Hamkey. It's What's For Dinner.

In a creative effort to appease smoked-turkey-leg-loving boys and parents desiring leftover ham instead of leftover turkey, the hamkey was born. All the creation's components were delicious, as was our garlic bread stuffing and other traditional fix-ins. The hamkey may very well become a permanent Thanksgiving fixture at the Garner house.

We feel really grateful to be healthy, happy, and together in our new home at this holiday time of year.

New Home

So, we weren't planning on buying a house right away but in August we stumbled upon this place and fell in love. We were sold as soon as we drove up the tree-lined driveway and saw the shiny, red door. We knew we wanted a wooded acreage but we were hoping to still live close to town and that's exactly what we got. We closed on the house at the end of September and so far, we've loved our new home. The boys love traipsing around the 2.5 acres and we love the privacy of not having close neighbors. We have plenty of space so come visit!!!

BOO!

We have a few months of blogging to cover (such as Griffin's baby blessing, visitors, moving to our dream house, yadayadayada....) but for now, here's a Halloween recap. Our first Halloween in Nebraska was a huge success! We had a great party with friends and fun treats, trunk-or-treating at the church and trick-or-treating with our friends, the Andersons.

Sheriff Griffin

Ancient Ninja Spirit Max (if you know Max, you know he came up with that one all on his own) and Transformer Ezra. Also pictured: witches hat cookies, cupcakes, and pumpkin cake balls.

Witchy me and Thor

Max and Ezra love their friends! (Notice that Max decided to change to a Ninja Turtle...he totally takes after me with the multiple costumes.)

2/3 of our cute boys

Griffin's Growing Up!

He's nearly 7 weeks now and since he's a decent sleeper at night and super cuddly, we have no complaints. Max is loving his nightly homework (here's hoping that lasts!) and Ezra is happiest when we leave him alone with his legos and action figures.

It was a big week around our house...

Max started Kindergarten. Here he is posing in his school clothes.

Ezra was quite excited for it as well and actually seems quite content with having the house all to himself during the day.

Griffin is already 1 week old and is contemplating life's great mysteries.

He got to wear his awesome glowing suit for a couple of days which somehow cured him of jaundice.

And his brothers are already working hard to teach him all of their greatest tricks.

Introducing:

Griffin Ephraim Garner

born August 11, 2011

8lbs even

20 in. long

(If you're not interested in the details, feel free to just peruse the pictures and skip the story at the end!)

He's here and he's ready for his close-up.

Proud big brother Ezra.

A big week for Max...starting kindergarten in 4 days and getting a new baby brother.

Camping out on the queen bed in my recovery room. The Catholics know how to do it right (I forgot to mention we were at a Catholic hospital). I sampled every item on their daily dessert cart and highly recommend the chocolate chip cookies.

Gory details:

I was pretty sure this baby wasn't going to come early. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Wednesday we went for a hike and then to a local baseball game and by the end of the night I felt sore and tired. I woke up a few times in the night with some pain but I still didn't think it was anything labor-related. Ephraim left for work Thursday morning about 6:30 and at that point I was having painful contractions every 10-15 minutes. I still wasn't convinced I was in labor. About an hour later I realized the pain was definitely getting worse and the contractions were 5 minutes apart. And then all of a sudden they were even closer and I realized this was probably serious. I called Ephraim to come home (which took 20 minutes) then we dropped the boys with a friend and sped to the hospital. I thought I could walk to the labor and delivery floor but alas, I couldn't and a really nice old lady at the front desk pushed me in a wheelchair. They checked me in and tried to ask me some insurance questions and I couldn't really answer. I got into the room at 9:23 and was hoping to get into the jacuzzi for a water birth but there was no time to fill the tub. The nurse told me I was in transition and I told her I was going to push. I think she told me to hold on but I said no. They yelled for my midwife to come in and she did and about 2 pushes later, baby Griffin was out, at 9:39. I was delighted to have such a short time in the labor room. Its amazing how great the recovery has been this time around; much better than with the epidural births I had before. I would definitely do a natural birth again. Hopefully there'll be time to fill the tub the next time around. Griffin is a mellow and chubby-cheeked little guy and we're completely delighted to have him in our family.

