Utah in January

Uncle Danny and Max up at Uncle John's cabin in Sundance

Grandpa got a prize at work for being fabulous - we think he's fabulous too

what more can I say

A lovely day with the Steffies

Auntie Chrissy and Cousin Sadye

Auntie Barb and Aunt Di

Auntie Em and cousins Sam and James

Uncle Dave and cousins Max and Olive

James Sam and Max kick back

Mommy Shannon would not like Olive's diet of Cream Soda and.......

chocolate donuts

Max still loving pickles

The four cousins

Grandma Myrt and Grandpa

Aunt April with Sam

Bestest friends and snuggle buddies

The Max and Sadye story.........

Sayde the princess is very pretty

How can I make a move??

What if I just pretend to be stretching

I think she suspects something

I'm just going to kiss her

Ha haaa I did it, nevermind the elbow

Apacas are for kissing

puckering up .........


.........and in for the kiss



Max supervising as he tells auntie Chrissy to kiss the alpaca too. Notice his lips in the background


Riding on Carlotta with cousin Sadye





Aunt Barb or "Bahba" with Max and Sadye



So we may have a problem. Max thinks that all animals are there to be kissed. He loves to kiss anything with a furry face but still will not give a proper kiss to adult people - though he will kiss babies and other small children on occasion (grown-up people just get a light head-butt). Whenever Max sees a dog or cat or any animal he goes running up to it with his head forward and making kissing noises - you can see where this could be a problem. We realize it is partly our fault because we wanted to teach him to be kind to animals and love them so we would tell him to give Richard kisses - now we are concerned that he may get his face bitten off as he goes in for the kiss with some strange beast. He also kisses pictures of animals in books, or anywhere else and then he wants you to kiss them too. When we were it Utah we went to watch a cousin play basketball at a school where the mascot happens to be a bear. After the game Max went running down on to the floor and kissed the nose of the giant bear painted on the court. He then took Aunt Barbara by the hand and lead her to the bear pointing at it and wanting her to get down and kiss its nose too.

petting zoo heaven

At the petting zoo Max was very excited when he saw other children feeding the animals. He stooped down and took a handful of sawdust and shoved it in a goat's face expecting him to eat it. Then he went to the camel and the mini horse getting more and more frustrated that the animals wouldn't eat his "food". Feeling saddened by his growing frustration we repented of our cheap ways and went to buy him some $4 animal food. Does anyone else love the way they do that? - charge you extortionate rates for food to feed their animals. Max got to feed (and try to kiss) kangaroos and ostriches and pigs and camels and all kinds of other odd looking things. By the way, miniature kangaroos may be the softest creatures on earth.

Christmas - at last

It's only March right?? I don't feel too bad as we got two Christmas letters last week.

This was the best Christmas ever and I have three letters to tell you why: M.A.X.! We just stayed at home in our little Kentucky house, I gave Matt socks and a summer sausage, he gave me tweezers and a wallet, Sam got a few recycled gifts from his baby shower and Max got everything an almost two year old boy could want - trucks and tools and balls and bats and lots and lots of lollipops. I have never seen such glee as he ripped off paper and shreaked at his new treasures. He's such an enthusiastic little fellow and it's contageous. He played and played and ate candy and played until we thought he must be exhausted but when we put him down for a nap he was so excited that he just sat in his bed singing and shouting. As it was Christmas, we let him get up and he played some more and ate more candy. Then we went over to his best friend Rylee's house and he got to play some more and sit at a princess table for Christmas dinner. I think we finally dragged him away from his toys at 11p.m. and put him to bed. Christmas with Max was fantastic and we are excited for next year when Sam will be able to join in a little too.

The stockings were hung.........



The Christmas pajamas were on.........





Sam's head doubles as a drum




We go to bed and Matt and I wake before the boys. Finally we get too excited to wait any longer on Christmas morning so we go and wake them...and the fun begins.







still holding lollipops




Rylee's house

Christmas kisses

Dad and Sam worn out



"Tanta" at the neighbor's house. This is the Santa that I mentioned in an earlier post that Max would stand at the window and stare at. Each night when Santa inflated we had to take a trip over the road to see him and to give him "five" and "bones". If you look closely you can see Max's hand is clenched ready for Bones. Max misses Santa greatly and still asks where he is from time to time even though it's March. He used to say "tanta, wher'd go?" now he says "tanta, gone". We hope Tanta comes back next year.



Boxing day play


Boxing day was much like Christmas day too - filled with toys and giddiness and candy. I don't think Max cried atall. The next day Max got up for another fun packed day, got into bed with us and was cuddling with Matt - which he never does. "What's wrong" I said looking at his concerned expression. "Hurts" said Max. Next thing we know, a fire-hose-sized flow of throw up is squirting out of Max's mouth and onto Matt's chest. I'll spare you the details but just let it be a lesson to us all that you can't just indulge in endless play and candy eating without there being consequences.