Dynomite Discussions

My babies!!

2011-08-06T21:57:00.001-07:00

Okay so don't judge me and I am sorry I am not a better updater... I will try. I just have to share a few photos of my babies because I finally got them back. Abby is 3 and Jaxon is 5 weeks....

I must say that my kids are pretty cute, and Hanna did such a great job on the pictures I couldn't decide which ones to put on here. We have truly been blessed to welcome such a sweet spirit into our home, Jaxon is very easy going, even when Abby is right in his face smothering him. I am so grateful for my small family!

We're having a....

2011-01-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

Well I had my ultrasound today and for some reason I was really nervous... I don't know if it was just because I wanted everything to turn out fine (which it did) or if I was nervous to find out what we were having (which I did), but I was just a ball of nerves. My appointment was for 3:00 and Tyler showed up at 3:15 and the ultrasound lady kept coming out and saying is he here yet, just adding to my nerves because he was late. In the mean time Abby is asleep on my lap because she isn't feeling well so I am wondering what am I going to do with her when they tell me that we can't wait any longer. She woke up and the technician said that we needed to get started and i decided that was fine because I really had to go to the bathroom. We got in the room she checked my ovaries and bladder, let me go to the bathroom and Tyler finally appeared. I don't have a scanner but all the ultrasound pictures are kind of crazy because this baby would not hold still everything looked good and healthy the only thing she couldn't tell for sure on were toes and the babies fingers because it's hands were in a fist pretty much the whole time. What an awesome thing it is to be able to check on your baby while it's still growing and developing inside of you....and also to see the most important parts, this baby has a few extra so in case you haven't guessed yet our new baby will be a.......

BOY!!!

So I am excited but now I have a whole new set of nerves, I am not sure what to do with a boy but we will figure it out!

Much needed updates!!

2011-01-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well we will pretend that in the last five months nothing exciting has happened not Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years ok? I will give a brief recap, at the end of summer we had two brief mini vacations one to Boise and one to Salt Lake. We stayed with Eric and Hilary in Boise and had an awesome time and we stayed at a hotel in Utah and enjoyed the Hogle Zoo and shopping for my birthday weekend. Abby was an adorable lady bug for Halloween, we went to boo at the zoo and fought the crowds with my nieces and nephew. This year for Thanksgiving we got to spend some time with Travis and Kim and family it was a full house but tons of fun. We also had family pictures taken and they turned out beautifully! Troy and Laura also came down for Thanksgiving so we had the best of both worlds. It's hard trying to divide time when you have two awesome families to pick from but hopefully we spent enough time with both of them! Christmas this year was interesting, all Abby wanted this year was a kitchen, so every present she opened she would say Is this my kitchen? then be kind of grumpy when it wasn't. Eventually we showed her the kitchen she didn't even take off the sheet she just looked under it and went Ahhhh MY KITCHEN!!! It was priceless and all captured on film:) We spent New Years at home playing games with Dece and Grant while the boys played video games downstairs all night it was a ton of fun and my stomach hurt the next day from laughing so hard!! Sorry that it took so long I will try to be more diligent with updates because it is hard once you let it go so long.

Wow really...

2010-09-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Okay I knew it had been a long time but three months really? Sorry I will try to be better. I am just going to do a brief recap on our summer and add some cute pictures... So in the last three months

*We went to the zoo ALOT, good thing we love it there

*Abby turned two :( sigh :(

*She also went to her first swimming lessons

*We had two fun filled camping trips with each of our awesome families

*We played

*And played some more

One of the tigers died this year at the zoo in idaho falls, everytime we saw the tiger Abby kept saying how sad he was because his friend died.

I think she liked it!

On the way to Alturas Lake finally he fell asleep no more whining dog HURRAY!

Apparently I only took pictures on the first day at the beach but we had a blast camping with my family in Alturas this year and can't wait for next year!!

Abby and her husband.

This is at Island Park, I have to put this picture in because when we first got there Abby was carrying around Tyler's little shovel and started telling us that it was her husband! I have no idea where she got that but I don't think we should let her live it down, ever, she even gathered flowers for him it was so cute!

Look at my beautiful girl, I can't believe that I am so lucky to have her in my life. It has been a whirlwind summer but I wouldn't change a thing, I am amazed everyday at what she can do she is awesome! I love you forever babe!

Your Invited

2010-05-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Okay so Friday is Abby's birthday but since everyone is going camping we are going to have a small get together on Sunday the 30th at 3pm. So please join us for cake and ice cream and a little bit of fun. She can't wait to see you there!!!

Baking Fun

2010-04-11T22:40:00.001-07:00

I have a new calling as an achievment days leader in our ward so this week I was in charge of bringing the snack. This is what I made they are super cute and super easy I think that I will make them for Abby's birthday this year too!!

Happy Easter

2010-04-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

Easter was pretty quiet this year at our house. I didn't really talk to Abby about the easter bunny and since we woke up with 4ish inches of snow on Saturday we did not easter egg hunt, maybe next year. On Sunday Abby woke up and found her basket,

We watched the morning session of conference and had family over to color eggs and have a yummy lunch. Dece, Grant, and Tanner hid some eggs for the little kids to find in the backyard, and we enjoyed each others company and the wonderful spirit of conference on Easter Sunday.

