They grow up so fast...

By the time I finish typing this Liam will probably have grown another inch and a half, but that is the life with kids. It is amazing how fast they change. Liam is our enforcer. He makes sure that everyone follows the rules. (Ethan picking up Thomas the Tank Engine) "No Ethan. You aren't supposed to have that." Or. "They said 'shut up!' We don't say that word." He is changing out of his tolder stage into a little boy. Liam just starting writing his name, counting (understanding what the numbers mean), and he read his first word. Brooke had something out and Liam was looking at it. He ran into the room and was pretty excited. He said, "Mom look. E - A - K - 1. That says Ikea!" Brooke was proud that his first word was Ikea.

I swear Ethan eats more than Liam. He is starting to put it down. I guess that's what happens when you are on the move, crawling and climbing on chairs to stand up. He even found the toilet today - not good.

Avery is starting to turn into a young woman. She filled out a labor intensive application to be part of student council, and was one of four chosen to represent the four grade. She did a great job and we are proud of her.

1,000 mile club

I have reached the 1,000 mile club. I finished my 5th Lotoja (Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming). The race is 206 miles in one day. It is always fun to ride and be with family. We beat our ride time this year by 1 hour. It is a pretty draining race and always leaves you exhausted. It was definitely an experience to even get there: Brooke flying out for the funeral of her Grandpa Butler, Liam throwing up in the car ride to the airport, and me trying to get my assignment for my class in before I left. Thanks to lis for all her help with the kids, even our sick one. Just glad hers haven't got the bug. Once there everything worked out well. No one got sick or bonked to bad. I feel pretty good and actually road again today. All in all it was a good time.

The Olympics

Now that the Olympics are over I feel I am finally getting back to sleep at night. We spent many hours up late watching the events. There was definitely a lot of hype and excitement with Michael Phelps, Misty Mae and Kari Walsh, and Bolt. But what about synchronized diving. Every Olympics Brooke and I get into a random and unusual event. This year it was synchronized diving. It was pretty entertaining watching the 5' 1' chinese boys do their thing. They killed the competition! NO one was even close. Their synchronization, style, and entry were tough to beat.

We were pretty inspired by the Olympics and had a family home evening to celebrate. Brooke bought a 4x4 plank and I sanded it down to make a balance beam. We had our own Olympics out in the back yard. I am sure the neighbors got a kick out of Brooke in her swimsuit trying to land a cartwheel on the balance beam (she did land 2 of them). Avery and Emily have been out in the yard all week coming up with new routines.

Pigeon Mix

With all the ladies sharing recipes and great meals I decided to get in touch with my feminine side and share one with you. Melissa takes pictures of her amazing food, so please don't compare this to hers. Actually, we went to hear Ben Cryer play his guitar for family home evening and we brought the pigeon mix to share. Some people wanted the recipe, so enjoy the calories.

Pigeon Mix

1 large box of Golden Grams
1 large box Corn Chex cereal
1 cup sliced almonds
2 cups shredded coconut
1 1/2 cup butter
2 cups Karo syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar

cook sugar, Karo syrup, butter until boils. cook and stir 2 minutes. add vanilla and soda. stir down foam (Brooke let ours over flow last time and it took a lot of scrubbing to get the sticky mess off). pour over cereal in a big bowl.

Avery and the Chipmunks

We just watched the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was a pretty funny movie. I didn't even recognize that the main guy was from the the show My Name is Earl. He looked a little different without the stache. Avery's favorite part is when the Chipmunks first sing "Funky Town" to show Dave their skills. So Avery decided to do her own version. We got a good laugh.

More summer pics

Here are some more summer pics.Liam and his glasses, Avery and her new glasses, and popsicles.

Summer Break

After my intense classes this summer at the U of O I was feeling a little brain dead, which lead me to take some time away from the computer. It felt great to unplug and walk away. This summer we have been able to do many fun things. So instead of a weekly update, here is our summer fun update.

Avery had her 11th birthday! I know it is hard to believe she is that old. She is 5' 1" and will tell anyone she is going to be 6' 2". Avery was very excited to decorate her own cake.


Boating with the Hansen clan out at Fern Ridge. We got to knee board and tube.

McCall Trip

Every year Brookes' family goes to McCall for the annual Butler family reunion. It is a fun time of boating and seeing family. It was packed with water skiing, wake boarding, tubing, and playing in the water. I am still trying to recover from all the tork on the old body. Liam and Avery got to play by the water. Ethan was trying to take it all in, but got to see his little (only in age) cousin Will. Brooke was even able to do some water skiing. The last year she was pregnant and unable to do much, but she got up on the slalom ski her first try!

Liam and I on the tube. He would say, "Hit the big bumps!" It made me proud to call him my son.

Brooke showing her stuff on the ski.

I was able to give Brooke's little brother Sam an extreme make-over. It only lasted for two days before he shaved it all off.

Grandpa Marcheschi and Ethan after a night cruise.

The next Picasso?

Avery the next Picasso? Maybe. From the day she was born that girl has been amazing us with her creativity. A couple of weeks ago Avery was able to do an art class. It was all day for a week. We are glad she was able to learn more in this class. Some of her pictures turned out really well. She keeps asking if she can sell some on Craigslist. Maybe someday!

