Smokin' Hott Peppers

Drew's BIG Exciting News!!!

2012-01-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

Get ready to be excited!!

Two years ago, Drew applied to Texas Christian University. (Obviously we were still living in Texas at the time.) He didn't get in. He was sad. I was sad for him.

Fast forward a year. Drew was getting a little restless with his job and still wanted to go back to school. He decided to give it another whirl. This time he applied to a Communications Masters Program at the University of Texas (at Austin) and Texas A&M. He wasn't accepted into UT and Texas A&M told him they didn't have any funding to offer.

However, around the same time we heard from Texas A&M, Drew also had been offered the job in North Carolina. We had decided to go to North Carolina regardless of what news we heard from Texas A&M. Good thing.

A couple months ago Drew applied to Wake Forest University. He applied to their MBA program. Isn't he a fighter?? He just doesn't know when to quit. Most people would give up but Drew knows how important education is. And he wants to be able to take care of his family in the future.

3 days ago he was told that he was ACCEPTED to Wake Forest!!

Woohoo!!

I couldn't be prouder. He is an amazing man, husband, father.

(Side story: While we were in NC apartment hunting, Drew got chilly. He ran into TJ Maxx and came out with a Wake Forest sweatshirt. Little did he know he'd be associated with them just around a year later!)

Anyway, yesterday we went and toured the campus (by ourselves. Nothing formal.) It's so pretty! The buildings are WAY prettier than BYU's. While we were there, Drew said. "I feel like I'm cheating on BYU." Haha!!

This is a chapel on campus. Drew's TJ Maxx sweatshirt and a $5 WF hat.

Going crazy!

Some pretty building. I have no idea what it's used for.

This where he'll be taking his classes (we think).

My handsome MBA hubby!

The kids are excited for him, too!

Congrats to Drew!!!

Wake Forest University Facts:
Established: 1834 in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1956
Undergraduate students: 4,500
Graduate students: 2,500
Ranking: Top 50 part-time. Top part-time program in North Carolina.
Cost: Way too much money. (It's an investment in your future, right?)
NCAA sports: The Atlantic Coast Conference
Mascot: The Demon Deacon

For the love.

2012-01-24T19:10:00.000-08:00

It has been FOREVER.

My bad.

Let me tell you about my amazing husband.

He organized our 5-year-anniversary getaway. Isn't he a sweetheart? We went to the Biltmore Estate...which is NUTS and gorgeous all at the same time.

We stayed in a hotel...but we took the kids. Oh well. We made 'em, we might as well be responsible for them. (Although Drew did try to pawn them off to a relative.)

Anyhoo...on to the pictures!

The craziness that was our hotel room

I was so excited to be at the gorgeous Biltmore!

Outside of the Biltmore...it was a little chilly

I told you I was excited!

Drew just wanted to copy me.

Look at our baby model.

Lukie with the Biltmore Christmas Tree

Family Shot!


I love this night shot.

And now for the Christmas pics:

Let me tell you about our crazy Christmas. We have church at 8:30, so Drew and I got up super early to get ready. We ate cinnamon rolls that I had made the day before and made the finishing touches on the kids gifts. Luke woke up first and was able to open ALL his presents before Gracie got up. We videotaped them opening their presents...crazy parents. We went to church (which was only an hour that day) and then we came home, changed clothes, packed the car, and headed for Drew's uncle's house, which is 2 hours away. We got to their house around 2 or so. We had a great time there and ate amazing food but we had to leave fairly quickly because we had to get to our hotel (to see the Biltmore) so that I could hop on Skype to talk to my little brother who lives in the Philippines (missionary). Phew! Craziness!

We lined up Luke's cars from his bedroom door to his presents :)

Our Christmas Sunshine!

Luke got a REAL train to go around the tree, courtesy of his Great-Grandparents Free

Luke with his loot

Gracie's presents

Christmas Cuties!

She's so pretty.

Okay, I'm caught up through Christmas. Next post will be more recent news/pictures!

Dear Drew, It's been the best 5 years of my life

2011-12-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

Dear Drew of 2006,

No one makes me laugh like you do. Even though I've basically promised my heart to someone else, you have stolen it. I can't imagine spending my life without you. I was SO happy when you asked me to be your wife (on 14 Sep 2006).

Dear Drew of 2007,

I don't get to see you very much! We seem so consumed with school and work that when we get home, we're exhausted. Our tiny apartment offers comfort, even if the window lets in the cold air. At least we have the weekend to go shopping at Wal-Mart and to study in the Harold B. Lee Library. And good thing I'll be done with school this December. Maybe then we'll have more time for each other.

Dear Drew of 2008,

I got a job at the University Press Building while you keep chugging along at school. I got bored with that job quickly so I added on a job at a Mexican restaurant at nights to make my days crazier. I get off at 3 from my day job and then go to the restaurant at 7. I thought we were going to see more of each other! At least we'll get to go to New York for an internship! I'm so proud of you.

Soo...the internship is over and now we have no idea what to do. Sooo...let's go live with your parents! Oh, and while we're there....Surprise! You're going to be a daddy! We get to see a lot more of each other since we worked at the same temp job and we don't have real jobs, so we take a lot of walks.

Dear Drew of 2009,

We had our first baby. It was the most amazing thing we've ever done. You got your first job out of college and we made a couple of bad decisions (buying houses and then backing out...twice). We lived in Mansfield and moved a lot. We lived really close to your parents (often in the same house) which was special for Luke. You didn't get into grad school, which was discouraging. I don't see you a lot again. This job keeps you really busy.

Dear Drew of 2010,

We moved to Arlington, where we came into a good ward and made some amazing friends. You didn't get into another grad school. You didn't get picked for a job you applied for. And then they called you again, a couple months later. They were interested in interviewing you. And they gave you the job. Now we know why you didn't get into grad school! Heavenly Father was definitely watching out for us. Oh yeah...we're having another baby!! And guess what??? It's a girl!! We're seeing a little more of you, although not much. You work late because you have to drive everywhere.

Dear Drew of 2011,

You moved us across the country to North Carolina. Good thing I love you, because you keep moving me further from my family! We had our second baby, Grace. She is truly the sweetheart of the family. You started your new job...a desk job! We get to see a lot more of you because you have a set time: 8-5. We have officially been married for 5 years. I'm excited to see what the next 5 years will bring!

I love you! Happy 5 Year Anniversary!!

Santa Letters & Sugar Cookies

2011-12-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year...

Santa Letters

Sugar Cookies

Christmas Card

2011-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

So, this year I made homemade Christmas cards (see above!). Annnd, since they were homemade we decided we'd just send them to family. But I wanted to send some Christmas love to my friends, too! So here is your digital Christmas love :)

Okay, so for a year recap...here it goes! (WARNING: LOOOONG.)

2011: This has been a really BIG year for the Pepper family! We started the year off living in Texas. I had some great friends there and we were relatively happy, but Drew wasn't quite satisfied with his current position in his job. He applied for a Marketing position within his company and a couple months later he was offered the job, which meant we were moving to North Carolina!

I was also pregnant. Very, very pregnant. We were a little unsure of how it was all going to work out with a newborn, but we felt we were supposed to move on to NC, so we walked blindly towards not only having our baby, but also the move. Grace Kathryn was born March 7th and we are so blessed and excited to welcome a sweet baby girl to the family.

Sooo...about 2 weeks later we were in the car driving to the east coast! I don't know how we did it, but we did. I am so excited and proud of Drew for getting his promotion. He really is an amazing man.

Also before we left, Luke turned 2! That should have been a super fun time for him, but on his birthday he had strep and pneumonia at the same time, so it was a really awful time. At least he got presents (that he made me open).

