What's in a name?

Okay everyone...and I mean EVERYONE!
I am having a hard time with looking at our blog address "justinsgirlcru".
First of all because he is not around anymore.
Second of all because when we came up with the name I was his girl (get it ...Cru ... first 3 letters of my name)
And third of all because there was us 3 girls and we were like his "crew"
Oh well, enough explaining.
Most of you will understand my "want" to change our blog name address...so PLEASE HELP!

Over on the right --------------------->>>
there is a poll to help us change our name.

VOTE VOTE VOTE

We are without...here's an update

Well as of yesterday the girls and I are without a computer. I figured one less thing to fight about.
I think we might ask santa for a new one...or maybe we'll wait for an after christmas sale! We will be using my computer at work or going to the library for a bit until we can afford a new computer.
Hopefully everyone had an amazing holiday and BLACK FRIDAY experience!
I have never done the crazy shopping day - but maybe there's one for me to try out in the not too distant future!
I guess since I am doing a post, I might as well update everyone...MINUS the pictures! Maybe someone can teach me how to do it on a computer that is different than my own!
The girls only had school for Monday & Tuesday last week.
On Monday we decided to start the holiday season off right... we went on the Heber Creeper's rendition of "The Polar Express". It was so much fun! Even though there was no snow and I did not wear my PJ's...it sure brought the spirit of the season to life. When you arrive at the train station, you board the train. They started off singing Christmas Carols and then they introduce your chef & elves that would be on the train with you. Our elves were "ginger & snap". Our chef's name was "Rupert". The elves went around to each child on the train and asked them what they wanted from Santa for Christmas. (They forgot to ask me...so, Santa if you're reading this, I either want a new computer or a new digital camera...mine is dying.) As the train starts heading to the "North Pole", they pass out the MOS YUMMY chocolate chip cookies and hot cocoa. Once everyone was finished, the elves passed out the story, "The Polar Express". There was a narrator on each train car that read the story along with a fun little CD that went along with the book. then we arrived @ the North Pole, Mrs. Claus got on the train and passed out the recipe for the cookies. (They had joy, and a sprinkle of giggles and stuff like that...so I don't think I could make them too well) Then guess who hopped on the train? SANTA! Such fun! Tara's nephew Tucker was on the train with us. I wish I could post the picture I snapped of him looking @ Santa! It was the TRUE spirit of the holiday! Such innocence & awe! Then Santa hopped off of the train and we went back to the train station. We all went out to dinner at a local favorite..."the train" afterwards.
Wednesday the neighbors came over and played for most of the day. We baked sugar cookies. mmm! I love to watch kids do cookie cut outs, and you know, they were entertained literally for hours! The cookies turned out sooo good...even thought the dough was played with for WAY too long!
Thursday we SLEPT IN! That was the best part of the ENTIRE WEEKEND! Justin took the girls for half of the day. They helped him bake pies to take to Michelle's house for Thanksgiving. Once the girls got back home, we got ready to go to Justin's Mom & Dad's house for dinner. At first I felt weird being there, but I know I am loved by them and I love them and the support the whole family has shown for the girls and I. We had a really fun and relaxing time. Then we went home and watched Home Alone & Home Alone 2.
Friday the girls & I put up most of our Christmas stuff. My parents had gotten us a hotel room at the Hilton in downtown SLC. We had the vice presidential suite! Talk about WOWZA! It was like the size of the main level of my house! Gigantor! It was truely fun! The girls would have been happy to swim from dusk till dawn, but we went to temple square to see lights, the mall, costco, and we watched MammaMia! ... TWO times! I love MammaMia! We popped popcorn and just had a good time! Thank you mom & dad! (oh and btw, the girls did swim for about 4 1/2 hours total)
Saturday afternoon I started to feel as if I had been hit by a truck. We ended up staying a second night in SLC I was so sick! We got back home on Sunday morning and I was sick all day. Justin's parents came and got the girls and took them to the big extended family Christmas Party. I was bummed I couldn't go, but did not want to spread my nasty germs. I slept from 1:30 - 7:00 pm...obviously my body needed it.
And now, it's back to the routine...Holiday is over! So, there's the Epps Girls update until I can get back to a computer...I really want to figure out how to post some of the pictures...we'll see how quickly I become a computer pro!

