it was a special year at the spence house for christmas, as dan, cassie, and alex white joined us to celebrate the holiday for the first time in many years. we were all so glad that they could be there, so we marked the occasion with a big family photo.

we all woke up early to open our presents from santa. phoebe seems really excited about that bib she got!

jackson could hardly believe his pile of presents! what was in that giant box?? (a playmobil circus tent, just what he asked for!)

aunt naomi was more than happy to pal around with phoebe for the weekend. they’d never met before, but were fast friends!

despite the sour expression, jackson did love all his presents this year!

jackson didn’t really want to open any other presents once grandpa and daddy got the circus tent set up.

cassie and alex enjoyed the show, even though they had to wake up early to see it!

matt had a good time buying presents for dan. driving goggles? where does he find this stuff??

grandpa liked his new shirt (“Grandpa since 2006″) — he plans to wear it in florida.

portrait time again! dave, jackson, molly, kurt, phoebe, marcia, matt and naomi

it’s always great to have susan and her mom, chris, over for christmas dinner. the ladies looked lovely yet again!

nine years ago (christmas 2000) we took a photo similar to this one of all the babcock grandchildren. and my, how they have grown since then (see original photo below)!

(clockwise from top center in both photos) alexander, matthew, daniel, david and cassandra

the farmer and his lamb (sheep?) made a second appearance this season, this time on halloween night in doylestown, pa. phoebe rode in style in a borrowed wagon filled with hay, jackson’s barn, and the other animals as we ventured up and down grandma and grandpa’s street searching for candy.

it was a dark and rainy night, but lucky for jackson it wasn’t too spooky. the houses we visited had only friendly monsters and ghosts, and plenty of candy!

grandma and her friend, barb, manned the porch, giving away lots of lollipops in between gabbing!

when we got back to the house, jackson wasted no time digging into his treats.

phoebe was so sad she couldn’t have any chocolate this year!

thanks, doylestown, for a super spooky, sweet and delicious halloween 2009!