Christmas in our neighborhood

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!! It's been an eternity since I have posted, but it's only because a katrillion things have been taking place this last month!! Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas and always get a little sad when December 26th comes, but this year I think I was more relieved than I was sad.

Here is just a few pictures that I took. Seriously, all I took was a FEW pictures this year. So sad. I hardly had time to pick up my camera. Shame, shame, I know.

Here's the little ham on Christmas morning. He was thrilled with the red wagon that Santa brought him!

He's so special. :)

Oh, and onto one of the many reasons why I think my husband is a complete stud.

See this hideous fireplace?? Don't look at all the crap around it. This was when we just moved in, so you have to cut me some slack. Well..........................................

My husband turned it into this!! Merry Christmas to me. He also put in a brand new front door, put in all new trim, re-textured, installed new lighting, and painted everything in our livingroom. There is still a lot of work to do like install baseboard and recarpet, but I AM SO HAPPY with how it turned out! Now I just have to decorate!! Oh, and the pictures on the fireplace are not in the right place. They're just sitting there until I figure out how the heck I'm going to arrange everything! Anyone have any good ideas for what to put above the mantle???

So you can see now why this last month was crazy! I didn't have a livingroom and everything that was in my livingroom had to be moved into the dining room until this room got done. Let me just say that when I imagine what Hell is like, I think of what my house looked like the first few weeks of December 2007. So glad it's finished!!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

Lovebird Tagged!!!

Where did you meet your husband???

Jim and I have been in the same ward since I was twelve years old. I first met him at one of our ward friend's birthday parties. He asked me to swing dance with him and he pretty much danced with me the whole night. I thought he was the best thing that ever happened to me and I think he just wanted a dancing partner. He didn't seek interest in me til about 4 years later. Probably a good thing :)

What was the first thing you said to your husband?

Oh dear, I can't remember and it's probably a good thing that I don't. Being that I was twelve, it was probably something really stupid and immature.

Where was your first date?

We went with a bunch of people tubing down the Salt River in the Arizona June heat. It was a lot of fun! I remember hitting some rough water and then running my raft into a large branch. I got scared and pretty much jumped on top of Jim. I think I almost killed him, but I think he liked it :). Heck, I know I did!

Where was your first kiss?

On my front doorstep. I didn't think it was ever going to happen, but lo and behold!

Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?

Jim and I dated for 8 months and then he left on his mission. Yes, I waited for him the whole two years and am so glad I did!! He came home in January '05 and we were married April 9th of that same year. Total lovebirds + Mormon = Short Engagement

Where did you get engaged?

Jim took me back to the Salt River (where we had our first date) on a picnic. I remember getting out of the car and saying to him, "Don't forget the camera". So we walk about half a mile through thorns and rocks to get to the river. I was in flip-flops, so walking that far did not appeal to me at the time. We finally get to the river and Jim says, "Crap, I forgot the camera. Could you go back to the car and get it?" I was mad, but I did it anyways. When I was walking back to the river, I could hear Jim yelling to me to hurry back because he had caught a fish and wanted me to reel it in. So I ran over to him, reeled it in and Jim took a picture. This was a very proud moment for me because I had never caught a fish before. Woo hoo!! What I didn't know was that there was more than a fish on the line. My engagement ring was on there too! It only took me 5 minutes to figure it out and then Jim got on one knee and proposed while I cried my eyes out.

Where did you get married?

The Mesa Temple

How did the reception go?

What I can remember of it, was great! We had it at the Rowley's home in their backyard. My photographer took pictures of us the entire 2 hours, so we didn't even get a chance to have a line. I was glad about that though because the whole night was pretty casual.

The Honeymoon?

Do you really wanna know? Just kidding. We went to California - spent the first two nights in Palm Springs and then headed to Anaheim for Disneyland!! I think it's the happiest place on earth. Jim begs to differ.

Whose turn is it next?

Jami, Amber, and Michelle! Get going, guys.

Can you say, PRECIOUS?

Please pause my Christmas music and take a few seconds to listen to this!! You won't regret it. It is the cutest thing you'll ever hear!

Thanksgiving in AZ.....Oh, how I miss it already!

