Eppleys Todd, Lisa, Geoff, Chris and Nathan

Summer Slacking Blogger

2010-10-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have been a total slacker on the blogging. Well there has been alot going on this past summer. After we got back from Washington DC the boys rode in the MS 150 Bike ride again this year, they are such a strong support for me.

On the 3rd of July Geoff turned the big sixteen and on the 5th of July he set off on a 2 week church history tour with the Utah Valley Childrens Choir, he loved every minute of it and his testimony grew even more, he loves to perform and to sing. On July 24th Brigitte had planned a super great 16th birthday party for both Geoff and Sydnie, they played games watched a movie and ate food with lots of friends. On the 31st of July Chris turned 14.

Nothing much happened in August except for the starting of school.

On September 20 Brigitte and I rode our second womens only bike ride, we rode 30 miles again. This time Brigittes husband Tyler rode with us and dressed up as a girl and was quite the looker. I finished the ride 30 minutes faster than the one in May. I was so excited, but very tired at the end. Todd, Grandma Eppley and my boys drove in the car next to me and would take pictures along the way and encourage me to keep, but I can't wait to do it again in May of next year.

On October 16 Chris took his second flight lesson and threw up out the little window of the plane, but had a blast flying. Nathan on the same day went to ride a horse for his very first time and loved every minute of it and now want to start doing gymnastics on the back of a horse. Also on the 24th Nathan turned the BIG 10! And that is our summer in a nut shell, sorry no pictures with this post, maybe next time.

The Eppley's go to Washington DC

2010-06-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

We took the kids on a surprise vacation to Washington DC on June 2. We woke them up at 4:30am and told them to get dressed, wear good walking shoes and grab the already prepacked backpack and hurry because we need to get to Salt Lake. They were all in a daze and didn't know what was really going on until we got to the airport and we told them we were going on vacation, but were they didn't find out until we were on the plane to Arizona for our layover. Needless to say the were excited.

On the plane in Salt Lake waiting to take off.

at the Phoenix Airport waiting for our flight to Washington DC
one of the many bridges we either drove on or under
This is one of the original cars that Government employees would ride on under the city to get from the Capitol to other buildings. We got to ride on the newer ones with our friend Abby, who works for Senator Bennett.
the front of the Capitol.

looking at the Capital from the glass ceiling in the new visitors center.Standing in the middle of DC

paintings on the ceiling in the Capitol

inside the Capital looking up in the Rotundainside the Library of Congress, the mosaic tiles on the ceiling were amazingly beautiful
The Pentagon
We even went to Hawaii....who knew that you could go through a door and be in Hawaii?

The scenic over look, across the Potomac River.And were walking and walking and walking...all day long.
This was called the Castle, we never did go inside, not quite sure why....

Air and Space Museum #1The boys standing out on the Manassas Battelfield fo the civil war.
This is going to be our New House, what do you think????

The White House, picture taken from the top of the Washington Monument.Korean War Memorial.
We found an Eppley on the WWII Memorial wall.
My hubby is a 4x4....short and chunky, but I love him.
this was our favorite and most entertaining art on the mall, don't look at my butt!

Arlington Cemetery, what an amazing place.Changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown. This is something that everyone should experience if they go to Washington DC.
one of the many beautiful flowers that we saw in Williamsburg.
The Blacksmith Shop, last year the made 35,000 nails last year to help restore coffee shop in town.
This lady is a basket weaver and she was funny to listen to. She cuts the trees and everything to get the wood ready for making baskets.
The boys were in BIG trouble.
this man told Nathan that the best place to learn how to play his drum was far away from the house until he got better, then he could play closer too the house the better he got.
Nathan playing his fife out on the streets of Williamsburg, Va.
Nathan is Famous in Virginia.
on our way back from Williamsburg we went to Richmond, Va. to find the race track.

Last Day in Washington DC

2010-06-14T09:26:00.001-07:00

The Navy construction Battalion.
Standing by the Navy Memorial, we almost missed it, but we found it by accident so we had to go over there and see it because Grandpa Eppley was in the Navy.
Going to see Iwo Jima was really cool, they do a parade with soldiers at night, but we were 2 hours early and we didn't want to stay and wait.

Geoff showing us his mad jumping skills.
We went to 2 different Air and Space Museums, talk about Airplane over load. Christopher was having the time of his life looking at all the planes and there engines.

