Jeppesen Family: April 2008

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sidewalk Chalk

It was fun watching Luke and Riley color their feet with chalk and make footprints with it. The next thing I know, Luke decides to wipe his face against the chalked concrete to make face prints. It was all downhill from there...

Park City

Last weekend we got to go to Park City with Trevor's parents. We stayed in their nice condo and swam, shopped, and played at the park. Riley and Luke loved it. We all had a great time!

Luk's Sprang

This is so embarrassing, but, yes we had another accident. The day Riley got her stitches I bought her and Luke some big bouncy balls to play with. While I was helping Riley, Luke was jumping off the back of the couch and landing on his ball and getting thrown around. Inevitably, he hurt his wrist and stopped using it for 2 days. I finally took him to the Doctor and luckily it was only a sprang and he's back to normal now.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Riley's Accident /E.R. Visit #2 This Month/We are Going Broke

Yeah, no joke, we were once again at the E.R. Yesterday I took the kids to McDonald's with a friend. We weren't even there 10 minutes when Riley walked over to the table to eat and fell onto the plastic bench somehow slicing her top lip open. It was just kind of dangling with a chunk missing in the top. It was horrible. Good thing my friend was there to tell me how bad it was and take Luke for me. Trevor was home from work sick and was able to be there too. Embarrassingly, It was the same doctor who put Luke's staple in. We asked him to please not turn us in for child abuse. They had to sedate her to get it all stitched up. He put 5 stitches in realigning her lip together on top and underneath. The worst was the sedation and having her awake but not really there. It took a long time for her to wake up. She keeps talking about how she was trying so hard to wake up but was too tired. Every time we'd mention going to get Ice Cream she'd get really wide eyes and try to sit up, but it was about an hour before she could. She calls herself a kitty with her new little "whiskers" and is doing great. She even went to Gymnastics today. This is a pic of her today in her Gymnastics outfit. The other pics are at the hospital and after we got home.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Riley's Dance Pics

Riley had a photo shoot for Dance last week. It was stressful and chaotic, but she seemed to like it. She has loved dance this year. She loves having Grammy Mitzi as a teacher and she loves to dress up. She loved that she got to wear makeup for her pics and they even did touch-ups at the studio. She looked so cute in her little outfit. The pic of her and Marli is my favorite. Riley loves having Marli in her class.

This Is all Luke Would Wear the Other Day...

Riley the Diva

This was Riley asleep in the car one day...

Baby Animal Days

Trev, my sister, Kelli and I took the kids to Baby Animal Days 2 weeks ago. The Pony rides and baby bunnies were Riley and Luke's favorites.

Riley, Porter, Marli and Luke Having a Great Time

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

David Cook's Amazing Song!

I'm so hooked on American Idol right now. I was so upset when Michael Johns was voted off last week, I almost cried. Anyway, I didn't even want to watch this week, but I'm so glad I did because this version of Mariah Carey's Always Be My Baby by David Cook was amazing! I am in love with this song! Anyway, I still love good old David Archuletta and Brooke White, but David Cook blew everyone away last night! You can listen to the song here:
Click me

Thursday, April 10, 2008

We are Determined for Spring to Come

We are so tired of the unseasonably crappy weather. Riley and Luke have been waiting for so long to get their sandbox out. We bought colored sand that has been sitting in the bags waiting for a nice day which never really came. So today, I decided to just set it up anyway. It may only be 42 degrees outside, but they are having a great time playing! And I am having a great break! For now, we will at least pretend that it's Spring.

Luke's Funny Faces

Sorry I couldn't resist. He's going to hate me someday, but this is the face he was pulling on the toilet this morning. He did it for so long I had time to take a pic and everything. He keeps us laughing all day long!

One Reason Why I Don't Live in Bear Lake Anymore...

These are the snow banks by my parent's house as of last weekend! And, that's after having melted quite a bit. My Dad is so proud and was excited to take the kids and get these pics. We didn't realize how hard it would be to get them up on top of the snowbank with him! You can see how thrilled they are. Even adventurous little Luke didn't really want to climb up there for a picture, but they humored Papa anyway. They love going to Papa & Grandma Crane's no matter how much snow there is and had a great weekend at their house.

Playing in the pillows with Porter and Marli

Luke's staple is officially out! Yay!

PeAnuT BuTteR BrOwnIeS...NoThInG bEtTeR

Since I'm so addicted to these brownies and I may have even had them for breakfast this morning, I thought I'd blog the recipe. My neighbor in Phoenix brought them over for dessert one night and gave us this recipe. We've been addicted to them ever since. It's about the only treat that Trevor and I both agree on. I was hoping it would be one of those things I didn't like after I was pregnant, but instead, it's one of those foods I crave 10x as much now that I'm pregnant. I've never met anyone that didn't love these. So here it is:

Duncan Hines Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Mix
Make the "FUDGY Brownie" Recipe on Back
*I use the same amount of applesauce in place of (vegetable oil)-- Less fattening and more moist!

