Thursday, December 27th

* All the girls slept in until 9:00, which was a mericle! Kimmy and Sergio got lucky since they were sleeping downstairs and didn't have to get woken up early. We had a big breakfast and started to get ready for the day. 

* I went on a run while the girls played at the house with everyone. Nathan went in the woods for a couple hours in the afternoon with his brother and dad.

* Then we packed up and headed to Norfolk and Virginia Beach. We had dinner at Grandma Dot's house with our family then headed to Virginia Beach for dessert at Grandma O'Brien's house. We had not been to Grandma O'Brien's new condo so we got the tour of her lovely place and celebrated her engagement to Jerry. A wedding should be soon to come! Here are some pictures from our visit..

Wednesday, December 26th

* Nathan woke up early to go hunting and was back by 10:00. It was a rainy day so it ended up being a good day to stay inside and play with the new gifts.

* I took off with all my sisters, minus Bekah, to the movie theater to go see Les Miserables! Me, Liz and Tori liked it but my mom, Courtney and Kimberly didn't like it as much. Liz and I had read the book and I had seen it on broadway so we had an appreciation for the whole story and got into the movie. However, the other half did not and said they would never see it again. It was an interesting discussion afterwards:) We had fun though!

* We got back and all the guys- Nathan, my dad, Blake, Luke, Landon and all the Pittman's went to play basketball in Poquoson. Thank goodness there were no injuries!

* While the guys were playing basketball, all the girls ( and Will and Reese) came over to our house to hang out. We played games, made cookies, painted nails, and watched the kids do the Wii dance.

Juliet and Alyssia playing together:)

* Kimmy and Sergio spent the night at our house. After the girls had baths they stayed up for a little while spending time with Kimmy and Sergio and doing a puzzle with daddy. The girls went to bed and we stayed up talking with them:)

Christmas Day

* The girls slept until almost 8:00. They were content watching a show on the computer in bed while we took a shower and got dressed. Then we all headed downstairs to open gifts.

This year instead of buying the girls a ton of gifts, we decided to get them each 3 gifts. We explained that we wanted to focus more on the "giving" at Christmas and wanted them to be a part of giving to someone else and use our money towards others instead of on ourselves. Natalee and Lydia understood and were excited about picking out gifts for someone else. We decided that we would buy gifts to give to the inner city kids in New York ( where our youth group was going on a trip).  So the girls made a list of what they wanted to buy. We headed to the store and picked out all the things on their lists plus some practical items:)

We set aside an afternoon and went to pick out the gifts. We bought three backpacks to put all the things inside of and gave away the backpacks. It was amazing to see how well they understood this process and how anxious they were to give the things away. I was so proud of them! I wish I had taken pictures, but next time I will!

Christmas gifts

•  Natalee and Lydia- cowgirl comforter, gymnastics outfit and a new Bible with cover.
• Julianna- rapunzel doll with horse, bathing suit (for swim lessons) and a Bible storybook
• Alyssia- a miniature minnie mouse chair, a new book and some bows                                            In each of their stockings they got some stamp pads, stamps and tootsie rolls

* After we opened the gifts, we sat down to a nice breakfast that I had prepared the night before.(it was not easy staying up the night before to prepare for the morning but it was so worth it the next morning!) We had french toast sticks, turkey bacon, homemade banana bread, cut up fruit and orange juice.

* At breakfast Nathan read the girls the story of Jesus' birth from the Jesus Storybook Bible. They were just as excited about eating a big breakfast together and reading a story as they were about opening presents. Nathan and I both realized that they just want to spend time with us. The presents are nice but they eventually get tired of them or the "newness" wears off. Our family is what really matters to them!

It was so nice to not have to rush on Christmas morning. Alyssia went down for a nap around 11:00 and we finished getting ready.

* We headed to Nana and Papa's after Alyssia's nap. We exchanged gifts and ate a big Christmas lunch together. We had told them also that we didn't want the girls to get a lot of gifts this year. So, they had scaled down on the gifts which was very nice! In years past the girls have gotten overwhelmed with gifts. They still got plenty of gifts this year between all the great grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. But, it was better then it has been!

* After lunch we all took part in Josh's proposal to Jenna! Long story short, me and Natasha asked Jenna to go for a walk on the trail. When we got to the end of the trail, Josh was there waiting with a lighted path and candles. He proposed, she said yes and we were all so happy for them! Wedding is coming on 5/31/13.

