Who's Who?

Who's Who in the Butler Family?

I have had a frame on my wall for a couple of months now that has had no pictures in it except for the models that were already in it and none of them happened to look like anyone in the family. I finally came up with an idea of what to put in it (there were nine 4x6 openings). Diane helped me scan them into the computer and change the color to sepia. (thanks again Diane!) It looks really good on my wall and I love being reminded of what my now much bigger kids used to look like. It was really fun to find the same age photos of David and I. I am going to keep you all guessing for now but will update with the answers in a few days!

P.S. Thank you so much for everyone who helped make our busy day today with Derek a great one. It was a wonderful day and made even better with everyone who helped with goodies, chairs, well-wishes, etc. Thanks again for everything! We love our ward family!

Years Ago...(those who read my blog, sorry, but now it's your turn)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Tag....I'm it.

YEARS AGO...

20 years ago...

1. I had started seventh grade and thought I was pretty cool,my best friends were Emily Allen, Tammy Warren and Angie Dunkley.

2. I was a pretty diligent journal writer, writing in my journal at least once a week.
3. I was still a paper girl-delivering 40 papers every day except Saturday.

15 years ago...

1. I was starting my senior year with many things coming up; cheer, Guys and Dolls, Front Porch Majority (show choir), AP English (not so exciting but I was able to read a ton of books and I love to read), and vowing not to kiss any guy my senior year (I did it, one goal accomplished, and no I didn't kiss a ton of guys before I just decided to make this goal so I wouldn't get a steady boyfriend).

2. This was the year of the "hazing incident" at SVHS. It was an awful situation but in the end our class/school came together like never before. Our football season was cancelled but ALL our winter sports took region and boys basketball and boys soccer took State. Yeah, basically '94 rocks.

3. This was the year of my penny party. When myself of any of my friends found a penny in the halls of school, they would usually bring them to me and I would put them in my little red garbage can. I saved them up and at the end of the year we all went to Bear lake and had a party. I bought treats with all the pennies we found (It was over $5.00 so I could only afford a bag of Chips Ahoy and Oreos).

10 years ago...
1. I quit my job at Exquisite to become a full time mom-something I have never regretted.
2. We had just had our first son, Christian, in March, the beginning of mommyhood.
3.We finally got insurance. It was such a blessing to not have to worry about going to the doctor and paying the whole amount, just a copay. It was awesome!!!

5 years ago...

1. We had bought our first house. It was so exciting, but also scary...we were finally adults with a mortgage.
2. In July I was called as Primary President in our ward. We moved here in March, the wards split in July and they called me to this calling. I had no clue who was in the old part of the ward yet alone the new part they added. Calling counselors was quite an experience...I am so glad we have the Holy Ghost to guide us.
3.For Thanksgiving we went to Disneyland with my side of the family. It was so much fun being there with all the little cousins. Disneyland is such a fun, magical place.

3 years ago
1. We had our last baby, Ethan in April. He was such an easy, good baby.
2. Joe was called to be the 1st counselor in the bishopric. This was to begin my tenure of being alone during sacrament meeting. It was hard but it's getting easier every week.
3. This was the year of the surgery for our family. Everyone but Christian had surgery. The doctors sure loved us in 2005.

1 year ago

1. We went to Disneyland just as a family. We went in Feb. and it was awesome, crowds weren't big, weather was great and kids loved it.
2. Joe and I were called to be Ma's and Pa's on our youth trek. It was so awesome. What a testimony building experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
3. I was able to go visit my sister Suzette with my other sisters Marci and Cristy in Phoenix. It was so much fun to surprise her and see her cute little pregnant belly (even though she was pregnant with twins). We had such a fun time just being silly girls. Thanks Joe, Jeremy and Josh-you guys rock.

This year so far...
1. Joe and I were able to take a vacation, just the two of us. It was so nice just spending time with him and not having to worry about kids.
2. I was called to be on the Stake girls camp committee. I loved every minute of it, even though I am not a camper. Lake Lyman was tons of fun and it was also a special, spiritual experience for me.
3. Our summer was packed with fun, fun, fun. We had something going on every week. It sure made the summer fly by, and I didn't hear "mom I'm bored, what are we going to do today?", too many times over the summer.

