Hello from the Hepworths

Temple Square at Christmas 2010

2011-11-27T21:02:00.001-08:00

The lights were so magical and beautiful on Temple Square. It was the first time my children remember ever seeing them. As you can tell, Jayden and Tyler love to jump on Daddy.

It was fun for us to see "Our Temple" where we were married12 years ago and remember our sweet day.

Christmas 2010 in Lindon

2011-11-10T04:34:00.001-08:00

Is santa singing along with grandma under that big beard? ..."All together now..."

Putting on our family Navitity at Joe and Elizabeths home in Provo.

A suprise visit from Santa at Wallabys restaurant. He gave all the grandkids a candy cane. Ashlyn didn't want to sit on his lap.

Fun play in the snow for hours on end.

For Christmas it was so nice to have everyone be all together and spend some good time together. Some of our highlights were having Family Home Evening at John and Lisa's home in Payson, being close by when Amy was born to Mary and Micheal, eating at Tucanos, and sledding with cousins. Just being with everyone was my favorite thing. I miss everyone!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

Since Halloween fell on a this sunday this year, we did a "Trunk or Trick" in the parking lot of the church out of our cars. It was fun for me to hand out candy and to see all our little friends in the ward. Kaylee was...yes, you guessed in "Pipi Long Stockings"

Ashyln didn't want to keep on her butterfly costume on, which I'll try to post later, but was completely excited about seeing "pops" (lollipops) go into her container.

"Master Jedi and his young padowan, Tyler." "I am your Father!!!" AHHHHHH!

I was a mad pirate with a stumpy peg leg "Aarrrg maite," and Jayden was a military man. Ethan was in a cute outfit that said, "I love my Mummy" so I had to put him in that one! We had a fun time. On Halloween night we carved pumpkins by flashlight and Tyler liked pulling out the "pumpkin guts." It was a fun year low-key year!!!

What a crack up!

2010-11-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

On the dreaded day of Sept. 16th, I was playing co-ed volleyball at our stake center. I was playing at the net when a ball came my way. I went back, the guy behind me went forward, we collided and my ankle got caught in the middle of our momentum going in opposite directions. "Crack!" I heard something snap, so I sat there and waited for Ivan to come over. I told him that I think I broke my foot and wanted to leave to the ER now. I'm not sure why I didn't cry, it wasn't as bad as hard labor, right ladies? I got fireman carried out, which was embarrassing, but I was glad to go to the hospital.
On Ivan's Birthay, Sept.23, I got surgery. Basically they put in an internal splint that helps the bone grow back together correctly. As you can see from the x-ray, they put in a plate with 6 small and 2 ginormous screws. Ouch! When I came out of the anathesia, I was in tons of PAIN. The break was nothing compared to that! That night I think was the most painful night of my life. I couldn't bare it, and it was only an inner and outer ankle bone broken!
A couple weeks later on Oct 6th, I got the dressing removed, saw my leg for the first time, felt grossed out after seeing it, and then got a hard pink cast put on. That was actually pretty painful to get the cast put on. They had to push down on my achilles tendon, since it has stiffened up now.
Ouchie!!

At least the cast was pink.

On Oct. 20, I got the pink cast off, which felt great, Ahhhhh!!!! I did, however, miss the sweet love notes from the family that they wrote on my cast that seemed to help me get through the rough spots.

They took out the stitches, and fitted me for a boot. The boot is much more comfortable, just as effective as a cast, and allows me to take it off to wash up.

It didn't tickle. Yikes!

The incision seemed to be healing well and hurt less, even though I still had these shooting/ burning pains. All kinds of new and funky experiences with this one!

That's gonna leave a mark!

My next appointment is Nov.17 when my surgeon will let me start to move it a little bit. Then around Nov. 23 or so I get to put a little weight on it and start to walk again. It makes me get so exicted and tear up just thinking how thankful I'm going to be this Thanksgiving just to be able to walk again!!! Thank you everyone that has helped me, called me, prayed for me, or just wondered how I'm doing. I appreciate all of your thoughtfulness more than I can say!!!

Ethan's Baby Blessing

2010-10-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Ethan was blessed on the 4th of July by his Dad, Ivan. All in white and looking so adorable, Ethan stayed quiet the whole time and was blessed with many wonderful things that will be a great strength to him all his life. He has been such a sweet and cooperative baby, we couldn't be any happier!! Here's our little smiley guy when he was 8 weeks old. At his 2 month check up he was over the 100% percentile for his height (grew 2 inches in two months) and 97% percentile for his weight. (14.8 pounds) He's a hunk of chubby love.

