Loverly

It's Valentine's Day!  We just finished up our Valentine's Day "Breakfast Dinner"--pancakes/eggs/bacon/french toast--the only dinner everyone in the family actually likes equally (I KNOW!).  Although we do have to make both pancakes and french toast since Ethan and Jonas, inexplicably, don't really like french toast, but Forrest and Elise and I all prefer it to pancakes (the sane opinion).  So . . . perhaps I shouldn't say that this is a dinner we all like either.


Really.  Is there no dinner we all truly love?  Could it be possible?  I think yes.  Jonas is our biggest monkey wrencher, since the only meat he'll eat is chicken of the nugget variety or hot dogs, which severely limits our options, and Ethan doesn't like Italian food with red sauce (suspicious of most pizzas, won't eat spaghetti).  I'm sure this turn of events is all my fault.  But that's not what this post is about.  It's about Valentine's Day!  Love!  Togetherness!  The eating of scrambled eggs!  (Prepared by Elise, who makes DELICIOUS scrambled eggs, lovely and fluffy and light.  And Jonas had a few bites.  It was a Valentine's Day miracle.)

Forrest and I spent our Mormon Valentine's Day (which is what Saturday the 13th of February is if V-Day falls on Sunday the 14th) in Moab.  At the last minute, Forrest took the place of a guy in our ward who hurt his back and ran the Moab Ret Hot 33 K trail race.  Why they call it "red hot" I'm not sure, since there was snow on the ground at it was about 20 degrees when the race started that morning, but it was fun to go and cheer him on.  Here he is right after the race, in front of the snowy Moab mountains.  He's holding a bread bowl full of really bad burned soup that they gave to all the runners once they finished.  Nice thought, bad soup.

Since I didn't get to go cheer for him at the finish line of his first marathon (remember the vomitorium?), we took advantage of the opportunity to have a little weekend getaway this weekend, thanks to Mindy and Pete and Forrest's mom and sister Chelle.  It was a quick trip, but it's always fun to get away and spend time just the two of us.  Forrest did a great job on the race--there was a 50K option (just over 34 miles), but Forrest did the more sane (but still crazy) 33k, about 20 miles.  Although the distance was shorter than a marathon, it was a trail race up in the mountains of Moab, so there were lots of hills to climb and rocks to jump down and slicky spots of ice to avoid.  Mountain-goatiness required.  But he came in faster than he expected.  I joined him at the finish line after spending a few hours in the hotel room writing (bliss!), and made it there just 5 minutes before he came around the corner.

Looks pretty chipper after running twenty miles up and down mountains in the snow, doesn't he?


In other news, I'm getting in the swing of things with Webelos.  They combined the two Webelos dens (long story) and now I have about 14 10-year-olds to whom I must teach the principles of electricity (yes, that's what I did last week, after much studying on the internet--did you know that many generators are gigantic spinning magnets?) and help to build catapults with clothespins and milk-carton tops.  But they're cute kids and I think I'm figuring things out.


I also had a dream that I turned my novel manuscript to an agent (and no, I'm not NEARLY anywhere close to turning in a manuscript to an agent) but that she cc'ed me on an email that she sent to other people making fun of me for using so many parenthetical asides.  It said things like "Get a load of this (crazy [super awful!]) novel and this writer (can she call herself a writer [she of the parenthetical asides])?"  It's true that I use a lot of parentheses in blog posts (ya notice?) but I don't in my fiction.  Much.  What I do overuse is the hyphen --- oh how I love the hyphen!  But, yes, my subconscious is not pleased with my new novel.  My conscious isn't much enamored with it either.  But I'm trying to take my own advice and let the rough draft be rough and, hopefully, hammer it into something.  Maybe.


And lastly: Survivor Heros vs. Villains!  I haven't been excited about Survivor in ages, but I've gotta say, the premiere was a lot of fun.  And Boston Rob!  (I've always really liked Boston Rob.)  Colby!  Stephanie!  The smarmy-apparently-Mormon-cyclist-guy!  Always glad to have at least one reality show to look forward to.  Survivor + Lost + Modern Family (my new favorite comedy) + the Olympics = some fun TV over the next few months.


So happy Valentine's Day to all of you.  Hope you had some chocolate, took a nap, felt the love.  I did.

