Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours... Merry Christmas!!


Nina's First Christmas Concert (and other new things...)

Recently, Nina had her very first Christmas concert through her Montessori daycare. Can you spot her below? Her class sang "Rudolph", "Jingle Bells" and "Red, Green, White." While Nina didn't particularly sing (even though she knows the words), she did stay in line, keep her dress down and did not cry... so I consider that a success. She is only 2!! Nonetheless, both sets of grandparents were there which she LOVED (even my dad made it... just a mere 4 hours after his knee surgery)! What fun memories!



Mr. Evans surprised me with these beautiful Christmas-y tulips. We've had a lot of busy nights (which can often equal a bit of stress), combined with a t-o-n to be thankful for (some very exciting things have happened lately)... life is good.

I needed a new place to store/display our Christmas cards from friends and family. I couldn't find anything I liked online, so I made my own! It's "inspired" by an upright napkin holder type Christmas card holder my mom had when I was growing up. A few pieces of wood from Hobby Lobby (already the perfect size), some wood glue, white paint and a cute moose stencil - voila! This literally cost me $3.00 to make! Perfect.


Annual Christmas Cookie Baking

As usual, we gathered a few weeks ago for our annual Christmas cookie baking party. See last year's post here! We made the same types of cookies as is tradition! Here are a few photos... (Nina helped decorate sugar cookies this year)!





It's a Girl (again)!

We are excited to announce we're going to proud parents to a baby girl (again)! We couldn't be more excited!




P.S. To see Nina's 20 week ultrasound, click here. See any similarities? 

2013 Christmas Card

It's that time of year... and I love nothing more than picking out our Christmas card design. This year I found it here! We send out 100 or so cards, so I get started on these early. This year, I had an added push (our Florida trip) so they all went out over two weeks ago! Is there anything better than hand addressing Christmas cards by candlelight, with Christmas music playing in the background, while Nina was napping? :)

Merry Christmas!

Now, to watch the mail and see the cards roll in. Snail mail during the holidays is one of the best things ever!


** You can see our past Christmas cards here.

To remember...

As many of you know, Mr. Evans is an Ironman and has been competing in triathlons since before Nina was born. It's part of his identity and something he truly enjoys, so it's no wonder we DVR the annual NBC airing of the Ironman Kona World Championships.

This year, the airing was especially well done and featured the very moving and poignant story of Chris McDonnell - an Ironman, husband, and father to a young girl who lost her life in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Today marks one year since that day, the day his daughter Grace died. I just had to share this with you as I've been thinking about it since it aired months ago. Click below to watch the segment. It's heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. I bawled (literally) the first time I watched it.


This family is truly honoring their daughter Grace by living their lives they way she would've wanted. Ironman is a journey of self discovery. And for the McDonnell family, ever since their daughter was born she was part of her daddy's Ironman experience... just like Nina has been part of her daddy's. I am saddened tremendously for their loss, and the loss felt by the other families who have lost their children in tragedies. It always hits home when you see a part of your own family in theirs.

It always helps me to remember... God allows us to make our own choices - good and bad. And that's the only way good can win, by choosing it over all else. Evil doesn't win.

Bonita Beach

It's tradition that each year we vacation with my parents! We always look forward to it... and so does Nina! The annual trips (since Mr. Evans came into the picture) include Napa Valley, Las Vegas, Bonita Beach, Miami, Ireland... and now Bonita Beach again! Typically we go in April when the Wisconsin winter weather has worn us down and we need sunlight and warmth! But this year, since baby #2 plans to arrive around then, we moved our trip up a bit earlier. Here's a recap... :)

We flew into O'Hare on Sunday night around 8:00 pm (after a delayed flight) after a fun week in sunny Florida, and were greeted by a crazy snowstorm. Unfortunately, we didn't make it back home until Monday morning around 8:00 am. The roads were awful and we decided to sleep a few hours at a hotel and let the roads clear (fun, fun). As we say to Nina, safety first! It was baaaad.

So anyway, I'll share a few photos below but mainly our days consisted of ... breakfast and lunch at the condo, building sandcastles with Nina, playing in the ocean nonstop, drinking limey cocktails/mocktails, celebrating St. Nick's, watching the beautiful sunsets, dolphin spotting, nonstop seashells gathering, building snowmen out of sand (sandmen?), renting a pontoon and exploring the back bays, going out to dinner every night at some of the best restaurants, playing cribbage with my parents after Nina was in bed, and more! Vacationing with Nina keeps us busy, but is SO much fun and I wouldn't have it any other way. She loves it, we love it... everyone's happy!!

p.s. I never edit/crop my photos for my blog so take them for what they are. :)



The Captain on our flight let Nina come in the cockpit and they snapped a Polaroid. I think Mr. Evans liked it more than she did!!
Before I go on, here are my tips for traveling with a toddler... Nina loves planes (this is only her second flight, but she did awesome!)...
- lots of snacks, special treats (Nina's nana spoiled her with some candy!), suckers (helps during takeoff/landing), stickers, coloring books, iPad, magna doodle
- we did a wrapped little "present" every hour for something fun
- her own seat sure makes a difference!
- pay attention to your flight times and always do a direct flight
- you can also do a small dose of baby medicine to help with takeoff/landing if there are issues (just to it in advance so it has time to set it)
- extra clothes (Nina is potty trained and is good at "holding it" but I brought extras just in case... luckily we didn't need them!)























(Tired after a fun day in the sun, but still wearing her sunglasses... lol)


Decking the Halls

Some of you may know that for the past week we were in Florida, enjoying the 85 degree weather and basking in the sun at an oceanfront condo. It was an awesome trip - stay tuned for a recap and photos on Friday! And now... back to the frigid temperatures and Wisconsin reality. Oh well... it is December after all!

Meantime, luckily we decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving (as is tradition) because now I am in full-time Christmas mode. When we were in Florida we totally unplugged and relaxed and rarely thought about the impending Christmas rush (except for Nina singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on repeat). In case you're wondering, I schedule 99.99% of my blog posts ahead of time which is why my posts from last week were so Christmasy! :)

So for now, I'm enjoying the twinkling lights of our tree, getting in as many Christmas songs as my ears will take, anticipating cookies and peppermint hot chocolate, online shopping for others, and more! You too? Less than 15 days and counting...




P.S. A few links you should check out... :)
- Creative yule logs!
- A thoughtful post on the Christmas season (seriously, read it!)
- This post is also worth the read for all parents (present and future)
- Loving this quote about complaining (sooo true)
- Listening to this Christmas album on repeat (anyone else a fan?)

Christmas Parade

As always, our town's Christmas Parade is part of our kick-off to the holiday season. This year it wasn't too cold and we actually made it to the end (which means Nina could see Santa)! A little peppermint hot chocolate helped as well!! :) Here's my recap from last year. Otherwise, my mom managed to snap a few photos this year so we had the memories.

What are your favorite holiday traditions to kick-off the season? 




Breakfast with Santa

Last weekend our Country Club hosted it's annual Breakfast with Santa and Workshop. This was the first year we attended because Nina is now old enough to get "Santa" and do fun craft projects. She (and we) loved it! Here are a few photos!

Warning: Photo overload. :) I couldn't help myself... she was toooo cute!










After breakfast was finished, they opened up Santa's Workshop. Here are a few craft projects Nina made!

(Santa "apple" with cloves, marshmallows and gumdrops)
1. Scrabble tiles on a ruler with sparkly snowflake
2. Snowman button photo card
3. Birch ornament with mouse fingerprint
4. Silent Night candy dish with gold paint

This sure got us in the Christmas spirit!! :)

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