Ode to the 40-oz Porterhouse (for two)

We have a lot of great holiday pictures to post but I'll catch up next week after Ephraim has deployed.  For now, a picture to illustrate Ephraim's amazing Christmas gift to me.  Most of you know how much I love steak. Well, Ephraim planned a surprise evening out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse which was hands-down the most incredible meal of my life.  If you haven't eaten one of their deliciously-buttery-and-ridiciously-tender steaks, PLEASE make a point to eat there someday.  You will thank me.  And I have to thank my thoughtful husband for a great gift and my in-laws for taking care of the boys for us. 

In response to the tags....

Thanks to everyone who has recently tagged me.  I'm honored that you're interested in more of my random quirks.  However, I thought I'd mix things up a bit and share 6 random things about my amazing husband, Ephraim.  

1. He has a ridiculously high pain tolerance (as in, walking around for YEARS with injuries)

2. He reads his Fundamentals of Applied Electromagnetics textbook for fun on a regular basis

3. He hasn't parted his hair since 5th grade

4. He'll eat anything if its pickled (this is a direct quote)

5. He would name a child Alora Dannon Garner if I let him (yes, from Willow)

6. He got promoted to first lieutenant this week.  Hurray! The boys and I are very proud of him and his willingess to work so hard to support our family and serve his country. 

Me putting on his new black bar.

Yes, it was a very sunny day and yes, Max is saluting.

During the ceremony.

A lobster, a Chicken, and 2 Hungry Parents

That about summed up our ward trunk-or-treat.  We had a great time even though Max was afraid of a Darth Vader he saw there.  Max also went to a Halloween party dressed as a fireman so in honor of that we built him a sweet fire engine that he's had a blast playing with. 

The Destructo Brothers

Don't be fooled by their angelic appearance.  Max and Ezra have become quite the mischievious pair. Ezra mainly sticks to the tearing, biting and ripping of important items while Max is the mastermind behind such recent exploits as the 5-lbs-of-sugar-dumping incident and last Tuesday's mirror-shattering incident.  

While they are definitely getting into more trouble than ever, they're also tons of fun these days. Ezra is now 7 months old, crawling, pulling himself to standing, eating exciting new things and pretty much doing whatever he wants. 

Max is OBSESSED with the Doodlebops and anything related to a rock band (a video of Max live in concert will soon be posted).  He has a great imagination and also recently taught himself to do a somersault.  We hooked Ezra's walker to Max's tractor and they have a great time caravaning around the kitchen.  Max likes to use a laundry basket as the drive-thru window which he pulls up to and always orders 2 hot dogs and 2 ice creams.  These boys are keeping us thoroughly entertained.

Date Night in Ft. Worth

We look happy in the pictures but boy was that TCU game ugly.  At least we had fun being together, enjoying a child-free evening thanks to the awesome Mitchells, and stopping for a late night snack at Taco Cabana...yum!

 

Here's to you, Christopher Columbus!

In honor of Columbus Day we discovered a new place to hike.  We found a great kid-friendly trail to a waterfall and we even saw a water snake.  Max was in heaven with all the rocks and sticks and Ezra enjoyed the ride.  October weather in Texas is fabulous!

The Grand Canyon State

While Ephraim vacationed in the suffocatingly hot deserts of California, my mom offered to come visit and drive with me to Arizona to see Lindsay, Russell, and Calvin. We had a great time celebrating Lindz's birthday (only 12 more years til the big 4-0!), enjoying the pool (who knew it was still 102 in September??), getting pedicures (by very tiny Asian men), and other fun stuff (don't worry, I'll quit with the parentheses now).  I have no pictures of Russell-apparently this is a testament to his dedication as a med student.  

The boys and I also got a chance to see Corley, Jonathan, and cute Asher in Tucson.  We visited her incredible family in Las Cruces before we headed back to Texas.  Corley must be my best friend since she was willing to drive back with me and take full responsibility to entertain 3 boys under 3 packed like sardines into the back of our Saturn. Amazingly enough, we had a smooth trip back and my only regret (besides a speeding ticket in Austin) is that we didn't have more time together.  Thanks for a great September Mom, Roberts, and Newburns!

I love you Mom!

The boys love you, too!

2 tired boys at our hotel in El Paso.

Lindz, Me and the fellas at the Mesa temple's cactus garden.

Mesa Temple

One of the favorite past-times.

Matching cousins.  Can you believe they're all looking pleasant?

I love you Corley!

Here's adorable Asher- happy belated b-day!!!

Before we catch up on the last month, here are Max and Ezra's new girl cousins- one on each side! Ellie and Ella were born within a month of each other and we can't wait to meet each of them in November! Congrats Hayley & Adam and Lyndy & Shawn!  We love you! 

Ella

Ellie

Brace yourselves for a slew of pictures...

Generally Ephraim is the one who helps me whittle down my picture selection to an acceptable number to post.  However, he's gone to Ft. Irwin, CA for a month preparing for his unit's December deployment to Iraq so I get to post whatever I want. Here's a recap of the last few weeks (consider yourself forewarned about the picture overload).  

Our quest to eat as much barbecue as we can continues.  It appears we're succeeding in our efforts to indoctrinate our children. 

We finally got Max to pose doing his new sad face.  It cracks us up. 

We found him taking a nap in his coon skin cap.  Needless to say, that was one sweaty head when he woke up.

I'm not sure what super hero wears a bra cape and boots made of Mr. Potato Head and a Cool-Whip container but Max was quite proud of this outift.

Does anyone besides me wonder how they both got so big?

Here's our calm child.  He's 5 months old now.

The nakedness is due to an unfortunate blow-out but I thought he sure looked cute.

Ezra is not only adorable but also incredibly tough.  He loves when Max wrestles with him.

Max's latest craze is being a pirate.

Apparently he got tired of cooking in the kitchen and decided to fly it around his room.

Max loves the chalkboard we made him.

We had the chance to head to San Antonio for a few days.  We  got to enjoy the beautiful temple there.  We also had fun at Ft. Sam Houston feeding carrots to the tame deer in the Quadrangle park area.

Before I forget: HAPPY 38th ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!! We love you and really appreciate the great examples you are to us!  

Ezra!!!

We've decided Ezra needs a little more attention
on the blog so today is his day.
He's 4 months old and loving life.