January 2017

I always love January- the "clean slate" feeling is great, as is the slower pace after the holidays.  We thoroughly enjoyed the month!

At the very beginning of the month we actually had a little bit of SNOW!  It was only a dusting and only lasted for a day or two, but the boys were SO HAPPY!  You can barely even see the snow in these pictures, but any snow at all is a treat for Texans.  :)

And then just a few days later it was back up to 70 degrees and Eli is sitting outside eating frozen yogurt.  :)  We stopped by after school to celebrate him winning the 3rd grade Scripps spelling bee!

I took Eli and Timothy ice skating at the Galleria a couple weeks ago.  We went on a Friday morning, and they had the rink almost entirely to themselves.  They had a blast.

This was the best they could do to slow down for a picture.  :)

One of Eli's Christmas presents was a tour of AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys play.  We really enjoyed this!

It was amazing to finally be inside this famous stadium.

They took us all around every part of the stadium, which was so interesting.  This was in the locker room- Sean Lee is one of our favorite players.

On the star on the 50-yard line!

This was the main point of attraction for Eli- PLAYING FOOTBALL on the Cowboys' field!  He and Eric played for an hour- it was a blast.

Final picture in the end zone before they kicked us off the field.  :)

And that's the end of January!  We're looking forward to February with a little break from school, a weekend camping trip, and more time to enjoy the slower pace of winter.  Love to you all!

December 2016

 Happy New Year!  :)  We had a wonderful December and so enjoyed the Christmas season, extra time with family, days off of school and work together... it was a great month.

Eli is still going strong with the karate program at his school.  This December he tested for his orange belt.

And he got it!  :)  We are super proud of him.  The karate program is fantastic, but it's a lot of work- an elective period during school, a day after school, all the physical work of it, and lots of Bible worksheets and memorization.  We are really proud of Eli for sticking with it.  His goal is to be a black belt in a few years!

Eli went indoor paintball-ing with a group of friends.  They loved it!

File under:  crazy projects done by Eli, Timothy, and Charlie.  This one is a "dog print memory," complete with all three dogs' foot prints in concrete.  :)

Eli and Timothy have been doing a LOT of this- swinging together on what they call the "tire swing," and laughing their heads off.  I love listening to them.

On Christmas Eve we went out to dinner and to a candlelight service at Christ Church in Plano (LOVE that service!!), and then we came home, put Eli to bed, and set out our presents.  This is one of my favorite scenes of the whole year- the night before Christmas.

Coming out to see on Christmas morning!  

Eli's favorite present by far was the baby turtle we bought him (that he has been begging for for months).  He named him Elliot, and he's been a very attentive turtle owner so far!  Right now Elliot is pretty tiny, but he'll grow to about softball-sized.

More present-opening...  this one was tickets for a tour of the Cowboys' stadium.  He is very excited!  :)

He got a box of t-shirts with his favorite football players' names/numbers on them.  Football is ALL he talks about lately! 

Diving into the stockings...  our favorite part.  (We took a break to eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast!)

Christmas 2016- success!

After our own little family morning with presents and breakfast, we went to church and then back to my parents' house for Christmas with the whole family.  It was so special to be all together, to share gifts and a great meal.  

My mom gave Eli this ninja costume for Christmas.  :)

The guys played a lot of soccer and football during the Christmas break.

Love this picture.

The five grandkids.  :)  Heather and Jonathan have two sweet foster kids now, too, but I'm not allowed to post pictures of them.

After Christmas the three of us went to a Sidekicks indoor soccer game, which we love doing every year.  

Hank got a new bed for Christmas, which he destroyed 5 days later by dragging it through the doggie door and SHREDDING IT TO PIECES on the back porch.  :)

New Year's Eve!  We celebrated with a fire outside and food and games with the family.

This is how Hank celebrates New Year's:  hiding in the back of Eric's closet, TERRIFIED of the fireworks outside!  :)  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I love the clean slate of a new year and look forward to all that 2017 has in store.  Much love!

November 2016

A few pictures from our November...

Eric, Eli, Phil and the boys, and my dad went camping at Caddo Lake at the beginning of the month.  They canoed a lot, on the hunt for alligators!

My sweet boy...

Still canoeing.

Eli made this for Eric.  I love it.  :)

Another camping picture- sorry it's out of order!  

Eli snuck these into my purse when I wasn't looking so I would find them at work the next day.  He knows they are my favorite.  :)

My dad started a tradition of building and decorating a giant wooden Christmas tree with the boys each year.  Here they are with the 2016 version.  

And lit up at night.  :) 

We went to a "Friendsgiving" at our friends the Wilkes' house.  It was a blast!

Eli played with Andy all night.

We had Eli's friend Lauren stay with us for a day over Thanksgiving break and so enjoyed our time together.  Here they are at the movies.  Eli's face makes me laugh.  :)

We went to the Christmas tree farm after Thanksgiving to cut down our tree, as per tradition.

Obligatory hay ride photo!

I love these three!!

We picked a good one.

The other obligatory photo- on the porch at the tree farm.

They boys are OBSESSED with football lately- they watch it, play it, talk about it non-stop.  It's super cute.

I was cleaning in Eli's room the other day and noticed an unexpected guest in the manger scene.  :)

Eli's 3rd grade class picture.

And the best third grader of the whole bunch:

And that's it for November!  Love to you all!