When all is quiet you know something bad is happening...

2010-04-11T22:21:00.000-07:00

I was folding laundry the other day and Abby wasn't helping me (which is me folding her unfolding, me folding her unfolding, etc...) I was enjoying not folding the same basket of clothes three times until I realized that Abby wasn't making a peep. This is what I found:

I have no idea how she got on the bathroom counter or into my makeup but when I asked her what she was doing she said " I pretty Mommy look at my Makeup" You are beautiful my little racoon. I love you!

Abby's first real live Pony!!

2010-04-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

I had you going there didn't I. No we did not buy her a pony but I was able to put her hair in a ponytail!!! It is so cute, but sad at the same time my little baby is growing up:( She was very proud of her beautiful hair so of course here are the pictures.

?Springtime? Fun!!!

2010-04-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

I guess this would be Idaho springtime fun but none the less it was fun as you can see by Abby's facial expressions:

Is it really spring if your puddles are surrounded by snow and ice? Abby thinks so she bawled when I made her come in the house.

Please go away sickies!!!

2010-02-25T21:55:00.000-08:00

This will be short and sweet, as always I need to vent. Why is it that Tyler never gets sick? On Tuesday Abby threw up, then it got worse I won't go into detail. Needless to say at 2:30 am on Thursday as I am just getting to sleep I have to make a run for the bathroom and have been throwing up all day:( Abby is still sick too, so when Tyler got home at four this afternoon we were both still in jammies watching Finding Nemo for the second time, lame huh, but that was all I could do today. It's a good thing Abby won't remember some of my bad mommy days. Anyway I hope we will be feeling better soon and that Tyler doesn't get this one it's pretty bad.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

Wow I am really slow but here is what we did for Valentines. We celebrated at my dad and mom's house on Saturday, with Grandma Ruby, Blake, and Elizabeth. We thought it would be fun to take Abby and Blake sledding at Freeman Park, so we headed out with all our gear and my camera died, of course. Here are the few pictures I did get:

Look at those smiles! And they were just as happy when we got back to the house for our dinner. We made chicken enchiladas and Valentine's cupcakes and just had a great time being together!!! Valentine's isn't just about being romantic with your sweetheart (although that is nice) it's about spending time with the people you love and making great memories. It's so fun to watch Abby making memories with Great Grandma Ruby and spending time with her cousins. Great idea mom!!! Love you all!!!

We want Spring!!! (but here are some fun things we have been doing in the meantime...)

2010-02-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

I am ready to say goodbye to winter!!! My skin is dried out, my hair has out of control static, and I am always freezing no matter if I am inside or outside. BRING ON THE SPRING!!! Although I say this we have been doing some pretty fun things with this years snow. Here are a few pictures:

Abby all bundled up so mommy can pull her in the sled during a snowstorm. (It was really beautiful snow, huge flakes, and a little work out for mom:)

Abby loved to stand and watch the snow fall!!!

Then daddy came home from work and joined us for a little more fun (throwing snow balls for Beau to try and find and eat, Abby thought it was hilarous)

Fingerpainting

2010-01-22T21:56:00.001-08:00

It has been cold and nasty in Idaho Falls this past week so Abby and I went to the store to find something fun to do. This is what we picked:

Abby loved this everytime I tried to get a face shot I would say Look at Mommy and she would look at the paper smile and say cheese!!!

One of the few times she looked up at me was to tell me she needed to wash her hands because they were dirty. (Her first love is water, she always wants to wash her hands and any excuse will do!)

The smile says it all, I think we will be fingerpainting ALOT until the snow melts, it was so fun to watch her make a pretty picture and washable fingerpaints clean up so easily with water!!!

Late Late Late!!!

2010-01-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

Wow I am a slacker!!! Christmas has come and gone but I will update you guys anyway. We spent Christmas Eve with the Butikofer's and had a good time playing games and hanging out. Christmas morning I was so excited to see Abby open up all of her presents because I was sure this was the year she would LOVE it.... she did like it but not as much as I hoped:( Oh well it was still fun and now I can't wait for next year cause I'm sure it will be even better. After opening presents at home we went over to my mom and dad's house because my brother Troy and sister Laura flew in from Washington. It was so good to see them and I wish that they lived closer so that we got to spend more time together. Luckily they stayed clear until the New Year so we got to hang out alot. I can't believe how big our family is getting it seemed like there were a ton of people at my parents house (25? of us all together, with lots of screamin' children). It was so much fun to see all of our kids interacting with each other you can tell which of them have siblings and which of them need them (ABBY). I won't bore you with all of the stuff we did over the week but I will say we had tons of fun!!! The New Year was spent at home because I had to work the next day, I did stay up to watch the ball drop but that was about it. Tyler made his chicken chili which was delicious, and Becca and Brian and Mike and Kendan came over and celebrated with us, the girls played cards while the boys killed things on the computer it was a lot of fun. I did take pictures this year but Tyler got me a new camera for Christmas and I haven't loaded the software yet so I will add some pictures later. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful Christmas season We Love You all and are so grateful you are in our lives.

FRUSTRATED!!!!

