happy one week birthday!

So Jane is a week old today. Some new pictures to celebrate...

we think she is cuter in real life, but this will have to do...

first time with g and pom pom

from the hospital (obviously) but it is our first family photo

grandma jill with her babies

welcome home jane...

jane olive butler We just brought baby jane home and she is such a cutie I think. Props to us for naming her yesterday, by the way. That is record time for us. Jane has always been Jenny's favorite name for her baby girl. I used to think it was a plain old storybook name, but now I really like it. The number one reason I like it is because Jenny likes it so much. The number two reason is because Jane Manning from church history is one of my favorite people. She is one of the new converts who walks to Nauvoo to meet the prophet, many of her group barefoot. President Hinckley has a daughter named Jane, which is cool. It has a few meanings, two of which are: "an abbreviation for Jenny" and in Hebrew, "God is gracious." And today I testify, He is.

Olive is Jenny's grandma's name. (Jill's Mom). We hope Jane grows up to be as lively, smart and unselfish as she was.

Welcome home baby jane, we love having you here!

introducing....

OUR BABY GIRL!!

born at 4:04 pm Saturday afternoon6 lbs 11 oz, 19"
momma did amazing! and baby and mom are doing great.

dad forgot the camera's batteries, so these are all with the phone. better pictures to come once we get batteries and pink clothes to dress her in :)

p.s. She has already melted dad's heart...more on that to come :)

Point Values

Ok, so I think all the guesses are in for the babe. For the biggest list, see Suz's blog. In addition to those we have these:

Mom Butler-May 27, 7lbs 6oz, 20 inches, girl
Julie Tracy- May 29th, 7 lbs 0 oz, 19", GIRLY GIRL!
Becca Laing- Girl, May 30th, 7 lbs 5 oz, 19 inches
Derek-May 31st, 7lbs 3oz, 20 inches, Boy (go Derek!)
Shannon-may 28th, girl, 7lbs, 9oz
Me-June 4th, Boy, 8lbs 6oz
Holly- Girl! (yeah right)

Here's how the points work:
If you get the sex of the baby (so if you guess boy) you are still in the competition. From there we go to closest day (if there is a guess on the day after and day before, we will take the day after, but if it is one day after a guess and two days before a guess, we will take the day before--mostly out of gratitude for guessing early for us!) After the day if there is still a discrepancy we will go to weight (a commonly guessed thing) then time for the ultimate tie breaker if there is such an experience..

Good luck to all participants, especially to Jenny, the main character in this game!
(thanks for posting those guesses Suz!)

strange, mixed feelings...

the following pictures have nothing to do with what I wanted to say, but they are semi cute and Goss always gets mad at me for not posting any pictures and only writing short paragraphs. I started a blog titled-"Get over it Goss", but decided to take a more kindly approach, put up two pictures, say what I wanted to say, and then end appropriately.

This is Christian, posing with his heaven on earth...a big pile of dirt!
here is Jack at our neighborhood carnival. He covered his face for every picture (Still trying to figure out why). He remembered riding this dolphin last year so we went essentially to just ride the dolphin. Some poor little Asian girl had to wait because this was the only "baby swing" and Jack insisted on riding in it. Oh well, he had fun.

[the following is totally unrelated to the pictures]

Ok, so I had to write about some of the strange, mixed anxiety I have right now. Waiting for a baby is one of the most exciting, kinda scary, anxious events of life on earth. There is nothing that requires this type of waiting. Now I know that these days there is a scheduled inducing that is popular, but since our doctor doesn't do that, it leaves us with the slightly more 'on edge', yet fun feeling of waiting. I keep my phone on in class all day long waiting for a phone call (Even though we are still 9 days away from the due date) and I almost jump every time I feel it vibrate. Jenny called me the other day at work and I almost dropped the phone with giddiness. She was just calling to see how I was. Sweet, but inappropriate for this stage of the game. :). What else do you wait for that requires you to fulfill all of your responsibilities and go on with life as normal and then WHAMMO, on a dime you have to drop everything and go! It has a fun feeling like waiting for Christmas...without knowing when Christmas is. You know it is around the 25th and it is beginning to look alot like Christmas (everywhere you go). But you just schedule things as normal, make sure your shopping is done, enjoy the fun of waiting, but bite your nails at the same time knowing old St. Nick could show up any second...Are you feeling this with me. I am tired just writing about it. So, that is why I have decided the baby is not coming until June 4. I will plan on that. June 4th. Boy. 8 lbs 6 oz. My official guess.

it's a conspiracy...

but it's ok...