Where we live is only 2 hours away from Drew's uncle & aunt and 4 hours away from his grandparents. So we've spent a lot of time with both since we've been here. We've been very fortunate to have his grandparents close because they're willing to drive here and watch the kids almost any time we need it. Which is a huge blessing. In August we went to Myrtle Beach with said grandparents and Drew's parents and brother and lots of that side of the family. It's an annual shindig and I love it because I'm a beach girl! Later that month Luke, Gracie, and I went to Utah to welcome Baby Ethan (my nephew) to the world! It was a lot of fun.

However...while we were in Utah I had a big migraine episode. I continued to have them once I came back to NC and they were so bad that I decided to go to a neurologist. After a LOT of tests, it was determined that I just had some crazy migraines. I'm not having them anymore, which is nice, but it was scary while it lasted.

Drew also had another surgery. The year before he had surgery to fix a torn ACL but it never felt quite right to him. He went to have it checked and he had a bunch of cartilage that needed to be taken out before it could really heal. I was able to go with him to his surgery thanks to my amazing friends Becca and Christal. He's healing well but still isn't playing basketball, which used to be his favorite hobby ever.

Anyway, that's about it! I celebrated my birthday in Utah with my family (without Drew, which was sad) but it was fun and I turned 25! Phew, that's old. But that's nothing compared to Drew who turned 28 this year! That's much closer to 30! Drew is loving working in an office instead of out of a car and he is looking into grad schools...again. It just hasn't been the right timing before, so we'll see what happens. I ran a 5k this year and I have BIG plans for next year as far as running goes.

Our free time... Luke: playing with Cars and talking ALL.THE.TIME. Grace: Eating. Pooping. Sleeping. Playing with toys. Drew: Watching ESPN. Playing with Legos. Kathryn: CRAFTS. and more crafts. And reading. And running.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Comparisons

2011-11-30T06:05:00.001-08:00

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!

2011-11-26T17:34:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-20T19:10:00.001-08:00

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!

2011-11-15T12:39:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-11T13:39:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

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!!

Graham Cutie

2011-10-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

Gracie has recently started a love affair with graham crackers. I think she could eat them all. day. long.

And of course, she makes a lovely mess with them.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

We took Luke and Gracie to the pumpkin patch last night and Luke was really (overly) excited. This is the first year he can actually say "Pumpkin" and he found it thrilling to be able to run through all the pumpkins and sit on the fatty ones. And our kids just look oh-so-cute with the pumpkins as their background.

Sharing the head hole in the wood pumpkin cutout.

We (it was really me) let a 10-year-old kid take our picture. Drew was extremely nervous during this picture because our camera cost a lot and a kid was holding it.

The Pumpkin Princess

Pepper Women

Daddy-Daughter Pumpkin Moment

See how excited he was?

He's dancing. He seriously has awesome dance moves.

They LOVE each other. Seriously.

Cap'n Luke & More

2011-10-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Luke has been obsessed with pirates lately. And dinosaurs. But the other day he was using a storage bin as his "pirate ship" and a baseball bat as his sword. I went back to my fabric stash and found some pirate-y fabric and made him a little headwrap-thing. What are those called?

This was his pirate day:

ALSO...Drew gave me a pedicure the other night for the FIRST time! It was magical. He's the best husband in the whole world. He even went back and fixed the parts where he went over. What a stud muffin. (He chose orange for Halloween.)

And...we went to the park (again) so of course I had to take pictures and I saw a beautiful color-changing tree. It's fall! I love seeing nature change, but leaves changing color is one of the most beautiful to me.

New Camera!

2011-10-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

We recently got a new camera and we LOVE it.

So we went and had a picnic at the park and tested out our fancy new camera and had a little photo session. And that baby didn't disappoint. I'm pretty sure Drew and I are equally as in love with it. Here are some of my favs from our photo shoot:

Okay, that's more than enough. I just love this camera!

In other news, Gracie is 7 months (how in the world did that happen?!), Luke is officially a mega talker and potty trained (the trip to Utah was a little setback), Drew may be getting his knee scoped, and I'm going to a neurologist at the end of the month. Other than that, we're all good in da hood.

2011-09-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

I have been dreading this post. It's seriously going to be forever long. Here's a million pictures of my trip to Utah!

We started our trip with staying at Nick and Jaime's house in Midvale. Luke and Ollie got along great! (Except for Ollie stealing Luke's cup all the time.)

Helping Grandma water the lawn.

This little girl loves her some yogurt.

Then we headed down to Provo to see Michael, Mamie, & co, and Matt Pepper!

My big brother goes to BYU Law! Go Cougs!

Luke loved seeing Uncle Matt again! He even had Matt take him to the bathroom 3 times. Wow, that's love.

I just thought this pic was so funny! Gracie is already buggin' her older brother! Way to walk in my footsteps, baby.

Just hanging out in the Wilk

BYU landscaping = Beauty

Cafe Rio

Mikey's sweet ride

And then my dad came out! It was way fun to have lots of family all together (We were missing Anthony & Natalie & fam and Stevie & Johnny.


We tried to get the kids to cooperate but...they're KIDS.

Gracie's face is priceless!

Family Time...


Michael, Mamie & Co


The Nick & Jaime Fam


My uncle and cousins! Look how good lookin' they are.

I celebrated my 25th birthday while there. I wish Drew could have been there!


Me & my brudders!! (Well, two of them anyway)


I got to hang with my of my closest friends, Kellee! She makes me laugh like no one else.

And...my beautiful son...

And daughter

Myrtle Beach 2011

2011-08-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

This is our third year in a row of going to Myrtle Beach with Drew's fam. We had a really good time...aside from Luke getting tonsilitis and conjunctivitis. But he didn't let it get him down. He still liked playing with the "durt" at the "beech." Gracie did amazingly, but that's probably due to the fact that she slept a lot.

Sooo, here are the pics! WARNING: There are a lot. Just as fair notice.

Resort Pool Shots (SC is super humid, so the pics are a little foggy):

Water Park:

Beach Action:

Family Pics:

Not Much..

2011-08-03T13:46:00.001-07:00

Not much has been going on here in the Pepper household. But I had a stash of pictures that I wanted to share. Enjoy!

We love putting Gracie in her Bumbo while we make dinner/eat dinner or wash dishes. She's a little sweetheart (but a little scared of the flash).

Here's Gracie tucked safely under daddy's arm.

This is how Luke likes to watch TV. I love how Gracie is pulling on him. She loves him so much.

I was putting on my make up so I put Gracie on the counter next to me. She thought she was so hilarious! She loved making faces at the mirror.

Another way Luke likes to watch TV. What a weirdo.

Umm...hello?

So Luke sat in the Bumbo the other day and then couldn't get his big behind out of it so he started crawling around with it still stuck to him! It was so funny. This kid makes me laugh.

Good-bye Disposables

2011-07-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

I have recently undertaken something I have heard is one of the hardest parts of parenting:

POTTY TRAINING

I was pretty terrified. And I didn't think I would take it on this early. But one day I had to run to Wal-Mart for some diapers for Luke and all the sudden I had had enough. I thought: This is IT. I am NOT buying diapers for him anymore!

So he got some big boy undies and we started. At first I tried him on the big potty with a little Sesame Street seat, but he wasn't digging that. So I went and bought him his own little potty. And that was the turning point. I put it in the living room (don't judge) and he really liked being able to watch TV while trying to catch on to using a potty. We started last Monday. By Wednesday he was using the potty every time he went pee. Now he does #1 & 2 in it.

Wow! My kid is amazing. And he only wears diapers for his nap and nighttime. Hallelujah.

And Gracie is in cloth diapers now (another thing I was terrified of, but someone showed me the light). Sooo...no more disposables! Well, hardly ever, anyway.

