Time in the Lone Star State

Adam was headed to Brazil for a week and Everett and I got on a plane to spend time in Texas during his work trip. I was initially nervous flying on my own with a toddler, but I should have known better! Everett is an awesome traveler....he even slept on the plane both ways! Everett and I got to spend time with friends and family. Everett enjoyed the time with his grandparents and Uncle Richard along with eating LOTS and LOTS of food!

Picking Chinese vegetables with my Dad

Everett couldn't say the name of the vegetable in Chinese, so he renamed it "Bucky." We were laughing about it all week.

Picking out a pumpkin at the nursery!

Some of my high school friends from church
with all of our kiddos...Everett was napping...

Mommy friends having a picnic at the Botanical Gardens

Reading with Grandpa

Spending time with Mamma

Having fun at the pumpkin village

Everett LOVED being on this tractor!

Decorating pumpkins with stickers

Painting the pumpkins with Tony

Having a snack with my Mom

Everett loved all the food Uncle Richard made for us!

Although the Rangers didn't win the World Series,
we had fun cheering them on!

Everett's 10th Haircut

Yes, our son has had many haircuts in his 17 months of life. I think we are on cut #10 now, but I'm starting to lose track. His hair was getting long and it was about that time again. I had him sit in his booster seat on the back deck while I cut his hair. We had a fun weekend celebrating Josh & Alicia's wedding and Ryan's birthday. Here are pictures of our growing boy!

Eating my snack while Mommy cuts my hair...
this is before I got started...

Haircut is all done!

Such a big boy!

Walking around waiting for Daddy at work

Everett and Daddy competing for another bite of banana pudding at the Rehearsal Dinner

Eating cornish pasties for the 1st time at Ryan's birthday party...Everett inhaled them...it was nearly embarrassing...

All dressed and ready for church

We could not get over how cute he looked all dressed for church with his hair fixed and in his big boy shoes!!!

Charleston, Knoxville, and Friends

It's been awhile seen I've posted pictures, so here are quite a few to get you all caught up with life in the Parken house! Adam and I celebrated our 4th anniversary at the end of August and we were blessed by a weekend getaway to Charleston, SC. Great friends watched Everett for us and we enjoyed exploring the city of Charleston along with eating our way through the city! Charleston had so much history that we toured several homes and took a carriage ride downtown. We had amazing meals and loved staying at 1837 Bed and Breakfast.

Charleston, SC

The Carriage Ride

Gorgeous buildings were everywhere

Down by the water

For the second weekend in September, we headed down to Knoxville to spend time with Greg and Allison as I was helping with her baby shower. Allison got a great surprise as we brought our dear friend, Beth, with us! It was such an awesome weekend being around such close friends and helping the Trevathans get ready for the arrival of their little girl Emery!

Two fo my favorite girls and my favorite ice cream...BLUE BELL!

Allison's baby shower

Everett snuggling for reading time with Uncle Greg

All of us getting ready to dig into some food!

Having fun at the Tennessee Valley State Fair

Adam and Beth getting ready to have a Fried Twinkie

Adam gnawing on a turkey leg and Greg working on some BBQ

Beth loves ketchup....and, she taught Everett how to dip his food into ketchup. It was so great to have her around for a few days!!

In true Parken form, Everett is eating like it is his job. We are suspecting it is due to a growth spurt, but he has been devouring food like crazy. For breakfast one day, Everett ate 2 blueberry pancakes, a fried egg, and a bowl of applesauce. For breakfast today, he ate 1 bowl of cereal, 1 fried egg, and 3 bowls of applesauce...Adam decided to cut it off after that. Here is a before and after picture of one of his dinners consisting of bagel pizza, peas, and sweet potatoes. Let's just said Adam is proud to call Everett his son. =)

Everett's plate before we gave it to him

Everett's plate after his dinner

Everett has learned to feed himself with a spoon! It's super cute. We are still working on the fork, but it doesn't stop him from getting his food in his mouth!

Everett continues loving hanging out with his best buds. He gets to play with Dash 4 days a week and Max at least twice a week. Max will come over on Tuesdays and Thursdays when were home just to join the the fun with all the boys. Here are all the boys together from yesterday...

Everett, Max, and Dash

And, because I love shopping, I couldn't resist this hat for Everett at Baby Gap. I'm hoping it cools off soon so he can actually wear it. But, either way, here is our adorable little boy modeling Mommy's new purchase!

Totally irresistable!

Grandparents come to NC!

Adam's parents came down last week to spend time with us (really, Everett) and to celebrate Adam's birthday this past weekend! We had a blast going the Durham Museum of Life and Science, Pinehurst, and the beach! Everett enjoyed having all the love and attention for the week and we were all sad to see them leave. Good thing we will get to visit everyone in Texas in October!

Riding the train at the Museum

Adam blowing out this candles on his Dr. Pepper birthday cake

The boys at the beach

Talking with Grandpa

Playing in the sand...who is the kid?

Wrote Everett's name in the sand

He loved walking all over the beach

Deciding where to go now!

Off to chase Daddy

Got him! Everett and Daddy

Trek to Mississippi

Everett is nearing 15 months now and he's been eating table food for awhile. The next thing on his list was to head to the family restaurant to dine and feast like we all love to do in our family. So, we made the 12+ hour trek in the car. The drive started last Thursday night from Raleigh to Greenville, SC. Friday lunch in Birmingham and headed into Greenwood, Mississippi about 6pm. Not many people have heard of Greenwood. It's a small, charming town, but not too much there. Greenwood is home of the Viking cooking equipment and the downtown is quaint for an afternoon stroll. Other than that, we are just there for the family. My aunt and uncle own "Mai Little China" and my grandmother was in town for a visit too. We got to surprise my grandmother with our visit and she got lots of sweet time with Everett. Of course, LOTS and LOTS of food was involved during our weekend stay and I'm sure we gained a few pounds along the way.

Lunch stop in Birmingham, Alabama

We were not in the restaurant for 2 minutes and
Everett is already getting fed!

My grandmother was so surprised to see us
and LOVED seeing Everett

My grandmother, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Matthew, and Everett

Enjoying one more meal at the restaurant before we leave town

These two had so much fun together

Everett LOVES LOVES his great-grandmother!!

From Greenwood, we took the short drive to Madison, Mississippi (right outside Jackson) to my great-uncle's 80th birthday. We got to see many more family members there and share in the special occasion. The trek back home started after the birthday party headed to Atlanta, GA. We were blessed to spend time with the Rollmans and truly appreciated their hospitality. We left Atlanta around 11am and made it to Charlotte for a late lunch and shopping at Ikea! This was our first time there and it was a perfect outing before heading home. Lunch was great (and cheap!) and Adam and I spent time oooing and ahhhing at all their furniture and things at reasonable prices. We will be back! We got back home to Raleigh by 7:30pm and Everett headed to bed. It was such a great trip and we are so thankful so many family members got to meet and spend time with our little boy!

Happy Birthday Uncle Fee!

Visit with the Rollmans in Atlanta

Everett and Daddy with matching camo shorts