a late one year

Four months ago, our little bug turned one!  The crickets have been chirping around here but I decided I had to share this girl's cuteness!  She is a little ray of sunshine in our family and sassy as can be.  She's got enough 'tude for the entire family but enough sugar for one hundred brownie batches.  I suppose she is everything any parent ever told you about little girls.  She's fun and sweet and wild but completely different from our boys.  Her hair has grown quite a bit since these pictures and her mouth is almost entirely full of teeth.  She still loves her shiny boots and she still wont hold still for a picture.  She is our little queen bee and we love her dearly.

Happy {late} First Birthday Kelsie Jane!!  We love you and can't wait to see all of the awesomeness you have in store for us this year.

xoxo. Mama, Dadda and the 'Duddas'

july rewind:: a birthday and some photos

 

july 7th was a pretty awesome day for the butler family!  for the first time {in what seems like forever} all thirteen of us children and our posterity were able to spend some time together.  my brother micah and his little pup zek, sister amber and her little man ian, all drove up to the mountain for the day and we were able to celebrate micah's 24th birthday.

a little note about micah is that he was the sweetest brother growing up.  while my other brothers were busy making fun of me and calling me names {out of love i am sure} micah was always the one to walk into the bathroom while i was getting ready and tell me "you look pretty".  and he said it in a way that you would never question his sincerity.  it was such a joy to grow up with this boy.  i love him dearly!

of course we had to get some family pictures to commemorate the day.  {thank you aunt jona for being my human tripod.}  here we all are putting on our best faces for the camera.  two parents, thirteen children and seven grandchildren.  and of course we all miss our sweet angel girl.

the guys were all giving me such a hard time while we were trying to get a picture together that i decided to line them up and drag it on for them.  they were good sports.  aren't they all so handsome?

dad, burke, jamison, justin, micah & zek, matt & marcus.  and up front: gage, trenton, aiden, garrett and ian.

this is my sweet sister and handsome nephew.  i had to go over a year without seeing them after she moved out to wyoming and it was just a sad ordeal.  i missed them so much!

i just can't tell you how much i love ALL these faces!

these pictures were all taken while we were out visiting with family at the burke reunion at brown creek.  it was so gorgeous out there and i wish we would have had more time to spend out with everyone.  i desperately miss the mountains.  texas is it's own kind of beautiful but i was raised, running around in these fields, hiking these mountains and splashing in these creeks.  it will always be one of my sacred places because it reminds me of who i am and where i came from.  and it also reminds me of my sweet grandpa burke who i miss so frequently.

i had to take a picture of these wildflowers that some of the little girls gathered up in nana's famous orange pitcher.  a perfect visualization of how i felt out there.  bright and beautiful!

another shot of the handsome birthday boy.

our little miracle callie jayne hanging out in the pretty grass.  the pretty grass was also peppered with cow patties which made things very interesting while positioning the big group.

here's all the women folk.  i really feel like i took one for the team here.  i am not so much a fan of being in FRONT of the camera.  so much baby weight left to lose.  but i am trying to take it in stride.

emma, elsie & kelsie, yours truly, the mamacita, amber, monica & maylee and haley.  and in front: hayden, brinley and callie.

after our trip to brown creek we headed back to the house and had some yummy vegetarian lasagna and the fixins per micah's request.  and we washed it down with another good dose of homemade pistachio ice-cream.  once our bellies were good and full we drove into heber for the fireworks.  we were able to lay in the grass on the baseball field right beneath the huge show.  those heber folks sure know how to put on a good show!

it was such a fun day and i will remember it for a long time to come!!

july rewind:: our four-year-old matey

one year ago this boy was in texas, slinging webs and amazing us all with his killer round-house kicks.  it was in said fashion that he entered into the realm of three-year-old-ism.  and with that same super energy he has all too quickly become the four-year-old.  the four-year-old wields foam swords, hunts for buried treasure and says things like 'yo ho way to go!'  and 'arg matey'.  he doesn't miss an episode of his favorite pirate show, he buys spiderman backpacks and spiderman shoes, requests spiderman toys for gifts and dreams of one day being a genuine pirate.  except for maybe the rotting teeth part.

we had fun celebrating with family that we have missed so much.  the weather was gorgeous and permitted us to stay and play the evening away.

the brave birthday boy was hoisted up high to rescue the stranded frisbee.  he got a round of applause and then blushed a bit.

little effie trinket even joined us for the festivities.  miss kelsie really super loved this fluffy ball of white.

the four-year-old got this neat little contraption for his birthday and if you couldn't tell, he kind of likes it.

we love you gare and can't wait to see all the awesome things you will do as you grow up!

xoxo. mom

six.

this boy turned six yesterday.  we can't believe how quickly time has passed since this.  next thing we know he'll be starting the first grade.  we love you gage and are so proud of the wonderful boy you are and the amazing man you will be.

lots of x's and o's!

mom, dad, gare & kelsie

three.

just go ahead and ask this sweaty haired little boy how old he is.

i dare you!

he'll shoot you one of spiderman's signature web shooting hand gestures and tell you "this many!" followed by swish, swish, piou! because that is what spiderman's super awesome webs sound like when flying from his wrists. you might even get a perfectly delivered roundhouse kick. it's truly remarkable to behold.

