The Reptile Zoo

Mar Mar had to work today, so Max and I flew solo, and planned a trip to the reptile zoo in Monroe/Sultan. I remember the guy that owns this place coming to my elementary school and showing us all of these crazy things. It was REALLY cool for Max...I think I'd rather not know that things as large as these exist...but cool for me, too.We saw Iguana'sVery large snakes that eat people (it said so on the sign), I think this is a Python, but don't quote me. Are you kidding with how huge that is?!?
Tortoises that we could touch... An Albino Alligator --that was WAY coolAnd as much as I H-A-Y-T spiders, this was my favorite thing...they used to have this Large 'Bird eating Spider' at the PHX zoo...we LOVED to go look at it, because Max LOVES spiders...but, for some stupid reason, being that it's the year of the frog, the PHX zoo took the exhibit down this year and replaced it with a bunch of frogs...my finger is up my nose. This freaking spider is bigger than my hand! yuck...as long as it's in the cage, it's stinkin' awesome!There were also very large madagascar hissing cockroaches, which as soon as Max saw them, he pointed and said "Grandma's House." (sorry, Cheryl, but he does remember other cool things other than there are cockroaches at your house...I thought it was cute). We saw frogs, dragons, diamondbacks (get 'em Dbacks!) rattle snakes, tarantulas, Boa Constrictors, chameleons, etc, etc, etc...boy paradise in there! Enjoy the sick-nast pictures!

We heart Daddy!

Max and I loved having daddy here for Christmas. So did Paw Paw...After Jeff left, my dad commented on what a big help Jeff was with chores, and how he thought he really liked being out there doing them with he and Maxer... Apparently he did because he was constantly out there shoveling the never-ending snow and making sure the 'girls' had water and not just a bucket full of ice. Thanks for all the help, Jeffer!

mmm, thanks Jeff!

Just before taking Jeff to the airport, we realized that we hadn't taken any pictures with the three of us in the snow...this is us screaming like Max was, to try and stop him from screaming long enough to smile...

It worked. We heart daddy! Can't wait to see you again, Jeffer!

love, Max and Mommy

A Belated Word about Santa Claus

We finally got our picture back from our visit with Santa Claus. I love this picture!! A whole gang of us went down to get our pictures taken with Santa Claus a few days before Christmas. Max has been a cRaZy person since we've been in Seattle, and this particular day was no exception. My brother Chad, and his wife Katie brought their 2 little girls Sydney and Samantha, and Mar Mar and Paw Paw and I brought Max down to see the big SC. We waited forEVER, and whilst Max ran up and down every aisle in the store, with an oversized pregnant lady running close behind him, (Mar Mar saved our place), and Paw Paw carrying him around the store for a 3rd and 4th lap, I tried to prep Max for what he was about to do. I told him that Santa Claus needed to know what Max would like him to bring him for Christmas...I didn't know if it got through his 85mph mind..and then it was our turn...I nudged Max in Santa's direction, told him it was Max's turn and watched him tippy-toe up to the big man himself. (sorry, this is a picture of the picture...I don't really know how to work the camera yet...) Max: "I'm Max"

SC: "Hello, Max"

Max: "Good Boy"

SC: "You've been a good boy?"

Max: "A Big Green Monster Truck"

SC: "You want a monster truck?

Max: "CHEESE"

...the picture was taken, and off he went. It was sooo stinkin' cute!!! Straight down to business...just how mom likes it!Well, Santa made it Mar Mar and Paw Paw's house...he didn't quite eat all of his cookies, but drank all his milk...and it looks like he tracked in a little bit of feed from the reindeer...(note near the side of the plate on the counter)
He left Max a little note next to his stocking...

And apparently, Max really had been a good boy all year...this is the look of a little boy who got exactly what he asked for...he tore open the paper...and turned and looked at me just exactly like this--I'm amazed I caught it on camera A Big Green Monster Truck...it moves and jams all by itself!
Thanks, Santa!!!