Then you take the Betty Crocker Cream Cheese frosting and blend it with 1/2 cup Peanut Butter and frost them

I know, I know, it doesn't sound that different or great, but believe me, they are! I have the butt and thighs to prove it!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

First Ultrasound

Today was my first ultrasound. Our little baby alien is looking good. The doctor bumped my due date up to October 14th. Yay!

Our Religion

We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One of our apostles, M. Russell Ballard, described our beliefs best in his Oct. '07 Conference Address. (If you want to post this to your blog, feel free to copy and paste) Facts * • First, “Mormon” is a nickname for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members are often referred to as “Mormons,” “Latter-day Saints,” or “LDS.” The term “Saint” means “member.” * • Second, the Church was restored in 1830 in upstate New York with Joseph Smith as its first prophet and president. Today it is headquartered in Salt Lake City, with President Thomas S. Monson as the present prophet. * • Third, there are now over 13 million members in 176 countries and territories. About 6 million of these are in the United States, making us the fourth largest Christian denomination in America. As one of the fastest growing Christian faiths in the world, we complete a new chapel every working day. Members pay a tithe, which is 10 percent of their income, making this and other programs possible. * • Fourth, local congregations are led by volunteer, unpaid members. Both men and women serve in assigned leadership positions. * • And fifth, Mormons are well represented in politics and government. (In the United States, for example, there are 16 members in Congress, from both political parties.) Members also serve in high and trusted positions throughout the world in business, medicine, law, education, media, sports, and entertainment. Faith Next, people need to know something of our faith as committed Christians with strong traditional values. Along with the Articles of Faith we need to emphasize that: * • We believe in the eternity of the soul, that God is the Father of our spirits, and that we can return to Him after death. * • We believe that Jesus Christ is our personal Savior, and we try to model our lives after Him and His teachings. We commemorate Christ’s atoning sacrifice in our Sunday worship services, similar to taking communion in other churches. We accept as fellow Christians all who believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind. Many Christians do not understand that we have much common ground with them. Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ is the core of our belief, and everything else is an appendage to it (see Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 44). The name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. * • We believe the original church that Jesus established was lost and has been restored again in our day. The priesthood, the authority given to man to act in the name of God, with apostles and a prophet to lead us, has been restored as have all necessary ordinances of salvation. * • We believe in and we use the Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. * • And we believe in the Book of Mormon and other books of scripture which support and authenticate the Bible and testify of the ministry and divinity of Christ and of God’s ongoing revelation to man. Indeed, the Book of Mormon is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” Family The next thing it is good for people to know is how family-centered our theology and our lifestyles are. Once again, simple statements are helpful to someone who is uninformed but curious about the importance we place on families. * • Mormons place particularly strong emphasis on family as the basic unit of the Church and of society. We have a deep commitment to marriage (defined as a union between one man and one woman). Polygamy, a limited practice in the early pioneer days of the Church, was discontinued in 1890, some 117 years ago. * • Families and individuals, whether members of our faith or not, can attend Sunday services in our chapels. Here we worship together, instructing one another from the scriptures. * • Latter-day Saint families are encouraged to hold family home evenings weekly, usually on Monday nights. This provides a regular and predictable time for parents to teach values to their children and to have fun together. We invite those not of our faith to adopt this practice with their own families. * • The Church has auxiliary programs for women, youth, and children as a support to the family. These programs provide such things as religious instruction, opportunities for Christian service, sports, drama, music, and Scouting. * • And there is also much focus on extended family, genealogy, and personal family history, providing young and old with a stronger sense of roots, identity, and belonging. The highest and most sacred ordinances of our faith relate to our families, both living and dead, and some of these ordinances take place in our temples. Fruits Now, even as someone begins to understand a few facts about us and comes to know us more accurately by our faith and the importance of family, it was the Savior who said “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20; emphasis added). A church, or any way of life, should be judged by the fruits or the results that it generates. Here are a few examples based on United States statistics. But these would be similar throughout the world among practicing Mormons (by which we mean those who attend church and the temple regularly): * • One of the fruits is a longer life. Studies show that practicing Mormons are healthier and therefore live longer than the national average. In 1833 the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the Word of Wisdom, which is the way to live in order to enjoy a long and healthy life. * • Second, those who are married in and attend the temple regularly have a divorce rate far below the national and world average. * • Third, we achieve an educational level that is higher than the national average. * • Fourth, over 70,000 members volunteer at their own expense to serve for 18 to 24 months in humanitarian efforts, Church service assignments, and full-time missionary service throughout the world. * • And fifth, we place strong emphasis on self-reliance and a solid work ethic. We encourage active involvement in our communities and in providing service to others. The Church continues to donate substantial money, goods, and services to humanitarian causes around the globe, including untold hours of labor donated by members to assist in disaster cleanup and relief.