Things I needed for Luke's potty training experience:

A personal potty. This was an essential. It is now permanently in the bathroom. He tells me if he needs to go potty unless he's already naked. Then he'll run in himself.

A "willing" participant. He wasn't really willing, but he has been a great student. He caught on very quickly. Another thing from this picture: Cars undies. He LOVES them. His Grandma Pepper sent him some and he wakes up in the morning and says "Car Car undies!" He can't wait to adorn his little buns with Cars undies.

Um, yes. This is a necessity with two children anyway. But with a potty training child, it's that much more important. Let's just say I've had to spray lots of brown spots.

A candy/treat jar. This used to be FULL. Now we never even open it. Once he caught on, he wasn't all that interested in getting candy. I think he likes us applauding him much more.

A cheerleader. She'll smile and laugh at Luke when he comes out happy that he's just gone in the potty. And who wouldn't want a super cute cheerleader like Gracie?!

Like Father, Like Son

2011-07-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

Luke is looking more and more like his daddy. I figured this would happen because Luke's always looked like Drew.

However, I did not expect Luke to start acting like Drew.

(Well, Luke does get something from me: impatience. Why did that one have to be handed down?)

Luke has started liking Legos. Just like his daddy. Which means that we'll be buying even MORE Legos than we already do. (I'd tell you how many Legos have been bought recently, but I don't want to embarrass Drew.)

After we cut his hair the other night, he's looking lots more like Drew.

Can the world really handle TWO Drew Peppers?

Tube Dudes

2011-07-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we joined Drew's uncle's family and his grandparents on a trip to the mountains to go tubing down a river! I'm not normally a big outdoorsey person (I hate bugs) but this sounded too much fun to pass up.

I was a little worried about the cabin we were going to stay in because off past camping experiences, but the cabin they rented ended up being nicer than our apartment. I was very impressed and happily surprised. That's my kind of camping!

I think Luke had the most fun. There was a little enclosed section of the river for little kids and he loved playing in it. It was a fun weekend of peaches, bubbles, biting flies, games, queso, and family time!

"Mommy! Mommy! Dirt!"

Luke with one of his favorite girls. (Notice anything weird?)

Rolling his cars down the hall with Patti and the girls.

My banged up legs. I was holding Luke & trying to get off my tube at the same time. Luckily a nice teenage boy & a nice man helped us up. Otherwise, we'd still be floating down the river...

Baby's Got Back

2011-07-07T09:01:00.001-07:00

Gracie had her doctor's appointment and she is getting nice & chubby! Of course, I didn't need a doctor to tell me that. All I have to do is look at those chunky thighs. She gets those from me. Mommy & baby's got back!

Stats
Height: 24.25 inches long
Weight: 13.4 lbs

As opposed to her 2-month checkup:
Height: 21.5 inches
Weight: 11.5

As opposed to her birth stats:
Height: 19.5 inches
Weight: 7 lbs 12 ounces

I think our little boy is getting bigger too. Here's the evidence:

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T17:40:00.001-07:00

Happy Fourth of July!! This is one of my favorite holidays. This year we went and stayed at Drew's Uncle Carey's house. They have 2 girls that just LOVE Luke (I can't blame them) and they think Gracie is just oh-so-fashionable (I take all the credit for that one). Drew grandparents also came up to be with everyone. We stayed until Sunday morning and then drove 2 hours back so we could be back for church.

Today we had a very chill 4th. We went swimming at 10, so no one was out there yet, then went grocery shopping, cleaned up the house, took naps, bought some luggage, and went to eat at Fuddrucker's. I just love what the 4th of July represents: the freedoms we have to worship and to gain an education and to love whomever we will. It's a wonderful thing to live the the US.

I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!

Drew's two cousins with our kiddos:

Drew chillin' & watching Luke swim

Drew's aunt Patti & Grandma Free

Luke lazin' about the pool

Our bathing beauty

Drew wanted a "legit" snow cone, so Patti pulled out the ice shaver...that is cranked BY HAND!! We all get a kick out of him cranking away for about 1/3 cup of ice!

Diaper Buddies

Patriotic Babies!!

Happy Fourth of July!!

Best Friends

2011-07-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Luke has already made a best friend here. We've only been here for 3 months but it didn't take him and Dylan long to click (it probably helps when you just speak jibberish to each other).

I'm grateful for all the best friends I've had in my life but the one best friend who has always been there and that I love but drives me nuts at the same time:

I'm so lucky to have him as my best friend.

Brother-Sister Bonding

2011-06-28T07:12:00.001-07:00

Good, Better, Best

2011-06-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

We “work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it.”

- Dallin H. Oaks, quoting President Hinckley in Good, Better, Best

THEY are the most important. Now go soak up some memories with your own children!

What's Goin' Down in Pepper Town

2011-06-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

In our house lately, it's been allll about the Mavs. Drew has been a fan since he was about 14 years old, so this was a big deal for him. We were dating when the Mavs went to the Finals last time and I watched all those games, too. However, the Mavs let Drew down then and I was worried he'd be heartbroken this time around as well. During the last game (yesterday) I took this picture of Drew while the score was still close and he was really nervous: (Notice his "doll")

And then once they won, I broke out the sparkling cider & Drew and I toasted to the Mavs.

Also last night, Luke & Gracie wore matching PJs that my mom bought a while back. They look so cute all twinner-ed up!

Hair today, Gone tomorrow

2011-06-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

The other day I decided I wanted to get a haircut for the summer. So I set up an appointment at JCPenney and said I wanted my hair to about my shoulders. But then the hair dresser and I decided to see if my hair was long enough to donate.

And the answer was YES! I have NEVER donated my hair before. I knew my sister-in-law Martha had (I think she's done it a couple times) but I have always been too chicken to cut it that short. I officially donated it to Locks of Love. And I feel really good about it. Good-bye 10 inches of hair.

Before (I was looking a little like a Mexican version of the girl on Tangled):

Annnnnd after:

SHORT, huh? And it'll go perfect with my new calling: 2nd counselor in the Primary presidency. This way the kids can't pull my hair. I obviously have no idea what goes on in Primary, but I'm gonna find out! And soon. Drew doesn't have a calling yet but he's pulling for ward greeter. The thing is, in our ward the greeters are about 90 years old. No joke. Maybe they'll bend the rules for him :)

Gracie's First Night in her Crib

2011-06-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I got out of the shower and found Drew taking pictures of Gracie while she was lying in bed. He said he wanted to document her first night in her crib.

He's so sweet! I love him.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

Our weekend was busy, but oh so fun. Check it.

Movie night.

Drew's grandparents drove up from South Carolina to help us hang up our curtains. It was SO nice of them. They sure love hanging out with their great-grandchildren. The picture with Luke and Gracie is Luke "tickling" Gracie. She doesn't normally respond to it but most of the time she smiles at him...probably because she thinks he's crazy.

Rootin'-est, tootin'-est cowgirl in town! Gracie's Sunday outfit.

Monday, after ALL day of searching for a media chest thingy and FINALLY finding one at Rooms To Go, we decided the kids deserved to go swimming. Luke loves the pool. Gracie is undecided. The first picture Luke is trying to copy his daddy and make a peace sign. The second picture is after we told him we we're done and going home.

Bragging Rights

2011-05-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

Drew really loves designing with InDesign or even a little on Illustrator. When he heard that his company was accepting designs for a T-shirt for the upcoming American Heart Association walk, he was ALL OVER THAT!

And...he won! Well, they used the back he submitted. They used a different front design. (His was better, though!) I loooove bragging about my hubby.

Check out his design! And we walked 1.3 miles at the AHA walk, which is quite the feat with 2 little kiddos. It was fun to exercise with the whole fam.

This is just because she's beautiful:

Announcing...

