My sweet little boys

Excuse me as I reminisce:) Look at those two little peanuts! We used to call them Buddy and Pally. Joshua is on the left and Caleb is on the right...and yes...I've always been able to tell them apart.


These seats were a lifesaver!


How funny is this picture!? Poor Joshua:(


silly boys

A Daddy and his boys. In this picture, we were at Koinonia for a church retreat. We were having potato sack races.

Having fun with my bro:)

"That jelly was yuuummmmyyyy mommy!"


I am so thankful for these boys. What a blessing they are!
As their Kindergarten year comes to an end, I just want to say how pleased I am (and a bit proud too) of what they have learned this year. My little boys are official readers!! Woo Hoo!! Super Job boys!

(more reminiscing to come:):)

Jodie's Bridal Shower

Today was Jodie's day. We (my mom, sister and I) went to my cousin Jodie's bridal shower. It was so much fun to see friends and family that we don't get to see that often.

We had a really nice brunch put on by Kelly and Michelle. Ashley was there too and it was good to see her. She goes back to Azusa Pacific soon for her junior year. Wasn't she just the baby of the family? Time seems to be flying by without me realizing it. It was fun to see Michelles little guy Jack. What a cutie! Also, it was fun to catch up with Jacks grandma Carol Widman. She and her late husband used to go to Fairhaven and she and I worked together in the crib room when I was about 10.
Michelle (Brown) Widman and Kelly Brown


Cousin Ashley and Lindsay


Cousin Jodie and Stacey

Cousin Jodie and Auntie Terri Milburn

Michelle with little Jack and mother in law Carol Widman

Lesson learned

Yesterday we were in a frantic search for a couple of library books that we didn't know where they were. I stopped the kids from what they were doing to tell them that we were not going to stop looking until we had found that book. We looked in the normal places, we took apart toy boxes, we searched the car, under beds...everywhere! I started to get frustrated as I was pretty sure that the book was somewhere in the house and that we were just missing it. I turned to Kristina, who was in the room with me, and said, "You know what we forgot to do?" to which she replied, "pray.". I said, "Yeah...the way we should have started this search." So we stopped and prayed that the Lord would help us find it and bring to mind the place that it might be. It was not more than 3 minutes later I heard a scream and an "I FOUND IT!" coming from Kristina. The book was found in a place where she thought she had already looked. This time we did not delay in praying. All the kids and I sat down and we all thanked the Lord for answering our prayer and helping us find the book.
How many times do I do that? Forget the most important thing...my relationship with my Father who knew all along where that book was, but was just waiting for me to ask.

Two wheelers

We have some new two wheeler bike riders in the Epps household!! Good job Caleb, Abby, and Joshua!!

Power Lab Vacation Bible School 2008

The kids went to Fairhaven's VBS again this year. The theme was Power Lab (science theme). The kids had a fun time and really
enjoyed the stories and singing. Caleb wasn't too crazy about some of the experiments but he got through them:) Each day they learned a different saying. Mondays saying was God gives us the power to be thankful to which everyone responded, "AHA!" Tuesday was God gives us the power to be helpful. Wednesday's was God gives us the power to be brave. Thurday's was God gives us the power to live forever and Friday's was God gives us the power to tell others about Him (I think that's what the last one was:)

My dad was there doing the sound so the kids got their Papa fix each day:)

Even Anna was able to go to her preschool class with Mrs. MacDonald. She loved it! So did her mommy as I was able to go shopping with no kiddos in tow. The sweat on Anna's face in this picture is from her hard work of playing at the park. She also loved the singing and was singing and doing the motions just like the big kids.

Also, the kids were all able to spend the night at Papa and Grandma's this week. Joshua & Caleb stayed over on Monday night, Kristina spent Wednesday night, Abby spent Thursday night, and Anna got to spend Friday afternoon. That was a special treat for the kids that they had been looking forward to. Thanks Papa, Grandma, and Auntie for letting the kids stay over. They had a fun time!

The Epps kids with their Papa:):):)

Take me out to the ball game

Sometimes Charley gets tickets to the baseball game. Usually they are to an Oakland A's game (which we LOVE since we are huge A's fans), but tonight they were for the Giants game. We were in the nosebleed seats. I must admit that I am spoiled. Most of the seats he gets are literally closer to the field than the players and I LIKE sitting there. Who wouldn't? Although a lot of the time I'm more involved in talking to the person next to me than watching the game:):)
Tonight we took the ferry from Oakland over to San Francisco. IT WAS COOLLDD and windy! Can you tell by Anna's and my hair? It's a blowin' in the wind. I made sure that we all had on our A's paraphernalia so the Giants fans would know that we were definitely A's fans.
Anna started it:):) but we were kind of silly on our way over to the game.

Caleb can cross his eyes the best of anyone that I have seen.

Joshua and Mommy - Say Cheese!

It was a fun family night! Oh yeah...the Giants lost to the Dodgers. Don't ask me the score or how the game was...I wasn't watching:) at least I wasn't watching the game...I was watchin' those cute children of mine:):)

Discovery Kingdom (Marine World to you old timers)

Saturday was spent at Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. This year the 4 oldest were involved in a reading program put on by Discovery Kingdom. They had to read a certain number of books to receive a free ticket to go...and we even received a free ticket for the teacher! Pretty good deal! Since the tickets expired next weekend, this Saturday was the day of choice to go.


The #1 thing that Charley wanted us to do was go on the elephant ride. About 4 years ago, when we went, Charley took Kristina on the elephant ride, had their picture taken while on the elephant, and then had a tank top made with the picture on it. Unfortunately they no longer put the picture on clothing, so we had to settle for regular pictures. We bought pictures of us but we don't have digital images. Maybe I can post a "picture of a picture" at a later date. Below is a picture of Charley and the boys on the elephant. Since I am the main photographer in the family, there is no picture of the girls and I on the elephant, but we had a ride too....even Anna (she was holding on to Kristina so tight that she was pinching her:)

The boys on the frog ride. They almost blend in with their green shirts:)

They have a great butterfly display there where you can walk amidst the butterflies...and sometimes they even land on you. There were some really beautiful ones. The Lord is so good to make such vibrant colors for us to enjoy!

We were also able to feed the birds. We bought some little cups of nectar and the birds land on you and drink from the little cup. Pretty neat! Poor Kristina had a headache and backache most of the day so she didn't get in many of the other pictures as she just wasn't feeling up to it.:(:(

Notice the wet clothing? Double that and that is what I looked like after the rafting ride. My shorts were pretty much DRENCHED!

"The Bunny!" as Anna kept saying during the day.

Anna and Mommy on the Harold the Helicopter ride.

It was a fun, but very tiring day. Most of the kids were asleep by the time we arrived home...and yes....this time I remembered sunscreen and hats for everyone.

Great job kids on reading all those books and earning your Discovery Kingdom certificates/tickets!!