A cultural experience

2010-03-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

Brigitte and Tyler are expanding on there cultural experiences

so they invited us to go see a Nascar Race in Las Vegas with them for the weekend.

We stayed in St. George Friday night and Saturday for some shopping and playing,

then on to Vegas Sunday for some racing action. I love the sound of the cars as they

all go around the track for the first few laps and the rumbling in my chest, such fun.

Tyler, Brigitte, Todd and Lisa at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

We had the best seats ever, we were in turn 3 and we could

see everything except going into turn one.

There was a wreck right in front of us, Brigitte didn't

get to see it as she was out getting food!

Jimmie Johnson coming up on Jeff Gordon to take the lead,

Gordon led 200+ laps before Jimmie took it away from him

and won the race.

What's going on????

2010-01-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a month since I last posted anything, so I thought I would leave a little update.

Nathan has recovered from his surgery and is doing great and will go back to the gyn this week he has been off for 31/2 weeks.

Geoff has his learners permit and is driving a little, he scared the daylights out of all of us when he took a 90 degree turn at 30 miles an hour, he never took his foot off the gas or put on the brakes...talk about scary, especially in a top heavy Durango!

Chris had his right index finger smashed between two weight lifting bars at school that had 225lbs on it, he was helping his friend on the butterfly machine when his friend let go and the machine smashed his finger, no broken bones thank goodness.

Todd has been working out hard every morning with the boys to get in shape and be ready for the MS Bike this year, I work out at night, just to keep going.

I have been on a three month drug holiday, back in Nov. my neurologist took me off my medication because my immune system was compromised. I have been feeling great with no serious complications. I went to see the Nurse Practioner on Wed. and she said my physical exam looks good, we are waiting for a new drug test to come out and see if I can get on the study to see if I'm at risk of getting any serious infections if I continue on with the previous drug Tysabri, so for now we are just loving life and having a holiday:)!

Tonsils and Adenoids come out for Christmas

2009-12-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday Nathan was scheduled to have his adenoids removed, after talking with the Doc. we decided to consent for the removal of his tonsils as well if need be....needless to say the Doc. was very glad we okayed it because they were FULL of infection.
Dad helping him get his little surgical Jammie's on.
Heading off to the O.R.
Back in his room after surgery, he had the best nurses, they were so nice to him!
Breathing in a little oxygen while recouping before we head home. Surgery was at 7 am and we left about 11 am. Now he is home recouping during Christmas break, his throat will be very sore for the next 2-3 weeks while he heals. He gets to eat lots of Popsicles, sherbet, anything cold or soft.

Beauty and the Beast

2009-11-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

Throughout the months of Sept., Oct., and Nov. Geoff had been rehearsing for the play Beauty and the Beast. On Nov. 12-16 they performed and it was awesome, Geoff had two parts he was the baker and one of the spoons in the castle, he loved every minute of it. Here are a few pictures from the night we went to watch.
Asking Belle how she was doing this morning
getting ready to say "that's nice, Marie the baguettes" and ignore her
He had to stand guard of Belles father in this scene
Singing and dancing in the pub during the Gaston song
Showing Lefou ( Gastons little friend) how to drum and tap on his mug
Singing spoon in the "Be our Guest" scene. I was so proud of him and all the hard work he put into preparing for his role!

The Art of Bricks....Legos

2009-11-07T19:46:00.001-08:00

We went up to Park City this weekend to see an Art exhibit all the creations are made of Lego's and that is all, we had a good time with Tyler and Brigitte as well. These are just some of the cool pieces that the Artist named Nathan Sawaya does.
This one is just called Green, sorry the pics aren't the greatest I only had my camera phone with me. We are not sure if its is taking its head off or putting it on....you choose.
This is all made out of Legos including the mirror and reflection.

This one is just called Blue, but the figure was putting itself together, you can't see it but it has a piece in its hand.
I had Nate stand next to this one so you could really see how big it was.

Nathan's B-day and Goblin Valley

2009-10-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

There are rock formations like this everywhere you look! This is where Nathan wanted to go for his birthday and so we went down and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Eppley in there trailer, they were down there for a race that Grandma and Curtis participated in. If you have never been, I suggest making a trip down there!
Geoff and Dexter up on the Goblin hill.
We thought this one looked like a mouse, it was about 12 feet up and when Nathan jumped off it his momentum shot him head first into a little one down below....he had quite the head ache!
Chris, Nate and Annie up on the Goblins.
Christopher found his Thrown, just call him King Chris. There were lots of holes in the rock walls that the kids found and said they were beds in the rock.
Geoff and Nathan climbed up to this little area on the rocks.
Nathan is such a little free climber, he has NO fear and will look for hand and foot holds so he climb up the rock.
This is one of the narrow paths going up Little Wild Horse Canyon, it was such a neat place to hike, there were places that you had to climb up and over rocks and you would also have to walk sideways through some of the places.

