Family Pictures

On Sunday, we had some family pictures of us taken in Duke Gardens. To view the photos, follow the link below. Maddox did a great job, even though it was a little cold and windy. But the sun was shinning and we are very happy how they turned out.

Evin, Kayla & Maddox's Family Pictures

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dancing Elves

Check out this video of the three of us dancing to get you in the holiday spirit. We make a pretty good dancing trio!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/uMrkXieT0q8naaA7/dIgJ4RWvXEvAQQCeLLVsdnvT

Evin, Kayla & Maddox

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a great meal at home (prepared by Kayla)and enjoyed spending time with each other. Grandma Kim visited for Thanksgiving, and we had a great time spending time with her and showing her around Durham.

We are all doing well, but at usual, very busy. December is a slower month for all of us, and we are looking forward to getting some time off and spending time in Kansas for the Holidays.

Below are our pictures from the Thanksgiving weekend. Hope everyone is doing well!

Evin, Kayla & Maddox

Happy Haloween!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Maddox got a decent amount of candy, although we didn't make to many stops. He actually had two Halloween costumes, he wore the Spiderman costume to a "trunk or treat" event that we went to on the Sunday before Halloween.

Maddox is still recovering from the flu, possibly caused by too much candy. He missed a couple of days of school, but is back to his normal self.

Hope all is well!

-Evin, Kayla & Maddox

Charlotte Trip

This weekend, we took a trip to Charlotte. As always, we had a great time, but the three of us could have a good time in a cardboard box! On Saturday, we spent some time visiting the sites of downtown Charlotte. It was our first time, and we all thought it was a nice city with a lively downtown. On Sunday we attended the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Carolina Panthers football game. Our friend Josh Looney got us sideline passes before the game. When the Chiefs were done warming up, Larry Johnson came over and gave Maddox a pair of his gloves. Maddox was pretty excited, probably not because he got some gloves from an NFL player, but simply because he got a new shiny pair of gloves! As for the actual game, the Panthers scored a late touchdown to escape with a 34-0 victory. Even though the Chiefs did not do too well, we had a great time in Charlotte. Below are our pictures (with music and captions) of our weekend.

Hope everyone is well!

--Evin, Kayla & Maddox

Happy Birthday Loghan!!!!!!!

Today is the birthday of Maddox's favorite cousin, and Evin and Kayla's favorite niece, Loghan Beck. Happy Birthday Loghan! We hope you had a great day! We will get you a birthday present........eventually. Or maybe just get you an extra Christmas present :)

UPDATE!

We had another great weekend! Duke had a bye week, so we had an open weekend. Evin wanted to go to either the ECU vs. NC State or Virginia Tech vs. UNC football game, but Kayla strongly objected and pointed out that this is one of our only none football weekends of the fall (although we did watch a lot on TV).

We went to the Life and Science Museum on Saturday morning. They have a lot of great things for kids, including a huge outdoor playground. Maddox had a great time! On Sunday we went to Centerfest in downtown Durham, which was an art festival. All in all, it was a nice and relaxing weekend that we enjoyed as a family!

Maddox started a soccer class at his school yesterday, and according to his teachers and the "Happy Feat" instructor, he is the best soccer player in the class!

Hope all is well with everyone, goodbye for now!

Below is a video of Maddox playing football in an oversized Duke football jersey.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Well we don't have a lot to write about this week, so we thought we would treat you to some Maddox singing. For some reason, he ends this version on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" rather violently.

September 8th - Update!

Greetings!

Well we survived our first hurricane! Hannah passed through early Saturday morning. There was a little bit of wind, but mostly just rain (over 5 inches).

The Blue Devils came up just short in their quest for a 2-0 start, we lost 24-20 to Northwestern and actually scored the go ahead touchdown with 20 seconds left, but it was called back because of a holding penalty. Maybe the most impressive part was that Kayla and Maddox actually made it through the entire game! And it started at 7:00 pm!

Here, Maddox decided to sleep with a basket that holds his beach toys on his head. He seems to think it is a mask (spiderman). He is a strange kid, a real strange kid.

He has been doing really good at his new school though. He has made some new friends and no longer cries when Evin drops him off. He had a big day recently, he made it through an entire day at school in his underwear! Even nap time! He is thankfully doing a good job with his potty training.

I beleive that is all for now, hope everyone is well!

-Evin, Kayla & Maddox

August Update / Labor Day Weekend

It has been too long! With only one stinking post in August, we are terribly sorry that we have disappointed all of our faithful readers. With things calming down a bit, we promise to devout more time to our blog. We know that many of you enjoy reading this, and we enjoy giving you information on our happenings.

Where to start?!?!?!?

Kayla has finished her first week of school with her students. She is pleased with her class (so far, but what kids aren't well behaved during the first few days?) She likes her new school, the principal, and the other teachers. She is excited for the new year, but counting down the days until winter break!

