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