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.