Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 will soon fade into memory, and hopefully both Josephine and Sam will remember it fondly. They began with Mommy taking them to church, and then were dropped off at my house. We left cookies and Mommy's bourbon balls for Santa, and then were off to a very late bedtime. And then, magically there were presents under the tree when they woke up!


We waited for Mommy to come over before opening the major presents, but went ahead and opened the stockings first.


While we waited, Sam and Jo eyed the presents with glee.

Daddy's version of Santa got each child a box of Legos.

Sam's favorite present for the first part of Christmas was this dragon.

After opening presents at Forest Hills, we drove in the rain to Lynchburg to see Grandma Phyllis and Granddad. They were happy to see us.

Then we opened up more presents after Auntie Sandra, Uncle Scott, Ryan and Allison arrived.

They enjoyed this present that Allison got from Grandma and Granddad, with Jo pointing out the Mona Lisa.


Of course, it would not be a Christmas without something mermaid related. This year, something for daddy's bathroom.


This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

And, of course, there's always Jo White.


Finally, the day ended the same way it began - with stockings being unwrapped. Sam was absolutely exhausted, as you could imagine and as you can clearly see here. This was his first real Christmas, and I'm so blessed to have been able to spend it with him.


Yet, seconds later, look how his face lights up at the prospect of yet another truck!

Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, and a happy and peaceful 2010 to all!

Thanksgiving with the Tubbs family

I took Sam and Jo down to my parent's house at Smith Mountain Lake on Thanksgiving Day. We were there with Aunt Helen from Scotland and my sister and her family arrived just after dinner. They hadn't seen the kids since the summer of 2008. And, of course, there was singing.

Since my parents built this house in 2000, there has been a large cardboard box that has been used as a boat. Ryan and Allison, my sister's kids, have played in it, as have Tristan, Trevor, and Jordan. Josephine has also played in this boat with her older brother Henry. This was the first time Sam and Jo got to play in it together. Sam is sitting in the cabin while Jo is dancing (what else?)



Of course, you can't be on a boat without pretending for at least some of the time to be a pirate.


Sam had a good time.

And Jo got to dance.

Finally, here's one last picture of Jo with her granddad.