2011-05-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

Sweet Good-nights

2011-05-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Drew likes to read a book to Luke before he goes to sleep. Gracie wanted to listen, too, this time.

Mother's Day ... a day late

2011-05-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

I am so incredibly grateful that I've been given the opportunity to be a mother. My two sweet children mean everything to me. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me these two sweet spirits to take care of. I am also incredibly grateful for my own mother. I appreciate everything she's done for me so much more so now that I'm a mother. She's been such a wonderful mom to me and my brothers. I also can't do a Mother's Day post without mentioning my mother-in-law. I have to say she did an incredible job raising Drew. He is an amazing man, and I know that I should credit that back to his mom. My mom and my mother-in-law have also been wonderful grandmas.

Happy Mother's Day!

Bliss

2011-05-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

Bliss is having two babies nap simultaneously.

Memory Monday

2011-05-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Drew and I have A LOT of junk.

We tried to go through some bins yesterday and get rid of stuff. We got rid of about 1% of the stuff we went through.

The pack rat-ness lives on!

Anywhoo, I found my old journal that I used my sophomore/junior year at BYU. I got a kick out of reading it. I am SO DANG GIRLY. Seriously. But I thought it would be fun to share with you the story of how Drew and I got together, straight from the horse's (or my) mouth. (P.S. I changed all the names, except for mine and Drew's. Just for people's privacy. And I may/may not edit as I type it in. You'll never know the difference.)

19 February 2006:

Oh how much has happened in the last month! Well, I broke up with Lorenzo because he wasn't very good at the dating game. He just thought he was doing his part and he really wasn't. Anyway, it was a really good break up. Then I was pretty interested in this guy Sergio in my ward and could tell that he was kinda interested back, BUT, then something kinda random happened.

Drew Pepper, my chair for the Friendship committee, came over on Tuesday, about 2 weeks ago. I had broken things off with Lorenzo that previous Sunday. Anyway, Drew had always been super sarcastic, borderline mean to me. So, I knew he liked me because Julius, his roommate, told me. (P.S. Julius and Berta--my roommate--dated for about a month but they broke up last night.)

So Drew came over on Tuesday and told me he broke up with his previous girlfriend. He also told me it was because he wanted to date me. Crazy, huh? So I am going to give him a chance. We went on our first official date last night to Young Ambassadors but we've been hanging out for a while now. He is so nice to me now, though.

Oh, but this guy at work asked for my number so we could watch his favorite movie together and then this guy that I study Spanish with asked me on a date. I've never had so many guys interested in me at once. So, Sergio is out of the picture now. But I'm having fun with Drew. I can be myself around him and he's funny and he's cute.

I write about some other things and end with:

I think I like Drew, though.

This is straight out of my journal. Isn't it funny? I'm such a girl with all the boy talk. Really, weren't there more important things going on in the world? My posterity will never know 'cause all I wrote about were boys. Oh dear. Also, I like that I say "I THINK I like Drew." Haha, what a good start to an eternal relationship, don't ya think?

Drew and I during our dating period:

Baby Luke

2011-04-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Luke thinks he's a baby these days. Silly boy.

And he's just oh so sweet to Gracie.

Easter in South Carolina

2011-04-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been MIA. We haven't had the Internet for a while and it's been driving me NUTS! I have a lot of catching up to do! I want to start with an Easter post, though, because that's most important.

We went down to Drew's grandparents house in S.C. for Easter...a whooping 4.5 hour drive! With a 2 year old and a 7 week old, that's a looooong drive. However, we made it alive, so it wasn't too bad.

We went to an Easter egg hunt at the grandparent's church on Saturday and there were so many kids there that Luke only got 2 eggs :( But he still got a fun prize and his Great-Granddaddy bought him a Happy Meal, so he was happy. He also colored eggs with Drew's cousins that night, which he thought was awesome. Drew's cousins enjoyed it, too!

On Easter Sunday we went to Drew's grandparent's church again (it was weird not going to our church for Easter) for their service and then when we got home we sent Luke on an egg hunt and gave him his basket, full of candy that Drew and I will end up eating and a Cookie Monster Play-Doh set. Oh, and he got a basket from the great-grandparents, too. What a spoiled little boy!

What does a 2-year-old do while cooped up in a hotel room?

2011-04-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Play with baby sister

Jump into piles of pillows

Watch lots of PBS

Get tossed around in the pool

Look at himself in the mirror (Gotta make sure he's still lookin' good!)

Try on his new swimsuit

Stand in front of the AC. This was his favorite spot because he could also look out the window while his hair blew in the wind of the AC.

Hang out with mommy

Catch up on some reading

Make sure sister is nice and comfortable

Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

2011-04-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Our hotel has an indoor pool and Luke

Loves

It.

He loves jumping off the edge to his daddy.

I think it's time for mommy and me swim lessons. Luke's a bit too crazy around the water.

Our New Life in Greensboro, NC

2011-04-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

We have been BUSY.

Really. Really. BUSY.

March 20: Gracie's blessing
March 21: My family left
March 23-27: Drew, Gracie, and I went to Greensboro to do some house hunting. Luke stayed at his Pepper grandparent's. We signed with an apartment complex in Greensboro, just 10 mins away from Drew's work and church.
March 28: Movers and packers came and did the ENTIRE townhouse in one day. Craziness.
March 29: My last playgroup with some of my favorite people in Texas
March 31: We started our drive to North Carolina in our little Corolla.
April 1: Second day of driving. BOTH kids were sick. We arrived in Waxhaw, NC that night.
April 3: Drive to Winston-Salem (2 more hours) to our hotel room.
April 4: Drew's first day! Yay!!

We'll be staying in a hotel until the 15th. Then we can get into our apartment. I feel sorry for Luke because he doesn't have lots of toys and the room is small. And Drew is taking the car with him to work every day.

And so starts our new life in North Carolina.

Here are some recent pics:
-Our old townhouse.
-Last night with Grandpa Pepper
-Last night playing with Grandma Pepper
-Beautiful Gracie
-Beautiful Gracie
-Beautiful Gracie
-Handsome Lukers

We're Officially OLD

2011-03-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Drew and I decided we're officially old folks now because we have two kids. I don't feel old (probably because I'm not really), but I do feel tired, a LOT. Although having two kids isn't as straining as I thought it was going to be. It's not easy by any means, but I stressed out so much that I think I made it a bigger deal in my head. One thing I have noticed: I am a lot more patient with Gracie than I was with Luke.

But that makes sense, right? I was new to mommyhood with Luke and didn't know what I was doing or what he wanted. With Gracie, I usually know exactly what she wants. However, she's a second child, so she doesn't get everything on demand like Luke did. Tough luck. But she's SOOO good. So sweet, so lovable. Even Luke has ventured to touch her a few times. I tempt him by rubbing her leg and saying "Ohhh, she's soooo soft!" Then he puts his little chubby hand on her leg and says "Ohhhh!" He's funny. And she's a good sport. Luke calls her "My baby" or just "Baby." But he's always worried about her when she starts to cry, which I think is pretty sweet.

ANYWHOOO...here are a couple of pictures from when my family was here for Gracie's blessing. I miss them a lot. And now that we're moving, I'm going to miss Drew's family a lot. They sure have done a lot for us, not to mention they've been great grandparents!

Gracie's Blessing Day

2011-03-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

Gracie was blessed this past Sunday and it was quite the affair!

We had Grandma Olson surprise us for the event (she came all the way from VEGAS!), my mom, dad, and brother Steven came from Washington state, our friends Ryan & Lainie and Megan & Josiah both drove from a ways away, and Kevin & Martha (Drew's bro & his wife) drove from 3 hours away. And of course the Peppers came up from Mansfield.

This little girl better know how loved she is!!