Blogging on HOLD

Hello everyone. Over on the RIGHT side bar I have a poll. Help me decide what to do about my computer difficulty.
It's not really a difficulty, except that it has become an issue in my home. To make a long story short, it will be less stress & hassle if I just give up the computer & printer so there is no issue to argue over.
By the weekend I am planning to have the computer all taken apart & boxed up for it's move. So I guess the whole point of this post is to 1: get help knowing what to do about buying a new computer, and 2: to let you all know ahead of time why I'm not posting for who knows how long...
so vote & leave a comment - I am not computer saavy...I could use some imput.

IKE

While visiting family last weekend, I saw some of the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. On Friday we went to Kemah. It's a way cute little town that has a fun carnival-type place and pretty little beach houses. Most people just drive their little golf carts around town. Way fun place. It makes you want to grow old and move there. Here are some pictures of damage around the Kemah area. Very sad...
on the back side of one of the boats up on land it read, "WE'RE OK". It made my heart just ache for all of the loss those people went through.Well, I thought that was bad. My brother in law and neice are both ham-radio operators (sorry if that's not what you guys are called...??) They were asked to help in Galveston after Ike. The whole family volunteered for so many hours cleaning up. My sister made food for so many families. I can't believe the strength their family has! Never thinking of themselves...just helping, no matter what. The Galveston area is in their stake and over 100 people in their stake completely lost their homes. They actually lived in the ward building for weeks. I cannot even imagine.

On Monday we went to Moody Gardens in Galveston. Only part of the attraction was open because so much of it was damaged from the hurricane. As we drove through the streets I was amazed at how much trash, sheet rock and debris was piled up on the road sides. And even more amazing was the BIG boats that were up on land. Heartwrenching. And to think so many people did not evacuate! My neice told us about when they were on their way to Galveston to help with hurricane clean up, there was boats in the middle of the freeway. What a scary thought!

As we left Galveston for the day, there was a gas station. (not the one pictured above...it was a ton worse!) It was completely mangled. The rain was so bad I couldn't get a good picture of it.(I am not used to sheets of rain falling down. My sister said it was not that bad! I'm used to UT rain!) Anyway, it would have been a perfect description of all of the damage they endured.

Seeing all of that damage made me so sick inside. It made me feel safe and grateful that I live where I live. (Although I do wish I lived closer to my sis...)

So to anyone out there still dealing with loss from recent natural disasters, please know that I will think of you and pray for you.

last minute trip

Well as most of you know, the stress level in my house is like 10 + most of the time.

Last week my parents were on their way down south to visit my sister's family. Nephew was having a birthday & getting the priesthood. I was quite jealous because I totally miss my sis and just wish we lived closer to eachother. (Tara - that does not mean I am moving...) I also really miss her kids. They are TONS-O-FUN!
Last weekend was Justin's weekend with the girls so I thought it might be fun just to look at ticket prices. They ranged in price from $500 - $2,100. So for a couple day trip, that was NOT worth it to me. Then my best friend told me that I should check out priceline & name my price for a ticket. So I listened to her. I went on priceline and named my price at $120. The computer pretty much rolled off the desk laughing at me. I just raised my price $10 at a time and finally at $225 it accepted my offer! WaHOO!! It was WAY last minute, but everything worked out. The next morning I was on my way to the airport. There is always something fun to do at my sister's house.

Here is some of what I did on my last minute trip!...
(and a few pictures to prove it!!)