Zipping through the trees

2009-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

On Monday night we went as a whole Eppley family to the Spanish Fork Cement pond to go on the new zipline they have, it was so much fun. I'm not sure how far you go but in the top picture if you lookclose you can see a patch of red dirt and that is where you stop.
Nathan getting suited up and ready but at the last second he backed out. Maybe next time.
Todd, tucked and flying
Chris our future pilot flying through the trees
Geoff on his second run, his first zip down the brake was on too tight so he stopped and was stuck hanging and trying to swing it down so they came to his rescue and pulled him down with a rope then he got to go again and made it perfect. No pictures of me because I was the last to go, we will definitley go do this again. If you want to check it out go to www.ziptraveler.com

Okay, I need to clarify that they whole entire Eppley family didn't go, Brigitte and Tyler were on there honeymoon...sorry guys!

Eppley boys happenings

2009-08-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Alot has gone on over the past month with the three boys. Geoff went on Choir Tour to Canada and also turned 15 while he was there, they just happened to go to the Calgary Stampede on his birthday, so that was fun for him. They also went to the Alberta Temple.
UP UP and AWAY

Chris turned into a teenager on the 31st of July. For his present he went to the UVU Aviation School at the Provo airport and took his first flying lesson. He wants to be a pilot when he grows up, so he got to actually be in control of the plane going up provo canyon and landed the plane when they returned from there flight. He now has one hour logged in his flight log book, only 49hrs and thousands of dollars and he can have his private pilots license. Sorry my pictures are out of sync.
Heading out to the runway, hear we go.
Through with the preflight inspection, lets fly!
Nathan went to BYU gymnastics camp for a week and had a blast, here he is on the rings, his favorite thing was the uneven bars. They had all the kids do floor, uneven bars, high bar, rings, vault and balance beam.
Such a great little gymnast. The boys have had a great and busy summer.

Harmons Best Dam Bike Ride MS 150

2009-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Best Team in the State, Team MS Speedy. From left to right: Todd Eppley, Brent Lloyd, Curtis Eppley, Chris Eppley, Geoff Eppley, Tyler Pace we also had Quinn Heap not pictured.

Curtis stopping in at the lunch stop. Brigitte, Kayce (Quinns wife), and I worked at the lunch stop handing out sandwiches to all the riders. The lunch stop was at mile 72.
Tyler coming up to the finish line on Sunday. This man rode 100 miles on Sat. in less than 6hrs.

Talk about Team Speedy
Chris, Todd and Geoff out on the ride, don't they look good, and not to mention Bright!
Todd, Chris and Quinn coming across the finish line on Sat. Tyler, Curtis, Brent and Geoff came in sooner than the rest and I didn't get there picture. Todd and Quinn rode with Chris as he was having trouble breathing, good thing for Geoffs inhaler. At mile 72 where they stop for lunch, Chris was ready to quit, but with the patience of his dad and a little pushing (todd rode beside him and pushed him up a few hills) they finished and they were so proud to make it, and I was sooo proud of them. They all rode 100 miles on Sat. and then Todd, Geoff and Chris rode 40 miles on Sun. and Tyler rode 75 miles on Sun.

It's been FOREVER

2009-05-22T09:56:00.001-07:00

Over the past month and a half alot has been going on at our house.

Chris has been going to Physical therapy and doing very well. He is trying to get ready for the 150mile bike ride at the end of June, and be ready for Scout camp the first of June.

Nathan played spring soccer and his team won every game they played. He also had his state gymnastics competition were he won two gold medals and one silver, he has decided to take the summer off, but wants to go to the BYU gymnastics camp

Geoff has been playing soccer on the SF club team, he did very well, as a team the only scored 6 points the whole season, but he had a great time playing. He has also had Orchestra concerts and Choir concerts. At the end of June he will be touring with the choir to Canada, he is very excited.

Todd has been hard at work remodeling our kitchen with new cabinets, countertops,and sink. he had to move the sink and the stove as they were in the oddest place when we moved in 7 years ago. He has also been traing hard with the boys to do a 150mile bike ride the last weekend in June.

