Merry Christmas!! (Mostly Pictures)

 Ready for Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's church

 Grandpa likes the book we gave him!

 Everyone loves these jammies.

 And these.  All arms and legs on this guy.

This morning, the boys played with gifts from last night while we drank coffee.  We ate cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.  We picked presents for Jesus from the World Vision catalogs.  And then we did stockings.

 Pens that write with invisible ink and an ultra violet to reveal the secret.  So cool.

For those who don't know, our boys received three gifts from us each Christmas morning.  They correspond with the idea of heart (toy), soul (spiritual growth), and mind (educational).

 Luke's "soul" gift - a book about God's Names

 Paul's "soul" gift - a JOY journal where he can record prayers and praises.

 Paul's "mind" gift - Snap Circuits!

I didn't get any great shots of the other gifts, but they happened, too.  :-)  Then Oma arrived with freshly baked cinnamon rolls.  So.  Good.

 This is part of Krista and Elizabeth's gift to the boys.  It's a music box that they can create their own sheets for.  It is connected with a project Elizabeth works on having to do with diagnosing illness in third world countries.  So. Very. Cool!

 YES!  Another game I can lose to my kids!  ;-)

 Paul peruses his new Peanuts comic book.

 Luke is jazzed about his Peanuts book as well.

LEGO!  So very fun.

It's been a pretty great celebration so far.  We look forward to more time with family this evening.  Hopefully I will remember to take my camera and can share all that joy as well!

Yellow Belts!

This morning the boys and I earned our yellow belts for Taekwondo.  I was so proud of both boys, as the testing required much of them.  All the white belts, I believe there were eight of us, stood in a line facing the judges.  We performed on Master Frenel's count all of our blocks, punches, and kicks as a group.  We did our push up and squat forms as a group.  We recited our terminology individually and did our hapkido (self defense) with a partner.  We did individual board breaking.  All three of us broke our board on the first try...and mine was THICK, people!  Each child being tested was asked to stand and give an account for behavior at home and at school, based on a form filled out by teachers and parents.  I'm not kidding.  And I was honest on those forms, folks.  It was intense.  Both boys did beautifully.

Here are a few pics of afterward...all smiles!

 The Bangsunds are all smiles!

 The boys with Master Niranjan who often instructs their class on Monday afternoons.

Mr. Nick and the boys.  He is our instructor on Fridays.

I could not be prouder of the boys.  They are learning so much and improving in so many areas.

Advent Joy

Hey Peeps!  I blogged about Advent Joy at Simply Radical Christmas this morning.  You can click here to read that goodness.