I had the wherewithal to upload two videos to Youtube

So, for video number 1, I give you Wyatt, doing the happy dance to the birthday song (with Jonas as the videographer):



Video number 2, Ethan's second foray into standup comedy.  We all probably remember his debut standup performance in the 5th grade, but this year he decided to bravely go where no Hallstrom has gone before and do standup in front of the teeming masses that are junior high students.  Seriously, my kid is brave.  But he's also good.  He wrote all his own material, and although Forrest and I helped him a little with transitions, this routine is all him.  The video below was taken at the "family only" show, so there weren't nearly as many 12-15 year olds in the audience (lots of grandmas and grandpas who might not get, say, a texting joke), but he got a lot of great laughs even in our group.  But I hear the routine killed in front of its target audience.  He's been getting props from the junior high crowd all week.  So, I give you . . . . Ethan!



And before I forget--this isn't a video, but I keep neglecting to mention Elise's hard work and success with this year's science fair.  She did an experiment growing pea plants under different colored light (turns out pea plants like colored lights--they're festive that way) and did such a great job that she was one of 5 kids in her class chosen to go on to the school-wide science fair.  Great job Lou!

 

Gotta love the tri-fold board.  Do any of you remember trying to MAKE your own tri-fold board by taping regular poster boards together then dealing with the thing falling over, drooping on one side, propping it up in the back.  Oh, the misery.  I tell you, prefabricated trifold boards are, along with the TiVo, one of the great advances of modern life.  (Actually, we probably DID have prefabricated tri-fold boards when I was a kid, but taping together poster board was lots cheaper and had the added benefit of teaching me and my WVC peers to DEAL WITH IT!)

And finally:  Lost premiere!  Totally awesome.  Smoke-monster Locke, cheesy CGI sunken island, lucky parallel-universe Hurley, Charlie!  Loved it.  The only sad part was watching it alone.  Stupid traveling husband.  (HE's not stupid.  The traveling's stupid.  He's very smart and must make a living, I understand.  But it's lots more fun to watch Lost with the added benefit of his commentary and warm lap on which to rest my feet.)

Now we're off to Classic Skating.  Off-track activity #4, check!

Wyatt Dean is Three!

Here are some facts about 3-year-old Wyatt:

-He's the biggest Bubba I've ever birthed.  At his 3 year checkup, he was in the 97% for height and the 75% for weight.  The doctor assured me, however, that his BMI was "just fine."  Whew!  I'd been worried about that!

-He's a fan of firearms.  He got these new Trio blocks for Christmas and has had a blast (no pun intended) fashioning multiple styles of weaponry then running around the house shooting various family members.

-He's not all Bubba and gunplay, though.  He has his sensitive side.  He loves to sing and dance (he did a hilarious little jig during the Happy Birthday song at our family party on Sunday--you can see how he was pumping his arms in the picture above).  He's also a big fan of hugs and snuggles and says "I love you Mom" a couple of times a day . . . and when Dad's in town?  He says "I love you Dad" about a dozen times a day.

-And, yes, his Dad is still his favorite person.

-He's discovered a love of board games: Hi  Ho Cherrio is a favorite (although he's not interested in playing by the rules and likes to put 4 cherries in the bucket no matter what the spinner says).  He also likes puzzles and legos and robots and dinosaurs.  And dragons.  And snakes.  And did I mention he likes guns?  He's also pretty dang good at playing catch, in my humble motherly opinion.  He's always happy to sit in my lap and listen while I read him a book, too.  (As long as it's about dinosaurs.  Or snakes.  So far, I've drawn the line at gun books.)

-At nursery and at the childcare at the gym, the workers always mention what a nice boy he is.  And he is a nice boy.  He's cares about people when they're sad--just the other day he went up to his sister's room and patted her on the back and told her "it's okay" when she was upset and frustrated with her math homework.  He always notices when babies are crying in the grocery store and wants me to do something about it.  "Mom!  That baby is sad!  That baby is so sad!"  Although he likes to push his brother Jonas's buttons and has a sense of entitlement that only a 3-year-old caboose-baby can enjoy, he's really a funny, happy, kind, caring kid who likes to jump right into the middle of the party.

(Wyatt and his cousins Eli and Ayva getting ready for some pinata action.  And as evidence for the biggest Bubba thing: both cousins are almost five and he's just about the same height as each of them.)