We had way too much fun & food this Thanksgiving go-around. It was so nice to be able to spend time with both families and enjoy nice warm weather. Besides being there for Thanksgiving, we were also able to make it in time to see Jerry open his mission call. Boise, Idaho baby! That's what I'm talking about. Congratulations, Jerry!! You will make a fantastic missionary. We'll miss you lots.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of Jerry's mission, here is a picture of us (my mom, auntie donna, and me) waiting for Jerry to open his call. Since some of you have been requesting a belly picture....here ya go. It's getting huge and I still have 3 months!! Gross.
We were also able to go and visit Braddock's great-great grandma Gertie (Jim's great-grandma). She is sweeter than pie. I love her to pieces. She's totally young at heart too. At Jim's homecoming party, she gave Jim (my 200 lb husband) a ride on her back. Not even joking! You go, Grandma!

Friday after Thanksgiving, my family went and had pictures taken at the temple. We rarely ever do these. I believe last time we had these done, there were only two grandkids. Now there's a whopping seven! Oh, and I promise my husband was meaning to smile. After the pictures, we all went out to eat at our favorite Mexican food restaurant, Rosa's - where I pretty much inhaled my plate. To see pictures of us chowing down (you know you wanna), check out my sister's blogs, Jacey and Jenna's. Later that night, we took all the kiddies to see the Mesa Temple lights. It was soooooooooo nice not having to worry about wearing a snow bib and 3 jackets to stay warm. The lights were beautiful and the crowds were endless!! Friday after Thanksgiving is not the best time to go, but I'm glad we did anyway. Braddock was highly amused. Just look at the picture below. He pretty much did that the entire time and said "What's that, what's that?" So, that was our Thanksgiving in a nutshell!! We hope ya'll had a Happy Thanksgiving too! Now onto Christmas! Whoopee!!

Going from house to home.......SLOWLY, but SURELY

It's now been a little over two years since we have lived in our house and I can't believe it!! Holy cow, time goes by fast!! When we first moved in, we knew we wanted to remodel the entire inside of the house (you'll see why in a sec). I imagined to have my whole house changed to the way I wanted it within a year from our date of purchase. This meant building in a new master bathroom, re-painting, re-carpeting, new doors, new windows, additional plumbing and electrical, and a whole bunch of other things that would take too long to list. Well, that one year from our date of purchase has come and gone and we have a total of 3 rooms done. Woo hoo!! I am learning that remodeling this house is a WAY bigger project than I thought. It takes a lot of time & MULA! If you know me, I am not a very patient person, so this experience has been for my good. This house has been a HUGE project, but I love how rewarding it has felt to slowly, BUT SURELY make this house into a home. Here are some pics of the house........

BEFORE:

This is one nasty room. Jim and I lived in this room while he was working on the master bedroom. We pretty much trashed the room to help make more of a contrast with the "before" and "after" shots.

Lavendar and pink floral wallpaper. anyone??

AFTER:

This is now Braddock's nursery. I absolutely love it! Jim and I worked our butts off on this room!
BEFORE:
Behold, the master suite. So gross. And NO, we do NOT use those mattresses. AFTER:

I love this room too! Jim put in black trim & baseboard which I doubted at first, but it has really started to grow on me. He also enlarged the room, installed all new lighting, re-painted, and put in new carpet.

There is another room connected to this one which will one day be our master bathroom. Can't wait!

BEFORE:

This is a bedroom downstairs that we called the "purple room". Creative name, huh? Lavendar walls, and disco-flowered wallpaper bordered the entire thing. I think I just vommited in my mouth. The navy blue carpet looked amazing in here as well.

After:

Vwa-la!! All new trim, baseboard, paint, and carpet. Thanks to my brother, Jerry and his friend Derrek who came this summer and helped get this thing done! There are still minor things that need to be done, but overall it looks fantastic thanks to my husband and all the extra time and effort he has put into beautifying this place! I know I still need to get window treatments, wall decor, etc., but I'm just not motivated to until my whole house is finished. For now, we'll just keep working our tooshies off and hopefully get this place finished soon!

Loving the Fall Season!!