Abercrombie Models

When we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving, we took some 'abercrombie' pictures of Max and his cousin Easton, who is two weeks younger thank Max. We sagged their diapers under their pants and had them up on stage shaking their booties and flexing their muscles. We had to bribe them with MnM's...but we think it was worth it! Aren't they stinkin' studly?

We may have to go with GAP instead of Abercrombie...Easton's mom is a bit of a Gap freak. (It's a good thing, Shavon!)

Christmas Eve

We had such a great Christmas Eve!! Unfortunately, my dad had to 'work' that day in Seattle, versus the clinic that's just 4 miles down the road, but when he got there, it turned out he wasn't scheduled. It all worked out in the end, though, because on his way home, he picked up my brother, Chad, and his family to come spend the night with us out in the sticks (they were snowed in, and as it turns out, they didn't have power, either. Dad's made a tradition of taking the grandkids on a one-horse open sleigh, with a few deviations...it's not a sleigh, but a sled, and it's not pulled by one horse, but by a llama or two. It's always really fun, and the kids took turns riding Vixie, and being pulled by the sled. Meet Dolly Llama...she has one weird blue eye and one normal brown eye...and Paw Paw

Syd riding Vixie and Max being pulled behind...Sam didn't so much want to get on at this point...Syd and Max in the sled

I even got a ride, giving baby Ivy her very first ride!!!After the Llamas were secured, my dad, brother and I went snowshoeing.
It was a fun trek, and it wasn't very long, but I can tell that my endurance is waning because I was tired about half-way through...I made it, though!

We had an awesome dinner, afterwhich, we did our annual nativity scene. Meet Joseph and his towel head and furry boots. And instead of Camels visiting the baby jesus, in our version, we had llamas, kitties and a dog named Willow.
Syney as our angel, Samantha as Mary and Max as Joseph...and some non-descript doll starring as baby Jesus. Then for what Max had been waiting for allllll week...the hugest present under the tree, and there need not have been any more, becuase he was sure satisfied with Handy Manny's truck where you actually use his tools to fix the carborator and the engine.

It was so fun to have my brother and his family with us for the day, even though Christmas Morning I turned into the Grinch because Max broke one of his new toys pretty much as soon as he opened it...it really ticked me off, which is really sad, but...he was a little bit of a crazy all day which combined my grinch-iness. On a better note...Jeff got me a new stinkin awesome camera that I have been coveting for a long time, so maybe now I can get a decent picture or two. We had such a fun time, and I am so blessed to be able to spend so much time with my parents!!! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, too!

Finally...a day to play!

We've been snowed-in for the last two days. We've had crazy wind storms while it was snowing so that we couldn't even walk outside, let alone get the car out of the garage. We kept ourselves busy, but I was getting worried that we wouldn't get to play in the snow any more while Jeff was still here. This morning, though, the wind finally let up. Jeff and I put on snowshoes and trekked out to the road to make a pathway so a guy with a snow plow could come and re-create my parents' driveway. Jeff had never snowshoed before, so that was fun!!! It's one of my more favorite things to do in the snow.

Then we came inside and got Max ready to sled...he had gone stir-crazy over the last two days and needed to be out!He went down the hill once with mom... ...and then once by himself.

But, for some reason, sledding wasn't as intriguing as...
...John Deere snow plow/tractors...

...and laying down to eat the snow every three steps. We had a fun time in the snow!

Winter Wonderland

We finally got Max some nerdy snowboots so that the boot problem was solved (he kept losing his boots). Jeff got into town wednesday and it snowed and snowed and snowed! We went outside and tried to go sledding,and build a snowman, but both were a no-go because the snow was soooo dry! (perfect for skiing!) Anyways, so today the snow was much easier to work with, but still not wet enough to build a snowguy! I pulled max up and down the driveway on a sled (I haven't ran that far in FOREVER...) That was soo fun!Jeff threw a huge snowball at Maxer... you can see the bullseye on Max's coat...Hey!!! Then Paw Paw saddled up Vixie, one of the Llamas, and Max got to go for a long-awaited ride. He rode her for sooo long all by himself and loved it!
Here's Paw Paw (my dad) leading the 'girls' while Max rides...Don't forget the helmet!