to say that celebrating my baby's third birthday was a little hard to swallow, is a bit of an understatement. when you have a five-year-old and a two-year-old, you can still lay claim on at least one of them being a toddler. so when you squish and squeeze and kiss on them in public, it's still acceptable. but now i think i have to claim them both as big boys. that's a hard thing for me. but thank heavens when i tuck this little man child into his bed at night he still puckers up those perfect little lips and lets me give him a big fat smooch!

he's growing up so fast! he counts to twenty, he knows his abc's, he refuses my help to put his shoes on, he colors in the lines (and has since he was 2), plus he's like our own personal jukebox full of primary songs and nursery rhymes and has the sweetest little voice you ever heard.

i sure do love you my big three-year-old boy!

p.s. just for the sake of the future, your dad had full reign over your birthday plans. he let you go to chuck-e-cheese with your brother and your cousin trenton, he took you to the store and for desert you picked out strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and oreos on the side. then he made it for you...and can you guess who put the letters on your cake???





happy birthday!!!

xoxo. mom

five is the new old

attention all readers:: "the four-year-old" aka: gage will now be referred to as "the five-year-old". the five-year-old is a new and improved little character who makes his own sandwiches {ketchup and cheese is his specialty}, jumps especially high, puts on his own sunscreen and apparently goes to bed anytime he would like, because he is five. and in case you missed the memo, FIVE IS OLD.



it's hard to believe that my first baby boy is growing up so fast. we registered him for kindergarten and stuck five candles on his cake all within a week's time. he's big and strong, as our little mexican scooby doo pinata would affirm. that is if he weren't sitting in the bottom of a park trashcan, bloodied and bruised.



we are so proud of you gage and all that you have accomplished and learned in your five years of life. you amaze us everyday in just about every way possible. you are sweet, creative, curious, giving, thoughtful, observant and full of energy. some days you are more than one mother can handle, but even then you are loved more and more each day.

i hope you never stop sticking your fingers in the frosting and i hope you never stop using that beautiful imagination of yours!



happy 5th birthday big boy!

all my love, mom

xoxo

twenty and five and a book

so it's my birthday! and not just any birthday mind you. i have been waiting my entire life to turn twenty-five. i always figured that by the time i was twenty-five i would have the world figured out and sitting at my feet. funny how things aren't always what they seem when you're six years old.

but mission accomplished. now i'm going to have to come up with some other life goal that only requires my staying alive and not a whole lot more. what's my new goal? thirty-eight? thirty-eight sounds like a pleasant number.

what was your favorite age so far?



in other news, i just finished reading charlie st. cloud. i actually really enjoyed it. it was sweet and inspiring. kind of sad though, not going to lie. now i'm going to have to watch the movie and see how it compares.

and now i need a new book! any suggestions?

one+one=two

the boys and i are home from vegas! we had such a fun time and already miss everyone there!

one big event that happened while we were away, was garrett's SECOND birthday! this boy has grown up so quickly, i hardly know what to make of it!

he is one of the liveliest, most animated little people i have ever seen! he goes, goes, goes and does his darndest to keep up with that wild brother of his. his facial expressions are hilarious! you can see almost exactly what he's thinking by the way he shapes those little lips and crinkles up his nose. when he has a brilliant plan, his eyes get a little twinkle and you know he's about to take action.

my favorite thing to hear him say these days is what's dat noinie mom? which means, what's that noise mom. he asks it anytime he hears anything just about. i love it so much that i almost want him to say noinie for the rest of his life! it's so completely adorable!

this is how he felt about sharing his new toys

you have been such a perfect little boy garrett and i can't believe you are two! you make every day comical in one way or another and i love it! i miss your little baby self, but i love seeing you become a boy who is so distinctly his very own person! you bring so much happiness to my life little blondie boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWO YEAR OLD!

hugs and kisses, momma

my four-year-old

gage had a special birthday while we were on the houseboat at lake powell. he got to open a few presents and blow out some candles. FOUR to be exact.

where has the time gone? i can't believe my gager boy is four-years-old! we've both done a lot of growing up since he got here. my little butterball is now lean and long, but his hair is still as soft as a downy chick and his big round eyes are still big and round.

here is a boy who loves life! he goes and goes. he has adventures no matter where he is. every new thing is a miracle to him. he loves ham and cheese sandwiches, corn dogs, beans and cheese, apple juice and popsicles. one minute he's taunting and teasing his little brother, the next he is comforting and encouraging him.

he is the best four-year-old boy i ever knew!

lake powell::blowing out candles on his thomas cake.

this boy loves toy story so we went to the theatre and watched Toy Story 3 then met up at the park with family for a little hoo-rah. he wanted a buzz on his "cup-cake" but well, as you can see i kind of struggled with this one.

he got this car from gramma and grandpa broomall and immediately proceeded to do laps throughout the park. this picture had me rolling with laughter!

garrett hand a grand time playing with the balloons! he accidentally sent buzz lightyear to infinity and beyond. he thought that was pretty cool.

callie would grab a cupcake, lick at the frosting and then hand it off saying "i don't like this one". finally i think she decided the best one must be in the middle!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!

i love you more and more everyday. a bushel and a basket and to the moon and back again. you are my favorite little brown haired boy in the whole wide world!

hugs and kisses, mom

twenty + six

{july 2003}

+++++

my hubby turned twenty-six today. another year older, another year hotter! matthew and i met when he was eighteen and i was seventeen. we were babies. i guess we still kind of are, but we are trying really hard to grow up together.

happy birthday husband!
all my love---
ash

p.s.. a very happy 18th birthday to my little brother marcus!!