Miscellaneous Photos from December 2019

Here is a look at some of our life lately.

We always start our Christmas season off by watching Elf.  As soon as I begin decorating the tree the boys start asking for it.  We usually watch it a few times throughout the month of December.  We love it that much.  We have Friday Movie Night every Friday night of the year.  During December we watch Christmas movies only.  Here are David and the boys on our first December movie night watching Elf.  We also eat pizza and popcorn every Friday night with our movie.  It is one of the boy's favorite family traditions and a great way to end our school week.

Speaking of school,

 We wrapped up our first semester on December 20.  We were excited about our two week break.

Our co-op had ended the week before.  They take three weeks off for Christmas because several of the families travel back to the States during that time.  That weekend the boys got to have a sleepover with one of their co-op friends.  It was a real treat for them and they loved every minute of it.  Here they are ready for a late night Nerf war.

We have enjoyed some great Sunday services lately at nearby churches.  Here are David and Ben having lunch one Sunday after church. 

and here are David and Cruz that same day.

We had eaten at Finca Colombia.  They had a cute photo area set up for taking pictures.  The boys jumped right in.

It's December, which means it's firework time.  They have been enjoying the fireworks all month long.

lighting some in our front yard

This picture of Ben running away makes me laugh.

I have done a lot of baking over my Christmas break.  This was one of my favorites.  I am excited to have my freezer filled again with these yummy cinnamon rolls.

It is time for David and Cruz to renew their passports.  Here is Cruz getting his picture made for his at a local photo shop in Antigua.  It was the same shop where we had his first passport photo taken nine years ago.

He was two months old in this picture.

Ben did not have to have his picture taken but asked me to take one for fun while we waited on the others to be printed out.

The weekend before Christmas we enjoyed getting to visit a live nativity that a local church was doing in Santa Lucia.  They did a great job.

They gave out food and let everyone hand feed the animals.  Ben loved it.

 

This is not the best picture but in spite of it we had a wonderful visit with the Stones recently.  We did not have a normal mission Christmas party this year but instead went out to eat in Antigua.  We enjoyed a great meal at Pappy's BBQ and then came back to our house for coffee and dessert. 

Beautiful Antigua on a recent evening in town. 

Our annual Christmas family photo for 2019

Each year we get a new family ornament.  Actually, we get two.  I always buy one and my mother-in-law gives us one as well.  I will share about the one I bought in an upcoming post.  This is the one David's mom gave us for 2019.  She passed away back in August.  It was our first Christmas without her and it was a lot harder than we ever imagined.  Oh how we miss her!!

This past Sunday we attended worship at Union Church in Guatemala City.  They were having a special concert by The Metro Big Band.  They played a mixture of Christmas music, hymns, and gospel songs.  We really enjoyed it.  They are good.  Here they are playing "Feliz Navidad" to get the service started.

After church we met some friends for lunch and then play time at a park on Las Americas.  We enjoyed great fellowship and a fun time together.

We were at the U.S. Embassy early on Monday morning to submit David and Cruz's passport paperwork.  Hopefully in two weeks their new ones will be ready.  On the way home we stopped by Eskala Mall to get the boys a much needed haircut. 

We have used this same shop since they were babies.  It seems like yesterday that Cruz was sitting in that red car for his haircuts.  They are growing up fast!

Afterwards they enjoyed ice cream while I picked up a few items for our New Year's Eve party.  We are all getting excited about ringing in the new year.   Once we returned home I got busy planning and preparing.  It's going to hopefully be another fun-filled family night.