7 Things

I loved reading Jamie's 7 things so here's my list:

1. I'm confident I could singlehandedly eat a loaf of garlic bread in one sitting.
2. My dream is to write children's books (and get published!)
3. I hate the 3 stooges. Hate is a strong word but it applies here.
4. I never in a million years thought I'd marry someone who likes Led Zepellin, AC/DC, and Metallica.
5. I love purses and bags. This was one reason I knew Ephraim was the right one. He gave me a great bag for my birthday and for Christmas when we were engaged. (If he'd given me a stuffed animal, that would have been a major red flag.)
6. When I was little I wanted my name to be Dorcas (like in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers)
7. I will soon be the mother of 2 boys. (HA! This is the reward for the people who actually read this list!)

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet

Here's Max getting ready to hit the road in search of Halloween goodies.

Here is a good shot of the fearsome dragon on his candy rampage.

Ahh...Nothing like enjoying the hard earned fruits of your labor.

Jack-O-Lantern-Palooza

Max enjoyed the mess that accompanied the carving of the pumpkin.

He even enjoyed wearing parts of the pumpkin and working on his balancing skills.

The master carvers at work trying not to lose any fingers.

The finished product.

Halloween Jammies and a Coon Skin Cap

Thanks for the hat Grandma Lil and Grandpa Cor!
(p.s. Lindz- did you notice the Land Before Time book in the first picture? It has your name on it-can we have it?? Thanks!!)

Atlanta Zoo

A few weeks ago we spent the day at the zoo in Atlanta. Max especially liked the monkeys and the petting zoo while Heather liked the elephants and Ephraim liked the orangutans. A good time was had by all. Gorilla Max

Max and Dad posing with the zebras.

Max was pretty brave in the petting zoo area. He liked touching the goats until one started walking towards him then he decided he'd had enough.

The pigs did a lot of lounging around in the Georgia heat.

The pandas seem to be the stars of the zoo ever since a baby was born last year (apparently, panda babies born at zoos are pretty rare).

An elephant action shot.

Max learning about elephants.

Max watching flamingos while Mom poses.

A nice autumn shot of Max (notice the peanut butter and jelly remnants on his grinning face).

Our Marathon Post....

The last few weeks have been a pretty crazy ride for us here at the Garner household. A few Saturdays ago we took advantage of Army Appreciation Day at Six Flags in Atlanta (we got in for free instead of the usual $49.99 each!). Between admission, $15.00 to park, and outrageously priced food ($7.95 for a slice of pizza?!?), I'm not sure how those Six Flags people sleep at night. Anyway, Max enjoyed the rides and the treats.

On the gondola ride.

Enjoying frozen lemonade.

The next part of our adventure was Ephraim's graduation from Infantry School. He did very well and graduated on the Commandant's List. We're very proud of him and all of his hard work.

Less than 24 hours after his graduation, Ephraim ended up in the ER, 8 hours later he was in surgery and now he is officially appendix-free. He was sad to say goodbye to his appendix after 25 long years together. Luckily, after an over-night hospital stay he was able to come home and for the past week he's been on 'convalescent leave' meaning he gets to stay home and lay around. He's getting really bored and keeps threatening to go for a run, the thought of which adds even more stress to my life. Getting on with the story, less than 48 hours after Ephraim came home from the hospital we were back at the ER, this time with Max for some respiratory problems. He spent one crazy night in the hospital which didn't slow him down at all and then he was quickly back to full-speed. Needless to say, after two ambulance rides, lots of Southern hospital food, and scores of doctors and procedures, we are thrilled to be settling back in to normal life. Our only regret is not having a picture of Max eating popsicles in his adorable mini-sized hospital gown.

The two sick boys who have now recovered, thankfully.

The best part of all this chaos was when Grandpa Garner came to the rescue. We desperately needed the help and Max loved having his own personal best friend for a few days. It was so nice to have him here for a quick visit and we really appreciated all of his help.

Here are some silly pictures of Max posing in the outfit he chose for himself the other day.

To top it all off, I'm pregnant.

Max Goes to Nursery!!!

Today was a momentous day in my parenting career. Max attended nursery at church for the first time. Sitting in my meetings toddler-free I remembered why people go to church. When you can hear what people are saying, sometimes you actually learn stuff. Anyway, Max seemed to take pretty well to the whole nursery idea. He colored a page about clothes and picked out some stickers of the food he's thankful for (apparently, cheese, tortillas, rice, and meat were his top picks). And he also really seemed to enjoy the paper cup full of water they gave him. All in all, it was a successful day at church.

Before church.

After church.

North Carolina Trip

We had a great Labor Day Weekend with Ephraim's family. We drove up to his brother and sister-in-law's house in Fayetteville and met up with his parents, brother Jacob, sister-in-law Sara and new nephew Jensen. Paula and baby Isabella were so kind to let us overwhelm their house for the weekend! It was so fun to see everyone and we were sad to leave.

Max loved seeing his grandparents again.

Here's Grandpa with the whole crew of grandkids.

Max giving hugs to Isabella.

As you can see, Max got over his initial fear of dogs. By the end of the weekend he was chasing them and giving them smooches. Here he is with Kiki.

Max's Aunt Sara and cousin Jensen.

Max and Aunt Paula.

Ephraim and his mom.

Grandma, Max, Fox, and Kiki.

Max reading books with Uncle Jake.

I think these two cute babies could be twins. Can you believe Isabella is 2 months older?

Max giving cousin Jence a smooch.

Callaway Gardens

Last Saturday we spent the day at Callaway Gardens and had a great time. Military families get in free so that was a major perk. We saw a bird show with a hawk, owl, and vulture, fed a hungry group of turtles in a pond, visited the butterfly house, then spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach area swimming in the lake. I would have posted these pictures sooner but seeing as how our internet mysteriously stopped working the day Ephraim left for the field for a week, I had to wait for him to get home to fix it (by fixing it, I mean he had to push one measly button that fixed everything.)

Max and Tyson

This is Max and his friend Tyson. They play together almost every day. They're both really silly and have a lot of fun (as long as sharing isn't required). Tyson is learning to walk so he loves pushing Max on his tractor.