• I played Guitar Hero
• I ate BBQ
• I ate down home cookin'
• I took a REALLY deep sleeping nap
• I cried
• I laughed
• I went potty a few times
• I went sailing on the ocean
• I was involved in a sailboat crash
• I saw Hurricane Ike damage
• I was a FUN AUNTIE
• I went to a museum type place
• I went on a movie-ride that made me feel like I was going to VOMIT
• I played the game LIFE
• I was a cool Auntie
• I did some laundry
• I made a joke
• I ate at Red Lobster
• I was a dental assistant
• I watched neice paint liahona
• I took lots of pictures
• I was a fun daughter
• I played with magnets on a wall
• I did the dishes
• I played Pit
• I took a few showers
• I went to Wal*Mart
• I watched nephew eat 55 shrimp scampi
• I ate Malt-O-Meal & Ice Cream....mmmm
• I cried
• I listened to neice sing songs
• I vented
• I played
• I met some really fun & amazing people
• I talked to my kids every day
• I painted a mug
• I played with and sang to some dogs
• I saw penguins
• I slept in
• I met a weirdo or two
• I played on the laptop w/ photo booth...SO entertaining
• I ate Malt-O-Meal & Ice Cream again!! mmmmmm
• I watched movies
• I relaxed
• I did not swim in the beautiful pool
• I thought
• I totally missed my kids
• I was a fun sister
• I played at a birthday party
• I ate some of TomTurkeys feathers
• I ate a half-quart rootbeer float over a 4 day period
• I saw a trash can full of trophies
• I watched my sister cover a snake cake with individually cut pieces of fruit leather scales
• I looked at a house remodel
• I called my house
• I had my flight cancelled & got to stay an extra night because of tornadoes

I HAD AN AMAZING TIME!!!

THANK a VETRAN!

Happy Vetrans Day!
To all of you who have served or who are serving in the military...THANK YOU FOR DEFENDING OUR FREEDOM! It is so sad that there are so many people I saw in the airport today who did not even know that today was Vetran's Day.
Our country should be PROUD and thank our Vetran's. We all have FREEDOM because of what they do every day...So even though there are only 63 minutes left in 'today' THANK A MILITARY SERVICEMAN or WOMAN!
Thank you father-in-law, Richard
Thank you sister-in-law, Melinda
Thank you brother-in-law, Rod
Thank you nephew-in-law, Casey
THANK YOU VETRANS near and far!!!!
(and hey everyone...Pass on the American Spirit!)

End-of-October-Fun!!

Now that I am back home and back into blogging... let me take a couple minutes to give y'all an update...

October was a way busy month at our house.

Our annual 'fam & friends' pumpkin carving extravaganza was a hit...as usual, right? We had excellent food & company!

Pumpkin carving is one of my favorite things to do right before halloween. It's fun to see what everyone comes up with for their jack-o-lanterns.

Later on in the week, Tara, the girls and I had a pizza & pumpkin party and Domino's didn't even charge us for the hair that was BAKED INTO OUR PIZZA!!! Yucky!!
Check out our mini pumpkins that grandma & grandpa grew in their garden. They were fun (and hard) to carve. The girls & Tara did faces and I did little stick figures...Tika, me, Carsy and even a little Genevieve!!

And of course, trick-or-treating. We have our usual stops of family and friends and this year Tara, and one of her sisters' & her family came over and we all trick-or-treated around our neighborhood.
This year Tika was a 'death eater' off of Harry Potter and Carsun was a Clown. Genevieve was NOT a bat like she has been for 3 years. (We couldn't find her costume, or she would have been!) This year she was a Candy Corn Witch...so cute, and me? I wore the same thing I have worn since my sophomore year in HS. A T-Shirt that says, 'this is my costume'!

The neighbors came over after trick-or-treating-- they ate candy, watched TV and hung out for a late night. What FUN!!
I made a slide show (above) of some of our October highlighted events!!! :)

Stranded!!

Some of you, like CL, might be wondering why I haven't posted anything since forever ago... well, here's my excuse...

I am stranded at CL's house!  

Horrible weather has kept me from getting back home!

*sob*

Last week I made an abrupt decision to leave town and visit CL, the fam and the Doggies...aaawww.  :)

Now stay tuned in for an update and pictures from Halloween and my present adventures!

