The Evers Family

Most improved

2009-12-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

This year taking Rachel to see Santa was a breeze. She freaked out last year and was screaming in the picture. This year we told her that Santa was like a grandpa so she wouldn't be afraid. She sat on his lap and snuggled right into him. She even smiled! She never smiles when we ask. So that was a pretty big deal.

We lucked out and took her on half price day so our package only cost $13 and came with a $10 shutterfly gift card. Pretty sweet!

Happy Birthday!

2009-09-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Rachel turned two. Although if you ask her how old she is, she tells you she is 4. We had a family birthday party for her and took some of her cousins swimming and then came back for dinner, cake and ice cream, a pinata and of course presents. She loved having her family together and all the attention she received. Thanks to everyone who came. We had a really good time.

Wanna have some fun?

2009-09-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

Crayola is offering free coloring pages of your personal pictures. You can upload 5. All you have to do is go to http://play-zone.crayola.com/play-zone/index.htm#/LCC. Click on enter the code, then register and use code pr24qcht. I was able to make some fun coloring pages of my family. Have fun!

Vote vote vote!

2009-09-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

You have seen the room now go to the blog site below to vote for the vinyl! The voting ends on Labor Day (Monday) so make those votes count! Thanks!

http://www.ellemenopea.com/blog/

You can also become a fan of eLLeMeNOPea on Facebook and vote there too! The more votes the merrier!

Thanks!

Rachel's Big Girl Room

2009-08-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

After months of bargain shopping, I think I am finally done with Rachel's big girl room. That's pretty much what I have been doing with my spare time. It's funny because I never realized how girlie I was until I decorated a little girls room. I found this material on line called 'Polly goes to Paris' and used it to make the pillow and cover the chair. My Mom was awesome enough to sew for us. I had fun recovering the chair and used the fabric as inspiration to customizing some vinyl (Ellemenopea.com). I saw some wire flowers at anthropologie and stole the idea. I used wire from Home Depot and created my own to put above her headboard (they look cooler in person). Kevin painted stripes on the accent wall by using clear semi gloss paint. He taped and then just painted over some of the existing paint. Overall Rachel, Kevin and I are happy with the results!

Evers Look-alike Meter

2009-08-13T16:39:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

The Little Mermaid

2009-06-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on blogging but wanted to share a funny story from today. Rachel was getting ready to take a nap and we decided to read Disney's The little mermaid. We opened the book and Rachel sees Eric (who is the Handsome prince) and points to him and says Dada. I thought that was sweet. We flipped the page and there is Ariel the beautiful mermaid and Ursala the ugly fat villain. You'll never guess who was " Mama." That's right my 1 yr old daughter pointed to Ursala and said Mama. I love you Rachel. You always make me laugh!

Zoo trip

2009-05-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

These are some older pictures of Rachel's first time at the Zoo. I came across them the other day and wanted to include them on our blog! Enjoy!

Potty news!

2009-04-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for our family! Rachel used the potty for the first time and went a total of three times! Hopefully she continues to be excited to use it! No pressure... but it will be nice to see how she does in the next few months!

2009-04-20T14:52:00.001-07:00

2009-04-19T20:14:00.001-07:00

Building a garden

2009-04-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

This will be our third summer in our home and so we decided it was finally time to build a garden. Exciting stuff! I always end up killing my plants and so I went to an enrichment activity on gardening. I learned about soil, and bugs (both good and bad), what kind of seeds and plants work best, how to build the boxes and about other things pertaining to gardening. I was pretty pumped to attempt gardening, now that I understood it a little better. Luckily for me, when I say "we" want to start a project the Kevin side of "we" usually takes over and gets the job done. So far we have planted 3 different types of tomatoes, bell peppers, Zucchini, cilantro, basil, mint and some flowers that bring in the good bugs. We still need to plant some seeds and hope to have a decent garden. We also planted a lemon tree, a mandarin tree, some berries, and a kumquat tree. We are really excited!

Easter weekend

2009-04-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Rachel took part in her first Easter egg hunt this year at our club house. There were so many kids! The eggs were gone in about 2 minutes! I was guilty of hovering over a few so she was sure to get some. She did a lot better with Peter Rabbit than she did last year with Santa.

Rachel finds her basket

The goodies

Daddy and Rach meet Peter Rabbit

Rachel getting her eggs

Easter Sunday we had my family over for dinner. It was nice to get everyone together. I ended up taking pictures of everyone outside. While we were out there, we saw this pile of dark stuff in the dirt. we got close and realized it was a mound of ants. So then Kevin decided to pour some gas on them and light them on fire! It was really gross, but kind of fun to bring out our inner pyro.

