Easter 2010

Easter! Easter was pretty good for us this year. First off, the fun stuff...We died Easter eggs Saturday night. The kids had a blast with this as usual...and as usual the eggs don't turn out quite like the picture on the box shows, but what does?

Dying away.


Splattering the died eggs with glittery paints

5 little Easter baskets waiting to be opened

The joy of having a surprise waiting for them in the morning. My kids love Easter almost as much as Christmas!

The boys' first Easter baskets were a success. Jack is curious and wants to look inside his, and Hunter just wants to eat his. I did put an egg filled with Hershey kisses inside their baskets, and yes I still have the candy saved...waiting for when they can eat it!

Hunter's first Easter egg hunt

Jack's first Easter egg hunt

The girls scrambling to find the eggs. I was very generous this year and the girls each got to find 20 eggs each. It made it hard for Matt, because really there aren't that many places in our small, bare backyard to hide 60 eggs. We did the egg hunt in between general conference sessions, and it was the perfect thing to get the girls wiggles and jiggles out. Easter should be on Conference Sunday every year!

It was a big day Easter Sunday for the L.D.S. faith. General Conference was held that same day, so we watched our religious services on TV and got to hear from our Prophet which made a special day even more special. Because we didn't go to church on Easter Sunday, I made the kids dress up for Easter the Sunday after. Here is the photo, they all look so great!

I love Easter, and the renewal and rebirth it symbolizes. I hope everyone had a great day reflecting on our Savior's life.

Neglected again!

I really need to update all of you out there in blogging world. So sorry that I have neglected you again. Life has been crazy busy...hopefully I can find some time this weekend :)

Hannah Elise Jeppson was born on this very special day 8 years ago. She was a bit of a surprise, but we have learned to expect that from our "zany" Hannah. I was due on May 12, but she arrived 10 days early on May 2, right in the middle of Matt's 2nd year Law finals.

I was only in labor for 4 1/2 hours...much less then with her older sister. I was worried about pushing, and we thought Hannah was getting big. However, she came out slick as a whistle after maybe 3 pushes. A loud, beautiful, 8 pound 6 ounce baby girl. One of the first things we noticed, after getting to know her for awhile, is that she has a deep, darling dimple in her left cheek. Aunt Trudy affectionately calls it her "hole" in her cheek.

Here she is at about 4 months. You can kind of see her dimple a little bit in this picture. Hannah was always a smiley, happy baby. She had the biggest smile...you could fit the whole world in her smile!

Turning 1!!

She ate her whole cake...every crumb except the few that escaped to the floor. It was so funny to watch her stuff her face like there would be no food tomorrow. We should have known what it meant...she has grown up loving anything with "sugar" in it!

When she turned one, Matt graduated from law school...so we had lots of visitors come out to Ohio for that event. We also moved back to Utah a couple of weeks later, and we got to caravan with Grandma and Grandpa Jeppson. Along the way, we stopped at a Taco Bell for lunch. I put Hannah ( then, just barely one...but already exhibiting signs of her strong nature) in a high chair, and set the tray down on the table. Hannah grabbed the tray and pulled it toward her...I pushed it away again. She grabbed it and pulled it back toward her, and again I moved it away. The final and third time, my sweet, little, one year old baby girl pulled the tray back towards her and yelled " NO...MINE".

Lately Hannah has an aversion to having her picture take. We have to literally bribe, threaten and drag her into any picture. So this is the most recent picture I have of her by herself. She got a lot of awards this year at school, and is ending her 2nd grade year here in a few weeks. I love this picture because you can see her dimple really well.

We love having Hannah in our family. She is so beautiful with her big, expressive blue eyes. There is never a dull moment with Hannah around...she is the spice of our family!

We love you Hannah...we are so glad you are our daughter!

Death Valley...our Back Yard!

