Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!



It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone. 2008 left us with so much to be grateful for. This year we spent New Year's Eve in Utah at Aunt Mindy's house playing games, watching movies and eating delicious snacks in splendid Durrant fashion.  



















The costumes were especially designed for each and every person at the party by Grace and Amanda. (They even made some for the older boy cousins! ) They put together little bags with each persons name on it. Each hat, mask and noise maker was perfect for each recipient. My compliments to the designers.















Mother and daughter twins! We both LOVE RED!



















Best dressed in 2009 and loving it.















Grandma Diane is convinced that she and Grace look alike. See the resemblance? Me either.















Nothing better than a Kate sandwich to start off the year. Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

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!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

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.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

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.


Monday, November 3, 2008

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!


Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter

This year we went up to Utah to celebrate the Easter holiday. This year Easter was on March 23 instead of in April. On Saturday, we had great fun at Papa Tim's school with the Parker family. We rode scooters, jumped rope, played basketball and  hunted for eggs in the hallways. It's fun to see the great grandchildren playing together just like I did when I was their age. Thanks Dad for letting us borrow your school and keeping us out of the cold weather.

On Easter day we went to Aunt Mindy's house for our traditional BBQ and egg hunt. The Durrant's never seclude anyone and almost force the older cousins to go egg hunting so they can have a little Easter treat too. 


Aunt Pammy bought some Elmo eggs especially for Kate. It was so fun to watch her look for the Elmo eggs and giggle when she saw him with bunny ears on. Pam followed her around and helped her find them. It made the hunt even more special because Kate was adored so much by all.

Parker and Gabe always find time to have some boy fun.


Grace and her loot during the traditional "check to see if everyone got exactly the same treats" part of the egg hunt. They got a ton of candy this year.


Aunt Pammy leading another "did everyone get this treat bag" part of the hunt. If someone was missing a treat, the whole group goes hunting again to find the missing treat. This year we had a bunch of stuff missing. Those older cousins must be getting too cool for this. Seems like the Butler's found most of the missing treats for them.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

From Santa's Lap, by Melissa

Oops! This post is a little late... Better late than never, right?
On December 15, our family attended the Heritage Ward Christmas Party. It was loads of fun! All of the primary children participated in a nativity by wearing costumes and singing special songs they've been practicing in primary for the past few weeks. It was beautiful and all of the parents just loved it. It was also fun to see a whole bunch of "Marys" and "Josephs" in the crowd of children, but for some reason the many "Baby Jesuses" didn't fully participate. Sound familiar?

We also sang carols and I must admit that the Butler table was one of the loudest. I won't say that we were the most harmonious, but we definitely were heard singing, "Three french hens" to the Twelve Days of Christmas song when it was our turn. We laughed our bums off all twelve times too!

Santa was a big surprise, especially for Kate. He came ringing in right behind her and her eyes just lit up as his bowl full of jelly passed her. Remember that Kate won't go to nursery alone, but when she sat on Santa's lap not a tear was shed. Parker and Grace were very proud of her!



Wednesday, January 2, 2008

NEW YEAR'S DAY, by Parker

Well my new year was like this.

1st. In the morning Amanda and I played Stunt riderit's on Thrilleville ( its a video game) we made it tothe top level 10.

2nd. My family ate crepes.It was yummy.

3rd. Manda and Mellisa played thrillville. they weregood.

4th. We ate chili and cornbread, Grandpa's favorite.

5th. We played card games sutch as Cash-n-Guns andLoot.

Then it was midnight so I yelled HAPPY NEW YEAR

Monday, December 17, 2007

Elf Yourself, by Melissa

Sorry... It looks like the elves have gone back to Santa's workshop to make toys for next year's Christmas. You'll just have to enjoy the picture of Scrooge Papa Tim and imagine him dancing in all of his bah-hum-bug glory! (New comment posted on Jan 14, 2008)



Origninal post from December 17, 2007.....

We've had some Holiday fun by creating elves and Scrouges of ourselves. The Durant's also joined in and treated us to Tim dancing which is a once in a lifetime experience. So if you need a good laugh and a cup full of Butler cheer, check out the following links and maybe you too can get elfed!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1138507544 : All three kids plus Melissa!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1138353352 : See Grace's many dance moves!

http://www.scroogeyourself.com/?id=1138410855 : Parker got Scrouged!

http://www.scroogeyourself.com/?id=1139470643 : Bah, Hum Bug Tim!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1139319071 : My personal favorite because Tim is a very sexy dancer! Oh and Diane, Amanda and Pugs aren't too bad either!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

What I want for Christmas, by Parker

OK, here's what I want for Christmas.