Can I just say that I love the fall weather here in Utah?! It is so nice to go outside and breathe in the fresh crisp air. I couldn't help but take some pictures of Braddock playing in the leaves. Now that he's walking, he's having a hay-day outside! After an hour of playing in the front yard, we finally came back in, so I could lay my pregnant self down for a bit. Braddock looked at me as if he was saying, "Not again, mom!" I'm sure he is sick of the fact that I am always spending so much time with my new best friend.....the leather couch. However, he managed to find another source of entertainment - the laundry basket. He was lovin it! I had to take pictures of him in it. Isn't my kid cute? I'm not biased.

It's a Miracle!!!!

Just a warning - Some of you are going to be bored with this video, but I'm a Proud Mama and have to show you all what my little boy is doing now!!! You better believe it, he's finally walking!! Should I be scared?????

Oh, and one other thing. Please JUST FOCUS on Braddock and not my ghetto under construction house and the fact that I say "Come get some cookie" like 40 times. That's all :)

A Happy Halloween & One Obnoxious Costume!!!

Well, we hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Here's how ours went...................


So I wasn't going to dress Braddock up for Halloween this year. (Sad, I know.) I just didn't spot any great costumes that I wanted to spend money on and my brain has not been very creative for the last while to come up with anything. Then, my friend called me yesterday morning and told me she had a little giraffe costume for B-Rock to wear. I couldn't resist. It's so ugly, but pretty hilarious at the same time.
I was amused at how it made his face look. His cheeks were pretty much bulging out of it.

Our first stop for the night: Auntie Jenna's house for chile and sugar cookies that were so beautifully frosted by Jenna, Liesel, and Nancy. Great job, guys. I wish I had a picture of them cookies.


Auntie Lyssa loves the camera. I wish Braddock was just as amused. He can only stand about 10 pictures and then he's through!

Next stop: Grandma & Grandpa Partridge's. This is Braddock with his little cousin Brielle who looked freakin adorable in her
skunk costume. B-Rock was all pooed out by this point.

Happy Birthday, Jace!!

I know I'm a day early with this post, but I usually NEVER have time to post on Saturdays, so I thought I would get ahead of myself. Tomorrow is going to be a spectacular day because it's my sister's birthday!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!! I just wanted her to know how much I love her and miss her!! She has always been such a great friend to me and a perfect example of an awesome mother. I'm pretty sure she is annoyed with how many times I have begged her to move up here or come and visit, but I only do it because she is greatly missed by all her sisters here in Utah. We all love you tons and hope you have a fun day!!!

Where do I even begin????

Holy cow!
It feels like forever since I've blogged. I have to admit though, it's been quite nice taking a break from it. Life has been crazy the last couple of weeks!!! Last Saturday, my boys were both sick with stomach flu. It was disgusting! I know you've had enough with the puking stories, so I won't burden you with anymore of them. Let's just say that both boys left me a huge mess to clean up (neither of them made it to the toilet on time). Good thing I'm out of the sick stage or it would have been a disaster. By Monday, everyone was feeling themselves again and I was looking forward to having a happy, healthy week!

On Tuesday, my sister Jenna and I went to Oldnavy, Ross, and TJ Max. Unfortunately, all three stores were a disappointment, so we decided to head on over to Olive Garden. This is where the story gets good. SO, we go into eat.....laugh a lot, talk a lot, take care of our babies a lot and then we leave. I put Braddock on my shoulders and skip to the car. Then.......I pause. "Is my car running???" I ask myself this as it sounds like MY CAR IS RUNNING!! "No, it can't be running. I'm not that retarded." Sure enough, I look through the window and see the keys in the ignition and my car is freaking on!!!! It had been running for about 45 minutes with the doors unlocked.
All I could do was look up toward the heavens and thank Heavenly Father for being so incredibly understanding of my stupidity and protecting our vehicle. Everytime I think about that incident, I get very nauseated. Jim still does NOT know about this and WON'T until the title is no longer in our name.
Oh, and there's more!! SO, I get Braddock in his carseat and all of the sudden I feel a liquidy heat sensation all over my arm. Braddock spewed alfredo sauce, breadstick, and applejuice all over his seat, my arm, and his clothes. Thinking it was all over, I hurried and grabbed some napkins to wipe it up, but it just kept comin' and comin'. The few napkins that I had were worthless at this point, so what did I do??? I started laughing and then.....I started crying. Our half hour drive home felt like an eternity. I had my head out the window the whole time I was driving because of the stench. I looked like a dog, but really didn't give a hoots.
I'm so grateful that day is over with! Oh, and sorry about ANOTHER puking story.