I have just been tending kids and working on the tile backsplash in the kitchen. I have posted some pictures of the finished kitchen, but didn't think to take before pictures, so just think in your mind white cabinets with black trim, white countertop and beige sink. I'm so proud of Todd and thankful for all the hard work he has done.

The tiny tiles I had to put up one by one, just kidding they are on a 12x12 sheet.
Don't you love all the papers on the fridge? Yours looks just the same you know it!
The stove and the sink needed to swap places, who puts a stove under a window? But I guess thats what you get when your house is 108 years old and still standing.
All done, Todd just kept saying I hate concrete walls, seriously it was a pain to drill into.

WHEW!!!

Christophers surgery pics

2009-03-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Go BYU casts, he told them what color he wanted and it was NOT red.

He was so loopy from the anesthesia, he told Todd three times he was going to go to sleep, but just blinked his eyes then opened them and repeated the same thing. He wasn't in much pain until 8pm that night and then it was really painful all night. Todd stayed up all night with him and made sure he had everything he needed and when he needed it.

The before surgery pics, look at those BIG feet!:)

Waiting to go into surgery, we arrived at 9am he went in to surgery at 10am was done at 1pm and we left the hospital at 4pm. What a long day!

Standing on his own two feet for the last time for three weeks.

New News

2009-03-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been a complete slacker on updating my blog, I am always telling others to update there blog and here I sit with everything still old news.
There has been alot going on over the past two months and there will be in the months to come.
Geoff has been working hard in school to improve his grades and has done very well. He also tried out for the freshman soccer team and made it, his postition is middle defender. They have been practicing hard and can't wait for there first game(not sure when that is). He has also been training hard for the MS 150 bike ride in June, today he rode 24 miles.
Chris has been having trouble with his feet so we took him to the Doctor and found out he has two extra bones in both feet, he will be undergoing surgery on the 23rd. He can hardly wait to get this taken care of so he can get back to playing soccer without pain. He can't put any weight on his feet for 3 weeks, so that will be challenging. He has also been training hard for the MS 150, he rode 16 miles on Wed. and 24 today.
Nathan has had two gymnastics competitions where he won 3 gold and 3 silver medals, and he has another competition on the 21st in SF. He will also be playing soccer here in the next month so he is very busy.
I am a total soccer mom, I love it!
Please forgive me if I told you to update your blog and mine was still old, but I will be back on top of things again.

Stitches

2009-01-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

Wednesday after school Geoff was beaned in the head with a flying carabeaner ( a clip used for rapelling) in the school hallway. After getting stuff out of his locker he stood up and was hit by this object right above his left eye and ended up with 2 stitches on the inside and 7 on the outside. No one new who threw it or anything, he was just in the wrong place at the right time for it to hit him. He walked home and was way ticked when he got here. So I loaded 5 kids in the car, 3 which where daycare kids and we had an educational field trip to the Doctors office. The girls thought it was gross to watch him get stitches while the boys thought it was cool.

Sledding and Christmas

2008-12-30T06:59:00.000-08:00

Every year we go up to Shane's house to enjoy sledding down the mountain in his back yard, and a jump is always a must. The top pic is Nathan ducking just in time before a train of people plow into him.
Todd did a face plant in the snow and his face was frozen. The day we went sledding it snowed all night and they had 24 inches in there driveway and it snowed the whole time we were sledding
The tube train going off the jump. Sydnie, Geoff, Dexter, Maggie, Christopher and Lauren. We all had a great time.
Christmas morning santa brought the older boys Ipods and Nathan a Nintendo DS

MRI Results

2008-12-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

You can see the lesions on the brain, they are the white areas that really light up. These are two different slices of the brain.

I know everyone has been waiting to find out if I actually have a brain inside my head, well it has been confirmed that there is in fact a brain, its not just a hollow space for rocks to bounce around in.

I had an MRI on Tuesday and the results all came back normal, meaning there are no new lesions and no active lesions. You can still see the old lesions as the have not gone away.

I have had three MRI's in the last 2 1/2 years and they have all shown the same results, NO NEW LESIONS, so the medication that I take every month is helping to keep it all under control.

I would like to thank you all for your continued support and prayers on my behalf.

Multiple Sclerosis can take its toll on people and there families, but I have been very blessed to not have the symptoms that can be debilitating for some. If I can walk and talk, I'm doing great!

What's going on?

