Sisters!

Grace and Kate got matching cheetah girl outfits for Christmas from Grandma Diane. They soaked up the attention during their modeling session on top of the kitchen table. I love that they feel beautiful and confident. Work that camera girls! You are natural born stars.

Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas! When we moved away from family four Christmases ago we felt a huge need to start our own traditions. Things we could do with the five of us. So far, this is one of my favorite traditions. Every Christmas morning Wing makes crepes with all kinds of fruit, ice cream, whipped cream and cottage cheese. He also cooks meat, eggs and hash browns as side dishes. Everyone loves the feast and looks forward to it each year. This year we kept the tradition alive by making a little extra for the Durrants. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Thanks Wing!

The True Meaning of Christmas

This was my favorite Christmas moment. The children never cease to surprise me. They took each part of the nativity so serious. Before we went over to Aunt Mindy's house, we had a mini family home evening and read parts of the nativity story that we don't read during the nativity program at the big party. Parker and Grace listened and read the scriptures so intently. Even Kate was reverent. We were all amazed by how well they understood what was read. It was great to be taught by the spirit through our children.

Gabe was a giggling shepherd. Parker was Joseph despite Kate's urges to get married. Kate was Mary and Grace was the angel and star. We all held in our laughter when gazing upon Kate. She was so serious and had a truly sweet reverence for Mary and the baby Jesus. She never faltered from her sacred role. She held Jesus so tenderly, even though he looked as though he were about to fall on his head.

Zoolights

Today we decided to visit Hogle Zoo and see their Zoolight show. It was much better than we expected. Each animal section of the zoo had it's own animated lights. We didn't see many animals because of the cold weather, but the lights were beautiful. I was surprised that we stayed as long as we did. It was either freezing or hot and sweaty in the indoor animal viewing areas. Nor rain, nor sleet, nor hail... The Butler's just love being together!

We brought our own hot chocolate and the kids loved the never ending supply of warm chocolaty goodness. Can you blame them? Grace felt like the turtle and desert lights were made just for her, Tina and Tiny.

This was the kids and Amanda's favorite light show. A fly flew above the frogs and lands on the frog on the right. The fly zips off just in time to see the frog get smacked in the head by his friend. Don't worry no flies were harmed in the viewing of these lights.

If you've been to Hogle Zoo, you've probably drunk from the lion drinking fountain. It's an old favorite and has been there since I was a kid. Now it's one of Parker's favorite zoo attractions too.

Snow Baby

Kate just loved the snow in Utah. She was outside playing in the snow every chance she got until her little nose and fingers could take it no longer. Each trip outside required a small cup and spoon for her to dig with and make minnie snow castles. The snow must taste better in Henderson. She was eating the white stuff constantly. Here in Utah she just wants to play. Maybe all the talk about yellow snow finally sunk in.

Daddy helped shovel the driveway and got creative with the huge pile of snow. He made Kate a little snow cave. Afterall, she is his little princess and they both love spoiling each other. It doesn't get much better than this!

The Weather Outside Is Frightful... YIPEE!

It's been a constant snow flurry in Utah... and we love it! We left our home in Henderson with 6 inches of snow to play in more snow in American Fork. The kids are taking full advantage of the white stuff and are outside playing in it as much as possible. Today Amanda fought her way through 4 different stores to get some sleighs for the kids and found these blue beauties. Amanda and I used to walk to this park to sleigh down the hills when we were kids. It was fun to bring those memories full circle with my own children. We had a blast!

Poor Parker. He's too much like his old lady! I was nervous to go down my first sleigh run and made my little sister go down first while I whimpered at the top of the hill. It was especially shameful when Amanda hit a tree on her way down the hill. We told my kids the story and laughed our heads off when Parker wanted Grace to go down first because he was nervous too. At least Grace didn't hit a tree. After that Parker was a sleigh riding torpedo! We both agree that it's better to be safe than sorry.

Grace just has a natural talent with everything! She kept trying to go faster and faster with each run down the hill. She even laughed when she bit the dust.

You can tell by Kate's expression that she had a great time. I marvel at how Kate just enjoys life. She always has a spring in her step and a smile in her heart. She never keeps you guessing and always let's us know how she feels. It's so fun to watch her enjoy even the smallest of life's moments always on her tippy-toes. It's such a joy to have Kate Diane in our family!

Kate went so fast down the hill that when she hit a bump her little body would go flying. The first few biffs were not a big deal. She even laughed about it. But the third roll over caught her in the face. That was the end of sleigh riding for her. Wing joined in on the action by locking arms with Parker and Grace and letting Kate ride on top of him. Parker and Grace thought it was fun and quite daring to go down backwards, but Kate's never forgetting memory didn't allow her to enjoy it as much as the others. Oh well... Wing's still got my vote for best Daddy!

