Google+ Christmas Effects

So, as a little bonus to the photos I just posted, here are two with Google+'s "Auto Awesome" effects applied. Auto Awesome detects photos with lots of snow or twinkling lights and animates them accordingly. It creates a separate GIF of your photo so the original remains untouched. Yeah, it's gimmicky, but also kind of cute (at least in my opinion). Here's our tree:

And here's one of the pictures of Daisy with snow added:

 

December 2, 2013

I love this snow globe! This photo was shot with my Canon Rebel XSi and edited on my iPad with Snapseed.

December 25

Here's Louie sporting his new camera! Since we opened presents on Christmas Eve, we decided to venture out on Christmas day and take a walk through Circle B Bar Reserve. The thing to know about Circle B Bar Reserve is that there are no fences, and lots of alligators. Louie wasn't too happy about this sign...

Luckily, the gators usually keep away from the path. First we saw a few baby ones like this:

And then some bigger ones like this:

We also saw lots of different bird species, like this...

And this... (pretty blue heron!)

The Spanish moss hanging from all the trees makes it kind of look like a fairy tale forest or something...

Finally, here's a picture of a red leaf. Just cause.

For Christmas, I got some new headphones, a Doxie scanner, a season of Covert Affairs, some great new socks, a legit copy of Photoshop, an external flash for my camera, a 2013 calendar, and a few more things. Louie got some new shirts, a camera (sort of...dad had an extra one lying around and gave it to him!), and some new socks. Seriously, I understand now why adults want socks for Christmas. Socks are the best. Socks are second only to electronics. ;) Anyway, we had a fun time opening gifts. Before that we went to the Christmas Eve service at my parents' church, which served as a good reminder to me of where my focus should be: on the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ! When I think of all the good things that God has blessed us with, I want to sing out with the angels in Luke: Glory to God, Glory to God in the highest!

December 23

Well, we made it to Florida! Here are the presents underneath my parents' Christmas tree. :-)

December 22

This is Owen. Owen's primary occupation is being adorable. He's quite good at it. Here he is looking at some dancing snowmen/reindeer toys at his grandma Judi's house.

We had a Hansmeyer family Christmas today, and boy was it fun! I just love being a part of such a large family...it makes up for many years of missed chaos. Or something like that. ;) This year I was tasked with making "spaghetti corn," a Hansmeyer family favorite. I was delighted to discover that it's just about the easiest thing to make. Almost as easy as mac and cheese!

This is Lassy. She's a sweetheart.

This is Emmett, just before giving Lassy a kiss. Emmett loves animals!

This is Addi. She spent the day marching around with her baby doll and radiating cuteness.

Opening presents! Uncle Louie & Aunt Becky fell woefully short when it came to gift-giving this year. Hopefully we can make it up to everyone sometime. :) Ok, that's all for now...almost time to board our flight! The next pictures you see will be all sunshine and palm trees (well, maybe...can't guarantee it).