DISNEYLAND APRIL 2008

All the girl cousins love doing Miss Jennee's workshops. This year she decided to take them to perform at Disneyland. They worked hard and had alot of fun preparing for the performance.


Disneyland is so much fun. We have the best time. No fighting allowed and lots of treats ARE allowed!

OUR FAVORITE FOODS AT DISNEYLAND

Steve's : pineapple spears, churros, pecan rolls, carmel clusters...

Noelle's: Mint Julip, churros and Bangal's BBQ bacon wrapped asparagus

Liv's: pineapple spear, churro, frozen lemonade, & did I mention pineapple spear?

Harrison: churro, churro and ICEE

Owen: churro, cotton candy

Ryan: churro, cotton candy

Much to Grandpa and Grandma's pleasure we made a long overdue stop at Knott's Berry Farm.

The swinging boat is one of my favorite rides of all time. When I was little, my dad took me on it and I creid and cried. I was so mad and scared he was doing that to me. When the ride was over, I begged through my tears to go again. The same thing happened to my kids this year. Sweet revenge or parent's know best?

I dug out all of the old Mickey Ears for the trip. Awhile back, I was going through my box of childhood momentos and found my ears. How funny is that?

PINEWOOD DERBY APRIL 2008

Oh, how exciting. Harrison's first Pinewood Derby. I am so proud of him (and Steve.) Harrison was out in the garage designing, cutting, sanding, sanding, sanding and painting that block of wood until he was happy with his masterpiece. Im so proud because Steve wasn't one of thoses dads that does it all so his kid could win. He actually taught Harrison how to use the tools and made it a project for him.

It was a night to remember. Harrison won one race! He had a good chance to learn how to be a good sport too!

HERMOSA VISTA SPRING FUN RUN 2008

Ryan ran most of the way!
School Spirit
Such satisfaction, crossing the finish line feels awesome!
Our elementry school held its first annual Fun Run Fundraiser. We had so much fun. The kids got T-shirts that a fellow student designed, replenished ourselves with FREE Jamba Juice and felt great satisfaction in completing a race. Can't wait till next year.

EASTER 2008 - BUTLER FAMILY

This is the year to spend with the Butlers, that's my family. We love to spend time with our siblings and cousins. It gets really hectic with all the chaos, loud voices and 7 dogs (if they are invited) , but thats our family and we love it. Im hoping the chaos level goes down as MY boys get older. We always look forward to yummy ham, scalloped potatos, grandma Tessa's WHITE rolls and homemade fudge eggs with our names on them. All courtesy of my mom! Thanks.

I love Easter morning pictures. Messy hair, jammies, and stinky breath.

The Easter Bunny is really smart. He hides the plastic eggs outside and the hardboiled ones inside!

I know that I may catch alot of flack for the way I dress my boys on Sunday, but its worth it. I love these shoes. They were Harrisons, (Owen would never wear them much to my sadness, )and now it's Ryans turn. I have a pair of Steve's famed in the boys room. There is just something so cute about little boy legs in knee sock and saddle shoes. Sorry, boys. I hope you don't hate me later.

The dreaded Easter Sunday picture didn't turn out so bad, not so great either. One thing I have decided is that I have to appreciate each of their quirks/issues/ages when I try for the PERFECT family picture. One day, Im told, I will cherish all of the chaos. We'll see!

ARIZONA ORANGES March 2008

Our two American Bulldogs, Moose & MillieWhat is better than AZ oranges fresh from the trees?

The heavenly orange blossoms. I wish you could smell them. Fesh O.J with breakfast isn't bad either!

I know, a picture of my wreath! I took it because it makes me happy and I think of my great friend Rebecca. She once had a wreath with the ribbons tied from the bottom and I loved it almost as much as I love her.
I am trying to teach my kids the value of hard work. I'm not sure if we are gaining anything from it yet. Its so much work to work with your kids. What I need to learn is to enjoy the journey while doing it. Listen to the chatter and laugh at the funny things. I guess that is the "IDEALIST" in me.
What a great boy.

O is so funny, he takes after his dad.

SPRING BREAK 2008...MEXICAN STYLE!

The BIG #8

H's birthday is always fun to celebrate because it's on St. Patricks Day.

Alot of fun, food, family, and friends! Rocky Point is a great place to go for families. We were introduced to the highrise condos by our friends Steve and Rhonda Frost. This was our third time down. We love to buy FRESH shrimp and tortillas, REAL vanilla and antiobotics. It was a culture shock and great taching moment for us all. We are trully blessed and I am proud to be an American.

USUARY PASS -2008

We all made it to the top except Grandma & Grandpa. What a fun accomplishment. Going down was fun too, Liz, Rebecca and Itook turns carrying R down and enjoyed listening to O complain about how long the hike was. All in all we had a great day and no injuries either!

