Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!! This year has been especially busy and I didn't get card sent out. So I will just give everyone a rundown of what has been going on this year.
Justin is still teaching 7th grade Special Ed at Taylorview Jr. High here in Idaho Falls. He likes it for the most part, but is getting tired of all the paperwork and legal requirements set forth by the government. Teaching Special Ed, you have to be very careful to dot all your "i"s, so to speak. He is really good at his job and all his students just love him. You should have seen the stash of presents he came home from school with yesterday, as it was the last day before Christmas break. His outlet though, is coaching 8th grade girls basketball. He loves doing that and is an excellent coach. It's in his blood too, since his dad has been a coach for years and years. They talk every night after a game. His basketball girls really enjoy him and the parents are always impressed with how level-headed he is. He is very professional and inspires the girls instead of yelling at them. He currently serves at the Scout Master in our ward, which is a perfect calling for a teacher. He gets to spend the entire week with the boys up at Scout Camp during the summer. If he could do that year-round, I'm sure he would.
Speaking of Scouts, I was called last November to be the 2nd Counselor in the Primary Presidency in our ward. My responsibilities are Cub Scouts and baptisms. So between Justin and me, we are responsible for all the boys in our ward ages 8-13. Fun, huh? My calling keeps me really, really, REALLY busy. But I am blessed with loads of little opportunities to serve the children in our ward. It's been wonderful to notice all the little things that are put in my way to help others.
I am even more busy taking care of our three crazy little boys. Problem is, they are beginning to be not so little. Andrew (will be 6 in April) started Kindergarten the end of August and is thriving. He is in the top group for reading, handwriting and math. He is one of the more silly kids in his class though, judging from what I see when I help out in his class. He has a "best buddy" named Golden, yes, that really is his name, and they love seeing each other every day. Golden is a sweet kid. It's fun to see all the papers Andrew brings home from school about what he has been learning.
Brenden, well he's Brenden. He is SO cute. He is sweet and thoughtful and caring and REALLY SILLY. He is always doing little things to help me and it's so sweet. He is also my shopping buddy and always wants to go to the store with me. He loves to snuggle too, which I LOVE. I don't care if he wants to snuggle when he's 30, I would love it. He also is very polite and always says please and thank you and you're welcome. He is also very kind to his little brother, Carter. He is a big jokester and loves to make us all laugh. He's just a fun kid and a total goofball. He will start preschool next fall at the school Andrew attends. He will do really well. He turns 4 in February.
Carter is getting bigger every day, darn it. I wish he would stay little. He is so cute though. He talks a lot and is very smart. Which can be good, and bad. He loves to rough-house with Andrew and Brenden and is actually very tough. He can tackle them both to the ground. But I think that has to do with his rage. He has a lot of rage...and attitude. Yes, the mother's curse is true I'm afraid. He is also very sweet and will throw all his garbage away himself and clear his dishes from the table and put them in the sink. He LOVES our kitty and would probably turn himself into some kind of animal if he could. He loves all animals. He will be 2 in February.
I am staying very busy keeping the house together and keeping track of my boys. They take a lot of energy!!! I also teach voice lessons almost every day after school and I love doing that. I have six voice students right now. They are very talented and it has been fun to see how they improve. I also have four piano students which is nice. I had a recital for all of them last week and one student and I played a really fun piano duet of Sleigh Ride. It was a blast and she is only 12 1/2!!!!! It's amazing. Along with my kids, teaching and my Primary calling, I have no time hardly at all. I suppose it keeps me out of trouble.
All in all, we are doing well here in Idaho Falls. We love our neighborhood and all our friends here. We seriously live on the best street in the world!! Seriously! Come see for yourself!! Hope all is well with everyone and we wish you the happiest of Christmases.
Love, Holly, Justin, Andrew, Brenden and Carter

sledding

I took the boys sledding the other day.
It was perfect weather for it.
Overcast so it wasn't FREEZING.
These pictures aren't really great but you get the idea. Even Carter climbed all the way up the hill. We just went to a park here in town that has a massive hill. It's awesome. They all had a blast!!!

Carter climbing up the hill

Santa came to our house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every year, we get a personal visit from none other than the great Santa Claus. Ok, it's our neighbor, Kevin, but my kids love it. He goes around to all the homes in our ward that have young kids and takes them a treat. It's his favorite thing about the holiday. Last year he just came into our front door, unannounced and yelled, Ho HO HO, I about had a heart attack. This year he knocked and then came in. So I had at least SOME warning. My boys loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The future of the NFL

Lately my boys have this thing about taking my clean dish towels out and using them as shoulder pads when they play football. It's hilarious. They flex their muscles and show me their "shoulder pads". Looks like we need to get them into football...