Ethan at 3 weeks old

2010-09-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I love this little guy, Ethan. He has been so much fun for all of us. I love waking up to his piggy snorts and grunts at 4:00 in the morning as he is looking for his early-morning breakfast. (The other morning Ethan was snorting on one side of me, and Ivan was snoring on the other and I had to smile to myself because I felt like I was in the middle of a piggy farm.) I have enjoyed rubbing his soft peach-fuzz hair and putting his head up to my cheek. I love sinking my little kisses into his soft warm baby-licious cheeks and giving smoochies. He's something I look forward to in my day. He's a great baby!!

I love to hear Kaylee (10) sing Ethan a little lullaby when I hand him off to her. She loves being a responsible "mini-Mom" and I'm so glad she's here to lend a hand!

Jayden(8) can often feel of Ethans sweet spirit. Once when he was in a pouty mood he came in my room and started complaining about something. Then he saw Ethan. He smiled at the baby and his whole disposition changed instantly. Babies have a way of bringing a better mood to the room.

I can tell Ashlyn (2) is very nurturing because she loves to take care of "Bee-bee Efan." She'll run and get a diaper for me when he's stinky and says "HI!!!" really loudly into his bassinet in the mornings. When she wants to hold him, she'll say"Hold him, me?" (and she'll hold him until he squirms so much she'll hand him back to me.) One time she sqeezed his toes too much and he started to cry. She felt so badly, she started to cry, too. I felt bad for them both, but I didn't join in the tear fest, I just thought it was kind-of cute. I really think they will be life-long friends.

During sunday school, Tyler's teacher asked him some of his favorite things at home were. He said, "Holding my little brother, Ethan." Tyler(5) smiles and talks cute "baby talk" to his little brother when he holds him.

Ethan has filled up the feeling that someone was missing in our family. He has charmed us with his coos and helped us all talk a little quieter. He's been a sweet, soft spot during our busy days and I look forward to the snuggly moments we get to spend together every morning.

I can't help it, I have a crush on Ethan!

An update on the Fantastic Four

2010-08-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

A Quick update of Kaylee, Jayden, Tyler and Ashlyn.

(Pics taken 6 weeks before Ethan came.)

Kaylee is her mom's right arm around the house in helping out. She's extremely helpful and always willing to be "mini-mom." She's our little book worm and has created a family book club for us to do. She chose "Pride and Prejudice" for our first book, so everyone is invited to participate. She's head and shoulders above her parents, and a great example, that's for sure!!

Jayden, our big 8 year old, loves boy scouts and memorized the motto a few weeks before he even joined!! He loves getting his badges at the award ceremonies and keeps on his parents to pass off more. He is excited about life and seems motivated about any rewards out there. This past summer he beat his personal best in the butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke. One of his fun silly things he loves to do with his sister is have a "belly flop" competition. It's fun to watch, but looks painful! He likes to do that and anything else to make us laugh!! He's a great guy with a great sense of humor!!

Tyler (5) is as rough and tumble as a boy can be. He prides himself on being able to "take down" his older brother's friends in a wrestling match on the trampoline. He thoroughly enjoys putting on his battle gear and wacking the life out of long grass or the swing set in the back yard. He is always the first to say "Thank you for the meal, Mom" at supper and gives the strongest, tightest hugs we've ever experienced. He's a bundle of energy!

Ashlyn is our little sugar. She is two years old and loves her blanket she calls her "Mimi." We think it's called that because if you try to take it she'll run over to it and say, "Me...me!!" Like, that's mine, no touchie, touchie!!

Daddy calls her "Little Birdie" because everytime he dishes up a bowl of something good to eat upstairs in his big chair she comes up to his side, opens her mouth like a bird, and waits for something yummy to be dropped into it.

We both love when she comes into our bed in the mornings and has a whole lot of something to tell us. It's definitely not in English, but there's tonz of expression and heart she puts into it.

Our favorite thing is when we come home from being away and she bee-lines to the door when we come in yelling, "Dada, or Mama!!" It makes our day! Everyone needs a little Ashlyn in their day to make the bla-bla moments go away!

Our four QT pies have sure had quite a year!! They are growing up so fast, we blink and they get taller on our height chart every month! We are having a hard time believing that this is Kaylee's last year of Elementary school and Tyler's first year of Kindergarton. They find out who their teachers will be soon, and they're pretty excited.

They've all been awesome older siblings to their little brother Ethan. He couldn't ask for better brothers or sisters!!

