It's a Wonderful Life

Adorable, right?


Boys freezing in the creek!


Mike's Swimmin'


Come on in!!!


Real men wear pink!


Brian is snorkeling-he even found some money at the bottom of the pool!


This is our friend the squirrel who came around regularly to eat our leftovers!


Brian and Mikey relaxin'


Josh riding around


This is the view from our front door!


Luke swimming or should I say lounging--sooooo cute!


I love his crossed feet!

This last weekend, we got to go camping for a few days. It was fantastic except for the fact we had to cut it one day short because our batteries for the trailer died which means no heat or fridge or etc. We went to a place called Silver Creek Plunge. It is one of our favorite places to go camping because it has everything-motorbike trails, hiking trails, swimming pool (its even a hot springs pool), creek fishing, well, you get the idea!!! It is about 2 1/2 hours from Kuna going up towards McCall. We had a great time and hope to go again soon!!

He's 35 and still alive!!!!

Well, Brian made it to 35. This morning we were discussing how old we thought 30 and 35 was when we were younger. And now, it doesn't seem so bad. Brian, I love you with all my heart and here are 35 reasons why I do(in no particular order)(yes, I stole the idea from Tari):
1. He is kind. The first thing I noticed about him was his kindness and my Mom loves him for it, too!!
2. He is a hardworker. I have never met anyone with such a work ethic.
3. He loves his family. Even when it is hard too.
4. He is so helpful....many of you know how he just pitches in to get things done.
5. He loves to hunt, but not more than his wife who was pregnant last year during hunting season, so he stayed home more than he went!!
6. He loves to fish and he is so good at it too.
7. He loves the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, and I am so glad we got to go to some of the games together!!
8. He is handsome. . . although he doesn't believe this one, I know its true, especially when I get to pick out the clothes he wears.
9. HE IS A FABULOUS COOK!!!! My fav that he cooks is omeletes!!
10. He can make anything out of wood, seriously; he has made several beds, coffee tables, end tables, our entertainment center, and his current big project is our computer desk (it will get started eventually, right, hunny?)
11. He strips at the door if he is really dirty. Now, I have gotten better at what I consider to be "strip worthy", like if he has been hunting all day and has blood and yucky stuff on him-its strip worthy. And he does this because he respects me and how I like a clean house. Not a lot of guys would do that for his girl, but my "B" does!!!
12. The boys said they love Dad because he is the leader of our family. . .and a wonderful leader he is!!
13. He snowmoblies with me. . . even though I am slower than everyone else, he'll still take me!
14. He will let me cuddle him while we watch T.V. And he isn't really the cuddling type, but he never complains a bit.
15. He makes cute boys, well, together we make cute boys. We just don't have it in us to make girls, but if we did, they would be cute too!
16. He is a good listener. One of the many reasons I married him. I think that trait came from having 5 sisters.
17. Did I mention he is a good cook, and MY ULTIMATE FAV that he makes is Oreo truffles-WOW, they are good!
18. He is trustworthy. You can trust him with anything and he will take care of it!
19. He is brave. . . he has to be to kill all the spiders in our house, a trait he is passing onto his young son, Joshua!
20. He is PATIENT. I don't know where he gets his patience, but it is a blessing to our home.
21. He hand picked me another wedding ring when I lost mine last year. Something he didn't have to do, but he did because he loves me!
22. He sings off key. I love this about him because the first time he sang to me we where dancing, and when I hear him sing, it still makes me want to dance.
23. He cares for people. Not just the people he knows, but everyone.
24. He does laundry. He will even fold the whites, which I hate, for me.
25. He has a firm testimony of the church. He never questions, he just knows it is true.
26. He speaks Danish. When we were dating, he would sign all of his notes to me Jig elskre dig-I love you. And now, just to throw me off, he sometimes says our nighttime prayers in Danish.
27. He is just fun to be around. You will always have a good time with Brian!!!
28. He is a good teacher. I think this goes hand in hand with his patience. He has taught me to do a lot of things without ever raising his voice.
29. He is a good kisser-I know TMI. . . . moving on.
30. He is a good provider. We have always had sufficient for our needs and for some of our wants, too!
31. He lets me buy Wall Flowers (they are from Bath and Body Works and makes the house smell nice!) even though he thinks they are unneccessary!
32. He has a great sense of humor. . . in fact, he cracks himself up most of the time.
33. He likes to fix stuff. If you let him try, he can fix just about anything-cars, boats, lawn mowers, four-wheelers, seriously, anything.
34. He always does what is right. I have never, ever seen or heard of him doing something that wasn't what he was supposed to do in his ENTIRE life.
35. He is mine. Now, I know that may sound selfish, but I love that he is mine. He is my best friend and I couldn't make it through life without him.

