Butler Family Reunion 2011

The Butler reunion was right after the Call family one so we headed to NE and spent a couple more fun days with family. Here is everyone in their matching outfits Aunt Millie made for the family picture!

Our little family

Girls in their cute dresses

Abbie riding a pony

Decorating t-shirts with their grandchild number on it

Hanging out around the campfire

Taking a ride on the wagon

And early morning hike up the mountain (where we all got ticks!)

Thanks to Sarah's motivation, we all made it to the top!
Leah performing the flower dance she learned in ballet for the talent show

Girl's night in - we did hair and pedicures, ate tons of chocolate, and watched a chick flick!

Playing ponies with the cousins

Thanks, Millie and Sarah, for organizing this great reunion, we had a ton of fun and loved all the activities and great food. Can't wait for the next one!

Summer summary

We've been too busy having fun this summer to blog much. Here's Abbie and Leah enjoying our little backyard pool. Don't you wish we could all go back to those carefree days of summer when you had nothing to do but play outside all day?

Here's Porter working on his kissing skills. Pucker up!

Leah's first attempt at potty training and wearing underwear. As you can see, we're still working on it...

My babies at the waterfall at Thanksgiving Point. Aren't they (and the waterfall) beautiful?

All of us in the Secret Garden at Thanksgiving Point. The flowers were gorgeous and it was a perfect day to walk around.

1 little, 2 little, 3 little Indians

Here are our three little Indians making lots of noise at dinnertime!

No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks!

Abbie's last day of kindergarten was this week. She did a great job this year and is going to miss her teacher but she is excited to be in first grade next year. Here she is on the first day of school, back in September:

And here she is on the last day of school, with a little more worn out shoes and backpack. We are so glad that it is finally summer. We plan on lots of days at the pool and playing in the backyard.

May happenings

May has been busy with rides in the little red wagon, visiting Temple Square, attending a cousin's baptism, going to WY to visit Grandma's house, practicing for and performing at an end of the year ballet recital, graduating from preschool, and the last day of Kindergarten for Abbie! I'm so glad it's finally summer and hopefully better weather and more relaxing days!

Here are the kids in the wagon together, on a long awaited warm day

Porter was excited to explore the grass and outside once it finally got warm enough

Having fun!

Visiting Temple Square for a preschool field trip with the cousins (and Grandma)

Leah in front of the beautiful flowers

Playing in the fountain

In front of the Christus. I have a lot of memories of visiting this as a child, every time we came to UT it seemed we took a trip to Temple Square and ran up the round ramp to see this statue. Now my kids get to grow up with this memory as well.

Leah dancing in a traditional Mexican dress at the Book of Mormon exhibit

Attending a cousin's baptism

Visiting Grandma's house in WY for a couple days. She read the kids stories...

and they helped her plant and water her garden.

Playing on the swingset with cousin Lexi

Riding 4-wheelers at Uncle Walden's house. Leah loved it and rode most of the time we were there, over an hour!

Porter didn't like it too much!

But he loved the kittys!

Abbie and Leah's end of the year ballet recital

All four girls at the end

Abbie and Leah doing some ballet pose, I don't know what it's called

Leah's preschool graduation

Aunt Rachel made up a little play they performed and made it so cute and fun for the kids with caps and certificates.

Throwing the caps into the air! Hooray!

Abbie earned a Coyote Pride award at school (an award they get if they complete certain requirements in their grade like counting to 100, knowing their sight words, identifying shapes and colors, being able to tie her shoe, etc.)

 

Trampoline trick

Doing a front flip into the foam pit. It was kind of scary at first but after a few times, it was pretty fun!  The hardest part was getting out at the end! 

Trampolines, Easter, and Women's Conference

In mid-April I visited a trampoline place for my sister's birthday and it was so much fun. Here we are after jumping for a while, all hot and sweaty!

I had a great time doing flips and tricks, I was surprised how much I was able to do after not being on a trampoline in years. See the video above of me doing a front flip into the foam pit!

We had a Easter egg hunt out at my dad's house before Easter Sunday and the cousins all had a great time looking for eggs together. This was the first year that my kids got to be a part of this tradition so it was nice to not have to miss out on the fun this year.

Abbie with her eggs

Leah with her basket

Feasting on all the candy

The girls getting their Easter baskets. Leah saw this yellow chick at the store a few weeks before Easter and took turns hugging each and every one in the store before they left. I just had to go back and get one for her for her basket. She loved it!

Abbie was excited to get a chocolate bunny!

Both of them with their chickies

Leah and Porter and their cute diapered bums before bed one night. Porter started crawling away from me before I could get him dressed and Leah started chasing him. So cute!

My mom and a few sisters and I attended BYU Women's Conference this year and it was awesome! We had a great time going to the classes all day and then having dinner and spending the night in Midway before returning to our families and every day responsibilities. It was great to have a break from everything and enjoy a little weekend with just the girls.