Also, she wore MY old blessing dress! That thing is OLD. Two of my cousins and my niece also wore my dress when they were blessed. This dress has really gotten around.

The Arrival of Grace Kathryn

2011-03-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

We had a baby!!

Grace Kathryn Pepper was born on March 7, 2011 at 12:44 p.m.

What a BEAUTIFUL baby. We are so blessed to have this sweet little spirit in our lives.

Enjoy some pictures of our adventure!

We're a happy family of four! Next up on our agenda: My dad and brother come tomorrow; Grace gets blessed in church on Sunday; my family all leaves on Monday; Drew, Grace, and I leave for North Carolina on Wednesday to look for a place to live; packers come the day after we get back; drive to North Carolina 2 days later. Phew! I don't even know if all that makes sense, but the point is we're in for a busy rest of the month! I hope we can all survive!

Baby Shower for Baby Girl!

2011-03-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

My dear dear dear friends Emily and Melissa threw me a wonderful baby shower about 2 weeks ago. I had SO much fun! We played the game where you have a piece of string and you guess how big my belly is and we played the game where there are a bunch of baby items on a tray and you have to memorize as many as you can in 30 seconds and write them down.

PLUS, I got so many wonderful presents! I was so spoiled! And my mom was able to be there for it, so it was super special. I am so grateful for all the people I have met while here in Texas. I'm going to miss them all.

Congraaaaatulations!!! (And some BIG news!)

2011-02-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Drew deserves a HUGE congratulations!!

Why, you ask?

He got a promotion! He will no longer be a Territory Representative for his company, but a Marketing Associate. He went and interviewed a few weeks back and 6 people interviewed him there and once he got home 2 more people interviewed him by phone. And apparently they LIKED HIM!! I am so proud of him.

Sooo, what's the big news? Well, this means we are moving so he can work at their headquarters.

Which is 1,135 miles from where we live now.

That's right! We're packing our bags and heading out to North Carolina!

Umm, does that seem crazy to anyone else? So basically, I'm going to have a baby and then a couple of weeks later we have to drive to North Carolina. And LIVE there.

Whoa.

It's so worth it so that Drew can have a job that he loves. He is so excited (he's so cute when he get excited) that I can't help but be excited, too. I'm just not looking forward to starting my life all over again. New ward, new friends, new home.

Anyone from North Carolina? Any advice for us?

Happy Birthday!!

2011-02-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

My son, my little Luke Andrew, turns TWO today!!

I feel so old. I have a two-year-old and one on the way...wasn't I just 16 and on the golf team and crushing on boys in high school? I feel like it was yesterday.

Anyway, back to Luke. He is such a sweetheart. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father trusted Drew and I enough to handle such a sweet spirit in our home. He loves giving us hugs and kisses (on his own terms) and I love snuggling with him when he'll sit still for 2 seconds.

I just wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of Lukers from the past two years. Enjoy!

Valentine's Celebrations

2011-02-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

This year for Valentine's Day Drew told me he had a surprise planned and I figured he would spill because he almost ALWAYS does. He just gets really excited and can't wait to tell me (just ask me about when he proposed!). He's so sweet.

Anyway, Drew made it all the way to Valentine's Day without spilling the secret! He had me get dressed up and we dropped Luke off at the Peppers and headed out. We ate at Chili's and then exchanged presents. Drew told me not to spend ANY money, so I made him Funfetti heart-shaped cookies and got him Hot Tamales and sour gummy worms.

And when Drew went to get my present from the trunk, a bird pooped on him! Haha, he had to go back into Chili's to wash his hands. And then he gave me this:

Tickets to a live performance of Evita! Evita is one of favorite movies of all time.

Look at us! At Evita!! It was AWESOME!! This present was sweet on so many levels: Drew doesn't like musicals and a lot of Evita is in Spanish, which Drew doesn't understand, and it's my favorite movie, not his (he hasn't even seen it). This was one of the sweetest presents Drew has ever given me. I love you, honey!!

On the actually day of Valentine's Day, Drew wasn't here. But Luke had gotten a valentine from his great-grandparents with a McDonald's giftcard in it, instructing us to go get a Happy Meal on Valentine's Day. So we did! Luke and I went on a date to McDonald's...very romantic :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T12:32:00.001-08:00

I have two of the most wonderful Valentines ever! They are my sweethearts.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

And I can't forget my sweet, sweet daddy, who has ALWAYS been my Valentine. (And always will be!)

Packing for the Hospital

2011-02-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Sooo, last time I was pregnant, I didn't prepare very well for the hospital. In fact, I wasn't prepared at all.

Drew and I were in bed drifting off to sleep when my water broke. Drew was making a mad dash for all the things we needed to take with us. And of course, we forgot lots of things, so Drew had to make additional trips.

I REALLY don't want that to happen to us again. So, I'm starting to pack now (at 36 weeks. That's not too early is it?).

Here's my list. Please please please tell me what YOU needed or what I'm missing. I have an awful memory!

- Clothes for baby
- Blanket for baby
- Pajamas for me/going home outfit
- Chapstick
- Lanolin
- Nursing pads
- Something to read (yeah, like that'll really happen)
- Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, saline solution, contacts case, toothbrush and paste, brush, lotion, deodorant
- Glasses
- Hairbands
- Slippers & socks
- Make up (as if)
- camera
- snacks for afterward
- pacifiers
- Extra pillows and blankets

Am I missing anything? What did you pack that you couldn't live without? Or what did you forget that you wish you hadn't?

I don't like...

2011-02-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

waking up to this:

BURRRR!!! That is so not cool. But our electric bill was astronomical last month, so I turned the heat off last night.

Yeah, now I live in a frozen tundra. And I'm being slightly dramatic.

I'm also not very fond of all of Luke's messes. But how can I blame him? He can't go outside in 12 degree weather:

Carousel Boys

2011-01-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to the mall to let Luke play in the mall play place.

Note to self: DON'T go to the mall on Saturday night. Too many annoying teenagers.

However, there were way too many kids and he wasn't really digging it so we wandered around and got to the big carousel by the Food Court and Luke was mesmerized. And being the wonderful parents we are (pssshhhh, yeah right) we decided it would be fun to let him ride.

Luke wasn't too sure how he felt actually being on one of the horses. The best was his face when it first started and after that he pretty much had no expression. Oh well.

My husband, the builder

2011-01-19T18:36:00.001-08:00

Drew has a new obsession:

LEGOS.

I got him this one for his stocking a couple years ago:

And then this one for his stocking this year:

And now, just TWO weeks after Christmas, this is what's happened:

Oh my.

Mr. Handsome

2011-01-10T14:33:00.001-08:00

Four Years and Going Strong

2011-01-05T08:59:00.000-08:00

Drew and I celebrated our four-year anniversary on the 29th.

He has to stay in hotels for work sometimes and he had a free night saved up at a Marriot! Woohoo! So we dropped the little guy off with the grandparents and we went first to Olive Garden for dinner (Drew's work paid for it! Sweet!), then to the hotel where we went swimming in the indoor pool. Pretty awesome.

{the indoor pool}

Happy four years to us!

Here are some old photos of us for your viewing pleasure!

{during our dating stint at BYU}

{telling the fam we're getting married}

{this picture was on the front of our wedding announcement}

{together FOREVER!}

Some things we've done in the past four years:

-We've each gotten our Bachelor's degree
-Moved 8 times since we've been married
-Lived in New York
-Moved to Texas
-Drew's gotten his first "real" job
-Had a baby
-Put a down payment on a house (it didn't go through)
-Went to Myrtle Beach twice on vacation
-Kathryn's been a bridesmaid twice
-Drew tore his ACL
-We're pregnant again
-And many more things. But we've been through everything together, which makes it worth it/bearable. I love my husband very much!!

MERRY CHRISTMASTIME!!!!