~Fresh ~ Air ~ Forcast~

Look Close...yup - that is Tika & Carsun with weather forcaster, Debbie Worthen.

Last Friday the girls did not have school. We took Uncle Kenneth to the airport and my Dad had a couple meetings. The girls & I decided to hang around Salt Lake for a few hours.

We rode Trax and went to the Gateway. The girls got to stuff build-a-bears for Toys for Tots. We went back to the Gallivan Ctr. to meet up with my dad and saw Debbie Worthen getting ready to do a live shot for the noon news.

We waved at her and she motioned the girls over. She asked if they wanted to be on the news. Carsy said, "sure" and tika acted a bit embarrased, but let Carsun pull her over.

She talked to them for a minute and all of the sudden...they were on the screen. Debbie said, "Well the weather is beautiful and I've got Tika & Carsun here with me. They're from Heber. And I can't remember - what was next girls?" and they said, "The Fresh Air Forcast!"

Before I could dial anyone's #, it was over! Thank heaven for picture phones!!

One Word Tag

One Word Tag
1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Where is your significant other? Gone
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Festive
5. Your father? Amazing
6. Your favorite thing? Kids
7. Your dream last night? True
8. Your dream/goal? Happiness
9. The room you're in? Office
10. Your hobby? Quilting
11. Your fear? Loss
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Peaceful
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Perfect
15. One of your wish list items? Debtless
16. Where you grew up? Mountains
17. The last thing you did? Cried
18. What are you wearing? Jeans
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet? Genevieve
21. Your computer? Desktop
22. Your mood? Unstable
23. Missing someone? Lots
24. Your car? Dying
25. Something you're not wearing? Watch
26. Favorite Store? Costco
27. Your summer? Emotional
28. Love someone? Incredibly
29. Your favorite color? Yellow
30. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. Last time you cried? S’morning

People I TAG:
Cluelessllama
Hugawerewolf
Sarah E.
JibeHo
Jen R.
Rachel C.
Heather E.

8th of the 8th...

Okay , since my 4th of the 4th was so ridiculously BORING...I decided I'd add 4 and do the 8th of the 8th.

Let's hope it is a better picture experience for me!

So---for those of you that did the 4th of the 4th - let's do the 8th of the 8th!

C'mon Rach, Texas neice, endohamsail and whoever else wants to join in on the FUN!!!

Here's MY 8th of the 8th...


Okay - I feel like this is a Much better photo than my 4th! But come to think of it, my 4th & 8th are pictures of houses! oh well...at least this one has a bit more of a story behind it!!!

This picture was taken on February 9, 2008 at my parents house.

There was so much snow! Notice the living room window on the right! The girls and I went to help dad shovel so that the basement would not flood. Thankfully it did'nt, we had an afternoon of playing in the snow! Even Genevieve played in it!

Okay to do the 8th of the 8th...

• go to your pictures
• from the 8th file, select the 8th photo
• upload it to your blog
• write a post about it

It's their party

Over the summer, Tika, Carsun and our neighbors; who are the same age, decided that they would get into the "planning business".
Now when I say "planning business", I mean they think of ANYTHING and plan it. A babysitting business, lemonade stands, yard sales, trips to family dollar, you name it...they probably have it on their list!
We pretty much just let them think of anything and when they bring it up we say, "we'll have to see" (you know, the normal "mom" answer!)
About a month ago, they sat down and spent a good bit of time planning a halloween party. Well, halloween is one of my favorite holidays, so I actually listened to all of their ideas. Jamie and I decided that it might be fun to do since the kids had spent so much time on it and since there was no school on Friday this week.
The moms changed the time, and decided that no costumes would be worn, we planned the food and let the kids figure out the rest.
We invited the neighborhood carpool group and let each of our kids invite 3 of their school friends to attend a night of goul-ish fun!
The girls planned fun games! They played ghost in the graveyard, mummy wrap, the broom game, BOO-ngo and the candy bar game.
They decorated cupcakes ate food & candy like crazy and we sent them home to their parents. (who were probably quite upset their kids were wired for all hours of the night!!)
We ended up having 22 girls and one boy. (he actually didn't mind - I don't even think it phased him...he was 3!)
The girls all had a BLAST -- Jamie & I even got in on the fun, and enjoyed ourselves too!

