Christmas Craziness

I had way too many pictures to pick from so here are some of my favorites from the last 2 weeks...

Evan enjoyed looking at the "no" out the window:

The whole crew went to visit Grandma Edi:


We had a terrible time getting Cameron, Paxson, & Evan to sit in front of the tree:


But Evan decided to say "cheese" for the camera:


And he had hugs for Paxson:

Cam & Evan were buddies:

Evan and Jack were buddies too:




And the day we were in Southern Illinois was finally warm enough to play outside! Evan loved it...




And he loved his 2nd cousin Ellie...


We are looking forward to being home by the end of the week! Hope you all had a nice Christmas!

Evan & Jack

Paxson & Our First Snow Day

Yesterday mom and I babysat Paxson while Jodi was at work. That boy is SO sweet. I would have held him more if Evan wasn't so jealous. Evan wanted to be on my lap or at least right next to me if I was snuggling with Paxson.


But if Paxson was on the floor, Evan wanted to play with him...

And hug him...


There is a little bit of snow on the ground here....or as Evan would say: "no" He went outside this morning with Grandpa. He wouldn't even touch the snow until Grandpa made him a little snowman.

Random Pictures

Here are a couple pictures I took this week of Evan with the Christmas tree....



And here we are at our Small Group Christmas Party....


Evan is learning early that he needs to help clean up after himself...

High School Musical

I admit I was very reluctant to watch High School Musical. But after watching the first one....I was hooked! Kelly and I rented the second one then Kelly, Renae, and I went to the theater to see the 3rd one. We were so excited about going to the movies that we thought it would be fun to dress up for the event!

So I guess this blog is dedicated to my HS friends because I certainly felt like I was back in high school again!

Getting ready for our big night...

All Ready to go...

We had a lot of fun at the movies!

For more pictures and details about our night out, be sure to look at Kelly's blog!

I guess we are raising Evan to be a "Gator."




And here is Evan playing with his friend Megan. They were cracking me up today as they chased each other around the house....

Thanksgiving

Joel, Evan, and I have SO much to be thankful for. We are continually grateful for the way God provides for us. This Thanksgiving we were reminded of the importance of family. We love our family and it has been hard to be so far away the last few years. A couple weeks ago Joel's brother, John, was here for a short visit. Joel was able to spend a day with him and for that he was grateful. This weekend Joel's parents were able to be here with us.

They brought a "scooter" for Evan....


For Thanksgiving we all went to Chris & Renae's house. Chris, Renae, Joel, & Shari have been part of our "Gainesville Family" for quite awhile now. We love spending time with them and we were happy to accept their invitation to Thanksgiving.

Renae & Shari had things under control in the kitchen...

While Evan was doing his cooking on the floor...

After lunch we had a good time watching Mark & Linda play the Wii...

And Evan was well-entertained by Dr. Joel and all the balls...

Thank you Chris & Renae for hosting our family for Thanksgiving!


Friday was Joel's golden birthday. I am very thankful for my wonderful husband. After such a long election season he is finally able to relax and enjoy life. After a long day of shopping he decided we should stay home for the evening. I think he had a good time wrestling with Evan...



Evan also read some books with Grandma Searby....

And one with his "mama"...


And he spent some time with his Grandpa too...
what a happy little group...

Joel requested homemade pizza for his birthday. After Evan went to bed, the rest of us sat down to a nice quiet supper...

On Saturday, Linda & I went to a huge craft festival on campus. I got a little more Christmas shopping done and enjoyed doing it without Evan this time! Later in the day Joel and I went to find a Christmas tree! We were happy with our find and everyone helped decorate...


This was Evan's contribution to the decorating. Can you guess what it is?


Thanksgiving was here and gone for another year. Christmas is just around the corner and we are excited to be heading "home" soon to see the rest of our family. In celebration of the Christmas season we lit the first candle on our Advent "wreath". In the craziness of this season, may we not forget why the whole world celebrates Christmas.