2010-12-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

{I had to say "Christmastime" because not all of the recent stuff is from Christmas day.}

I have some catching up to do! Let's do a photo update, shall we?

Ward Christmas Party. The theme was "Back in Bethlehem." We ate on the floor and didn't use utensils. It was super fun! Luke was a little hard to contain, but when ISN'T he??

Luke went and saw Santa and was terrified. Poor little guy. And poor Santa.

My father-in-law took some family pictures for us. They turned out AWESOME! I'll post more of those later.

Pepper women baking Christmas treats!

Apparently Luke is afraid of all Santa's...even his grandpa! Drew and his brothers had a tradition growing up that for Christmas Eve at his grandparent's, Santa would come and let them each open a present. And his grandparents hired someone to come be Santa so the boys wouldn't recognize him! Pretty elaborate! My dad just put a Santa hat on the day of :)

Christmas morning! Luke decided to sleep until 9, so Drew and I decided to finally wake him. We had things to do! He opened his stocking in our bed and then we went downstairs to open all the presents under the tree. After that we headed to Drew's parent's.

Luke actually opening a present! He wasn't very interested in it for most of the day.

Drew's mom made puzzles for him and his dad and the puzzle said their present was tickets to the Mavs vs. Lakers game next month! Drew's pretty stoked! And his parents bought me a personal-sized Cricut!! I'm so excited to play around with it!!

Soo...that's it for now. But tomorrow is mine and Drew's ANNIVERSARY! So I'm for sure going to have more to post later!

Merry Christmas from the Peppers!

2010-12-18T20:18:00.000-08:00

This year has been an eventful year for the Andrew and Kathryn Pepper family.

January: Peppers decide to build a house. Then unbuy the same house because of Realtor issues.

February: Kathryn runs the Fort Worth Cowtown 5K. Luke’s first birthday extravaganza. Grandma Salas comes for a visit. The Peppers file their own taxes for the first time. Snow in Texas!

March: Peppers visit Utah for Spring Break 2010, visiting family and friends! Peppers move out of their apartment - Realtor issues again. Great Grandparents Free visit.

April: Luke gets an Easter basket and hunts for eggs. Granpa Salas visits.

May: The Peppers sell their first family car (Ford Taurus) and buy a Toyota Carolla. Kathryn goes to Wicked with Grandma Pepper.

June: Kathryn receives more than 20 classic books from Grandma Pepper! Kathryn and Luke set off on a California trip, including weddings of Kathryn’s best high school friends - Lacey Chavez and Stephanie Maertens. They visit Merced, Los Angeles, and San Luis Obispo.

July: Kathryn skypes with Drew and tells him she is pregnant! Kathryn and Luke come home from California and then the Peppers leave for a family reunion at Myrtle Beach with Drew’s side of the family.

August: Peppers move from Mansfield to Arlington. Kathryn and Luke continue the summer-long vacation in Aberdeen, WA, with Kathryn’s parents. Drew tears his ACL playing Church basketball.

September: Kathryn turns 24. Kathryn’s friend Kristina Gahley visits. Grandma Salas visits. The Pepper’s ultrasound says its a girly Pepper! Luke begins his obsession with Disney Pixar’s “Cars.” Great Grandma Olson visits.

October: Drew has ACL reconstruction surgery, has crutches for five weeks, and has a $3,000 medical bill. He begins Physical Therapy and doesn’t work for four weeks.

November: Drew turns 27 and recieves lots of Rangers paraphernelia.

December: Excited for Christmas and time together.

**Drew made a prettier version in InDesign but we aren't smart enough to upload it. So here's what it would have looked like:

Advent Calendar Days 14 & 15 AND....

2010-12-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

Day 14: Have red and green pancakes for dinner.

I only have the Neon food coloring bottles, so the pancakes were super intense, but you get the point. Luke didn't seem to notice.

He's so dang cute!

Kathryn: Okay, please smile normally. That's not normal!
Drew: What? This is how I smile.
Kathryn: You're creepy.

Day 15: Watch a Christmas movie and eat popcorn.

We found our Christmas movies (Santa Clause, Family Man, Joyeux Noel, and Elf) and then we decided we were too tired. Oh well. Sleep is necessary.

BUT...

I do have a preggo picture! I've basically been reprimanded by everyone for not taking any, so here's my 28 week pic:

And that's it for now!

Advent Calendar Days 12 & 13

2010-12-14T07:34:00.001-08:00

Day 12: Decorate brown parchment paper for Christmas packages that need to be mailed.

I ended up doing this one myself. It did not warrant a picture.

Day 13: Have a slumber party with Luke.

We were supposed to do this Saturday but we're going to do a different activity that night instead. And instead of a full on slumber party, we watched Ratatouille in our bed until Luke (and Drew!) fell asleep. It was fun and Luke was actually laughing out loud at some of the parts of the movie! He's so cute!

Advent Calendar Days 10 & 11

2010-12-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

Day 10: Make milkshakes after dinner.

Day 11: Read Polar Express by the Christmas tree.

We decided to combine these two since one of the nights we had plans (Ugly Christmas Sweater party--FUN!) and I'm glad we did. I don't know if Luke would have stayed still if there wasn't sweet ice cream enticement.

Good thing for timers on cameras!!

Cuties!!

This is basically what Luke did the whole time we were reading. Oh well.

Advent Calendar Days 8 & 9

2010-12-09T20:02:00.001-08:00

Day 8: Learn what other countries do for Christmas.

So, Drew is out of town and it's only me and Luke. I knew as soon as I saw it that this wasn't going to happen. Luke doesn't even know what country he lives in. So instead, we had a dance party, Luke threw down some seriously ghetto moves to Air Force One, and we twirled and wrestled.

Day 9: Make and eat sugar cookies.

Well...I had just made sugar cookies for the YW party on Tuesday, so we skipped making more tonight and we just ate the leftover cookies.

Luke is in shock that I gave him a whole cookie!

Chowing down and watching "The Office"

Advent Calendar Days 6 & 7

2010-12-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

Day 6: Learn about nativity/Christ's birth

I did NOT think Luke was going to enjoy this one at all. I set up his Little People nativity (which his Grandma got him last year...it's AWESOME!!) and had him come over and we told him an EXTREMELY shortened version of the nativity. He listened to the whole thing! And then he just sat and played with it. I was so happy we were able to have a decent FHE night for once!

Day 7: Go to storytime at the library

This one would have worked if there were storytime in December. Rats. I should have looked that up. Luke did have fun running around the library, playing with blocks and driving his little Lightening McQueen car around. Oh well, I'll just read him extra books before nap time!

Advent Calendar Days 4 & 5

2010-12-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

I've slacked off, but I've been hanging out with Drew and Luke, so I consider that a good excuse.

Day 4: Visit the BIG Christmas tree at the mall.

Day 5: Go to the church Nativity. Okay, this is seriously awesome. Arlington Texas stake does this event where everyone in the stake can showcase all their nativities that they've accumulated over the years. It takes up the whole stake center! I wish I had better pictures, but Luke was going crazy.

This room had nativities that the kids could play with. A couple of people have over 100 nativities!! The nativities are from all over the world...I really love going to this event.

Advent Calendar Day 3

2010-12-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Day 3: Create your own pizza!

My mom showed us this great deal at Costco: Three pizza crusts and sauce for all three for $5. We love getting them. And then we can make the pizzas any way we want.

Sooo...last night we were all supposed to help and make a family pizza.

Well, Drew didn't come home until 8:30, so I figured I would just pull up a chair and Luke would help me. Yeah. He didn't want anything to do with it. Oh well. So it was make MY own pizza. And then Luke ended up eating leftover pancakes, too.

Geez.

The only picture I got before he ran away from me.