4th of the 4th

Okay, a couple of my friends have done this on their blogs, so I decided to try it. I'm also trying to convince my neice to do it on her blog. :)

The way I understand the rules is:

• go to your pictures
• select the 4th file
• from that 4th file, select the 4th picture
• upload it to your blog
• write a post about it

So, I think I have done it right. In my pictures on the computer, they are alphabetized...so #'s are first. This file was titled with our address. What a BORING picture! I might have to re-do this in a couple days and re-title it 'the 16th of the 16th' or something!

This picture was taken on 07/04/07. We had just moved in to our house and I was taking pictures in & around the house to email them to my sister. See, I told you - boring huh? There's really nothing else to say about it either!

B~ O~ R~ I~ N~ G~

an apple afternoon

My Uncle Kenneth, dad's brother is in town this week. Yesterday he wanted to hang out with the girls.


We went up to Midway to a historical place called the John Huber Home. It is a beautiful old home with apple trees galore. It is actually one of the places that the girls & I got some of our pictures done 2 weeks ago. There is a stream that runs through the property and gives the whole place an awesome fall feel. The weather was beautiful, and that made the afternoon even better. The girls climbed up into the trees and shook the branches. We filled up a duffle bag full of apples.


Genevieve even got in in the fun. We thought it would be fun to see if she'd chase a small apple like she would normally chase a wugga....guess what? She did! It was actually pretty funny to watch. Uncle Kenneth would throw an apple through the orchard and she would dart after it. She'd catch it, bring it back, and lick her lips! yummy fetch!

2nd graders + school bus = FIELD TRIP !!

What do you get when you have about 100 2nd graders & their teachers, a school bus, and 25 parents? That's right...a field trip! The second grade @ HVE had their field trip on Wednesday. Since I don't work on Wednesdays I figured it was a perfect opportunity for me to chapperone an event-filled day with Bugga.

We loaded the busses @ 9:00 sharp and headed down Provo Canyon. Might I add that the girls RAN to the back of the bus! YAY!! We had the 2 back seats!! I know it's fun for them, but I was about done by the time we got to Sundance. (on the way DOWN!)

First stop was the Kennecott Copper Mine. WOW! That place was amazing! I have always wanted to go there...and now I just want to go back and spend more time. It was pretty cool. The hole is so big that the Empire State Building wouldn't even come 1/2 way up it! The tires that are on the haulers are GIGANTOR! Each one costs $25, 000 and each hauler has 6 tires! (And we complain about the tires we put on our cars!!) I gave them each a quarter so they could look into the thingy to see way down into the hole. That was lovely fun!

Then we re-loaded the busses and went to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum. I had never been there either. It was also cool, but I couldn't tell you what I learned. My group pretty much ran through the whole thing to get to the 2 sand parts! Then we ate our lunches and got attacked by bees the whole time and then had 20 minutes left.

One of the teachers suggested that we go look in the GIFT SHOP! Hello you dip-wad....7 & 8 year olds in a GIFT SHOP??? Obviously she does not have children of her own! None of the kids had money - but a couple parents said that each child in their group could get ONE thing. WHAT?? I have NEVER bought stuff @ gift shops on a field trip! So of course, my group came up with puppy dog eyes and pouty lips begging for something to be purchased on their behalf. There was me & two other mom that were the "mean ones". and then I saw these cute little bottles full of mini gems. It's something that Carsy has collected in the past, so I turned into a "cool mom" and let them each get one. They were less than $1! So now I'm cool! (I would like to mention that one mom was WAY too nice & bought each kid in her group a stuffed animal! either way nice or just has a lot of money to blow! I think she probably won the 'cool mom award' for the day!)

Then back onto the bus we went, and of course..."same seats". ugh! By the time we got back to the school I had run completely out of fun tickets, had a massive headache and felt as if I needed to puke for the remainder of the night!

