Comparisons

I have noticed some pictures lately that make me stop and stare...it was like I was seeing double!

These babies obviously love this monkey. We nicknamed it "Monk." He is very beloved in our household. 

The picture on the right is an ornament we just put up on the tree. It was when Drew was 2. I couldn't get over how much Luke looks like him! Especially in the eyes & nose region. I've noticed Gracie is starting to look more like her daddy, too. We're just gonna have Drew clones around here!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a fabuloso Thanksgiving! Since I know you're all dying to see what we did that day, here's a play-by-play:

Luke stayed in his PJs allll morning and played with his Cars:

Drew went to be a turkey at the Turkey Bowl. Our ward actually doesn't have a Turkey Bowl so Drew just invited a bunch of guys to play the morning of Thanksgiving. (He really should have been a model. He's just so great at posing.)

After Luke and I watched the Thanksgiving parade for a while, I test tasted one of the Mini Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecakes I made. There will be a review of the recipe soon on Destination: Craft.

Then we went to Charlotte to be with Drew's aunt & uncle and their two daughters and his grandparents. Luke loves playing with Kristin and Katrina. I'm pretty sure they love it, too. I hope they do.

Playing with Kristin & Katrina. They caught on fast to what Luke's favorite game was: playing with his Cars!

Having a blast:

 

 

Of course Gracie was never set down (with Drew's grandma):

Drew enjoying a Mini Pumpkin Oreo Cheesecake:

 

 

Some of the ladies enjoying pie (Patti {Drew's aunt}, Katrina, Kristin, Patti's mom}:

Luke trying to convince Candy {the dog} to drink some apple juice:

 

 

And of course, there was napping:

After the Thanksgiving feast, we followed Drew's grandparents to their house to stay a couple of days with them. They took us to a thing called "Lights of the South." It was so much fun and Luke LOVED it!

(I look a little crazy). Behind us was our favorite light object: the pretty castle!

Look how pretty!

There were lots of other lights, but it was too hard to get the camera out.

We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! Now on to Christmas!!

Family Pics

Drew had this great idea: we take pictures of our friends and in turn they take pictures of us. Brilliant. We both have nicer cameras, so it worked out perfectly. The only time our friends could do it was 8:30 in the morning...on a Saturday. Ugh. Oh well, we're usually up anyway. However, we're normally not outside dressed nicely and freezing our tail feathers off at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. Sundays, yes. Church starts at 8:30. Not so much Saturdays.

We were seriously freezing. The kids' noses were so red and their hands were frozen. We took lots of blankets but we couldn't keep them wrapped constantly. Oh, and a fun little story. Luke had to go pee. "Mommy, needa go pee pee!" Drew took him to teach him how to go next to a tree. But Luke wasn't having that. So I took over. I just held him in my lap, promised him a cupcake, and kept him warm. Bam, the deed was done and we were taking pictures again. Thank you, thank you very much.

That's a lot of talk for some family pictures. Here's some of them:

Run, run, run!

This last Saturday I ran my 4th 5k. Let me tell you about the last two 5ks. 

There was no preparation. When I say no preparation, I mean I may have ran once before to prepare and thought that would do. Which wouldn't be too far off because I've always been able to run every 5k without stopping to walk. 

I ran the Rex Lee Run twice in Utah, the Cowtown 5k with my mother-in-law in Texas, and the Free to Breath 5k in North Carolina. The first one (the Rex Lee Run) that I ever did I felt awesome about. I was running allll the time and felt nice & fit. The next too not so much. THIS one...I felt really awesome about. I trained for a couple weeks before and was ready to rock the house!

I'm a really awkward looking runner. Check out these pics:

See what I mean? This was before I noticed Drew taking pictures. 

This was once I noticed:

Uhhh...yeah, not much better. I look insane. I probably was at that point.

It really wasn't as difficult as I'm making it sound. But it is always nice to go across that finish line!

Excited that it's over!

I guess I was too stinky. Luke didn't even want to give me a kiss.

Next up: a 10k! Then a half marathon, then a marathon! We'll see how long that'll take me. I'll get there...eventually.

Holler-Ween

I never did post any Halloween pictures! That's like a Blogger crime. I'm sorry & I'm here to rectify the situation.

This was at our Trunk or Treat. Gracie was a ballerina (thanks, Mama Pepper!) and Lukers was Larry Boy.  

Luke found his Nursery teacher and he was so happy to see her! He kept wanting to go to her car. She also came over and took him around to see all the decorated trunks.

My kids are so cute. So so cute. Oh, and this is how we decorated out trunk, but there was also a little banner and some bats hanging that you can't see in this pic.

We did do the actual Trick or Treating with some friends but we didn't take any pictures of it. We did get some shots of Gracie playing with Luke's loot:

History of Drew

Today is November 01, 2011. 

28 years ago Andrew William Pepper was born to Terri and Kevin Pepper. He is their second son.

For your viewing pleasure, I will take you through his life thus far (well, the Reader's Digest version). Grab a snack and sit back, 'cause Drew's life is worth learning about!

Sorry, no baby pictures. Here is little Drew. Drew claims he looks like a muppet in this picture, so I like to call this photo "Kermit Drew." He was born in Plano, TX and grew up in large part in Lancaster, TX. His teenage years were spent in Mansfield, TX.

He's played lots of sports throughout his life

He's shown interest in many different career paths, such as

DJing

Being a cowboy

Joining the Ninja Turtles (can anyone point out his 2 brothers?)

Becoming one of Santa's elves

Replacing the old Cowardly Lion

Wrangling dinosaurs

He also has an amazing family. 

Kev the Professor, Drew the Comedian, Matt aka Fish Hook

And great friends

Went on a mission to Switzerland (left with a girlfriend, came home without one)

Met a fabulous girl

Convinced her to date/marry him (a different story for a different time)

Carted her off to New York for 6 weeks (internship)

Moved to Texas, where he proudly welcomed his son, Luke Andrew

 Tore his ACL playing church basketball (figures)

Worked for Ecolab for 2 years and then welcoming his second baby, Grace Kathryn

 Got a promotion and moved the family to North Carolina when Grace was just a mere 2 weeks old

Don't mind the meds next to her

And now?

He's a great father and husband, a man with a strong testimony of his religion, and someone with a great vision of his future. He's planning great things for himself and his family. We love him sooo much!

Happy birthday, Drew!!