When Jim goes hunting......

....................I am usually sad.

But when Jim told me a couple of weeks ago that he would be hunting......

I was thrilled!

You see, my very good friend Kassie {who by the way is my neighbor} informed me that her husband would be going hunting too.

What does this mean??

Craft time!!

Amber, thank you for posting this fun glittered pumpkin project on your blog! Such a great idea!

I have to say that the pictures that I took of these pumpkins look way uglier than they actually are. They look pretty darn good up close and personal!

{The finished product}
{First step: buy some small FAKE pumpkins at the dollar store. }
{Second step: Paint them brown.}
{Third step: Brush mod podge glue all over them.}

{ Last: Cover with glitter.}

[I would recommend the fine powdered glitter as it gives the pumpkins

a much more elegant look]

We are finished!!!

Seriously, what should have only taken us 2 hours to do, took us a whole 11 hours!

Remember we had 4 children under the age of 2 we were partying with.

To your surprise, I would have to say the 11 hours was worth it!

Here is what we did (besides the pumpkins):

-played with the kids

-ate this caramel apple Skor bar dip thing (we'll have a whole 'nother post on this one later)

-played with the kids

- talked and talked and talked

-ate more dip

-refereed the kids

-talked

-ate pizza with the kids

-brought in another dip - artichoke this time.

-put the kids to bed before they all killed each other

-talked

-laughed our heads off

-took ridiculous pictures (they are pure black male and probably won't be posted on this here blog)

-talked some more

All in all, we had sooooo much fun!!!!!

Look how pretty!!

I now give you the suggestion to find a fun friend to make glitter pumpkins with!

You won't be disappointed.

Now they're sitting on my counter. I can't wait for fall!

There's no place like home.

Last Friday, July 31st, our little family journeyed southward to Mesa, Arizona.

Surprisingly, my kids were angels. We left at 2 AM and arrived at 1 in the afternoon.

They slept 70% of the time. And when they were awake.........

they were happy.

Blogger is making me mad right now. Some of my pictures are insisting to stay sideways.

Sorry.

We stayed with Jim's mom and dad in Mesa. I don't have any current pictures of Jim and his dad, so hence my reason for taking the following picture.

On Sunday, (yes, it was the Sabbath), Jim took the kids outside to wade their little feet in the pool.

I should have guessed it would turn out like this! In Sunday clothes and everything!

Mwahhhh!!!

My little sabbath-breakers were drenched!

While I went to my friend Cara's baby shower, Jim and his dad took Braddock to the Bass Pro Shop. If you know my son, you would know that he has a strong passion for hunting bears. I don't know where he learned that?????

Anyhow, Grandpa Epps bought him his own rifle. (Don't worry, people. It's a harmless toy).

When Braddock's great grandma came to visit, she insisted on giving it a try.

All I can say is.........awesome.

On Wednesday, our poor little Braddock came down with a high fever. Jim and his dad gave him a blessing and two minutes later, Braddock literally threw the cold cloth that was on his head onto the floor and said, "No more owies. I want to play."

The power of the priesthood is real.

While Braddock was sick, Emma mourned. She was so sad for him and insisted on laying on top of him as a way to comfort her brother. Although her intentions were good, Braddock disagreed with the whole idea.

Our final night there was spent outside at the pool (shocker). My mom came over to my in-laws and we ate pizza and visited.

I had to get a picture with them! Too bad my mascara is melting off my face!

I'm so glad we were able to go down and visit! I will be honest though when I say that there truly is no place like home! The last 8 times that Jim and I have gone down to visit, we always want to stay. This time, however, I realized where home is. I love Utah and everything about it and probably will never leave. I love the weather, the people, the patriotism, and the fact that so many of the fun events that take place here involve family and unity!

Still, Arizona holds a lot of cherished memories for both Jim and I and we will continue to keep the tradition of visiting often.

Thank you to our parents who fed us, sheltered us and let us have a fun time in Arizona!

We love you all and miss you!

Inadequacies

Have you ever tried to avoid something because you feel like you aren't good enough or smart enough and you fear failure if you attempt to do that certain thing?

OR
Have you ever looked back on your life at something you used to be good at and thought, " I'll never be good at that like I used to be."?

WELL, I DO THAT ALL OF THE TIME!

And I'm here to tell you that it's
coming to an end, my friends.