Crazy Sedgwick kiddos

My brother Doug and his wife April

Rachel's favorite person Paige

My Mom and Dad

The girls with Grandma Hellen. I think someone pinched someones butt in this picture and that is why they are laughing.

My sister karla and her kids

Being oafy!

The grandkids that live in Cali

My brother Brian and his family

Burning ants =)

General Conference

2009-04-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

I love General Conference. I felt this conference really put me in my place. Yesterday afternoon when Elder Cook spoke I felt I really needed to hear what he had to say. As if his talk was directed to me. I don't consider myself a judgemental person, but I liked what he said about not judging people who are members and aren't as commited to living the gospel as they should be. It's not our place to judge anyone. He also gave one of my favorite quotes from this conference,"Our obligation is to teach, and to love, and to not give up." As a parent I felt that was a good reminder to our purpose.
It was funny because in between sessions today, I was complaining to Kevin, that I am scared to get pregnant again. To do it again is crazy! I don't know how people go through child birth and do it again. On the flip side I am not getting any younger and want a bigger family. Then conference started up again and there was Elder Oaks putting me in my place about not being selfish and pretty much said exactly what I needed to hear. Kevin said after his talk I love Elder Oaks!!! (Kevin is on team Baby!) But for the record, I am not pregnant yet, Just getting humbled!

Swimming with the Dolphins

2009-04-04T23:33:00.001-07:00

Kevin and Risho the dolphin

Risho and me

Nasty!!! The trainer made me feed him twice! Not a big fan of raw fish!

Happy dolphin dancing

getting violated by Risho. Dolphin a little too happy!

Rachel hated it! Big, scary, and noisey dolphin.

Kevin and I had a good experience swimming with the dolphins. I couldn't believe how smooth their skin was. We even got to touch the dolphins teeth and tongue. We thought it was really cool and hope to do it again when Rachel can enjoy it!

Cabo Vacation

2009-03-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Kevin swam in the pool everyday we were there.
This is Rachel saying "cheese"!

Here we are in front of the famous arch.

On the beach

Out in front of our hotel right on the Marina.

Fat lip

2009-03-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to a play date. Everything was fine until Rachel fell on her face! I was so lucky to be with other moms that knew what to do. It was the first time Rachel had a real bloody nose! Man I am thankful to have friends that reassure me that this is completely normal, and that can help me. Thank you Tiffani for thinking of the ice! This picture was taken the day after the fall. A lot less blood. My poor girl!

Rachel's Valetines

2009-02-16T13:06:00.001-08:00

Fun Day

2009-01-14T23:28:00.000-08:00

Today was my first full day off ( besides sunday), in a while. It started out nice getting to sleep in until 9!!! I haven't done that for a really long time. Kevin woke up early and got Rachel fed. Then my friend Vanessa and I made our second attempt at a store in Yuba City that had fancy little girl dresses. We tried to go Monday but they were closed. We found some really cute things for our kids. Then we went to a kids consignment store where I think I got the best bargain I have ever got. They let me fill a plastic bag for $5.00. So Heres what I got; a tommy hilfigher coat, baby vans, four more pairs of shoes, 3 zip up hoodies, A few pairs of pants and some tops. I had about 25 items all for 5 bucks! It was awesome. Then we went to lunch and I had a really good time. Came home and hung out with my hunny then he let me go out and run some errands and I had some nice alone time. All in all it was a good day.

New salon services

2008-12-12T22:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InVccGBkcv0

I was really inspired by this clip. If any of you have a cat I can borrow let me know. Lol!

Gymnastics class

2008-12-11T23:32:00.001-08:00

Rachel had picture day at Tricks gymnastics. I think she looks like sporty spice in these pictures. She really enjoys her class. She is one of the oldest kids in her tumble bunny class. Pretty soon she will graduate and move up to the toddler class. She has a lot of energy so the gym is really good for her.

Rachel meets Santa

2008-12-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know Rachel, know that she loves people and will pretty much go to anyone... ...anyone, that is, except for Santa. We took Rachel to sit on Santa's lap for family home evening on Monday. She freaked! Maybe it was because we put her down on his lap and then ran. We were just trying to get out of the picture. Or maybe Kevin's days of having a mustache ruined her chances to want to sit with someone who has all that facial hair. Who knows. We think her picture turned out cute even though she is screaming her head off. Wish us better luck next year.