Archuletta has more important things on his mind.

goodnight.

Naomi A. Broken Leg

Many of you know, and many of you do not know that our aunt, Naomi Broken Leg, passed away this week. This is a picture I took from my phone of her casket, covered with flowers and leis, after the dedication and as people were making there way to the family lunch. (Which, by the way, was absolutely amazing. These sisters from the Lamanite ward are something else.) The services were nice, and there were many friends in attendance.

One small thought about Naomi. I leaned over to Christian (my bro Christian, not my son) during the funeral and made the realization out loud that she is probably the most cheerful person I have ever met. Her laugh was contagious. She was an outstanding model of good Christian living. This phrase has become a bit cliche recently, but she reached out to the one. I love Naomi. I am happy for her. Her name fits her challenge in life, and now she is free from the limits of her body.

In reflection of the comments at the funeral, it is heart soothing to think of Naomi returning home to the God who gave her life. After a long trip anywhere, it is always good to be home. I bet Naomi is glad to be back. The trip was fun, but now she has returned. Welcome home Naomi--aloha, ahuiho. We will miss you...

my opinion made public

Accuse me of jumping on, but I have been on this bandwagon from day one. I think this kid rocks and I think he has soul. He does these musical runs that are amazing and he has the kind of voice that you don't need to be nervous about whether he is going to hit those high notes. Dude is kickin awesome! (Yes I just used the phrase, "kickin' awesome" and I am proud of it!)

to our moms...

I can bet that every blog on the block has some sort of ode to mothers, but we still wanted to throw out a blog-style hoody hoo to our moms.
Although you deserve more honor and praise than can be given in a day (or even in a semi lame blog post), we give it to you! We love you and admire you. It wasn't until now that we are beginning to realize the sacrifice you offered and the impact you have made on our lives.
Tonight we rode home with a screaming Jackson. In our current frame of mind, this thank you comes from depths of our hearts. Thank you for the baby years (I hope you had disposable diapers!). Thank you for the toddler years (mostly for keeping us alive half the time and not killing us the other half. Were we really cute once we fell asleep too?) Thank you for those awkward adolescent years. And as a teacher of teenagers...THANK YOU for the teenage years.

We love you...

Happy Mothers Day.

2 of 12 in 6

Kind of a cryptic title, huh? (not even Jenny got it:)--Now she thinks she can figure it out.

We'll see if she does by the end (without cheating). Ok, for those not playing, I thought it was cool and bloggable that we got to hear 2 of the Quorum of the Twelve speak in the last 6 days (get it?).

Elder Robert D. Hales came to our sacrament meeting on Sunday. He was there for an ordination of one of his old missionaries in our ward and so he presided and then bore his testimony at the end of the meeting. I thought it was awesome!

Elder L. Tom Perry came and spoke at a morning devotional for the Provo High seminary students this morning. It started at 6 (he was there at 5:50 am) and his was awesome too! I was so proud that so many kids showed up (they filled the chapel, cultural hall and stage). His granddaughters go to school at Provo, so I think that was the connection. He gave a brilliant talk, and it was fun to notice that school was a little bit different today--to use his words, "a righteous enthusiasm." Definately a cool day and a cool week.

p.s. Jenny cheated and she cracked the code.

Keeping up...

