchworm by the way.  I just wanted to draw the wooly one today.

Sacrament Meeting Art #15:  March 23, 2014

This one is done by none other than Kaleb.  He said, "This is a dragon.  And that is the last leaf in the forest.  The dragon has never seen a leaf before."

And here's the song.  Because everybody needs to hear it now and then. :)

Behold Your Little Ones

Sorry I didn't post this one yesterday, but I was exhausted and didn't take the picture of it until after the sun had gone down and then I didn't like the lighting, so I decided to just wait until today and take a new picture.  Turns out, getting up was rather difficult today, too.  Funny how not getting enough sleep Saturday night can transfer into not getting enough sleep come Monday morning.  Such is life and that is a story for another day.
Here it is though, my Sacrament Meeting Art #13.

Sacrament Meeting Art #13: March 16, 2014.

Sacrament Meeting Art #13:  March 16, 2014.  Behold Your Little Ones.  I know it doesn't look like it, but all of the children are smiling and the parents standing behind Jesus, are looking on in awe.  Not horror.  Dang it.  Crayons can be really hard to work with some times.

This story can be found in The Book of Mormon.  After Jesus was resurrected, he stayed with his disciples for forty days and taught his disciples more.  Then he left them and ascended into heaven (Acts 1).

In The Book of Mormon, Jesus visits the Nephites to teach them and establish his church on the American continent.  While He was there, He taught the people His gospel.  He healed their sick and ailing.  He performed many miracles and the people did not want Him to leave.  In Chapter 17, Jesus asks the people to bring their children to Him.  He blesses them and then he says, "Behold, your little ones."  And they were surrounded by fire and inside the circle of fire, angels were administering to them.  This is also one of my favorite stories in The Book of Mormon. 

In Which Waffles and Weddings Are Wonderful

My cousin got married a little bit ago.  February 21st to be exact.  I took some pictures at their reception that I'd like to show you.  Well, I'm finally getting around to it any way.
I'm really excited for my cousin.  His new bride's name is Jessica and I love her so much (even though I still don't know her that well yet).  She is a very kind and gentle person who has made him so happy.  I love seeing him so full of love and life.

 They had a waffle bar at their reception.  Whaaat?  That's amazing!

 Riley loves Emily.

 Kurtis and Kaleb.

 The table decorations.

 My cousin's baby.  The nephew of the cousin who got married.  I have lots of cousins.

 The cake!  It was really yummy.

 My cousin and her sweet husband and her baby.  He's so cuuute!

 There he is again. :)

 And this is what my boys did most of the night.  Typical.

 My cousin's grandma Rose.

 I love her stories.

 While this picture is really crappy because her face is blurry, it still shows off her dress, so I'm keeping it here.  Sorry, Jess.  I wish my camera had been doing better.  I guess I didn't have it on the right settings.

 Tossing the bouquet.

 Kissing.  Lots of kissing. :)

 Then she sat down

 And my cousin took off her garter.

 Come on, guys!

 And it's blurry again, but he flung the garter.  I didn't know the guy who caught it.  My boys were too busy playing video games on their dad's phone to even know it was happening.  That would have been funny if Kaleb had caught it though.  ;)

 Then they danced.

 And danced.

 And kissed while dancing.

 And then mom cut in.  I love this picture even if it is grainy and the lighting is making them orange.

 Then the parents danced together and Trav and Jess got to dance together again.

 Cute wall of photos.

 Then they left and the videographer got in my way. ;)

 Off to their honeymoon in Mexico!

 And I found these guys just hanging around.

This one was cute, so I took him home with me.