Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Day!

 Our tree.

 Jo playing with one of the many guns the boys received.  Daddy taught them right off how to shoot it at Mom.

 Sheri and Grandpa preparing the feast.

 Taylor and her step-cousins enjoying designing clothes on her new runway projector.

 Playing with "Uncle" Ryan.

 Sam and Aunt Sheryl building with Sam's new tool set.  Don't forget the safety goggles!

 Taylor, Dani, and Kara waiting to open presents.

Sam, Dani, and Jo sitting on the new swing Uncle Dusty and Aunt Terri made for the grandparents with all of the grandchildren's hand prints.

Jabbers

We tried out a new Children's play place in Nampa called Jabbers.  The kids loved it.

 The farmers market

 On the road.

 Having a barbecue.

 Playing with the trains.

 Decorating the house.

 In the Construction zone.

On the play structure.

Sleepover

 Sam was so excited to sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma's house with his cousin Trevor.  They had a lot of fun playing together.  Cousin Kara also stayed at our house and the girls had a fun time too.

With my little nephew Tyler.  He cried for his mom whenever he saw her unless I was holding him of course!  He liked me.

Sledding with cousins

Our cousins from Utah visited for Christmas and we enjoyed a day of sledding with them.  There wasn't too much snow left, but we found a snow covered road that worked perfectly.

 Dani went down more than any of us.  She preferred this blue piece of plastic because it went down the fastest.

 Sam had no reservations, even going down by himself.

 Daddy was worried he would be carrying most of the kids up the hill, but the only one that wanted a ride was Jo and not real often.

 Since I was the photographer, we staged this shot.  I'm not really going down,

 After one of our trips down. 

 The whole gang.

 Dad and Sam.  It was actually easier to control on your stomach.

 We hiked up to the top of TableRock and on the way done, Jo feel asleep (while we were sledding).  It must have tired him out.

Christmas Letter 2010

Family and Friends,                                      December 2010

Life goes on and here we are another year later.  We hope the year has treated you well as it has us.  We have enjoyed more time as a family and as a couple due to Mark’s travel allowance this year for his continuing Education.  We found ourselves in both Las Vegas and Orlando and look forward to many more vacations.

Mark continues to enjoy working for Saint Alphonsus as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.  He was ordained as a High Priest after he accepted a call as the Second Counselor in the Bishopric.  The biggest thing he has learned from his experience so far is that he never wants to be the Bishop.  He enjoys taking the girls out on “dates” and the boys on “Man’s night out.”  He enjoys snowshoeing and framing pictures and hopes to find more opportunities to do so in the future.  He loves to follow the Boise State Football games and only wishes they weren’t always on ESPN, because we don’t have cable.

Stacey continues in her attempt to keep the house in order and manage the kids’ schedules.  She is taking classes to keep her teaching certificate up to date while pursuing a degree in Accounting.   Stacey teaches the 5 year olds at church and volunteers at the school.  She enjoys reading, couponing, and playing with her kids.

Taylor is in Second Grade this year and while succeeding, does not enjoy it as much as she once did.  Her one true love is books and is almost never found without one.  Her favorite series this year was Percy Jackson and the Olympians.    She tried her hand at gymnastics this summer and decided there were probably better things out there for her.  She recently took an art class and learned to draw items such as a Sarcophagus (and if you don’t know what that is – neither did I).  Taylor started taking piano lessons from mom and has progressed nicely.  A big event for Taylor this year was being baptized.  We’re proud of her for wanting to make good choices.

Our first grader, Dani, loves school – especially the time she gets to spend with friends.  She loves playing games so we signed her up for T-ball this past summer.  She enjoyed it most of the time, but has also decided she would like to try something different next year.  Dani started taking piano lessons, but decided she would like to hold off and try again in a few years.  She is a great big sister to her brothers who enjoy following her around.

Sam is now a preschooler and has started learning in a co-op.  He attends twice a week and likes to point out when he recognizes a letter, which is usually B, S, and sometimes O.  Sam loves to run around with the big boys and can’t wait to get a Nerf gun for Christmas so he can defend himself against them.  Sam loves his little brother and they have fun playing together.

Joseph is already two and talking in sentences.  He loves to climb up on everything and is very independent, wanting to do everything for himself.  He is very observant and watches everything his siblings do and then copies them.  We can’t wait to watch his personality continue to blossom.

Thanks for taking time to get to know us a little better as we continue to grow and change.  Our blog went private this year, so if you wish to access it for continual updates, please email me so I can add you to the list. We can’t wait to hear from all of you.  We send our love and warm wishes,              

The Jepson Family

Family Pictures 2010

Holiday Pictures

 Taylor petting the dog named "Oprah" at a Christmas event put on by Mark's work.  The dog was donated by Oprah Winfrey as a therapy dog.

 Decorating cookies.

 Mark eating his birthday cake.

 The boys in matching sweaters.

 The boys in coordinating sweaters.

 At Dani's school party with her friends Ashtyn and Hallie.

 Taylor painting ornaments at her school party.

 Dani wearing her Rudolph hat at school were they recited "T''was the Night Before Christmas" and sang some songs.

Dani's cookie.

 With Santa at the St. Al's Christmas event.  Sam decided he didn't need to see Santa, because he already had.

Jo @ 2 years