Expecting our fifth

2010-07-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

For any still unsure if I was pretending to be pregnant, here's a little proof. I knew I was going to deliver soon, so I grabbed a couple pics of the children with Grandma. These were taken Wed. May 26th. Our baby boy was born two days later.

(Tyler told me he didn't like taking pictures because the sun was too bright in his eyes.)

Announcing our new bundle, Ethan Porter Hepworth

2010-06-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Our Sweet little guy makes us feel so much more complete! He's been such a good baby!! Ashlyn calls him "Bobby" since she can't say "Baby" very well. So she'll say, "My Bobby...mine!" Now we refer to him as Bobby. Ivan thinks that's a funny nick name for Ethan. We think it's cute.

One Day Old.

He's always hungry...of course!!

Since I was 6 days overdue, and Grandma and Daddy were getting antsie, I decided to get induced. This was my first time and I quite liked it. All week long, I had a few false alarms of labor, but nothing for real. I was induced Friday May 28th, (2010) 8:00 a.m. and little Ethan Porter was born at 10:15 a.m. Weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz, he was quite a healthy little guy. He had soft, strawberry-blonde peach fuzz for hair and beautiful dark blue eyes. And yes, he looks like one of the family! He was healthy and everything went smoothly. We have a lot to be grateful for.

Houston Astros honored Ivan Hepworth

2009-08-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Ivan won "Teacher of the Year" at Nimitz High School in May of 2008. Then he went on to win the "Teacher of the Year" at the District Level later that month. Ivan felt like he won at the district because his community service list was so long, as he was also serving as Elder's Quorum President. (Hurricane Katrina and Rita clean-ups, driving deaf people to church, after-school tutorials, and assisting who know how many people move.)
A year later, the Houston Astros honored all the "Teachers of the Year" at the district levels by treating their families to complimentary tickets to the game. The outstanding teachers and doctors stood on the 3rd base line as their names were announced. The crowd gave them a round of applause and we were all so proud of Daddy. (May 2009)

11 months on the 11th

2009-04-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

We took Ashlyn's pictures on April 11th and we realized she was exactly 11 months old that day. She had a smile for everyone that day. It's been 11 super wonderful months and we can't believe she'll have her first birthday soon. She's quite the mover now. She loves to crawl away from me at full speed sqealing all the way down the hall. She loves to empty toy bins and fill them up again. She loves to pull herself up to standing...especially on the dishwasher and "help" us with dishes. She loves to feed herself little petite things like peas and carrots. She loves her super soft blankie that puts her to sleep, but she especially loves to giggle at her brothers and sister's funny faces. She's been a gem.

Halloween 2008

2008-12-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

Tyler's googlie mooglie eyes. He walked around Halloween night saying, "Hulk Smash! " (in a cute-trying-to-be-tough voice.)
Ivan and I are feeling like pumpkins lately, so we went with the costume idea. Kaylee said she didn't want to break her tradition of being a princess every year so she wanted to be "Kaylee, the Snow Princess." (quite unique eh?) Jayden was obsessed with his friend's darth vador costume which became very difficult to run door to door in, so he dropped off the head part of the costume at our home and went as the reformed Vador. Tyler wanted to wear his "muscle costume," the incredible hulk and just munch down candy. It was fun being together and then ending the night at the Johnson's who go all out to make it special for the kiddos. It was a sugar-filled fun day.
Our precious little pumpkin....Ashlyn-o-lantern...who started the Jack thing anyway.
The happy chubby trio. We gained weight this year and loved every minute of it!

The Oil Ranch

2008-12-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

For our first field trip for our combined home preschool, we decided to go to the Oil Ranch, a kid-friendly farm for their learning. It was mid-October and little 3-year old Tyler loved it. He got to go on a hay ride, really milk a cow, take a train ride around the ranch, and ride a horse.

When he milked the cow we saw how much milk comes out in one squirt. It was quite a bit! Tyler got out of the way just in time as the cow let a pattie go on the next two boys and it splattered all over their clothes. That was a close one!

Tyler, of course, loved the "choo-choo train." I thought it was cute that he wanted to wave hello and good-bye everytime the train went by.
Tyler enjoyed clomping around the pasture on "his" horse. As he rounded the corner he put a pretent lasso over his head and said, "Yee-ha Texas, here I come!" It was funny. He likes to lasso stuff at home, too, with the vacuum cord. Maybe he'll be good at steer wrestling someday; or maybe just good at vacuuming.

