Bretton's First Concert

So last night our friends, Brooke and Riley, invited us to go to a free Brooke White concert (she was on American Idol and from Mesa, for all of those who don't follow the AI crowd). They had their daughter Bryten with them, so we thought it would be a great first concert for our little man (Chris is itchin to get him into the music scene!). We got there and it was pretty loud so we saw him screaming about it (couldn't hear him, but saw the red face and tears). After a minute or two though, he got used to it and had a great time!

There was a girl behind us that played with him the whole time we were there and she was clapping to one of the songs. This is Bretton in awe of the clapping.

Summer Fun in September!

Where else but in Arizona can you still swim in September? Ok, there are lots of places, but seriously... 100+ degrees still... and it's SEPTEMBER! So, I have been going a little stir crazy in the house and have wanted to do stuff outside, but it's still too hot for the park, so I bought one of those little pools for the boys to play in the backyard. They love it!! I bought it almost 2 weeks ago and they have played in it almost every day since! It's a nice way to get relief from the heat and still be able to go outside! Here are some pictures:

... and this is what happens when you decide to put them in regular diapers instead of swim diapers. I knew that, just didn't think it would be a problem. I had to take Bretton's off because he kept tipping over it got so big! Brenden could hardly walk when he got out. I was just laughing.
My cute boy. He been sucking that bottom lip in a lot lately... come to find out, he's getting his first teeth! That would explain it!

Bretton was discovering grass. I don't think he likes it much yet. Our grass is kinda pokey.
I love this face. Always with the crooked smile!
The mornings have been a bit cooler so we do a little walking. Apparently, this walk was a little too close to naptime.

...and This is What We Do When Dad Gets Home!

To continue our Sunday adventure today... Bretton and Daddy practiced their "trick"


We went over to Chris's parent's house for dinner, like every Sunday, but this week Bretton discovered a new friend...

Playing hard with new friends can sure wear a guy (or 2) out...

Bretton has found his male modeling pose (yep, he did this one all on his own!)
...and what's Sunday without a nap with your brother?

How precious are they??

Photobooth

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon when dad is gone to choir practice and it's just you and the boy? You play with Photobooth! (If any of you have a Mac, you know how much fun Photobooth can be!) Here is what we've come up with... these will keep me laughing for a long time!

and the Grand-Daddy of them all...

Ok, Party's over.

Read on...

So, I don't want my blog to go on being in the depressing state that it is at the moment. If you want something happier to read, skip the "Again? Really??" Post and go straight for the fun we had on Saturday.

Thank you though, so much, for all of you who have expressed your love and concern for us right now. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and definitely feel them. Please include Matt's family as well as I'm sure they need it more than we do! We are definitely thinking and praying for them.

Love you all!

Again? Really??

So, today has been another hard one here at the Epperson household. I don't mean to bum any of you out by relaying the awful circumstances that life has thrown at us, but I just need to write right now so bear with me.

Chris was gone this weekend again to LA doing a shoot for a Chinese concert of some sort. Whenever he goes, he travels with his "boss"/co-worker, Matt. Well, these two, from what Chris has told me, have seemingly become quite "two peas in a pod" since he has started working at the studio. Anyway, for this weekend, Matt had gone out earlier in the week so Chris drove out separately early Friday morning. They had a great weekend and long story short could have stayed one more night but Matt missed his family since he had already been out there all week and he wanted to come home. They left LA at midnight last night. I get a call at 6:00 this morning from Chris and he says "I'm ok, but Matt was in an accident. I think he's ok, but I just don't want you to worry about me. I'll call you in a bit when I know more."

If you know me, I am my mother's daughter and a big time worry wort! So, I immediately got on my knees and offered a prayer for Matt. I got as far as "Heavenly Father, please bless Matt..." and that's all I could say. I wanted so badly to finish the thought with "that he will be ok and he will recover fully" but I just could not bring myself to say it. It was then that I knew. My mind went spinning. Chris called me about 1/2 hour later and confirmed what I felt in my heart. Matt was gone.

Again, the spinning. That could have been Chris. Oh, and his wife... what about his wife?? (8 months pregnant with their 3rd child) and Holy crap... this is the 6th death of someone we know in a matter of 3 months. What is going on?? I really can't make sense of it all at this point. I have such torn emotions that I am just sick for his family yet so grateful that this once they drove separately. I'm really really at a loss this time. Why are so many of our friends leaving too early (or what seems to us like too early) with so much in their lives unfinished? I don't get it.

Chris is dealing well with everything right now. He says he is sure he's still in shock about it all because it hasn't really sunk in yet. But he is a strong man. He said "Sometimes I wonder if I don't react to these situations enough, but I think I'd rather just think as positively as I can. It just feels better, you know?" Yeah, I know. Here I sit crying my eyes out worrying that he or someone REALLY close to me is next and there he is, witness to it all and the one directly affected, thinking positively. I really do have an amazing husband. He is such an inspiration to me always! So what do I do now? I try to follow his example and think positively because I can't live in fear, right?

