December 2018

Final post of 2018!  That's hard to believe.  Here are a few pictures from our December...

Eli tested for his brown belt in karate at the beginning of December.  He has worked so hard in karate for years, and we're so proud of him.  The skills get harder with each belt, and we can't believe that he's only 4 belts away from being a BLACK belt!  

This was pre-test...

Jump kicks were part of skill set for this belt test!

After showing all his skills, sparring, and doing the public speaking portion of the test, here's our new BROWN BELT!

Another big event of December was the "Live Museum" at his school.  The 4th and 5th graders choose a historical figure, do a bunch of research on him/her, write a research paper, and then condense that research into a one-minute summary speech.  They dress up like their person and present their memorized speeches to everyone who "presses the button" to "wake them up."  It's a really great program that ties in so many skills- researching, writing, memorization, and public speaking.  All the kids worked so hard on it!  

Eli chose Jim Elliot as his person, and he did such a great job.

His first semester finished up with a fun class party.

We kicked off Christmas break with ice skating at the Galleria!

Eli took piano lessons this semester, and he had his first recital this month.  Though he was NOT excited about it, he was calm and cool.  His mother, on the other hand, was SO nervous for him!  :)  He did a fantastic job, and we're thankful for what he learned this semester.  He's switching from piano to guitar this semester; we'll see if guitar catches his interest more than piano.  :)

The Christmas break has been full of LOTS of playing outside, which is Eli's favorite thing in the world.  I love seeing what the boys come up with to do.  This was a "homemade dye" that they were mixing up on the front porch one day.  :)

Eric took me out to one of my favorite restaurants (Texas de Brazil) for my birthday, and to see a movie.

On Christmas Eve, the Heinzes came over to play games and eat a fancy dinner.  Here is Hank in his new coat.  :)

We played a few funny games and had a blast.

Christmas Eve night!  Santa came!  :)

 

Christmas morning, bright and early!  We always love Christmas morning with just the three of us.  We open gifts, eat homemade cinnamon rolls, and enjoy just being together.

After the present opening... 

After that, we went over to my parents' house with the rest of the family for more gift-opening together.  It was, as always, chaotic and noisy and perfect!

After playing and resting on Christmas afternoon, we made a big dinner and enjoyed it all together.

And that wraps up all the pictures I have for this year!  We've enjoyed this last week of the year, resting and relaxing and being home together.  I LOVE this week and am slightly sad to get back to our routine of school and work on Wednesday!  But we're excited about all that the Lord has in store for us in 2019.  

Happy New Year, with love!

November 2018

I don't have a ton of pictures from November, but here is a small smattering!  :)  It was a great month.

The boys have had some sort of "fort" in the woods behind our house for a long time now.  But in November they made it into some sort of hidden "underground hidden fort."  :)  It's super fun to hear them playing out there, and to see how resourceful and gifted they are in building things with wood, logs, saws, etc.  I'm so thankful that they have each other!

We always do a "thankfulness tree" in November, and I love seeing it full of "leaves" by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.  Praise the Lord for his innumerable gifts!

Thanksgiving!  I wish we took a few more pictures on Thanksgiving.  As is our normal routine, we went to Uncle Albert and Aunt Kathy's house for lunch with that whole side of the family, and then we headed back to my parents' house for dinner with the Bergstrom side of the family.  It was a great day full of memorable time with family and too much good food.  :)  On Friday, we drove to Oklahoma to visit another chunk of Eric's family, which was a blessing as well.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we did our usual tradition of going to the Walls Family Farm to pick out a Christmas tree with the Heinzes.  We have been doing this since I was a little girl, and I love it every year!  

We found the tree!  :)  We like this specific kind called a "Leyland Cypress" that is apparently hard to find at the farm we go to.  When we brought it up to them to pay for it, they said, "Wow!  There was still a Leyland out there?!"  :)  So we are reconsidering our plans for next year!  :)

The boys.  Oh, how I love them!

We decorated it the next day after church.  I love our little tree!

At the end of the month, Eric and Eli and my dad and Cooper went on a little camping trip to Fort Parker State Park.  They had a blast, and they caught a few (small) fish too.  :)

See Cooper's little fish?  :)

And Eli's?  :)  They had such a good time, though.

And that rounds out November!  The December busyness of the end of the school year is in full swing, but we are are praying to be able to enjoy each moment, slow down where we can, and worship the Lord who came to rescue us from the mess we made in our sin.  Merry Christmas!