The Hay Ride and Pumpkin Patch

2008-12-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

This hay ride at the Oil Ranch gave us a true sense of what it means to feed cattle. We all load up in a tractor and it pulls us right out into the cow's pasture. The driver turns off his engine and all the cows come-a-racin' to put their entire head in to see how much food they can lick up. Tyler got a big cow tongue slurp all over his hand and he said, "He got me, mama!" We were definitely close to nature on that one!
It was also fun to climb to the top of this huge pile of hay and then run down it. This is Tyler showing me his "big muscles."
At the end of the day, we each got to pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. Tyler wanted to take one home to Jayden and Kaylee too, so we worked it out that we could. I thought that was thoughtful of him! We loaded them up and painted little faces on them for family home evening that night. Kaylee named hers Hannah and took it to school the next day in her backpack. It was a fun little day!

The Aqaurium

2008-12-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

Jayden, our new deep-sea diver! We all had fun hanging out at the aqarium. The kids got to watch a shark eat his lunch, touch a friendly sting ray, and even see their first Bengal white tiger. It was a great escape. (Sept.23, 08)

Play Time at the Aqaurium

2008-12-08T09:45:00.000-08:00

The boys especially loved the "choo-choo" ride around the park.

The kids had fun choosing their favorite ocean buddy to ride on. The merry-go-round ended up being one of the highlights...they just chouldn't get enough of it.

Tyler stayed loyal to his very most favorite alligator. He ran to it and rode it everytime! (At least 5 or 6 times).

Fun at the Aqaurium

2008-12-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

Since we were all off work and school from Hurrican Ike, we were able celebrate Ivan's birthday this past September by visiting "The Aquarium" downtown. It was a very enjoyable day full of fun things for the children.
Ashlyn is saying...
"Shhhhh...you'll scare the fish." (4 months)

This is when the tiger is feeling relaxed. Later in the day, we took his food away and this picture shows when he got mad at us...

We barely escaped this one...thanks to Ivan's amazing tiger-fighting skills. He only got a few flesh wounds and bruises.

Family Pics in the Park

2008-12-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

Family Pics Oct.08

2008-12-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

Family Pics 2008

2008-12-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Sunshine

2008-11-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn is 4 months old here. (Sept. 'O8) One of our favorite things right now is when we look at her, smile, and say "Hi Ashlyn," she gets so excited she does the wiggle-hello-dance. This looks like a smiley mini-hoola dancer. It's so cute it makes us smile and laugh more, which sends her into her siren- sqeal voice to show her enthusiasm. It's cute. We love to listen to her coo in the mornings and watch her try to grab her mobile hanging down from the bassinet. One of my very most favorite things is when I'm singing her to sleep at night and she has starts to kind-of coo/sing along with me as she falls asleep. It's priceless.

Ashlyn has definitely found her fingers and toes. She loves to suck on everything especially her chubby little toes. When Daddy goes to kiss her cheek, she'll turn and try to suck on his nose, cheek, or even whiskers. Yummy. That sounds as fun as eating a prickly pear or unpealed kiwi.

She'll grab anything placed in front of her...Kaylee's hair, a shiny watch, Daddy's arm hair, Tyler's eyebrow, the tablecloth, Mommy's food at meal time, Jayden's cheek, and even gum wrappers. She's ready for some solids!

We love baby drool! She seems to have plenty of it. She's like a mini-geyser, always spitting up something gooey and fun.

Chubby toes and fingers

Sleeping Angel

2008-11-03T09:21:00.001-08:00

There is something so angelic about a peaceful sleeping baby. As I observe Ashlyn's sweet calm disposition, it makes me want to be a better person. To be more calm, more peaceful, more loving. She brought with her a little piece of heaven that tends to radiate throughout the room. She reminds me to take time to be more peaceful, to slow down and enjoy the moment, and to put all frustration aside and just be like her...heavenly.

Ashlyn is catching a few rays during her nap. I love to snooze in the warm sun, too. (2 months old)

Our Sweetie Pie

2008-11-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn brings the sunshine into our home every morning with her happy smile and sweet personality. She's been such a little angel blessing already! Here at two months old she smiles at us and lets us kiss her scrumptious cheeks!!! We all seem to love her in different ways. Daddy took no time at all to put her in the true blue colors of BYU. He also looks forward to Saturday morning when he can play with her at her "happy hour." Mommy just wants to rock her, kiss her, and snuggle with her. Kaylee loves to play dress up with her and act like mini-mom. While Jayden and Tyler either love to be silly in front of her to try to make her laugh or like to just give her a little kiss on her head. We're all thankful she's here with us.

Jayden's Toothless Grin

2008-10-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Jayden's toothless grin sure has been adorable lately!! It all started at the end of June (2008) when his first tooth was getting loose. He was sooo excited to put it in his tooth fairy pillow with a note that said if he got 3 dollars he'd share with his brother and sister. I suppose the tooth fairy was a "softie" and gave into his plea because the next day 3 magic dollars appeared under his pillow. Needless to say, Kaylee and Tyler were excited for him to loose another tooth!