USUARY PASS - March 2008

We thought we would take advantage of our nice Spring weather and do a little hiking together. We packed our water, cameras, but forgot our sunscreen. We all were a little worried on my mother-in -laws knees, but she hung in there. Leslie was not about to be left behind.


Two cute brothers!

Actually, the older kids took off ahead so we kept pace with O & R up with these two yahoos!




Ok, so I say I hate living in AZ. I actually do think it is pretty in the Spring, this is our "green" time of the year. I still would move in a heartbeat if it weren't for our stinkin family. They'd be so sad if we left and we would be too.

A MEANS TO AN END

This was a great motivation to get back in shape!!! I took the holdays off and it was very apparent that I did! Ouch feel the burn in my chest. Its not a good feeling to beat by your group! I must admit.

I was driving down the 101 the other day and couldn't help notice beautiful Camelback Mountain. I haven't hiked it forever, since "teenagerhood"soooooooo, I got the fever to do it before it got too hot. Liz, Steve and I and on ocassion Holly, have hiked the mountain. I didn't remember it to be so difficult! Maybe thats because the last time I hiked it was in geat shape and 15 years younger.

The day Steve came us was so awesome. I love to watch him conquer life! I love to watch people watch him. He is so inspirational. He not only scaled the mountain with upper arm strength he finished way ahead of Liz and I. I love him for all he does and what he teaches me just by being himself.

Its been great the 3 times we went. I love people watching. There are some wierdies out there. Okay, but the real motivation to get to the top was that I knew I was headed to The Grande Orange when I got to the bottom. Have you been there? It is a great little store, bakery, pizza, and restuant. It reminds me of cute little places in Utah, places that I didn't think exsisted here. Boy am I a happy girl.

SCUBA HEAVEN

February 20,2008.
Darling, I know... it's SCUBA beauty. Its all a bit akward, but well worth it to be warm in the water.

Thanks to our great friends, the Frosts, we got certified to SCUBA. We love it. Our first trip was with a big group of people we didnt know to Cozumel, Mexico. It was SO fun and a great getaway for Steve and I. Three months later we had the opportunity to go again. We were thrilled (the kids not so much). We made all the arrangments and counted down the days!

Scuba is amazing. It can be so relaxing and exhilerating at the same time. It is such a thrill to be under the water with other species. There is so much to see. One thing I realized is that God is real. It amazes me to see His creations under the water. Stuff you hear about but dont ever see with your own eyes.

Our first dive we saw alsmost everything you could see. We found out later, we had a really lucky and RARE dive that day. We saw... sea turtles, schools of various fish, 2 nurse sharks, barracuda, puffer fish, seahorse, GIANT parrot fish, and the most amazing Eagle Rays. They were huge.

We have some funny memories to remember forever. I'll name a few, mostly for me when I am old and can't remember anymore.

1. Steve struggles for air the WHOLE trip because we didn't know we could adjust the air flow on his regulator.



2. Following Steve Frost down to 140 feet on our VERY first dive. Not knowing we were. Steve cant breath, (see #1) so he shoots to what we thought was going to be the surface. A BIG no no. It was a good thing he stopped at 90 ft.



3. Staying in a private house on the edge of the ocean.



4. Fabulous cakes (five of them) that our dive masters wife made us. They were so proud of them!! Seriously they were the worst things I have ever tasted. The bad thing was we were charged $100 for them!!! They went strait to the trash!!!



5. Reading one of the Twilight series on this beautiful cabana every day. See above.



6. Bob Marleys Hammocks and yummy food.



7. Topes (thats speed HUMP in spanish) So sad for the lucky girls whose turn it was to sit in the back of the rental car. We nearly broke our backs and more than once hit our heads on the ceiling of the car.



8. Hot rock massages at the nearby spa.



9. Surface intervals on the beach eating the best pico de gallo and guacamole and chips in our wetsuits. Such great food and great company.



10. Cakes from Roberta and fresh water after a dive. Im still waiting for recipes from her. She made a yummy chocolate loaf cake with mint icing.



11. Touring the island on scooters.



12. Staying at an all inclusive resort the first trip. "Hurting them" by ordering everything on the menu! Our own private jacuzzi in our room



13. The anticipation for a Night Dive with flashlights. So amazing, except, the boat dropped us off at the wrong location. We spent most of the dive swimming against the current to get back to the reef. Steve was out of air (see #1) So I had to go up to the surface with him because you never leave your dive buddy!!! That sucked.



14. Watching Steve conquer another thing in spite of his prothesis! I love him. He is such a great example to me. He makes my heart happy.



15. Great memories and friends