Pre-baked. We like pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, and onion.

Tastiness!!

Advent Calendar Day 2

2010-12-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of the 24 days of Christmas: Get scented candles to make the house smell super Christmas-y!

(We have a fake tree, so we need some scent help.)

(This is a borrowed picture. I didn't want to take a picture of my Big Lots candles :)

24 Days of Christmas (Advent Calendar)

2010-12-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

I made an advent calendar (seen HERE) last year and now this year I get to use it for the family!

I want to share what we do for EACH day.

Day 1: Drink hot chocolate and dance to Christmas music.

Luke had chocolate milk and marshmallows.

And our activity quickly turned into a wrestling match:

A Very Peppery Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

We stayed in Texas for Thanksgiving and hung out with the Peppers. Kevin and Martha came up from College Station and we all stayed the night in Mansfield for a couple days.

Happy Thanksgiving!! (We also celebrated Dad Pepper's birthday on Thanksgiving. Happy birthday, Dad Pepper!)

I made an apple pie and mashed taters! YUM!!

And of course, Drew and I went and did our traditional Black Friday shopping. Which all revolved around Luke. Like he NEEDS anything! This was our fourth year of going shopping on Black Friday together!

Saturday night we went and bowled and played arcade games at Alley Cats and then got pizza.

F.U.N.

And when we got home...

Christmas time!!! Let's decorate!

(Since this picture, the tree has been moved twice, has all the decorations on it, and has presents under. Updated picture to come soon.)

It's been CUT!!

2010-11-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, Luke's wonderful curly hair has finally been cut.

I have been DREADING cutting his hair for two reasons:

1. It's curly. Moms stop me in the grocery store to tell me how they cut their boys' curly hair as a baby and the curls never grew back. (Thanks for the info.)

2. It's blond. Actually, the edges are blond and the roots are growing in brown. I like it blond.

Sooo...I've been postponing the inevitable. Last night we decided to bite the bullet and cut it.

Before Pictures:

After:

LOOK! Still blond AND curly!! Hallellujah.

What was I even stressing about? Here's a pic of him after church today. PRECIOUS.

And...all the hair we ended up cutting off:

Ice Cream Addiction

2010-11-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

I think Drew is addicted to ice cream. Which is better than a lot of other options out there, but it's still an addiction.

Dictionary.com defines addiction as: (n) A habitual or compulsive involvement in an activity, such as gambling.

In Drew's case, the activity is eating ice cream. I believe addiction also involves a substance: ice cream.

Wal-Mart recently had Blue Bell ice cream for $3/half gallon and we bought three. When there was already three half gallons in the freezer at home.

I don't think Drew's very worried about his addiction.

I love my wife. Five of my favorite photos.

2010-11-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

Random Happenings

2010-11-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

1. Luke has been obsessed with VeggieTales. Which means I know EVERY song by heart.

2. My son is adorable.

3. We have been watching a LOT of baseball recently. And then the Rangers lost.

4. Luke was the absolute cutest Superman ever recorded in Halloween history.

5. Drew turned 27! He got an awesome bat from his parents, a hat from my parents, and a T-shirt from me and Luke.

Happy Birthday, Husband!

2010-11-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband is turning 27 TODAY!

That's old.

That's almost 30.

Which is old to me.

I love you, Andrew William Pepper!!

(More pics of Halloween and Drew's bday to come...)

A little weight problem?

2010-10-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

As a parent, should you be concerned about a potential weight problem with your child when the first word after a nap is "Cook"?

Luke's word "Cook" translates to "Cookie" in adult English?

Anger Management 101.

2010-10-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

There are a few "firsts" as a new parent. If you haven't figured out yet that life changes loads when you are suddenly responsible for a little creature, you soon will. It's fun. It's crazy. It's difficult and unexpected.
Well, one of the unexpected has thrust itself upon us - Anger Management 101. One minute, Luke can be a happy, little boy that is having fun moving cans and water bottles around the house. And the next minute he becomes a raving lunatic, seemingly upset about something that makes no sense to me or Kathryn. Its like we have a little Andy Bernard on our hands.
Neither of us were angry children (as far as we can remember), and neither of us were really sure how to deal with it. [Disclaimer: Kathryn is a much better discplinarian than I am, which is a good thing. She can deal with him much better than I can.] One day my parents were over for dinner, and he yelled at my mother about something stupid and hit her in the face, and that was about the end of that. She grabbed him and told him he was going to TIME OUT!
Time Out is the first step on our steps going upstairs. Under the stairs are all his toys, and if you sit on the stairs, there is nothing but wall to look at. Luke has recently become well acquainted with this spot.
He fussed, and fussed, crying 'til he was red in the face with tears streaming down his cheeks. Every time he got close to getting out of Time Out, he would yell, "STOP IT!" Time Out would then start all over again. Finally my mom talked him down a little to a mental state of seething calm - that look where you know he's real p*ssed off but he can't figure out how to get out of Time Out unless he behaves for more than two seconds. Once my mom was satisfied that he had paid his debt, she let him get off the step.
He hates the step now and he will do almost anything to get off it once he's there. He will cry. He will yell. He will then act really sweet and try and give you a hug so he can get out (which is difficult because you start to laugh at how hard he is trying to be nice so he can get out). But it has gotten even better now that he has suffered in it a few times. If he is doing something he is not supposed to do, we will now threaten him with the possibility of Time Out, and he immediately starts to chill. We don't even have to put him in Time Out for Time Out to work. Then I realized something about parenting: put in the work at the begining and hopefully you save yourself much more work and hassle later on.
He still has his moments, but it's definitely better now than it was.

Mom's Visit and Suzie Q

2010-10-17T14:46:00.001-07:00

My mom came to visit for the ultrasound (oh, yeah: we're having a GIRL!!!) and we had a really fun time hanging out.

I wanted to list all the things she did for us while she was here, because I really appreciated her help.

- Bought our groceries (on more than one occasion)
- Babysat (for a date and then surgery and then a presidency meeting)
- Washed the dishes
- Washed our laundry and folded it (TWICE!)
- Bought fabric for a baby quilt and for a new diaper bag for me
- Took me and Luke out to lunch at Costco twice
- Make us dinner every night
- Bought us Cold Stone one night
- Watched Luke while I took care of Drew
- Bathed Luke every night
- Made Luke a jacket
- Made me a skirt
- Made a new car seat cover (THAT is definitely going to be on Destination: Craft later!)

I'm sure there's so much more. She's such a good mom. I love her to pieces.

Oh yeah, did you catch the part about us having a GIRL!!!????

CRAZINESS!!! For those of you who don't know, I have five brothers (no sisters) and Drew has two brothers (no sisters), so we kind of assumed we were going to have all boys. When the ultrasound technician told us it was a girl, Drew asked, "How sure are you?" She told him 98%. He's so funny. We're calling her Suzie Q, since we haven't decided on a name yet.

BRING ON THE PINK!!! Wooohooo!! (It actually hasn't sunk in, but I'm SURE it will...soon.)

{My mom and I wore him out! He's was mid-chocolate chip cookie and totally conked out!}

{On our way to church}

{What a studmuffin}

{Lukie and Grandma}

{Shades. Basically the coolest baby ever}

My Little Patient

2010-10-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Drew tore his ACL, as I informed you before. Today he had his surgery.

It went well, for the most part. He didn't do so well with the medicine afterward (he couldn't really wake up) but he's doing well.

And already back working. From the couch. Only SEVEN hours after surgery...while still on Vicodin.

Crazy boy.

Pre-surgery

Post-surgery (he's eating grapes, not smoking)

Ahhhh...Conference Weekend

2010-10-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

And that means PJ's and cinnamon rolls!

Grandma comes rollin' in...