Happy Birthday Sweetie! You are the greatest!

WOW. . . that was A LOT!!

So how much do you think you can fit into just 5 days (4 days really with travel time)? Well, I think we did a lot this week. I mean just look at all these pictures and you will see! This past week we decided to go to Idaho Falls because Brian had a week of vacation and we wanted to see GOOD fireworks (which we don't get in Kuna) so we got there on Tuesday night and the rest of the week went like this:
Wednesday: spent 17 hours driving and touring Yellowstone. It was very fun, but also very long for the Mommy's and their babies. . . but we made it, didn't we Tari, and we didn't even complain (too much).
Thursday: Brian and Dad went fishing at Henry's and caught their limit, plus a few extra, but since I didn't go, there are no pictures of that great day!
Friday: The 4th of July. We had a great breakfast that Tari cooked. We went and visited Brian's Grandma and Mom. We went to Noelle's (my friend of many, many years) family party. Then went to my Mom's house for some down home cookin'--pizza from Pizza Hut-delicious and minimal clean-up! Then we got to sit pretty much right next to the river to see the spectacular fireworks! AWESOME! When they were all over, Josh was all teary eyed and said "They were just so beautiful!" Ahhhh, right?
Then we went back to Mom's to light off our own fireworks. It was a very fun day!!!
Saturday: By now I am so ready for a break, and ready to go to sleep before midnight which I hadn't been able to do for three days (my sister-in-laws would be so proud). But NO, we went to Brian's family reunion, which they usually do at Christmas time, but since there are a lot of us that have to travel such long distances, they decided to have Christmas in July so we wouldn't have to drive in the winter. So we played at Ammon park all day and went swimming. It was lots of fun.
Sunday: We came home- WHEW!!

What a week, but it was worth it!!

Butikofer Reunion-Always a Fun Time!

Grandma trying to hit one of Sophie's killer fast balls-she did pretty good, too!!!


The girls having fun!!




The Fam!


I don't think my boys ever left the tramp except to eat and sleep!!

The beautiful Tetons!!!


At least I had the sense to go to bed!!!


When the Butikofer's get together, you can guarantee that you will have lots of fun. This year (due to gas prices) we had the reunion at Matt and Sondi's house (thanks again for letting us come!!). On Friday, we didn't get there until 8 P.M. but that didn't slow us down. We had dinner and sat around the campfire. . . I even stayed up past midnight. But then I turned into a pumpkin and went to bed, for which I got ridiculed about for the entire next day! Anyway, on Saturday, everyone (well mostly everyone) went riding up by Ashton and I heard it was great (thanks Billie Jo for being the "voice of reason")!!! When they got home we had a fabulous dinner and sat around the campfire again. I loved just being there with my family and talking about stuff. I can't wait to do it again next year!!!

Better Late Than Never

So as I was browsing through my camera tonight, I noticed that there were several pictures that never made it onto the blog so I thought I would correct that! So here are several great pictures of some things that have happened in the last few months. . . .drum roll please!! :)


This is a picture of Mike at his preschool graduation. And his friend Raven, who he liked the most. I know it was horrible of me to forget to post this momentous event in his life and I do apologize for that!!


Mikey holding his certificate!!!


Now I know you can't see any of my children in this picture, but that is our pool in our backyard. It has become the place to hang out on hot days here.


Yep, I have LOTS of boys. . . anybody want one? Will trade for cute, well behaved girl!!


The Bryan Clan came for a visit and the kids had the best time being together!


Good boy, Josh!!


Two peas in a pod!!


The cuteness continues. . . yes, they are just about the same size. Luke didn't want to make Drew feel small, so he decided to stop growing!


This is one of my favs. . . Luke just couldn't wait for his bed!!!

So Much Goin' On

Well, I know that I haven't been blogging much, but it wasn't because I wasn't doing anything. In fact, I've been playing too much!!! So Tari and Cam came down last weekend (over Memorial Day) and we had a blast in Boise. And unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to see the rest of my family- you know who you are :(






And now this week we are in Idaho Falls. Brian had this week set aside for vacation, but ended up having to testify in a case here in IF (it has been on going for 5 years and NOW he has to testify). Anyway, we hope to see all our family and maybe get in a trip to West Yellowstone or go fishing at Henry's. We already got to play at a new park here-it was lots of fun!!