Christmas & NYE 2015

Happy New Year! I love the quietness of January after the holiday season, don't you? It feels like we were just gearing up for Thanksgiving...and we didn't slow down until those NYE horns were blowing! George's first Christmas was a full one! We started with a Christmas Eve brunch my family hosts every year (what fun to finallyyy introduce George to my cousins!). After brunch we went to our church's 3pm family service for Christmas Eve. I remember thinking, "We're at the family service! This feels so surreal! I still can't believe we have a baby!" :) It was such a sweet service--so calming and sacred to have a few moments of (relative) quiet sitting with Andrew and George in the back of the auditorium...being reminded of the story of God sending His Son. I think I set a record for crying happy tears almost every single Sunday at church, but that Christmas Eve service just about did me in. I am so grateful to God for the gifts He has given me--and the greatest gift of all, His Son Jesus!

We spent Christmas Eve dinner with my in-laws and returned on Christmas morning to open gifts with them. After the gift opening with Andrew's family we were off to see my family. A busy, but joy-filled day! 

A few days after Christmas we went away with my family to Hot Springs, Virginia. It gets trickier to get all of us together with job commitments and limited vacation time and naval deployments. But, the majority of us were able to make it away for a few days of a family vacation. My brother's darling fiancé, Elinor, joined us, too! We missed my brother, Isaac, who is currently serving his second deployment overseas with the Navy. 

We had such a relaxing few days in Hot Springs. My Mom was so thoughtful to track down a hotel-recommended babysitter for George on NYE. Mom and Sis and I talked with Miss Peggy, who must have been in her mid to late 70s, the day before during an informal little interview. She was a Hot Springs local and has been babysitting kids at the hotel for over 50 years...amazing! Just a salt of the earth, old-fashioned, good-hearted woman. I still crack up when I recall asking Miss Peggy, "Do you have a cell number in case I need to get ahold of you while we're downstairs?" Her response, in a deep southern Virginia drawl, was "Well, now, I have a land line you could call." Haha! Things worked out wonderfully even without the cell phone--my brother Nate opted to stay back from the NYE festivities and he and Miss Peggy watched George together in the hotel room. Nate called us twice to let us know George was a tad inconsolable. ;) Even with the interruptions we were still able to ring in 2016 with my parents, my Sis, my youngest brother, and the soon-to-be-newlyweds! It was such a fun evening, and a really wonderful time away.