Halloween Pictures

Halloween '09 is upon us! We went to a WMM party already this week and Jumpin' J is getting psyched up to go trick or treating on Saturday! Here are a couple of shots from our official photo shoot today.

Happy Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day

to DADDY!!!
And all the other Dads in our lives!

including but not limited to...
Grandpa Kimball, Grandpa Johnson, Grandpa Potter, Grandpa Gary,
Uncle Tim, GUD, GUT,
Uncle Mike, Uncle Deano, Uncle EZ,
and everyone else!!!

The Grandma Easters

On Easter Jumpin' J was lucky enough to visit Grandma and Grandpa's house where he got to see both of them and Auntie Donna.

He went to church with Daddy and was a very good boy. And when he got back he got to have another "essa egg" hunt, totally awesome!

Then he and Daddy drove to NH to meet up with me at Grandma Laurie's house and Uncle Andrew and Auntie Kim came too. At Grandma's he got a forklift and bulldozer for his little people and had fun all afternoon playing.

Ho Ho's Friend Came

When J woke up on Easter morning he asked if Ho Ho had come. We explained that Ho Ho's friend the Easter Bunny came and brought him more "essa eggs" and that he would have to find them. He was sooooo excited! Life is good!

A Hunting We Will Go

I still have so many good memories of the Easter egg hunts and my grandparent's house as a kid, even the one when I was 5 and had the chicken pox and had to have my own private hunt in the house. So when Sean and I heard about the Huge Egg Hunt at a nature reserve near our house I suggested we go. And boy was it worth it!
Come on guys, let's go

Oooh a purple one

Daddy, there's more over here

Putting them carefully in his basket

And a hug for you, Easter Bunny!

St. Patty's Fun

This week was St. Patrick's Day and since J and I are partially Irish we felt it appropriate to celebrate in style. We started the day putting the corned beef and potatoes for dinner into the crockpot to simmer all day.

Then we went to a St. Patty's Day party with our WMM friends where we got to go swimming, eat good green food, and play in the gym! We both had a great time.

We got home in time to add the cabbage to the crockpot. After J's nap he helped me to cook dinners for our friends to be delivered the next day. And for dinner J got to enjoy his first corned beef and cabbage St. Patrick's Day dinner. His pronouncement, "Yummy, good!" That sums it up!

Grandpa Gary Likes Thomas Too

Grandpa Gary and Donna came down the day after Christmas to visit with us and give Jumpin' J his presents! He was totally loving the Thomas set and trains that they got for him. And they also got him a wicked cool Thomas ornament that he kept taking off the tree to try to play with! He even got a train named Arthur which is Grandpa Gary's real first name, super neat!

Grandpa, Uncle "Anrew", and Daddy had a great time setting up the Thomas set that J had just gotten and connecting it to the set that Santa had brought. Meanwhile J just kept running around and around the table trying to get in to play! Big boys and little boys all love trains!!!

What are BIG cousins for?

To help you play with your toys of course! We had a great time in the evening on Christmas Day with the entire Potter family! From the great food and company to the always fantastic and fun Yankee Swap we all had a super time!

Presents from Santa

Just what we always wanted!!! Jumpin' J got his train set and a tent and tunnel set...

J's dad got a jogging stroller for he and J to use....

And I got candy and a toothbrush ;) oh yeah and a GPS for my car!

Ho Ho Ho Came

And J's dad and I caught him on video!!! Here's J watching the video with his dad...

And here's what Santa left upstairs for us...

And here's what he left downstairs!

Rip, Thank You, Rip, Thank You

After breakfast on Christmas morning Grandma Laurie, Uncle "Anrew", and Auntie Kim came to open presents at our house! J opened up most of his presents before he went down for a nap! He was so cute opening presents, he would rip off a small piece of paper and hand it to who ever was "heping" and say "tank you" as he handed you each piece. He had us all cracking up!

I do want to give a big shout out to Uncle Andrew for his creativity in wrapping Sean's and my gift this year! He taped together a bunch of money and then used it as wrapping paper to wrap a box of truffles. He even made a bow! Very impressive indeed!!

Eve with the Kimballs

Jumpin' J, his dad, and I went up to my grandpa's house on Christmas Eve to visit with my mom's side of the family. J loved seeing his big cousin Margaret!!

He had a great time "watering" Pops' tree with his new turtle watering can.

And generally kept everyone laughing including himself!

Size Doesn't Matter

Just because a tree is small doesn't mean that it can't be gorgeous!

Happy Holidays!

From our family to yours!!!

Santa Winks

For as long as I could remember my Grandma always wore a special Santa pin on Christmas. She had gotten it when she was a little girl and it was awesome because when you tilted it he winked at you.

Grandma died almost 6 years ago now but I still miss her alot. Christmas was her favorite time of the year. I can still remember her singing all off key at midnight service because she just loved those Christmas tunes! She had not one but two trees. One upstairs in her living room, that one always had a theme and was different every year. And one in the basement, that one was fake and it had all the oldies but goodies ornaments on it. We'd always have a huge mountain of presents under that fake tree in the basement. And we'd all huddle around the space heater until the basement warmed up a little. The memories I have of Christmas all revolve around her, she was the glue!

Christmas of 1985 was the year that she and Grandpa made me a dollhouse, it was so fantastic! They had built it out of hardwood and it was wallpapered and decorated perfectly, some rooms even had chair rails. Grandma had braided rugs for the floor and made curtains and bedspreads and even little throw pillows that matched. And in the living room was a teeny Christmas tree with presents under it that I got to unwrap! The love they put into that dollhouse made that the best Christmas ever!!!

Even that last Christmas when she was really sick we went to see her. She stayed on the couch while we opened presents but she was so happy to have her family with her! I know that it meant so much to her to be able to celebrate her favorite time of the year with her favorite people on earth!

I really wish that she was still alive today because she would just love Jumpin' J to pieces. I wish that she had seen me and my brother get married and get to see my little cousins grow up. But I know that she is in a better place now and that her spirit lives on in all of us! So every year at Christmas it is now my proudest moment when I open up that little box and put on the Winking Santa because it reminds me what the true meaning of Christmas is.


Merry Christmas Grandma!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

If you ask Jumpin' J what Santa Claus says he replies Ho! Ho! Ho! Here are Jumpin' J's official Christmas pictures! And a Ho! Ho! Ho! for everyone!!!