The UGLIER the Sweater the better

2008-12-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I hosted an ugly Christmas sweater party last weekend. I have been wanting to have one for a while now. It turned out really fun. I was impressed by all the nappy sweaters. My personal favorite was Doug's because it had Kevin's face on it. I really liked Andrew and Meridith's sweaters because not only were they ugly but they even lit up. Thanks to everyone who came to our little party. Maybe we will do it again next year somewhere else so we could invite more people. Another hi light of the night was the white elephant gift exchange when John Blaser opened this really ugly robe and nighty set compliments of the Morgans. I laughed at it for a long time. Good times!

I hope Rachel never does this

2008-12-08T17:49:00.000-08:00

movember

2008-12-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

Rachel trying to be like Dadddy

This last November my husband and some of his friends decided to grow mustaches for prostate cancer. How it worked was when someone would ask about his mustache he then would explain his cause and ask others to donate to prostate cancer and also grow a mustache. They called it MOVEMBER. Let me just say I couldn't wait till December so Kevin would finally shave.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

Rachel's Aunt Renee came all the way from Idaho to have Thanksgiving with us this year. It was cute to see her play with Rachel. We had a good Thanksgiving. I baked a home made apple pie, pumpkin dump cake, Peanut butter and chocolate pie, and pumpkin bread. Kevin went and played football with some friends as a memorial game for our friend, Ryan Smith, who passed away last year. Kevin was so exhausted from working till 4:00 in the morning every day this last week, so he couldn't help but try and catch up on some zzzz's. Unfortunetly it was during our dinner, Poor guy.

Messy Eater

2008-11-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

Rachel eating pasta
OOumpa Looumpa face

Just making sure it's not easy for mom to clean me up

My baby girl

2008-11-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

Look at those pretty blues
Baby got back

I love this one!

Rachel throws a "4 real" sign

Rachel is such a delight to have around. She has such a cute personality. She loves people and likes to go to strangers. The other day Kevin took Rachel shopping with him at Sportsman's Warehouse. As he was looking at some guns (he is really into them right now... thanks a lot Andy jk) Rachel walked up to a group of women and wanted to be picked up. It was funny because one of the ladies kind of looked at Kevin and then picked up Rachel and brought her over to him. When the lady got to Kevin she said something like "I'm sorry, but she wanted to be picked up" and Kevin's response was classic... he looked at the lady right in the eye and with a straight face said "that's not my kid." LOL! I guess it freaked the lady out pretty good. Kevin is always the jokester. I am so lucky to have them both in my life. I love my little family!

sneak preview

2008-11-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

My friend Janelle took some family pictures for us. She has a few on her blog right now if anyone wants to take a looksie. She is just beginning her business and I think she did a really good job. You can check them out here http://shaunandjanelle.blogspot.com/

Joe dirt

2008-11-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

Rachel got a hold of Kevin's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" wig the other day. I thought she made a really good Joe Dirt. If you haven't seen the movie, the kid on there has a pretty sweet mullet; aka Tennessee top hat, the soccer rocker, beaver tail, the Kentucky waterfall, shlong (short-long), ape drape, neck blanket, camero cut, or my personal favorite, the yep nope.

Our sign part 2

2008-11-02T14:04:00.001-08:00

Today we came home from church and this is what our sign looked like. Crazy! This time it was too messed up to fix. Luckily our good friend April brought us a new one. I can't believe how much hate people have towards us. The sign was bad but hearing the stories from friends and families are even harder to bare. We all have friends and loved ones that are homosexuals. This isn't about discriminating against them. It's about our families and teaching them what is right.

Mine and Kevin's halloween costume

2008-10-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

The loot

2008-10-31T21:16:00.000-07:00

For just going down our own street our little kiddo made out like a bandit.

Trick or treat

2008-10-31T21:06:00.000-07:00

So we took Rachel trick or treating this year for the first time, along with my niece Paige and nephews Jaren and Jake. Rachel caught on quick. she went back for seconds a few times. The funniest part was that she kept walking into people's houses. I think she did it 5 times and we just went on our street.

Prop 8

2008-10-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

Our prop 8 sign has been vandalized twice. We just tape it back together and put it back out. Although we have recieved some opposition it has been a good thing for us. Because of our sign we have been able to start conversations with neighbors and friends and share our beliefs with them.

