A Gobbling Good Time

We had a delicious Thanksgiving this year in Texas. Ephraim smoked our turkey and as evidenced by the delighted turkey-leg-eaters pictured below, it was huge hit.

Our spread...(yes, those are paper plates)

Me posing with Ephraim's masterpiece.

On a side note, Ezra is trying to assert his independence which generally ends in major messes. Here he is cooking himself breakfast (notice his resourcefulness in cutting open the package). Not really sure what we're going to do with this little guy. More child-proofing of the house is in order.

My Trick-or-Treaters

Max reprised his classic chicken costume from 2 years ago and Ezra finally settled on a knight after being wishy-washy about costumes all day. They loved trick-or-treating with Grandpa Cory and cousins and they especially enjoyed their Halloween loot.

Everything's Bigger in Texas

Especially the

STATE FAIR OF TEXAS.

We headed up to Dallas last weekend and had a fabulous, jam-packed day of Texan fun.

{Fried food, carnival rides, free samples out the wazoo, free admission to an awesome kid's museum, petting zoo extravaganza, kid-sized pretend farm}

The boys and Big Tex, the famous State Fair icon (Max really didn't like him when he started talking)

Brotherly love

2 Thumbs Up for the chocolate milk!

Ode to the deep fryer...here we see Ephraim with chicken fried bacon, turkey leg, and fried frito pie. Not pictured but also sampled: fried smores, frozen chocolate dipped cheesecake, and the world famous corny dog and jalapeno cheese corny dog. Believe it or not, we skipped a few things: fried butter, fried pizza, fried pb&j, and fried beer.

The boys loved digging for dinosaur fossils and playing dress-up at the museum on the fairgrounds.

There was an elaborate kiddie farm where the boys planted, harvested, and sold their produce, fed their animals and drove their tractors.

Not too shabby for our first-ever State Fair!

Visitors!!!

My sister Jamie, her husband Rich and their 4 kids (along with my Mom) came from Utah to visit back in August. We had a fabulous time with them. Thanks for trekking all the way to Texas you guys! We did so many fun things but here's a short recap:

Logan and Ezra modeled their coordinating Buzz Lightyear jammies, all the rage this season.

Ezra cuddling with Grandma Lillie

A great day at the beach at Padre Island!

We explored the cool Texas Rangers Museum in Waco, complete with a dress-up section and a tribute to Chuck Norris.

Ezra is currently addicted to puzzles so he loved assembling this pistol at the museum... over and over and over again. Notice the look of intense focus..

The big hit with everybody was Rock Band. We had a rockin family home evening.

We had a great week together! Who wants to come visit next???

Way back in the summer...

Right after the 4th of July we took a day-trip to one of our favorite barbecue-and-swimming- spots, Llano. This was back when Ginger the puppy was still tiny. Now she's not. She's huge. And getting more huge every week.

Other July highlights: Max had 8 root canals and 8 crowns put on (yes, I said 8) and my sister and her family and my mom came to visit. We love visitors!!! Pictures to come.

3 Things to Share

1. Max insisted on getting all dressed up for his friend Caroline's tea party birthday (side note: Caroline claims they will be getting married and having 4 kids)

Not entirely sure what's going on with his pose

2. We had a great vacation to Sea World and South Padre Island

3. After 5 years of begging, Ephraim got his way. We got a dog. This is Ginger. So far, so good.

Cap'n Crunch and Kissing Goats

Way back around Memorial Day, Ephraim's parents paid us a visit. We picked blackberries and ate cobbler, ate barbecue, ate at Elvis' favorite Texas drive-in, ate yummy Mexican....anyone sensing a theme here? We need some less-fattening hobbies. Anyway, we had a great time and can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa again!

After picking berries and digging new potatoes, we checked out the goats, donkeys, and horses at the berry farm. Grandma kissed the baby goats and of course, Ezra had to kiss them too.

On June 1 Ephraim was promoted to Captain. It was really nice having his parents here for the occasion. We only wish the ceremony could've been held in the air conditioned building versus the blazing hot parking lot. Grandma and Grandpa told Max he has to call Ephraim 'Captain Dad' now but instead, he's taken to calling him Cap'n Crunch. I suppose that's a little catchier. Thanks for coming to visit Grandma and Grandpa!!! Come back soon!

The Story of 2010

Does anyone else realize we're nearly half-way through this year? Wow. Crazy how slowly time went last year without my husband and how quickly its going now. Here's a quick recap of some events I've been meaning to blog about for a while now:

January: For Ephraim's 30 days of leave, we headed to Virginia for his dad's promotion to full Colonel at the Pentagon. It was great to have all of Ephraim's family together, minus Elder Jacob in El Salvador. Sorry we spread the 24-hour-flu to 13/21 of the family.

Next the Garner Family Reunion continued in Georgia where we had a blast staying at a beach house on Tybee Island and touring Savannah. Great food and great sites!

We also had some family photos taken. Thanks Sara!!!

Also in January: Max entered the Sunbeams class at church. He came downstairs one day and told me he was going on a mission that day, complete with a tie and a Book of Mormon tucked in his waistband.

February: Freakish Texas snow storm on the same day as Ephraim's PRK corrective eye surgery (which was a huge success!)

We had a great time at a train museum in Temple.

April: We celebrated Jessie (sister of our sister-in-law) and Tony's wedding with a crawfish boil. Thanks for inviting us Sara and Alex! We had a great time. Ezra was fearless at grabbing the crawfish and the boys loved seeing Jensen and Kiki!

May: My mom, Aunt Diane, and Aunt Carolyn all came to town. We had a great time at the beach, eating great barbecue, and braving the famous Round Rock Texas Donut (as big as your head).

My mom was also in town for Mother's Day. We had a great day (notice the beautiful chocolate-dipped berries!). I was spoiled with a DQ ice cream cake, a Wii Fit, and a nice nap. My mom also cheered me on at a 5K I ran and visited our favorite children's museum with us.

More May: Ephraim completed all the requirements for his Expert Infantryman Badge, which entails a pretty rigorous week of events. We're so proud of his hard work. He was one of seven who passed everything on the first attempt. We love our soldier!

Its been a great 2010. Now I'm pledging to be a better blogger.

The Top Three Best Things About Texas

I love Texas. Here's why:

1. warm weather

2. amazing barbecue

3. bluebonnets

Combine those three and you have one perfect day.