Ethan

Ethan, Ethan, Ethan! He is a pretty cute boy. Whether he's looking at you with his big blue eyes (thanks Sandi for the picture), laughing when you tickle him, or talking non-stop in his baby jiberish. Avery and Liam were pretty mobile at this age, but Ethan is our mellow little one. He is content to sit with you or be held. He has a great personality, rarely cries and likes to smile. It was pretty funny. The other day he was rolling around with Liam in their room. He saw something under his crib and rolled towards it. Brooke came in to find him underneath the crib, with only his legs sticking out.

Tagged!

Brooke has good intentions Tannya, but probably wouldn't do the tag so I am going to help her out (emphasis added). I am dictating for her, hope your ready to go. Here are the rules as well.

#1 Link to the person who tagged you.

#2 Post the rules on your blog

#3 Write six random things about yourself

#4 Tag six people at the end of your post

#5 Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

#6 Let the tagger know when your entry is up


6 random things:

1. I love dots!
2. I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo, last months book club book.
3. I love to write lists. Checking them off is my favorite part.
4. Brady loves it when I say, "I have an idea" or "I have a hot idea" (This usually entails more work for me).
5. I am 6', but have been measured at 6' and a half inch - twice.
6. I wore my last pair of earrings until they rusted. (I even bought her a new pair for Christmas and she didn't wear them)

Here are the next taggers:
Christa (hope the spelling is correct this time), Rueben, Tiffany, Sam, Tommmy, and Elisa

4th of July

We had a great time over the 4th of July. We hosted our annual 4th of July firework extravaganza. The fireworks were pretty anti-climactic compared to our neighbors. The meal was great and it is always fun to get together with friends. The kids had fun trying to find the cats and playing in the playhouse. The adults liked the conversation.

We also got to see Charlie and Kelly, who were visiting from Cal. They were up for the Olympic trials. Charlie was a high jumper with Brooke and Kelly did about everything, ran and jumped with Brooke in college at Weber.

Grandparents visit

We were very fortunate to have both grandparents come for a visit. Brookes' mom and dad came in first. They were visiting Oregon for their wedding anniversary, and spent a few days at the coast. While they were here they got to pick strawberries, make freezer jam, go the park, and visit spend time at home. Brooke really enjoyed the visit. Next, we got a visit from my parents. They were in town for the trials. My sister Alissa came down from Portland to join us and have fun. Liam liked playing with his cousin Emilie at the park. My dad and I got some good rides in, and got to sport the new GC Connection shirts.

Olympic Trials

We are very fortunate to be living in a great city like Eugene, the host of the 2008 Olympic Trials. Eugene is definitely track town U.S.A. It has been fun to watch and follow. Last Friday my parents came into town and my dad and I went to the opening day of the track meet. It was quite the experience. Saturday my parents, Brooke, and I went to the meet. It was extremely hot, up in the 90's. It is amazing to see the athletes and the sacrifice they made to get there. I always feel bad for the 4th place finisher. Their the first one to not make it on the team - that's rough.

It also has allowed Brooke and I to flash back on her career in track as a high jumper (personal best of 184 cm). Brooke qualified for the 2000 Olympic trials, but didn't compete because we were cast members in the LDS Hill Cumorah Pagaent. She has no regrets with her choice, but it would have been cool to see her compete in it.

Bubba's 1st scrapbook page

Here is a link to my first scrapbook page!:) Margaret this is for you.

http://scrappingconnection.blogspot.com/

Visitors!

We have had many visitors over the last month, starting with Kricket and her family. Garrett was in Europe studying abroad for school, so Kricket was making the road trip to visit family and friends. It was great to have her here. Liam and Cooper spent the time working on "cooperation" and "sharing." Kricket got to see friends and visit old hangouts.



Next we were lucky to have my parents stop by for a couple of days. My little sister is moving with her little family to Portland while her husband is going to PA school. It is always fun to have family in town. While my parents were here we got to take them to the Saturday Market. That is always an interesting time.



Finally, we got to have Brooke's youngest sister, Elisa, come and stay with us. She is a fun lady and always makes us laugh. She and Brooke stayed up way to late talking into the night about this and that. Avery really watched to see what Elisa was doing, even not doing, including not eating her oatmeal (which Avery thinks she doesn't have to eat now - thanks Lis). Sorry we didn't get a picture of Elisa. Lis if you have one send it our way and we will post it.

Ouch-e!

BEWARE: I start this off by warning any readers that this can be gross and graphic. It is not to be viewed by the young and innocent or faint hearted. In the words of Liam, "Ouch-e!" It happpened in my time trial race on Saturday. Luckily I wasn't seriously hurt, other than minor scraps and bruises. Two guys on my team hit wheels and fell down, causing me to go right over them and land hard on the ground. When I hit my legs cramped up and it was pretty painful. But I am healing and feeling better. I am looking forward to the next race:)

Avery!

Avery is finishing up her final weeks of school. At her assembly she won an award for lifeskill in Effort and Sense of Humor. We are very proud of her.


I had the chance last Friday to go with Avery on her class field trip to the coast. It was great to be able to spend time with Avery and her friends. She and Emily are two peas in a pod. First, we went to the aquarium in Newport. It was fun to walk around and see the shark tank, touch the star fish, and look at the exotic fish.





After the aquarium we loaded back up on the bus and headed to the coast to visit the tide pools. If was my first experience at a tide pool and I was not disappointed. The kids were enthralled with the purple sea urchin, green anemones, and multi-colored sea stars. I am always entertained by the kids conversations, it is never a dull moment. It was great to spend time with Avery!