A month later, on July 4th we were sitting with friends waiting to watch the fireworks and Blake's Grandpa, (a friend) was talking about how the toothfairy left Blake some money in the van just a minute ago. Jayden overheard the story and started yanking out his bottom loose tooth as fast as possible. He wiggled it and twisted it until finally the small tooth was ruthlessly yanked out. He showed the mini-calcified specimen to Blake's Grandpa and asked him if the toothfairy had another dollar in the van for him. ?? He kindly said that the toothfairy told him there was, indeed, another dollar just for him hiding in the back of the van. I never saw a boy more motivated to get a dollar from the tooth fairy in my life. After cleaning up the spurts of blood, Jayden tucked the dollar carefully away in his pocket and smiled big!!! (The picture in red was taken on July17, 2008 and the ones in blue taken two month later in Sept.)

Ashlyn's Blessing Day

2008-10-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn's Baby Blessing was held on Aug.3, 2008 (Uncle Jared's Birthday) in Houston, Texas. Our little two month old was given a beautiful blessing from her Daddy that said she'd be blessed with a strong immune system throughout her life and that her sweet, contented disposition will have a calming effect on her siblings. The blessing was so uplifting that I (mommy) felt to share my testimony on the the power of the priesthood and the gratitude I feel to be blessed with such a little angel in our home. It was so wonderful to have grandma Pratt be able to celebrate that special day with us. Ivan and I feel so very thankful for her and all our children.

Pregnant with Ashlyn

2008-07-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken on April 18th, 2008 so that we can show everyone mama's big belly. I was so excited to have our baby come soon! At the time, I thought Ashlyn was going to be born about 10 days later...it was more like 22. These photos were taken while we were on a nature walk in a park in our city. I was too big to chase the boys so they played run-away from Dad, while Kaylee and I chose to mosey along. We all send our love to y'all! Kaylee is 8, Jayden is 6, Tyler is 3. Daddy and Mommy are....well, older.

Ashlyn in the Hospital

2008-06-30T14:43:00.001-07:00

Updating the new addition!!

2008-06-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

One Day Old

We have some great news.... Ashlyn McKell was born May 11, 2008, at 12:32 a.m. She made Julie's Mother's Day perfect!!

Little Ashlyn was due on May 7th, but she had a plan to surprise us on Sunday, May 11th. At 6:30 pm, just two hours after Mom Hepworth left for Arizona and thought this baby would never come, I went into labor. I wasn't sure if it was real, because we had a few false alarms, but after about 9:00 pm hit, I could tell this was the real deal. We had no plan of who was going to watch the children, so luckily we had some good friends, Mike and Ashley Newman come over and spend the night. I was trying to go natural if I could, but by the time 11:00 pm hit, I knew we had to hussle to the hospital. We checked in at 11:40 p.m. and the nurse said I was dialated to an 8. "8 is great!," I told the nurse. I felt so happy that my baby was finally coming to see us. At 12:00 right as Mother's Day came around, I looked at the clock and knew all this time she was waiting so that she could be my mother's Day present. Thirty minutes later, she came and the delivery went as smooth as a natural delivery can go. As I looked over at the glass bassinet and saw my precious little girl, my heart was filled with so much emotion and I knew the Lord had greatly blessed us...again. She was perfect in every way. The first thing she did was stick out her tongue a bunch of times because she was hungry. Typical Hepworth...and eat she did! The following morning when the children brought me breakfast in bed at the house, they found out I was gone and Ashley was in my place. Surprise!! Time to go to the hospital!! They were excited to meet their new sister. When they entered the door at the hospital, I found myself feeling like I was the luckiest gal alive!! They each brought in sweet cards telling me they loved me and wanted to take pictures with little Ashlyn. It was a wonderful morning. Ivan explained that he'd better get home to finish preparing his talk in church on Motherhood. How appropriate is that!! Many people told me what a sweet talk it was! I think this special day will always stand out as my best Mother's Day ever!!!

Kaylee's Baptismal Dress

2008-02-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

A Great Big Hello to all our family and friends. We're so excited to be on the blogging party wagon finally. (Thanks to Jared for helping me get going!!)
Kaylee's Baptism
Kaylee is getting baptized on March 1, 08 by her Daddy and she loves her Baptisimal Dress. Here are a few pictures we'll be sending out with her invitations. We can't believe how fast she's grown up on us!!