2008-12-03T06:35:00.000-08:00

Well, there hasn't been that much happening lately so I haven't updated our blog. The things that have happened are...

We had Thanksgiving with Grandpa and Grandma Silva and my brother and his family came up from Arizona, my kids were so excited to see there cousins, since they moved we haven't seen them much.

Geoff had a Thanksgiving choir concert which was wonderful. He also went to the turkey shoot for scouts and came home with the turkey or what Todd calls a large chicken for having the highest score in his troop.

Other than those few things our month hasn't been to eventful, will see what this one brings.

Happy Holidays!

We've got skills

2008-11-03T15:28:00.001-08:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Newest Member

2008-11-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

My handsome little man turned 8 this past week and was baptized on Sat.
Here are the fine gentlemen who were able to participate in this wonderful blessing. Grandpa Eppley, Uncle Shane, Uncle Curtis, Todd. Uncle Paul and Grandpa Silva were unable to make it this time, but we still love then for there thoughts.
Nathan and Todd
Pure in Heart and Pure in Spirit. Nathan was both nervous and excited to be baptized.

We love you Nate and are so proud of the decision you made to be baptized.

Retainers

2008-10-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were lucky enough to have braces and then get a removable retainer this is for you!

Just imagine your eating lunch in the school cafeteria, you finish and you throw away your retainer, yes I said throw it away, you continue your day not realizing what you have done until you get home, and your mom asks where it is. Can you guess what mom said..... you got it "Geoff your going dumpster diving for your retainer" being the person I am, I couldn't let him do it by himself as it would NEVER have been done. So I grabbed two pairs of industrial strength up to your elbow rubber gloves and went to help find it. After going through about 15 BIG black trash bags full of nasty half eaten lunches and milk cartons galore, I know..EEEW, Geoff found his retainer.

Troop 71

2008-10-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Nathan is the newest cub scout member for troop 71, he was so excited to get his scout shirt for his birthday. He has been wanting to come to scouts for the past year with me being the den leader and all, so he went to his first pack night as an offical scout this past Tues. and had a great time playing Halloween games.

Black Eyed Pea

2008-10-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have three peas in my pod and the second one is always getting a black eye, wether inflicted by himself or others. This Black eye is the result of a friendly game of catch with Geoff and Todd on sunday afternoon. Todd threw the football and Geoff tackled Chris to the ground so he couldn't get the ball then his elbow hit him in the eye. There is a reason as to why you shouldn't play rough sports on sunday.

Oh well!

Family Night

2008-10-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

While playing the game Smart Mouth, the letters B & T were played. For those who do not know how to play the game there are two letter tiles revealed and you have to be the first one to say a word that starts with the first letter and ends with the second. Geoffrey said "BIT" while I said "BUTT". Geoffrey said, "you get the points because yours is bigger". As we were moving on to the next two letters, Todd had to stop and point out what Geoff had said about mine being bigger, meaning my (BUTT) word. Ha Ha we all had a great laugh with that and thought we would share it with you! :)

Feeding the Family from Bottles

2008-10-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the week of October 10th my friend and I had the great idea to bottle salsa. My friend has never bottle salsa and I have never done it without the great experienced teacher, Lucy. I called my friend on Wed. morning and we set out to Lucys for some salsa making, we ended up making 14 jars of salsa. Yum! Yum!.

On Friday I still had a ton of tomatoes left over from our salsa making adventure, so I decide to make chili sauce, I once again have never made this on my own, but thought what the heck it can't be that hard so I did and it wasn't hard at all just real time consuming with blanching, peeling, cutting, squishing and draining the juice off the tomatoes....an all day process when taking care of kids at the same time. The pictures below are of my chili sauce, I made 10 pints and gave 3 to my friend. The way your house smells when bottling salsa or chili sauce is absolutely delicious.

I can't wait till I can bottle some more stuff, I do have 25 pints of green beans that Lucy canned earlier in the summer for me. I did however plant, water and baby the green beans in my own little garden.
It has to cook down for 2-3 hours, you can see in the pic where it started out in the pan.

Happy October

2008-10-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

This is a fun filled month with birthday parties and Halloween arrives. Watch out for all the little gobblins and witches as the fly around this month. Here is my all time favorite scary video and song....Michael Jacksons THRILLER!!!