Quick Rendezvous in Nauvoo

We took a short trip to meet up with my sis Lindsay and her family in Nauvoo. 3-day trips are about perfect for us, we decided. We were lucky to get to go the temple and see the Nauvoo pageant, complete with a pre-show pioneer fair. The boys loved the kids' pioneer games, seeing their cousins, and throwing rocks into the Mississippi river.

Max got to try the drums

Max really liked all the statues of Joseph Smith and wanted pictures with each of them

Posing with our ancestor, Israel Barlow

They were fascinated with the oxen

Before our wagon ride

We had to drag the boys away from the games

Max took this one of us at Carthage Jail

A hand-cart pull in honor of the pioneers, 2 strong dads and 4 delighted boys!

Summer So Far

Here's what Max and Ezra have been up to recently:

(Lots of dressing up, silly poses, and visits to the awesome parks here in Lincoln)

In other news, we took the boys to the big ultrasound where they loved seeing their new brother already doing karate moves. Max had all kinds of funny questions for the ultrasound tech. such as, "What's all that meaty looking stuff??"

Here's me getting bigger and bigger...7 weeks to go!

The boys think they're hilarious dressed up in the baby gear.

We've found some awesome parks to play and hike in. The boys loved this suspension bridge and seeing the buffalo at this wildlife center.

The slip and slide is a hit with Max, Ezra, and Ginger.

We had a great time at a baseball game a few weeks ago. I think its genius that they have a playground inside the stadium because let's face it, 9 innings is long. Good thing funnel cakes are involved!

Happy Father's Day to Ephraim! The boys picked out water guns, a nerf football and a few other treasures for their favorite dad.

And finally, Ezra's beloved frog, Poopoo Guy. He occasionally finds him out in our yard and works him over. Yesterday he spent over an hour hopping after him, carrying him in his pocket, making him a home in a cooler, the dog dish, and various other places. We finally persuaded Ezra to let Poopoo Guy go home to his family. Ezra is the epitome of a boy (just look at his sweaty, messy, delighted face!)

Howdy from Cornhusker Country!

After a 6,000-mile trek from Texas to Nebraska to Utah then back to Nebraska to Ohio to Virginia then back to Ohio then back to Nebraska, we're happy to be settled in our new home. We loved getting to visit with so many family members along the way and wish our camera hadn't had a broken lens for most of the trip. A bunch of out of order, blurry pictures from Ephraim's phone and borrowed pictures from other people's blogs will have to suffice!

After our egg hunt and egg dying:

We celebrated the boys' birthdays all along our trip- 3 parties in 3 states! On Max's actual birthday we partied at an indoor playground here in town and then went to Cici's.

The delighted 5-year old. "Can you believe I'm a whole hand???"

Thor helmet

Lego Ninjago

The mustache Ezra won at Cici's...it matched perfectly!

We had a great time in Virginia seeing Ephraim's parents, Hayley, Adam, Ellie, and Seth. The wienie roast was a hit!

The boys had a ball playing outside.

They mastered the marshmallow guns.

Another great birthday celebration! Ezra is 3!

These boys are obsessed with Star Wars.

Proof of our trip to Utah...I really dropped the ball in the picture-taking department! We had a fantastic time with my family and Max still talks about the Star Wars cake Aunt Jamie made him.

Max is enthralled with museums. He had 2 things at the Smithsonian he insisted on seeing: Amelia Earhart's airplane and the Real C3P0. Mission accomplished!

We were lucky enough to get to meet up with my sister Lindsay and her family in DC for a fun day of exploring.

To Max and Ezra's adoring grandparents: I promise to update more frequently! Sorry to have kept you all waiting!