The Butler Family

Korea on the Marine Corps birthday!

2011-04-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

In November of 2010 (the week of the 10th to be exact) I got to go on a Korean war veterans tour of Korea with my dad, a veteran of the "Frozen Chosin". It was amazing. We were with a big group of veterans and I loved all of them. They were humble and reverant about their experiences and funny and happy most all of the time. I've never seen a country show so much gratitude for a group of men in my life! They remember and they teach their children to remember.It was like being a celebrity everywhere we went...fun. Thanks dad.

A New Family Picture...outdated already!

2011-04-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has definitely been a while. No excuses, just life. If anyone is still checking in now and then this is for you. This is our most current family picture taken at Thanksgiving down in Hurricane for the annual Butler family get-together. Yes, it was a blast. On January 18th Micah Audie Smith made this photo officially obsolete, and we were glad to see it happen. More pictures of him to follow, suffice it to say he's adorable!

Tomatoes

2009-10-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

I grow my tomatoes vetically and it makes all the difference. All the energy goes to the tomatoes and isn't wasted on the plant because I nip off the unneccesary parts. I get ripe tomatoes by mid July and they go until October.

The Harvest

2009-10-24T13:45:00.001-07:00

I LOVE September when everything is getting ripe at the same time and every day you're figuring out what to do with all that goodness. Pesto was by far my favorite thing this year. That and my "sun dried" tomatoes...so good!

American Fork Canyon

2009-08-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-29T07:28:00.001-07:00

Alpine Days...a family tradition

2009-08-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-08-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

Alpine Days Parade

2009-08-28T17:51:00.000-07:00

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

OUR ITALIAN ADVENTURE

2009-08-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

ROMA! Are we really here?

2009-08-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

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

FLORENCE! The tower of doom, etc...

2009-08-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

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

PISA! As in the leaning tower...

2009-08-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

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!

Our B&B (bed & bed) and Florence neighborhood

2009-08-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

We really loved the neighborhood we were staying in with all the shops and nice people.

Lots of naked Italian men!

2009-08-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yet snother naked man sculpture...wow.

DOORS! I love them!

2009-08-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Okay...so I had a bit of a door obsession. I've never seen so many gorgeous doors! Here are just a few.

VENICE! How romantic

2009-08-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

More venice, bridges and canals!

2009-08-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the window of our cute hotel right on a canal

Operation Complete!

2009-03-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Thought you might want to see the completed product, turned out pretty cute eh? We'll show you the bathroom as soon as it is finished!

Lynn has yet another birthday......yippee!

2009-03-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

Nicole made moms birthday cake this year, it was a delicious angel food cake, berry, white chocolate mousse trifle. WOW, so good, so good! Macy blew those candles like they were her hot food when she is about to partake. Mother's complete and utter angelic children gave her the most beautiful dishes in the histroy of the dish industry! She also got some GORGEOUS new bedding from her lover man!
~Written by the one and only..... GABMEISTER! YEAH!

Christmas Fun

2008-12-27T10:05:00.000-08:00

These pictures show what fun Christmas can be. Our actual Christmas Eve and day were very quiet with just Jake, Rachel and Gabi home. We got a good snow storm and went to the movies and ate a lot of good food. Oh yeah...awesome gifts!

Granddaughters Rock!

2008-12-27T09:46:00.000-08:00

So here are two of the cutest little girls ever! Lucky for us they are in our family...thanks Nicole and Emily!

November Birthdays!

2008-12-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

So I guess Rachel really is 19 and all grown up because she shared her birthday cake with Brady this year. Definately a sign of maturity! Brady is a wee bit older...27 to be exact. We love that two of our most favorite people share the same birthday month! (Thanks Nicole for taking the picture!)

Family Photos

2008-12-20T15:14:00.000-08:00

NEW POST, by popular demand. Nicole orchestrated the most fabulous photo shoot with her friend Lindsey Christensen. It was fast and painless. Aren't we a good looking bunch?

Alpine Days 5 K

2008-09-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

So I bribed the girls to run with their dad in the 5K for Alpine Days this year. What was the bribe? Matching Nike running shorts of course! Blaine did pretty good at staying with them...for a minute, and then...off like a shot. He got 3rd in his age division.