Surgery

2008-09-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

Nathan had his surgery today on his wrist to remove a ganglion cyst and everything went smoothly. All the nurses were so kind and helped him to not be sooo scared. Sorry when you look at the pics they are out of order. This is Lauren one of his nurses, after he came out she gave him a little monkey to take home.
Checking his vitals after returning from the recovery room.

He even got to wear these cool tiger jammies.

This was his nurse Tamari, she was showing him pictures of the rooms he will see, and what will be done in them.
Being wheeled away for surgery. We love you Nate you were sooo brave.

Nathan Unicycling

2008-09-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Nathan has been practicing really hard and is now a super unicycler. Todd has a unicycle and Nathan and Chris just had to be like there dad, but Chris hasn't been practicing as hard as Nathan has been, I'll have to get video of Chris as well to post.

Be Aggressive, B E Aggressive

2008-08-28T12:07:00.001-07:00

The boys have returned to the Soccer field for the Fall season, Chris and Nate are back out there playing and they both were goalies for there teams. Chris's team played a team from Provo and they were very good. Our team lost 0-4:( better luck and skills next time. Nathans team on the other hand won there first game 2-0 with Nathan making the first goal...he was so proud! Geoff has not played soccer in a few years and hopes to get on won next spring, so in the meantime he will be part of the cheer squad. Chris being aggressive

Look at that face :} Watch out here comes Nate
Look at those sweeet moves
SAVED

Salem Days and OH How kids GROW!

2008-08-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

Geoffrey and Chris ran in the Salem Days 1mile Fun Run on Aug. 9 and placed very well.
Chris came in Second in his age with a time of 7min. 30 sec. he shaved off 9 sec. from his last race on the 24th of July.
Geoff came in Fifth in his age with a time of 7min. 37 sec.

I took these pictures of the boys last night to see how much they have grown, Geoff is going to be so tall, right now Geoff is 5'7 3/4, Chris is exactly 5', and Nate is 4'1 3/4. These boys used to break the bank with eating food, lately they are breaking the bank on pants. Geoffs inseam is the same as his Dad 32in. He is only 14. Enjoy the pics.

Happy Pioneer Day take 2

2008-07-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

Nathan and his tumbling team walked and performed in the parade, I wish I had taken a picture of him doing tricks, but at least I got a picture of him.

Happy Pioneer Day

2008-07-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Christopher ran in the Speedy Spaniard 1mile race this morning and came in 10th in his age division and 15th overall, we are so proud of him to just want to run without ever training. Hear are just a few pics of him running.

Geoff turns 14

2008-07-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

At 3:45am on July 3 Geoff was awakened so mom could say Happy B-day and he said sorry for being born that early in the morning. We went to a Real Salt Lake soccer game that night and Geoff was one of the ball boys for the team. Grandpa and Grandma Silva saw him on the TV. He also helped carry out the other teams banner on to the field.
He was stationed behind the goalie box so he got alot of action as well as seeing alot of action, he had to throw in a new ball when it would go out.
On July 4th we had our usual birthday, BBQ and fireworks at the physicians plaza parking lot where Geoff recieved a longboard, clothes and etc.
The two nights were topped off with fireworks, for a great birthday and 4th of July.

Climbing the Wall

2008-06-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Geoff and Chris enjoying the rock wall in the back yard, they are good to be out there with each other helping and spoting each other so they don't fall.

Club House/Rock Wall

2008-06-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is the almost finished Club House with a climbing Rock Wall on the side. Todd and the boys have been hard at work trying to get this finished, we only have some trim on the outside, harness and safety fall zone and hammocks to hang up on the inside for sleeping and they should be completely finished. The boys have been free climbing and Nate sleeps out in the club everynight he can

It is a 16ft climbing wall, the blue tape that you see is a climbing course Nathan made for them all to try, when you reach the x you hit it with your hand.....no buzzer yet.

Trees are for climbing

2008-06-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

Nathan has a new love for free climbing, it doesn't matter what it is he wants to try and climb it. This tree he is climbing is at the park just down the street from our house, from the bottom to the crotch is about 12 feet and he just climbs it looking for bark to hold on to. We are almost through with our rock wall in the back yard so he and the others boys can climb whenever they want. Enjoy looking at the other pics of him.

Survivors

2008-06-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

Geoffrey suvived his long bus ride during tour as well as the occasional nap taken on the bus. He said he had a great time but was sure glad to come home to his bed.

He made sure that all the girls on his bus got a hug goodbye when they got home, what a sweet guy!

