The Butler Family: August 2009

Saturday, August 29, 2009

American Fork Canyon

When we moved to Utah in 1991 (yes, that was so long ago that Gabi wasn't even born!) we discovered the AF Canyon and fell in love. Back in the day it was hardly crowded and that, combined with the stream of trout just waiting to be fished, really appealed to Blaine.

While in the USMC we had been living in so many "lovely places" with:
1.no mountains
2.no trout streams
3.no cool mountain air
and
4.way too many wierd bugs

We were so excited! I think we came so often that the kids thought they owned their spot. We had birthdays here and took grandparents here...we loved it!
When we moved to Alpine it was even better. In less than 10 minutes we could be in the mountains, catching fish, getting dirty, and roasting hot dogs. Life was so good!
Now the next generation of "Butlers" are doing the same thing. It's a little more crowded, a little bit nicer, but there are still trout in the river, dirt to be played in and things to explore.

American Fork Canyon

You wouldn't believe how many pictures we took on this bridge just to get these shots. it was at the end and you know what that means...kids are tired and adults are goofy!

American Fork Canyon

I think we have the cutest grandkids ever...they have so much fun together and crack us up on a regular basis!

American Fork Canyon

Oh the joys of "aunt-hood"! HA! This is the exact same spot we used to take our kids! Memories!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Alpine Days...a family tradition

Our family has always loved Alpine Days, held the second weekend in August every year. But as the kids have grown up and moved away we've gotten to be fewer and fewer in number. This year we had the brilliant idea to make this weekend an annual tradition to get together and party! We started off with the water games for Trey on the Stake Center lawns. Next was the Little Buckaroo rodeo Friday night and even the Davis' came to watch Trey. Saturday morning four of us ran in the 5K; Grandpa Butler, Blaine, Lynn, and Nicole (Gabi and Rachel both had a bad cold and bailed). Three out of the four got trophies! Next was the parade, very professional and wow-y...not! Very small town and darling. After the parade we hit the art show and quilt show in the old red church. Lynn and Rachel both had quilts on display and as a surprise to Grandma Butler we put her mothers vintage quilt from the 20's or 30's in also. Blaine put on the smoked meat BBQ after the festivities in town and before the bull riding rodeo that night. I think that the smoked meat was probably the highlight...at least for the guys. We really hope this turns into "our weekend" and maybe even extends to the whole week before! See you all next year!

Alpine Days Rodeo

For part of our Alpine Days weekend we all went to the Little Buckaroo rodeo on Friday night and the Pure Bull rodeo on Saturday night. Trey had fun chasing chickens and greased pigs and we all had fun watching him do it! The rodeo grounds are set up against the mountains and it is so beautiful.

Alpine Days Parade

It doesn't get much better than this! The big Alpine Days parade! Perfect weather...by far the coolest year yet.

Monday, August 3, 2009

OUR ITALIAN ADVENTURE

After much scheming my sister Barbara and I figured out a way to spend a little over a week in Italy. Her daughter Harley was in Prague doing a study abroad program and Barbara was going to get her. One thing led to another and we decided to meet in Rome.
Gabi, Rachel and I met Barbara and Harley and spent 3 days in Rome, 3 days in Florence, and 2 days in Venice with a day trip to Pisa. It was amazing! We had so much fun and surprisingly no problems at all. All the food was excellent, especially the Fettuccini Alfredo Originale in Rome (worth the forune we paid for it) and the Gelato (at least once daily). Our favorite city was Florence, although Venice was charming and Rome had all the famous sites. Rachel had to go back early to get to school and missed Venice.
We decided that Barbara and Harley are the perfect traveling companions. We all liked to walk our legs off, take a cab when needed, eat chocolate crossants on trains, laugh ourselves silly, and climb how many steps?? to the top of bell towers. Oh, and don't forget our mutual hatred for pigeons in town plazzas and our lack of fear of drinking water from public fountains.
TIP... Don't be tempted to share a head set at the uffizi museum.

OH ROMA! The fettuccini, the fountains, the famous, the freakishly small!

ROMA! Are we really here?

We really walked our legs off in Rome and still didn't see everything. I guess we'll have to go back!

AND MORE NAKED ITALIAN MEN

Yes, here are more sculptures of the beautiful male form...wow.

FLORENCE! The tower of doom, etc...

Turns out we LOVED Florence! The shopping, the people, the museums, the food...we loved it all.

PISA! As in the leaning tower...

So this was Rachels last stop before heading home. (Barbara wouldn't do the corny photo op so we made her hold up a pillar in a cathedral instead) Thankfully there is a Delta flight from Pisa (a pretty small city) to JFK...who knew? Poor thing, she flew business elite (way better than first class) all the way home to SLC!