Maddox is finally settling into his new daycare. After spending an entire summer at home with mom, it took some adjusting to get settled into his new school. The first few days were pretty rough, but he is really starting to like going there, and really likes his teachers. He is starting to make some new friends and adjust to the new schedule.

Evin has been very busy with work. It is a very busy time, with football starting and basketball right around the corner.

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend, we had a couple of visitors in Grandma and Grandpa Beck. It was awesome spending time with them and showing them where we live, work, and play!

On Friday, Maddox spent the day at home with Grandma and Grandpa while Evin and Kayla were at work. That evening, we took a short tour of the campus and enjoyed diner in the Brightleaf Square District.

Saturday, we spent the morning at the SouthPoint shopping center. In the evening, we went to the Duke home football game versus James Madison. Duke won 31-7 for their first home victory since 2005! We had a great time at the game, even though it was delayed almost two hours because of lightning. Maddox and Kayla only made it until halftime since it was so far past Maddox's bedtime.

On Sunday we slept in, saw the sights in Durham, and visited Chapel Hill before we grilled out that evening. All in all we had a great weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Beck!

Hope all is well, so long for now, we will be back in a week!

--Evin, Kayla & Maddox

Well, Maddox and I made it back from Kansas. He did wonderful on the 4 flights (slept clear through 2 of them and played on the others). We had a great time in KC seeing everyone and going to Erica and Lee's wedding. After that we headed to Claflin. Maddox was so excited to see Loghan! When we were on the airplane getting ready to land, he looked out the window and yelled 'there's Loghan!' and then we had to wait 3 days to see her. We then headed to Sublette for a couple days to hang out with grandma and bart and addy, and grandpa. We even got to see great grandma and grandpa. As much fun as we had, we were excited to get home and see Evin. Even though it is only a one hour time difference, it took us a few days to catch back up on sleep (we were staying up to late in Kansas and had a late flight back). We are all caught up now and enjoying our last few days before I start back to school. We are planning on going to Myrtle Beach this weekend and will post pics when we get back.

Update!

Greetings! Sorry it has been so long since our last post. Our long search for childcare/preschool is over. Maddox is enrolled at KidsRKids. There are cameras in the room, so we can spend our days at work watching him play (or see how much trouble he is getting into!). If you are interested in online viewing, all we ask is a donation to his tuition fund. We are also working on potty training. He does real well as long as we are at home and not out and about.
Over the weekend, Maddox experienced a few 'firsts'. We took him to his first movie at the theater: WALL-E. He loved the movie and the popcorn! Then on Sunday, we went to a small lake that is close by and went canoing. At first Maddox was not so sure and held on tight (he gets this from his mother). But, by the end, he was putting his hands in the water and moving around more.
On Thursday, Kayla and Maddox will be flying to Kansas City for a wedding. They will then be stopping through Claflin and heading to Sublette.

4th of July Weekend

We had a wonderful, but wet, 4th of July weekend! On Thursday, we attended our first Durham Bulls game. It was a great night for baseball, and we enjoyed the fireworks show that followed the game. The firework show, however, did scare Maddox a little bit, although he won't admit it now. On Friday, we lounged around the house during the day and grilled out for supper. We then headed over to Chapel Hill for a big firework show at their football stadium, but severe weather prevented the show from occurring. We parked a ways from the stadium because it was a nice evening to walk around campus, but we came to regret that decision as we were later running for our lives in the pouring rain, wind and lightning! We even had to jump over a huge downed tree! We finally made it home, where we were without electricity. Luckily we stocked up on glow sticks at the fireworks display and were able to entertain ourselves for the night. Saturday was another lazy day, and we again went to a firework show that was cancelled because of the weather. We were in a drought, so the rain was welcomed, we just wish it would have come another weekend. All in all, it was a good 4th even though we didn't get to see many fireworks. On Monday, we did get our firecracker thrill by lighting some sparklers in the back yard. We also have found some nice bike trails, and luckily Maddox doesn't dress like this every time we go! (What a dork)

-Evin, Kayla & Maddox

Blueberry picking

Kayla has joined a local mom's club that has a calendar full of fun activities. Her and Maddox spend their days at story times and play dates. Tuesday morning they both enjoyed their first time picking blueberries (and their first time getting out of bed before 8:00). They picked a little over a pound of blueberries. Maddox is not a big fan of blueberries, but Kayla is planning on making blueberries pancakes, blueberry streusel, blueberry muffins, blueberry smoothies....

Washington D.C. Trip

To view photos from our weekend trip to D.C. click here.