Let me tell you a story.........
5 years ago, I decided to continue to pursue my education after I graduated high school. Why wouldn't I? Jim was on his mission still and I had nothing better to do. (Yes, this was the poor, crummy attitude that I had about school). So I enrolled myself in some courses that would route me to an Elementary Education degree. And guess what? ...........................I thought it was dumb. Sad, but true story. I kept my grades up just enough to pass with all A's, but truly, my heart was not in it. I just wanted Jim to come home so we could get married.
SO, my wish was granted and now, 4 1/2 years later, I feel like I am living the dream. I live in a beautiful state with a home that I love, a loving husband, and 2 beautiful children. I feel like the last 4 years have been so good to me and indeed, I AM BLESSED.
The last few months, however, I have had a few nudges.......this little voice keeps telling me that I need to go back to school. I tried to ignore it. Besides, I have way too much on my shoulders right now like my full-time job called CHILDREN. Still, this little voice persists, and now I am putting up my flag of surrender and saying,

"Alrighty then! I guess it's time!"
SO, I am heading back to complete my degree in Elementary Education at UVU, hopefully this Fall Semester, if not, Spring Semester.

Do I want to be an Elementary Teacher?
I don't know yet, but I know that is what I am supposed to do.
Do I feel like my brain is completely fried and all I know are my ABC's and 1-2-3's?
Yes. That's all I'm going to say about that.
Do I feel overwhelmed and concerned about the time I will get to spend with my children?
Definitely. In fact, this has been the hardest part about making this decision. Yet, I know that the Lord will make sure I am able to give them all of the love and attention they need from me as their mother.
Does the light at the end of this tunnel seem pretty distant?
You better believe it!
Am I going to do it anyway?
Yes.
This is what the Lord wants me to do, so I am going to put my faith in Him and trust that He will help me with this.

Wish me luck! (I need all the luck I can get).
P.S. Here is some pictures of the ones who help me
"keep the faith".
Jim, you do too. I love you. :)

Here we go.....

Okay. Here it goes. Deep breaths. I am blogging today after 6 weeks of not doing so. The last few weeks I will walk in my office ready to blog, but then I think of all the events that have taken place this summer and I start to feel.........well......a little overwhelmed. Too many pictures to download, too much information to jot down, and oh,

SO LITTLE TIME!

But today on this beautiful 4th of July, I am feeling relaxed. My kids are napping, my husband is napping (he should be working on the storage room), and the house is now

QUIET.

I am ready to blog and hopefully maintain my blogging on a regular basis.

Here we goes!

Let me start by saying that I am LOVING THE SUMMER. The weather here has been gorgeous. I am pretty sure it's only been 90 degrees like 3 times so far the last month. Hence, my reason for going on a walk with my kids every morning.....well, almost every morning. My good friend, Kassie and her two boys tug along with us. We love it. Last month we took them to the park and they were in heaven!

Also, can I say thank heavens for trampolines?! Braddock, and now Emma love to play on it. I always let them jump for a good half hour before nap time because then they are

OUT COLD.

The end of May, I and the babies (not Jim because he was at a UFC fight) headed to good ole' Worland, Wyoming for Jim's cousin's wedding. Let me repeat myself. Yes, this is Jim's cousin and YES, he was at a UFC fight. Okay, I'll shut up about that, babe.

Anyhow, what a treat! The night before, the groom's parents treated us to a tasty Mexican food dinner. I, as a lone mother with two children, was so happy they did this outside because my children don't do so hot at restaurants (that's another story).

But don't they look like they are having so much fun?

That's because they were.

They found the dessert table.

Braddock & Katelynn

My cute little niece, Brielle. Gotta love the chocolate face.

Do you know how practically impossible it is to take a picture of 5 kids at one time?

Here we are the next day at the wedding. I am pathetic because I didn't get any pictures of the bride and groom. Let me say though, that they looked JUST BEAUTIFUL and HAPPY.

The ceremony was so nice and the wedding luncheon was amazing. Once again, I loved the whole outdoors idea.

Here is one of Braddock and his Grandma, who he calls Ba-Pa (????)

Emma being Emma.

Braddock being a bear. He is now obsessed with bears and killing them. Last week, Jim drew a picture of a bear on our ward program during Sacrament meeting. I won't even go into detail of what happened, but we had to exit Braddock out of the chapel because he was roaring and growling so ferociously.

Next on our list, we got camping. Did you know that I live 15 minutes away from one of the most beautiful canyons in Utah? It's true. And I camped there. Payson Canyon, it's called.

