Church and Talents

At church today I normally have to wrangle Anderson both in the pew and outside in the hallway. Today, however, Anders was pretty good during the second half of sacrament meeting and I was able to listen to the speaker, one of the counselors in the bishopric.

Just a pic of the boys and mom

One thing he talked about was the parable of the talents given by Christ in Matthew and Luke.  I enjoyed listening to it and resolved to learn a little bit more about it when I came home, so here I go.

The Parable of the Talents

One talent, I just learned from Wikipedia, was equivalent to 20 years worth of work for a common man.  Even the one talent was a very large sum of money, which could be anywhere between $300,000 to $500,000 today. In other words, even one talent was a great gift not to be taken lightly. I also learned from Wikipedia this is also the origin of the English word talent meaning an ability or gift, as first used by the poet John Milton.

That's it.  Take it what you will.  Just thought those details were interesting.

Christmas Tap Out

Well, Holly suggested it was time to put Christmas back in the box where it belongs.  We spent the morning hauling the tree back up in the attic, wrapping up Christmas kitsch, and taking down the stockings. When we finished and the living room finally looked back to normal, we celebrated by watching a move the boys received for Christmas.

It was Monster's University and it was a rather enjoyable movie, what I was able to catch of it anyway in between wrangling Anderson.  We had popcorn (with lots of butter) that I just finished sweeping up off the floor.

I always get sentimental with Christmas decorations.  You only see them for a brief span of each year, and then they go back into hiding again.  Before I put them away until late November, I wanted to take a picture of my Santa collection just so I know where I placed them in during the Christmas 2013 season.

Three Big Santas

Santa Bookends 

12 other Santas

And 6 more

My grandmother collects Santas, and I have inherited a few.  I look forward to collecting more, and having a more accessible display, but that will have to wait until grubby little fingers learn to not touch things.  For now, however, I am content with my 23 you see here.  See you Black Friday weekend 2014, fellas!

Christmas

Christmas Eve 2013 can be seen below!   The boys were all decked out in their Christmas PJs and ready for Santa.  Before they went to bed they sprinkle some of that "Reindeer Food" consisting of oats and glitter out the front door.  Then they went up to bed to wait happily for Santa.

More pictures will surely soon follow!  In summary, the boys each got a tablet for kids from Santa loaded with Netflix and Minecraft.  They were super excited!  We then took off for Grandma's house to enjoy the rest of Christmas.

Buddies

All of the brothers love each other, some days more than others of course.  Carter, however, is a particular cuddle-bug with babies.  He really enjoys looking out for his new little brother.  He's a good egg, that Carter!

Buddies

Saturday Morning Chess

I wanted to post this when Holly made it, but I forget. Several weeks ago the World Chess Championship was unfolding with Viswanathan Anand of India and Magnus Carlsen of Norway. Parker and I were rooting for Magnus.  We followed a critical game over the internet one Saturday morning.  The best part was Parker and I were examining the game and we both predicted the next move Magnus would make.  We felt like chess rock stars!

Saturday Morning Chess

Several days later our man Magnus won the match and became the new World Chess Champion. Go Magnus!

The Big Board

With baby Beckett our FHE board is now done!  The entire board is full. There is always the possibility we might have to extend the board, but for now, we can relax and know that all of the FHE assignments are filled until Parker leaves for his mission in 12 years.  Great job Holly getting that done so quickly!  I mean, baby Beckett hardly has any dessert preferences at all.  I guess we'll all be having formula milkshakes tomorrow courtesy of Baby Becks.

The Big Board!

Baby Beckett

A brief Baby Beckett update...he is doing super well!  Of course, he needs to avoid the rough hugs of his older brothers, particularly Anderson's.  But mommy is always there to cuddle him and keep him safe.  We love you Beck!

Fireman Carter

I stayed home from work today to help tend to a sick mommy and just-getting-better baby. Although if that was just the problem they probably would have been fine. The real issue is that there is a VERY healthy 2 year old in the house which gets into everything.  It's tough to monitor him when you are sick.

Anyway, I picked up Carter from Pre-K today and firefighters had visited his classroom.  He even got a free hat out of the deal!  He looked so dapper with his jeans and red coat that I had to take this picture.