No stone unturned

In our house, it was more of a contest between the kids and the parents as to who would eat all the giveaway Halloween candy first!

Happy Halloween! Be careful out there!

I dig it.

If you don't have skeletons in your closet, you probably have them somewhere else!

There I am, all over!

Family history: it brings people together.

Zombie diet

Runs in the family

Inspired by people in our home.

Monday Sketchbook: Practice Time

I've heard of kids who try to go out the day after Halloween (like if they were sick or something), but I hadn't considered a trick or treat warm up exercise. Maybe we'll have to give that a try!

They're coming for you

Just a reminder that you should do your home teaching/visiting teaching before it's too late!

Laundry hazards

You'd think everything would be made for dry cleaning!

Pink ribbons

Yep, pink ribbons are everywhere!

The law of supply and demand

Not that this would ever happen at our house...

Takin' it to the street

Maybe this one should have stayed in the sketchbook...

Time to chew the fat

Monday Sketchbook: To the bone!

We haven't seen the mission president for a while...

You knew this was coming

Someone pointed out that the first point of Bro. Durrant's General Conference talk was the suggestion that each of us save money every week. How many of us are doing that?

By every wind of doctrine

Some people just don't want to listen!

Mystery meals

Our family has a tradition in which we have "spooky dinners" one day each week during the month of October. You may have seen examples on Pinterest or in recipe books near the checkout stands in the supermarket.

We had the missionaries over for one of our spooky dinners just last week and it was a disaster. Our menu was spider dogs, eyeball salad, Jell-o worms and witch hand cookies. The stove broke, and when one thing goes wrong, the troubles just cascade. The elders were good sports about it, but it was — perhaps — more of a scary dinner than we had planned on!

Time to take stock

Word to the wise: keep up on your year's supply. Never run low on frog spawn. 

Dust to dust

Yeah, Elder Lloyd's heading back home. We'll miss him.

Through the fire

Scouts and fire. It can be a scary combination!

Monday Sketchbook: The rewards of service

Well, there's that warm, fuzzy feeling you get inside too...

Conference counsel

Sometimes even an appeal to the apostles won't work!

Lessons from literature

I hope it's not too early to start with Halloween-themed cartoons!

Adding to the list

Bro. Durrant's advice sounded easy enough...

Directionally challenged

There's always that one scout...

Roseburg

It's hard to comprehend what happened just a few days ago in our Roseburg, a city just a few hours south of here. We were shocked and stunned at the tragedy.

I'm reminded of what Mr. Rogers is quoted as saying: "Look for the helpers." In other words, look for the people who are doing good things — the first responders, medical personnel, the people who brought food and water to the students and faculty who were evacuated, the thousands who have offered love, prayers and support to the community.

One of our local high schools sponsors a marching band competition each year, the Pacific Coast Invitational. That happened this past weekend. Roseburg was among the high school bands invited to participate. However, all extracurricular activities were canceled for the week at their school. About half of the band members decided to come up to the the competition anyway — not to perform, but to show their support for the other bands.

The 11 other schools presented the Roseburg contingent with a huge poster signed by every single member of the other participating bands to show their support. And although the Roseburg band didn't play, they were presented with the Spirit award and received a standing ovation from all who were in attendance.

Thoughts and prayers may seem simple, but they are powerful. Don't forget to pray.

Three new ones!

One of the highlights of General Conference for me was the calling of three new apostles. It was interesting to see what the outside world said about it, how we missed a chance to diversify and other things like that. If you look into their backgrounds, though, they're a lot more diverse than they appear on the outside. Amongst them they've lived in several different countries and speak multiple languages. But the bottom line is, it's the Lord who calls them — and that's what makes the difference!

Monday Sketchbook: General Conference Notes

Here are my notes from the Sunday sessions of General Conference. There were so many wonderful messages!

I've also created a PDF with the complete notes for all six sessions that's available for download (via Dropbox). It's suitable for personal review, Family Home Evening, seminary, Sunday School or whatever you'd like. Personally, I like to go over my notes, and then use Arie Van De Graaff's Conference Recap to test my knowledge!

Whatever the case, be sure to review the talks when you can — they're already posted on the Church website. It's good for you!

Sketchbook Special Edition: Saturday General Conference Sessions

Here are my notes from the Saturday sessions of General Conference. And come back tomorrow for the Sunday sessions, and everything compiled into once handy document.

Then there's the session everyone was waiting for, with the announcement of the three new members of the Quorum of the Twelve...

And, of course, the Priesthood Session —

Today's the day!

Three sessions today, two tomorrow. Watch 'em!

If you thought Team Jacob/Team Edward was bad...

And that's why they don't sell GA-themed T-shirts on Temple Square!

This is the second time that fellow Mormon Cartoonist Arie Van De Graaff and I have had similar ideas for General Conference cartoons. It happened last October as well, when he ran this one and I ran this one, both with a ComicCon theme.

It's that time of year when everything changes

In October, everything becomes pink, pumpkin flavored or both!