We went with our friends, Kassie and Joe and their two boys.

Braddock in the pickup.

Emma and Dad at the campfire.

Cute little Aaden and Braddock being boys.

Jim's aunt posted this picture on her blog and I stole it from her. Thanks, Aunt Jeana!

This was taken on Jim's parents farm a few weeks ago and I love it. I don't know why. Maybe because my husband looks.......stunning?

So this is all I have for now. Actually, I downloaded a lot more pictures, but they somehow disappeared, so I think I am going to call it quits for today. Stay tuned because there is lots more!

To My Mom:

Mom, I didn't send you a card. 

I did this on purpose. 

I know it sounds cruel, but I have been thinking the last week (since Mother's Day is coming up) how GRATEFUL I am for you and the truly wonderful person that you are.

I thought I'd introduce everyone else to you since you are one of my favorite people.

Here it goes:

Many of you fellow bloggers know my mom pretty well already.......Well enough to know that she is one of the sweetest, kindest, genuine, funniest people ever. 

She almost always has a smile on her face (a beautiful one too!) . She'd probably kill me if I told you how old she is, but let me just say that she hides her age VERY well.

Everytime I see this picture, it cracks me up! I always start singing in my head the song, "Taking care of business!......" because my mom is always taking care of business.  This woman is a busy bee and she puts her heart and soul into everything she does. She raised us kids mostly on her own and somehow she managed to be a faithful temple-goer, visiting teacher, and a strong active member of the LDS church all at the same time. 

My mom is known for taking some amazingly funny photos.  This one is funny, but you should see the other ones I have hidden in my folders. She'd kill me for that too. My mom has such a great sense of humor. We love to quote movies in our family, but my mom always quotes them wrong. 

Do we like to make fun of her for it? 

The answer is yes.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Why?

Because this is when my brother (the youngest in the family) was ordained an Elder. My mom has had the opportunity to see all of her 5 children go through the temple. 

Her hard work has paid off!

My mom is known to her grandkids as "Nana". She is one of the best Nana's in the world. She holds a special place in her heart for each of her 8 grandchildren.

(Mom & Braddock October 2006)

(Mom with Jack & Henry April 2007)

I just want my mom to know how deeply grateful I am for her.  I think she can look back on her life as she has raised her kids and know it only to be a SUCCESS. I've never known her to NOT depend on her Heavenly Father for guidance and direction in her life. She has always stayed true to the faith, and for that, I feel so grateful to the Lord for placing me in her home.

I love you mom, and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day! Thanks for being the 

best mom ever!

Small Country Livin' & Vegas?

I think you might be jealous if I told you that my in-laws live on a farm and we only live 10 minutes away from their place.

Why, you ask?

Because it is a wonderland for a kid!

Everyday, Braddock talks about going to this farm and playing with the tractors, riding with grandpa on the BIG tractor, feeding the cows, and seeing the horsies. He cannot get enough of the life on the farm.

Two Sundays ago, after we ate a home-cooked delicious meal at Jim's parents home, we went outside to the beautiful 70 degree sunshine weather, and jumped on the back of an old farm truck while Jim gave us a tour of the place.

It was HEAVEN.
(Braddock with his cousin Katelynn)

Yes, all you see is manure in the background, but believe me, this is not what they were excited about. There were cows behind that fence!

Out yonder, there's a big sandbox for the kids to play in, so I sat Emma in it and she too was in HEAVEN.

Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa Partridge for providing the Fun & Free entertainment!
We love you!

So let me explain to you the whole Vegas thing.

Two Saturdays ago, Jim and I found out that his Dad (who lives in Arizona) was in Vegas for work and he wanted us to meet him there to give us their "old" leather couches. To them, their old, but to us......it's like Christmas! You'll see what I am talking about when we complete our downstairs family room and I take pictures of them. They look brand spankin' new! Anyhow, we had about 30 minutes to get our stuff together and jett out!

We left at 8 o'clock at night.

Good thing these kids were in a good mood!
Emma made this cheese face because...................

She has to do everything her brother does.

Braddock & Emma did amazing the ride there.

(Except for the fact that Emma hates anything strapped to her and would cry due to several unsuccessful attempts of removing her car seat straps.)

For the most part though, they slept.

We arrived at two in the morning, slept at the house Jim's dad was staying in, and we (meaning our family of four) shared a small full size bed.