-He is addicted to chocolate milk.  Other favorite foods include chips and salsa, peanut butter sandwiches, Zupa's chicken enchilada chili, goldfish crackers, Dad's fancy yogurt, and McD's chicken nuggets and fries (MUST have ketchup and is very disturbed if Mom tries to feed him lunch in his car seat because then he CAN'T have ketchup . . . not that I ever give him drive-thru fast food for lunch, of course).

-He's a sleeping rock star.  In fact, he still takes a nice long nap at least three or four times a week, and if he falls asleep in the car and wakes up while I'm transferring him to his bed, he'll usually just mumble "bebe" (that's his indispensable blue blanket)  then roll over and go back to sleep.  He goes to bed every night around 8:30 or 9:00, and although he occasionally complains, he's never ONCE gotten out of bed after we've put him in it.  Keeping my fingers crossed that he won't figure out that he's physically capable of getting out of his own bed and roaming around the house of his own free will anytime soon . . .

 

-He's a joy and a light and a blessing to all of us, and our family wasn't complete until he joined it.  We love you Wyatt!!

Dispensation!

So Dispensation: Latter-Day Fiction is now available.  I spent the better part of 2009 editing this anthology of short stories by Mormon authors, and in many ways I'm prouder of this book than anything I've ever done professionally, perhaps because it's an opportunity to give a longer life to so many excellent short stories that might have otherwise been overlooked or forgotten.  The work in it is so good, and it's my hope that Dispensation will have a lasting impact in the (admittedly small) world of Mormon letters.  Fans of literary fiction and/or short stories will probably like this book best, and I realize that out in the wide world of commercial publishing this book will make barely a ripple.  But it's done, it's good, it's published, and it will exist in the real world on somebody's bookshelf for a long long time.  That makes me very happy.  It's available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble (the best deal right now), and on Zarahemla Books' website, and should be in some bricks-and-mortar bookstores like Barnes & Noble and the BYU Bookstore sometime soon.  Hooray!

I also started my new semester at the BYUSL Center, and I'm happy to report that my class has eight students (perfect!) and a great mix of personalities and abilities.  It looks so far to be a fun semester.  I'm glad.

Now if we could just get this inversion to blow on out of the valley!

2010, how to pronounce thee?

Is the consensus "twenty-ten"?  "Two-thousand and ten"?  Or is it like "soda" and "pop"--open to regional and cultural preference?  Sidenote:  my kids call pop "soda."  Who raised them?  Some mid-westerner???  They also pronounce syrup "seer-up," which they got from their father, one of the only native Utahns I know who pronounces it that way.  I admit that I take it a little personally that I'm the only one in the house who uses the solid, sturdy, non-pretentious pronunciation.  Surrup.  The next thing you know we'll be having Auuhnt Amy over.  For soda.  In twenty-ten.  And we'll reminisce about the aughts.  (You know.  The last decade?  We can also reminisce about the oughts, but that's mainly all the stuff we failed to accomplish over the last ten years, which is just depressing.)

But we rang out the aughts with our traditional New Year's Eve bash. Food was eaten.  (And Mindy, those mushroom philo thingies!  Mmmmm):

Games were played:

Cousins engaging in a friendly match of "Guess Who?"

And, of course, the traditional SingStar battle. Although it really wasn't the same without Amy and Dave and Andrew and Andi.  Those guys are COMMITTED to SingStar.  And we got some really cool new songs for the PS3, guys!  Next time you're out here?  Singstar battle deluxe?  Okay then.

And almost all the kids (except for Wyatt and Eli and Vivi--but little Lilly stayed up) managed to keep their eyes open until midnight for the pot banging.  Hooray!

In other big news, Elise Julia has crossed the threshold into young womanhood and now has a full set of braces.  Plus elastics.  Poor thing has some soreness going on right now, but she's soldiering on.  And she looks cute.  (Sorry the pic is kinda blurry, but you get the idea):

Way to be brave and look old, Leese!  Love ya.  And those curtains you see behind her?  Christmas gift from Grandma Sweat.  (And Grandpa, although it was Grandma and I who went shopping right after Christmas because Grandpa's not so much into the curtain shopping.  Which is completely understandable.)  Anyway, they look GREAT.  I'll have to take a better picture here soon so you can get the whole effect.  Forrest went from, "Why do we need decorative curtains again?" to "Why didn't we put these up three years ago?"  They're purdy.

