May and June Update

Ryan turned 4 this year and we let him invite a few friends over for his first ever friend birthday party.  He was so excited and couldn't wait to have a party.  He asked for a Spiderman party.  These are his two "girlfriends", Ashton and Emily.  They are both very possessive of him and he loves it!

This was my first try at fondant and I made it with marshmallows so it would taste better.  The kids ate it so it must not have been too bad.  I thought it tasted like those candy peanuts that are orange.  It was fun despite my red stained hands I had for a few days.  Goobs was totally psyched though so it was worth it.

The birthday party!

Spiderman

Uncle Cam stayed in Vegas for a few weeks to spend time with the boys before heading off to Japan for the Navy.  We loved having him and miss him already.  The boys are very close to him and are fearful he will get killed by some dangerous animal in Japan because they watched some show about Japans deadlies animals.  They are freaked out about it and can't believe he is going to live there.

Goobs loves Tron and cars and he got both for his party.  He was thrilled.

Fuzzy but so adorable!

We had a full house and many visitors come from all over the country for baby Caleb's blessing.  We were completely overwhelmed with love and couldn't believe so many came for the occasion.  It was busy but a lot of fun.

Our new little family.

Jenny and her crew came for a few days and turned it into a vacation.  We met up with them later for swimming at their hotel and had a blast.  My boys love her kids so it was nice to hang out and play.

Cass and Scott

Dad and Sheri

Mom and Doug

The Buttars family

A huge waterfight played out in our back yard as the Buttars arrived and needed to cool off.  The boys were involved of course and loved every minute of it!  Grandpa got it pretty good.

Raefster

Little bud growing so fast we can't believe it!  It seems like he is a toddler now!

The three amigos.  Raef got his first shiner when a kid at McD's threw a toy at his face.  It lasted over a week and we had fun watching the colors come and go.  I hated the fact that he had two doctor appointments that same week though as he was questioned over and over about what happened.  They also insisted on Air Force haircuts like Dad.  I don't mind it so much with Ryan because he has Trent's stubborn and coarse hair but Raef looks like he just escaped a concentraion camp. 

Hiking with all the boys.  We were wondering before Caleb was born how he would do hiking with us or if we would need to take it easy for the summer.  Well, he certainly hasn't slowed us down.  I wrap him up and he sleeps for 4 or 5 hours while we hike and never makes a peep.  It's cooler up in the mountains so we bundle his feet up while we hike and it's nice to know I was carrying 10 or 12 pounds on my front plus a backpack.  That's the way to lose the baby weight! Burn baby burn!

We ventured to a beautiful waterfall we saw from a different hike across the mountain.  We climbed the majority of the hike through this small river and climbed over huge boulders.  Perfect for the boys!

The last stretch is hiking over the top of the river where it disappeared into the ground.  An avalanche had previously come through here and covered the snow with debris, making it much easier to hike to the waterfall.

We made it!  This was about a 5 mile hike and we felt pretty good we had made it with three little ones in tow.  It was so beautiful!  The waterfall disappeared into a very deep pit where it went down to form the underground river.

Sledding  on their butts.  Ryan climbed for 15 minutes trying desperately to get to the top of the snow.  He held onto that stick in the picture for 10 minutes trying to get past it but kept on slipping and holding on with one hand as he fell. Trent finally rescued him and let him sled down on his lap. 

Trent went down this huge, very steep hill on his feet and even managed to get a jump in too, although I'm pretty sure he crash landed.

Ryan had to go poo on the way down and so Trent make this potty for him.  He was amazed and kept complimenting Trent on his toilet making abilities.



3 little Buttars boys

A friend of mine took some great pictures of the boys for us just 5 days after Caleb was born.  She did so good trying to keep him asleep and not pooping on everything she owned.  Newborn photographers have got a lot of patience!  Doesn't he look just like a Buttars boy?!

The wait is over!!!!

We went to the hospital on April 26th and a few hours later had baby Caleb join our family.  There were a few complications but nothing that didn't make the wait worth it.  We felt like new parents trying to remember what to do with a newborn. Trent changed every diaper for days while I recovered and when he had to go to work, I panicked trying to convince myself I could stand up and stand long enough to change him and ease back into bed. Caleb was amazing though and slept all day so we could both recover!  He looks like a true blue Buttars boy!

Before

After

We couldn't wait for the boys to come and meet their new brother.  They were soooo excited.  Gammy brought them to the hospital and we will never forget their faces when they saw baby Caleb.  It was so precious.

He looked way too small to even be out of my belly.  He lost some weight and went down to 6 pounds before we left the hospital.  Tiny little guy!

These two look like twins to us.  It is hard not to see Raef when we look at baby Caleb.  Raef is thrilled to be a big brother again.  He calls him "Caleb Iguana" because he always sticks his tongue out. 

Ryan, who we thought would have a difficult time adjusting to being out of the spotlight, has been fantastic.  He seems to have grown up very quickly and is such a great helper.  He makes us laugh with everything he does and keeps us smiling with his funny questions.  He is wonderful with baby Caleb but thinks that we should leave him in the car or at home if we go somewhere.  He tells me "he'll be just fine mom."

Dad and baby

He looks so tiny! 

Gammy bought him this outfit and the boys wanted him to wear it everyday. It is super cute!

Easter in the sun

We loved having the nice weather for Easter this year.  We are used to bundling the kids up and possibly having them tromp through mud or even snow.  This year we went to a splash park and had a picnic.  It was fantastic and we will miss this next year I'm sure. 

 We have never been able to color eggs without one of the boys tipping the dye over.  And Goobs made sure this year was no exception. 

 They have more fun playing with the eggs after they are colored than actually coloring them.  They move them around like little people and play with them for the night. 

Raef recently had a friend at school tell him that the eggs we eat are dead baby chicks.  That took us a week to get him to eat eggs again and not cry everytime he saw us eating eggs.  We sat down and explained the real process so he wouldn't be sad and it finally sunk in.  Just in time however for his friend to tell him that we shouldn't eat chickens because we have to kill them to eat them.  Well obviously!  But this also affected Raef and of course I had roasted a whole chicken that night for dinner.  Every piece that we tore off the bones he wondered what part of the body it was from.  And he wouldn't eat any.  Ryan had no problem and kept saying, "Raef, chickens don't care that we eat them.  They have little brains! and "Jesus made them for us."  But Raef wouldn't budge.  The whole time he kept saying he wanted steak.  Yes, we explained where steak comes from but that didn't change his decision.  So, for now, he is set in not eating any chicken.  Well see how long that lasts.