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.

15 Months

Evan was 15 months old yesterday. He continues to amaze us everyday! Some of his favorite things include....

1. Anything that has a steering wheel. He says "die, die" (instead of "drive") and does the car sign.
2. Being chased around the living room as he giggles continuously.
3. Putting on every hat in sight.
4. Talking. Half the time we have no idea what he's saying but it sure is cute!
5. Watching "Super Why" on PBS. He especially loves the part when they fly into storybook land.
6. Looking at the moon. If there is a moon in the book you are reading, good luck getting past that page.
7. Balls. He loves anything that is round. He'll go around the house saying "big ball" or "shoot ball"
8. Shape Sorters. We have one upstairs, downstairs, and in the tub. He picks up the circle first, then the oval, then the star. I guess those are his favorites.
9. Being Outside. The kid kicks and screams when we have to go inside. I usually have to bribe him with milk or a snack.
11. The trash can. Its actually his "drum." Its the only thing he's allowed to beat on with his plastic bat or wooden spoon.
10. Cooking. When I'm in the kitchen cooking he likes to have his own spatula and pan so he can flip his "eggs"

Here is Evan cooking....


And I'm pretty sure this is when I left the house for a couple hours. I'm not sure what Joel and Evan were up to....

And here's a cute video too...

Haircut

This little ragamuffin was in serious need of a haircut...


So I invited my friend, Vernine, over this morning to do the honors! She did an awesome job of using the clippers on him! Evan did great. I expected him to be really scared of them but instead he kept saying (and signing) "more, more." It was a lot of fun and it turned out really cute!

Evan even helped clean up when we were all done...

And then he went about his normal day, playing in his toy corner...

And with the fridge farm...


What a cutie...

Camping at Manatee Springs

We went on our 3rd annual Gator/Bulldog camping trip over Halloween weekend. Here are the pictures I promised!

The Searbys were a little slow getting to the campground on Friday night so we had to put Evan and Megan back in their costumes on Saturday for some pictures...


Evan helped his daddy make breakfast on Saturday morning...

Kevin & Joel love camping...

The timing was perfect this year to see the manatees in the river! Evan was excited to see the "fish."

The campground had a nice playground so Evan and Megan had a chance to swing, slide, and run off some energy...





We remembered to take our hammock with us this year!

kI think everyone had a great time! Kelly has more pictures on her blog so don't forget to click here and check it out!

Fall Festival at Church

Mom made Evan's Halloween costume! I think she had a lot of fun putting together the perfect Bam-Bam and Pebbles outfits. Evan wanted to try on his outfit multiple times per day. Here he is practicing being Bam-Bam...

While Evan was getting ready to be Bam-Bam. I was attempting to make my first Chocolate Meringue Pie! This year for the fall festival at church we had a pie contest. I called my Grandma Bridgwater and got some advice before I started. It turned out pretty good except I think next time I need to add the sugar a little slower and beat it a little longer!

Here is my homemade pie crust:


And here is the finished pie after someone already tasted it at church. (kuddos to Kelly for making it pretty for me!)...


Mom and Joel enjoyed tasting all the pies...


Pebbles & Bam-Bam looked SO cute!

The kids had all sorts of little games to participate in...

And I think Mom had fun coloring a mask with Evan :)


I promise to get some more Halloween pictures and Camping pictures up soon.....but for now you can just go look at The Birkett's blog!

Where in the World are the Searby's?

Here are some pictures to catch everyone up on the last couple of weeks!

Evan loves to look in the mirror...


And brush his teeth...


And stand on his head...


He also loves bubbles! When you tell him to blow the bubbles, he actually tries to smell them!

Megan came over to play one day a couple of weeks ago. The kiddos had fun playing with blocks in Evan's room and then took turns sitting in Evan's chair on the porch.

j
My mom came down and spent almost 2 weeks with us! It was great to have her around to help with Evan while Joel was in the heat of political season. I think one of the highlights of the week was going to the beach. Evan's face in this picture says it all...


He had SO much fun running on the beach! He ran and ran and ran and even tried to catch the birds. He did really well with the water and it only knocked him down a couple of times. I can't wait to take him back again!

I have pictures of Evan's Halloween costume and of our camping trip that I hope to get put posted in the next couple of days!