2009-12-10T13:59:00.000-08:00

I am going to be crazy by the time Abby is out of her new phase. I can't take her anywhere not to church, the store, the visitors center at the temple with my girls, to get pictures, absolutely nowhere. She screams (just for fun not because she's upset), cries, throws herself on the ground, throws things out of the cart, runs away and is just plain NAUGHTY. I usually can't even bribe her to be good. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I just want to kick and scream too I don't know what to do with her and I have considered some things I won't type so nobody turns me into health and welfare. I just had to write this up to get some of my frustration out so that I don't beat my child today. Thanks for listening any advice would be greatly appreciated.

One good thing about Winter

2009-12-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

I am a little late updating but here goes anyway. Our Thanksgiving was fabulous and I hope everyone elses was also. The best part of the weekend for me was going Christmas Tree hunting it is a one of my FAVORITE Butikofer traditions. This year was great because we got to take along one of our great friends Becky (I think most of you know her but if not you'll probably meet her at Christmas, she is having a tough time right now and I have been trying to invite her to everything so she can remember the good things in this life.) We started off late but ended up in Driggs to get our permits around 12:30 then off we went into the wilderness to find the perfect tree. It was then that I realized I had forgotten my camera :( Oh well hopefully someone else will get me pictures (Becca?, Dece?) There wasn't as much snow this year as in years past but enough that Abby could be pulled on a sled which she liked very much although her mother had her layered so much she really couldn't move her little body at all. It didn't take us to long to find the perfect tree I think ours is about 15 feet tall thanks to Tyler who always needs a huge tree (complex?, just kidding). Abby went sledding down a little hill with cousin Tanner and Lexie and Mommy but, I think she liked it best when she went alone because she is a little dare devil. We stopped an ate lunch in this little diner we always eat at and our trip was over. I had a great time like always. Thanks family for a great afternoon love you guys.

BORDED, BORDED, BORDED!!!

2009-11-17T21:16:00.001-08:00

Although it has only been cold for about two weeks Abby and I are about ready to pull our hair out. I have been letting her go outside but it is so dang cold that we don't stay out for long not by her choice of course, if she had her way she would stay outside saying SNOW MOMMY SNOW!!! until her fingers and toes fell off. Anyway the purpose of my post is that I need some help!!! Does anybody have a great website or any awesome ideas of things that I can do inside with an eighteen month old (going on 30:(. If so don't be stingy send them along to me!!! Thanks everyone love you guys.

Colors

2009-11-13T21:39:00.000-08:00

Ok I will update this as I get more info. from everyone. Please check the list and make sure you are not picking a color that someone else has already chosen. Thanks guys!!! So far
Mom and Dad: ?
Troy and Laura: Royal Purple
Tenille and Grant: Black
Travis and Ryann: Brown
Tyler and Neta: ?
Tracy and Tyler: Red
Tanner and Chelsey: Creme
Good Luck finding the right color and remember your shirts don't all have to be the exact same color there is a variety of shades and that is okay. Besides it doesn't really matter what we wear cause we are all hot anyway!!!

Victory!!! (maybe)

2009-11-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

Okay I swear this will probably be my last post about family pictures ha ha ha!!! I think that we have found a building to do the shoot in (thanks mom). I am just waiting for an email from the photographer. So now I need to approach the minor details such as: what is the best time for everyone (take in to consideration nap time and such), I thought maybe 10ish but I don't know, and mom is not sure on all white shirts because she doesn't want to wear white so would everyone be open to each individual family wearing a different color? or does anyone have another idea, we could do all black?!? Ideas would be greatly appreciated I think we are still shooting for the jeans theme so please leave me your thoughts. We can't wait to see everyone and hope that all is going well lots of love.

More photo stuff...

2009-11-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry my posts have been pretty boring lately but, I really am trying to get this whole thing organized. So here is my dilema I really really like the photographers at the frame (that is the link that i left last time) but we are in need of an amazing (indoors) place for the photo shoot to take place. So PLEASE if anyone can think of a great place leave me a little comment I would greatly appreciate it. Hopefully in or around Idaho Falls as we will all be up here. We still have a couple other photographers but most of them do not give any copyright and for $250 we get the copyright to 22 shots plus have two photographers. Chelsey has been calling around to but alot of the photographers either don't have a studio or don't have one big enough for 25ish people so once again think think think of a great space to take pictures.

Possible photographer

2009-10-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody!!! I am making a little bit of progress on organizing our family photograph. I would like you to check out this website and see what you think of these two: www.theframe.me. A couple of friends of ours had them take their family pictures and they were amazing, the only downfall is that we would have to find somewhere to have them taken as they don't have a studio!?! Although I did email them and Bree said that she could start thinking of different places, I told her that we would probably need to be inside because of all our little ones. Also we were kind of thinking everybody in jeans and white shirts? or is that a little to common? Let me know the input is greatly appreciated!!!

Pumpkin Carving with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-10-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night we decided to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's with Abby to carve her first pumpkin. I wasn't really sure how she would react to the texture of the insides and just as I suspected she didn't really care for it to much. We did get her to touch it a little bit but then she wanted to wash her hands. So while Tyler and Grandpa carved Abby washed her hands for a long time in Grandma's sink. Before I knew it she was naked inside Grandma's sink ( with a little help from Grandma I think!!!) Here's the proof of our fun night:

Abby digging out the insides with Grandpa and a lot of encourgement.

