4 Years Ago Today.............

This happened.

And I'm so glad it did.

Happy Anniversary, Babe!

I love you forever.

(p.s. Can you find yourself in this picture???)

Temple Square, Happy Birthdays, Babies, etc.

The last few weeks have been consumed with quite the number of events.

First off, Potty Training.

Seriously.

It's a joke, but I'm not laughing.

See that face below?

That's the face of "Mommy, how could you do this to me?"
I have my reasons for being frustrated.
Reason #1: Every morning when Braddock wakes up, he has a dry diaper. SO, immediately I take him to his potty. We sit there for 20 or more minutes, but to no avail. Then, when we can't sit there any longer because mom is going to be late for the gym, I grab a diaper for him. And YES, he goes as soon as I change him.
Reason #2: Braddock likes to tell me that he is going potty AS he is going potty in his diaper.
Thank you, Braddock. Much appreciated.
The last month, Braddock has used the phrase, "It don't work. It needs batteries" to just about anything that doesn't work. (Examples: battery-operated truck, flashlights that don't light up, toys that are supposed to make noise, but don't.)
So a couple of weeks ago, as he was practicing his morning ritual of sitting on the potty for 20 minutes, this conversation came about.....
Me: "Braddock, (trying to keep my patience and explain to him in toddler vocabulary what needed to be done) you need to make the pee-pee come out."
Braddock: "It don't work. It needs batteries. Daddy fix it."
Sorry bud, Daddy can't fix this one!

Onto other things.........

A few weeks ago, our family had the privilege of going up to Temple Square with my Uncle Russ & Aunt Marcia. We were able to go to the Tabernacle, walk around the temple grounds, eat at the Lion House (Heck Yes!), and take pictures at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

I just wish my whole family (all four of us) would look at the camera!

Yeah, what-ev.

On our way home, we were all pooped out.

Especially, these two.
Braddock & my niece, Livvi.
I love it.

A week later, we celebrated mine and the twins' birthdays at my sister Jenna's home.

I can't thank her enough for all the time and effort she put into everything!

Thanks, sis!


So here is a few pictures of the night.

Alyssa - my anorexic sister - posing for the camera. She loves getting her picture taken.

(joking on the anorexia part.)

My hub.
Look at him go in the kitchen!
You should practice some of that at our house, babe!

K, love you!




My mom & Auntie Donna also came up from Arizona. It was so great to see them, as it's only occasionally that we get to.

Aren't they beautiful?






Last, but not least, here's one of
Emma & me.
This was not intentional, which makes it even better!


All in all, my birthday was FANTASTIC! It fell on a Sunday this year......better yet, a Fast Sunday! At first I thought, LAME.
But then I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to relax and have a low-key day.


My sweet sister, Alyssa stopped by that night and brought me these beauties (look below).

She also got Jim and I tickets to go to General Conference Saturday morning. That, honestly, was one of the best presents I have receieved in a long time! What a privilege to see our Prophet and the apostles and hear their wonderful messages. I hope we can do it again soon!

(Also a HUGE THANKS to Jenna & Alyssa for tending our babies so we could go to conference. Jenna was crazy enough to have them sleep over at her house! We could not have done it without you guys.)
Thank goodness for family!


Here's a picture to leave you with:
Emma will forever be the winner of the funniest photo faces.

Soaking up the Sunshine.

Fever, cold chills, body aches, coughing, sore throat, nausea - SERIOUSLY! I've had it all the last two days! I may sound like a horrible mother, but since I woke up this morning, I have not been able to stop thinking about putting my babies down for their afternoon nap, so I could take a snoozer myself. However, after I fed them their lunch, I realized what a gloriously BEAUTIFUL day it was and reconsidered the whole nap thing.

Change of plans:

We laid a blanket in the front yard and ran around!

I pulled Braddock's little tractors out of the shed that had been hibernating for the last 5 months and put them to good use.

Emma was in heaven!

And Braddock was so good to share with her.

Emma, on the other hand, did not want Braddock to lay a finger on the tractors. She literally makes a GOAT noise when he touches anything that she wants to play with. The little stinker!


I love this picture. One MILLION dollars.



Braddock also found a toy gun in the backyard. This kid loves guns! (Is that bad?)
His dad took him to shoot some birds, and now Braddock is always talking about going outside to shoot the birds.

Braddock later got a hold of my camera and quickly learned how to take pictures.

He decided to take a photo shoot of his mom. Pretty good aim, but not such hot pictures.

I'm singing!

Not so sure about this one.

Like I said before, Emma loved the tractors! She looks so Tom-Boy here.

So glad I changed my mind today!

Shame on me for actually considering the thought of keeping myself locked up all day from this beautiful weather!

Hope everyone else is having a sun-shiney day too!

***ALSO***

I have a couple of videos to post on here of Braddock and Emma racing on their tractors down our slopey driveway. I'm not sure why, but I laugh so hard everytime I watch them. If only I can manage to figure out how to get them on here!

