Celebrate!

I found a stack of greeting cards that I mocked up several years ago, and there just happened to be one for a wedding! Since we're celebrating a wedding today, I thought it would be perfect!

Congratulations, Chris and Grace!

Whee!

I could tweak this a little bit and make it about getting married. It would still fit!

It tolls for thee!

It's the week of the wedding. Some folks are getting anxious!

Monday skechbook: pick a temple, any temple!

It was easy when they were planning on getting married in the Portland Temple. There are only two to choose from in all of Oregon. But getting married in Utah? Take your pick!

BTW: It's THE Salt Lake Temple, the one on Temple Square.

Just like mom used to burn!

This is one lesson most missionaries learn quite quickly: it's far better to have a companion who can cook that one who can't!

What's on second

We had a team one year that was made up of players who were more interested in exploring nature than in studying the nuances of a good defense in baseball. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it made for some long innings. That's probably one of the reasons they didn't allow base stealing at that level...the kids would never know it happened!

Fashion statement

Another "coming of spring" thing.

Out, out, brief candle!

I saw a story on CNN.com that said today is "Talk Like Shakespeare Day," sponsored by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Talk Like a Pirate Day I get, but talk like Shakespeare?

Earth Day

When I worked for In House Graphics, we made a magazine for Coldwell Banker, the real estate company. There was a children’s page in each one, and this is one that I did — a hidden picture puzzle. I’m pretty sure this is the first hidden picture puzzle that I’d ever done, so some are easy to find and some are kind of hard. In fact, I’m not even sure that I found all of them. For example, look at the chimney. There’s something going on there, but I’m not sure what. I think it was supposed to be a saw. And dig the Nike swoosh on the bee's feet!

Anyway, here’s the list of the hidden objects. Good luck!

• Button


• Lightbulb


• Spoon


• Wishbone


• Toothbrush


• Jack o’ lantern


• Rocket ship


• Baseball bat


• Candy cane


• Violin


• Turtle


• Pencil


• Pillow


• Shoe

Get ready for Mr. Sun!

It's that time of year - we've had three hot and sunny days in a row, and sunburned faces are everywhere. Has swimsuit and shorts season come at last?

Monday sketchbook: TOKTWD

This Thursday is Take Our Kids to Work Day. I had other sketches of jobs that would be bad ideas to take your kids to work, but most of them had too much of an "ick" factor. This one is a little corny, yet doesn't venture into the gray areas.

Getting to the point

And this is why he learned to be sneaky about it.

I find your lack of faith disturbing

Little League can be a lot of fun. My wife and I coached for a few years, and I helped out on some of my boys’ teams in addition to that. There was always something in every game that cracked us up.

This cartoon is based on real life. One of the kids was behind the plate, dressed in the catcher’s gear. A ball zipped past the batter and smacked the catcher square in the chest. He stood up, let out an evil laugh and said something like, “Your power is weak, old man!”

It's a bird! It's a plane! Oh. It's a bird.

It's been one of those weeks. But it's bound to get better, right? Right?

Wanna see it again?

We made a big deal about the fact that we would only be working in each block for a period of four weeks (as illustrated by the four panels in the cartoon!). That's actually some fast work -- I just saw some information about a project in southern Oregon where we will be closing off the main access to some travel-dependent businesses (hotels, motels and restaurants) for six months!

History in the unmaking

It was cool to go down to the project site and watch people who were there to view the construction work. It actually brought a lot of people downtown. There were a couple of intersections where the crews uncovered some historical stuff, like horseshoes and and old rail track that was marked on any of the plans.

Sneakin'

Because the road construction blocked off parking near the main entrances to businesses in the work zone, we encouraged shoppers to use back entrances. We thought this would be a good way to get that message across.

Monday Sketchbook: Prosecuted by Hamilton Berger, DA

One of my favorite characters on television is Perry Mason's nemesis, District Attorney Hamilton Berger. He's got about the best name ever for his role, because that's what Perry makes of him every week, Ham Berger.

Easter

Happy Easter! Remember what it's all about.

Making it count

Our first attempt at marketing a children's book
OK, this one isn't funny, but the story behind it is. We came up with the idea of writing and illustrating children's books based on the scriptures, and had a bunch roughed out. This particular one was fairly easy, a counting book. It starts with one sheep running, with the text reading: "One little lamb. Where is it going?" and it ends with this page. We pitched the idea to Deseret Book. They said the drawings were cute, but the idea was "too Christian." Hmm.

Check out the PDF

Gethsemane

Another in the Easter-themed series.

That rainy day feeling

Exam time

I remember when I was a kid and my cousins, my brother and I were staying at my grandma's. One of my cousins said that she forgot her toothbrush, so she just put some toothpaste on her finger and brushed with that instead. Eww!

The test - continued

Here's something for the Gee Whiz file: I make a cameo appearance in this strip, the guy in the glasses in line behind Kris. That's exactly what I looked like in college, vacant expression and all. W00T!

Monday Sketchbook: The gift of irony?

Just have to revisit this one...indeed, Zach did his call during the snows of January. When he looked at the calendar he saw that he'd be arriving in Arizona after the beginning of spring. He figured, therefore, that he wouldn't need his winter coat. Everyone knows that southern Arizona is warm!

Well, his first assignment is to area around Show Low, elevation 6,500 feet. It snowed the first three days after he got there. Our first e-mail from him was a plea for us to send him his winter coat!

Palm Sunday

As we approach Easter, I thought I should include a few Easter-themed pictures that I've done, such as this one of the Triumphal Entry. It's amazing to me how in just a few days Jesus went from being hailed by the masses to being crucified.

Drawing Jesus Christ in a cartoon style is particularly challenging. I want to convey the dignity befitting the Savior, yet in an approachable manner. It can't be too cartoony. I feel like I had success with this one. I hope you think so, too.

Conference enhancement tips

Yet another in the Conference enhancement tips series. The scripture refer to pitching your tent toward the temple to hear the words of the prophet. Some folks like to do that literally, watch a conference session or two on TV from inside a tent...but they usually set it up outside.

Conference enhancement tips

It's time again for Conference Enhancement tips! Many LDS families look forward to Conference Weekend, where we hear from our leaders. I've heard that some people like to play Church or gospel-themed games to get in the spirit of General Conference. Our family used to play a game called Know Your Gospel, there are also games like Seek and others. I thought, why not do something more in line with an RPG, like Dungeons and Dragons or something like that, only churchy? World of Priestcraft? Maybe not...

• All about Conference

Check the calendar

Poisson d'Avril!

This was a trick that I always wanted to try, but I didn't want to worry about the clean-up...or the potential repercussions!