This weekend, we took a trip to Washington, D.C. We stayed in the Rouge hotel with Allison, who was in D.C. for work. We are very grateful that Allison allowed us to stay with her in her hotel room. (FREE!) It is about a 4 1/2 hour drive from Durham to D.C., and we did get stuck in traffic and got lost a couple of times. But we had our trusty GPS system with us that helped us find our way. Traffic and navigational issues aside, we had a great time on our trip! We walked approximately 37 miles during our trip, but got to see a lot of great things along the way. We visited all the major attractions in D.C., including; the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the Roosevelt Memorial, WWII Memorial, etc. We also attended a Nationals game vs. the hated Baltimore Orioles in the brand new Nationals Park. It was great to see a game in the beautiful new stadium, but in the sixth inning there was a down pour, the game was delayed, and we left shortly there after. Kayla and I are beginning to wonder if the rain follows us everywhere we go! The final score ended up being 8-1 in favor of the O's, so luckily we didn't miss a great comeback or anything. Maddox behaved very well on the trip, at least well for Maddox. He was a trooper and never complained, but he really didn't have a lot to complain about since he was pushed around in his stroller the whole time. Oh the life of a two year old!

To view photos from our weekend trip to D.C. click here.

Hope everyone has a happy 4th of July!

-Evin, Kayla and Maddox

A Day at the Beach

On Saturday, we decided to take our first trip to the beach. We left for Wilmington, which is about 2 1/2 hours away, at 9:00 in the morning. There was a chance a rain later in the afternoon, but of course it rained the entire way down there and was still raining when we arrived. So we decided to kill some time by heading to the Fort Fischer Aquarium. But since it was a rainy day at the beach, so did everyone else. It was extremely crowded, but we did get to see some cool things; like sting rays, turtles, sharks, jelly fish, and Nemo. It then cleared off enough for us to enjoy a nice lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the beach. We spent a few hours at the beach, and had a good time. The weather was overcast, so Evin and Kayla didn't think that they would need any sunscreen, and they are both regretting that decision today. Maddox was lathered down with three bottles of sunscreen, so he is doing fine. We were, however, still the whitest family at the beach that day. Maddox was a little scared of the water at first, but as the afternoon went on he became a little more courageous, until he was splashed in the face with a wave and then wanted nothing to do with the ocean. We tried to build a sand castle village, but could never get more than one up before Maddox would destroy it. It wasn't the nicest day, but we still had a great time on our first trip to the beach!

Evin, Kayla, and Maddox

Haircut Time!

After a couple of bad $12 haircuts in a row, we decided to take things into our own hands. So we purchased a new pair of clippers and went to work.















And the Results......................

Not bad eh?

June 19, 2008

It is starting to feel more and more like home. We finally got a kitchen table, no more eating on the couch. It is set up like booth and Maddox thinks we need to eat pizza every time we sit there. We also finally got satellite TV, so no more watching Maddox's movies all day. The satellite is very large, and is mounted on our roof. It looks like a Russian Spy Satellite from the 80's.

Evin installed a recessed light in the dining room to replace the huge, ugly golden chandelier that was in there. He is very proud of his work, it is probably the most handy thing that he has done in his entire life. Kayla and Maddox have been spending quality time at home together during the day, and Evin has been busy at work. We are trying to kick Maddox of his Popsicle addiction that he apparently picked up at Grandma and Grandpa's house, it will not be easy

Hope everyone is well, we may be making a trip to the beach this weekend. We'll keep you all updated!



Evin, Kayla, and Maddox

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy 49th Birthday Grandma Karlynn! We hope that you enjoy your birthday!

Evin, Kayla, and Maddox

Happy Father's Day!

We would like to wish all of the fathers out there a very Happy Father's Day, especially Mike and Fred!

June 15, 2008

We are beginning to settle into our new place here in Durham. The drive and move were really exhausting, but we really like our new place. We are renting a three bedroom town home that is pretty close to both of our places of work. All the boxes are unpacked, but we are still waiting on our kitchen table and satellite TV!

Evin has finished his second week of work with the Duke Athletic Department. He is very excited about his new position and believes that it will be great experience for him.

On Friday, Kayla accepted a position with Durham Public Schools as a third grade teacher at Parkwood Elementary. Kayla applied for two positions on Wednesday, and had two job offers the following day! Way to go Kayla!

Maddox is as ornery as ever, and is adjusting to life here in North Carolina, even though we don't think that he realizes that we even moved! He has new bunk beds in his room, and is anxiously waiting for all of you to stay in his room with him.

We had our visitor this weekend in Grandma Beck. We had a wonderful time with Grandma Beck this weekend. Allison will be our next visitor, she will be here next Wednesday and we will be making a trip with her to Washington, D.C.!

--Evin, Kayla, and Maddox

Maddox's First Flight

Maddox experienced his first flight on Thursday with Grandma Beck. Maddox and Grandma had the pleasure of flying first class from Houston to Durham. Maddox was treated to a hot towel for his head, cashew peanuts, a fruit and veggie tray, and all the milk he could handle! Maddox did a wonderful job on the plane, and is anxious to fly again. We are just hoping that he will not demand first class for every trip!

WELCOME

Welcome all to the Beck Family Blog! On this blog, we will keep all of our friends and family up to date on the happenings of our family here in Durham, NC.