Ok, so I have nothing of significance to write about and no fun pictures, but I wanted to maintain a habit of updating...so here you go. I heard Jenny typing on the computer for like 20 minutes and sure she was blogging about her trip to Women's Conference with her mom and sisters...but she didn't. So in case she never does I thought it was cool she got to go and she really had a good time. (The part I am most jealous about is she got to hear Sheri Dew speak--I think she is so mega rad. She is an amazing speaker--doctrinally solid, fun, enthusiastic about the gospel.) As seminary teachers they give us free tickets to Education Week, but it is always the first week of school! Lame, huh? I think they just offer to be nice, knowing we won't be able to make it :). Just kidding, I think it is really nice, I just wish I could go. Well, I think this has turned into a babbling session, so I am off to bed. 4 more weeks til the baby comes...One more week until the baby is full term. Suz-- we should post all the guesses on the blog--do you have them written down? I guess we should call out anyone else who would like to give a guess--sex, day, time, weight (do you do height? Am I missing anything?) So, if you wanna guess, send them on. Jenny had Jackson one day early and Christian 11 days early (although she has a bold claim they had her due date wrong.) She is due June 1st. :)

back...with no excuses

When I typed the first word of my title in, a drop down menu came--you know, the ones that anticipate what you are going to write--and it had a couple other previous titles from our blog that started with the word "back"-- like "back again," or "we are back." This is becoming a common theme I guess. It becomes a good wake up call. My journal never reminds me how long it has been since I have written in it. Maybe it should.

So, we're back. We are a month away from the new baby. Life moves on as it did before and as I anticipate it will.

We have busted out the sand and water table for the boys. It occupies a lot of their time. Christian won't even look up for a picture he loves it so much. He runs to it, and the cries hard when we take him in from it. At least he doesn't play in the dirt in the garden as much. The boy loves dirt (we found him playing in a freshly dug grave when we visited the Salt Lake Cemetary during spring break). They both like to pour the sand on the neighbor's cat. I think it is worth buying new sand for.

I like this picture. It is kind of artistic on accident. I chopped down an apple tree. I have been spending Saturdays in the backyard and garden. The tree project takes the cake, but I have been putting borders around bushes and digging up all the tree starts all over the backyard due to the fact that I never pick up the fallen fruit, and beautifying our abode. Nothing fancy. Just wanting it to be more clean cut and have more growing food.

This is Lupi. She was my student last semester and I went to her baptism this morning. It was beautiful and so is she. She beams! It was in the Tongan stake so I absolutely loved it. It was full of hugs, kisses, testimony, tears and beautiful singing! Man, they can sing! I am so happy for Lupi. Today she begins a journey she will always be happy she began. I loved today.

nice break...

Spring Break. I wonder whether I like it more now as a teacher, or when I was in school as a student. I do love it now...and sometimes I think it is cool that the breaks I got excited about growing up, I am still excited about them! I am sad this is a Friday post, cause that means the break is over :(... But we had a ball!


We left Sunday for beautiful, sunny St. George. The contrast was astounding when we drove through snow-covered Nephi on our way back with sun tanned faces. We rented a condo with the Boyles and Gosses and we LOVED it. Hiking, Swimming, Eating, Laughing, Tennis-- we had a ball! I even took a trip to Costco while I was there. The samples were to die for. (I even bought a jug of Naked Juice, which is one of my new loves)

There are no sunny pictures, just ones from our FHE trip to the St. George Temple. It is a gorgeous temple. This picture captures Christian perfectly...always about to run off somewhere. he would climb to the top of the stairs and grunt till I took his picture, then climb top the bottom for another one, then to the top...
cute.
after St. George we came back for a few days in Salt Lake, including a long awaited trip to the zoo. The boys LOVE animals (they got it from Jenny) and I was so excited to see their reactions to the animals. They had a great time and so did we. (personal opinion: that whole "Ghost of the Bayou" thing they had been advertising for so long...overrated.)

that giraffe stood there for like an hour without moving. I'm not so sure about the giraffe cages. They have these signs that tell you there kick could kill a lion and they have like a 2 foot fence and a two foot pile of rocks separating them from you. I think the giraffe was planning an escape. Or he wanted to eat me. I could sense it.
Jack wanted to ride "Thomas" the zoo train. So we didn't! Just to show him who was boss of the family!
You might not ever want to drink out of that lion drinking fountain.

After the zoo we went up to Park City to walk around at the outlets and then stayed in a condo up there. The boys called it Neverland.

We ate at this place on Main Street (which I have never been to before--Main Street that is-- and I think it is one of my new favorite places. I want to eat at every restaraunt on the whole street) called "Main Street Pizza and Noodle". Kid Friendliness- 5 stars. Service- 5 stars Food taste--5 stars. Definately reccomend it to anyone! We ended the week at Temple Square. (I promise the boys were happy there. This is the only picture I took)

I think I will be kind of glad to go back to...who am I kidding--I can't wait until summer!

