Christmas 2009

Just a few pictures from our 2009 Christmas. Hope you enjoy!

HARTSELLE 2009

John's mom, Billie. The reason we're all together. :)

Danny & Linda

John, the reason I get to be a part of this wonderful family. :)

Tisha (talking to Jay by Skype) and Tim

Connie was missing Blain. He was stuck in a snowstorm in NC. :(

Amy is the oldest of the grandkids. She's giving somebody a very serious look. :)

Allen belongs to Amy. (They are Will and Maggie's parents.) He is very intent on something.

These two beautiful girls belong to John and me. Katy is the third of the grandkids, and Jessi is the fifth. (No one is really sure where the second one is. NC, we think...) The handsome guy is Lance, Jessi's wonderful boyfriend.

And John and I claim this handsome guy, too. This is Katy's hubby Phillip. They are Sam's mommy and daddy.

Libby Ann is the grandkid between Katy and Jessi. She was missing her hubby (Jay who was in Iraq at the time, but he is now home for three weeks.)
***SOMEHOW I MISSED GETTING A PIC OF LUKE. THIS IS WHERE HIS PICTURE WOULD BE IF I HAD GOTTEN IT. SORRY, LUKE!!!***

Zac, the oldest of the great grandkids. He and Will had been playing hard, but they stopped long enough to eat (very little) and to open presents.

Will is the next in line. He is one funny kid! He loves to ham it up for the camera.

Next we have Landon. And yes his hair really IS that white. Every time he opened a gift, he would exclaim "It's perfect!" or "I can't believe it!" His daddy is Jay.

The next munchkin is Sam. It was SO bloomin' hard to get this kid still for pictures. He was all about getting in with the big kids and playing ball. He'll be in the midst of them for sure next year.

And the last of the great grandkids (for now...) is sweet Maggie. She is our only girl, but she's just as happy with a ball as a baby. Will is her big brother (in case you can't tell by looking at their pictures.)

This is someone who just wandered up and decided to join us. LOL Seriously, it is Keith, a cousin. He is the entertainment at most family gatherings. LOL

My handsome dad

and my beautiful mom...they have celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with the Vests for many years.

June is Blain's mom. I'm hoping she'll be joining us for holidays for many years. :)

The sad thing about family gatherings is that we are missing so many loved ones, but we are making so many wonderful memories with the new ones. I think one thing that is just as hard as missing those who are no longer with us is the fact that only a couple of hours after these pictures were made, Billie didn't remember who was or was not there. Several times later that night she said that she would love to see Mom and Dad because it had been so long since she'd seen them, or she would ask questions about how big Sam is getting. Alzheimer's is the most horrible disease there is. Both parents of a friend of mine have it. Their home health nurse told Jan and Beth to pray they died from cancer instead of getting Alzheimer's.

Dadeville 2009

Aunt Jessi playing with Sam

I LOVE this picture of Katy and her daddy. This man could not love his daughters any more than he does!

My mom and dad

Phillip, Katy, Lance, and Jess opening gifts

Aunt Jess and Sam again

Katy was playing with her...I mean Sam's...Little People Farm. lol Actually, I think we ALL played with it. Sam seemed to love it.

Isn't he a gorgeous kid?? Looks JUST like his daddy! YUMMY!! Poppa John fixed breakfast for him.

Just LOOK at those eyes!!!