A Day Out of the House!

So, I have begun a new "career" as a full-time stay-at-home mom of 1, and a part-time stay-at-home mom of 2. I babysit my brother Marc's little boy Brenden (yeah... try keeping that straight all day: Brenden, I mean Bretton, I mean...) during the day while Marc and Sammy work. He's 7 1/2 months older than Bretton, so essentially... I have 2 babies.

I never knew the exhaustion that comes with having 2 as opposed to 1! But they're cute and so fun, so it's worth it! Anyway, needless to say, I spend a lot of days in the house because (1) it's hot and I can't do anything outside and (2) I'm still learning how to effectively juggle 2 in public while dealing with eating/nap schedules so I'd rather just avoid the chaos and dwell in my cave.

Well, today I decided that I just needed to be out of the house. My day started with going to Wendi's house with Nicci just to hang out for a bit. While we were there, Bretton got so tired, well... I'll let the video tell the story.

Then, since it's Saturday and Brenden's mom and dad were home and we haven't had dim sum in a while, we thought it would be a good idea to have a day at the Chinese Cultural Center-one of our favorite places to go! Here are some pictures of the fun we had after our yummy dim sum (If you've never tried it... you should! So good!!).

The Gardens out back

The boys were both born in, not only the year of the Pig, but the year of the Golden Pig which Sammy says doesn't happen very often, like only once every thousand years or something. So it's extra lucky!

They really wanted to ride that horse! (Ok, they could care less, but it makes for a cute picture!)

Brenden has mastered his running skills, so that is what he does every opportunity he gets!

Bretton with Aunt Sammy

"What...? This is what you're supposed to do with it, right?"

Marc, Sammy and Brenden

...and us.

Do You Ever Have One of Those Days?

So... I woke up this morning with every intenetion and all the motivation in the world to do about 12 projects and clean the house and work on the budget and... you get the idea. When Bretton went down for his nap at 9:30 I had a bit of a headache so I thought to myself "I'll just shut my eyes for like 10 minutes and then I'm up and at it!" Next thing I know it's 11:00 and I'm rolling out of bed and poor Bretton has just been playing in his crib for probably 1/2 an hour by himself. It's been all downhill laziness from there! It's 2:00 now and I'm still in my PJs, haven't eaten lunch and have just been wasting time on the computer for about the last hour. Yeah... it's going to be one of those days...

At a Loss

A good friend of ours, Ashley Mortensen, passed away last night and the circumstances surrounding her death has left me at a loss of what to think of this life. It was a complete accident, one that could only be classified as "freak" because there was no rhyme or reason for it. Over the past few months there have been a lot of deaths that have come about in this nature and each one has left a significant impact on me. Each one, in their own way hit too close to home and made me think "what if that were my husband, or my baby, or my brother, or my cousin," but Ashley's has most definitely hit home as she was like a sister to my husband and although I never got as close to her as I would have liked, I consider her a part of our extended family. So, what am I to think? After Chris had broken the bad news to me at 1:30 this morning, I spent a good amount of time lying awake, wondering, worrying and praying. I could let the questions of "Why?" in their many forms flood my mind and drive me to the brink of insanity but I have had a wonderful example in dealing with pain such as this in another good friend, Cassie Weske. She made a comment in one of her blogs about losing her sweet baby that the Lord is calling home His missionaries. I found comfort in that. I truly believe that the Lord needed Ashley to do the work that we can't do while we are on earth. It seems that explanation is the default in situations like this, but aren't defaults there because they consistently provide exactly what you need? So as I sit here worrying that the ones I love most may not be here tomorrow, I have no choice but to find solace in the fact that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and I hope that I, and all of you, can live our lives so that if in an instant, without warning, we are taken from this earth we will be ready to do whatever it is the Lord stands in need of. So many people have been an inspiration to me lately that I can't even name them all, but I want you all to know that if you are reading this, you know me. If you know me, I know you and I can honestly say I love and care about all of you and what goes on in your life. Most of all I love my husband, my son, my sisters and brothers, my parents (including in-laws!) so much more than I can ever express and I seriously thank the Lord for every "one more day" that I get to spend with each of them. I am so glad that we know of eternity and that once this life is over, I can be with them.

Thanks for your patience with my babble. Really, I'm not just being cheesy... I do love you even if I hardly see or talk to you or you feel like we are barely friends, you still are important to me. And Ashley, we love you, we miss you and I wish I knew what you were doing RIGHT now!

Can I Just Say...

I love this kid!! He has learned the art of "loves." This is my favorite thing that he does to date...

Just wait til you're slimed... It melts your heart. I promise!

As for the rest of us... (Chris and I)... not much new. I just play with my little man all day and Chris is trying hard to make it in the media production world. He's actually in LA this weekend shooting a low budget film. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure proud of how hard he works! He has such ambition and the drive to get things done, not to mention more talent than five of me put together! And he still manages to be a wonderful husband and father. One day all of his efforts will be rewarded. I know it!!