Michael’s Laundry Room Studio

I got a couple of good Christmas gifts to help in making videos.
The first one was this microphone which I’ll use for voice-overs, recording music, and other things:

I’ve been looking forward to getting a tripod for a while now.
We found this one (that extends to 56” tall) online for pretty cheap:

I have a video editing software that can do green screen effects, so I decided to take one of our sheets, which happens to be olive green, and hang it on the wall in my new studio that doubles as a laundry room. I had to iron the sheet to remove the shadows.

 

When I have some time I’ll put together a dumb little green screen video and post on here. Stay tuned…

Carl Bloch Exhibit

If you haven’t headed over to the BYU Museum of Art to see the Carl Bloch The Master’s Hand exhibit, you are either a big dummy or a heathen. The tickets are free, so just do it already.

While you’re there, go downstairs and check out this electronic art thingy. It’s made by a projector, your shadow, and…magic?

Asher in the Snow

 

This is Asher’s first real experience playing in the snow.

Taken at his Grandparents’ house in Fillmore.

Sunrise

This photo was taken from our parking lot the same morning of the Provo Tabernacle fire. This was probably the best sunrise I’ve ever seen.

(click on the photo to experience its full awesomeness)

Christmas Concert

We were lucky enough to win the lottery for tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert featuring David Archuleta & Michael York. Over a million people put in for tickets and we received 4 of the 80,000 given out. We decided to take my parents with us.

It was very good. David Archuleta has a very nice voice and Michael York is a great storyteller.

We also did a quick walk through temple square before the concert and saw the Christmas lights. Here are some photos we snapped:

Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas everyone! Here’s our Christmas cards:
(Click on them to see them bigger)

 

 

 

I guess Asher is already too cool to be in a family photo.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

We finally found a good recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (Thanks Mom):

1 C. Brown Sugar
1 C. Sugar
1 C. Butter (make sure you just soften it, not melt it. It’s best to soften it at room temperature but if you have to use the microwave BE CAREFUL. If you melt it, the cookies will come out as flat as a possum at a monster truck rally.)
4 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla

Mix those things together then add:

2 1/4 C. Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 1/2 C. Oats
As many dang chocolate chips as you want (1-2 cups)

Bake 8 minutes at 350 degrees. What I do is set the timer for 7 minutes then check it often until they’re done because some ovens are just plain crazy and I don’t want burnt cookies.

If you’re awesome, you’re cookies will turn out like these ones (that someone on the internet made):

Food Storage!

Our Stake Presidency has been urging everyone in the stake to get 3 months of food storage before the end of the year. We decided we’d take advantage of some of the Christmas cash that relatives have sent us and head to Michael’s favorite place in the World: WinCo.

Here’s what we bought:

25 pound bags of pinto beans, brown rice, and oats:

This nifty canned food organizer (holds 30 cans!):

• 5 cans of chicken
• 8 cans cream of chicken
• 8 cans corn
• 8 cans fruit
• A huge can of dry milk
• 3 Four-gallon buckets

All this stuff cost us only $109.75!

4 Months Old

Asher turned 4 months old today!

Sunday Afternoon

Jeopardy Test

Last Wednesday I took the test to become a contestant on Jeopardy. I think they only do this test once a year so I thought I would give it a shot. It was tough, but it was a lot of fun. Here's a sampling of the questions:

1. THIS "WATER MUSIC" COMPOSER IS BURIED IN POETS' CORNER AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY
2. THIS BASIC AERODYNAMIC FORCE ACTS ON A WING, PUTTING GREATER PRESSURE ON ITS LOWER SURFACE THAN ITS UPPER
3. "THE LOST COLONY" DRAMA IS AN ANNUAL EVENT AT FORT RALEIGH NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ON THIS ISLAND
4. WHEN THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD WAS COMPLETED IN 1869, THIS CALIFORNIA CITY WAS ITS WESTERN TERMINUS

(Answers are at the bottom of the post)

(Answers 1. Handel, 2. Lift, 3. Roanoke, 4. Sacramento)

Grove Creek Hike

Last Saturday I went on a little hike up Grove Creek Canyon (Pleasant Grove) with my uncle Rob and my cousin Ben. It was a pretty hike and we even saw a golden eagle fly right in front of us across to the other side of the canyon. Here are some more photos:

More Asher

Kung Fu Baby

Speaking of Asher, I just learned that Asher jumped from the 233rd most popular boy name to the 25th most popular name for boys. What happened!?