When we turned around to head back up to the barn, this was our view: my parents new house is sooo pretty, and this was just too perfect of a picture to not shoot. It's a winter wonderland up here!

Happy Holidays!!!

There's Snow Place like Home!

Max and I got to fly up to Seattle on Monday to spend the whole month with my parents!!! We've had a fun time so far with Mar Mar (my mom) and Paw Paw (my dad), Max loves helping Paw Paw with chores...ie, feeding the kitties and the llamas. He has special work boots that they bought him that he's allowed to walk through puddles with. He loves to pick up the kitties (the poor things), and loves to try give the llamas hay. My mom and dad's new house in Sultan is Beautiful!!! It's so fun, and woodsy, and feels like a fun Christmas Cabin! Mom, Dad and I were watching a movie on the Hallmark Channel last night, mom's favorite channel, and just at the end of a fun little movie, the satelite started acting up...grrrr. We had about five minutes left, and we couldn't see a thing!!!...we decided to turn it off, and as we looked out the window just beyond the TV...it was snowing! Snow had covered the receiver, so we couldn't watch it anymore...This was the view of their house when we woke up this morning: still snowing (isn't it awesome how quiet it is when it snows?) and foggy! I love it! We put max's warm stuff on...but since we've lived in the Desert for sooooo long, we put Paw Paw to shame wearing all cotton. (That's against the Ellsworth Code of Conduct; you never wear cotton outside!) Max's boots fell off a few times, leaving his socks soaking wet...he kept knocking off his mittens, and our time to play in the snow was only about 10 minutes, afterwhich, I swiftly took him up to a warm tubby. Nevertheless...He had a fun time playing in it before the boots and mittens came off... It's so nice to be at home, it's so nice to feel the brisk air when you go outside, and to wear my warm coat and scarf. I'm so grateful to be home this time of year!

Half a Bumper

Well...I still haven't painted the stinkin crib black yet...It will be black!!!! And...I ran out of fabric to make the the ties...but half of the bumper is done and I L-O-V-E it!! I had so much fun! anyways...to Jenny's Fabric I go to get a teensy bit more of the floral fabric...woo hoo!!! It'll be waaaaay cuter when it's black!

Mousser Mayhem

We took a trip to Phoenix for our Thanksgiving Festivities and we had SUCH a fun trip...my sister-n-laws and Mother-n-law got to go see Twilight again...so fun! The next night, Jeff and the Moussers Men went to see the new Bond movie. We got to stay at Steve and Becky's house, which meant that Jeff got to play rock band (I think this was his favorite part) and we watched a ton of movies that we hadn't seen. We LOVE to hang out with them!

We were on the go a lot, and didn't get to see everyone that we wanted to see...I hate that! We for sure stopped at Sonic!!!! I sooo miss Sonic...we pretty much went everyday! I met my friend Tara at one of my favorite fabric Stores...below is a picture of the hallowed place...they have cheeeeeeap stuff!!! It's where we got all of our lace and random expensive fabrics for not so much money. We also got to hang out with one of our favorite families...the Coles...I got my hair cut (I've waited sooo long...Lisa does such an awesome job) and we got to go to the zoo with them...a favorite past time. Here's a picture of Max with his little girlfriend, Rylee...they had so much fun playing, but time was short. We had Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa, got to play with all the Mousser cousins...Max LOVES to play with Lexi, Julie and Kayla, and they take such good care of him! (Max and Rylee)

(us at the PHX zoo)

And...to top it all off, Grandma made each of us (all 24 of us) marshmellow shooters, and we had a number of wars. Here's a picture of Jeff taking a hit on some unsuspecting young nephew...
We had such a fun time! Oh, and we ate a ton...it was Thanksgiving!