Christmas morning 2017

We had a wonderful Christmas service at church in the morning and then a Christmas Eve dinner with friends and the kids opened one gift each...new pajamas and a comic to read in bed that night. 

The kids at church Christmas Eve morning.

Sissi got a Lassie comic and elephant pajamas.

Gwangi got Minecraft pajama pants and a Red Ryder comic.

Krypto got Marvel pajama pants...

and a Jules Verne "Mysterious Island" comic.

Then, it's the wait for Christmas morning.

I woke up early to get the cinnamon rolls in the oven and make eggs and bacon to go with it. We also had some leftover homemade eggnog from the night before and yogurt.

Krypto put his bacon on top of his cinnamon roll!

Then, it's the final chapter in our Advent reading and Luke chapter 2 before opening presents.

Sissi went for her stocking first. She was thrilled to get a new Ortensia pin for her Disney lanyard along with some candy and a new Littlest Pet Shop character.

Krypto and Gwangi got some chocolate and mini games/characters in their stockings.

And a pin! Gwangi got an old Star Wars IV pin that I found on Ebay!

Krypto got an old Tron pin...they were both excited at my finds!

Sissi's next gift was the MP3 player she's been asking for. We'll download some music on it today for her to listen to on our trip.

Krypto's gift to Gwangi was a Super Mario Wii game. They can't wait to play with me, so they can see how we played Mario back in the "old days."

Sissi's gift to Krypto was a Marvel pin with Ironman, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk.

The boys combined and got Sissi another Dr. Who Lego set.

Fun to have a long sleeved "Gwangi" shirt to go with his short sleeved one.

And for Krypto, a long sleeved "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" shirt.

Sissi is very into elephants so we got her a pair of elephant leggings.

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" for Daddy.

Gwangi got a Super Mario character set and a new 3 DS Mario game to play.

Comics for all!

A cake decorating set from Tony and Yvette for Sissi.

Sissi got Gwangi a Superman pin.

Krypto asked for several digital things. He got Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" on Kindle from Gwangi and some Stellaris upgrades (Utopia and Synthetic Dawn,) plus a board game (Pandemic) that is still in transit, from Indy and I.

Some fun elephant jewelry for Sissi...earrings and an essential oil diffuser necklace in the shape of an elephant head.

A close up of Sissi's jewelry.

So thankful for the Hartsoes (Walker and Emma, you rock!) who sent a 3DS and a dozen games for the kids, they are all going to share it and have some fun!

Comics for Sissi!

Sitting and playing with his new Mario characters.

I got a card game that I think will be fun! I will try to play it with some friends this coming week.

Gwangi's comic collection! These are some old comics Jeff found on Ebay. He has the originals, from back when he was a kid, still in storage. These are now copies for the kids to keep and enjoy.

More Westerns for Daddy.

A joint kid game...Wacky Races. They love it!

A Minecraft card game for Gwangi.

There are still some gifts from family members that are in transit and the kids also have some money to spend from the grandparents and aunts and uncles...I think a trip to the Kathe Wollfahrt store in Berlin to buy some of their very own Christmas ornaments is on their radar.

It was a sweet and lovely morning and we'll take some time to be together, play games, and then pack this afternoon before heading to the airport in the morning for our time in Germany. Cannot wait to see friends there, visit many historical sites, and take some time to learn and relax. Merry Christmas to you all! May you be blessed and know the true reason for this holiday season.

It's finally Christmas Break and school is out!

We've done it!

We've completed 14 weeks of school only taking off 2 days, other than weekends...one was for the PSAT and the other for Thanksgiving! Whew!

We had a long summer on the road and then the move back to Kyrgyzstan, so we didn't start school until the middle of September, about a month later than we usually begin. Knowing that I still wanted to be done with this school year by the end of May, we have been pushing through the fall to get in our days.

Everyone is doing well, I am happy to say. Krypto is a freshman (9th grade) this year, and so I actually started keeping track of his grades (I'm using 5 J's Gradebook) so we can have an accurate transcript for him when he applies to colleges. I'm happy to announce that his mid-year grades are as follows:

Math-U-See Geometry - 92%

Apologia Chemistry - 96%

20th Century History and Geography - 97%

20th Century Literature, Writing, and Analytical Grammar - 95%

20th Century Philosophy and Government - 99%

Russian - 94%

Drama - 98% (He is playing a role in "Fiddler on the Roof" and with the amount of time he puts in, I am giving him a half credit for the school year. His grade so far is based on memorization of his lines and the music during his "off book" checks with me.)

He had a rough start back in the fall, really in truth, we both did. The increase in work load for a high school student for both him as the student and me as the teacher, on top of an almost 4 month summer break and an international move, made September and October a bit tough. We recently got his PSAT 8/9 scores back and his stress, particularly by the end of the test, is evident in his math score of 450 (which is the 55th percentile.) He was disappointed, but we discussed how he really only had about 2 weeks to prepare for the test and he was taking Geometry, not Algebra, which is what the test is testing. I think starting school next fall in August, it not being his first test taking experience, and taking Algebra II will hopefully all buoy his score for the PSAT 10. His English score was a 600 which is in the 95th percentile...also not a big surprise. He loves to read and write and has an extensive vocabulary. We'll just keep marching on in his math studies and with some prayer and study hope those numbers come up next year.

Gwangi and Sissi are doing well also. All three kids are enjoying studying 20th Century History and Literature and they all successfully memorized the book of Philippians this fall and quoted it all to me this week. Sissi also worked through memorizing all the states, capitals, and postal codes this fall while the boys memorized all of the world's countries and capitals.

We're excited now to wrap up our Advent season with some reading, some family time, and a showing of the Nutcracker! Merry Christmas to you all!

A day at Ala Archa

After we had been back for just a week or so, we were invited out to Ala Archa with some friends of ours...lots of food, because the Kyrgyz don't do small food, and some incredible views of the mountains!

Some of the ladies, prepping the feast.

Cutting up the veggies to prepare for lunch.

They bought a whole grilled lamb for lunch. Dinner was grilled chickens.

Sitting around, talking, sharing, and singing together.

The mountains just south of Bishkek.

Taking a hike down to the river.

We found some people down by the river that had an eagle. Sissi and Gwangi both took turns holding it.

Gwangi with the eagle.

My three kiddos, ready for a hike.

We found some cool trees to sit in.

More amazing views of Ala Archa, so just keep on scrolling.

Sissi and one of our friend's daughter.

Another pretty cool tree.

What a great day together!