2016

Year 2016 in Review

2016 was a difficult year for our family. We spent the majority of it in Las Vegas and experienced a lot of disappointment. We moved to Utah in September but the end of the year while fun with lots of holiday activities was still rough. We're hoping that 2017 is a more positive year. The best thing to happen in 2016 was that our family was blessed with a sweet little boy in May. Liam and Daniel make me smile everyday and sometimes are the only reason I made it through the day at all. 

January

-       -Mike started his new job at the golf course. This new job is a good part time opportunity while he is waiting for his license to come through and open his practice.

-       -Mike and I went on our cup cake decorating date

-       -I went to a R5 concert with Stacey at the Venetian casino.

February

-       -At the beginning of February we took a trip up to Utah for the Provo City Center Temple open house. It was beautiful! We also got to visit with my family and also with some of Mike’s family which is always fun!

-       -In Utah we took Daniel to a trampoline park for the first time and he loved every second of it. I think he would be thrilled if we just turned the floor of the house into a giant trampoline.

-       -We also took him to a dinosaur museum and he loved playing in the dirt digging up dinosaur bones.

-       -We found out we’re having a BOY!!! Daniel will have a little brother and partner in crime!

-       -We celebrated Aunt Stacey’s birthday

-       -We celebrated Valentines Day

-       -Daniel had his first ear infection and first stomach bug in the same two weeks :(

March

·      -On March 9^th Mike took his law exam to get licensed in Nevada finally so he could start being a chiropractor.

·      -We celebrated our anniversary! 6 years baby!!! (It was kind of a sad day though cause I got sick at the movies so we had to go home. so we had to celebrate later)

·      -Mike opened his chiropractic office on March 24^th!

·      -We celebrated Easter and Daniel went on his first Easter egg hunt and got to help dye Easter eggs.

April

·      -We went to the Lion Habitat Ranch in Henderson. The lions were huge!
-    - We got to do some hiking in Calico Canyon and Red Rock

·      -Visited the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead

·      -Spent time with new friends

·      -Went to see Zootopia on date night (we had to make up for our anniversary)

May

·      -Celebrated Grandma Kate’s birthday (even though her birthday is at the end of April)

·      -Mike and I went on our baby-moon to LA on May 3^rd

·      -We took our maternity pictures

·      -Celebrated Mother’s Day

·      -I had my baby shower on May 14^th, 2016

·      -We welcomed Liam Thane Epperson to our family on May 27^th, 2016

·      -I turned 26 and celebrated my birthday on May 27^th

·      -Daniel turned 2!

June

·      -Parents visit Las Vegas: visit strip, go to wax museum, visited the hoover dam, went to titanic museum
     -We were in the hospital with Liam for 3 days because he had a really high fever :(

July

·      -Liam was blessed on July 3^rd, 2016

·      -We celebrated the 4^th of July (unfortunately Mike was sick on the 4th :(

·      -Mike and I went to Utah with Liam to see about a possible relocation

o   The opportunity was to buy a practice from another chiropractor. We would be going to Murray and Park City Utah

·      -My friend Heather visited

·      -Tony, Debbie and the kids came to visit for Liam’s blessing so we had lots of fun playing with cousins!

August

·      --Grandma and Stacey’s house flooded so they had to move next door

·      -Grandma had a stroke and fell so she was in the hospital and a rehab center for a few weeks

·      -Still waiting to see if we are going to Utah. The contract is being reviewed but the guy is dragging his feet.

·      -We decided we are going to Utah but Mike has joined New Beginnings coaching. We will be working with Dr. Savage to open Epperson Family Chiropractic in Spanish Fork Utah.

September

·      -We moved to Springville Utah and moved into Outlook Apartments on September 12, 2016.

·      -Over Labor Day weekend Mike and I went down to Utah. We checked out apartments, went back to Big Cottonwood Canyon where we took our engagement pictures and also went to see BYU womens soccer play Tennessee. We had so much fun. It was the first time I was away from Liam overnight but I did alright.