Rachel's Halloween gymnastics class

2008-10-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

Some random things about Debbie

2008-10-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

1. I can bark like a dog.

2. My favorite food is Chili's quesadilla explosion salad.

3. I'm the youngest of 7 kids.

4. My weakness is bargain shopping.

5. My favorite tv shows are So you think you can dance and the office.

6. I have a fear of midgets.

7. My favorite treat is safeway's tuxedo mint cookies.

8. When my hair is really dark I look like Micheal Jackson.

9. If I could be somewhere else right now it would be Tennessee watching the leaves change colors and a Vols game.

10. I hate cleaning stove tops and toilets.

11.When I was younger I wanted to be a Physical therapist.

12. Sometimes I wish I was still a missionary.

13. I still drive my first car.

14. I am fascinated by Afros.

Fruit of the loom

2008-10-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Last friday we were invited to a Halloween party. April and I came up with the idea for fruit of the loom. Kevin came up with the idea to put me in high water purple mom jeans compliments of goodwill. They were nasty. But besides the jeans, Our costumes came out great. I was really impressed with Scott's apple costume. Also Kevin did a really good job creating his leaf costume. The party was fun. Steph and Ben sure threw a good party. April and I both had a hard time squeezing through the crowds. Imagine that!

Check out this video link below to see where we got our inspriation!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE9cWIVnR6A

A few of my favorite things... from the hair show

2008-10-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

This last weekend my friend Brandi and I traveled to Denver,Co for a hair show. We had such a good time. It was my first time leaving Rachel (over night) so that was a little weird.

We were lucky enough to stay at the same hotel where the show was taking place. When we were leaving the airport we decided to try and take the city bus to our hotel. Little did we know that the closest bus stop was miles away from our hotel. Some how we convinced the bus driver to take us there. It was so funny. Because he went off his route (he wasn't familiar with the area),he did a three point turn in the middle of the intersection. He dropped us off right in front of our hotel.

We arrived around midnight and were checking in when the lady at the front desk said unfortunately there has been a change in beds for your room. I heard her say they ran out of king size beds and so we would have two double beds. For those of you who know me know I like my personal space so this was great news for me. I told that lady that it would be much better for us and couldn't stress enough how much better that would be. Meanwhile Brandi is looking at me and laughing. As we walked away I mentioned that I didn't want her to mistake us for lesbians. As we finally reached our room I walked in and was disappointed to see that there was only one king size bed in the room. Puzzled I looked at Brandi and questioned. She told me that the lady said no more doubles and that we would be having a king size instead. I was totally embarrassed that I went on and on about the change and that it would be better for us. I laughed for about an hour after that.

The show was amazing all my favorite companies were there; Redken, Infrashine, Pureology, Aquage & my personal favorite Roy Peters. Roy is a businessman who understands the hairdresser world and really knows what to say to get you to see things differently and improve your skills. The man is hilarious!!!!! I about wet my pants listening to him speak. Redken was amazing. One of the models flaked on them and I almost got chosen to be the replacement. That would have been a dream come true for me (getting my hair done by them not modeling) I learned a few really fashion forward haircuts and color techniques. I am really excited to have learned these techniques as they help me step out side the box. Aquage did some beautiful formal styles. I learned a short cut technique for a low chingon updo. Just in time for the weddings I have next week! I also learned from Infrashine an easy way to get the old hollywood glam look with a marcel iron (type of curling iron). I can't wait to try it! Brandi was so funny... she was right there selling Infrashine irons with their employees. In fact, they pretty much offered her a job with the company. For any of you that might know Brandi she is an amazing person. Every where we went people noticed her. She has a great presence about her. It was refreshing to be around her this weekend. One funny thing though was that she made me try an oxygen bar (I thought it looked really lame and she thought it was the coolest thing ever). I have to admit, it did clear my sinuses. If I didn't have to look like a hospital patient it might not have been so bad. Thank you Brandi for going with me. It was a lot of fun!!!

What I do all day

2008-10-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

For the last 7 months I have been working from home. It's been fun getting to combine my work with my family life. The kicker is I don't have much of a social life. Although I want to be more social, I do enjoy my work and being a momma. So, I thought it would be fun to post a day in my work life. Thanks to all my awesome clients for letting me take your pics without any notice. And a heads up to those that are coming soon- I'm making a portfolio and might need your picture.