She did like the tools.

Washing her hands (but somehow the sink filled up, cups appeared, and her shirt got soaked I wonder how that happened?)

Eventually all the clothes came off and she ended up in the sink fascinated because she could turn the water on and off. The only problem was she kept turning it to cold!! Meanwhile:

The dads were left to carve the pumpkins!! It's funny how that always happens.

The final products Tyler and Dad did a great job!!! And we had tons of fun. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us make a mess at your house!!! Love you guys!

New Family Pictures Anyone???

2009-10-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking that at Christmas time we should get a new family picture taken. Profesionally not in Mom's basement! If anyone is also thinking this is a good idea get back with me and we will try and get that set up!!! There is a guy in our ward who has a studio just down the road and he does a pretty good job he takes the Butikofer family pictures. So please let me know I really think that this should be done. Thanks.

I'm an Auntie!!! (again)

2009-10-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Marie Wilson is here she was born October 4 at 11:23 a.m. She was only 6lbs and 181/2 inches long so she is tiny but beautiful. I can't believe babies can even be that small she feels like your not holding anything. I don't have any pictures yet because Keith took our camera on vacation bummer!!! Hopefully I will have some soon. She has to stay in the NICU for a couple of days just as a precaution so she will probably be home on Wednesday. Congratulations Tenille and Grant she is gorgeous!!!! You can see some pictures of her on my mom's blog just click on the link to the right.

Target

2009-09-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

As some of you may or may not know I love Target, I think they have great stuff. I haven't been there for a while so I went browsing today with Abby. We ended up finding her a winter coat for a great price so I decided to grab it, of course once we got to the check out it didn't have a tag on it. And here is where my funny story begins: The cashier left to find a price tag and Abby said: all done momma
I said: We have to pay first then we will be all done.
Abby: folded her arms and said Amen.
Momma: No not pray pay. We have to pay first then we can go home.
Abby: Arms still folded AMEN!!!
Meanwhile the lady behind is cracking up so Abby of course performed for her audience, all I could do was laugh and keep trying to explain it to her. She sure knows how to put on a performance. It's amazing how fast she is learning new things she is way to wise for her age already, I don't know what I'm going to do with her.

Our CRAZY Tuesday Night

2009-09-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Why is it that crazy things always happen late at night when your only option is to go to the emergency room? Murphy's Law I guess. Nobody panic I think that I am okay and I don't really know what happened but I was in so much pain I couldn't function. Poor Tyler, had to get up at 11:00 o'clock and take me to the hospital while Keith listened for Abby for us. (which didn't work out well, when we got home they were sleeping on the couch in the living room). I can only describe the pain as labor which is complicated since I'm not pregnant and I don't think I complained as much when I was actually in labor. Well some blood tests, good drugs, and four hours later I was finally able to get some sleep at home. Drama Drama Drama what would I do without it!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!! (and Tyler)

2009-09-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well I am officially a quarter of a century old. Tyler and I had our birthday on Saturday and it was just a relaxed and quite day it was so nice. Mom and Dad made us dutch oven chicken, potatoes, and raspberry cobbler. Yum!!! We sat around and talked and watched Abby and Riley play you can tell that Riley has a sibling, she is so good with Abby. Abby just chased her around the backyard yelling Riley, Riley. Riley is growing up so fast I can't believe that she will be five soon, I feel like we miss a lot with her and I don't like that at all she is such an amazing girl, I need to see more of her. Abby likes to hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's because she can walk outside (her favorite place) all by herself she can even walk down the steps of the deck without help, although Riley was helping her on Saturday. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great birthday lunch and some quality time!!

Tonight Tyler planned a little BBQ so that I could hang out with friends and some Butikofer family members for my birthday also. I know, two parties can you say spoiled!!! It is so nice to have two great families to be associated with. Becca, Becky, Abby, and me went down and raided the raspberry bushes at Grandma B's house and it was a plentiful harvest!!! They are so delicious and there is just something wonderful about eating them right of the bush. We played a couple rounds of progressive rummy and then called it a night. I am very blessed to have such great friends and family:)

Our Weekend Away!!!