Let It Snow?!, by Melissa

Yesterday was an amazing and unusual day in Henderson. It snowed! Not just a small flurry of snow either. Henderson got 5 inches of snow! It felt like a good ol' fashioned Christmas snow storm. Needless to say, our family took full advantage of the historic experience. Kate especiallly enjoyed her first snow fall with mouthfuls of snow... over.... and over again. What a great way to start the Holiday Season!

A Blast From The Past: Cootie Catcher

Do you remember making these when you were a kid? Last night Grace googled how to make a fortune teller/cootie catcher and she found this video. We each made about three different sizes of these and now Grace and Parker are the most popular kids in school. In fact, Grace has 15 orders from her classmates. Needless to say... She's getting a bit tired!

Enjoy.....

How To Make A Cootie Catcher/fortune Teller - The most amazing home videos are here

Papa's 60?!

Happy 60th Birthday, Popskerdoodles! It's hard to believe that we fit 60 candles on the cake and didn't set any fire alarms off. Whew! For a 60 year old fella, he did a pretty good job of blowing out the candles too. It only took him 3 or 4 tries. We all had a good laugh to see our big Papa Bear blow out an inferno of candles. Happy Birthday, Papa Tim!

Check out the smoke! We could hardly see a thing and Kate had to cover her little mouth and nose.

Do We Want A Boy Or A Girl? Survey Says...

The new baby is healthy, growing at the correct rate, has all of it's body parts... and is extremely wiggly! The kids laughed when the baby kept giving the technician problems because it was so squirmy. Very cute to see it's personality already blooming.

We interviewed each child before the ultrasound was preformed. Here's their responses, desires and reactions...

BEFORE:

Parker: "Yes. I think it will be a boy. Definitely a boy. I also want a boy. I want it to be a boy so I'll have a friend to play video games with."

Grace: "I want a girl. I think it will be a girl, but I want a boy. Wait a minute. I don't know! I don't care which one. But having a girl would be nice because she would be a girl."

Kate: "I really want a dirl (girl). A dirl can play with my toys."

AND THE ULTRASOUND SAYS:

It's an "innie!" Definitely not an "outie." It was very obvious to the trained eye.

AFTER:

Kate: "A DIRL! I am happy!" (She also grinned and clapped her hands! When we went back to the car she cried because she thought we were leaving the baby at the Doctors office. Don't worry, Kate. She's in Mommies tummy.)

Grace: "I like that! It's a girl! It's a girl! It's a girl!"

Parker: "There are going to be too many girls in the house. Whew. It's going to be tough on me."

HERE'S SOME OTHER CUTE LITTLE DETAILS:

What Will #4 Look Like?, by Melissa

We are going into the Ultra-Sound office on Monday to see what gender little #4 will  be. While we are extremely excited to see if this baby is a boy or girl, we are even more excited to see what this little bundle will look like when the peanut is born . It seems like all of our childrens physical attributes are so different, but so alike at the same time. Maybe the "Look-Alike" meter will give us some insight on what the newest Butler bundle of joy will look like. So far we've hit a pretty even 50% for both Mom and Dad. Shucks! I thought I had the stronger DNA!

I knew Kate was the perfect combination of both Wing and I! I'm so smart.

Who Does Grace Look Like?

Grace's coloring just shouts Wing! But, looks like I get equal credit in her beauty too. Not too shabby.

Who Does Parker Look Like?

Here's the kicker! For all of you who secretly wonder who Parker's real father is... STOP WONDERING! He's got more Wing in him than Melissa, but not by much. Go figure.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween at the Butler house is always great fun. This year Halloween was on Nevada Day and the kids didn't have to attend school! No school was the best treat of the day. Everything after that was just plain sweet.

Once Wing got home from work, we started to "de-gut" our pumpkins. The kids each carved out the guts from their own pumpkins with slimy anticipation. Kate said, "I not like these pumpkin guts. They are GROSS!" (Wing ended up cleaning her pumpkin out.) Grace and Parker were very brave and did a great job cleaning out the guts. Grace enjoyed the slime while Parker kept a safe distance. Those two are so funny. Each child drew the faces on their pumpkins and Wing took to the carving like the Eagle Scout that he is. They looked great! Each child was very proud of their creation.

One of my favorite things to do on Halloween night is to participate in the triward trunk-or-treat at our church parking lot. It's just great fun to see our friends and their costumes as well as how they decorated their trunks. Some of the costumes and trunks get pretty creative. Kate's bag got so heavy that she started to drag it in the road. Despite her heavy load, she was very polite and said, "Tank you" to every trunk.

