CHRISTmas Recap

Since I have yet to do a little Christmas recap, I want to take a quick minute to do that since one of the purposes of this blog is to keep a written journal of our story and this journey that the Lord has us on so that we can always look back and recall all God has done and so that our children can see the story of their mama & daddy!

Rance and I love being intentional about our time with others and also our time with one another.  BOTH are important.  One of my favorite memories in the month of December was partyin' it up with my Tuesday night discipleship group.  These girls are precious and although they are all at different places spiritually "to this end I labor" (the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:29) when referring to presenting every man perfect (spiritually mature) in Christ Jesus.  I long for them to grasp the Father's plan - for their ultimate desire in this life to be to Know Him and to continually be conformed to the image of His Son, and for them to understand that the great commission is not only to share the gospel but to MAKE DISCIPLES. 

We study the Word a lot but we PLAY a lot too :)  AND this night we PLAYED and laughed until we hurt!  Lindy was in from college pretty much the entire month of December so she joined in just like old times.  It has been a joy to watch her during her first semester in college and to hear what the Lord is constantly teaching her. 

Hello Kaitlyn, Anna, Gina (Autumn), muah, Coondog (Lindy), Savannah

Goobers!

Of course everyone brought a FREE to $5 gift for some Chinese Christmas!

 

And these two did their man thang!  (We always send them to the basement after dinner)

Hilarious they are!

We thoroughly enjoyed a fun time with Marla, Devin, Kenleigh and Rance's mommy for a little party time too.  Unfortunately, Rance got VERY sick on the Friday before they came over on Saturday. He was not able to enjoy himself very much that evening but still cut up and enjoyed ourselves.

A PRESENT to the both of us but we had to decide who go to keep it?!!  ERRR! (jk)

What could it be?!

Baby Shuler gift from Nana (Rance's mom)

*FAMILY PICTURE*
LOVE Kenleigh's expressions

And I LOVE her sweet dimples!



Kenleigh and her daddy!

On Sunday (22nd), after hitting up the Urgent Care in Bryson City for boo bear - we headed to Nahunta for a week for Christmas.  The first few days Rance was very sick but by Christmas Eve, he was feeling like himself again.

Our ANNUAL cousin picture!

And another ANNUAL picture!

Love this picture of my mama & daddy
(but how awkward is that bridal portrait in the background??? I'm not a fan of it)

Group shot!

Love our picture traditions except Rance was missing from this one!

CHRISTmas day starts early at the Pittman household!  We wake up at my parents house and the 5 of us thoroughly enjoy a morning together.  Rance shared from the Word, we opened presents, and then Rance and I got to SURPRISE my parents and brother with the news that we are having a BOY!  My mom could not believe I had kept it from her for the previous 5 days but I CAN KEEP A SECRET people!  We have several family members come by for breakfast and we bounce around from house to house seeing family too.  I love the quality family time the most and seeing cousins and aunts and uncles that I do not get to see all year.  

Rance, my brother and my daddy!

Another ANNUAL Christmas picture with my cousin Brooke & CJ!

I love my mama!

...and I Love my pookie pie!

 

The day after Christmas I was able to have quality time with a couple of dear sweet friends from college!  I met both Sara and Elizabeth (whom I called partna) my freshman year in college.  Sara was THAT girl that I saw everywhere and when we finally talked - we just clicked!  Elizabeth on the other hand was the girl I sat next to in my very first math class in college and we ended up taking every college class together from there on out all the way through graduate school!  We both ended up with a Bachelor's and a Master's in Accounting AND we started working for the same firm right out of college.  Sara now has 2 boys and Elizabeth has 1 little girl!  It was so much fun catching up with these girls. I am super thankful we can always pick back up where we left off.



 

 

One favorite highlight of being in Nahunta for a week was FINALLY getting to spend some time with MANDY.  During 2013 our schedules did not line up together well but we ended the year with quality time praise the Lord!  I am not sure how I went all through Christmas without taking one single picture of us but I did snap a shot of the sweetest baby gift from her & Brandon that really made my heart explode!

 

Baby boy has been prayed for a LONG time!  I love God HEARD from the very beginning...



Rance and I are separate A LOT when we are with my family.  I know I do not write much about what he is up to but he is generally on the farm bonding with my brother or my dad or both! 

 

We spent a few more days in Nahunta after CHRISTmas but there will be more to come on that later.

Until then - Happy NEW year!