Christopher survived the week at soccer camp and loved every minute of it. We went up there and saw him play some soccer games and he looked at us like "why are you here?" But being the parents we didn't care.

This is a picture of Chris with the mens head soccer coach Chris Watkins at the indoor practice facility. The indoor field has about 3-4 inches of rubber like stuff under the fake grass, it was really cool to walk on.

5K and Soccer Camp

2008-06-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

Christopher ran the Springville 5k on sat. June 7 and came across the finish line with his cousin Dexter and Aunt Tina all with in seconds of each other. It was raining the whole time they were running. They all came in around 20 min.
He made it.

Well 2 days later he was off to BYU soccer camp for 4 days of intense soccer training. 8, yes 8 hours a day of playing soccer. Todd took him to get checked in and said after he was through the check in line, he seemed very overwhelmed with the whole thing.

His roommate hadn't checked in at the time he went to his room so he got first dibs on beds and he chose the one by the window.

Utah Valley Childrens Choir Tour

2008-06-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well, Geoffrey has left to go on tour with the choir for the next 7 days. They left yesterday morning at 5:30am, when he left here it was raining. I talked to him breifly this afternoon while they were on the bus headed for AZ. he said the weather in CO. when they left was snowy. He sounded tired but was having a good time so far and the host family that he stayed with were super nice he said. I'm glad he has this opportunity to go sing and share the gospel through song with people in other states. He is on a mini mission. We love him and are very proud of him!

Why should you wear a bike helmet?

2008-05-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

There is an answer behind every question, whether you want to hear it or not, and there is also the saying " objects in motion stay in motion". Christopher learned this first hand last night as he and his friend Trevor were riding there bikes down the hill, Chris was riding Geoffs BMX bike and the chain came off, so what do you do....put on the brakes of course well, he was riding a bike with no brakes, hit a bump in the rode and launched into the air over the handlebars and as you can see by the photos, face planted it right in the road. So the answer to the question why wear a bike helmet is ...to protect your face and head!

6th Grade Hershey Track Meet

2008-05-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

Christopher participated in the Hershey track meet today and did a great job. He ran the 100 meter and placed second in his heat. I think they should also do the hurdles as Chris is a high jumper and would do very well I think. He also did the softball throw, not sure how far he threw the ball though and the standing long jump where he jumped 6'8".
I take care of a 2yr. old little boy who just thinks of Chris and the other boys as older brothers and he was very excited when Chris was running his race and just had to go stand with Chris as he waited for his turn on the softball throw.

Geoffs Spring Choir Concert

2008-05-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Geoffrey sings with the Utah Valley Childrens Choir and tuesday night they had a spring concert. These kids that are in the choir are amazing singers and the songs they sing are just totally awesome. Grandpa and Grandma Silva came to listen and I think grandpa was just floored with how great they all sound, he would shout out BRAVO and was the first to give them a standing ovation.
Geoffrey will also be going on tour with the choir in June, they will travel to CO, AZ, and TX, he is really excited to go and has been counting down the days and working hard to help pay for his tour fee.
We are so proud of him that he is using the talent that he has had since he was able to talk...sing, sing, sing. If you ever get the chance to hear this choir sing, I strongly encourage you to go, you won't regret it.

Week in Review and Mothers Day

2008-05-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a while so here goes.... we had a week filled with soccer games, there was a game everynight this past week. On Sat. Nathan played his last game for the spring season and tied. Chris had to play two games on Sat. back to back, there team tied the first game 2-2 and the second game the won 2-1. They have tied for third place in there division. Spanish Fork has there own rules and so they didn't do a shoot out to see who would get third they just tied....(crazy)!
Mothers day was great, I woke up to breakfast in bed which consisted of Eggs, French toast, toast with raspberry jam and OJ which of course was made by Geoff and Nathan, Chris stayed in bed. I also got to enjoy a 2, yes 2hr uniterupted afternoon nap:)
I hope all you other mothers out there got to have a great day as well!

TRIPLE SOUTHERN UTAH STATE CHAMPION

2008-05-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

Nathan Eppley is a Triple Utah State Champion in his age and level for Power Tumbling and Tramp. He, as always rocked his routine at the 2008 State Tumbling and Tramp competition on May 3, once again in beautiful Huntington, Utah. He is such a great sport to be among a sea of girls who cheer him on.
His team also won the Team Sportsmanship award which they were all excited about. His Team name is Competitive Edge.

Spring Soccer Sucks!!!!