Spring into Spring

So I noticed that our blog could probably be put on the lame list, so decided I better do some updating.

trying the lesue (kewish originally) tradition of ooh aww-ing after dying easter eggs.

we dyed brown eggs for the first time and I think they have a deeper, cooler color. I am a fan.
jack after an unsuccesful and lacking community egg hunt. Doesn't it break your heart?

Check out this story--
At the Disney store, Jackson found a "Mak" (the large trailer that pulls lightning mcqueen around) and fell in love with it. He was pretty sad when we told him he couldn't get it because he didn't have any money. Easter was probably a week or week and a half after that. At Suz's house Jack found a few eggs with quarters in them, so when I walked in the door on Monday after work he held up $2.25 in quarters and said, "Dad, look! I have money! Can I go buy my "Mak" now?" He melted his Dad's heart.
With the new spring weather (except for the snow that was on our lawn three days ago!), Jack and Christian are enjoying cruising around the lawn! They both love it!as made apparent by the previous photos, Buzz is back!

Spring Eve

(Anyone on boot camp week might not want to read this post either)--

Ok, It is Spring Eve. I hear we are getting snow tomorrow. Yikes!

Today we tried something new...that is old. It is a Provo commonplace, but we have never been--JDawgs. We tried it for our first time today as part of our Spring celebration. If you have never had their hot dogs, I recommend them! I wouldn't say they are to die for or anything, but I will eat them more than one more time, definately. The guy who owns that little shack has a good thing going. It is small with one of two things to order, the secret sauce is brilliant and they have a load of delicious toppings. Simplicity is gold. (I think I made that up, but we are studying Proverbs in seminary right now, so...).

It is open until 8 pm for the spring and summer, so if the craving comes and you are wondering, look up my blog again. (Man! Now that guy is getting free advertising!).

Tomorrow Jenny is making some crazy food she had in Jerusalem. I think it will be appropriate :)

Aloha winter. Aloha Spring.

2 days left babu

I intended the title to say, "2 days left baby" but when I misspelled it "babu" I thought it was so funny, so I left it. (I just laughed again reading it...enjoy!)

Well, the new countdown is not to the next episode of LOST (not to say it isn't worthy of a countdown), but to the first day of spring. I am really excited about it. In fact, I told Jenny the other day we needed to have some sort of "welcome spring" party or a "adios winter" party, but we couldn't think of many things that were springy to have at a party. Jenny suggested bunnies and chickens, but I don't know about that...

Today, Keyshawn, this brother I work with, answered all of my spring needs. We were on an errand together and we stopped by Shirley's bakery in Provo, and he bought a load of rasberry sweet rolls with vanilla frosting for the faculty. I asked to occasion, and he said--"First day of Spring brother, the Persian New Year" (He is Persian). I was so happy about it. I have decided to be an adopted Persian for the week so I can celebrate the coming of spring. He told me all sorts of Persian activities he did growing up for the spring new year like: getting new clothes, getting new crisp money, eating white fish (nothing new about that, just nice) and other stuffs.

So, this week, we are celebrating spring!
Monday--new suit and clothes for the boys (sorry Jenny)
Tuesday--new food (new indian restaraunt in provo--maybe that is where babu came from)

If you have any ideas, pass them on, yo.

p.s. Jack just went poo in the potty. That might gross out the world, but I don't care because I am so excited! Hallelujah!

for holly and dave...

Everyone else may enjoy this as well, but I was talking to holly and dave about salmon recipes yesterday and this is one we tried tonight that you might like.

almonds
bread crumbs (we included flax seed)
lemon zest
olive oil
salt
pepper
(this all makes the crust)

The original recipe called for brushing on dijon mustard on the salmon before adding the crust, but we didn't have any, so I brushed on a wasabi, soy sauce, lemon sauce that I invented.

Crust it, cook it (425, 15-18 min), eat it.