Anyway, Happy 2010 everybody!  Here's to a great year full of good stuff.  Health.  Satisfaction.  Fun.  Love.  Goodness.  Straight teeth and pretty family rooms.  All that.


p.s. Blogger asked me if I wanted the "new improved" blogger thingamabob, and now my line spacing is weird and squishy and I can't figure out how to fix it.  Sigh.  Here's to one step backward in 2010!

Christmas Pics!

It's been a holly jolly week! Here comes the photographic evidence:

Elise dressed up for the nativity play at the Wilkey Family Christmas Eve Day bash.

My vantage point from the spot I staked out on the carpet at the Wilkey Family Christmas Eve Day bash. There are people behind me and people around the corner. I'm no good at estimating, but Forrest guessed there were probably 200 people there. That's what happens when you have 14 kids, 70-something grandkids, etc etc etc (and take your youngest son's best friend under your wing and call his wife and their four kids your family too). We love you Muriel!

Santa always comes to the Wilkey party, and every kid from high school age on down gets to sit on his lap. Wyatt couldn't wait to hear his name called and trucked right up there and told Santa he wanted a dragon. A scary one.

We ducked out of the Wilkey party a little early in order to make it to the Sweat family Christmas Eve dinner. Grandma Sweat decorated the tables oh-so-prettily, and we had our traditional dinner by candle light (and the macaroni and cheese!).

Wyatt dressed here as a wise (?) man for the Sweat family nativity play. I know this picture is a little blurry, but it cracks me up every time I look at it, so I decided to post it anyway.

Elise and Lauren. Beautiful angels.

The three wise men! Aren't they cute? I'm so glad Wyatt has some boy cousins to pal around with. He loves Eli and Jack.

Ethan the Inn Keeper / Donkey. As the oldest cousin, he's always willing to take on a little extra responsibility, and even make an ass of himself! (bah dum bah!)

Jonas/Joseph and Reagan/Mary. A lovely couple.

The whole gang! Jane makes such a cute sheep.

Elise and Lauren opening their Zhu Zhu Pets from Grandma Sweat. (Hey! That rhymes.) Isn't that a classic reaction shot? Zhu Zhu Pets were the must-have toy item of '09, you know. Good job, Grandma.

Wyatt. Just because he's cute.

The obligatory "everybody at the top of the stairs" photo that I insist we take every year at 7:03. The kids have to wait until 7:00 to wake us up, then it takes me at least 3 minutes to drag myself out of bed and get the camera. I remember my mom used to sit and brush her teeth while we kids stood at the top of the stairs about to explode with anticipation, so I just skip the tooth brushing and figure my kids won't mind if I have bad breath while they rip into their booty.

The aforementioned booty.

A dragon!! Santa listened!

Elise looking fetching in the sunlight with her new guitar.

The boys looking menacing in their gear with their new airsoft guns. (Sigh. I relented.)

Yes, my boys celebrated the holiday by shooting each other with tiny yellow pellets that were immediately and inevitably lost in that Christmastime blanket of white. Very festive, I say. It will be interesting to see what the back yard looks like after the snow melts, no?

Wyatt also picked up on the spirit of gunplay. My two year old is so grown up: he knows how to aim by closing one eye, and he has a plumber's crack. Where have all the years gone?

I made Forrest pose by our pantry-door-o-cards (doesn't he look pleased?). Did I mention how much I like getting Christmas cards?

On the day after Christmas, Elise and I got all gussied up to go meet Katie and Jane downtown and see The Nutcracker. (Son of a Nutcracker!!). And, yes, I DID realize after seeing this photo that I really need a hair cut and highlight touch up. I'm going in tomorrow, okay!?!? And speaking of hair, Elise's do is courtesy of her brand new Christmas crimping iron.

Elise and Jane in front of a giant nutcracker.

Elise, Jane and Katie in their seats on the front row of the "mezzanine." They were great seats--a fun vantage point to see the ballet. We had a lot of fun . . . but I do wish The Nutcracker could mix things up a little every year. Like, I don't know, you know how they do Hamlet set during WWII or Julius Caesar with all the male parts played by women? Ballet West, I'm not asking that you do anything that drastic . . . but what if, say, Mother Buffon suddenly turns all angry and sullen and the little children hiding under her skirt run out of there in a panic or something? Ratchet up the drama? Just a suggestion. But really--the ballet was lovely. And I always like spending time with my girl.