Emma Girl!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Emma turned the big 1 two weeks ago today! We love her so much because............

1. She is so so so loveable! When you tell her to give kisses, she'll put her mouth up to your face and will make the cutest little smacking sound with her lips.

2. She has a big strong spirit in a tiny little body. I took her to the doctor this week and she weighed a whole 15.5 pounds! She's in the 1 percentile for her weight and the 18th for her height. Her littleness doesn't prevent her from trying new things, though. She is very playful and ACTIVE! It is the funniest thing to see her pull herself up and walk around the couches because she looks like a little midget.

3. Her hair has its own personality. I've tried gel, but her hair is so thin that it makes it look NASTY-CRUSTY. When I brush it, it stays for a little while and then goes back to whatever it was doing. We call her our little apostle because she has little old man hair.

4. She's our little girly-girl. Emma loves holding baby dolls, singing (high-pitched), and cuddling. Her mannerisms are even girly! She crosses her legs all the time and rubs her feet together (like my mom does....Ha Ha!)

We don't know what we would do without our little Emma Sue in our lives. She makes everything so much sweeter.

So here's what we did for her special day.............

The morning of, I got up early and made breakfast crepes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. They were delightful and Emma was thrilled to partake of their deliciousness. (Yes, that was pretty much her birthday cake and she was happy!)
Her birthday present is what you see sitting on her tray. She needed a new sippy cup, so that is what she got. (I have learned that one year olds get excited about the smallest things). She sat in that high chair for about a half hour enjoying her gift.................

and her whipped cream. :)

Later that day, my mother-in-law came over and we went to lunch at a little restaurant here in Payson, Utah. We weren't too impressed with the service, but the company was great!

The next night, we spent at Jim's family's house to celebrate MORE birthday for Emma. So now you all don't have to fret about it - Emma got cake! AND a birthday crown!



Here's an extra picture of her for laughs! Isn't her hair hilarious?

Some other things that went on that week were............

I made another book, but this time not for me!

I made it for my sister, Jenna's birthday!!

Happy birthday, Sis! I'm grateful to have you as my sister and close friend.
This picture was taken at Gloria's Little Italy Restaurant. Delicious food!

Yea for birthdays!!!!!! Hope everyone has a happy week!

Friday & Monday

What about Saturday & Sunday??!! I know, I know, but I think it's best we skip over those days because I was in some weird mood - I guess you would call it EVIL. Seriously, I was so cranky and irritable and I couldn't stop crying. The most frustrating part about all of it was I could not figure out for the life of me why I felt like crawling into a little hole and living there FOREVER!! Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks! I just quit nursing this last month ( I know, finally!) and so I hadn't experienced something that most of you gals experience every 28 days. It's been like 2 years! It was nice to learn that my condition of sorrow wasn't permanent.

Anyway,

Friday was a great day because Jim and I were able to go on a date and it was sort of original! We went rock climbing with the Young Women in our ward!

Here was mine and Jim's conversation as we pulled up to The Quarry (the rock climbing place).

Me: Hey, why is this building so tall??

Jim: Uhhhh......because it's a rock climbing place.

Me: Oh. We have to climb that high up??

Jim: Um, yeah.

Me: You think we should go see a movie or something instead?

Jim: No.

Me: Okay, just thought I'd ask.

This is just a few of us. I love these girls!

And the rock climbing??? Yeah, it was hard, but making it to the top was a very proud moment for each of us! I would go again in a heart beat!
Marilee ( my favorite YW leader friend) and Kaydee.

Thasss a crazy person.

Some more crazies.

Whoa, who is that?! That harness is smokin' hot!

(One of these days Jim will ban be from blogging).


Okay, so now on to Monday!!

It didn't start off too hot. I pulled into the parking lot at the gym and when I got out of the car to get Emma, I slipped on some ice and fell flat on my back! If it were someone else that did what I did and I saw them, I probably would have laughed my head off - being the Good Samaritan that I am. By that point, I was ready to get back in the car and go home, but instead I made my way into the gym and had a great workout! Always rewarding!

Later that day, when the kids were sleeping, I made something. If you ever want a simple, yet fun project, here ya go!

Buy yourself a composition book for 97 cents at Wal-Mart, some Modge Podge glue, and pick out your favorite scrapbook paper.............

Ta Da!!!!!

I needed a book to write my daily To-Do's in, and this is what I came up with! I think I am going to incorporate these colors in my family room (when it's finished). Love them!
This definitely will be used as a YW activity.
Does anyone have any other good ideas for Modge Podging?? I'd love to hear them!

Happy 25!!!!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

I love you so much.

I thought I'd share with the blogging world 25 reasons

why I love you since you're 25 today!!!!!

(Let's forget that your birthday was yesterday :) )

Here it goes:

1. Jim is a beautiful man. In fact, some of the Young Women in the ward call him "Ken" as in Ken & Barbie.

2. He's a wonderful father. His children think the world of him because he's willing to give them his time and his love even when it's not always convenient for him.