* We headed back to Tim and Karl's for hot chocolate and egg nog and to watch the proposal video.

* Then it was back home to put the girls to bed and put everything away. It was a long day but good!

God is so good!

Monday, December 24th- Christmas Eve

* Nathan went to get the part for the heater and fixed it!

* Then he finished painting the girls room!( for Christmas they are getting cowgirl comforters so we wanted to re-do their rooms.

* Me and the girls spent the morning making Christmas cards and caramel popcorn.

* Our neighbors, Mr. Wilur and Mrs. Iris came over to give the girls each a necklace for Christmas and we gave them a handmade picture frame and some baked goodies. They told us that they see the girls as their own grandkids....we are blessed to have them as our neighbors!

* Kimmy and Sergio picked up Natalee, Lydia and Juls to go to the Christmas Eve service at Liberty. We met them afterwards at my mom and dads for dinner.

* Christmas Eve dinner at mom and dad's with all my brothers and sisters...what a crowd! Andrea was sick so we missed her!

* Person gift exchanging! We had Juliet and gave her playdough with all the tools. The girls had Tori and gave her a nice scarf, earrings and her favorite gum. Luke had the girls and spoiled them....the movie, Brave, playdough, slippers and socks, glow in the dark stars and gum. All the kids gave mom and dad a photo book from our family beach trip. Mom and dad gave all the couples a gift card to the Marriott (with free babysitting) !!!

* Mom and dad converted all our childhood vhs movies into dvd's for us. We watched just one of them and reminisced about growing up and laughed at what we used to wear:)

* It was a late night getting the girls in bed but we were hoping they would sleep in:)

* We set out the gifts under the tree and got everything prepared for going over to Nana and Papa's for the afternoon the next day. Got in bed!

Sunday, December 23rd

* Nathan woke up at 3:30 in the morning to find out that the heat had stopped working. He stayed up for a couple hours trying to figure out the problem and heat the house up with the kerosene heater.

* 7:00-9:30- showered and got ready for church, breakfast, got the girls dressed and hair done and headed out the door for church.

* Pastor Mark reminded us to keep our focus on Jesus as the center of Christmas,  girls had "happy birthday Jesus" parties in their classes. We took some family pictures after church.

* Lunch at Tim and Karla's with all the Jone's side of the family and Mamaw Jones. It was a big crowd but it was good seeing everyone!

Natalee and Lydia with Mamaw Jones

* After the party, we left all 4 girls at their house while Nathan and I went out on a date with Emily and Andrew Johansson. We met at Olive Garden and had so much fun with them! It was some much needed catching up time with them!

* We picked up the girls, came home, put the girls to bed, wrapped our last 2 gifts, cleaned up and went to bed:) ( We had borrowed a portable heater for the upstairs and it wasn't too bad outside so we were able to sleep just fine with the heater. That was a blessing!)

Saturday, December 22nd

* Nathan spent his first morning off getting up at 4:00 in the morning to go hunting. I still don't understand this but I have just decided that I don't need to understand but just let him do it:) So, I slept until 7:30 then took the girls to the Y,  met Courtney and Dad at the trail, and went for a run! We are training for our half marathon in March. It was freezing and cold but we survived and it felt good afterwards. ( I guess Nathan doesn't really understand why I would want to go run in the cold either, but that's beside the point:)

* Kimmy and Sergio had just arrived in town so they came over for lunch and spent the afternoon with us playing games and hanging out. The girls loved spending time with them!

* Nathan got home and the girls played the Wii with him while I prepared for church the next morning. All the girls were wearing their Christmas dresses!

* Bath, Story time, Bed

* laundry.....and more laundry.....and saved some for the next day:)

Friday, December 21st

* I got up a little bit before the girls, had some quiet time with Jesus then did some laundry, had some coffee and waited to hear that first little cry of a little girl waking up. I heard Alyssia then went upstairs to discover that Julianna was in the crib with her and attempting to change her diaper...yes and she didn't like that!

* Once all the girls were up we did some Christmas baking. We made some chocolate crinkle cookies. Needless to say, we made a mess! Lydia was there too but was more interested that morning in doing her hair and coming up with a fashion show so she didn't make the pictures:)

* Nathan got home soon after lunch for the start of his Christmas break, which was nice! He entertained the girls while I tried to clean up our big mess.

* We just hung out at home and played some games before dinner, bath and bed.