Yesterday...
1. Cleaned the upstairs; bathrooms, mopped the floors, and Joe vaccumed. (What a sweet guy!)
2. Went to lunch at Maddox with my sisters and mom to celebrate my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom-I Love You!!!
3. Cleaned out the dead plants in my garden while McCall and Ethan picked every squash that was in it, even the teeny, tiny ones.

Today...(I did this a few days ago)
1. Spent way to much time on this post trying to figure out how to move pictures around.
2. Took McCall to school, almost made her late because I was on the computer.
3. Doing laundry...the unending task.

Tomorrow...
1. Practice a song I'm going to sing Sunday in someone else's ward.
2. Watch Jed and Jacey at lunchtime and Easton and Autumn after school, go to musical review practice.
3. Bottle sweet memory pickles, they only take about 5 days to make-they better be worth it.

Next Year...
1. McCall will be in full day school, I don't know what Ethan and I will be doing all day alone (any suggestions?)
2. Hopefully I will be able to get my mantel for our fireplace.
3. Go on another trip with just Joe, we got bumped last time and now have vouchers for airfare, where to go...?

I tag...EVERYONE and ANYONE who reads this blog. Lets's see YOUR years ago.

The Green's Summer Highlights

Although, technically, there are several more days of summer... we're not going anywhere.  I thought I'd share some of the season's highlights for our family:

I was able to play softball this year.  Our team did pretty well and made it to the playoffs. However, the playoffs were during girls camp, and I never actually found out how our team faired.

Speaking of girls camp I had the pleasure of being the camp photographer this year.  The theme was "B.O.O.T. Camp" (Building Our Own Testimonies) and we got to run around in camouflage.  That is my cup of tea!  There are a bunch more pictures that I'm tempted to include, but I think that is going to have to be it's own post (Denise, this is fair warning).  

Jayden took swimming lessons again this year over at the Clark's.  It has made such a difference! I think he's still cautious around water (or maybe that's me being terrified of water), but he's not scared of it anymore.  He loves to wear his goggles, even in the bathtub... (and if wearing his goggles is all the bribery it takes to get him in the tub, I'm okay with it).

We usually make it up to Bear Lake a couple times each summer, and this year was no exception.  It is a great getaway and such a pretty lake.  We're usually there over the 24th of July, and it's fun to see all the rich people shoot off their illegal fireworks over the lake.

Somewhere in the middle of all this we went to a family reunion at Heber Valley Girls Camp. It is a beautiful camp, and we were able to go out on the lake in canoes and enjoy the scenery. 

The highlight of that weekend was definitely the challenge course.  When you first meet for

 the activity, you meet right in front of the zip line.  You have to climb about twenty feet up, walk about 15 feet across a log, and then you're hooked up to a zip line and off you go.  I was pretty intimidated, but luckily there are a bunch of other activities you do first, and you kind of build up to the zip line.  I should mention that we also signed up Jayden for the challenge course, so I was trying to verbalize how fun and cool this was going to be, all the while trying to figure out if I was going to be able to do it myself.

Finally, it was time for the zip line.  I didn't have as much trouble as I thought, because you are on belay the whole time, and you feel very supported and like you wouldn't drop an inch, even if you jumped off the top of the tower.  So I went on the zip line- it was actually pretty fun, but the whole time I was just thinking about Jayden, because he was going shortly after me.  I figured he'd climb about half way up the pole and get scared and want to get down- but I would be happy that he at least tried.

Much to my surprise, the kid climbs up the twenty foot pole without any hesitation, walks across the log to the platform where the sister missionary hooks him up to the zip line.  She seemed a little surprised and asked how old he was... I don't know how many four year olds do the zip line, but I was sure proud of him!  I kept thinking "that's MY kid!"

We wrapped up the summer with our annual fishing trip in Montana.  The most exciting part of the trip occurred when we first arrived and Tyson was helping his dad park their trailer. Jayden and I were checking out some of the other spots and I saw a fairly large fuzzy animal saunter behind one of the small cabins in the campground. But it was just a bear, and my pulse only jumped to 193 bpm, and it's possible I may have slightly cut off the circulation in Jayden's hand as I dragged him by the wrist back to our campsite... no biggie.