December 2015

December!!  Bear with me, because these photos are all out of order.  But I don't want to spend the time to fix them.  :)

The boys made a little "stick stand" which they wheeled around for a few days selling "hand-carved sticks" for a dollar each.  They made a total of $12, which they used to buy a new 4-square ball.  :)  Here's Eli taking a "working lunch." 

The boys also built (with the help of PopPop) a giant Christmas tree that they decorated with all sorts of lights and ribbon and any other bits of decor they could find.  It was super cute and looked even cuter lit up at night.

Christmas morning!  With a bonus of Hank's profile.  :)

The Mannings came to visit at the end of the month, and the cousins enjoyed plenty of time together.

Eric and Eli and I went to a Sidekicks game after Christmas, which we always love.

The boys made a little spot under a bush where they would read "Bible storys for kids at Christmas and Christmas Eve."  I LOVE Eli's handwriting, and their little setup was so cute.

This was the very beginning of December- toothless!

Before Christmas we went to "Christmas in the Park" at a local park with our friends the Ninos.  We had a great time, though all the pictures look like this- blurry night photos.  :)

Also at the beginning of the month, Eli had his first "belt test" for the karate class he takes as an elective at school.  It was really cool to see what all the kids can do- from white belt (Eli) all the way up to black!  And it was super motivating to Eli to see what he will be able to do if he keeps up with this.

The littlest one (front right).  :)  They are going through the white belt "camsa" together in front of the judges.  (A "camsa" is series of moves they have to be able to complete before passing to the next belt).

He did it!  For the white belts, when they awarded them their yellow belts they let them break their first board (with a karate chop!)- Eli was so happy!  

Yellow Belt!

This was the kids' Christmas program at church.  Eli is the shepherd with the orange head thing on the right.

He was very proud to be the holder of the star, and he took his job very seriously!  :)

Decorating gingerbead houses...  an activity which turned out to be a whole lot more work than we thought!

Coloring in the sun on the driveway.

And that wraps up December!  It was a great month filled with great memories, and now we're back in the normal routine, which I love.  Happy New Year!