Then, on Monday night, we had the Ranquist family party. This is the one party where performances by the children are required and have been from time immemorial. (Grandma's hot shrimp soup also used to be a "must have" item at the party, too, but we missed it this year. Maybe I'll have to make a pot for next year?)

Ethan, blowing his horn.

Elise and I singing "What Child is This." (She did a great job sticking with her soprano part even when I was singing alto--all the more impressive since we threw it together in about 20 minutes!)

Jonas telling jokes. He's EXCELLENT at telling jokes.

All the menfolk playing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" on the bells.
All the kidfolk (and a smattering of menfolk) playing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" on the bells.

The kids all in a circle passing around their white elephant gifts. (It was done in a "musical chairs" type fashion where you stopped when the music stopped.) Wyatt spent the activity murmuring "My present? My present! Where my present go?" Luckily he was sitting in between his brothers who kept assuring him that he would, eventually, get a present. He was quite satisfied with his lifesaver book.

It's been a wonderful holiday week. We rounded things out by having Darrin and Katie and their kids over today and had such a good time. (Their kids and our kids play so well.) Alas, no pictures of this particular event . . . although I'm sure I've posted enough pictures here to keep anybody busy, right?

So Merry Christmas to all! Thank you to our family and friends for your love and example and all that you do to help make this time of year so special.

Putting Things Out in the Universe: An Update

So remember how, last post, I "put out in the universe" the idea that I might enjoy attending next year's Relief Society Christmas party rather than planning it?

The universe was listening. And the universe has issues with me.

So, yes, I got a new calling. Fifteen minutes before church started last Sunday and I was scheduled to sing with the choir I was given the calling I'm most afraid of. The calling that, whenever anyone had asked me if I was tired of my current calling, I used as an example of what that current calling was much easier than. A calling in the organization that I've publicly complained about, lo here on this very blog.

Yes. I am now the Webelos leader.

The funny thing is that after I got the phone call from the bishopbric I said to a number of people that I'd be okay with anything--ANYTHING--just as long as it wasn't Scouts. I'd even (and I feel guilty admitting this but there you have it) prayed not to get put in Scouts. So I was a little bit stunned when the call came on Sunday, and probably looked a little stunned up on the stand singing with the choir. And I was the only member of my RS presidency who was released, so it was emotional saying goodbye to them during Relief Society. I've served with them for a long time and have really grown to love them. I also felt a little bit like God was purposely trying to make my life hard by giving me exactly the opposite of what I'd asked for, and I found myself wondering what I'd done to irritate him. (Well, I'm sure the list is long, but I'd rather not go there.)

Over the last few days it's been sinking in, though, and I'm not as upset as I was on Sunday. Still have a sick feeling whenever I think about all the work ahead of me--I'm so clueless about Scouts, really I am--but I'm happy about the women I'll get to work with in the Scouting organization and glad I still get to go to Relief Society. I'm sure I'll grow to love the boys. I doubt I'll ever grow to love all the hoop-jumping and paperwork and other organizational headaches inherent in the Scouting program, though--but apparently God likes for things to be hard. Or so I've heard. And, even if I complain sometimes, I'm a worker. I'll do the work. And then maybe someday before I die, I will have worked enough that God will see fit to give me a teaching calling and I can do something I'm actually GOOD AT.

So. If anybody has any spare prayers lying around, maybe toss them my way?

Oh, and one other bit of news (and this one isn't nearly as dramatic and has nothing to do with the important things in life): I got a new phone. The Droid Eris. It was time for me to renew my phone contract and I reaaallllly wanted a smart phone. Although I had a bunch of practical reasons for wanting one (mainly dealing with keeping on top of work, email, etc etc), the truth is I just wanted one. And since Forrest is pretty non-gadgety--he's the only 30-something business guy I know who doesn't use a PDA but instead uses yellow notebooks and post-its--he just sighed and rolled his eyes and did the whole "I don't understand it but I'll support you" thing like a good husband.

And can I just say: the phone is wicked cool!!!! Love it. Maybe now I can download some Webelos apps that will completely plan all my activities for the next six months! (Who knows--maybe Scouting apps do exist. I'll have to look into it.)