Carsy was happy that I got to go though, so that made it all worth while!

What~A~Weekend

This past weekend the girls went to Justin's house. (even the girl dog, genevieve!!)

Friday night Reid got to come up and hang out so his mom could get some much needed studying done!

Justin & the girls stayed over for a while and all of the sudden there was a knock~knock~knock at the door. I went and answered it, and on the doormat there was a note... it said, "Dance Party - 8:00 pm - next door - get FUNKY & BE THERE!"

Justin was trying to finish up some work in the garage and told the girls to have fun! They put on a halloween costume from last year and ran next door. Reid wanted to hang out with Uncle Justin, so he went out to the shop to play in the wood!

(don't worry merkley's, it was unplugged!)Then he thought it would be fun to go check out the dance party! He was not too sure about the Hannah Montana music, but still tried to enjoy himself!


All that rockin & rollin wore him out!
The girls had a super fun time with Justin. They hung out in loungy clothes and watched movies all weekend! They both liked how relaxing it was! (I'm sure Justin did too - first weekend not working in a while!) That's the kind of "daddy time" I think they'll remember and maybe even enjoy the most!

Chop-Chop

As I stood in front of the bathroom mirror yesterday, I wondered why I got my hair cut 3 times in the past 4 weeks. No more pony tails for me! Well, at least for a while! I found a picture that was taken of me 4 weeks ago, and the I had Tika snap one of me yesterday morning. I'm missing a ton of hair!

4 weeks ago...

2 weeks ago...

This week...I never thought it would be so hard to get used to a hew hair cut! (any suggestions?)

~~eeek!!!!~~"scary soup"

If you are just joining us, scroll down to the post I did earlier today about "my favorite things about fall". As the girls & I sat down to eat dinner tonight I was saying how much I love to make soup in the fall.

Earlier today I got out a few of our halloween decorations. The girls have been waiting 6 whole days to use our new (well, I bought them last year on clearance after halloween) skeleton hand glasses.

They thought it would be fun to use them for dinner tonight and make red kool-aid so it looked like we were drinking blood. As we slurped our soup, Carsun pulled a noodle out of her bowl and said"Hey, I have an idea, we could make - up a witches brew to have with our blood."

I got a notepad and wrote down their recipe for "Scary Soup"...

SCARY SOUP

Recipe from Tika (11) & Carsy (8)

Chicken --plucked and torn up

Snake's Pee (Chicken Broth)

Ogre Boogers (fresh parsley)

Skin peeled from a human (minced celery & onion)

Fish tongues (carrots)

rat teeth (corn)

Frog eyes (peas)

Black cat intestines (noodles)

wash down your soup with a nice glass of warm bat blood!

So if that doesn't sound appetizing to you, you must not enjoy halloween as much as we do!!!

heh ~ heh ~ heh ~ heh ~ heh

one of my favorite things about fall

Okay, besides the crisp cool air, snow - capped timpanogos, and the beautifully colored leaves, one of my favorite things about fall is homemade soup! mmmmm....

While I was chopping veggies for our soup tonight, I realized how fast time flies! I cannot believe that we're already in October!

So, what are your favorite things about the fall?

Fall Pictures

Okay...I am so stinkin' excited about ALL of our photos, I just HAD to make a slideshow. It took all that I had in me to wait until today to post them!

So...If you have not voted on our Family Christmas card picture, scroll down~check them out and then vote for your favorite! Leave a comment too, I love getting people's feedback!

Above is a lot more of our pictures. She took 114 in all-WOW! And the girls didn't even complain! She kept saying, "You girls are good at this!" Anyway, enjoy!

***TIME to VOTE***

Okay everyone...here they are!! (drum roll please)

Over on the right side-bar I have set up a poll to see what you all think about our new family pictures. I thought it would be fun to see what other people (besides me...) would pick for a Christmas card photo. So take a good look at our top 5 choices and CAST YOUR VOTE!

A:

B:

C:

D:

E: