Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve Dinner before going to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, Garden D'Lights.

Such beautiful lights!  It was so fun to enjoy them with Grandma and Grandpa!

We came home and acted out the nativity.  Evelyn and Jase were so darling!  Jase wanted to have his own baby, then he didn't want to be Joseph and then he didn't want the baby. haha!

Then we added straw to the manger and talked about the nice things we've done over the month to give the gift of love for Christmas (make the manger soft for the baby Jesus)

Then we opened our Christmas box with jammies and a new puzzle and read more stories with Grandma and Grandpa.

Random picture of Jet after I tucked the littles in.  We love this weird cat!

Then Max and Ryan worked on our puzzle with Grandma and Grandpa. :)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

2 More Sleeps Until Christmas

'twas two sleeps before Christmas and all through the house, mom and I were stirring caramel.  Oh yeah!

Tony and the littles fixed the table.

These sweet little people then got nestled all in their beds until teething pain struck Evelyn.  Poor sweet babe needed her mom, some infant Tylenol and lullabies to get over the pain.

2 more sleeps!

Epperson Family Christmas Letter--2015

If we had to choose a book title to describe our life this year, ours would be:

Where the Wild Things Are:

In this book, Max gets in trouble and is sent to his room.  He then sets off on a long voyage to where the wild things are.  He is able to tame these wild beasts and becomes their king.  Tony and I have tried to figure out how he does it.  Our cute little whirling dervishes are difficult to tame, especially now that even Evelyn is in a big kid bed.  Their energy levels are extraordinary.  So we try, to tame our wild things and teach them and help them to grow.  

Tony comes home after long days at Boeing and sometimes because of ankle pain, all he can do is put his foot up and ice it.  With a new leg brace, we have hope that things will get better for him.  He is very excited to be able to cycle again.  He has missed this tremendously.  

I am the main beast tamer.  The two littles keep very busy with play dates, joy school, their curiosity and their energy level.  Finding balance during this season of life is something I am always working on like other moms, but I cherish the smiles and cuddles and the excited, "I did its".  I love volunteering at the boys' school, teaching joy school when it's my turn and date nights.  

Evelyn talks a lot and has more discernible words added to her vocabulary every day.  She loves to snuggle and I hope she stays that way for ever.  She also loves kitties, shoes and helping.  Sometimes her help is even helpful.

Jason is a very excitable, enthusiastic little person.  He loves life and family and friends and is always one to throw both arms in the air and shout enthusiastically for whatever is happening.  You need a cheerleader or a mood lifter?  Jason is your guy.  He loves school and friends and the Octonauts.

Ryan loves first grade and his reading level is progressing really well.  He loves his teacher Ms. Harrel and playing with friends.  He is also a snuggler and hug giver and frequently tells me he loves me.  For that reason alone we'll keep him forever (even on "those days", if you know what I mean).  Ryan is taking Tae Kwon Do with me and loves it.  He also loves creating things and playing Minecraft.

Max loves third grade and his teacher, Mrs. Gomes.  He loves Tae Kwon Do and just earned his green belt.  He loves music and was very excited to get a ukulele for Christmas.  His long-term goals is to learn to play electric guitar as well.  Max has such a good heart and loves to help.  He loves to learn, especially reading and science. Both Ryan and Max love cycling and hockey.

We're grateful for a fun year of adventures, family, friends and love.  We are grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and how He loves us and comforts us when needed.  Life is full of so many good times but also struggles and unknowns and difficulties.  We enjoy sharing in happy moments with family and friends and will always pray for you and help in anyway we can.     

Love,

Tony, Debbie, Max, Ryan, Jase and Evelyn

Our Early Christmas Present!

Christmas has already come at our house.  Sorry Santa, but you can't bring anything better than this!  Tony has an Exosym/IDEO leg brace.  

Tony hasn't been able to run or jog since his accident.  The night of his accident, as his doctor prepped me for his surgery the next morning, he said the goal was to get Tony to walk again.  After a miraculous recovery and thanks to God and wonderful surgeons, and physical terrorists, Tony was able to walk again.  He hasn't been able to walk normally, but he can walk.  Tony has also lived with a lot of pain.  I don't even understand how much pain he has been in.  I can't imagine having chronic pain.  His physical limitations and the amount of pain he was in caused him to research amputation.  He wasn't a candidate for ankle replacement surgery and fusion would severely limit him.  He was able to cycle, even with his limited movement which made him happy.  He had a surgery in April of this year which was to remove bone spurs and allow for more movement.  The surgery did allow for more movement but it also caused him to feel the results of the arthritis he has in his ankle.  

The doctors tried cortisone injections and synvisc injections to give him fluid cushioning in his join.  They didn't help.

Tony thought more and more about amputation so he could be active again.  There were so many limitations with his current condition, no boy scout hikes with his sons, and even cycling caused him too much pain now.  

We asked again about ankle replacements and Tony's excellent orthopedic surgeon gave him a referral to another surgeon who specialized in ankle replacement to see what he recommended.  He referred him to the inventor of this leg brace.  What we found was amazing.  

Here's a website:  http://hangerclinic.com/bracing-support/adult-le/Pages/Limb-Salvage-ExoSym.aspx

It worked really well in the beginning and then he started to feel pain again.  Thankfully some tweaks to the brace, better shoes and adjusting the wedge that goes under his orthotic has worked a lot.

The inventor of this brace is dedicated to working with Tony to make it work. :)

Christmas Book Advent

For my yearly reference :)  

About 3-4 years back, I found this blog post.  I fell in love with the idea of reading a Christmas story every night.  The kids love taking turns unwrapping a "present" and we love cuddling together while we read.

We only own some of the books.  The rest I put on hold at the library at the beginning of November.  


Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

Room for a Little One by Martin Waddall

This is the Stable by Cynthia Cotton

The Gift of the Magi by P.J. Lynch

Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck

Humphrey's First Christmas by Carol Heyer

The Mansion  by Henry Van Dyke

The Legend of the Christmas Rose  by William H. Hooks

Hanna's Christmas  by Melissa Peterson

Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Richard H. Schneider

The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell

The Light of Christmas Richard Paul Evans

The Tale of the Three Trees by Angela Elwell 

The Christmas Train by Thomas S. Monson

Great Joy by Kate DeCamiliio

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston

The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne

The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans

The Candymaker's Gift (Legend of the Candy Cane) by Helen Haidle

The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Berger

Gingerbread Friends by Jan Berger

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola

The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie de Paola

The Country Angel's Christmas by Tomie de Paola

The Baker's Dozen by Aaron Shepard

The Most Precious Gift by Marty Crisp

The Drummer Boy by Loren Long

The Nutcracker Ballet by Diane Goode

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Snow Angels by Glenn Beck

Christmas from Heaven:  The True Story of the Berlin Candy Bomber by Tom Brokaw

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado

The Carptenter's Gift by David Rubel

The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett

The Christmas Treasury by Jan Brett

Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood

The Christmas Tomten  by Viktor Rydberg

Father and Son, a Nativity Story by Fabian Negrin

Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans

Papa's Book of Mormon Christmas by Emma Rae Parker

Sam's Christmas Wish

The Apple Tree Christmas

A Baby Born in Bethlehem

Olive, the Other Reindeer

Little Star

The Christmas Boot

Dream Snow Eric Carle

Christmas in the Stable Astrid Lindgren

Tender Mercies

I don't want to ever forget how grateful I am for a brilliant husband.  Today, the dryer was making a horrible noise and the drum wouldn't move.  It's not more than 3 years old but past the warranty.  When he came home, he took it apart, and solved the problem.  I know he has saved us so much money with repairing things like the dryer, vacuum, cars, etc., along with doing their maintenance.  I am very grateful that he has a mind for problem solving.  I'm a pretty lucky lady!

Friends and Movies

We had another movie night and it was fun to see Evelyn come out to attack our friend. Then she took the light saber away from him and gave it to Jase so they could BOTH fight him.  haha.  I love relaxing nights with friends.