Fall Fun Fest

Our church has a festival on Halloween, we had no idea what to expect and any expectations we did have were far exceeded. There was a petting zoo, pony rides, bounce houses, multiple blow up slides and tons of games and some bands. It was great and Evan loved it.

Petting the deer

Petting the goats. The dog on two legs is Evan, he seems to blend into the animals. :)

Noticing that Mommy has the balloon...who needs a very pregnant pig?

Evan loved the Pony ride. He looked pretty zoned out so we weren't sure, but when it was over he kept signing for more.

Fishing for candy
Jumping in the bounce house - he had fun
He didn't stay on his feet for long though

ps - Sam, Christy and Katherine...we missed y'all and know that you missed tonight but we'll see y'all soon.

Halloween Playgroup at the Arboretum

We had our playgroup today at the Arboretum and all the kids dressed up, it was so cute to see them all and lots of fun to watch them interact with each other dressed up.

Evan getting a kiss from Alex

Woof Woof
Checking out the pink poodle
Walking with Dad

Pumpkins!

Posing for a picture

The Family in the Pumpkin House
Eating Cheezits with Grandma

New Way To Eat

Not sure where this came from - all of a sudden, at the end of his dinner, Evan started eating his veggies like this. It was quite comical.

A Day at Little Gym

With Grandma and Grandpa in town, we got some good pics of Evan at his Little Gym class.

Climbing...I'm keeping him from falling but he's doing most of the work.
Walking the bar
the beam
Doing a back flip
The wind up for the throw

The Holcks come to Dallas

Evan's Grandpa and Grandma from Iowa drove down for the week to see us all. Evan is blessed to have two wonderful sets of grandparents and he loves it. He had such a great time with Grandpa and Grandma and loved all the extra attention. I know he can't wait until we see them again in a few months. Thanks for making the drive and all the hard work on the house and Evan says thanks for playing with me and reading to me and loving on me. The pictures below are just some everyday shots from their time here.

Fantasy Football...dueling computers...Spencer wanting to be one of the guys.

Evan sweeping with Grandpa

17 Months

Evan is 17 months today! He has all of a sudden become a little boy - I am not sure where my Toddler went. I know he is still considered a toddler for a few more years, he just seems so big. (he is big as he is bigger than some 2 yr olds we know!).
Whereas month 16 was all about blood - multiple fat lips, biting through the tongue, and molars that bled - they were rough...month 17 has been about growth. Evan has grown physically but also verbally. He has always been a chatty child, but now we can understand so many words it's incredible. I went into his room a few mornings ago after he woke up and said goodmorning and he said "hi" - it was so sweet. Then later we were counting and we said "one" and he said "two" - I was shocked! Now on things like counting he is definitly a "one hit wonder" of sorts but he loves to count everything. He loves airplanes and is always on airplane watch and usually is pointing up long before I even hear something. He would live outside if I let him and that is where we spend most of our time. (Right now I am on the laptop outside and Evan's Grandpa and Grandma from Iowa are here). He still loves balls and loves to throw them and kick them and hike them - like in football. He is so curious and explores everything and loves to try new things and play with the big kids. We are having such a great time with him. He is so sweet. He has the most wonderful smile and gives the sweetest hugs and cuddles - we don't get those often since he rarely stops, but we cherish every minute. He loves to "wrestle" and tackle and roll around on the floor with us. He has been such a blessing to our family and we are having a such a great time watching him grow - I wish it would slow down some though so I would be sure not to miss a thing.

Scary Boy!

Evan's Grandpa and Grandma from Iowa are in town and Halloween got started a little early. Here is Evan running around the house as a ghost of sorts - he was having a blast.

Back to the Arboretum

Evan and I went back to the Arboretum with MOPS, it's such a great place to visit and for kids to run and play. Evan was back to throwing pumpkins, chasing birds and going everywhere.

Dust Busting

Evan has discovered the dustbuster and he loves it. He likes to turn in on and go around the floors like this "cleaning."

The Next Theologian?

I didn't hear Evan so I went looking. I found him in the chair that Jeff studies in looking at one of Jeff's seminary books...An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches

Texas State Fair

I've never been to the State Fair before. Growing up in Houston we rarely went north and we had the Rodeo. So now that we live in Dallas, home of the State Fair, we decided to go. Jeff's work closed early one day and we all went - even Evan as you can see below...

There was a farm area that kids were able to go through and pretend to be farmers picking peaches, milking a cow, picking eggs and sheep wool as well as garden. We thought with Evan's farming heritage that he would love it, apparently those genes have not kicked in yet as he was throwing a fit most of the time. He wanted to take his own path and do his own thing - off the path and into the flowers and garden. He did not want to give back the peaches, eggs or sheep wool and was not pleased that he couldn't do this the way he wanted. I did manage a few happy pics, especially on the John Deere. Maybe next year.

"Running away" with the egg and the peach.
Evan loves the carousel.
Big Tex

Evan is a poster child for a leash. Pushing his stroller helped keep him from wandering away. We definitly can't look away for even a second with him or he is off...so curious.
First corndog. Apparently the corndog was invented at the Texas State Fair...Evan was a little sick the next morning. :)

Dancing with Dad

These are a little dark but so cute!

Fun with Dad

Owens Spring Creek Farm

It turns out that about 8 miles north of our house Owens Country Sausage has a farm. Today we went to check out the pumpkin patch and Fall fun.

Feeding a cow

This "train" ride was a little scary as I thought the we were going to tip at any moment
Old carts used by the farm

Evan was not sold on the horse as you can see

Walking through the rows of pumpkins with Nicole

Evan was more interested in practicing his stepping up than in the donkey. He likes to take steps like a "big boy" now so although you can't see, there was a small concrete step at the edge of the pen that Evan is stepping up and down on.