Ok, I am dreadfully behind, and I keep getting further behind! My goal is to update the poor neglected blog once a day, until I am mostly caught up into the now and present. So, I am still in the spring break part of this updating process. Towards the end of spring break we took a day trip (a very long day trip) to Death Valley. We joked that we drove 3 hours to see exactly what we see out our back door everyday! Ok, it is not quite as desolate...but almost!!

My computer is being stubborn and not letting me put the pictures in the order I want...but you will get the point.

Here I am at the lowest level in the United States!

The heart of Death Valley blooming with wild flowers


The girls at Salt Creek...yes there is a creek running through Death Valley, and it is not salt water. There are millions of these little fish called "pup fish" swimming around. They look a bit like guppies to me. My kids loved them!

We took a small hike up Mosaic Canyon. It is all marble and very slick, The girls had fun sliding down the inclines.

Cora turned out fuzzy in this picture, but I love the look of sheer, uninhibited, joy she has on her face...so I posted it anyway.

Here are the boys on their first ever hike ( unless you count San Diego Zoo, which felt like a nature hike at times!) .

The girls had a blast climbing up the sides of the canyon. We couldn't keep them down!

Here is the same spot as above, just zoomed in.

Getting ready for our little hike. Like I mentioned earlier, my computer won't let me order the pictures how I want today, so you get to see the hike prep. after the hike!

Here is Matt and our FIVE kids at the Death Valley visitor center.

It was a good day, maybe a little long, but the kids had a blast getting out and hiking around. Most of all they loved getting a little bit dirty!

Visit Death Valley...check!

Universal Studios Hollywood

The second part of our Hollywood trip was spent at Hollywood's Universal Studios.

We had a good time, but our camera got lost...so the only pictures we have were taken with Matt's iphone. So they aren't the best...but they work

Is Anya ready for Hollywood or what?

Snack Attack!

enjoying a yummy smores bar from the bakery

We went on the traditional Studios tour ride, where Jaws comes up out of the water to get you. Do you think our kids noticed...nope, they were completely oblivious. They ended up meeting Jaws later though...

ahhh...Jurasic Park. Matt and I liked the ride, but the kids wouldn't go on it. That's ok, they have never seen the movie anyway, so it would be lost on them.

Here is the actual Hollywood sign, as close as we could really get to it, after many google searches!

Spring Break 2010

Ever since we moved here, almost two years now, Anya has wanted to go to Hollywood. Well this spring break we finally went, and we had a blast!

You can't really get that close to the actual Hollywood sign, although we did see it! So this picture will have to do.

You can't go to Hollywood without seeing a movie. We went to see "Alice in Wonderland" at the famous "El Capitan" Theatre on Hollywood Blvd.
It was so neat. As we were waiting for the movie to start, an organist was playing for us on stage. They had the whole theatre decorated as if you had stepped into wonderland.

The boys did great! They love going to the movies

The girls posing in front of some of the decorations in the theatre. During the introduction of the movie, thousands of paper rose petals shot into the air and fluttered down....it was very awe inspiring. After the movie, we were able to go down into the basement and see some of the props they actually used in the movie. We saw the sword Alice must acquire to defeat the jabberwaki (?), and we saw the Mad Hatters costume, lots of china, the Mad Hatters chair and some of the English ladies costumes. It was a really neat movie experience...and going during the day on a week day was fabulous...there was only one other family in the whole theatre!
After the movie we ate lunch next door at "Disney's Soda Fountain Cafe and shop". It was pretty good, and everything was shaped like Mickey mouse ears!

Here we are on the "walk of fame"

Taking a stroll down the walk of fame, finding some of our favorite "stars"
Do you like how I am pushing 3 kids?!!!

The famous Chinese Theatre, across the street from the El Capitan Theatre. We couldn't get a good shot, because they were setting up for a red carpet event. Apparently the premiere of "Clash of the Titans" was being held there the next day.Matt and Anya on Hollywood and Vine

My Two Little Thumb Suckers!

Hunter
Jack