Christmas Day 2014

After the early morning at home, we headed to MD for Johnson Christmas time.

With his Great-Grandpa William and new cousin William

Brayden was more in to cuddling than the chaos.  So he did a lot of it.

Christmas Morning

Brayden is not one of those kids waking before the sun is up, excited for Christmas.  He wanted to sleep more, even if his brothers tried to convince him it would be fun.

Jeremy, Carter, Luke and I opened gifts and had breakfast while Brayden continued to sleep.  Finally we had to bring some Christmas to him.  He may have closed eyes, pretending we were not actually there.

Christmas Eve 2014

A leisurely morning at home.  Then off to Grandpa Warren and Grandma Ellie's house for Christmas with the Jenkins side of the family.

The evening did start quite so smooth.  The new wheelchair was not working for me, it was hard to load in the car.  I disassembled it to load it in our SUV, problem was I could not get it back together.  I thought the chair was going to end up on the front lawn.  Many of the family tried to help but no one had ever put a wheelchair together.  My patience as at the limit with this new chair. 

The chair was finally assembled and he settled in for some Christmas fun.  Singing, playing and family.

Christmas Cookies and Gingerbread House decorating

Why not get Brayden involved?  Play with some icing and decorations.



How he really feels about it all...



Trying to make this happen

A BiPAP.  For Brayden, it might as well be a medieval torture device.  For a child that loathes/screams when his face is touched, how can we keep this on him all night?

Every night will get easier, right?

For the first several nights, we watched as he dozed off to sleep with the BiPAP machine on.  I watched his breathing. 

A remarkable difference.  Without the breathing assistance, his breathes are swallow, tight and fast.  Seeing those deep, long breathes with the help, it is easy to see how much he needs it.

Delivery Day

The day to deliver all of the toys!  When renting the U-Haul, I did not think about the fact that it only has two front seats.  Thankfully Luke had his class holiday party so he was not too upset about staying at school.  Carter was my helper for the day.

I called the hospital to give them a bit of a heads up...we had a lot of toys.  Their cute little carts that deliver flowers to the patients were not going to cut it this time.  I told the hospital staff to be on the look out for the big obnoxious U-Haul.

We arrived and they were ready, big charts.  It was a task to unload everything in the freezing cold and wind.  But we got it done.  Now those toys will help bring a smile to a child's face (and to their parent's heart).  Thank you to everyone that helped us this year! 

What to do with all of those toys?!

Our Inova Children's Hospial Toy Drive was a success, frankly any amount of toys would be a success.  But this year, was the largest thus far.  As the toys started piling in and we picked up the donation boxes, we realized that a U-Haul was needed.  I barely made it fit in our SUV last year (which luggage racks and all).  This year, a bigger mode of transportation was in order.

I picked up the U-Haul.

Came home to the boys bringing all of the toys to the garage and sorting.

And finally the loading and loading of so many toys!

Santa in Waterford

For several years in a row, we have missed Santa's fire truck ride through Waterford.  We waited until the last moment before leaving for basketball practice.  We started to load the car and off in the distance we could hear the sirens and a "ho, ho, ho".

We scrambled quickly to get Brayden in on the action.  He loves Christmas lights and music.  And Santa's ride definitely provides that (can hear it and see it for miles).

Tea for Toys

Why not host a Tea for Toys?  A fun festive, afternoon with friends.  Have some tea and bring a toy for Inova Children's Hospital.

A lovely afternoon with friends (and many that could not make it, went out of their way to drop off toys).  We sipped tea from my grandmother's collection of tea cups and saucers.
Such generousity, an abundance of toys for the children's at the hospital.  What an amazing way to bring joy to some very special families (and I was having such a great time, I completely forgot to take pictures with all of the fabulous ladies).

Jenkins Give Back

It is time for our 4th annual Jenkins Give Back!

A toy drive for Inova Children's Hospital and the Santa letter writing, Believe campaign through Make-a-Wish and Macys.

Many people helping out this year: 

• Western Loudoun Basketball League - donation box for toys at picture day.
• Coach's Corner - come in to dine on delicious food and bring a toy.  You can also write a letter to Santa while at your table.
• Shenandoah Sluggers - drop off toys with your team or bring them by Hamilton Service Center.
• D1SA - bring a toy and write a letter at the basketball indoctrination training during the month of December.
• Write your own letters to Santa and drop them off in the red mailbox right inside Macys, the only mailboxes that directly reach Santa.
• And you can certainly drop toys and letters off at our house.

The White House Christmas Tour

Brayden's class trip to the White House for Christmas.  A day filled with many surprises and wonderful memory making moments. 


Entering the East Wing of the White House

A Visit with Presidential dogs, Bo and Sunny



With the mechanical Bo

Loving all the lights

Learning about the different color rooms of the White House

Brayden and his classmate discussing the Red Room

The official White House Gingerbread house

Class Photo

Our crew