We were impressed by it. It was actually pretty good. Try it if you dare and let us know :)

p.s. you grind up the incredients to make the crust and the original recipe called for walnuts, but we didn't have those either so...

p.p.s. To everyone--Happy St. Patricks Day, Happy Birthday Christian, Happy Birthday Allan.

the winner is...Josh

Ok Josh I think you were closest to the name of the virus from Mission Impossible II. It is the Chimera virus. Now we can say the line properly. "I've been injected by the Chimera virus." (Note to all: There is no force field that will protect you from this deadly disease.) Ok, if you are reading this and you have no idea what is going on, move on with your life. This is one of those "had to be there" moments and posts.

But for those who tortured themselves reading the madness, I'll give you one new funny thing about Jackson.

When we say our prayers at night he has gotten on this new thing where Nana says the prayer. (Nana is his lion). So Jackson folds his arms and helps him through the prayer in his Nana voice--which sounds a lot like his baby voice. Tonight he has expanded the spirituality in the house to other toys. The helicopter folded its arms? and the plane said the prayer. It was a good one.

one wrong, one right...leaves me even

I really do have a lot of right going on in my life today, but the title "3 rights, one worng...leaves me even" wasn't very catchy. Although (and lets begin with the bad news) the wrong is a very big wrong-- it is snowing in spring. It really isn't bothering me that much to be honest with you. But coming from Texas to the snow makes it worse. This brings me to my right(s).
Jenny and the boys are home. Yahoo! Along with that came a key lime cheesecake I bought from Costco as a welcome home gift for Jenny. (word to the wise--get it! It is amazing!) I also bought the odwalla fruit drink at Costco which deserves a blog on its own because it is tasty and nutritious. So, I am definately in the positive as unhappy as I am about the snow.

p.s. I am still wearing flip flops. I ran into Rhondo Fehlberg at Costco and he looked down at my feet and said, "Flip Flops? In the snow?" "Yes sir," I said. He replied, "Seems like a Butler thing to do." I didn't know our fmaily had that reputation, but I love having it none the less. :)

alone

I know it sounds like a lonely and sad title for a blog, but it is true. Keep reading though, there is a lot of happiness coming...
I'll start with the alone part. Ready? I am alone. Jenny and the boys are in Texas still with some of my family, swimming, eating, swimming, eating. What a life.
I was bored enough today to garden. I kind of liked it. I usually listen to my Ipod, but a few
times I turned it off because I wanted to hear "outside." I feel like everyone is cooped up all
winter long and it was refreshing to be outside.
Texas outside was much more pleasant. And the food was nothing short of divine! We ate at
my favorite places. I have a happy belly and heart.
We all surprised my Mom for her 50th birthday this last weekend. Some came back for work and school and others stayed for more rays. The weather was nice, the hanging out was brilliant and did I mention the food.
I love my mom and dad. Happy 50th again to Mom. I hope you make it to 100. (If you do, you should run a marathon. I saw this guy from the UK who is 103 running a marathon in the coming months. amazing. You could do it!)
Thanks for spoiling us down there.
I mentioned gardening, but let me toot my horn. I pulled out all of the oregon grape spikey bushes from out in front of the house. I don't know what hit me. I have thought they were
hideous for years. Now they are gone and Jenny has ordered a potentially beautiful flower garden for out front. It is a shade garden. I am excited.
Speaking of flowers, the crocuts (I am not sure how to pronounce or spell the name of the flower) have arrived. They are small and purple and my neighboor tells me they are the first flower of spring. Yahoo!
Ok, no pictures, so I better sign off. Before I go... Ten things I loved about my trip to Texas:

1. Texas-- I just love being there
2. Taste of Texas- New York Strip, Medium, garlic saute...wow
3. Pappasitos
4. Shipleys Donuts and Kolaches-- I am dreaming about them tonight.
5. Whole Foods Market (maybe this desrves a post of its own, soon)
6. Surprising Mom for her birthday (and making fun tombstones for the lawn)
7. Watching Mom play tennis
8. Swimming with Jack and Chunky
9. Rodeo--Rascal Flatts concert-- awesome as it sounds!
10. Blue Bell fudge bars-- it was the last thing I ate. I hesitated brushing my teeth...

Y'all come back now, ya hear?!