2010-09-30T09:39:00.001-07:00

The "Vegas Grandma" came to visit this last week. This is Drew's dad's mom. She is so fun.

She loves to gamble and buy herself jewelry. She takes good care of herself. But she also takes good care of us! She bought us a double stroller while she was here! What an awesome financial burden to take off of us!

She tried to warm up to Luke but he kept telling her to "Stop it," and she would say "You stop it!" They're going to be kindred spirits.

ALSO, yesterday was Mama Pepper's birthday! We got her money to spend at a frozen yogurt place (her latest obsession) and I made a little potholder (which I'll post up on Destination: Craft later).

It was a very exciting, eventful week. And next week my mom comes! Yippee! I need to clean my house!

{Four generations of Peppers}

{Birthday dinner at Outback for Mama Pepper. The waiter totally cut Luke out.}

{Happy birthday, Grandma!}

Bad News Bears

2010-09-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

We haven't shared our latest piece of unluckiness:

Drew tore his ACL. LAME.

This means he's going to have surgery next month and he can't play sports for at least 6 months.

This makes Kathryn sad because we're poor and this will make us poorer.

This makes Drew sad because he can't play basketball for 6 months.

To make Drew a little happier, I took him to the park to shoot some hoops. This made Drew think, Maybe I can go play tonight with the guys. HA. Yeah, like I would let him do that.

NOT.

Drew modeling his injury:

Luke can totally block Drew now that he's hurt:

Future NBA player!

Luke only likes the swings if he's attached to mommy or daddy:

Little Mexican

2010-09-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

Look at my little Mexican! I am so proud of him. He likes chips and salsa!

What will baby #2 be???

2010-09-11T19:53:00.001-07:00

There is now a little poll on the left-hand side of the blog, right under the little pregnancy countdown.

What are we going to have?? Will the Pepper family FINALLY be graced with a girl? Or will the boys keep dominating?

VOTE! I wanna see what you think!

Lazy Days of Summer...

2010-09-08T11:52:00.001-07:00

The Gahley's come to visit!

2010-09-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Kristina and her ADORABLE boy Talmage came to visit me for a couple of days!

We grew up together in Merced and hung out in high school together. It was so good to see her again and to meet her little munchkin!

Talmage loved Drew! Drew doesn't think he can handle twins after this visit.

On Wednesday I took Kristina to the Fort Worth stockyards. It was way fun but a little toasty.

Ah! Talmage in jail!

Ah! Luke in jail!

We ate at the famous Risckey's BBQ. YUM!

Bathing beauties!!

The Fort Worth Zoo. Amazing!

More zoo pics. Yeah, Drew hurt his knee playing basketball, so I got to push him and Luke around in the wheelchair. Yay me.

I love this pic. He's just chillin' and looking.

Happy birthday to me!

Okay, Talmage is such a cutie!

Bye Kristina friend! We had lots of fun!!

18 Monther

2010-08-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

My baby is 18 months!!! That seems sooo old.

He can say: Cracker, please, juice, hot, shoes, mama, daddy, dada, Jesus, and other things that Drew and I don't really understand.

He's such a sweetheart. I love little Luke Andrew Pepper.

Kat and Drew ... plus TWO??!!!

2010-08-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's right. Luke is going to be a BIG BROTHER! We're officially going to be a family of 4! That sounds so weird. I would put up a picture of the sonogram, but our printer/scanner hasn't worked in over a year. So sorry.

The due date is March 8th. I've only been feeling queasy, so it hasn't been too bad. Except for Luke's random tantrums lately. So we're starting early with the terrible two's, apparently. Awesome.

Anyway, happy news! We're super excited!

Chuck E. Cheese

2010-08-16T07:41:00.001-07:00

Mama Pepper wanted to take Luke to Chuck E. Cheese before she had to go back to work this year. I think there was so much to do, he was kind of overwhelmed! Plus he gets bored with a game after about a minute. But he loved it and he LOVED the pizza, so all in all, he had a super fun time!

Entering the Twilight Zone...

2010-08-07T19:57:00.001-07:00

...Or Forks, Washington! That's right, I convinced my fam to drive the 2 hours drive to Forks. That town has really taken full advantage of being the setting for the Twilight novels. EVERY store has something in its window about Twilight...even a postal service/key making business. We went to the variety store and got a few trinkets and then went to a store called Dazzled by Twilight. It was a big store devoted to everything TWILIGHT! It's crazy! And it was the busiest store in the whole town! Then we went to Sully's Burger to get a "Bella Burger" but once I got there it said a Bella Burger had pineapple on it... no thanks. So I got a plain ol' cheeseburger. My dad and Johnny got a Rainy Day burger and my mom got a chicken sandwich. And Luke basically ate all the fries. It was a fun day in Forks!

Westport Beach

2010-08-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

I'm hanging in Washington right now visiting my parents. We went to Westport Beach a little while ago and let me tell you, it is significantly different than Myrtle Beach. The biggest difference: COLD. It's freezing here. But it's a lot prettier. Myrtle Beach is a lot more commercial. After we looked at the water, we went to all the little shops. It was a lot of fun. And then we got pizza and of course we stopped by the quilt shop we saw. The teenage crew was not happy about that.

The teenage crew: Ashlyn (a cousin, kinda), Johnny (my stinky brother), and Luis (Johnny's friend that has moved in with my parents)

My mama!

One store owner gave Luke a lollipop. Sticky mess.

The first lighthouse I've ever seen! It's not used anymore, but it's still cool.

Myrtle Beach

2010-07-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

The Pepper clan recently went to Myrtle Beach (thanks to Mama and Dad Pepper!) for a week to hang out with some family.

Luke had a BLAST. Drew got burnt. I got tan. The usual.

Look at my chubby boy!

We LOVE this picture!

Peppers

We took family pictures while we were there. They turned out really good.

Okay, Luke's a model.

Isn't that SWEET???

A+

2010-07-15T09:35:00.001-07:00

Drew had these waiting for me when I got back from California. He gets an A+ in being a husband. I LOVE HIM!!!

Steph's Wedding!

2010-07-12T20:26:00.001-07:00

Steph {Oliver} tied the knot. To Mitch Maertens. (It's pronounced like 'Martins.')

It was magical. We got to the Oliver's house at 10 am to get our hair done. We were there until about 2:30 and then the photographer came. We took lots of amazing pictures and then we all hopped in the HUMMER LIMO (yeah, that's right!) and we had to have the driver drive around because Steph didn't want to be dropped off at the church until 5 minutes before the ceremony.

The ceremony was performed and it was beautiful. By that time all the bridesmaids wanted to chop their feet off because of the painful shoes. Seriously, I wanted to cut my toes off. Anyway, we took lots more pictures, hopped back in the limo and went out to UC Merced to take some more pictures. Then we went to the reception and partied the night away! We got back to Lacey and Guy's at about 10 pm...so it was a full 12 hour day.

And since I was IN the wedding, I don't have a lot of pictures from my own camera. But here are a couple:

The tables:

The Hummer Limo:

Me and my beautiful date:

High school besties AGAIN:

My HANDSOME date and I:

Fourth of July

2010-07-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

We spent the Fourth with my brother and sister-in-law and their two adorable kids. My brother was manning a fireworks stand, so we didn't get close to the fireworks shows, but Luke probably wouldn't have liked it and their little guy is only 5 months old, so he probably wouldn't have liked it either.

Berlynn! (my niece)

Luke liked the sparklers

My crazy brother

Natalie and Frankie

I am so proud to be an American. I remember 9/11 and my high school put "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood on the loudspeakers and how I just got goosebumps hearing it. I highly recommend going to YouTube and looking the song up. I am so grateful to be living here and to have the opportunity to practice my religion and to have a career if I wanted it and to marry the love of my life. I feel very blessed.