2009-09-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I decided to spend labor day abroad, well, I guess if you call SLC abroad but it's all we could afford. (Thank you Grandma)!!! Tyler worked until noon on Friday and by one o'clock we were off to our destination. We wanted to beat afternoon traffic HAHAHA, so of course we were sitting on the interstate so everyone could gawk at a camper that had rolled over in the barrow pit, but by 4:30 we were at our hotel thankfully. Tyler did a great job driving that kind of traffic makes me really nervous so I just talked and played with Abby. After we got all checked in we decided to walk down to the Gateway Mall for dinner and to do some window shopping. The hotel had a pretty nice pool so we took Abby down for a swim she loved it and of course cried when I told her it was time to get out. Tanner and Chelsey came down and stayed the night with us because we had two double beds in our room and of course Abby spent most of the night crying!!! I swear that she sleeps through the night just not when we are away Sorry Guys!!! The next morning we got up and went to the Hogle Zoo!!! There were quite a few people there but it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be and we had a great time! Abby loved all the monkey's and they have quite a few. I thought one of the coolest things that happened was at the gorilla exhibit. The gorilla was laying down not paying attention to anyone and Abby knocked on the glass and said Hi Monkey!! and he turned around and looked right at here it was pretty amazing. We also went to a bird show that was awesome. It is amazing what all those birds were trained to do. And after the show we bumped into Teri and Cody and Gavin our cousins on Tyler's side of the family. It's a small world. We spent like six hours at the zoo and I think we saw everything there was to see. They had so many baby animals they were adorable especially the baby tigers!!! After the zoo we went to dinner with Tanner and Chelsey at the Cheesecake Factory and then they had to go home. The next day we spent some of the morning at temple square which as always was beautiful. It was the first time I have seen the Conference Center in real life what an amazing building!! Abby kept looking at all the pictures saying Jesus, Jesus it was pretty cute but a little louder than I would have liked. Most of the people didn't look to annoyed thankfully. Then we had the dreaded drive home, it always seems like such a long drive but it made me remember the milkshakes dad used to get us at Maddox yum!!! I would have made Tyler drive there if I could remember where it was. We finally got home about 4:30 and I think that I am still recooperating but it was worth it. It was so nice to do something as a family together and I hope we make this our first tradition because it was fabulous!!!

This is the gorilla that Abby got up close and personal with!!

You should have heard this squawking at the bird show it was amazing and even though I've seen an eagle before they are still amazing creatures.

The family in front of the giraffes they had a "little" baby boy ugh could you imagine giving birth to six foot baby no thank you!!!

I Love to See the Temple!!!!

To many pictures to post but we had a great weekend and hope that everyone else did also!!!!

More to come

2009-09-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a little weekend getaway to Salt Lake City and I am tired so I will post a big long step by step tomorrow!!! Until then...

Alturas Lake 2009

2009-08-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

I guess that I will be the first to blog about our annual family vacation to Alturas Lake. We had a wonderful time this year and it was really nice to see how much Abby enjoyed her first real camping trip. Troy and Laura flew into Idaho Falls on Saturday the 25th and we left for the lake Sunday morning. Troy and Laura had to ride with us and listen to Abby talk the whole way (3+ hours) and Beau whine which is definitely worse in my opinion. Once we finally made it we had been out of the car for about five minutes and Abby falls on her face and we have the first wound of many, of course she was a trooper, who knew that I would have such a great camper at such a young age!!! On Sunday we set up camp and got stuff ready for the week, we had a great turnout this year Tyler, Nita, and Riley were the only ones who couldn't make and we really missed them!!! We were joined by Ryann's sister Melissa her husband Chuck and their three boys Tanner, Spencer, and Adam on Sunday night. On Monday we went on a "small" hike around Petit Lake which was beautiful as always. Blake walked by me for most of the time and I was amazed by all the questions that can come from a four year old I don't think he ever stopped talking or walking he was a great hiker. Our only dilemma was that he wanted to stop about every minute, not for a break but to throw rocks into the lake. On the way down we stopped for a break and Troy climbed up on a big rock Blake asked if he could climb it too and we told him no he was to little, he looked back up and said "it's only for HUGE boys like Troy" we told him yes and all had a good laugh. We drove back to Alturas had lunch and then decided to go to the beach. The water didn't feel as cold this year and Abby loved it. Even after she slipped off of my finger and went all the way under she didn't cry, the crying started when I made her get out because her whole little body was shivering poor thing. After a little fight she was content to play in the sand and the water was kind of forgotten. Tuesday morning we got up to go to Stanley Lake and Tyler had to make the dreaded phone call to see if he had to go home and go to work. He did and we were all totally disappointed but didn't let that stop us from having fun the rest of the day. We got to see the fish and game stock the lake which I had never seen before it was really cool about 10,000 fish released in maybe 3 minutes. We stopped at the fish hatchery on the way back to camp so that we could see some really big Salmon (I'm not kidding some of them were like 3 ft. long yum!!! we're having fish tonight) and some really tiny trout. The kids always like to go and see the fish at the hatchery and I do to I'm not going to lie!!! As we were pulling back into the campground my worst nightmare came true a fish and game officer was putting a bear trap at the beach. Of course this is on the night that my husband is leaving me to go to work and it was just going to be Abby and me in the tent all ALONE!!! Needless to say there were many "bears" right outside our tent the rest of the trip. I didn't realize how much of a chicken I was until I was by myself at night. I was pretty sad to see Tyler have to leave but next year we will be able to go together for the entire trip. Okay well on Wednesday we decided to stay at the campground and relax. The MEN took all the kids fishing and the women washed our hair it felt so good to have clean hair after three days with no shower. We spent the majority of the day at the beach and it was so peaceful and relaxing it is beautiful up there and I am so grateful to be able to spend even a small amount of time in the wilderness with my family. Thursday morning came and it was time to go home and I realized how much Tyler really does for me. It was really hard to watch Abby, fold up the tent, and get the car packed all by myself luckily I wasn't completely alone or I would probably still be up there with the bear!!! We took a detour to Fall Creek on the way home which is kind of by Sun Valley and if you've never been you should go it's beautiful. I will admit that I didn't want to go on another hike that I just wanted to go home but once we got their I was glad. It was fun to reminisce. Tanner and Chelsey rode home with us and we were talking about camping up there and how he broke my nose and tooth once when we stayed there, and I will admit it's kinda funny now. All in all it was a wonderful vacation and one that I look forward to every year so let's keep up the tradition. I love you all and am so grateful that you still want to get together as a HUGE family.

