Christmas Photo Shoot

As usual, Evan was very excited to get his picture taken by Grandpa. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm only lasted a few minutes. We did get a few good pictures though! Here are our two favorites.

This is the one we used for our Christmas card.



Evan looks like a little boy in this picture. He is growing up fast!

Cookies with Santa

We took Evan to have cookies with Santa at The Louisville Zoo. It was a really fun morning. We began by making an ornament. We then had cookies. (This was probably Evan's favorite part of the morning!) Then we got to see Santa. Evan was not as scared of Santa as he was at the mall and even told Santa that he wanted a train for Christmas. Of course, I still had to sit with Evan when he talked to Santa and Evan did not smile in the pictures.

After we talked with Santa, we went on a little "safari." The zoo had several animals out of their exhibits. Evan even got to pet a few of them! We saw a reindeer, a penguin, a turtle, an owl, a lizard, a salamander, a snake, and a rabbit. Although it was raining and cold, Evan wanted to see a few more zoo animals. We saw the orangutans, giraffes, and gazelles.

Evan LOVED the cookie! (The black icing for the snowman's hat stained his lips though. You may notice Evan's "goth" look in later pictures!)



Seeing Santa!



The penguin was Evan's favorite animal on the safari. I am not surprised though. He always loves to watch the penguins swim in their exhibit when we go to the zoo.





Looking at the orangutans.



The reindeer was Mommy's favorite animal!

Visiting Santa

Last year when we took Evan to see Santa at the mall, he LOVED it! He happily sat on Santa's lap and smiled while the photographer took his picture. We thought this year would be just like last year. Evan seemed SO excited to see Santa. We talked about it for days and he kept saying, "See Santa!" When it was our turn to see Santa, Evan allowed us to carry him up to Santa. He gave Santa a high five and seemed o.k. When we asked him to sit with Santa, he sadly said, "No!" We did not want to make him cry, so I offered to sit with Santa too. Evan seemed o.k. with this and sat with both me and Santa while the photographers took his picture. Perhaps next year will be more successful!

Candy Train

Bonnie Mom bought a gingerbread train for Evan to decorate. (Since Evan does not know what gingerbread is, we called the gingerbread train a candy train.) Evan really enjoyed making the candy train with Daddy. Grandpa, Bonnie Mom, and I enjoyed watching them. Evan spent close to a half an hour working on the train and of course, eating the candy.

Making the Candy Train!





Eating the Candy Train!

Walking the Dog

Evan loves to go on walks. He especially enjoys walking up to the gazebo in our neighborhood. The dogs also enjoy going on walks, but we have never taken them along on our walks with Evan. We recently decided that we would take both dogs and Evan on a walk. Evan surprised us by picking up Parker's leash and exclaiming, "Go!" Since he was so excited, we let Evan walk Parker. Both Evan and Parker did well and they had a lot of fun!

Light Up Louisville

Although Evan seemed a bit grumpy, Carl and I took him to Light Up Louisville this year. We are so glad we went! He enjoyed seeing Santa arrive and LOVED it when all of the tree lights were lit and the fireworks went off. The look on his face was priceless! We all had a great time and are already looking forward to going again next year.

We did take a few pictures, but they aren't great. They do capture the fun we had though!

Evan started to cheer up once we arrived donwtown.



Playing with the snowman toy that lights up that he got while we were downtown. He calls it his "no man" and it is now one of his favorite toys.



Getting ready for Santa's arrival!



Look! It's Santa!




I LOVE the lights!

Thanksgiving 2009

We all had a great Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for this year, including wonderful family, great friends, and our health.

We started our Thanksgiving day celebration by watching Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. Evan was interested in the parade this year and watched it for a little while. He really liked the singing and dancing. Afterwards, we went to eat lunch with Carl's family. Lunch was delicious and we enjoyed spending time with everyone. Sadly, Teddy could not make it to lunch this year, since he was at home with a broken neck.

After a nap, we headed over to my mom and dad's house for another meal.It was great to see my extended family. Evan loved playing with all of the kids. Unfortunately, Evan must still have been sick, although he seemed well. He passed his germs to many people who got quite. We felt HORRIBLE for that!

Later that night, as is our tradition, we decorated the Christmas tree. Evan got to help a lot this year. He enjoyed putting on the ornaments on the tree. (Evan LOVES the tree this year. He even kisses it goodnight each night! He also loves the train we bought for the tree this year. He loves to watch it go around the tree each night.)

Here is Evan eating one of the VERY few bites of food he ate on Thanksgiving.



Here are pictures of what Evan did instead of eating! He also played on the playground with Daddy and Bonnie Mom, despite the fact that it was VERY cold outside.







Hanging our stockings!



Having fun decorating the tree!











Here we are in front of the completed tree. (I had to tickle Evan to get him to smile!)



Our home is ready for Christmas too!