An Evans Christmas

Visions of Sugar Plums...

A visit to our favorite Sit-Sittie!

Wild babies in the tub!

The "Evans lip curl" x2!

All clean!!  Ready for Santa!

Happy Birthday Grandad!

Santa is coming!  Happy Dance!

Merry Christmas!

"Umm.....he is real?????????"

"I will sit right here, you can just toss that gift right over!"

TOOLS!!

Sneaky Santa, we had to get one pic!

"Please share with me!!!"

"Dada, this is how its done!"

A wonderful celebration, with more to come!

Love, the rockinryans

So....about Santa....

26 weeks

Babe was much more cooperative

at this appointment.

Sleeping the entire time,

we were able to get a good, constant heart rate

of 152.

 Speaking of heart rate-

his is beating for Santa right now!

Love, the rockinryans

Advent

It is hard to believe we are already

half way through Advent.

To be honest, I really have not

prepared myself like I should

in years past.

Growing up, I had an Advent calender

and Trent has one this year, which he LOVES

and looks forward to daily.

His excitement for the season brings out my

excitement. And also the drive to better understand and respect the true meaning of the season.

So, to better prepare,

I have been reading an Advent book, but to be honest

it is not an easy read.

This book was recommended, but more suggestions

would be nice!

We finally completed our tree, home and dog decorating!

The best part was taking Trent to pick out his

ornament for the year.

And watching him hang it next to

last years "Baby's First Christmas" ornament.

Wow, can't believe how much he has changed!

Love, the rockinryans

Big boy!

Big boy has been showing interest in the potty

for a couple of weeks.

I don't know how or why,

I never pushed it because

1.It is more work for me and

2. With the baby coming soon, I have heard there can be a regression in training.

But he has really been persistent.

So, HE put his potty in the living room,

(I guess he knows that mama gets tired of having to walk all the way to the bathroom all the time ~ Hehe!)

And started using it!

I guess we will follow his lead on this one!

Love, the rockinryans

Christmas Spirit

The Thanksgiving pie isn't even gone yet,

and it is time to prepare for

Christmas!

We heard Santa was making his big arrival in

WaKeeney, KS!

Wow, we were so lucky to see him

at his first tree lighting!

The innate love for Santa that Trent has

is remarkable.

He has been saying "Ho Ho Ho" for a couple weeks now

and every time he sees Santa he laughs with excitement.

We find this so crazy because he doesn't even realize

who Santa really is. 

Ya know, that he is about

to be spoiled rotten!

But the love is already there,

(even though these pics don't exactly capture his excitement!)

We will see what happens when he gets

up close and personal

real soon.

Time for our own tree lighting!

"A little to the left Dad!"

Looking forward to the coming weeks!

Love, the rockinryans



Blessed



From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. -Luke 12:48

I have been blessed in my life with much.

This year left me feeling more THANKful than ever.

But also with my faith growing stronger I felt more

of the GIVING need than ever before.

Christmas is always a time to give, but why only once a year?

I came across an idea that I really loved.

Blessed to Bless bags.

Mainly because of this crazy man in my life,

who is the best role model for giving and love.

I never like passing a homeless person on the street

without giving them something.

But I worry, what will they really spend that cash on?

Do they really appreciate that #1 value meal I just gave them?

But this guy, he never questions.

He just gives anything and everything he has

to every

homeless person

he comes across.

Kind of drives me nuts sometimes,

but also another reason I love him.

So that is why I was so excited about making our bags.

We were going to make it "our" project but

decided to invite others to share in the giving.

So on Thanksgiving we put together our bags.

Giving thoughts and prayers to those less fortunate.

And sharing some of our love

and blessings with others.

We look forward to making this a yearly

(and maybe more often)

tradition. 

Teaching our children the importance of

what Thanksgiving really means.

If you would like to initiate a similar event,

here is a list of ideas for the bags.

There were 6 of us, so we made 12 bags,

2 for each car.

Each person signed up to bring as little or as much

as they desired.

1 gallon Ziploc bags
1 Juice box
Throat lozenges
Trial size Ibuprofen/Acetaminophen
hand sanitizer
hand or face lotion
packaged hand wipes
lip balm
soap/shampoo
Small selection of ready-to-eat protein rich food such as:
Cheese and crackers
Power bar
Tuna in a bag (no cans requiring an opener)
Vienna sausages
Beef jerky
One sweet item such as canned fruit or pudding
Plastic utensils and napkin
Washcloth
Small bible or bible tract
Bus Schedule
Prepaid phone card
Gloves/ knit beanie
Resource list for the homeless
Pair of men's socks

There is no set amount to spend,

or limits to what to put in your bags.
The day I purchased my bag "goodies"

I left Wal-mart, passing 2 homeless men

asking for "anything".

We look forward to having these bags to give

the next time we run across someone in such need.

We also spent our fair share of giving Thanks!

Thanks for

Cousins to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade with!

Family to love and cuddle.

And FOOOOODDDDD!!

And rest.

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness.

Let the whole world know what he has done.

1 Chronicles 16:8

Love, the rockinryans