I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS OVER!!

YA FEELIN' LUCKY, PUNK?


SOME OF THE CHRISTMAS SPOILS!


MIKEY'S NEW BEST FRIEND, CITY THE TRICERATOPS!


LUKE AND LEXIE PLAYIN' ON THE STAIRS, A RATHER DANGEROUS PASTIME OF THEIRS.


DOESN'T THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE LOOK GREAT!


It is always amazing to me how quickly Christmas is over. Because, at least for me, I wait for it all year. It's the best. . . to put up the Christmas decorations and the trees (yep, we have two) and wait for Santa to come. And then it happens. Christmas morning arrives and in about 30 minutes, your done! What a shame I say!!!

We did have a great Christmas as you can see from the pictures. Tina and Nathan always have a Christmas Eve party where the kids decorate a gingerbread house and get to break open a pinata. It is always so much fun!! Brian got to be home this year for the first time since we have lived in Kuna! So that was very nice. And the best part of all, we actually had snow to make this Christmas just GRAND.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too and we are looking forward to having lots of fun in 2009!!!

First Snowfall!!

Luke looking longingly at the boys playing outside!


Maybe if I smile REALLY big she'll let me go outside.






Josh is quite the snow shoveler!!!



Mike is having a ball in the snow!!!

It is always the best to have the first snowfall of the year be just before Christmas!! It just never seems quite right until it is all white outside. Now, I know for you Utahans that this looks like just a skiff, but let me tell you, this snowfall caused quite the commotion here in Boise. Laugh if you must, but I am very grateful for my 2 inches of snow!!! But I am not enjoying our very, very cold weather. It isn't supposed to get this cold over here. we hope you are white where you are!!! Merry Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving Extravaganza

I was lucky enough (some say stupid, I say lucky) to have Thanksgiving at my house this year. Both of my brothers and one of my sisters came with their families. I have to say, preparing for 21 people to come was a scary undertaking, but the moment they all got here, it was like all the worry disappeared. I so enjoyed everyone being here. And I was so sad when they all left. . . . because, yes it was CRAZY and CHAOTIC when everyone was here, but now it is so empty and quiet. Even though I didn't think I would, I liked the crazy and chaotic better.


So what did we all do for three days. Well, we of course did the Thanksgiving thing, with all the trimmings. Thank you to Tari, Billie Jo and Sondi for ALL the AMAZING help!! On Friday, we did a so very cute craft (thanks Billie Jo and Sondi). And went to Chuck E Cheese's for Kaleb's birthday--we were all so HAPPY Grandma Butikofer came!!!!! On Saturday, we did Luke's 1st Birthday party. Everyone decided to go home on Saturday. . . maybe they were sick of us or it could have been the fact that Sondi and Kaleb had a touch of the stomach bug and they just didn't want to get sick. Either way, I am sooooo grateful you all came and I hope you all can come again soon.


And here are some of the highlights:

Luke didn't care for his cake!

But Cameron and Tari did a great job on the frosting!!





Tim has "pretty's" in his hair--so beautiful

The cute craft

OUCH!

Luke has finally had his first real spill where there was a significant injury. . . .well, to me, it is significant. He fell yesterday and hit is head and split his eyebrow open a little. It was dripping blood off his face, but it quickly slowed down. I thought he needed stitches and Brian didn't (what does he know anyway!!). This picture I took this morning and I am glad I didn't pay to have stitches done. But I thought he had split his whole face open yesterday with as much as it bled. So I got to thinking about my other children and the acccidents they had. . . . Josh burning his arm at 8 months, having an allergic reaction at 12 months, being hospitalized at 21 months for a respiratory attack. Then Mike, allergic reaction at 12 months, breaking his foot at 2 1/2 years old. So now Luke gets to carry on in the tradition of leaping off couches and experimenting with death just like those that went before him!

We are upright!

So we have had the stomach bug at our house since Thursday night. It started with Josh. . . and has moved through Mike, Luke, and Mom (we were all sick last night), but now I am feeling a little better, well, at least I am upright. So in celebration of us being done puking and in hopes that Brian doesn't start, we are posting this video of Luke walking. It was done yesterday, before the sickness invaded our home. So ENJOY!!!

Trick or Treat?

Well let's start with the tricks. . . .the first trick happened to Brian. He got up at 5 A.M. on Thursday morning to go deer hunting (which was the second to the last day of the hunt). He got 1/2 mile from our house when the truck lost power. He came home went back to bed and waited until morning to get it fixed--needless to say, a couple hundred bucks-no pun intended-later, the truck was fixed. And around 3:00 P.M., Brian heads up to the hill, by himself, to find that monster buck. . . .

Now, on to the treats. Well, Brian did get that monster buck, and I know you are all dying to get a look at him. Wait for it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wait for it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HERE HE IS-

Now, I know what ya'll are thinkin', but he really is bigger than his antler-- now, what a minute. . . . . hmmmmm, oh, yep, there are two there, aren't there. Sorry, my mistake. You just have to look REALLY close. Anyway, he is bigger than his ANTLERS portray him to be. And I have to admit, he is bigger than my deer (since I didn't get one). And I think those antlers will be good for displaying ONE hat. Or, they will be a really good set of toothpicks. Yes, I have always wanted bone toothpicks!!!