Onto a better note: I got called to be second counselor in the Young Women's Presidency! For the last two years, I've been teaching Relief Society and have absolutely loved it, but am now looking forward to being part of the younger organization. Yesterday during sacrament meeting, I looked at the ward program to see who was speaking and all it said was "to be announced". Sure enough, they had the old presidency and the new presidency get up and share their testimonies. Everybody in the presidency that was released really was torn about leaving because they loved the young women so much and had really gotten close to them. We have a great bunch of girls in our ward which makes me even more excited. So anyone who has been in YW's, please give me some tips. I'm going to need all of the help I can get.......seriously.

Well, I guess it's time to shut my mouth now that I've grossed all of you out and have made a serious fool out of myself sharing the "car" story with you.
Oh, one more thing! Look at the pictures below!
Today, Braddock wanted to sit up on the piano bench, so I set him up on it.

This was his reaction......

This little guy cracks me up.

What could possibly be so thrilling about this experience??

I guess we'll never know.

Doesn't he look chill in this picture??

Ultrasound Pics

This is our child waving hi. LOOK - it has all 5 fingers! Hallelujah!!

Okay, so I know I've only told all of you a hundred times, so I might as well tell you again.........
we're having a GIRL!! I don't know how to read the picture below, but apparently the doctor does. We'll trust his judgement.

This is Emmalee Epps' profile. Do you see it????
Her head is on the right side......if that helps any.
We're lovin' her already!!!

4 Things..........

Four Jobs I've Had:

- QC Parks & Rec Worker (Good times, Aimee)
- Office Assistant for Town of Queen Creek
- Worked at a doctor's office. Don't ask me what my title was though. I did pretty much whatever they told me to do. :)
- Mom

Four Places I've Lived:

- Queen Creek, Arizona
- Troutdale, Oregon
- Marion, Arkansas (so glad I don't remember living there)
- Payson, Utah

Four Movies I Love:

- Elf
- Wild Hearts Can't be Broken
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Little Mermaid (I know, I'm 21.)

Four Movies I'd Love to See:

- I really haven't had time to think about it.

Four Favorite Foods:

- Chocolate
- Lime Chicken Tacos (Jenna's Recipe)
- Anything Mexican
- Ruby River's Turkey Avacado sandwich

Four Weird Things about Me:

- I pass out when I hurt my fingers. (One time I smashed my finger in my car door as I was heading over to Bank One aka Chase Bank. I passed out on the sidewalk, so the manager came out, drug me across the pavement and moved me inside. I woke up sprawled out on their floor with a dozen faces staring at me. When I stood up, everyone started cheering and then the fire dept pulled up. It was humiliating having to tell everyone my reasoning for passing out..."Uhhhh.......I smashed my finga."
- I think I am OCD when it comes to the way my table looks at a restaurant. I can't stand to see a little bit of a spill, pieces of food, or crinkled up napkins just laying there. After I am done eating, it's a MUST that I clean up the area.
- I don't like animals. Dogs are cute, sometimes, but only when they're outside and I am inside.
- I heart Christmas. My sisters are all weird like that too and my Mom. If you don't believe me, check out our Christmas countdowns!

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

- In a home that is completely remodeled.
- Hawaii wouldn't be too bad
- Anywhere that gives a good pedicure/manicure/massage.........Jim, are you reading this?
- I could always go for a trip to AZ

Four People I Tag:

-Aimee
-Cara
-Jenna Winters
-Anyone else who wants to join in!!

Updates SCHMUPdates

CAMO anyone???? Seriously, before Braddock was even born, I think I received at least 10 different outfits/blankets/hats that were camouflage print. You know you're an Epps when half of your child's wardrobe is camo. Good thing he looks unbelievably cute in it!!
On Saturday, it was 30 degrees and snowing, so I got Braddock all fancied up in this sweet jacket.
I want one. Why doesn't anyone buy me some camo???? White trash, I know.