We are also very lucky to live on the best Halloween street this side of the strip. Our neighbors really go the extra mile for Halloween. It's a great way to get to know our neighbors and enjoy the holiday. But, it got a little spooky for Kate so she and I went inside early. Personally, I think that she just wanted an early start on her candy loot.

After all of the candy was sorted, counted, taste tested and traded.... (whew) ... We all ate my Mom's recipe for Captain's Chile with cornbread. It was a great way to end an exciting day. We all slept well that night despite the sugar high dancing in our veins.

We hope that you had a spooky and fun Halloween too!

Autumn Colors

Henderson isn't exactly a showcase of the change of seasons. The leaves don't change colors until winter and they usually just fall off the trees without any beauty. That's one of the things I miss about Utah. Autumn is one of the most beautiful seasons. I just love all of the different colors that nature paints upon the leaves. This year Kate and I were lucky enough to be in Utah during the beginning of Autumn. She thoroughly enjoyed the pile of leaves she helped Papa Tim rake up time and time again.

After we finished packing up our booth at the Battlecreek Boutique, Kate was rewarded with time in the park for being such a patient helper. She loves the park and will play for hours. She has a contagious smile that just tickles my heart. These photos with a little chocolate accent upon her mug are some of my favorite. They capture her little spirit inside and out!

Amanda is a great photographer and really knows how to capture her personality.

Mom is away!! The mice will play....well.... we'll STARVE!

WE are so excited for mom! She's away working running a booth for her MyTempleArt business. We are so proud of her!
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So while she is away we're trying to make do. We made a grocery list and menu for the 4 days we're on our own. It's tough, but Grace made the list and said she has alot of "intestines in her brain", well ..... she said, "at least it looks like that".

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This is the most fancy dinner we put together. The rest of the time was filled with macaroni & cheese, cereal, and lots of ice cream, speaking of which.....I'm hungry! Parker said "Mom's way of cooking is so sudden"......and then he said with a twinkle and grin, signaling a joke, "I like your way of cooking, its better, well.....you really don't even cook." That's it, I quit being Mr. Mom!

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Nonetheless, we're so proud of Mom! We're going to see what's in the fridge.......grin.

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Captain Underpants And His Faithful Sidekick

This is one of those entries that just can't be missed! Today, Parker and Grace are having a blast playing Captain Underpants and his Sidekick. When they were younger they played this game all of the time, but now that they are older Captain Underpants reveals himself less and less. Growing up spoils all of the fun. But, atleast these photos are going to be put to good use when Parker and Grace start dating!

Captain Underpants weapon of choice is the flying underpant flung with incredible speed. Let's just hope that the undies are clean. We try to ignore where the ammunition is stored, but it's impossible not to notice how they add to Parker's bulging physic. (grin)

My Temple Art, by Melissa

Today I celebrate the launching of my first online store, www.mytempleart.com! I've been working on this for a while and have sold a few pieces, but the urgency of my debut stems from my first appearance at the Battlecreek Boutique on October 23 - 25, 2008. Yikes!

I'm tempted to do a little bragging.... so I will! I did all of the design work and animation on the website. I had to relearn some of the Flash programming, but I had a blast doing it. It's good to see something I've been working on for so long come to life.

If you know of anyone who needs a great wedding, anniversary or Christmas gift, give them the website info. Check out the website at: www.mytempleart.com

P.S. Just a quick FYI: Wing and I got married in the Mt. Timpanogos temple, but the Salt Lake City temple seems to work better for marketing purposes.

My good friend has created a very intuitive online store for small business owners that want an online presence. It's super easy to use and gives your products a great visual base. I recommend it to anyone that wants to start selling stuff online without the risk of investing a bunch of cash. You can even post your first 5 products for free! Can't beat that. The website can be found at: www.bigcartel.com 

Happy Birthday Kate!

Our little Katie Bug is three years old today! It's hard to believe that just three short years ago we moved to Henderson, were blessed with a beautiful little Kater Tots and have enjoyed her smart spunky personality ever since. It's been wonderful! She is a constant delight and every member of our family adores her and giggles at her every whim. She brightens our hearts every day and was brought into the world when we needed her most. Parker says that she is the boss of our family and we all agree, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

It doesn't matter who's birthday it is.... Kate ends up blowing out the candles at least two dozen times before the night is over. Since today is her special day, she got to blow out the candles 34 times! We would have gone a few more rounds, but she was ready to play with the princess hearts on the cake. She made us sing to her all 34 times and the song got shorter and faster as the night progressed, but we all enjoyed serving her and seeing her grin after every blown out candle.

Kate's favorite place to play is at McDonald's. We ate dinner there followed by the kids playing in the playland for hours. It was the perfect day for her. We love you Kate. Happy Birthday!