Bishop's Pumpkin Patch

2008-09-27T22:47:00.001-07:00

We took Rachel to Bishop's pumpkin patch last week. We had never been there and didn't know what to expect. Rachel had fun at the petting zoo, and Kevin had fun picking out 3 HUGE pumpkins. At Bishop's you actually pick them off the vine. I thought that was pretty cool. So if you have a kid and you have never been before we highly suggest going.

The Birthday Girl

2008-09-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

We had a family birthday party for Rachel last night. She had fun playing with her cousins and her new toys! I was looking forward to watching her eat her first birthday cake. I made her a giant cupcake in hopes that she would do a giant face plant into the cake, but after she tasted the frosting she wanted nothing to do with it. In fact she tried to throw it on the ground. Luckily kevin caught it. She must not like my cooking! We had a blast watching her!

my baby is one!

2008-09-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has already been a year. Rachel grew so fast! We had a fun birthday!

Happy Anniversary

2008-09-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

You still make me laugh...
I love you more each day!
Thanks for being a wonderful husband!
I can't believe it's already been three years! I love you Kev!

Happy Anniversary

tutu

2008-08-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to make Rachel a tutu. She loves wearing it and trying to eat it. She's such a little princess.

just in case you missed it

2008-07-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

So, if you haven't noticed I posted a ton of new things. I was on vacation and took advantage of my brother in law's computer. ( we still don't have a computer) Just in case you missed the "babies post" make sure to check it out. I think this was one of my proudest moments as a mom. I love my girl.

Pig tails

2008-07-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Rachel keeps grinding her teeth. As a result she makes this bitter beer face. We think she is pretty funny.
Thanks for the new outfit Gradma!

She just LOVES this bear!

Downtown Almira

2008-07-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

An old gas pump

Main street

Who knew a town this small would have so many cool places.

pics of the fam

2008-07-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

We had fun staying with Jason and his family in Almira WA. These pics were taken at the park across the street.

Dinner with Grampa Evers

2008-07-20T13:18:00.001-07:00

Grandpa Evers and Cole

The whole Evers clan went out for dinner at the Almira hotel. The place was really cool. They had tons of antiques.
Cole, Natalie, Haley, and Rachel
Cousins

At the park

2008-07-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

we rode an antique carousel at river front park. It was built in 1907

This park was beautiful with flowers every where.

Blocks and Wagon

2008-07-19T23:50:00.000-07:00

Today we played at a park in Spokane WA. it was my fist time there so I was amazed to see these giant size toys.

more picks of the kids

2008-07-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

It was so nice to see everyone for grampa's 80th birthday. We had a blast! It was so cute watching Rachel play with her little cousins.

2008-07-19T23:38:00.001-07:00

Babies

2008-07-19T23:28:00.000-07:00

Babies are so funny. Have you ever noticed that babies think they can pull themselves up on anyone including kids their own size? Well that was the case tonight with Rachel and her cousin Traiden . Something else happened instead! lol!

Sarah's birthday

2008-07-19T23:07:00.000-07:00

My good friend Sarah was having a birthday, so Rachel and I decided to make her some cupcakes. Rachel got to lick her first beater. She loved it! Can't wait to make Rachel her first birthday cake.

Girls Camp

2008-07-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

Girls camp was a blast. The theme for this year was boot camp (building on our testimonies). I only got to go for one night. It was pretty awesome to see the girls share their testimonies. Some girls did it for the first time. My favorite part of the night was meeting " Elder Eyring". He is a lot taller than I thought. Campfire was pretty cool. The bishopric came up and brought everyone their own thing of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Yummy!

football

2008-07-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

Kevin and some of his buddies played in a flag football league. They always played on tuesdays ( the same night as young womens) so I didn't get to go to very many games. The team name was capital improvement. They went to the playoffs but didn't take the title. He had a good time out there.

Gymnastics

2008-07-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

We enrolled Rachel in a mommy and me gymnastics class at Tricks. It has been really fun. Rachel really enjoys it.

My sisters

2008-07-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

My sisters are so much fun. Sheri is in town for the 4th and I am so excited to see her. Last time she was here ( a couple months ago) we had fun doing some pictures with our mom. Here are a couple of them.

Our Salon

2008-06-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I decided that when Rachel was born I would see how it would be to work from home. I have been doing hair for seven and a half years now and have a wonderful clientele who have really been supportive of this decision. I absolutely love being home. I love the salon Kevin worked so hard to build for me. He along with the help of my dad and a few friends really did a great job.

Cute pics of Rachel

2008-06-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

So for this being my first post I thought I'd start by showing off my little cutie. We had these taken by Keri. I love these pictures!