Abby and Mommy in the lake

Abby and Grandpa playing in the sand

Abby and Kaylee in the bike trailer. Abby loved Kaylee in fact so much that she called Aftyn Kaylee the whole week. Once Kaylee even told me that Abby was bothering her because she kept saying her name!!! Memories!!!

Grandpa and Blake having a splash fight.

Abby and Daddy looking at the huge Salmon!!!

I have a bunch more pictures but this is already a huge post so maybe I will just do some pictures on another one later.

Butikofer Family Campout

2009-08-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

This is late but here goes...
The theme this year was Disney goes Jamaican although it was a lot to fit in altogether it was still a lot of fun. Tyler, Abby and I could only go up for Friday and Saturday so we tried to fit as much fun as we could into two days. Each family had a disney movie that we had to make a skit out of and ours was Robin Hood one of my favorites!!! Tyler was Robin Hood and I was Maid Marien our costumes were very cute but I didn't get any pictures of them so sorry!!! We had some Jamaican food for dinner that was very interesting!!! I'm not sure that I loved it sorry Patricia. Abby loved the water and so did Beau big surprise there. We had a great time visiting with family and can't wait until next year.

Please help solve my latest old folks moment

2009-07-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Okay my brothers will probably remember this but for some strange reason I can't for the life of me remember how this saying goes and we used to say it all the time. Tyler and I have been arguing about it and I think he is saying it wrong or different from what we used to say. So help a sister out if you can remember
Eenie meanie miny mo catch a tiger by the toe if he hollers make him pay 50 dollars everyday.... and that's where it gets fuzzy!!! Please help if you can.

Also Tyler and I went camping last weekend I will write tomorrow if I have time and post some pictures we had a pretty good time minus the mosquito bites!!!

A Few of My Favorite Things

2009-07-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

I decided to copy Ryann because I thought this was such a good idea!!!

I love being called Mommy, Mama, and sometimes even Daddy!!!

I love that my husband is still my best friend even after all that I put him through.

I love raspberries from Grandma B's garden (even though sometimes she doesn't know that we sneak them!!! ssshhhh don't tell).

I love all of my sisters and I guess their husbands since most of them are my brothers!!! ( I knew that if i was just patient long enough something good would come from all those brothers)

I love that my mom and dad are still adventurous enough to take all of their kids and grandkids camping for practically a whole week!!! ( We can't wait only about two more weeks and then Alturus Lake here we come ready or not!!!)

I love the look on Abby's face when her daddy gets home from work it's priceless.

I love that Tyler's grandma says that while Abby looks like me, every once in a while she sees a devilish look in her eyes that is completely Tyler.

I love great music.

Okay i could probably go on forever so I will stop right here. This is a great idea Ryann it really makes me remember all the little things that I should be thankful for.

Here's Proof: Look Who's Walkin'

2009-06-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

As you can tell I am a little excited about the whole walking thing but I think I might regret that in a short while. This is only day three and I feel like I chased her a ton more today than I ever have. But it's so cute and you can tell that she is so proud of herself that I can't help but love it!!! What a wonderful thing to be her mother!!!

Pictures at Penney's

2009-06-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we decided to get pictures taken at JCPenney's portrait studio. Abby looked cute and her parents looked okay we got there and Abby was scared to death of the photographer. He was kind of dumb he kept making this weirdo elmo kind of sound anyway the pictures are okay but not great if you want to look at them you can log onto www.smilesbywire.com username :Tracy Butikofer Access code :LTPP0977112461JCP. Also Abby chose Saturday as her day to walk so I think this might be permanent but everytime I post it she stops so maybe I am jinxing her!!!

Father's Day in Yellowstone!!! A Little Bit Late!

2009-06-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

For father's day weekend we decided to go to Yellowstone National Park. It was a free admission weekend so you could go in the park Saturday and Sunday with no fees and we love free stuff!!! It was alot of fun except for the rain, rain, rain. I swear everytime we got out of the car to look at something or eat the weather knew it and the clouds would burst open. On Saturday we got to the park a little late at about 2 o'clock and visited Old Faithful I never get tired of seeing that huge tower of water shoot up in the air it is amazing! Abby wasn't to thrilled with it but maybe next year she will appreciate it's awesomeness ( I'm not sure that is a word). We stayed at a Holiday Inn in West Yellowstone with 10 other people yep ten!! Of course it was people that we knew Mom and Dad, Travis, Ryann, Aftyn, Kaylee, Hunter, along with Alyssa and Blake and Chelsey and then the three of us talk about a full house. We took the kids in the pool while Ryann and Mom went to pick up pizza. Everybody was pretty tired but Ryann, Tyler, Chelsey and I stayed up talking until about 11:30 and then our beautiful daughter woke up at 12:30. I do not function well on one hour of sleep plus we didn't really have anywhere to go with her except the bathroom so she sat in the tub for a while so that she wouldn't keep everybody awake but I don't really think it worked sorry everybody!!! Anyway at about 4 am Abby went back to sleep and then everybody got up at 7 ouch!!! We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and spent the rest of the day in the park it was a wonderful little mini vacation and I am thankful that my parents are always thinking of ways to spend time together as a family they are pretty great and we are so lucky!!! Thanks mom and dad we love you!!! Here a couple of pictures from our trip.