3. Jim has a heart full of SERVICE. I'm always left a widow on Sundays because Jim is out fellowshipping the neighborhood.

4. He's passionate about work. He puts his heart and soul into everything he does and he does it solely to provide for his family.

5. HONESTY - sometimes he's a little too honest and will just say right then and there what he is thinking. He's not afraid to tell you what he thinks. This sometimes has been embarrassing for me, but he's learning to improve on the things that come out of his mouth and I'm learning from him to overcome my problem of being afraid to speak up!

6. INTEGRITY - Jim's heart is one of integrity. He stands firm in what he believes and shows it through his deeds.

7. Jim is a softy. He cries watching just about every chick flick or family movie or listening to a talk given. Sometimes he'll even cry when he tells me he loves me. (he's probably going to kill me for sharing that).

8. He's a manly man. He loves hunting, fishing, camping, watching action movies, and he can even eat a whole box of pizza all by himself! That's pretty manly if you ask him.

9. Love his smile!

10. Good kisser. enough said.

11. He's an amazing wrestler. Okay, that sounds gross and I didn't mean it that way. What I mean is........well.....he really is a great wrestler! He took state every year at Highland High School. Every wrestling photo I have of him, the ref is holding his hand up (meaning Jim won). However, being married to a good wrestler sometimes is NO fun. He knows how to get me in a lockdown that is impossible to free myself from! and then I get angry.

12. Jim has an incredible voice. Just kidding! I know I'm mean, but it's actually an advantage for him because when I'm frustated or irritable he knows how to make me laugh......he just starts singing. Really loud and obnoxious too.

13. Very patient. Back to me being irritable.......he always knows when to leave me be or help out around the house.

14. Sincere.

15. Tall. That's attractive.

16. Gorgeous blue eyes.

17. He tells me I'm beautiful.

18. Dependable. If he says he'll do something for you, he means it.

19. Jim is a family man. He loves to spend time with us more than anyone else.

20. Perfectionist - Being that Jim is a contractor, he makes sure the work that he does is perfect to a T. He would never expect anything less of himself.

21. Gratitude. Jim is always reminding me of the many blessings that we have. If it were Jim's choice, we would be living in a small little trailer out in the wilderness. True story.

22. Jim is not a picky eater. I love this about him because I LOVE all kinds of food too and he's always satisfied with what I cook him for dinner.

23. This boy can dance! One of our favorite things to do together is swing dance.

24. My best friend.

25. He loves me for me. I have never felt like I have had to impress him, even though it is fun to. He knows who I am deep down and even after all I put him through, he still loves me.

Here's a few of my favorite pictures of him.

He still is full of hottiness even if he's wearing five party hats on his head.
That's the smile I love. Look at his eyes when he smiles. So cute.

There he goes with his hand up again. What a stud. Would you get a load of those legs!! Woo woo!!

Getting his haircut right before a hot date with me.

Mission Farewell. There's that cute smile again. Love it!

The Epps Bunch.

Our weddin' day!

I love you, Jim. You're my favorite.Thanks for choosing me.

Happy 25!!!

It's about that time........

So I think it's about that time again to post. I could actually post probably a hundred of things right now, considering my lackingness (i think i just made up a word) with the blog, but I'm not going to overwhelm all of you. As the new year has approached us, I have had a lot on my mind regarding self-improvement. There are plenty of things that I could do better at this year and I'm truly going to make an effort to do so.

Here's my list of resolutions:

I'm going to be a better wife. This means less nagging and more praising. Less complaining and more gratitude. Less selfishness and more selfLESSness. There is no other person I would want to spend the rest of my life with than the man below.

I'm goingto spend more quality time with my kids. This means going the extra mile by reading more to them, doing more outdoor activities with them, playing with them, having daily scripture study and prayer, Family Home Evening, and lots and lots of hugs and kisses! I am so richly blessed to have two beautiful babies in my home who trust me, love me, forgive me, and humor me. They mean the world to me and so much more and I am going to prove it to them!

I'm going to step up to the plate and IMPROVE MY HEALTH! After having two babies under two years, my body is not the same as it used to be! My husband bought me a three year V.I.P membership to Gold's Gym which means someone can babysit my kids while I work out during the day! Woo hoo! I used to go spinning at 4:30 in the morning and it stopped shortly after I started because I am NOT a morning person. This will be much better.

Lastly, I am going to improve on my scripture study. One of my favorite things to do first thing in the morning is get on the computer and look at everyones blogs. From now on though, I will not allow myself to look at your blogs until I've studied my scriptures. I know it will strengthen me as a person to be a little bit better in all the other aspects that I listed above. I love my Heavenly Father and am so grateful for the plan of happiness. He has given me a beautiful family and I feel like I owe Him a commitment to improve my life. I don't know what I would do without the gospel. It's my compass in every matter of my life. I'm truly looking forward to this New Year and hope that I can live up to the resolutions that I have set.

happy 2009!!!