In Which We Experience First Snow

 Sacrament Meeting Art #53:  December 28, 2014.

Last week, I sang in the choir in my church.  It was the Christmas program, so I sat up on the stand the whole time.  That makes it hard to color, so last week there was no SMA.

But this week, I have decided to do one of my friend's Instagram photos.  I changed it a little.  This was the first snow where she lives and her husband had slid off the road.  I took out the truck, and tire tracks leading to the accident.  I also took out the fence behind the ditch.  Which makes it look like I took out the ditch, too.  That wasn't intentional, though.  The original photo is below.

What a gorgeous picture!  It was taken on November 13th.

Her husband was okay, and didn't suffer any injuries thank goodness.

The truck is also okay, by the way.

I hope you have had a very wonderful Holiday Season and have an amazing 2015!

In Which Stars Glitter In the Sky

Sacrament Meeting Art #52: December 14, 2014.

This series is almost over, you guys!  Should I keep going and do this forever?  I don't know if I will want to do it forever, but I think we can next year.  What do you think?

This is another Christmas picture.  It's Kaleb's birthday today, so I asked him what I should do.  He said I should do a Christmas tree with presents around it.  I didn't really want to do that, but I did like the Christmas tree idea.  So here is a night sky in a forest.  Someone has decided it needed a little Christmas cheer and put lights and a star on the tree.  I guess they are battery operated lights that are immune to water damage.  I like the way it turned out at any rate.  Kaleb said he loved it, too.  I hope you enjoy it.

Have a great week!

In Which There Is Christmas

Sacrament Meeting Art #51:  December 7, 2014.

I like to call this one, "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear."  Or maybe just "A Midnight Clear."  Either one works.  It's Christmastime, so I decided I would do something Christmas themed.  I know Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem and his stable was out in the open where pretty much everyone could see poor Mary giving birth.  But I just wanted to focus on Him, so there's not a lot of detail.  The focus is on the stable, the family inside, and the star.  Then the shepherd and his sheep are obeying the angel's command to go and see.

Christmas is wonderful.  

And I find that it is most wonderful when I focus on the reason I am celebrating.

  

"We honor His birth, but without his death that birth would have been but one more birth.  It was the redemption which He worked out in the Garden of Gethsemane and upon the cross of Calvary which made his gift immortal, universal, and everlasting."  

(Gordon B. Hinckley - President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1995-2008)

Here's one of my favorite Christmas songs:

I probably blog this every year, but it touches me every time I hear it, so I hope you enjoy, and have a marvelous Holiday season.

In Which We Time Travel To A Party

Waaaay back in July, I found out my sister was coming into town for her brother-in-law's wedding.  I had asked my mom if we were planning on throwing a shower for Jayden (my soon to be new sister).  My mom said we should, and then I thought well, we should try to have it while Michele is in town, so she can meet her in person (they'd hung out on Google) before the wedding.  I asked Michele if they would have time to fit a shower into their trip, and she got really excited.  Then I talked to Jayden and we set the date and figured out a theme.  We chose a "Time of Day" shower with a beach theme for the decor.

Then I made invitations and some paper decorations.  I got some paper boxes from the dollar store and decorated them and filled them with chocolate sea shells that I made and some Swedish fish as a thank you favor for people to take home.  We had the shower in the afternoon, so I suggested a cookie bar.  When I told Jayden that's what we were going to do, she got excited.  She likes cookies.

We played wedding Pictionary and the "He Said, She Said" game.  We also played the game where I asked Ben a bunch of questions and then asked Jayden the same questions and she had to answer the way she thought Ben had answered them.  Only this time instead of just recording Ben's voice, we video taped him.  That was fun.

I forgot to take pictures during the shower while we were playing games, but I got pictures of the decorations and opening some presents.  I know that's what you really want to see, so here they are:

 The invitations.

 The garland.  It says, "Ben & Jayden".

 A close up on the garland.

 More decorations.

 The table.

 The floral arrangement.

 Presents!

 I had to take a picture of this little guy! :)

It was a really fun party.  I'm glad we were able to pull it off.