Cart video

Here is Ethan pushing the cart. Liam is pretty mad in the background. He is in his onesie because he got it all dirty from the cake.

Ethan turns 1!

He's grown a lot in the first year.

My little Ethan is 1 year old! It is hard to believe he is already one. Ethan is a pretty mellow little guy. He likes to play with anyone, and is always laughing or smiling. For his birthday we had a pretty small party, just us, and the missionaries stopped by as we finished singing happy birthday. They stayed while he watched Liam open his presents. Ethan loved the cake and homemade ice cream. It got all over. The big hit was his little cart (not a stroller according to Brooke). Liam got pretty mad and wanted a turn. We are working on sharing in our house. We are so glad to have the little guy.

Trunk or Treat

We had our ward trunk or treat last night. We opted out of last years family theme and went to a kid individual costume. Avery has been talking about Halloween for months. "I want to do this ..." or "I want to do that..." She finally decided on being "Autumn", like the season. Liam was a bumble bee and Ethan a pumpkin.

Random pic's

Last week was a blury week for me, class, conferences, games, and more classes. Brooke was able to capture a few of the moments down so I could remember them. I thought I would share a few of them with you. They are just too cute!
Liam's first "alone" birthday. He was so excited to be going to Sammie's birthday that he waited outside for a long time to go.

Jill always says, "Ethan's eyes are always so big." Not all the time, but they are pretty big.

On top of the car? Again?

Brooke is a wonderful person, but like us all we have our faults (I will spare you mine - too many to count). Brooke's - putting things on top of the car and forgetting all about them.

1. Phone #1. We had to buy a new phone because Brooke put one on top of the car while working in the yard or garage. I drove away and the phone crashes to the ground. We found the phone smashed to pieces a small distance from our home.

2. Phone #2. The second time, by chance or miracle, the phone stayed on and worked, it was even raining while I drove around for an hour with it on top.

3. Keys #1. While going on our trip to Portland I heard a scratch up on top of the car. I pulled over and Brooke looked up to see that she had left her key on top. Luckily it didn't fly out into the intersection.

4. Keys #2. Last week Brooke left her key again on top of the van. I went to Albertsons to get some meds for the kids. Brooke woke up to take the kids to school and couldn't find the keys. She started stomping around blaming me! She loaded the kids into the Volvo and realized her mistake. She back tracked my steps to Albertsons and found the keys in the middle of the intersection a mile away from our house. The key still works, but the clicker is destroyed.

5. Books #1. Today at church Brooke said she couldn't find her manual and asked me to go look for it in the car. Guess where it was? On top of the car.

Good thing we love her and will keep her around!

Everyone and Ethan

Tubby time in the Cottle home. Ethan gets mad any time that Liam gets in without him.

These two are quite the little buddies already. I can't wait to see how they do as they get older.

Here are some fun pics of everyone with our little Ethan. He is starting to stand up on everything and move around. He is really growing fast. I can't believe he will be one this month.

General Conference

Avery came up with this creative idea for conference. I think she read about it in the Friend. I am not sure? But any way, it made our conference. Avery got this idea to make a tent facing the prophet, as did the people facing King Benjamin. Being in Oregon we don't get conference on local tv and we don't have cable (yes, I know no Sport Center - I have been in withdrawal for years), so we watch it over the Internet. We strung some rope from the armourer to the bed and put up the blankets. Liam was going crazy, he thought it was the coolest thing ever. But the big surprise was that they actually listened to some of the talks.

Nutria -1 Me - 0

Margaret wrote a pretty funny experience we had this week with a nutria. I can't write it any better than her. Check out the story on Margaret's Blog.

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.