Gabi Turns 15!

2008-09-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

Can it be that "the baby of the family" has really turned 15 years old? That must make mom and dad really old...yikes! Thank goodness for Gabs keeping us young.

Summertime With Trey

2008-09-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun with Trey when he came to visit...he is so funny, cute, smart, sweet and energetic!

Ivory's Blessing Dress

2008-08-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

So here is Ivory's blessing dress, made from Emily's wedding dress! I was so glad it turned out, this was too much pressure for me. Emily was here in Utah for about a month with Trey and Ivory and occasionally Brady when he wasn't traveling for business. We loved having them here, they are such darling kids. The blessing day was so nice. Emily and Brady are doing so well and we're proud of them.

Emily's Wedding Dress

2008-08-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

So this was right before I cut up Emily's wedding dress to make Ivory's blessing dress....as per Emily's request! We had to see it on someone one last time so Rachel was the lucky winner. I was secretly hoping she would fall in love with it so I wouldn't have to do the scary deed, but no...my girls all have a style of their very own.

Rachel's Graduation

2008-05-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

Rachel graduated on May 30th, at the BYU Marriott Center. She got to wear gold cords because she had a cumulative GPA of 3.95! Wow! Nicole and Macy were here from Boston...wa-hoo! We are so proud of Rachel for doing so well, but more importantly for how kind she was to everyone in high school. She was known for how friendly she was, I love that! Only one more to go...Gabi in 2011.

Saint George Triathalon

2008-05-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Blaine did their first triathalon...only it turned out to be a "bi-athalon"! The wind was out of control so search and rescue cancelled the swim portion because of dangerous conditions. They had a good run and bike though and got excited for the next one. Rachel was 4th in her division and Blaine was 8th in his. They went with Mallory (Rachel's good friend) and bishop Miller.

Macy Lou comes to Alpine!

2008-05-12T10:24:00.002-07:00

Nicole and Macy got to come for a visit in April...so fun. Macy got to meet her Butler great grandparents for the first time. She is a doll and Nic is such a good mom. We all missed Micah.

Mcy Lou comes to Alpine!

2008-05-12T10:24:00.001-07:00

Rachels Drill Team goes to New York

2008-03-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

The Lone Peak drill team went to New York to compete at Nationals and had a blast! Oh, and they did very well also. Gabi and I just had to go and "help out". We took second overall and won the high point award for our military routine, it was amazing! We also saw "Wicked" and went shopping on the famous Canal St. (can you say barter heaven?) I think that New Yorker's are either getting much more friendly or they couldn't resist our charms...take your pick. Another "last" for Rachel before graduation in May.

Trey turns 3!

2008-03-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

Trey got to come out for a visit while Emily went to Boston to visit Nicole, Micah and Macy. We had a little birthday for him but he was worn out! He pulled the "run around on the stand" trick during Sacrament meeting...yes, I was mortified! But how can you ever be mad at this cutie?

SNOW!

2008-02-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

This has been the snowiest winter in the 16 years that we have lived in Alpine! It's crazy! We really haven't seen the ground in months. We're all going a little crazy but we really need the water, so we just smile every time we get blasted with another storm.

SNOW !

2008-02-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Macy Lou Smith

2008-01-26T06:47:00.000-08:00

Macy Lou Smith was born on January 20th at 9:08 a.m. She was 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 inches long. Lynn and Gabi flew out to Boston on Saturday night and got to stay for a week. Macy is perfect in every way, she's beautiful! Nicole is a wonderful mother and is nursing like a pro. Micah is a great dad and is so amazingly helpful. Everything is going great for the Smith family in Concord, Mass.!

The Boston Celtics

2008-01-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

After failing miserably at scalping some amazing tickets, we watched the Celtics battle for their win ... when it seemed as if they had it in the bag we checked out early only to find out that they lost by one basket!

2007-11-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

We got the family together this Summer
and got some photos at the poppy fields.

Here are the handsome men, looking happy

2007-11-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here are the girls with the matching smiles