Abby and Daddy in the steam from ??? I can never remember the names of all the places Sorry look at someone elses blog for more info on the names.

This was in the Algae at Mammoth and I thought it looked like an A for Abby!!!

YOUR INVITED

2009-06-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody I am hosting a miche bag party on Tuesday the 16th of June. If you haven't seen these purses you should they are super cute!!! It will be short and to the point and it starts at seven o'clock at my house. Please come and bring some friends if you want to! You can check them out at www.michebag.com. I hope to see you there!!!

WHAT!?! Who said my Baby could turn ONE!!!

2009-06-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yep that's right Abby is a whole year old and I am in denial. What a whirl wind it has been, I don't know what we did before she was born but there is never a dull moment now. I don't forget every day how blessed Tyler and I are to have Abby in our lives we are truly lucky!!! Abby turned one on the 28th which was a Thursday so we went and had pizza at Craigo's with Grandpa and Grandma Loftus, Grandpa Keith, Becca and Brian, Bryan, Liz, Bryson, and Jessica, Abby inherited her daddy's love of pizza so that's why we decided to go there. Of course Abby was kind of cranky but it has been my experience (of a whole week) that one year olds are a little bit moody. We decided to have a BBQ on Saturday with friends and family and it was a wonderful day until we had tornado force winds interupt, idaho weather!!! Abby had a great time she had a lot of friends to play with and we were able to move the party into the house. Abby and I opened presents (mostly me she wasn't really interested) and she was utterly spoiled like all one year olds should be. After that she devoured a whole cake all to herself and it was adorable. Except for the weather it turned out to be a wonderful day thank you to everyone who shared her special day with us.

Mommy and Abby opening presents.

My Monkey's monkey cake. ( I know it's kinda bad but it was my first try!!!)

What a cute mess!!!

Exciting and Scary News

2009-05-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today Abby took a few steps all by herself in the front yard!!! yeah!!! It was so exciting but also a little scary and sad at the same time. In just one short week she will be one year old how sad. On a happier note we will be having a party on Saturday the 30th for her. I know this is tacky but i totally spaced getting invitations out on time so here is everyone's invite. Please come over at about four o'clock on Saturday afternoon for BBQ and fun!!!

From A to Z

2009-05-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

This post is mostly for myself so that I don't forget all the words Abby can say right now. And I swear I am not making this up she can say her own version of all of these words. If I post it now than I can use it for a scrapbooking page when I get to it so sorry if this is not very intersting. Here goes, she can say: bubble, Beau, ruff, moo, mama, dada, papa, yes, no, pop, baba (bottle), up, and uh-oh. If I can think of anymore I will update this again.

My Mother's Day

2009-05-11T10:44:00.001-07:00

Tyler let me sleep on Sunday!!! What a great Mother's Day treat!!! Abby and Daddy woke me up with my mothers day present, an open heart necklace that is beautiful. Tyler made me waffles with cool whip and peach yogurt yummm!!! We relaxed until church and went to sacrament meeting and then went over to mom and dad's for lunch. ( Thanks mom it was delicious as always). Abby was exhausted and fell asleep at Grandma's so we decided to take her home but she only needed that fifteen minute power nap and she was ready to go again for a few more hours. We decided to go over and wish Grandma B. a happy mother's day and then of course play some cellar ball. It was awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better first mother's day. Thanks to everyone who participated and Happy Mother's Day to everybody Love you all.

Mother's Day with one Grandma and a Great!!!

2009-05-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to my Grandma's brother Lorin's funeral and then decided to go to her farm in Goshen for pocket stew (or tin foil dinners) for an early mother's day celebration. It was so much fun!!! My Grandma had cows up there which Abby loved she learned how to say MOO and it is adorable. We had a great day just enjoying each other's company Tenille and Blake came up and joined us and as always Blake found someway to get dirty or should I say muddy(Mom has the pictures). Grandma Jill put Abby in the sand for the first time and other than trying to eat it you could tell that she really enjoyed herself although she was pretty dirty after the day was over. Abby was sitting on the ground and started fussing a little bit and her Great Grandma Ruby sat down on the ground with her and played with her toys it was cute!!! I am so greatful that at ninety years old she is still so able and willing to play with her grandkids and although Abby won't remember I have the pictures as proof. It was a great day to spend with family I am so greatful that we can enjoy each others company and the nice warm weather finally.

Playing in the sand with Grandma Jill.

Playing with Great Grandma Ruby.

Movie Star

2009-04-28T13:16:00.001-07:00

Tyler took these pictures while I was at work one day and I am totally jealous because now she won't leave the sunglasses on and she doesn't want anyone else to were theirs either!!! I of course am biased but I think she looks adorable.