HERE'S AN EXTREMELY SAD STORY FOR YOU........................
So yesterday for FHE, our family decided to play a little game of Tug-o-War. Well, it was more of just Braddock and Jim playing and me taking the pictures. Braddock thinks it is really funny to clench his blankie with his teeth and have dad do the same on the other side. They are both quite competitive about it which makes mommy laugh really hard. So we were all laughing and having a good time. Later, I grabbed the blanket and teasingly hit Jim with it (like you would if you were having a pillow fight), so Jim teasingly hit me back. Everytime Jim hit me with it, I would laugh and scream in a happy kind of way. After a few seconds of my loudness, we heard Braddock say "Da-Da". He had a huge frown on his face and then he started trembling really bad. It looked like he was having a seizure!!! He fell to the floor and started screaming because he was so frightened. Jim and I felt TERRIBLE. I hurried and grabbed Braddock to try to comfort him. The three of us all hugged each other for about 5 minutes until Braddock stopped shaking and crying. It was incredibly SAD!!

Where has time gone???

This last Friday, Braddock turned one. I can't believe how fast time goes by!! Just one year ago, I was carrying him inside my tummy. Yes, I know I was huge, but I loved it! The excitement of him arriving was too much to handle.

I couldn't help but post this picture. Can you say HIDEOUS? Jim thought it would be good to look back on a photo like this. I think I said some pretty choice words to him for taking it, but now I look at it and think it's really funny. I'm having a massive contraction and haven't had my epideral yet.
After half an hour of pushing, Braddock arrived on September 21, 2006 at 12:34 PM. He was so chubby!!! 8 lbs! Jim thought that maybe it wasn't his child. He had dark olive skin and lots of thick black hair. We're not sure where that came from as both Jim and I we're both toe head babies, but we thought he was darling anyways. Below, is a picture of him looking at his daddy.
This was just a couple of minutes after he was born. He was so alert (and still a little purple). He had such a cute little personality though. I remember he just looked around at everything and sucked on his three little fingers. I love him.
Here we are a year later. We went to Ruby River on Friday for his birthday with his aunts Jenna & Alyssa. I know, like he had ANY idea what was going on. I wish he was staring at the camera because I rarely get a picture of just me and him. I love this little boy so much and am so grateful that Heavenly Father brought him to our home. He's the best!

Family Pictures

So I am a bad mom and just barely decided that it was time for Braddock to get some pictures taken of him. We took quite a bit of all of us. To my family: Please let me know what pictures you like the most and what size, so I can get them ordered. To those of you who are looking for a photographer: I highly reccommend the one we went to - Rebecca Carter. She did an awesome job! It took an arm and a leg from all of us to get Braddock to smile. I'm not sure how she captured him at the perfect time because he whined most of the time. I'll be posting her website on my blog on Friday if you want to see some of her work. Also, the pictures on the slide are a little blurry and I can't figure out why. No worries though, the actual photos are fantastic!

GOOD NEWS!!!

SHE RAN AWAY (again)

Is There Anything Better in Life than........

FAMILY?

I would have to say NO. I'm so grateful for my hubbie, Jim and our sweet little boy, Braddock. They mean the world to me. Even though having a family means having more responsibilities, I wouldn't change it for anything! I love them to death! I took some more pics (shocker) that I couldn't resist showing!

CAN THIS FACE BE ANY CUTER??? I love those chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes.

Braddock has the sweetest ears. They are so small, but totally stick out! I don't know where he got them from, but I love them!
Last night, Jim and Braddock snoozed it out on the couch together! Braddock rarely falls asleep unless he is in his crib, so I had to take a picture of this. So precious.

I think this kid knows what a camera is.

Last Saturday, Jim's cousin Jamie and her dang cute little family came to visit us all the way from Cali! It was so nice to see them as we rarely ever get to. Their little boy, Jaxson is a crack-up and Braddock thinks he is the coolest thing ever. They had a lot of fun playing in Grandma Nelson's backyard together - Here's a picture of us moms and the babes.