That was interesting.

(that's all I'll say about that)
The next morning, we let the kids run & crawl (yes, Emma is still NOT walking) around this mansion.

The two were fascinated by what was outside this window.

And Emma was fascinated by what was inside this can.

It probably would have cost me my life if I had taken it away from her.

Oh well, we're on vacation.

And then the can was empty and this was her face the rest of the time.
A bit discouraged?

Look at those dirty hands!

Proof that all she does is crawl.

So we got our couches and headed back at 11 AM on Sunday.

We went through the Vegas strip, where I felt completely defiled.

Seriously, I'm not a fan.

I wanted to be back on the farm.

SO, we headed back to our HOME and now we have couches!!!!

Which cannot be used right now.

Lame.

Also, I really need to start taking pictures of Jim and I.

I'm tired.

I am going to be honest.
I try really hard to avoid being negative when I write on my blog. Don't get me wrong....my life is crazy and I have my bad days, but I try to focus on the good things because those are the things I want to remember in my life.
However, I just want to vent today.
I am tired. I make an effort to go to the gym 3 to 4 days a week, but for some reason, my body is not in the mood this week. I LOVE working out - that is not the part I dread. I dread having to get my kids dressed every morning then have them fed and out the door by 8:30. I know, SERIOUSLY, they aren't even in school yet.

Then when we get to the gym, I hussle them into the daycare(s) - YES, 2 different daycares because of their ages, write their names on a sticker that has to be on them, fill out a label for Emma, and sign both of them in on another form.
Monday, I was determined to start the week off fresh by going. Braddock & Emma, on the other hand, had NO intentions whatsoever of doing so. Braddock's lovely fit-throwing started as I was loading the kids into the car. He wanted to take his baseball with him. I didn't want to hear the crying, so I gave him what he wanted. (Bad on my part).
When we got to the gym, I had to try to convince Braddock to leave the ball in the car. Fortunately, he obediently followed my instructions. Woo hoo!
But as we walked into the daycare, Braddock decided AGAIN that he didn't want to be there. It took me and one of the daycare ladies to pull him off my leg. Awesome.
By the time I got to kick boxing class, I felt like I had already had my workout. I was tired and just wanted to crawl back into bed.
Thirty minutes into our cardio, the daycare lady comes into class to let me know Braddock needs a diaper change, so I go to get him, and then wait for our turn to use the bathroom where the changing table was at. I ended up waiting for 10 minutes (by that time, I am cooled down, and ready to just get out of there). But the little voice inside me said, "NO, stick with it." So I got his diaper changed and dropped him off again. The second time was no better than the first.
I got back to class, did 10 more minutes of cardio, then left.
When I got home, I ate two brownies.
Hence, the reason I have not gone back since then.
There are other reasons too. The weather right now is depressing. It is cold and snowy. Yes, it's April 15th, and it's snowing.
Growing up in AZ, I looked forward to the cloudy, cold, rainy days, but now that I live here, I only prefer them at Christmas time.
Winter has gone on long enough!
So there is my venting. Sorry, I hope I didn't depress any of you.
Here are the things that have made me happy this week!

*Baking homemade wheat bread. It smells so good, it tastes so good, and it is healthy!
*Reading in the Book of Alma. There are so many great NEW things that I have learned.
*Going to the park in Nephi with my sister Jenna and her cute twin boys - AKA Braddock's best friends.
*Reading to my babies.
*Buying a fly swatter. (weird one, but we have had so many flies!)
* Watching Les Miserables.
* Seeing my kids fold their arms when we have prayer.
* Having Easter with my family & reflecting on the Savior and ALL that He has done for me.
*Decorating my home.

Here are some pictures to leave you with.

I bought this mirror at a store in Arizona called Fallas de Paredes (yeah, you get the idea) like 4 1/2 years ago.

Cara, I think you were with me.

Anyhow, it was cream with red roses, so I touched it up a little bit. I think it was $5.

Now this hangs above my toilet in our bathroom.

Rodworks is the best store ever! Thanks, Kassie for inviting me to go to their half off sale! I got this sweet thing.

I bought this over a year ago and finally put pictures in it. Woo hoo!

This picture does my shelves NO justice. I got them for FREE at a yard sale and painted them chocolate. They look amazing. Jim set the stuff on them - I'm not sure what I am going to put up there yet.

So that is all. Let me apologize again for the whining.

I have so much to be grateful for!