Not sure it worked for me...

You Are Smores

Unusual and unconventional, you make your strange ways work for you. You've got personality - no one's denying that!

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

random pix

Well, I really couldn't group these pictures all together except to just stick them here. But they're cute!!!!!!!!!!


Andrew one day decided he wanted to give
Carter piggy back rides and now
he does it all the time.
It's pretty fun. Brenden
did this Beavis and
Butthead-esque
pose cause Daddy told
him to.
If my kids go a-wall,
I know who to blame...













Carter wants to be a motocross racer when he grows up. He loves anything to do with motorcycles, real and pretend. He has some of my Dad's genes in him, fo'sho'.

Thanksgiving 2007

So we attempted to take a family picture this Thanksgiving over at Grandma's house. We got a couple that turned out pretty well, but for the most part Andrew wouldn't smile. Kinda like in every other family picture we have ever taken. Grrr...



But Carter enjoyed face painting, I mean, eating Thanksgiving dinner. I think he wanted to save some for later. And then the boys thought it would be fun to see how many times they could jump on Dad before he threw up. Luckily, that didn't happen.

Callie's engagement pix

I've always taken pictures as a hobby and this was my latest stint I guess. Justin's cousin Callie is getting married Jan 4 and these are a few of the pix we took. I don't have copies of the colored ones yet dang it but these are cute.

Andrew's school picture

Andrew Jeppesen, Sept. 2007

I am officially a Mom. You know why? Cause my kid has SCHOOL PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, I feel old. But they turned out really really nice. I love them. I had to take a picture of the actual picture though because I have to reload the software for my scanner. Oh well. It's a bit washed out because of the camera flash but he's still cute!!!!!!!!! So grown up and handsome.

Summer 2007

Just wanted to add some random pictures from this summer. We did a lot of family things this summer since it was the first time Justin didn't have a part-time job through the summer while school was out. My kids are water babies and pretty good fishermen too!!!!!!

Halloween 2007

The kids all wanted to be someone from Star Wars this year so I enlisted the help of my older sister, Jen, cause she had a couple costumes from last year when they were Star Wars characters. Thanks Jen! Andrew was Darth Maul, Brenden was Darth Vader and Carter evened out the dark side by being Yoda. How cute is that!?!?! Andrew face is NOT a mask, believe it or not, but it's face paint. I sat him by the computer, pulled up a picture of Darth Maul on the Internet and proceeded to paint his face like Darth Maul. Not bad, huh? Oh, I was Princess Leia, but I'm behind the camera of course. I was never a big fan of pictures anyway...

Andrew's first day of Kindergarten!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I have a kid in school. Crazy. Andrew LOVES kindergarten and he has a really good teacher, Mrs. Moss. There are a couple kids in his class from Primary and that has really helped. He's learning quickly and is in the highest group for free-centers. He knows how to read a few words and can do lots of other things. I am the room-mom for his class and work at lot with the Parent-Teacher-Organization (PTO). It's weird to be a "PTO Mom" but Andrew likes having me come help in his class. Brenden, Carter and I walk Andrew to school every day along with my neighbor and fellow Primary presidency member Melinda. Her daughter is in Andrew's class.

Pix to right: Andrew and Brenden-happy bros

Oregon trip July 2007

Okay, so I thought I would play super-mom and take all three of my boys to Oregon to my best friend's wedding. Justin was in Alaska fishing, poor guy =), and I couldn't miss the wedding so I packed up all the kids and drove 800 miles all by myself. I lived to tell the story and everything! We had a good time and my kids got to see lots of aunts and uncles. We spent a day at the beach while we were there and had a great time. I took the kids to the Portland Temple where Justin and I got married and walked around a bit. We went up to the front door just so the boys could peek in and the sweet temple worker at the door said we could come in. He let us walk through the atrium there in the waiting area and I have to say that was the best minute I have spent in the temple. My boys even felt it. Their faces were priceless. It just reminded me that families are the reason for temples and it was a great experience to have all my boys there with me. We stayed with my sister Becky and her hubbie and had a blast. My kids love Aunt BekBek and Uncle Jake. We were there for a week. Needless to say, I was NOT looking forward to the drive home but my kids were troopers. I have the best boys in the world. I would not have taken the trip if I didn't think they could do it. I have to say though, in-car DVD players are a small miracle. It helped to break up the monotony of the drive. All in all, it was a wonderful trip, but I don't think I will do it alone again...