Since Brian shot him at dark on Thursday night and he was by himself, he left that bad boy up in the hills so we went and got him out today. While we were gone, Tina watched our kids and they got to make cookies, what a treat for them. Well Josh and Mike made cookies..... Luke looked out the window.



And then, the most wonderful treat of all, we got to go to a fabulous Halloween Party at our friends house. We then went trick or treating in their neighborhood and filled our buckets with lots of good stuff!! Luke was the cutest frog ever, Mikey was, you guessed it , Spiderman (yep, he has worn that costume for 3 years in a row), and Josh was a skeleton.

We had such a great Halloween and we hope yours was full of tricks and treats too!!!

Priceless

Our Wedding: $5,000.00


Pregnancy Test: $5.00


Labor and Delivery of Three Boys: $25,000.00


Having Kids This Cute: Priceless

Goodnight Boston.

Well, after a good fight, it was time for Boston to go home. And I am afraid I am too saddened by the recent loss to write anymore. . . my only silver lining is the fact that the Rays will probably get whipped by the Phillies. So for now, Goodnight Boston. Well played.

Go Sox!!!!

What a game, what a game, what a game!!!! It just goes to show you that you can never count out the Red Sox!! Watching the game makes me miss being there, sitting in those seats at Fenway Park, eating a $4 hotdog and chasing it down with my $4 Pepsi, and most of all, watching my favorite team come back from a 7-0 deficit to win! AMAZING!!! We are going all the way!!!

I Am A Champion

When Brian and I went on our Honeymoon (to Catalina and Ensenada), we bought a beautiful marble chess set. It was our dream at the time to have it set up somewhere so we could play whenever we wanted. Well, that dream was finally fulfilled when we moved into our home in Kuna. So, for the past 2 years, we have played, what I like to call, a continual chess game. There is always a game in play and it usually takes a month to complete a game (some have taken a matter of days, others have taken 2 months). And here is the kicker. . . I HAD NEVER WON A GAME. . .in TWO years, over 50 games played, had NEVER won. But, the glorious day finally came last Friday when I won my first game. Now, I know it is only one game in fifty plus, but a triumph none the less!!!!

Here is the winning move (the note is how we communicate because we are not always around when the other person makes a move)!!!!

Introducing the Clapping Luker

I know, I know, he is very smart. He can also wave bye-bye, but he was so focused on the YAY, he could not be swayed!!!

Pillow Talk

So this is what my bed says about me. . . I am amazed at how accurate it is!! Check it out for yourself!

What Your Bed Says About You

Outward appearances are very important to you. You do your best to look good and have an attractive home. You are an organized and disciplined person. You do the right thing because you want to, not because people expect you to. You are not very high maintenance in general, but you are high maintenance about a few things. In relationships, you tend to kick back and let the other person be in charge. You tend to be a down to earth, practical person. You think in terms of what is actual. You are a bit of a homebody, but you can also make yourself at home anywhere.

What Does Your Bed Say About You?

So here he is. Luke is getting so BIG and can already climb the stairs. And since it took me such a long time to figure out how to post this video, he has now figured out how to go down them too. WOW, how time flies!!!

How Much Is That Luke in the Window. . . .

. . . the one with the big blue eyes? So the other day the boys were outside playing and Luke crawled over to the window and pressed his little face on it as it to say "Hey, can I come too?". I thought it was just so precious and so I had to do a photo op and these are what came out of it!!!! Now that is just ADORABLE!!!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

So, Brian has been gone for a week and a half bow hunting elk. And let me tell you, I am sooooo glad he is coming home today. I am truly sick of being a single Mom. He has been gone this long before, but by adding another kid to the mix, it just makes it that much harder. And add to the fact that I'm ticked because I wanted to go hunting too (but Luke decided he didn't want to take bottles anymore), makes for one cranky Mommy! I know so many Moms have this same complaint--why does my husband get to go do what he wants for a week and I don't ever get to go anywhere for more than 4 hours? Well, as my sister-in-law Sondi would say--"You're the Mom." And most of the time I like being the Mom, but sometimes I wouldn't mind being the Dad either. I guess someday my time will come!!

Amazing Airshow!

On Saturday, we went to the Mountain Home Airshow. It was so fun to see all the military planes and helicopters. The only bad thing is that I forgot to sunscreen my family and so we got a little sunburned. Poor Luke had a beet red face and WHITE body. I am a horrible mother!!! And don't mind the California A's cap on Josh's head, he got it for free at the 4th of July parade. At least it is the right colors, now it just need to have a BIG B (ya know, the Red Sox) on it!!!!

It's SEW easy!!!

Well, today, I again channeled my inner Betty and made pajamas for Luke. I found this dinosaur material (not pictured because Luke had already, shall we say, soiled them, so they needed to be washed) for $5 a yard and thought this would make great PJ's. And so, with some help from Tina(okay A LOT of help and the use of some of her fabric from the infamous "fabric closet"), we made 4 pairs of pajamas. The blue striped ones on the right are my very favorite!!!

Show Me Those Pearly Whites

After many attempts, I finally got a picture of Luke's new teeth. He has been my worst teether of all the kids, but they finally came in and he is getting used to them. He has already gotten good use out of them too--biting toys, shoes, his crib. So enough of that mushy baby food and on to steak!