Close Cousins

2009-04-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would post some cute pictures of the girls, Abby and Jessica. They are only five months apart and right now that makes a big difference because Jess can walk and Abby can't yet. I can tell that Abby really wants to do everthing that Jess does but she can't keep up and sometimes I think Jessica gets annoyed by her. I can't wait for them to realize that they can play with each other!!!

Pretty Easter Dress

2009-04-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

We didn't do much for Easter this year but I did get Abby a cute cute dress although she doesn't ever want to cooperate with me when I want to take her picture but here are some of what I got:

Bouncy, bouncy

2009-04-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

On saturday we had a BBQ for Denice and Brian because they both graduated from BYU-I on Friday yay!!! Tyler and the other boys put up the trampoline out back and Abby loved it. If you said bouncy bouncy she would move her body up and down it was so cute. Saturday morning was so nice we played a game of baseball in the front yard and spent most of the day outside it was wonderful.

Adventures in Haircut Land

2009-03-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

Okay so I finally did it... I cut Abby's hair. And it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be!!! Just as I was strapping her in her highchair Becca came in so she helped me to distract her a little bit. She turned towards the scissors alot so that was a little frightening I kept thinking she would turn and i would cut her nose or something horrible like that but all went well.

The dreaded scissors!!!!

Before

After... I didn't do to bad for a first timer( my hands were shaking like a leaf!!!)

Pictures

2009-03-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

I thought that i would put some pictures of Abby on here for all those who haven't seen us in a while.... I had to post this one she is so proud of herself that she can move on her own and she loves that i get to chase her all over the place!!!(p.s. anybody have any tips on how to go about cutting her hair this will be the first time and to say that I am nervous is an understatement!!! HELP!!!)

Here she is crawling towards me

abby's first overnight trip

2009-03-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

On tuesday night Paige invited abby and i to go to logan with her to visit Jody i said sure then she said we are probably staying the night i thought that that might be interesting abby usually won't sleep anywhere but her bed but i figured that we would have to do it some time. Tyler was a little okay alot upset and nervous he didn't want us to go out of town without him. Finally I just told him we were going and he said okay. Anyhow it went really well and abby did great!!! she slept much better than i did because i kept thinking she would roll off of the bed oh well that's what mothers are for to worry to much right?? anyway we had a great time and it was nice to get away if only for one day. I loved spending time with Jody and Paige they always treat just like a sister or daughter not just a cousin in law love you guys!!! Well hope all is well with everyone lots of love!!!

sick sick and more sick

2009-02-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

Well I have had a stressful week. On Saturday Tyler started having hot and cold spells then went downhill he stayed on the couch until Monday night then i told him he had to go to work we can't afford him staying home. Saturday afternoon Abby started feeling the same way. She had a little fever which freaked me out because it was her first one, it was so sad her whole little body was just so hot. Needless to say she got worse finally on Sunday i took her to the doctor 10 minutes, a steriod shot and $122.00 dollars later the diagnosis was croup?? (Sorry I don't know how to spell it). It is so sad for her to be sick she just wanted to be held constantly and she screamed every time she coughed poor baby. I'm sure you all know how it is to have two sickies at once but this was my first time and poor tyler caught the worst of my fraying nerves(although he does act like a baby when he's sick). I think that we are out of the woods and so far i feel fine which is awesome because i don't have time to be sick. Hope all is well with you guys love you all!!

Mobile

2009-02-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

Well we have a mobile baby scary!!! Abby doesn't really crawl on her knees she just pulls with her arms and pushes with her feet it looks very interesting. I am wondering if with crawling comes tantrums everytime I pull her away from the fireplace she throws herself back and kicks her feet and cries this is very knew to us since i have been spoiled with such a good baby!!! Oh well i guess it's just one more phase and it will probably be over before I know so I'll just try to think of it like that. On monday night I got called into work and so of course I missed something Abby grabbed onto Keith and pulled herself up and then let go and just stood there in the middle of the room. I was totally jealous and almost teared up but I know that I'll see it eventually. Hopefully that means she will be walking before camping I do not want a crawling camper imagine all the dirt. Love to everyone!!!

FYI

2009-02-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

Well not much is happening for us lately. Tyler applied for a new job as a drafter at the INL so pray for us they have great benefits and will probably pay him a little more which would be nice, but we have heard they are kind of slow when it comes to hiring so please keep those fingers crossed!!! Abby is trying her hardest to crawl but is still not there yet which is okay but somehow she can still figure out how to get around i look away for a few minutes and she has moved all over the living room. I think she just scoots with her butt or something someday I'll catch her in the act!!! Other than that not much is happening here I hope all is well with everyone Love you guys.

I decided to give it a try so here goes!!!

2009-02-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

So lately i have been suffering from insomnia and i just finished my last book so i decided to start our family's blog. Not a lot has been happening in our family which is good because everybody else seems to be having enough fun for us. we like quiet although i have an 8 month old who is trying to find her voice (it's okay because she is adorable). okay well i am going to bed but i hope to hear from EVERYONE really soon love you guys and hope all is well!!!