Saturday, December 29th

 * We got the two little girls ready and woke the two big girls up at 10:00 to leave for Maryland. We were traveling to celebrate Grandaddy's 80th birthday. Bekah rode with us and helped entertain the girls:) It was a long ride but we made it!

* At the party we ate, watched a slideshow of his life, gave him a scrapbook that was filled with pages from all of us and hung out with family. It was good to see Grandaddy so happy!
The girls adore him and I am so thankful that we were able to be there with him to celebrate his special birthday.

                                  Bekah likes to get a picture of the 8 kids anytime we are all together!

* The ride home was even longer with the girls since the two little ones were tired but weren't going to sleep. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts and that helped for a little while:) We made it home though, did baths and put the girls to bed....then we went to bed!

Friday, December 28th

* Me and the girls went to the Y. I ran the trail and had a good run! Nathan went hunting for the day at a hunt club with a guy from work/church.

* Kimmy and Sergio came to pick up Natalee and Lydia and take them to Christmas Town with my mom and dad, Luke, Tori, Liz and Bekah. They felt special being able to go by themselves and had so much fun!

* I made a meal for Laura Poole. Me, Juls and Alyssia went to deliver the meal ( and saw sweet baby Olivia) , did a quick Coscto run then stopped by Chic-fil-a. Julianna had been promised to go to Chic-fil-a to play on the playground and get ice-cream (her favorite thing in the world to do:)

* The girls didn't get home until 10:30 and couldn't stop talking about all of the fun they had! Natalee rode her first roller coaster and Lydia went on DiVinchi's cradle! So they didn't get to sleep til after 11:00.

*  Nathan fell asleep by 9:00 and I finished getting ready for our trip to Maryland the next day.

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!

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!)

Thursday, December 20th

* We left for Yankee Candle Factory at 9:00 and picked up Abby Poole on the way.( actually it was 9:10...everything was going smoothly and we were on time until I opened the fridge to get Alyssia's sippy cup and it fell on the floor, cracked and splattered everywhere with milk all in it. I had new swade boots on and they got ruined then I even somehow spilled gas on them while pumping gas on the way).

* We made it to the factory though and met Courtney, Tori and the boys there! I had Bekah with me so we had plenty of help! All the kids dipped candles, we had lunch and picked out some candy bags for all of them:) It was fun!

* Alyssia fell asleep on the way home but only stayed asleep for like 20 minutes so it ruined her nap and Julianna never did fall asleep so I knew I was in for it the rest of the afternoon.

* We got home and played outside then came in and had a short "rest time." 

* Nathan watched the younger two girls and put them to bed while I took the older two girls to Windsor gymnastics center. They were getting evaluated to see what level class they should be in for classes starting in January. They were pumped all day about going and did a great job! They both ended up being able to be in the same class along with a friend who lives in Smithfield. Yea, that means we will be able to carpool!

* It took the girls awhile to settle down after they got home and showed daddy all of their gymnastics moves. Another late night.....but that is what Christmas break is for I guess! 

* It was movie night for Nathan and I!

Wednesday, December 19th

* I took the girls to the Y and went running on the trail.

* Karla came and picked up Natalee, Lydia and Julianna to spend the afternoon at her house doing Christmas crafts.

* I dropped off Alyssia at my mom's house while I went to meet with Cindy at Starbucks. She helped me with my blog!

* I picked Alyssia up and brought Bekah home with me to spend the night.

* Nathan took Natalee and Lydia to church while I stayed home with the little ones. It was a long day for them so it was dinner, bath and bed.

* I stayed up with Bekah making caramel popcorn for the first time for Nathan's co-workers. It turned out really good!

* Natalee and Lydia came home all wound up after their Christmas parties from church:) So they didn't get in the bed until 10:00.

* I prepared for leaving the house the next morning by 9 for Yankee Candle Factory.

* Nathan and I went to read in bed:)

Tuesday, December 18th

 I'm going to attempt to recap our activities over Christmas! This year was our first year with Nathan actually having some time off over Christmas. Since we have been married, he has been working for UPS and only had Christmas day off. This year he had off 11 days, which has been soooo nice! In years past it has been stressful on Christmas day just trying to fit everything in but this year was quite different!

The girls had off starting the 18th of December so that's when our Christmas break started!

Tuesday, December 18th: 

* All the girls slept in which was a nice start to the day! We spent most of the day cleaning and doing some crafts.
* Josh and Jenna came over for dinner. We had Chicken parmigiana with salad and bread. Josh did the wii dance with the girls and was made to dance to songs that they picked:) Jenna did it too and Josh had to do a song by himself but he was a good sport! They stayed and hung out after the girls went to bed. We had a good time!