2008-05-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I said "sucks". The weather for spring soccer games is horribly cold, why do kids think that playing in the cold is fun, I am still trying to figure that out! Well, Chris is on the verg of bronchitis again....second time this year, and he played soccer last night and won his game. Gma Silva thinks that we are crazy for letting him play but the kid is a Soccer Freak and a dang good goalie. He took a foot to the eye saving the ball...hey he is sooo an Eppley, I swear there motto is sacrifice your body for whatever sport you play, and he does that well in soccer.

MS Walk Provo 2008

2008-04-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

This year at the MS Walk they had a team flag making contest and of course ours was the best and we won, last year we won for best team attire, go figure!

Lisa, Joyce (mom), Chris, Todd, Lucy, Nate, Charles, Brigitte, Geoff, Robyn....WE ARE TeaMSpeedy we had a total of 12 people that signed up on our team but, you can see only 10 of us were at the walk, while others were excused so long as they walked in spirit, which I totally know they did.
We walked a total of three miles...which was nothing, I remember when I was younger we used to walk... I think for the march of dimes and it seemed like we walked forever like ten miles, but it was probably only three.
We only took pictures of some of our team walking as the others were more SPEEDY than the rest.....meaning Lucy, Brigitte, Geoff and Chris as they all ran/jogged
I just thought this was a cute picture to end with, I think they were talking about trees to climb, and the music that Nate was listening to on the mp3.... I beleive it was U2. For all of you who read this blog thanks for all your support.

Soccer game update

2008-04-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would give an update about the Soccer games played this week.
Nathan played a game on Tuesday the 22 with a final score of 1-1, it was another cold game, I'm wondering if this weather will ever change, I get depressed watching the news to find out the weather is still going to be crappy. Christopher played a game on Wed. the 23 and they won 2-0, his team had to redeem themselves after the last game, the score was 0-9. We can't blame Chris for not trying on the last game as we were in Phoenix, enjoying the WARM weather.

2008 Silva Family Reunion in Phoenix

2008-04-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

We all went riding motorcycles and atv's one day out in the desert which is about 10 min. from Pauls house and had a blast until....Nathan got lost following Todd and Austin as they were racing through the desert. We searched frantically for about 1hr. before Lisa called 911 there were 8 people out searching for him.
This was the police officer who came to escort us to the location of our lost rider who was approx. 7 miles away. Nathan said he crashed 5 times but kept on going.....tough little bugger!
If you look behind Nathan at the mountain with the peak he was on the other side of that waiting for us with 2 girls, 1boy and another police officer. When he realized that he was lost he told a gentlemen and they helped him get reunited with his family. He was gone for a total of 2hrs.
We also went to the Nascar race in Phoenix, this is a picture with the whole gang who went and all the stuff we hauled in. We looked like total rednecks!
We sat up on rattlesnake hill, but there were no snakes present, just a little lizard! It was great fun!

When we were in Phoenix for our family reunion everyone had a great time at Pauls house playing games and talking to one another. We also went to the pool that is just up the street so all the kids could swim.

Todd showing Geoff his mad basketball skills!

Geoff and Mikel coming back from the pool

Chris's first game of the season

2008-04-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

The first game of the season for Chris, he played Goalie, forward and defender and did awesome at all three. He did walk away from his game with aches and pains from a bloody nose, I wish there was a great story behind the bloody nose, but he gave it to himself ( his nose met his own knee) not some other person. While being Goalie he somehow got his foot stomped on by another player. They played a good game, but in the end lost 4-2. Oh well there is always another game to play. Don't you love how he distorts his body when kicking the ball?

Spring Soccer....BURRRR!!!!

2008-04-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Nathans first soccer game of the season was tonight and it was freakin' COLD, as you know when the wind blows here it is very cold. But despite being cold during the game his team one with a score of 1-0

What a Dork

2008-04-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm the Dork (Lisa)....I thought I could change the layout to a cool soccer theme, well in the process of doing so I deleted all previous posts on the blog so we are pretty much starting over. I really shouldn't be allowed to play on the computer.

Nathans competetion 3/29/08

2008-04-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well the little man kicked butt again at his competetion, as you can see he came home with 3 more gold medals to add to his collection. He was having some trouble with his back handsprings latley (landing on his head) but at the competetion he didn't land on his head once, and when he did his back tuck off the double mini tramp he stuck his landing like a rock and was very proud of himself. He is very funny, the pants he has on are actually on backwards, he says its for good luck:)!