1. Rayman Rabids 2 (it's a game for my Wii)
2. A remote control insect (if you want to know more ask Melisa)
3. super Mario Galaxy (another game for my Wii) I borrowed it from Brady and really like it!
4. Thrillville Off The Rails (more games) I played this one with Gabe and had fun.

That's all I want specific. Thank you for reading.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Spooktacular Halloween, by Melissa

Much was brewing on the morning of Halloween in the Haunted Butler Mansion. All three little ghouls were grinning grimly as they rose from their coffins and prepared to spook the students of Dooley Elementary. Visions of screaming kinders crept up their spines as they cackled about their Halloween plans at school.

The Mummy wrapped his half decayed body in preparation for a third grade Halloween feast of goodies, games and horror. Even with terrifying decay and half limbs, he managed to moan his way across Mrs. Brown's classroom to win the Mummy race while wrapped in delicate toilet paper, play Halloween BINGO, scream at scary stories and partake of ghoulish snacks. And he was still able to portray the most polite manners possbile for a mummy his age.

The Witch was casting unspeakable spells and cackling of her plans in Ms. Borum's first grade class. First she would parade her terrifying costume around the school, frightening any who would look directly into her dark brown eyes. Then she would return to her bewitched classroom and eat ghosts from strings with no hands, plant popcorn warts into gloved fingers and drink of a spidery and muddy witches brew.

The third and smallest ghoul was in disguise as a cute little girl who threw tantrums at the prospect of wearing her beloved Elmo costume and instead ate eggs and toast for breakfast. She pretended to be a normal little toddler while masking her true motives... for she was preparing to crash the witch's and mummy's social hours.

Upon their return from the dead of school, the ghouls compared treats and told of the tricks they had screeched together. But, the night was still young... their final destination of a tri-ward trunk-or-treating was about to begin. It was now time for the smallest ghoul to get in costume. The screaming and kicking was to much for the parents to bare as they tried to coax the Elmo costume onto her little skeleton. Melissa dug through costumes from the past to find a garb that would suit the little ghoul. She chose a pretty pink Tu-Tu and beaded shirt that made the mummy and witch scowl. Now monstorous family was ready to depart.

The ghouls stuffed their giant purple spider in the trunk of the car and headed to the freakish church parking lot. Many cars had chosen this spot for their final resting place. Each was decorated with spooks of all shapes and sizes. A horn was heard and the ghouls began their quest for treats. The princess held her pumpkin bag high and said, "treat" before seizing her beloved candy. Upon her dismissal she would grin a sweet, "bye" and wave as she studied the new addition to her collection of treats. Her bag got to heavy for her small arms and she drug it across the ground. As the night grew darker she allowed her Dad to hold her tight and they kept prodding through the haunted parking lot.

After completing the maze of ghostly cars, the three ghouls returned to their own car and giant purple spider. The mummy received compliments for wearing the best costume and Melissa cackled with pride as she looked upon the prickled fingers that had sewn the mummy's costume. The witch grinned at her new tooth brush and tooth paste and begged for a good brushing. The little princess sat still and stared into the tired night while licking and sucking on each treat in her pumpkin bag.

But as bats flew over head, the ghouls faces were flushed from hunting for treats and they wished to be tucked in to bed and rest in peace for the night. Their nightmares would now be filled with visions of you and wishes that your Halloween was as spooktacular as ours.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Halloween Fun on the Web, by Melissa














Looking for something fun to do while passing away the time until Halloween? Well, look no further! Blog-A-Butler has got some good ol' spooky fun to share with you. (Oops, I better give Amanda credit for most of the sites you see or else she'll scare the living BOO out of me!)

Know of some spine tingling Halloween websites? Post 'em on Blog-A-Butler and share the spine tingling love!

Carve a virtual pumpkin and avoid touching the slimy goo inside a real pumpkin:

http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

This dude puts the scary back into carving punkins:

http://www.extremepumpkins.com/

Put your thinking caps on, this one is addicting. (Hey Egor! Get out of that jar of noggins! Dang, it's hard to get good help around here.)

http://dedge.com/flash/hangman/hangman.swf?a=300

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