Epps Family Reunion

After we got home from Sedona we woke up on Friday morning and headed to my uncle Ray's house which was only about 5 mins from our house! He has a small farm with enough room for everyone! They also had lots of events on Thursday but we missed it because we were in Sedona!
They had mingling, bread making, and pig roasting!

 cousin Jimmy, Nathan, Alyn, Uncle Mel and Ray

Uncle Mel

My parents were there setting up for breakfast! We helped them make lots of eggs, french toast and bacon! Everyone loved it! People came and went all day!

They had some fun with the animals also! They let the small kids chase ducks around to take home!

The next level of kids chased an oiled up pig and tried to get money off of a goat!

The older ones chased around a 1 year old cow with money taped to it! It was fun to watch! During most of the morning we watched kids ride on sheep! It was a pretty crazy rodeo!

Then we had hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch! We hung out and talked and watched the little kids play with the animals and chase around their ducks!

 The ice cream machine was a big hit and so was the snow cone machine my parents brought! 

 We watched the kids get rides on all the fun toys!

 The ponies and horses were a huge hit and most of the girls couldnt stay away!

 During the second half of the day little Luke got there and hung out with me a lot! He would sit on my lap and grab my hand and walk around! His dad, Jason came over and said "Hey Luke want to ride the hay ride?" and he said "yeah can Whitney come?" So i went and asked Kirk to join us! Luke took over the seat next to me so Kirk had to sit beside us! He cracks everyone up!

They had a guy come that played us some songs! He toured for a long time and wrote a lot of popular western songs! He wrote the theme songs for many old shows!

My uncle Mel gave us a little speech about geneology and prepardness with our year supplies!

We also got these fun shirts to represent the day!

Thanksgiving in Sedona

Kirk's family invited us up to Sedona to stay at his Uncle Bill's house for Thanksgiving! We both had to work but left Wednesday afternoon and got there just before the sun went down! They had a house full with all of us plus their family! Wednesday night dinner had about 18 people! Then Thursday morning we all hung out, cooked, went shooting, and shot pellet and paintball guns! Just before dinner they had a surprise visit from Kirk's cousin Colleen who lives in Hawaii but came just to see the family!  We ate dinner at a table seating about 22! It was fun having everyone together! Then we lounged around and made candles! His cousin Jake has always been a candle maker and brought his supplies to share it with everyone! It was a hit! We also played this game they practically call "savage" since its a pretty vicious game! Cherri wraps a gift card in layers and layers of wrapping paper and tape then we all have to roll a dice and if we roll doubles we put on gloves and try to unwrap it! It takes forever and whoever opens it keeps it! The first round we lost but we decided to play a second before we went home and we won! Just by the skin of our teeth...literally...i had to use my teeth!

Kirk and Jake

 A few of the candles left to dry

Mom's Surprise Birthday Party

My mom has been telling the family for years that she has always wanted a surprise birthday party! My grandma threw her one when she was a teenager but my mom said my grandma invited all of her own friends and my mom didnt love it! So we decided this year for her 44th would be perfect! We did it on Saturday the 10th so she wouldnt expect it! We spent about 2 weeks planning, buying, making and inviting people! A lot of her friends showed up! My dad's main job was to keep her busy all afternoon on Saturday which he said proved harder than it sounds! Most partiers arrived at 6pm and my parents got home at 6:30 on the nose! We turned off all the lights, crowded around the door, yelled surprise! and blew horns when she turned on the lights! She was so surprised!

Each person took a turn being blindfolded and playing Pin the Moustache on Mom!

 The birthday card I made her...the concept was a lot cooler than it turned out! 

 Alyn and I made her very own skull pinata! She liked it so much she didnt want to hit it open!

 Jeffery, Magan, Tyler, Me and Kirk

 Cooper, Aunt Mandy, Zade and Mom

Then Sunday evening we all went to dinner at Culver's for her birthday!