·      -Daniel started sleeping in a big boy bed L He has been climbing into Liam’s crib. I don’t think he wanted to give it to him yet.

·      -Liam started rolling over from his belly to his back.

October

·      -We started the month by taking a weekend trip to San Francisco for a New Beginnings Conference

·      -We got the keys to the new office and Mike started the renovations on the space.

·      -Liam started laughing

·      -Went to Jaker’s Pumpkin Patch

·      -Celebrated Halloween with the trunk or treat

November

·     - Liam had rice cereal for the first time on November 2^nd

·     - Liam met great grandma Williams on Nov 2^nd

·      -Liam tried oatmeal on November 18 and liked it

·      -Celebrated Thanksgiving

December 

- - The boys got to visit Santa
- - We celebrated Christmas!
- - Liam starting scooting around, pulling himself up and eating solids.  
- - Celebrated Mike's 29th birthday! 

I'm grateful for the learning experiences of the past year while also being very grateful that they are over. I'm looking forward to the new year and to seeing what 2017 has to offer :) 

Temple Square

This year we bundled up and took the boys to Temple Square to see the lights! The night we went was perfect because even though it was crowded, it wasn't too cold. We tried to avoid the cold by also going in and out of buildings. Daniel really loved the lights but his favorite part was seeing all of the water fountains and looking at the lights from the top of the Joseph Smith building. Liam loved looking around and we always love seeing how beautiful it is!

Both boys fell asleep on the way to the lights :)

I love seeing the temple. No matter how many times we go it still amazes me.

The Joseph Smith Building was beautiful. Daniel loved looking out the windows upstairs.

We were lucky and got a nice family picture too :)

Christmas Eve

It was just the 4 of us on Christmas Eve this year. We had fun decorating sugar cookies and Daniel got to leave cookies out for Santa. It was the first year that Daniel has been excited and I think he had a little idea of what was happening. After the kids went to bed Mike and I watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Daniel kept asking for a bite of Santa's cookies but we kept telling him Santa needed them. So we gave him a different cookie and thats pretty much the only way we could get him to sit still long enough to take the picture. He didn't even remember the cookies in the morning haha

Happy 7 months Mr. Magoo

My little Liam is 7 months old! He is getting so big and is so much fun! He is my calmer little boy and loves to play. We just love him!

- Liam is eating like a pro now. He has had green beans, carrots and sweet potatoes. He loves to eat and is getting so chunky!

- He has two teeth on the bottom and one trying to break through on the top but they're slow coming in. He's ok about teething and doesn't cry a lot but he is chewing everything. His favorite thing to chew is the Wii remote control cover. (Funny cause Daniel loved it too)

- He is scooting everywhere and is starting to pull himself up onto things. Mostly he just pulls himself up on people but he is getting there. He gets up on his knees but thats mostly just to sit up and turn around. He is fast though!

- He loves bath time! He got new bath toys for Christmas and so bath time just got a lot more fun.

- He loves to smile and laugh. He especially loves his brother and gets the biggest smile when Dan comes in the room or when Daniel is acting silly. Daniel can get him to laugh the most and its so sweet!

- Liam loves to be with people and will let just about anyone hold him. The ladies at church love him and I rarely have him during relief society since someone always wants to hold him :)

- Liam plays hard just like his brother. His favorite toy is the o ball race car and Daniel's train.

We love you Liam!

Christmas Eve visitors

One of my best friends Katie was in Utah with her husband for Christmas. When we found out that we were both in Utah we knew we had to get together so she and her husband Ben came over on Christmas Eve. We had a great time! I hadn't seen Katie since Daniel was about a month old. It was fun playing with the kids and catching up and they also helped us make sugar cookies :)

Happy Birthday Mike

This past year was a strange year for birthdays and Mike's was no exception. He wasn't home on his birthday but we did get to celebrate on the 23rd with Mike's favorite cake (snickerdoodle yum!) and we also had some friends over to eat dessert and play games. It ended up being a fun celebration. Happy Birthday Mike! We love you and appreciate everything you do for our family :)