We Had A Happy, Eventful Holiday Season!

We officially kicked off the holiday season with our annual Cone Family Christmas party in Liberty Hill, Georgia - just outside of Barnesville. This is my Pop Pop's side of the family. We had a great time as always. Our family is so large, we end up having this party every year in an historic community center there in Liberty Hill. A few of my cousins were not there this year, and we missed them. But it was a great party. Mama learned on this night that I definitely can hold my own playing with older boys. I ended up on the bottom of a tackle pile twice, and hopped right up without incident.


And here is a great shot of my brother, Xavier, who was able to attend the party with us.


Very little captioning is needed for this next round of photos, which hopefully capture the magic and wonder of a two year old on Christmas morning. But I'll give you an idea of what I was thinking in each shot. Here, I am just overwhelmed with what all is under the tree!

Wow Santa was GOOD to me!

This one is easy to get into.

PJ's!!!!!!

I like these PJs!!!

And another soft package.

I'm having fun!!!

"Princess" nightgowns and PJs were a direct request for Santa this year. I am very much into "princess" things right now.

See Grandma, Pop Pop and Doe? It's Cinderella!!!


Now for a BIG box. I wonder what is in here?

This one is tougher to get into!

This is looking like something that will be FUN!


It's a cash register with MONEY in it! Yaay!

Look at all this (play) money!!!


This will be so much fun to play with!!!

A baby doll. I love babies. This one is soft and easy to squeeze.

Here, you can see her too!

I'm opening some things from my stocking now. I think these are Disney panties.

And now another large box. What could this be?

It's another tough one to get into, but I can do it!

Rip, rip, rip.

OK, I'm in.

Wow, this is cool!

Yaay! I doctor's kit!

A stethoscope!

I like this kit!

What is this? A pager!

Do I talk into the pager like a phone?

Wow, it speaks to me and tells me I have a patient waiting on me.

I love playing with Grandma's real stethoscope, so this will be awesome for me to have my own!

Grandma, I need to take your blood pressure.

After all the gifts were opened, Mama and Baba told me Santa had left one more thing for me. And I closed my eyes, and they brought out THIS:

Want a hot dog Pop Pop?

I love my 50s Diner!

My very own oven!

There's a table side juke box, and I am about to make some coffee!

It bubbles just like it's boiling!

Now I'm getting creative and cutting up some "fruit" (Play Doh) on the booth side of the diner.

I'm going to make some more coffee.

My juke box is playing some cool tunes!

Let's see if the stuff in the oven is done.

Anyone need anything else?

OK, rewind to my visit to Santa. We did things a little different this year. Since I was terrified by the Santa at the mall last year, we decided to have a more relaxed visit with Santa at our church. Here I am listening to some music first.

What is that I hear?

Oh my!!!! It's Santa Claus!!!!!

Now we'll jingle some bells while Santa and his elves sing.

Santa looks so cute up there!

I was the first (as usual) to volunteer to sit on his lap. Obviously Mama and Baba made a good decision this year.

Santa is telling a few stories.

I'm enjoying sitting up here!

Awww. Santa gave me a gift - a cute candy cane!

Here is my collection of artwork from the season. I was very busy in school creating beautiful things that Mama and Baba eagerly displayed in the arched entrance to our sunroom.

And here is our collection of Christmas and Hanukkah cards we received from colleagues, friends and family members. Thank you all for remembering us!

We also had some really fun times after Christmas. My brother, Xavier, visited. We had a great time and Mama will post pictures of that later. Happy 2009 to everyone! This month includes my birthday (January 22). And then there's Chinese New Year too which will be coming up soon as we welcome in the year of the cow!!!