But now I have to get going and finish my grades. Tonight: more wrapping. Tomorrow: festivities! Friday: The Big Day! Saturday: Seeing The Nutcracker with Elise and Katie and Jane. (Every time I say "The Nutcracker" Forrest must respond with "Son of a Nutcracker!" from Elf. You can click on the link below and hear it with your very own ears. Who knew one could link to audio clips from movies? This world!)

son of a nutcracker sound bite  Elf sound bites

So Merry Christmas to you all. Let's see if I make it through 2010 in one piece!

My Tongue Tastes Like Glue

because I've been licking all my Christmas card envelopes. I don't mind, though. I love getting Christmas cards, so I figure I'd better give some if I want to get enough in return to cover our pantry door.

Also: can you believe it's only 10 days until Christmas? This late Thanksgiving thing has got my timing all off--it'll be Christmas before we know it!

I love Christmas. Even though it's busy.

I've had a few Christmas-related happenings over the last week, the biggest being the Relief Society Christmas dinner last Tuesday. It's always a pretty big undertaking--we save up so we can go out each year with a bit of a bang--but it wasn't as stressful as some of the Christmas parties have been in the past. And, yes, this is my 4th consecutive RS Christmas party, and yes, I'm starting to run out of ideas . . . but I'm also getting better at simplifying and streamlining. Kinda. The only un-simplified element to this year's party was the gift the RS Presidency and committee gave to all 150 sisters, a wooden plaque with President Hinckley's "Be"s (they've been the theme of the first Sunday RS Presidency messages for the past two years). We originally thought they'd be pretty easy, but after cutting, painting, measuring, decoupaging, sanding, and staining ourselves into a frenzy, the committee came to the conclusion that in fact these little buggers were NOT easy--no, not at all. The bulk of the work fell on our wonderful secretary, though, who headed up the project and to whom I am eternally grateful. And they turned out really nice. See?

So even though the night was freezing cold and the parking lot was covered with snow, we had a good turn out, the food was great, and I think everybody had a good time. Who could ask for anything more? (Although, truth be told, I won't cry if next year I just get to ATTEND the Relief Society Christmas Party. I'll just put that out into the universe. :-).

We also got to go enjoy Ethan's band concert. It was really good--surprisingly good for a Junior High band. His teacher is truly excellent. I can't imagine a more difficult job than teaching a couple hundred junior high kids how to play a dozen different instruments, then whipping together a decent concert in a few months' time. But Ms. Colligan does a wonderful job and it was really fun to listen to Ethan play.

A few photos, then. Before the concert (getting warmed up):

During the concert (blow that horn!):

After the concert (hanging with his trumpet-playing compadres):

Ethan's made some good friends in band and is becoming a pretty mean trumpet player. I'm glad he's doing it.

We also went out to dinner and to see Kurt Bestor's Christmas concert with some friends last weekend. Although my taste isn't super Kurt Bestor-ish, I have a soft spot for his Airus Christmas album, which I had on tape in the early 90s and listened to quite a bit during the holidays way back when. There are some really lovely songs on that album--they remind me SO MUCH of the Thirtysomething soundtrack that I also listened to a lot in the early nineties, although it was actually Forrest's soundtrack that he bequeathed to me while he was on his mission. (Why both of us, as high school students, were so enamored of a television show about angsty yuppies twenty years older than we were is a question left for another day.)

Anyway, the concert itself was quite good. Bestor himself is a little melodramatic and a teensy tiny bit self-aggrandizing, but there's no doubt he's a very talented composer and arranger. (Lyricist? Not so much. Forrest groaned a little during a song Bestor wrote about children giggling on sleigh rides and whiskers on kittens, or something like that, and I had to kick him under his seat and admonish him with my eyes for his cold, unfeeling heart. Even though I agreed with him. But I didn't groan.) But the songs WITHOUT lyrics were really cool and he had some excellent musicians up on stage. The best part of the night, though, was the special guest, Jonathan Butler, a South African-born Jazz/gospel singer and guitarist. His performance of O Holy Night was one of the best live musical performances I've ever seen in my life. Ever. Tears, chills, the whole nine yards. Totally made up for the giggling children and whiskers on kittens and then some. Amazing.

So I went to Youtube, hoping to find Bulter singing a Christmas song as my sign-off for this post, but I couldn't find anything Christmassy. I figured Gospel-y was good enough. Enjoy!